Community Matters
Muslim Scholar on Harvard Law School Faculty
Intisar A. Rabb, a leading expert on Islamic Law and legal history, will join the faculty of Harvard Law School in 2014, as a tenured professor, according to an official posting.
“Intisar is a first-rate scholar,” Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow said. “We are delighted she is joining (us) and look forward to supporting her keen interest in using the web and other tools for sharing accurate information about the Middle East and Islamic legal traditions with students, scholars, journalists and people all over the world.” Rabb earned a bachelor of science degree in government and Arabic from Georgetown University, a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Yale Law School and a master of arts degree and doctorate in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University.
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First Burmese Mosque in U.S. The Muslim Burmese Americans in Fort Wayne, Ind., are building a mosque to accommodate the local Burmese community members. Prayer services are currently held in area homes, but space is not enough for the growing community. “This mosque is a symbol of the religious freedom which is way different from Burma,” Ye Win Latt, secretary of the Burmese Muslim Education and Community Center, told Wayne News. “(It) is a historical
building which is a good addition to the city of Fort Wayne, and this is something that everyone should be proud of regardless of our faith.” The mosque, funded through private donations, is set to be completed in four phases, including a prayer space for women and children.
Muslim Elected Medical Staff President Dr. Suhail Shah was elected to serve two years as president of the North Shore University Hospital Medical Staff. Shah graduated from the Government Medical College in Srinagar, Kashmir, and completed his residency at Nassau University Medical Center. Shah joined the North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset in 1997, one of the leading tertiary care centers in New York. In 2002, he left the hospital’s employment and started a private hospitalist firm. Shah is an active member of several NSUH committees, and has been an officer of its Medical Staff Society for many years. Part of the society’s mission is to promote, provide and support medical education to maintain the highest scientific and educational standards.
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First Muslim Recipient of Interfaith Award
Dr. Mussarat Chaudhry, a radiologist at Ellis Hospital’s Bellevue Woman’s Center in Niskayuna, N.Y., received the Capital Area Council of Churches’ Carlyle Adams Ecumenical/Interfaith Award. She was honored at the council’s annual dinner Oct. 2, and is the first Muslim awardee since its inception 12
in 1983, according to the N.Y. Daily Gazette. “Our interfaith movement was originally about the Jewish-Catholic dialogue, but Mussarat saw the need to begin a dialogue with us and be a part of the already existing dialogue,” Capital Area Council of Churches Board President Deborah Riitano told the Daily Gazette. “She takes on the issues around the interfaith movement and helps people understand Islam for the wonderful religion that it is.” Chaudhry is an active member of the Capital District chapter of the Interfaith Alliance of New York State, and a board member of the Albert and Beatrice Sidney Lectureship Series and the Interfaith Story Circle of the Capital District.
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Islamic Horizons November/December 2013