Chicago Women Honor Humanitarians community and was honored for her extensive work in civil rights advocacy. As founder of Universal Knowledge Institute, Imam Left to right: Jeanean Othman, Dr. Seema Imam has helped to advance the idea and Anse Tamara Gray. that a better understanding of the Quran and its historical food blogger and chef Yvonne Maffei of My context would facilitate a greater compre- Halal Kitchen. hension about Islam and Muslims. Each Chicago chef was challenged to The final award went to Tasmiha Khan lead a team of two audience members to who, at the age of 19, founded Brighter victory during two rounds of competition Dawns, a nonprofit organization that pro- with the mystery ingredients of scallops and vides access to clean water to thousands of bananas. The mothers of MWA board memslum-dwellers in Bangladesh. Khan’s trail- bers served as the surprise judges giving top blazing work—installing wells, bathrooms honors to Team Malika in the savory round and latrines and conducting seminars teach- and Team Yvonne in the dessert round. — ing the local women about proper hygiene— Khadija Husain is having a far reaching impact in Khalishpur, Khulna and beyond. Keynote speaker Minnesotan Anse Tamara Gray, who is at the forefront of the revival of Muslim female scholarship, highlighted the rich legacy of Muslim women such as 19th century North African scholar, poet and pioneer Nana Asma’u, who was dedicated to women’s religious education. The sizzling grand finale was a culinary cook-off between Bravo TV’s Top Chef: Desserts alumnus Malika Ameen and acclaimed
Photo credit: Sadia Ahmed
In commemoration of National Women’s History Month and International Woman’s Day, Muslim Women’s Alliance (MWA) hosted their annual 2013 Celebration of the Muslim Woman in Oak Brook, Ill., March 15. With some 600 women in attendance, the Chicago-based nonprofit organization’s fifth spring luncheon was their largest and most successful event to date. Each year, MWA recognizes three outstanding Chicago women that exemplify the organization’s key cornerstones of community service, personal development and philanthropy. The first recipient of MWA’s “2013 Inspiring Muslim Woman” award was local humanitarian Jeanean Othman for her decades of community service and interfaith work. For more than 20 years, Othman, as director of the Mosque Foundation Food Pantry in Bridgeview, Ill., has been the driving force behind organizing, planning and providing basic essentials to more than 150 needy Muslim and non-Muslim families on a weekly basis. The second award winner was Dr. Seema Imam, a pioneer in Muslim American activism. She recalled the early history of Chicago Muslims trying to establish the fledgling
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Northern California Shura New Leaders
Dr. Hatem Bazian, co-founder and Academic Affairs Chair at Zaytuna College, was elected chairman of the Northern California Islamic Council on Feb. 9. Dr. Ali Heydari and Iftekhar Hai were elected as new board members. The board includes Junaid Shaikh, Mehboob Abedi, Islamic Horizons May/June 2013
Reshma Inamdar, Samina Sundas Somayeh Nikooei, and Yasir Ali. Bazian is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to Berkeley, Bazian is a visiting professor in Religious Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California and adviser to the Religion, Politics and Globalization Center at UC Berkeley. “We wish Dr. Bazian the very best and look forward for continued collaboration and cooperation between the two California Shura Councils,” said Islamic Shura Council of Southern California chairman Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi. The Newark, Calif.-based NCIC, founded in 2006, embraces area mosques and Islamic organizations.
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Indiana Church Honors Imam
J. Tamir Rasheed, imam of the Islamic Center of Fort Wayne, received Plymouth Congregational Church’s annual Amistad Peace and Justice Award on March 3. The award is named for Africans who were kidnapped and sold into slavery but then revolted and took control of the ship transporting them, the Amistad, in 1839. Imam Rasheed is the first non-Christian to receive the award. Church leaders praised Rasheed for his longtime and ongoing efforts to promote interfaith understanding and respect in the community. In the period following 9/11, Rasheed also served on a local committee on tolerance created by then-Mayor Graham Richard.
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