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drives, planting flowers, free health clinics, and refugee services were just the tip of the iceberg of how Illinoisans answered President Obama’s call to serve. The Council’s “Green Ramadan” campaign asked member organizations to sign a pledge to initiate recycling projects, improve awareness of green issues, and carpool to taraweeh and other prayers. “Green is the color of Islam, but
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Muslims, like other faith groups, need to translate the symbols into action,” said Dr. Sahloul. “We will continue to work hand in hand with our faith partners in order to raise awareness about environmental issues and play an active role in protecting our earth and our living.” The Qur’an advises care for the environment, as in “... eat and drink, but waste not by excess because Allah does
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GUIDE: Mary Ali (Director, Institute of Islamic Information & Education) continues her leadership in training through her annual summer girls camp
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left there feeling positive and smiling.” In addition, the Council has organized conferences and summits to empower Muslims who dedicate their weekends to the development of roughly 9,000 Muslim youth. By establishing dynamic and creative teaching methods, incorporating hands-on experiences in service learning and character building, providing scriptural and spiritual studies that take the abstract beautiful truth and relate it tangibly to our young people’s lives and cultural realities, and creating an environment that upholds the dignity of all children will allow each one of them to have a groundbreaking experience with God, Islam, and their community. Such positive childhood experiences will equip them with a solid foundation to serve humanity as ambassadors of their Creator.
MSA Chicago Is Born. A fusion of scattered campus energies merged into one unified Chicago-wide MSA network, MSA Chicago mentors young activists who want to build cross-campus connections, enhance MSAs, and support young Muslims during their “soul-searching.” What is on the agenda for the coming months? Shura, khateeb and leadership training, inter-MSA service projects, and the MSA Olympics, to name a few.
MSA Chicago was launched in late 2008 with the first Chicago-wide MSA summit; 120 Muslim college students attended. This facet of our community is like an enlivening personification of that old monotonous cliché: the youth are our future leaders. These student activists have emerged from the region’s mosque communities where, as children, they frequented the weekend and full-time Islamic schools. Today they pave their own career paths and stride on Chicago’s campuses as ambassadors of their own particular Muslim communities. “I always get a high from this kind of networking, seeing this kind of potential. There was a lot of hope and enthusiasm about what Muslim youth can do if they’re allowed to connect more,” enthused Nura Sediqe (MSA National Central Zone Rep). “I felt as though the leaders of Chicago will make a difference in the world, as opposed to just Chicago,” remarked Iqbal Shariff (DePaul MSA). MSA youth are clearly the community’s future leaders. In fact, their fresh and innovative perspectives may very well help them manage the mosques in such a way that tremendous advances can finally be realized.
_______________________________ Amal Ali is the youth director at the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. JULY/AUGUST 2010 ISLAMIC HORIZONS 37