Community News V15-I16

Soumaya Khalifa, Humera Khan awarded Community Leadership Award

Throughout the year, dedicated and selfless individuals and organizations make extraordinary contributions to their communities across the United States. And every year, the FBI honors the very best among them with its Director’s Community Leadership Award. Among its latest award recipients are Soumaya Khalifa and Humera Khan.

In Atlanta, Soumaya Khalifa founded the Islamic Speakers Bureau to educate those unfamiliar with the Islamic faith and provide insight into how Muslim Americans live their daily lives. She often presents training to students, business executives, and military and law enforcement personnel.

In Washington, D.C., Humera Khan, a dedicated advocate for American Muslims, is the founder of Mueflehun, a research organization that promotes service-minded communities and justice. Khan’s organization offers recommendations to multiple government agencies about countering homegrown terrorism and violent extremism.

Pakistani-American poet honored in Jeddah

A veteran Pakistani-American Urdu poet and scholar Mamoon Aiman was honored by Alami Urdu Markaz-Jeddah last month.

Aiman was praised for his mastery of Urdu Rubaiyat. His poetry was well-received by attendees.

Aiman, a naturalized American citizen, is an English teacher. He is famous in North America’s Urdu circles and a familiar literary figure on Pakistan Radio, BBC and Voice of America. He is in the Kingdom to perform Umrah.

Aiman was born in Allahabad, India, in 1941 and migrated to Lahore, Pakistan, following the partition in 1947. He has been living in the United States for the last four decades and is engaged in writing Urdu poetry and prose.

Lecture on the Prophet (s) starts Islamic Awareness Month

A lecture on the life of Prophet Muhammad (s) started off the Islamic Awareness Month activities at Harvard University. It was delivered by Lesley Hazleton, author of The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad and veteran TED speaker. Hazleton spoke about the Prophet`s  radical advocacy of social justice and the factors that led to his role as a prophet, the student newspaper of the university reported.

“We want to present this sense that Islamic values are very much a part of American life,” said Hassaan Shahawy ’16, who is HIS’s Director of Islamic Learning. “We have events that show that it’s not as dual as we think. It’s not Islam versus the West, Islam versus science. The misperception is that the two are at odds with each other.”

Philadelphia area mosque to increase in size

Officials say a mosque in suburban Philadelphia will more than double in size as a result of a long-awaited expansion.

The Bucks County Courier Times says members of the Zubaida Foundation gathered with local dignitaries for a groundbreaking ceremony Friday in Lower Makefield Township.

The existing house of worship founded in 2005 in an old church can accommodate 150 to 200 worshippers.

But administrator Mohammed Husain says it will increase in size from 4,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet.

Member Naveed Malik says the community is growing and “we need to think about five years from now.”

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