Community News (V12-I43)

Huma Abedin in Time’s 40 under 40 list

Time magazine has listed Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in its list of ‘40 under 40’ American civic leaders. The Times profile described her as a ‘shadow’ of Hillary Clinton. “Hillary Clinton has two shadows: her own and Abedin, 35, a former Clinton White House intern who has trailed her boss from the U.S. Senate to the campaign trail to foreign capitals.”
Abedin says that child hunger is the most overlooked issue in America and hopes to work for a foundation.

She is the daughter of the late academic Syed Zainul Abedin, an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University in India.

Fairfield University gets a Muslim chaplain

FAIRFIELD,CT–Fairfield, a small Jesuit university, has appointed Heba Youssef as the new Muslim chaplain. She is currently pursuing  a masters in Islamic Studies and Christian Muslim Relations, with a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy, at Hartford Seminary.

In an interview to the student newspaper Youssef said, “A chaplain is a mentor, a counselor, an advisor—someone who can offer spiritual guidance to the students. As an undergraduate, I always felt there was a lack of Muslim leaders present and with the rise of post 9/11 Islamophobia, we sorely needed a chaplain figure.

The role of a female chaplain specifically, is especially important because it serves as a way of breaking misconceptions that many people have about women being oppressed or somehow limited in the Islamic tradition.”

Canada gets first Muslim Mayor

CALGARY–The city of Calgary has elected Canada’s first Muslim mayor. Naheed Nenshi, a Harvard-educated Ismaili Muslim, defeated two white candidates to become the mayor of Calgary Monday night. A Conservative (right-wing) stronghold in Canada, Calgary is also the hometown of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Interestingly, the 38-year-old Nenshi defeated one of the candidates supported by the prime minister.

A jubilant Nenshi told his supporters after his victory, ‘Today, Calgary is a different place than it was yesterday. It’s a better place.

‘And not because of me, but because of you. All of you. I want to thank all of the other candidates in this election for making politics in Calgary exciting again. I want to thank you all.’’

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