Community News (V15-I40)

Dr.Musarrat Chaudry to receive interfaith award

SCHENECTADY,NY–The Capital Area Council of Churches has announced that Dr.Musarrat Chaudry will receive its Carlyle Adams Ecumenical/Interfaith Award at its annual program in Oct. 2nd at the Albany Country Club.

A practicing radiologist Musarrat moved to the US from Pakistan in 1971. She has been active in the interfaith work for many years.

Deborah Riitano, board president for the Capital Area Council of Churches, said Chaudhry is the first Muslim to win the Carlyle Adams Award since its inception in 1983.

“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,” Riitano told the Daily Gazette. “I’ve known her for about 20 years now. She is very easy to get to know, and very humble. She takes on the issues around the interfaith movement and helps people understand Islam for the wonderful religion that it is.

“There’s no proselytizing with her,” added Riitano. “She’s a great representative of her faith, and she’s just wonderful at expressing that faith. She’s a great representative of the human race.”

Burmese Mosque comes up in Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, IN–No new mosques have been allowed to be built in Burma for last thirty years. The violence against them by extremist Buddhist groups since last year have shocked the world. But for a small group of Burmese Muslims there is a new haven in Fort Wayne where they are building a mosque.

“This mosque is a symbol of the religious freedom which is way different from Burma where we came from,” said Ye Win Latt, the secretary of the Burmese Muslim Education and Community Center  to the wane.com

Since resettling in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we just need a place to practice our religion,” Latt said.

They currently worship in residence rooms at three apartment complexes in Fort Wayne. However, they said the space is becoming overcrowded, so they wanted to expand.

Members of the Burmese Muslim Education and Community Center began planning in 2011 and started groundbreaking on the property located at 2121 Seddlemeyer Avenue last October. They said they chose the four acres of land because it gave them the amount of space they needed for their vision, and it sat in an area close to where most Burmese Muslims live on the city’s south side.

The project will be four phases totaling around $1.1 million. The first building cost around $450,000 to construct and will have space for around 175 people. There are approximately 1500 Burmese Muslims living in the area.

Howard County Muslim Council’s Record Breaking Food Drive

The Howard County Muslim Council broke its previous records by donating more than ten thousand pounds of non-perishable food to the county’s food bank.

Since its founding in 2002, the Howard Muslim Council has hosted local food drives, health fairs, candidate forums, blood drives, teacher appreciation dinners and community education events on Islam.

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