Want to bring more resources to your campus to represent Islam in a beautiful and positive way?

Apply now online for El-Hibri Charitable Foundation’s Campus Dean summer leadership program and gain the resources and skills to work with others and represent yourself with excellence on campus!

A two week summer intensive training program will be held at the El-Hibri Charitable foundation headquarters in Washington, D.C. to bring together Muslim student leaders and prepare them to be resources for their own campuses. By analyzing issues confronting students and providing access to program materials, this training pulls together Islamic approaches to diversity, with contemporary conflict resolution skills and practice. Students will learn about the dynamics of identity, with a focus on the American Muslim experience, as well as conflict analysis and resolution approaches to allow them to be effective problem-solvers and peacemakers in their own communities. The training will further prepare students for leadership by providing practical skills such as advocacy, coalition building, media relations, and strategic fundraising.

Undergraduate students graduating in the Spring of 2013 or later from Washington DC, MD and VA area campuses are invited to apply for the 2012 summer training. Selected students implement related programming on their campuses each semester of the following year using resources provided. Training spaces are limited and selection will seek to represent as much community diversity as possible, including university affiliation, gender and ethnicity.

Visit www.campusdeen.org, Campus Deen on Facebook, or follow @CampusDeen on Twitter to learn more and receive updates!

To win the challenge, World Faith needs your vote. The voting begins April 3 at noon PT and ends April 17 at noon PT. Give World Faith your vote and help them win $2,500 for their Chapters. Vote here: http://jumo-organizations.maker.good.is/projects/worldfaith 

Oh, and don’t forget to share the project on Facebook and Twitter!

The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premiere showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action. Every June, Media That Matters presents a new collection of twelve shorts. The festival launches in New York City with a World Premiere at the IFC Center and an Awards Ceremony at HBO where every filmmaker is honored and many receive cash awards sponsored by major foundations and corporations. Previous presenters include Tim Robbins, Al Franken, David Cross, Woody Harrelson, Barbara Kopple and Peter Yarrow.  The festival launch also includes the Media as a Tool for Social Change Workshop, a unique convening of filmmakers, educators, activists, nonprofits and youth.

As part of this year’s short film collection, My Fellow American is being screened at AHRC New York and at Providence Inner City Arts this month, at The Bushwick School for Social Justice and in New York City Parks in February, and at the American University in Bulgaria this coming spring! More screenings are being scheduled at several school in NY, LA, and CA of MTM 11. We will share more information about the various screening events as they come.

To learn more about the Media That Matters Film festival, visit: http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/

To learn how you can contribute to the My Fellow American project, visit: http://www.myfellowamerican.us/support

Please join us for a film and discussion with a coalition of Washington area Jewish and Muslim young leaders and professionals. All young Jews and Muslims are welcome.

This short film shows Jewish and Muslim heroes discussing how their respective faiths enrich their lives and impel them to fulfill a core commitment in both religions, to repair the world and help people in need. This will be followed by a moderated discussion among participants about how their own connections to Judaism and Islam impact what they do in the world.

The Washington Jewish-Muslim Young Leadership event is part of the Weekend of Twinning, November 18-20; an annual event created by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding during which tens of thousands of Muslims and Jews across North America, Europe and around the world come together in scores of locales to build ties of friendship and trust.

When: Sunday, November 20 · 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Where: The Washington DC Jewish Community Center
1529 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Washington, DC

RSVP for the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=227295657333759

Learn more about The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding: www.ffeu.org

Visit www.uri.org for more information about URI, and to take advantage of other great interfaith resources, including a toolkit for interfaith solidarity on the anniversary of 9-11.

Big news to share!  As you know, for the last decade, I’ve had the opportunity to tour with Divided We Fall, leading dialogues on campuses and communities in 200 cities across the country.  And I began to notice something — a rising generation of people like me were tired of partisan politics and hungry for meaningful social action.  Many of us found it in the campaign of President Obama.  And while I’m proud to have worked on his campaign, it’s clear now that we need more than a president to heal and repair our country. We need a movement — organized not around a political party or a single issue, but a shared moral vision for a better world.

Last fall, a band of students came together in the Common Ground Campaign to imagine what our generation’s movement might look and feel like.  We noticed that we come from different backgrounds — Sikh, Catholic, Muslim, Atheist, Jewish — but we share the same deep moral commitments.  And we aren’t alone.  Most of us share a sense of moral calling that has nothing to do with political agendas.  But religious fundamentalists still hold the monopoly over “morality” on the airwaves and in the halls of power.  What would happen if we could channel those moral commitments into visible collective action?  Could we form the beginnings of a multifaith movement for justice?  Auburn Seminary, a 200-year old multifaith leadership institute, generously offered a home to work on this vision.  And so this year, while finishing up at Yale Law School, I joined Auburn’s staff to develop a new movement-building initiative.

Today, I’m proud to announce the launch of GROUNDSWELL — a multifaith network that connects, mobilizes, and amplifies the moral center around urgent social causes.  In our first campaign, we are generating a groundswell of community this ten-year anniversary of 9/11. We are chronicling, connecting, and resourcing events in all 50 states that bring people together in hope and healing.  We’re inviting people to see themselves as part of one movement that will eclipse anti-Muslim rhetoric and stand for open communities. And we’re collecting Ribbons of Hope from across the country and around the world, which we will weave into a diverse tapestry to represent the groundswell during 9/11/11 ceremonies. (Just click here to send your ribbon to NYC for free). 

Finally, we’re organizing a special event in New York City next Tuesday, Sept 6th.  It’s a teach-in entitled “Out of the Shadows of 9/11: Millennials, Movement-Building, and the Global Groundswell” where I will share the stage with thought leaders to reflect on the last decade and envision the possibilities for a multifaith movement in the coming era. (Live streaming here). 

I’d love to send you separate updates about each of these efforts and events — and invite you to take part this September and beyond.  Since you are all friends, family, classmates, colleagues, and fans of Divided We Fall, I will plan to add you to the Groundswell email list this week, which just means you get more frequent emails from me.  If you would rather stick to the occasional update, please let me know.

I don’t know where this journey will go.  But I’m excited to travel it alongside all of you.  Would love to hear what you’re working on as we prepare for future Groundswell campaigns (and just in general, too)!

To learn more about the initiative, visit: http://www.groundswell-movement.org/

Houda al-Habash, a conservative Muslim preacher, founded a Qur’an school for girls in Damascus, Syria when she was just 17 years old. Every summer, her female students immerse themselves in a rigorous study of Islam, in addition to their secular schooling. A surprising cultural shift is underway—women are claiming space within the mosque, a place historically dominated by men.

Challenging tradition, Houda insists education for women is a form of worship. Using Qur’anic teachings, she encourages her students to pursue higher education, jobs, and public lives, while remaining committed to an interpretation of Islam prioritizing women’s role as wives and mothers. In a world rarely seen, The Light In Her Eyes tells the story of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, the film is an exclusive look at a social movement thriving in a country controlled by a repressive regime.

To learn more about the film, visit:  http://thelightinhereyesmovie.com/

“Like” it on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thelightinhereyes

Newark, Delaware – A superficial study of the media coverage in the past two years conveys a misleading picture about the state of American Muslims and their relationship with the rest of the nation. The terrible attack on Fort Hood by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the attempted June 2010 bombing of Times Square, the shrill rhetoric and legislative activism of the anti-sharia brigade, and the incessant targeting of Islam and Muslims by conservative politicians, media personalities and political entrepreneurs all combine to suggest that life for Muslims in America must be tough.

But on the contrary, large sample surveys and in-depth studies conducted recently provide a more complex and optimistic picture about Muslim American reality, especially when it comes to three of the most talked-about issues: radicalization, American Muslims’ perceptions of the United States and religious tolerance.

A US Department of Justice study about Muslim American radicalization, conducted in 2010 by researchers from two North Carolina universities, argued that terrorism actually committed by American Muslims was surprisingly low. They attributed this low number to the anti-radicalization efforts of various Muslim communities and mosques in the United States. This in-depth study not only reassures law enforcement agencies that the fear of Muslim radicalism in America is overblown, but it also underscores the reality that US mosques are allies in the struggle against extremism — not a source of extremism as some right-wing pundits and politicians insist.

When it comes to how American Muslims perceive America, there is more that is surprising. Another study, “Muslim Americans: Faith Freedom and the Future,” a large sample survey conducted over a period of two years by Gallup, reveals that American Muslims — more than members of any other community — claim that they are “thriving in America.” This is a remarkable condition for a community which is under so much scrutiny from the media, law enforcement and the US Congress itself.

Neither bad economy nor odious politics seem to faze American Muslims’ faith in America. Eight out of ten American Muslims approve of US President Barack Obama, whose overall approval ratings are at the lowest point since he assumed the presidency, and American Muslims have the most confidence in the honesty of the American political system, more than any other religious community.

But perhaps the findings on religious tolerance offer the most reason for optimism. The Gallup report found that American Muslims are, along with Mormons, the most religiously tolerant of groups. Only eight percent of American Muslims feel estranged from other faiths, while 92 percent of them are “tolerant” or “tolerant and accepting” of other faiths!

I suspect that this high regard for pluralism is actually a reflection of holding a high regard for religion itself. Muslims who attach a great deal of significance to their faith naturally have an affinity towards those who share their reverence for God.

I hope that those Americans who are being misled by the so-called anti-sharia initiatives in the United States read this report. It casts serious doubts on the assertions that Muslims — members of America’s most tolerant religious community — aspire to impose their faith on others.

Finally, there is an interesting sub-story in this report, especially for those Muslims who believe that all Jews are “out to get” Islam and Muslims. According to the Gallup poll, American Jews more than any other group recognize the prevailing Islamophobia and prejudice against Muslims in America. In fact, 80 per cent of American Jews, next only to American Muslims (93 per cent), believe that American Muslims are loyal to America. Of all religious communities, Jewish Americans are least likely to believe that American Muslims might be Al Qaeda sympathizers. Both Muslims and Jews in America also have very similar views about the Arab-Israeli conflict: 78 per cent of Jews and 81 percent of Muslims support the vision of a Palestinian state coexisting alongside Israel.

I hope these findings give further impetus to the Muslim-Jewish dialogue and relations in the United States.

As we reflect on the tragedy of 9/11 and its aftermath, I hope we allow facts and reality to shape our thinking and reject the dark incitements that led to the tragedy in Norway.

Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Associate Professor at the University of Delaware and a Fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. He is the author of American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom and his website is www.ijtihad.org. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

The article can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/muqtedar-khan/american-muslims-tolerant_b_934515.html