ICNA Islamic Circle of North America

BY MITKO GRIGORO

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 12:49 PM EDT

In an attempt to alleviate the problems of homelessness and poverty in the community, a new temporary housing unit for women is opening its doors in Jamaica.

Located at 87-91 144th Street, the center is operated by ICNA Relief USA, a subdivision of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a nationally-recognized Islamic, non-profit organization that has been serving both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities since its inception in 1967.

The shelter will provide clean and safe housing for women living in extreme poverty who are 18 years of age and older, legal residents of the United States, and demonstrate a desire to become self-sufficient and independent. Although ICNA is a Muslim organization, the center is open to all women regardless of religion or ethnicity as long as they follow the rules of no substance abuse, no violence, no foul language, and no men in the house. The shelter includes four bedrooms with a total of 10 beds for the women, a room for the resident counselor and a cozy kitchen, where food will be provided.

Once admitted, the women can stay for up to three months. While ICNA members realize that might not be a long period of time, they are trying to supplement it with personal development and career training and will refer the women to different jobs, eventually putting them on the path to become self-sufficient.

During the opening ceremony on Wednesday April 2, Khurshid Khan, President of ICNA, reminded an estimated three dozen people swarming the cramped quarters of the relief agency of the social services, community projects and activities that the organization has been providing for some time now.

“We were in Indonesia, in Pakistan, and in Bangladesh, when there was a disaster. We helped during [Hurricane] Katrina and the fires in California,” he said.

Through its numerous chapters across the United States and Canada, ICNA is dedicated not only to assisting its members in improving the spiritual aspects of their lives, but also to serve the community and initiate dialogue among religions.

“We work with Catholics and also Jewish groups. There are only a few differences [between the three religions] and many similarities,” Khan said.

Councilmember John Liu, who attended the meeting, congratulated ICNA on behalf of all New Yorkers. “ICNA is very well known for its work in the Muslim community,” he said. “We certainly support what [the organization] is doing here.

I would prefer that we didn’t need to have such a center, but the reality is that we do.”

Representatives from the offices of New York State Senator Malcolm A. Smith and Councilmembers Leroy Comrie and Tony Avella also took the lecturn to express their appreciation of ICNA’s community involvement and to offer their help and support for the cause. Sergeant Timothy Schmidt from the 103rd Precinct, who also attended the meeting, promised to work and cooperate with ICNA.

Today there are 36 million people living in poverty in the United States; almost half of them are women. The figures for New York State and Queens in particular are above the national average.

With the help of donations, ICNA Relief is hoping to help some of these women and assist them in becoming independent citizens. Currently, the organization is developing a similar shelter, dedicated to men.

“This is a humble beginning, but it is also only the beginning,” Malika Rushdan, director of Youth and Community Development at ICNA Relief, said.

For more information about the temporary housing for women or any of the other ICNA programs, including educational workshops, immigration support and family support services, call 718-658-7028 or visit ICNA
Relief USA on the web at www.icnarelief.org.

Source

 
—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
 
WhyIslam-Southern California to Hand out Free Qurans at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
 
LOS ANGELES, California (April 22,2008) – WhyIslam, a project of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) will be handing out free Qurans at this weekend’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on April 26 & 27. The Quran is the holy book of Muslims. This will be ICNA’s 3rd year of participation through its WhyIslam project; last year they handed out over 3,000 free Qurans.
Read more

Useful Links:

-Visit the ICNA-MAS Convention Official Website

-Register yourself for the Convention

-Register as a Vendor to Reserve your Booth at the Bazaar

-Watch Promotional Video on Youtube

-Promote the Convention by adding Web Banners your websites and
Distributing Flyers

-Volunteer to help make the convention a success

-Donate to ICNA to support our efforts

The Islamic Circle of North America is a leading grass roots organization that seeks to obtain the pleasure of Allah (SWT) through working for the establishment of Islam in all spheres of life. ICNA has many projects, programs, and activities that are designed to help in the process of molding the individual and reforming society at large.

The Islamic Circle of North America  (ICNA) congratulates Brother Hakeem Olajuwon, a devout Muslim, on his election to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
In the past, Br. Hakeem has openly made known that he is a practicing Muslim. He fasted during Ramadan despite facing dehydration in intense match ups. He stayed out on the basketball court while his teammates celebrated their Championship win with champagne baths in the locker room. He regularly attended prayers at his local mosque.
Read more

By Shireen Khan

It was evening rush hour in New York City. 42nd St. was packed, and I was hoping I would make the bus. His voice came out of the crowd.

“Take that rag off!”

Huh?

In my four months of working in New York, that was a first. Actually, that was a first in the seven years since I started wearing a hijab. A lot of people turned to look at me as he shouted those words. I don’t know exactly what I was feeling — some mixture of anger and embarrassment — but I knew I wanted to stop and explain to this man the significance of what he dismissed as a “rag.” He didn’t understand the one thing I cherished most, the thing that I took so much care in making sure I did right — my religion.

It’s second nature to me now, but in the beginning, learning how to put on my hijab was a challenge. I taught myself how to tuck my hair in neatly, where to fasten the safety pin, and what material would best stay put. It is now the thing that people notice first when they see me. As a 23-year-old Muslim woman, I can’t imagine walking out of my house without it.

The explanations for wearing the hijab often start with modesty. But modesty, like religiosity, is relative. Who am I to say that I am more modest than someone else just because I cover my hair? I cover because God commanded it in the Qur’an. Wearing the hijab is first and foremost an act of worship and obedience; after that, it serves to check my modesty.

Other values such as charity, tolerance and respect, are some of the same ones that Muslims, American or not, are taught to uphold in their daily lives. As an American-born Muslim, it’s easy for me to follow these values — just as easy as it is for my husband and his friends to gather together to watch the Super Bowl: just sketch in some beards,
insert a prayer break and delete the alcohol. (The legal drinking age is one American law that Muslims disregard completely — Islam prohibits alcohol consumption, at any age.) Such strict rules, to some, are a sign of extremism, and so are the beards — to some, our five daily prayers are another.

When I was nine years old, my father took a job in Saudi Arabia and moved our family from Virginia to Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, there was easy access to mosques — almost every street or neighborhood had one. While out shopping, I didn’t have to plan around prayer times: shops closed at each prayer, and we would simply walk over to the closest mosque, pray, then resume our shopping. It’s different in America. When I shop with a friend at a mall in New Jersey, we often find ourselves looking for a place to pray. We prefer quiet, secluded areas, but sometimes we have to resort to the fitting rooms. We carry outfits into separate stalls and pretend to try them on. When I finish praying, I ask my friend “Are you done?” Yes, she answers, but now she wants to try on the clothes, and more often than not, we actually end up leaving the store with a new pair of something.

Prayer is one of the five basic pillars of Islam. “Everyone prays,” my husband says. People innately want to call out to God. We all do it, in different ways. By missing my prayers, I would be shrugging off one of the most important, yet basic, obligations of my faith — being observant of it doesn’t make me less “American.”

So as I continued my walk to the Port Authority bus terminal that day, it might have seemed like I didn’t hear that man yell what he did. But I did. I just chose to ignore it. I figured it wasn’t the right time to have a discussion, so I just let it pass. I have rarely been bothered by anybody about my hijab. If anything, I often get complimented on it.
I may cover my hair for the sake of God, but I love getting it cut and styled. I have a husband who can’t understand how I spend so much time at the mall; I have big dreams for work; I play sports; I love to run. I cringe at the word extremist. And I thank God that I am both Muslim and American at the same time.

Shireen Khan is a producer for Time.com

Source:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1728061,00.html