Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/engage-minnesota/page/5/)
By Humaira Afzal • 10/8/08 • Minnesota is global: We neither live nor work in an insular society. We are instead part of a growing and competitive economy that demands companies be more creative and more open to diversity. Our state’s Somali population, the largest in the nation, helps give Minnesota a competitive edge.
Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan), 9/1/08 • “O who believe, fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you; perchance you will guard yourselves.”
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“The month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down, a guidance for the people, and clear verses of guidance and criterion.”
[Quran: Chapter 2, 183]
By Onder Uluyol, Engage Minnesota, 8/1/08 • Last summer I went to Turkey to visit my birthplace and my relatives who live there. During a family gathering, I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard two of my relatives agreeing on what the U.S. is doing in the Middle East and what is best for Turkey. You see, one of those relatives is a die-hard socialist who believes in extensive state control in economy, education and healthcare and sees religion as an impediment to the society. Continue Reading
By Heba Abdel-Karim, 6/23/08 • You have an everyday link to Muslims. Yes, you do. You may not realize it, but there are many things we use in our daily lives that come from a “Muslim” background. From math and science to education and commerce, it may surprise you how much Muslim inventions have influenced the world, starting centuries ago and making their overlooked way into our day-to-day lives.
by Lydia Howell, 6/5/08 • On May 28, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., hosted Iran scholars for a community forum in a packed hall at the First Unitarian Society church in Minneapolis. The focus was on the U.S.-Iran relationship, estranged for over 30 years, which many fear may become the next chapter in the Bush administration’s “war on terrorism.”
by Elias Karmi, Engage Minnesota, 5/31/08 • In recent years, much has been said in the media about Islam and countries with Muslim majorities. At first, many reports were made with conspicuous bias due to the public outrage at the events of 9/11. Slowly, more reports are being made with an extra effort at being objective.
by Autif Sayyed, American Muslim Community Center, 5/26/08 • On May 20, the City of Eden Prairie honored American Muslim Community Center (AMCC) and three churches–Eden Prairie United Methodist Church, Pax Christi Catholic Community and Prairie Lutheran Church–with its annual Human Rights Award. The award was in recognition of our participation in planning and executing the Interfaith Worship Service Program in 2006 and 2007. These events brought together hundreds of people of different faiths to celebrate the commonalities held by all and to promote peace, tolerance, and awareness.
by Marcia Lynx Qualey, 5/19/08 • The Minnesota Department of Education on May 19 issued a report clearing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of the major allegations leveled against it and requesting that the school address smaller areas of concern.
by Marcia Lynx Qualey and Asma L. Saroya, 5/16/08 • A civil rights group is working again to debunk the myth that Muslims and dogs can’t get along.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today is clarifying Muslim beliefs about dogs and expressing support for a St. Cloud State University student who felt his service dog was threatened. CAIR-MN issued a statement following a May 12 article in the St. Cloud Times, which said that graduate student Tyler Hurd left the university because he feared for the safety of his dog.
by Marcia Lynx Qualey, 5/11/08 • Engage Minnesota • Gail Anderson isn’t asking you to make a new best friend. “I think if next Wednesday night, we get a number of Christians to walk into a mosque—that’ve never been in a mosque before—then I think we’ve done something,” said Anderson, unity and relationships organizer with the Minnesota Council of Churches.
Anderson helps head up the interfaith project “Taking Heart,” which brings Muslim and non-Muslim neighbors together over good meals and good conversation.
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