— Muslim Alliance of Indiana

On Saturday, May 17, 2014, the Muslim Alliance of Indiana (MAI) hosted the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) for the “I Am Change” workshop. The event took place from 10 am to 2 pm at IUPUI’s Campus Center. Leaders and members of the Muslim community, in and around Indianapolis, attended the event.

The “I Am Change” workshop travels throughout the United States in an effort to educate and give Muslim-American communities the tools and ideas necessary to make changes to impact their communities. “I Am Change” focuses on several objectives during its workshops. These objectives include promoting civic engagement within Muslim communities, creating a better understanding of the different levels of government and how to become involved at each level, establishing skills necessary to talk about issues pertinent to Muslims with government officials and the media, and showing that change can be done by providing examples of Muslim-Americans who have made differences in their communities.

Haris Tarin, the Director of the Washington DC office of MPAC, presented the workshop on Saturday. Mr. Tarin touched on all of the “I Am Change” objectives. Mr. Tarin, throughout his presentation, produced examples from the Quran and Hadiths to show the importance of civic engagement. His theme throughout the civic engagement segment was, “If you’re not at the table, then you’re on the menu,” which is something Congressman Keith Ellison stated at a summit hosted by MPAC.

Mr. Tarin then discussed the various divisions within government. He explained how many leaders in federal, state, and local government have never met Muslims in their lifetime and explained that if those individuals never meet Muslims, then the policies they adopt will unlikely be favorable for Muslims and the needs and issues of Muslim-Americans will go unaddressed.

Mr. Tarin also explained that creating relationships with those individuals within government, no matter how small the government official’s position may seem, will enable those individuals to see actual Muslim-Americans and form opinions regarding Muslims based on that, as opposed to how the media presents Muslims.

With regard to this topic, Mr. Tarin broke the audience into different groups and asked the audience to devise a plan to create a hypothetical coalition and affect change in the community. Things needed to be done included recruiting the right individuals, brainstorming the necessary resources, and maintaining the vitality of the coalition. This showed the importance of creating relationships with individuals from all branches of government.

The final part of the workshop was to demonstrate how to effectively discuss the issues that are important for the Muslim-American community specifically. The important part of this was to ensure that when trying to make sure someone cares about the topic, as Muslims, we have to relate it to issues that those in government can relate to. Some of the things that everyone agrees on are values, so if the specific issues can be framed in a broad, general value that is shared by all Americans, then this will make it more likely that the government official will be compassionate about the issue. Mr. Harin then requested the audience, in their groups, to frame specific Muslim-American issues in terms of values shared by all Americans and present how each group would discuss those issues with government officials to ensure the officials would care and be able to relate to the issue.

On April 28^th, 2014, MAI hosted CIMO for the first meeting of this year. Representatives from Masjid Al-Mumineen, Share Inc., Al-Ilm Sunday School, Islamic School of Plainfield, Iqra Center of Indianapolis, Butler MSA, Islamic Center of Terre Haute, Islamic Society of Columbus and the University of Indianapolis MSA were in attendance.

The morning started with a breakfast and brief introduction of those present. Honorary Chairs, Judge David Shaheed and Dr. Rami Saltagi shared the importance of CIMO and reminded the group that all influential initiatives have started with a small group of dedicated individuals.

Carey Craig, Secretary of CIMO lead the first presentation, providing the room with a brief overview of programs that benefitted CIMO members to date. Among those mentioned was Muslim Day at the State House, an initiative aimed at connecting Islamic leadership to local government officials. The initiative was open to a small delegation of individuals, specifically 22 men and woman, who sat with government officials and discussed local matters of community concern. Next, Waseema Ali, Chief of Staff of the MAI, lead the next discussion providing an overview of MAI programs relevant to CIMO and recommended a method of communication between the two bodies. She urged the group to see CIMO has a grassroots movement.

Perhaps, the most important part of the evening was when the President of the MAI, Azher Khan, shared a quote by John Maxwell. He said, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” On that note the Mr. Khan applauded each CIMO entity for their leadership and influence within the Muslim Community and urged a member to take lead of CIMO. He shared that the benefits of working together, working as a collective team, addressing disparities within communities, all reap countless benefits; however, someone needs to direct, organize, and galvanize CIMO communications. He suggested that this individual be deemed the Council President, a person who can remind the council of its purpose and mission, facilitate cooperation and consensus, and organize in a manner that effectively communicates the needs of the community with the appropriate change agents that can address those needs.

Alhumdulillah, the evening closed with a few individuals showing their interest and requesting more information about the position.

InshaAllah more will come out of CIMO in the near future. Stay tuned for more CIMO updates.

Are you an Islamic school, organization or place of worship? Write to Carey@indianamuslims.org to become a CIMO member.

CIMO as an entity that serves as the voice of different Muslim communities, an entity that creates solutions for disparities, and an entity that can make a larger difference in the entire Hoosier community by way of collective cooperation. MAI is the executive arm of CIMO when need be, in order to create programming that responds to the needs of the Muslim Community.

For immediate release INDIANAPOLIS- The board of direc­tors of the Mus­lim Alliance of Indi­ana (MAI) released the fol­low­ing state­ment regard­ing the kidnapping of 223 schoolgirls from the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School. 

“The MAI is disturbed and deeply saddened by the kidnapping of the young schoolgirls in Nigeria. We condemn all forms of intolerance and terrorism. Our prayers go out to the schoolgirls and their families for their safe return and for a cessation of intolerance and terrorism throughout the world.” 

For Immediate Release: INDIANAPOLIS – The board of directors of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana (MAI) released the following statement regarding Sunday’s shooting rampages at the Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas.

 “On behalf of Muslim Hoosiers, the Muslim Alliance of Indiana (MAI) condemns the horrific murders of the individuals at the Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom Retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas.  This was an act of aggression and prejudice.

Our prayers are with our Jewish brothers and sisters in Kansas as well as those here in Indiana and across our nation.  Their grief is also our grief.  

Together, Americans of goodwill will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder for the cause of peace and tolerance.  The time has long passed to cease these senseless acts of hatred.”

April, 14th, 2014