— Muslim Alliance of Indiana

MAI is excited to partner with MPAC to bring the “I Am Change” workshop to Indiana on May 17th and May 18th at IUPUI. By partnering with MPAC, we are one step closer to empowering our community to make that change. I AM CHANGE offers a unique program to empower Muslim Americans all around the country to stand up and advocate for the issues we all care about, and strengthen your ability to do it effectively.

The ‘I am Change’ workshop is about bringing the power of advocacy to our community.  The workshop is a half a day workshop and will teach three critical skills; (1) the in’s and out’s of how government works at all levels, (2) how to talk about the issues you care about with public officials and the media, and (3) how to promote civil engagement from an Islamic perspective with community members.

 The last Prophet of God (pbuh) said, “God will not change the condition of a people until they change themselves…” Let’s better equip ourselves to advocate that change.

Register NOW! Click HERE

Younger than 17? Click HERE for the YOUTH EDITION.

On the morning of February 8th, dozens of college students from IUPUI and Butler University volunteered at the Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. With below freezing temperatures and messy roads, it was quite a spectacle seeing the masses of students going to volunteer – not to mention it was at 9 am. Student volunteers united under the Muslim Student Association for the regular Gleaner’s Food Bank volunteer work. Gleaners is a large non-profit organization that serves daily meals to thousands of hungry men, women and children each year in central Indiana. The IUPUI and Butler Muslim Student Association joined forces to bring as many people as possible to volunteer for such a great and humble cause. “It’s eye opening to think that without Gleaner’s, many families and individuals wouldn’t have access to food” said Kareem Omara, an engineering sophomore at IUPUI. “I love what we [the MSA] are doing here.” Many other students like Kareem spent hours separating thousands of nonperishables between good, undamaged food and expired, damaged food donated by large corporations such as Walmart and Marsh. After four hours of hard, diligent work, the volunteers completed hundreds of boxes of food donations that will be fed to the impoverished and destitute of central Indianapolis.  

May God Almighty reward all those who devoted their time to help the needy.

MAI strongly believes that Mus­lim Hoosiers are at their best when we col­lab­o­rate and com­mu­ni­cate with one another. Fur­ther­more, MAI also believes our work, which aims to serve our diverse com­mu­ni­ties and to empower them, is best guided by input from the broad­est range of Mus­lim Hoosier voices. To help achieve these two goals, the MAI Board of Direc­tors approved a res­o­lu­tion in May of this year to estab­lish the Coun­cil of Indi­ana Mus­lim Orga­ni­za­tions. This statewide fed­er­a­tion will con­sist of the pres­i­dents of Mus­lim orga­ni­za­tions from across our state. The Coun­cil will meet twice annu­ally. It will pro­vide direc­tion for the MAI’s activ­i­ties and will aid the MAI’s efforts to strengthen the Mus­lim Hoosier community.

Mus­lim Hoosiers are strongest when we know each other and can dis­cuss our chal­lenges and solu­tions col­lec­tively and respect­fully. Unity is not agree­ing all the time but the will­ing­ness to come together and insure that we under­stand and respect one another. To use an old Amer­i­can adage: “united we stand, divided we fall.”

On Sunday, March 16, 2014, the Muslim Alliance of Indiana (MAI) teamed up with Unity Productions Foundation (UPF) to present a Docudrama Film produced by UPF titled, “Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story.”  There was a strong turnout at the Movie Premier, which took place in Carmel High School’s Dale E. Graham Auditorium.  The total number of guests in attendance was over 250 people.

The event began shortly after 4:30 p.m. with the honoring of Dr. Dorothy Simpson-Taylor.  Dr. Simpson-Taylor is a United States’ veteran and is on the board of the Sister Soldier Network, an organization dedicated to mobilizing, engaging, and supporting the health and well being of military families and veterans.  Dr. Simpson-Taylor was honored because of her commitment and courage to helping others, especially those military members who suffer from military related ailments, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

After presenting the award to Dr. Simpson-Taylor, Co-Executive Producer of “Enemy of the Reich,” Mr. Michael Wolfe gave the audience some insight on why he chose the story of Noor Inayat Khan.  One of the main attractions for choosing Khan’s story was because of the lack of exposure of Muslims who fought for the Allies during the Second World War.  There were many Muslims who fought for the Allies during that war.  Muslims from India came to assist the English and many Muslims from North and West Africa assisted the French.  However, their histories are largely untold by the history classes.

Another reason this story was important to Mr. Wolfe was that Khan had a very interesting and unique background.  Khan was a descendent of Tipu Sultan, an 18^th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore.  Khan’s father was Hazrat Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International.  And while growing up, Khan was brought up in a home that taught worship and faith, which is something she was able to use during the toughest of times during her work for the Allies during the war.

The film began with the background of Khan, by discussing her grandfather and parents.  It then transitions to the death of her father and how her strength became much more apparent, not only in her home, but also for the Allied troops.  Throughout the film, there is testimony from two of Khan’s nephews, along with historians from Universities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

After the end of the film, Mr. Azher Khan, President of MAI, gave a few words, once again congratulating Dr. Simpson-Taylor and thanking Mr. Wolfe for partnering with MAI to present the film. 

Our next even will be the “I Am Change,” a workshop about active citizenship. It’s about each of us embracing our rights as Muslim Americans to work with decision makers in our local communities, in our state legislatures, and in Congress to shape better policies.If you have questions regarding the event or would like to sign up, please do not hesitate to email Events@indianamuslims.org.

 Author: Romy Elswerky, MAI task force member