His Holiness’ official website quotes him as saying, “We must aim to end conflict in the name of religion. Your group is small, but it is like a seed. Without a seed there is no growth, but from one seed great things grow. Your work is wonderful and is one of the best ways to fulfill the wishes of the founders of your respective faiths.”

The American Islamic Congress is a nonprofit, non-religious, civil society development organization serving Muslims and Non-Muslims by promoting civil and human rights through advocacy, engagement and education. Visit http://www.aicongress.org for more information.

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Panelists Dr. Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, Dr. Asad Q. Ahmed and Dr. Omar Sultan Haque will discuss the establishments of scientific and religious truths, as well as interpretations of the Quran that seek to create consistency between Islam and modern science. Dr. Ahmed explains the importance of the subject saying, “Both science and religion determine how humans think about reality and how their self-consciousness and perceptions of others are shaped. In other words, both are fundamentally important to human experience. If there is real or perceived clash between the two, the exclusive and overlapping domains of both have to be investigated.”

The Science & Islam series aims to prompt discussion about the intersections of faith and science. Panelist Dr. Haque praised the series for, “its potential to engage crucial questions about the present and ideal place for rationality, evidence, authority, consensus, trust, imagination, and social forces in the formation of knowledge in both the philosophy of science and Islamic history and theology.”

What: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality

When: 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Where: City View Room, GWU Elliott School of International Affairs

Panelists:

• Dr. Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is professor of nuclear and high energy physics, and teaches at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. Over a period of 25 years, Dr. Hoodbhoy created and anchored a series of television programs that dissected the problems of Pakistan’s education system, and two other series that aimed at bringing scientific concepts to ordinary members of the public. He is the author of “Islam and Science – Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality,” now in 8 languages.  Keynote Speaker

• Dr. Asad Q. Ahmed is Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, The University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Ahmed specializes in early Islamic social history and Islamic intellectual history, with a special focus on the rationalist sciences.  He has authored several books and published numerous articles in the fields of Islamic rationalism, including philosophy, logic, and theology, in international journals and collected volumes.

• Dr. Omar Sultan Haque is a psychologist, physician, and philosopher, and an Instructor and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and in the Program in Psychiatry and the Law at Harvard Medical School.  He is a co-Director of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, American Unit.  His research investigates empirical as well as normative questions at the intersections of psychology, medicine, religion, and philosophy.

• Dr. Muhammad H. Faghfoory is professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University where he teaches courses on Islam, Sufism, Islamic Art and Spirituality, Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Islamic Political thought, and Shi‘ite Islam and other related courses. He has lectured extensively in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, and participated in interfaith dialogue organized by American media. Currently, he is working on a book on Clergy-State Relations in Iran: 1979 – present. Moderator

Science and Islam is a series of dialogues analyzing the intersection of Islamic faith and science. These dialogues, which address issues like creation, evolution and extraterrestrial life, are held at college campuses across the country and feature a panel of prominent Muslim scientists. Visit http://www.aicongress.org/programs/science-and-islam for more information or to register for the next Science and Islam event.

Project Nur is a student-led initiative of the American Islamic Congress. It includes students from various backgrounds, cultures and faiths to work together on human rights and civil rights initiatives. Visit http://www.aicongress.org/project-nur/ for more additional information.

The American Islamic Congress is a nonprofit, non-religious, civil society development organization serving Muslims and Non-Muslims by promoting civil and human rights through advocacy, engagement and education. Visit http://www.aicongress.org for more information.

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Read the full story here.

To read his reflection in full click here or click here to view an extract from the service.

To read Executive Director Zainab al-Suwaij’s condolences please click here.

“We would also like to take this moment to thank all of those who have inquired about the safety of our own staff in our Boston Center just a few blocks from Copley Square. Thankfully nobody was hurt and all of our staff has been accounted for.”

The American Islamic Congress is a nonprofit, non-religious, civil society development organization serving Muslims and non-Muslims by promoting civil and human rights through advocacy, engagement and education. Visit http://www.aicongress.org for more additional information.

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Words of Witness is the first of four films that will be shown throughout the Boston area. Other films include: All I Wanna Do, which chronicles a father-son hip-hop group in Morocco, I am Gay and Muslim, which examines gay rights in the Islamic world, and David, which depicts a young Muslim boy’s struggle with identity in Brooklyn.

The Muslim Film Festival harnesses cinema to explore Muslim affairs beyond the headlines, for audiences of all backgrounds. The festival provides a forum to advance public understanding of the diversity of American Muslim cultural identity. Films screened range from Oscar-nominated releases from major studios to underground films by emerging American Muslim filmmakers.

When: 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Where: AIC Center Boston, 38 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116

Film information:

Words of Witness directed by Mai Iskander:Every time 22-year-old Heba Afify heads out to cover the historical events shaping her country’s future, her mother is compelled to remind her, “I know you are a journalist, but you’re still a girl!” Defying cultural norms and family expectations, Heba takes to the streets using tweets, texts and Facebook posts to report on an Egypt in turmoil. Her coming of age, political awakening and the disillusionment that follows, mirrors that of a nation seeking the freedom to shape its own destiny, dignity and democracy.

For more information on upcoming screenings visit aicongress.org/events.

The American Islamic Congress is a nonprofit, non-religious, civil society development organization serving Muslims and Non-Muslims by promoting civil and human rights through advocacy, engagement and education. Visit http://www.aicongress.org for more information.

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The ascent of the Muslim Brotherhood in Parliament and the election of President Mohammed Morsi has given rise to a fierce political battle between Islamists and the mostly secular and liberal opposition. In the wake of the 2011 revolution, Egyptians and observers worldwide are closely following the increasingly influential role that Islam has had on Egyptian politics as many wonder how this will affect the democratic process and religious freedom in Egypt.

When: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, 2013

Where: Rayburn Congressional Office Building, Room B339, Washington D.C. 20515

Panelists:

Eric Trager, the Next Generation Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, where his research focuses on Egyptian opposition parties. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts, and his writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic. From 2006-2007, Trager lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Dr. Dwight Bashir is the Deputy Director for Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).  He is a specialist on human rights and religious freedom in the Middle East and North Africa, preventive diplomacy, and ethnic and sectarian conflict. He has published widely on an array of topics in international affairs, including democracy and religious freedom, peace and security, extremism, and reform in the Middle East. Dr. Bashir has contributed to various reports published by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, among others, and participates regularly in trainings of refugee and asylum officers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Before joining USCIRF, Dr. Bashir worked as a consultant with the United Nations and with non-governmental organizations focusing on human rights and international conflict analysis and resolution.

The American Islamic Congress is a nonprofit, non-religious, civil society development organization serving Muslims and Non-Muslims by promoting civil and human rights through advocacy, engagement and education. Visit http://www.aicongress.org for more additional information.

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“Western is a multicultural and diverse university, and focused on a lot of things that Project Nur is very focused on — intercultural understanding, dialogue, breaking down cultural barriers and dispelling stereotypes,” he said.

Read the rest of the story in the Western Front here.

Indigenous Peoples make up the most diverse group of individuals in the world and span across 90 countries. All together, the UN recognizes about 400 million individuals, with over 5,000 distinct tribal affiliations, as Indigenous People. Although Indigenous People possess some of the most bio-diverse and resource rich territory in the world, they face significant challenges including state exploitation and pressures of modernization and globalization.

When: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 14, 2013

Where: AIC Center, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036

Panelists:

Luis Felipe Duchicela serves as the Senior Advisor for Indigenous Peoples for the World Bank. His primary job is to create a constructive dialogue with Indigenous Peoples worldwide to achieve deeper understanding and to work together towards sustainable development. He also assists the World Bank’s regional and country offices to better assess the situation of Indigenous Peoples and prepare plans and programs that take into account their ancestral knowledge, cultural identity and legal rights. Duchicela previously served as the Executive Director of the Amazon Conservation Association, the Regional Project Director for the Rainforest Alliance and the National Secretary of Indigenous Affairs of Ecuador.

Jacqueline Tiller serves as Grants Coordinator for First Peoples Worldwide. She works to provide funding directly to Indigenous communities through a channel that respects their ideas and voices. Before joining First Peoples Worldwide, Tiller worked in progressively responsible positions in the grant-making department of the US-based First Nations Development Institute and served as Associate Director of Training and Technical Assistance, providing training, technical assistance, and referrals to Native community projects across the US. She is a past board member of Native Americans in Philanthropy and the Community Food Security Coalition, and has participated on several Federal grant review panels advocating for Indigenous community projects.

This event is cosponsored by First People’s Worldwide. For more information visit http://www.firstpeoples.org/.

The American Islamic Congress is a nonprofit, non-religious, civil society development organization serving Muslims and Non-Muslims by promoting civil and human rights through advocacy, engagement and education. Visit http://www.aicongress.org for more additional information.

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