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The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan is saddened by the news coming out of Haiti. The Island nation was hit by a strong earthquake early Wednesday January 13, 2010. Tens of thousands are feared dead and many more are injured.
The earthquake destroyed thousands of buildings large and small, hospitals, schools, even the Red Cross headquarter was damaged.
In response to this disaster, the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan launched a fundraising drive to help the victims of the tragedy. Alhamdulilah the community responded generously by donating directly to ISCOM or to various relief organizations. ISCOM would like to thank the community for their donations.
The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan is pleased to announce that the the fundraising dinner for the day of Goodness on April 19, 2009 was a great sucess.
About $100,000 was raised and pledged. ISCOM would like to thank everyone for their support and generous donation.
The day of goodness is a day on which the Muslim community in southeast Michigan comes together in support of its own by supporting programs that are important to all the community.
The first annual ISCOM summer picnic took place on August 9, 2008 at Fordfield park in Dearborn. This was an effort by the shura council to bring Muslims from different Islamic centers together to help build a sense of one Ummah. Despite some rough weather elements many showed up and enjoyed a great tasting food while the kids kept busy playing in the moon-walk and other games. Later the attendees enjoyed themselves to a game of soccer. The Shura council plan more picnics in the summer next year inshaallah in different locations to accommodate our community.
Please click here to view picture from the picnic.
The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan hosted its first fundraising banquet on April 27, 2008. The goal of the event is to help support the shura council charitable and humanitarian activities. The Day of Goodness is a unique fundraising activities that brought Muslims from Ann Arbor to Saint Claire Shores and from Flint to Detroit to support many worthy Islamic projects in southeast Michigan, including Muslim Family Services and HUDA clicic.
The event was well attended. The guests were treated to an intellectual thoughtful presentation by DR Sherman Jackson who in no equivocal terms stressed the importance of working together to build a legacy of good work by Muslims in this country and how this is crucial for our future here.
The Fundraising activities was done By DR Abed Elmanan Alo who with his talented fundraising skills encouraged the attendees to contribute. The attendees responded and a total of about $100,000 was pledged. While this result is great however it fell short of what needed to adequately fund these programs, and more effort to reach out to the rest of the community is needed.
To pictures from the day of Goodness Banquet 2008. Please click here.
The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan hosted a fundraising event to help and support the civilian population in Gaza. the fundraising took place on Sunday January 25, 2009 at the Muslim unity Center in Bloomfield Hills
The event was a great success about 250 individuals attended the event. The speakers included Dr Maher Kafri who just returned from Gaza where he risked his life to help the people by spending few days working in hospitals. Bana Sakr a student from the University of Michigan also spoke about "Ann Arbor Palestinian Film Festival" to build knowledge of the Palestinian and Arab people among American. Finally Dr Ramzi Mohammad spoke and encouraged the attendees to donate/ About $90,000 were raised and the money will be sent through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ( UNRWA) and others like the International Medical Corps (IMC) to deliver much needed humanitarian help to the civilians in Gaza.
To see more photos of the event please click here.
Alhamdulilah the Michigan Oudjhia/Qurbani program for 2008 was a great success. 607 lambs were donated and a total of about 34,000 pounds of meat was distributed to needy families and to soup kitchen in southeast Michigan area through the Gleaners food bank. The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan would like to thank Allah SWT for his blessing and for this success. We would like also to thank our community for their continuous support. May Allah reward you all for your generosity.
To view more photos, please click here.
Alhamdulillah! The Oudhia program this year is a great success. A total of 625 lambs were donated. Total of about 30,000 pounds of meat was distributed to about 800 needy families. Thousands of pounds were donated to soup kitchen in southeast Michigan with the help of the Gleaners Food Bank with a message stating that the meat is a gift from the Muslim community in Michigan. This is an important gesture to show that Muslims care about the rest of the community at large who are also in need.
The Islamic Shura Council would like to thank God for His blessing and for this success. We also would like to thank the local mosques, Islamic Relief, Life for Relief and Development and Mercy-USA for Aid and Development for participating in this program. May God reward you all for your hard work.
Background:
With the thriving of our community, the community needs are growing. Many worthy projects are initiated. This has created a stress on our resources and dilemma in prioritizing.
To help present a a solution for this issue. the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan is presenting a novel concept to our community. Based on the teaching of the Quran "And help one another to do what is right and good" (Chapter 5: verse 2). The Shura council using the concept of "shura" ( consultation) will prioritize the needs of our community and bring the community from all over Michigan to support these projects. On one day the community will shine and compete in supporting these worthy projects. This day we shall call "the day of Goodness" . On that day we hope to bring out the goodness of the community for the betterment of all.
This year The membership of the shura council chose two worthy projects to launch this new tradition, The first one is "Muslim Family Services" and the second one is HUDA clinic. Both are in desperate need for our support, yet both are crucial to our community.
On the Day of Goodness” we hope to meet the challenges of today , build a better tomorrow and help strengthen our community and aid in building better America for all.
Alhamdulilah! The Oudhia program this year is a great success. A total of 625 lambs were donated. The distribution of the meat will start on December 29, 2007. It will go to needy families and soup kitchen in the Detroit area.
The Islamic Shura Council would like to thank God for His blessing and for this success. We also would like to thank the local mosques, Islamic Relief, Life for Relief and Development and Mercy-USA for Aid and Development for participating in this program. May God reward you all for your hard work.
The Detroit News had a nice article about Eid Aladha and mentioned the meat drive program. To read the article please click on the following link.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/METRO/712200354
For more articles click on the links below.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/LIFESTYLE04/712290334/1041
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1204354
On a beautiful September day in Detroit, the Muslims community celebrated the month of Ramadan by coming together and extending a hand to the needy in Detroit many of them are homeless. The Second street in Detroit was buzzing with activities as large crowd of community volunteers flocked the street and distributed thousands of sweaters, hats, socks, and hygiene packs. A nice meal was also provided. HUDA clinic was also there checking the hundreds of the needy for high blood pressure, blood sugar and high Cholesterol level.. The ones found to have abnormal results were counseled and referred to the HUDA free clinic on Davison street in Detroit.
This event was a community effort, Hundreds of volunteers participated and donated their time. Member organizations of the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan supported the event by financially supporting the event with donation. Islamic Relief was also a sponsor of the event and many other similar events nationwide.
The Muslims in the Detroit area celebrated the month of Ramadan, the month of giving and generosity by practicing their believe. Hundreds of volunteers participated in “ Humanitarian Day”. They braced the cold weather with the warmness of their believe to distribute to thousands of homeless and needy individuals a gift from the Muslims in southeast Michigan. Thousands of hygiene packs, clothing, and hot meal were distributed. Toys, children books were also distributed to the children. The Huda clinic was also in action providing free basic health screen to every one interested.
The events was a great success, The Muslim youths came in full force and with great enthusiasm. With great energy and strong believe in the mercy of Islam they helped make this event happened.
Below is a copy of the letter sent to President George W. Bush. A similar letter was sent to Senators Carl Levin, Debbie Satbenow, and to Congressman Joe Knollenberg.
Dear President Bush,
It is with great concern that we write to you concerning the deteriorating condition of Lebanon and the Palestinian occupied territories. Israel’s excessive and disproportionate use of force attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is unacceptable and immoral. It is in violation of our American value that cherishes life as a God given right to all humanity.
We strongly recommend that the United States take an active role in diplomatic efforts to end the violence, address the effects of the disproportionate attacks on the civilian populations, and ease the deteriorating humanitarian situation.
The United States approach should be just and fair, representing the interest of the Unites States not that of Israel. We need a policy that projects the true American value abroad.
Failure to stop the Israeli aggression only serves and strengthens extremism in the region, which ultimately will jeopardize American interest abroad. We must at all cost project an Image of America that values human life and dignity.
Of particular concern is the large number of US citizens currently in civilian areas targeted by Israel in Lebanon. We request that all efforts be exerted to assure their safe return home as soon as possible.
As the voice of the Muslim Community in Michigan, we ask you to put forward every effort to bring about immediate cessation of violence against and the inhumane conditions endured by the civilians in the regions of Lebanon and Palestine.
Islamic Shura Council of Michigan
On May 13, 2006 the Islamic Shura council convened and discussed issues of moon-sighting. Dr Abdallah Idris and dr Mouhib Durani (an astronomer) were present. Below is the result of the shura. This is a non binding recommendation but ISCOM members are encourage to follow this recommendations. The majority of the centers in attendance agreed to abide by it.
The following was the consensus and result of the shura
There was a consensus to follow the ruling of the Assembly of the Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA). This ruling can be found at: www.amjaonline.com/English/headline.asp?Headid=74
The attendees agreed to the followings specifics:
The Islamic Shura council of Michigan Condemns the Publishing of the offensive cartoon, insulting the prophet Mouhammad peace be upon him. Below is the text of the letter sent to the Embassy of Denmark in Washington DC.
islamic shura council of michigan
1830 West square lake road
bloomfield hills, michigan 48302 www.islamicshuracouncil.com
Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen
Embassy of Denmark
3200 Whitehaven St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
We are writing to express our great dismay and disappointment for the failure of the Government of Denmark to respond to the concerns of millions of Muslims regarding the publication of cartoons on September 30, 2005 on the pages of Jyllands-Posten. These offensive images depicted our beloved Prophet Mouhammad in a false and defaming manner.
We understand and appreciate freedom of expression, however, we make a distinction between free speech and hate speech. A defaming cartoon that implies that Islam is a terrorist faith and Muslims are terrorists is a form of hate speech that no government should accept.
Every civilization sets boundaries for what is acceptable, including speech. It is but a test for every civilization to find the right balance between rights and wrong. Furthermore, nations must always strive to uphold justice. It is ironic that these offensive cartoons appeared in Denmark, the same country that was able to resist the holocaust and save most of its Jewish citizens. We have hoped that the same enlightened view would be extended to Islam and Muslims. To allow such message of hate to take hold while championing enlightenment, fairness and equality is at best hypocritical.
As we denounce the offensive nature of this publication we also denounce any violent protest that leads to destruction of properties or personal injury. As we stated before that there should be a limit on hate speech. We say that there should be a limit on destructive protest.
We realize that the Danish Government has no direct control over any newspaper. However, what we request is a firm position from the government denouncing the publication of such hateful material. We request that you urge this paper to also allow fair Muslim writers a chance to write about the true legacy of Prophet Muhammad.
Finally, we urge you to take the appropriate steps to make sure such incident does not happen again. We urge the Danish Parliament to broaden laws against hate speech. There are several European models of laws against anti-Semitism that can serve as a template. All religions, cultures and ethnic groups must be off limits for hateful words or deeds.
In conclusion, Many of us are deeply offended by the incident and will simply not purchase any goods with the label “Made in Denmark”. We are certain the hundreds of Millions of Muslims will be doing the same. Those who defame our beloved Prophet do not deserve our business. In a world full of hate; the love, mercy, compassion and humanity that prophet Muhammad embodied, can be an example for the whole universe.
Sincerely,
The Islamic Shura council of Michigan
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060215/NEWS05/602150437
The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan is pleased to introduce Michigan Oudhia program. Oudhia is to sacrifice an animal or pay for an animal to be sacrifice in remembrance of God excusing Prophet Abraham from sacrificing his son, allowing him to sacrifice an animal instead. For the first time in Michigan Muslims could do their oudhia here at home.There are thousand of needy Muslim families who will benefit from this. In addition to that some of the meat will be given to the Gleaners (Michigan food bank) to be distributed to soup kitchens in Detroit area to help feed the hungry.
To accomplish the mission we teamed up with Islamic relief a well know and respected charitable organization and with local Islamic centers.
As of January 12, 2006 approximately 13,000 pounds of meat was donated and it will be distributed to the needy Muslims and non-Muslims in the Detroit metropolitan area. To mark this event the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan and Islamic Relief will have a press conference at the Gleaner Community Food Bank located at 2131 Beaufait Detroit MI 48207. On Saturday January 14 at 9:00 AM. www.gcfb.org
