Here is the video of the interview conducted on live television on May 12, 2008 at the Noor TV studios for the FALAH TV program. This is my abridged ‘conversion to Islam’ story.

To view the full interactive video, please click on the speech bubble icon next to the time code (00:21:49). You can add comments and tags at specific points on the video by mousing over the large white and gray circle. A green ‘plus’ icon will show, click on that to add your comments and tags. You can mouse over the small black and gray dots on the progress bar to see comments and tags from others.

Click here to see a larger version video: http://www.viddler.com/explore/islamcrunch/videos/1/

I would like to thank Sidi Feraidoon Mojadeddi for inviting me for the interview. I would also like to thank Sidi Fahim Mojadeddi for taking care of me during the interview. Most importantly, I would like to thank my wonderful Su for her support, patience, love and companionship.

It is with great honor to announce that Shaykh Abdul-Kareem Yahya is visiting the San Francisco Bay Area during the months of May and June, 2008. He will be teaching and lecturing at various venues during his visit.

Shaykh Abdul-Kareem will be teaching about the Seerah of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) at the Hayward Halaqah gatherings.

• Session 1: From birth to prophethood
• Session 2: Makkah
• Session 3: Madinah

Shaykh Abdul-Kareem will also be teaching from “The Book of Assistance” at the Zawiya in Fremont on Sunday evenings after Maghrib.

His first public lecture will be conducted on Sunday, May 25 at Masjid Abu Bakr in Hayward from 5pm  – 7pm. Here is a link to the Facebook events page.We will continue to provide updates as we finalize the details.

IslamCrunch is honored to be working with the Hayward Halaqah team and the Zawiya Outreach Program.

Confirmed speakers: Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir and Imam Tahir Anwar, Sister Rabia Khedr

Sunday, May 11, 2008 (Mother’s Day) in Fremont, California. Special tribute to Sidi Abdul Sattar Rydhan.

Organizers: Zaytuna Institute & Rumi Bookstore & SBIA

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=17092165855&ref=mf

The organizers are looking for donations. Sponsorship packages are also available ($1000 – full reserved table, $1500 – full reserved table + your organization’s logo on all promotional material). We are seeking sponsors from women’s organization. If you are interested, please contact us.

This post was added to remain on the front page of our site until the event is over. This was requested by the organizers.

Not only is this an exclusive interview but also our first interview request via Twitter. We sent a direct tweet to the founder and VP of Marketing, Ashraf Mansoor asking for an exclusive interview. He was very gracious to participate and discuss Twffaha, a new job recruitment portal specifically for women in the Middle East. Twffaha is based in Sudan and has already been featured on several sites, check out this review from StartupArabia. This interview marks their first media article via a Western Muslim site. Ashraf is also very kind to offer our female readers looking for work in the Middle East a beta invite to their site. Read the interview for instructions.

IslamCrunch: What is your web application/service about?

Twffaha: We connect women who are looking for jobs to employers who are looking to recruit women for certain vacancies. Twffaha is the only portal specialized in recruiting women in the Middle East.

IslamCrunch: Why did you start this project?

Twffaha: We feel that the online recruitment market in the Middle East is already full with prominent players. However, as a job seeker or employer you will find it harder every time you look for a job or advertising a job in case
you were an employer. The market needs to be more organized, and that
can be achieved by exploiting niches and adding value for both parties, job seekers by offering them a portal that is only aimed at women, and employers by reducing their recruiting costs and offering them more focused job postings.

IslamCrunch: How does your project relate to Muslims? Or is your project geared towards a general audience?

Twffaha: Twffaha.com is geared toward a general audience, we do not ask for
information regarding your religion background. However, we do not allow
employers to post jobs related to activities we deem illegal in Islam. For example,
if an employer posted a related to Alcohol/Bars through our service we will remove the job posting and refund him/her.

IslamCrunch: How much time do you devote to its growth?

Twffaha: As a startup we devote a large chunk of our time in developing, marketing, and managing Twffaha.com in order to ensure it will keep growing organically. Working for 50 hours a week is our average.

IslamCrunch: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

Twffaha: The team behind the service comes from different cultures and background. We are well experienced with web development as Twffaha is actually our third project, although it is the first one we operate solely. Our team currently consists of two main members Ashraf Mansoor who is in charge of Development and Marketing and Ammar Mustafa who is responsible for Operations and Sales. We are looking to hire 3 more talented individuals to join our team in the following 2-3 months enshallah.

IslamCrunch: What is your design/service philosophy?

Read the rest of this entry »

The Zaytuna Distance Learning Spring Semester will be launching soon. One of the new courses is “Getting Back to Basics: Islam 101″with Imam Zaid Shakir.

Course description:

A course explaining the basics of Islamic belief and worship with a concentration on the elements and issues that are essential for the sound and practical practice of Islam in our time.  Appropriate and beneficial for not only the new Muslim, but for any Muslim living in the West, this course will cover “the Five Pillars,” “the Articles of Faith,” aqidah, basic fiqh, and critical issues such as appropriate gender relations and how to defend oneself against the attacks currently being levied against Muslims.

Originally taught in Zaytuna during the Winter 2007 quarter, the Zaytuna team has released this course as part of the Spring 2008 quarter. Another new course is “The Prophetic Characteristics: Part III” taught by Sidi Yahya Rhodus.

Visit http://www.zaytuna.org/distancelearning.asp for more details. Video clips will be added to the Zaytuna Facebook Page.

Please share this post with your friends and family. Please encourage them to register for classes. Here is a testimonial from our brother & fellow activist:

“For years I have searched for an affordable distance learning program to quench my thirst for Islamic Knowledge. Finally, with the advent of Zaytuna Institute’s Distance Learning program, I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn from knowledgeable teachers who are inspirational individuals in their own right. I look forward to being a student of Zaytuna Distance Learning program for years to come inshAllah”

- Adam Soltani

Due to the *very* personal relationship with the Distance Learning Program Manager at Zaytuna, we have the exclusive honor of posting this announcement first.