Shaykh Faraz Rabbani has just announced (via the ever-popular Facebook status) that his new venture is SeekersMedia. After recently leaving Sunnipath, questions about where Shaykh Faraz would surface were rampant on our minds. Now we know.

What is SeekersMedia?
SeekersMedia is an online media portal for Islamic and inspiration, through downloadable media. There will be educational media, quality Qur’anic media (with translation and commentary), and inspiring Islamic songs available, insha’Allah. We will also offer some courses, such as the current courses on Islamic law (Mukhtar Dars) and beliefs (Kharida Dars)
We also have plans to give high priority to an Islamic Answers Service (SeekersAnswers.com) which will be forthcoming, insha Allah.

Source: http://seekersmedia.com/shop/index.php?main_page=page&id=26

More info can be found on their FAQ page. Their structure is very similar to the Zaytuna Distance Learning program (which the faqir manages, alhamdulillah): Register, login, access your weekly course file, additional files uploaded throughout the remainder of the course.

Shaykh Faraz informed us that this is just the beginning and that there are bigger things planned.

There are two current courses available:

• Understanding Islamic Law: Mawsuli’s Mukhtar Explained (Part I: Worship)
• Understanding the Way of Islamic Beliefs: Imam Dardir’s Kharida Explained with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz also teaches at The Razi Institute in Toronto.

We just received notice that the well-known North American company, Al-Safa Halal, that specializes in frozen packaged halal food will be sold to a Muslim company. Formerly owned by non-Muslims, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the ‘halalness’ of their products. Hopefully this announcement will dispel any concerns that Muslims tend to panic over instead of worrying about more important issues.

We are not overlooking the importance of consuming zabihah products (we fully support the Zabihah movement and do not subscribe to any ‘convenient’ non-zabihah fatwas). We only hope that more concern and efforts would be directed to issues that are detrimental to the growth of Islam.

We would like to hear your comments on Al-Safa, the state of halal or zabihah food in North America and/or Europe. Please add them in the comments section.

Announcement Regarding the Sale of AL SAFA HALAL

Mr. Adnan Durrani and American Halal Company, which is wholly owned by him, has signed a binding agreement to purchase AL SAFA, North America’s leading HALAL brand. Mr. Durrani will be the new Owner, Chairman and Chief Halal Officer (CHO) upon the closing date, which is anticipated to be early next year. Directly reporting to Mr. Durrani will be Steve Hahn (S.VP & COO) who co-founded AL SAFA HALAL in 1999. Mr. Durrani is a prominent member of the Muslim community and a charter member of the American Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies, as well as being a highly successful food entrepreneur and venture capitalist.

Mr. Durrani will be managing AL SAFA HALAL on a full time basis, bringing together two decades of experience in building niche food brands into major household brand names. He was also a founding partner of Stonyfield Farms yogurt, now the largest organic yogurt brand in the world with over $350 million in sales. Mr. Durrani commented, “I am extremely excited about buying AL SAFA. I have always felt it is the only true halal brand, especially since it is hand slaughtered which I am dedicated to. Just as I did for organic foods, I intend to build AL SAFA and American Halal into the most recognized and trusted Shariah compliant halal food company in North America.”

Following this brief announcement will be an official press release from Mr. Durrani’s office as the closing nears.

Note: this announcement was received via email from Al-Safa.

President Bush recognizes that terrorists are not Muslims. Maybe he didn’t get the memo the first time it was circulated. At the recent Ramadan iftar dinner at the White House on October 5, 2007, Mr. Bush mentioned that violent extremists are not Muslim.

“They attack holy sites, destroy mosques and minarets, and kill innocent men, women and children — including Muslims who do not share their radical views,” he said. “They believe that by spreading chaos and violence, they can frustrate the desire of Muslims to live in freedom and peace.
“We say to them: ‘You don’t represent Muslims. You do not represent Islam, and you will not succeed,’” Bush said.

Navy Lieutenant Commander Abuhena M. Saifulislam, a chaplain with the US Navy and present at the iftar dinner, informed Mr. Bush of the hadith that those who invite others to break the fast receive the same reward as those who are fasting. Imam Saifulislam told Bush that the Muslims have got him “covered”.

The menu was not your typical iftar fare: Squash soup with lavash, spiced rack of lamb; cucumber-tomato salad with minted yogurt dressing, and baklava with pomegranate for dessert. We were hoping for some briyani, mee rebus, spicy chicken wings, satay, tagine and some other popular iftar choices. We didn’t get a chance to try to the dessert, though*.

We would like to add 2 IslamCrunch side notes:

• The Muslims will guard and protect all those who are righteous and just.
• Where are all the kufis (Islamic headgear for males) in the White House?

Photo credit: Chris Greenberg

Official Press Release: Bush Calls Ramadan Time to Unite in Confronting Extremism

Decent Commentary: Bush dines with Muslims, ‘covered’ by blessing

* = Of course we didn’t get to try the dessert… we were not there!  

We have been blessed with two recent opportunities. As some of our readers have noticed, I have been invited to be a volunteer moderator on Muxlim.tv. The Muxlim team are very dynamic and have been very gracious. It has been such a fun experience, alhamdulillah. Being an admin and good friend of the Muxlim team has it’s perks; already I have had 4300+ on my channel. Two videos have hit more than 750+ views. Check out the IslamCrunch channel as well.

We were delighted to have been invited as an early partner for Muxlim’s Ramadan Marathon Charity. To read more about Muxlim.tv, click here: http://islamcrunch.com/archives/muxlimtv-has-launched/.

More recently, I have been asked to join as an admin on Imam Zaid Shakir’s blog team. Not only is this a prestigious opportunity to work (again) with a leading intellectual, I get to work with Expression Engine! EE is a content management system and blog platform that I have always wanted to dive into.

So if you have a video that needs to be approved on Muxlim.tv or a comment that needs to be edited or approved on Imam Zaid’s blog, drop me a line.

Dave Chappelle + Unity Productions + Allah Made Me Funny Comedy = lots of laughs, plenty of entertainment and abundant reminders. After he caused a stir in the entertainment industry by suddenly leaving a $50 million dollar deal, Dave Chappelle has been more vocal about his faith. Now with this recent announcement, his faith should not be an issue of speculation. When we heard from the Allah Made Me Funny camp that Chappelle was on board, we scrambled into “PR” mode. We contacted the AMMF webmaster, posted links on Facebook and sent out emails. This is a continuation…

People in the DC area will be delighted to know that two warm-up sets will be conducted in mid-August 2007. Visit this link for the details: http://www.allahmademefunny.com/pr/dc/

The actual filming for the movie will take place in Anaheim, California in late August 2007. 

Time and Place Date: Saturday, August 25, 2007
Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Venue: Heritage Forum
Address: 201 E. Broadway, Anaheim, CA
Map: http://dwarfurl.com/c3407

The IslamCrunch team (at least half of us) intend to be there and we hope to meet our friends and readers. Here are some side notes behind the monumental press release:

• Seth Fuller = Word of Mouth PR firm for Allah Made Me Funny, other clients include Little Mosque on the Prairie TV show.
• Andrea Kalin = president of SparkMedia, currently working on “Prince Among Slaves“, a biography of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima. Here is a great interview with Andrea conducted by Unity Productions.
• Unity Productions = producer of “Prince Among Slaves”, details here: http://upf.tv/upf06/Projects/PrinceAmongSlaves/tabid/77/Default.aspx
• 3 days before the Anaheim show tune in on August 22 to watch Unity Productions’ “Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain” on PBS.