Handshake Productions is a new venture of world famous comedians Preacher Moss and Azhar Usman. Outside of the Allah Made Me Funny domain, Preacher Moss is well known for his motivational, educational lectures. A natural born teacher, Preacher Moss excels in the media arena and in the academic circles. Azhar Usman, legal eagle extraordinaire, is also well known for Tinku’s World, an innovative web multimedia show.

We are blessed to be working with Handshake Productions to promote their events. Their inaugural event takes place in Toronto on December 22, 2007. Click the image above to visit see the full, hyperlinked image. Please watch this space for news and press releases about Handshake Productions.  With the creative minds of Preacher Moss and Azhar Usman, expect big things, insha’Allah.

The steadfast team behind of Hikma Foundation have been working hard to expand their educational scope for young Muslims and young-at-heart Muslims. We communicated with Faisal Qazi and Adam Motiwala to ask them for some background information on Hikma Foundation and their upcoming programs throughout the remainder of 2007 and through 2008. We are honored that IslamCrunch was chosen as the platform to preview the upcoming events with Dr. Sherman Jackson, Dawood Wharnsby Ali, Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Dr. Muneer Fareed, Sidi Hakim Archuletta and many more, insha’Allah.

Background info: Hikma started in 2005 with the aim of educating young professional Muslims on the lost avenue of Islamic thought. Hikma’s vision is to provide individuals with the intellectual tools that will enhance their understanding of Islamic tradition in the context of contemporary and enduring issues. Our vision embodies much of Dr. Sherman Jackson’s pursuit of spreading Islamic Literacy to the Muslim Community. We have taken this concept and created our own vision that has been manifested in our 2007/2008 programs.   

In our attempt to provide the Muslim Community with the tools needed to enhance their understanding of Islamic Thought, we featured Dr. Sherman Jackson when we sponsored his trip to Southern California for a 2-day Seerah intensive.  In the Summer of 2007 we had our summer discourse initiative that we plan to replicate this summer due to the communities response and need. We showcased local scholars such as Dr Aslam Abdallah of the Islamic Center of Las Vegas in discussing the enduring issue of Ethics: Trying to understand this concept from a Muslim perspective. We featured a local masters students research on Muslim Divorces in the West on our Divorce in Muslim the Community panel.

Currently, our Hikma team is preparing for our 2008 programs. More details of the programs will be listed on www.Hikma.org (which is currently being developed). A list of programs after the jump >>>

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The Lighthouse Mosque is a new organization initiated by Imam Zaid Shakir. When the former Masjid Al-Iman in Oakland, California relocated to Berkeley, Imam Zaid had the foresight to keep and maintain the property. Thus, the Lighthouse Mosque began.

From the Facebook Lighthouse Mosque Group page:

“The Lighthouse Mosque is a community-based, grassroots Islamic effort to create a space for the unencumbered worship of Allah. It is not affiliated with any organization, nor is it reserved to advance the program of any specific group. It is funded by members of the local community and is dedicated to facilitating the basic teaching of Islam, the Arabic language, and a program of services that will benefit the people of the local community. Our desire is to create a space where people can come together to reinforce their faith, share the love, sisterhood and brotherhood of Islam, and work together to find creative solutions to problems plaguing both the Muslim and the greater community. At the Lighthouse Mosque we say that all are welcome, your insights, input, and income (a small fraction).”

The photo above shows Imam Zaid with Sidi Yusuf OConnell holding up the new sign for the mosque.

Photo credit: Khadija OConnell / Barakah Life

(Disclaimer: Lighthouse Mosque Logo designed by Susanah Ishak, IslamCrunch Creative Director)

UPDATE: We have received a lot of traffic from people searching ‘lighthouse mosque’ on various search engines. If you are looking for the address: 4606 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA.

Fajr prayers are held regularly and more services (like classes, etc.) will be added as the Lighthouse Mosque evolves.

The Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has recently launched their new website. In addition to a new design, more functionality has been added. The site includes online membership registration with access to the following members-only features:

• Free downloads of select CAIR publications
• Daily or weekly subscription to CAIR’s informative and empowering e-mails
• 10% discounts on select CAIR events and publications
• CAIR’s “Know Your Rights Pocket Guide”
• Automatic online membership renewal

For the general user, the site offers access to action alerts, press releases and plenty of multimedia clips. Utilizing the importance of Muslim blogging, several top level CAIR personnel maintain a blog. Here is a list of blogs we found:

• Edgar Hopida Blog
• Ahmed Bedier Blog
• Dawud Walid Blog
• Parvez Ahmed Blog
• Nihad Awad Blog
• Hussam Ayloush Blog
• Iftekhar Hussain Blog

As for our involvement, we helped with the design…indirectly. Three IslamCrunch team members were invited for a publicity campaign photo-shoot. Some of the photos were used in CAIR’s new promotional brochure, on the website and at their ISNA Convention booth. We have provided a guide below to help you find some familiar IslamCrunch faces. We would like to thank Shafath Syed, president of the Bay Area CAIR executive committee who invited us to attend this prestigious opportunity.

Update: Images from the CAIR brochure Sept. 30, 2007 :::

Iqra bismi rabbika alladhee khalaqa – Read! In the name of your Lord who created…[Quran Chapter 96, Verse 1]

The Muslim Literary Society is a new “educational charity organization that promotes the intellectual, artistic and spiritual heritage of Islam through its classical literary works.” The MLS have collaborated with Sidi Muhtar Holland and Fons Vitae to publish 2 much-needed texts. The first text, al-Shama’il al-Muhammadiyyah (The Muhammadan Virtues), is due in Winter 2007.  The second text, Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din (Revival Religious Sciences), needs your support. The MLS is seeking donations which will help to complete the translation of Imam Ghazali’s renowned text and future projects. 

Visit Sidi Yursil’s blog for sample pages for the Ihya text. Also: full text of Sifat al-Muminun – Attributes of the Believers (Part 1).

Also, check out the MLS blog: http://themuslimliterarysociety.blogspot.com/

Thanks to our friend and brother: Sidi Irfan Nooruddin who is actively involved with MLS.