A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Dawah Letter to Public Schools |
|---|
| Kathy |
| 05/23/02 at 15:59:55 |
[slm] Today I met with a Public School Official- who is a Dr. in Education to help to write this letter- what do you think? I wanted his perspective and to point out red flags and what kind of information they are looking for for their classes. [code]Islamic Awareness Center 139 Oak Street Binghamton, NY 13901 555-1212 May 23, 2002 Dear Public School Officials: The Islamic Awareness Center is a nonprofit organization located in Binghamton and currently serving the Twin Tiers region of New York and Pennsylvania. Our goal is to supplement existing history and social studies education related to the Islamic religion and the Muslim people. In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, we find that incidents of prejudice, harassment, and hate aimed at American Muslim students and families have increased. We also find that even if Muslim students have not experienced such behavior, they have heard news reports and conversations that cast their religion in a negative light. While it is not surprising that many Americans have negative opinions of Muslims in general given the current circumstances, we feel that it is important to demonstrate that the large majority of American Muslims are patriotic and dedicated citizens. Martin Luther King stated we should judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. We hope to extend this concept to religious preference as well. To work towards our goal we are planning and scheduling speaking engagements that we would like to offer to your institution. We are willing to work with you to devise a program and schedule that meet your needs. We feel that our services can be especially useful as part of your cultural diversity efforts. Topics include: 1) Who are the Muslims? 2) Human Rights in Islam 3) Comparative Cultures 4) Islam in History 5) Details of the Islamic religion and 6) Islam for educators. We also feel that our programs do not cross the constitutional line of separation of church and state. While we offer our services free of charge, we will gratefully accept any compensation that can be arranged to defray our expenses. We are proud to live in an area with people of so many backgrounds and cultures. We wish to be part of a community that shares and enjoys each other’s similarities and differences. We hope this letter contributes in a small way to such sharing and we look forward to exploring a working relationship with your organization. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Kathleen ... [/code] I am making the corrections as you give them! Thanks! |
| NS |
| 05/24/02 at 09:22:31 |
| Kathy |
| Re: Dawah Letter to Public Schools |
|---|
| Chris |
| 05/23/02 at 20:23:50 |
| I'll think about it a bit, but it seems a little defensive to me. I wish there were incidents of Muslim riots against OBL to point out to idiots who would taint all Islam with his brush. Chris |
| Re: Dawah Letter to Public Schools |
|---|
| Kashif |
| 05/23/02 at 20:28:56 |
| assalaamu alaikum Three typos: 2 x 'or' -> should be 'our' 1 x 'give' -> should be 'given' Kashif Wa Salaam |
| NS |
| Re: Dawah Letter to Public Schools |
|---|
| Julie |
| 05/23/02 at 21:26:06 |
| One more typo/grammar suggestion to add to Kashif's list: [quote]Martin Luther King stated, we should judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. [/quote] You either need to put the quote in quotes (" ") or use 'that': Martin Luther King stated, "We should judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin." or Martin Luther King stated that we should judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. Overall, it's well written. :) Julie:) |
| Re: Dawah Letter to Public Schools |
|---|
| sofia |
| 05/23/02 at 23:38:31 |
| As-salaamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah, Kathy - Masha'Allah, that's a really valuable endeavor you've set out to do, I pray every community has Muslims who are as willing and able to carry out da'wah, aameen. I just attended an Islamic Networks Group (check out www.ing.org as a resource) speakers training session, and although I could not stay for the whole thing, was really blown away by it, masha'Allah. This group's experience in the Bay area in Cali has produced really positively results in the local community regarding how Islam is perceived, even if in small ways, whether via the local television networks, newspapers, law enforcement grps, corporations, SCHOOLS, etc. One of the sisters did a demonstration of a classroom Islam presentation, provided really useful tips, but EVEN MORE valuable was the approach that dai'ees need to take in getting the message out to certain groups, what information to give, and what info NOT to give. Like for ex/, regardless of the audience, if they are non-Muslim, you should present basic information about Islam in the third-person voice. In public schools, you should use more props and send younger dai'ees. You are not allowed to proselytize or even provide Qur'aans (only teachers or parents can, I think) for children who request it in public schools (heart-breaking, I know). If you do, your whole group could be given bad publicity and be shut down. But that doesn't stop the kids from seeing Islam in it's true light, first-hand, from a practicing Muslim. One of the really good points made was that regardless of the message, the kids/audience will remember *you*. If they liked you, they'll most likely like the presentation, and if they don't like you, they won't like the presentation/material. The Prophet (s) didn't send Musab ibn Umayr as the ambassador to Yathrib just randomly or just for his 'ilm, even. Of course, we could learn all of this in a da'wah session, but this group takes it to the streets and trains others how to do it, in practical settings. Anyone who's interested in knowing more, please do check out the site. Ask your local masjid or community to sponsor sister Maha (or whoever else represents them) out for a speakers training session, and you'll know what I mean. From there, your local community/masjid can work on its own ISB (Islamic Speakers Bureau), to equip itself to handle situations exactly like this. May Allah (swt) strengthen us all and help us represent Islam in the best way, aameen. |
| 05/23/02 at 23:40:42 |
| sofia |
| Re: Dawah Letter to Public Schools |
|---|
| jannah |
| 05/24/02 at 03:55:13 |
| You know I skipped over that letter at first thinking it was a quote from somewhere else!! doh... maybe we can use the [ code] when we want to box things.. [code] i didn't think it looked that bad but i could change the font to Arial or Courier New? [/code] btw nice letter kathy... !! :) |
| 05/24/02 at 03:56:07 |
| jannah |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |