Citizenship in Islam: Muslims as minorities, and non-Muslims in Muslim countries

Islamic Cultural Revival and Advancement

ICRA Lecture Series invites you for special event as we discuss the issue of

Citizenship in Islam

Special focus on Minority right and responsibilities in Majority Muslim countries such as Egypt, and on Muslim citizen responsibilities and rights in Muslim minority communities, such as the USA.

Speaker: Sheikh Muhammad Nur

Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 2:00 PM

in the East Room

of

St. Louis County Library - Headquarters

1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. • St. Louis, MO 63131

(across from Plaza Frontenac)

link to map below

Marriage & Divorce in Muslim Minority Societies. Speaker: Sheikh Muhammad Nur

Islamic Cultural Revival and Advancement

ICRA Lecture Series invites you for special event as we discuss the issue of

Marriage & Divorce in Muslim Minority Societies

Speaker: Sheikh Muhammad Nur

As the number of Muslims grows in American society, issues related to marriage and divorce grows with it.  Everyday Muslims are encountering problems and finding it difficult to get answers.  This Saturday we will discuss some of these issues which include the abundance of eligible Muslim women unable to find spouses, Muslim men marrying outside Islam or 'back home', and which law to apply in regards to divorce.  Please join us, as Sheikh Muhammad Nur will address these issues and more, followed by an open question and answer session.

Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 2:30 PM

in the East Room

of

St. Louis County Library - Headquarters

1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. • St. Louis, MO 63131

(across from Plaza Frontenac)

link to map below

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Saint+Louis&state=MO&address=1640+S+Lindbergh+Blvd&zipcode=63131-3501&country=US&latitude=38.631149&longitude=-90.405718&geocode=ADDRESS

Women across the Cross-cultural Spectra

CRA (Islamic cultural Revival & Advancement) Invites you to a lecture on

Presentation and open discussion on

Women across the Cross-cultural Spectra

A discussion about women in different religious and cultural traditions

Compare and contrast women's issues in systems of faith or patriarchal ideologies,
in this case Islam with Judaism and Christianity

Speaker and discussion moderator:
Metin Bosnak, PhD
Professor of American Studies
Istanbul, Turkey

Date and Time:

Saturday October 24 2:30 - 4:30 pm

Location:
East Meeting Hall of St. Louis County Library Headquarters at Lindbergh and Clayton ( MAP )
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. • St. Louis, MO 63131 • (314) 994-3300

Synopsis on the topic by the speaker, Dr. Metin Bosnak

The status of women in Islam has been the topic of heated discussion especially in the last three decades. Partly the feminist movement and its influence on Muslim countries, and partly the political agendas of the ruling elite in the world account for the stereotypical representation of women in the some Muslim countries. Bias and prejudice have often succeeded to relegate Islam to a monolythical interpretation of a whole faith and civilization, and Muslim women to images of walking submissive veils who willingly suffer because they believe in Islam, and after all “Islam” means “submission.”

However, it goes without saying that, in order for us to perceive properly the one faith, religious, philosophical and political system, we must compare and contrast it with others, its equivalent in other systems of faith or patriarchal ideologies: that is, in this case Islam with Judaism and Christianity. Another problem with understanding of Islam and Muslim women is that people often look at certain issues in terms of the here and the now, often forgetting or consciously avoiding the scriptural and diachronic with what appears to be overlooked and one‐sided opiniation of the synchronic misrepresentations.

Constitution Making in Islam: Is Islamic law compatible with constitutional principles?

ICRA (Islamic cultural Revival & Advancement) Invites you to a lecture on

Presentation and open discussion on

Constitution Making in Islam
How does Islamic law comport with modern constitutional principles?

Using Egypt as the primary example - we will discuss some of the challenges of
incorporating Islam into a modern Arab constitution

Speaker and discussion moderator:
Amany Ragab Hacking
Assistant Clinical Professor,
Saint Louis University School of Law

Date and Time:

Saturday July 25 2:30 - 4:30 pm

Location:
East Meeting Hall of St. Louis County Library Headquarters at Lindbergh and Clayton ( MAP )
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. • St. Louis, MO 63131 • (314) 994-3300

American Muslims and the American Media

ICRA (Islamic cultural Revival & Advancement) Invites you to a lecture on

Presentation and open discussion on
American Muslims and the American Media

On the tense relationship between Islam, American Muslims and American media

Speaker and discussion moderator:

Tim Townsend
Religion editor of the Post-Dispatch

Tim Townsend is a well known St. Louis journalist. He is well known and respected within the local Muslim community. He has extensively covered the St. Louis Muslim community activities as well as many other religious communities in Missouri.
His familiarity with the local Muslims and their institutions in difficult time over the last 8 years gives him a unique insight into the often strained and tense interactions between Muslims and different media outlets.

Date and Time:

Saturday June 27 2:30 - 4:30 pm

Location:
Meeting Hall of St. Louis Public Library at HW-141 and Big Bend (Grand Glaize branch MAP )
(1010 Meramec Station Rd. • Manchester, MO 63021 • (636) 225-6454)

Upcoming events:

• July 2009: Constitution making in Islam - Is Islamic law compatible with constitutional principles?

Prophetic Traditions (Sunna): between the People of Reason, and the People of Narration

ICRA (Islamic cultural Revival & Advancement) Invites you to a lecture on

Book Review in English of the Arabic book
السنة النبوية بين أهل الفقه و أهل الحديث

(An excellent book by Mohammad Al-Ghazali, the Egyptian Muslim Scholar
on the Conflicts in approaching Sunna using Fiqh (reason) and Hadeeth (narration).
His analysis leads to interesting and very refreshing take on important issues
such as women's issues, governance, etc.

Speaker and discussion moderator:
Khaled Hamid
(The presentation will be conducted in English using PowerPoint presentation
of the key ideas of the book with examples, followed by an open and uncensored discussion)

Date and Time:

Saturday May 30 2:30 - 4:30 pm

Location:
Meeting Hall of St. Louis Public Library at HW-141 and Big Bend (Grand Glaize branch MAP )
(1010 Meramec Station Rd. • Manchester, MO 63021 • (636) 225-6454)

Upcoming events:

• June 2009: On the tense relation between American Media, Islam and Muslims - Critical evaluation.
• July 2009: Constitution making in Islam - Is Islamic law compatible with constitutional principles?

ICRA lectures and suggested topics

Scheduled lectures:

• April 30, 2009: Prophetic Tradition between People of Reason & People of Narration: A Book Review (By Khaled Hamid) -For details click here.
• June 2009: On the tense relation between American Media, Islam and Muslims: Critical evaluation. (By Tim Townsend, Religion Editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  
• July 2009: Constitution making in Islam - Is Islamic law compatible with constitutional principles?" (By Amany Hacking, Assistant Professor, St Louis University School of Law)
  

Past lectures:

• April 25, 2009 : Early Muslims and the Origins of Knowledge and Science (By Dr. Hayrettin Yucesoy, Assistant professor of History at Saint Louis University) -For details click here.

Suggested lecture topics:

• Its rise and fall in Muslim societies: role of religion. Can the fall be reversed?
• Islam and the constitutions: Islamic law and its impact of modern constitutions and legal systems in Muslim and non-Muslim countries.
• Democracy in Islam: A core value, or Trojan horse.
• Political structure in Islam: History of Islamic early politics, and impact on modern Muslims.
• Islam: State or Personal religion?
• Supremacy of the Clergy and Religious Scholars (Welayat al-Faqueeh): An artifact or a sine qua non for Islamic ideology
• History of Islamic Jurisprudence:
• Is the diversity in Islamic schools of thought good or bad? Needed or not?
• And how the thought process rooted in flexibility was cast in stone.
• Freedom of expression: Does it harm of benefit belief?
• Status of women - Religion vs. realities past and present.
• Muslims and non-Muslims: friends or foes?
• Minority treatment under Islam: Religion vs. realities past and present.
• Critical thinking in the Quran and early Islamic tradition.
• Muslims in the media: Whose fault is it? And is there a way out of the current two-way communication failure?
• Eco-conscious Islam: Is there such a thing?

I hope to keep moving titles from 'Suggested Topics' to 'Scheduled and Past lectures'. If you would like top suggest a topic, a speaker or an event other than a lecture please leave a comment.

Khaled