Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Colorado Muslims Support Libyan Students
Colorado Muslims Support Libyan Students
There are about 2,000 Libyan international students living in the United States. Most of the students are highly educated, pursuing masters and doctorate programs. Colorado is home to approximately 450 Libyan students, many of whom have families, making Colorado the largest Libyan international student population in the country. Most of the Libyan students within Colorado are economically sustained by Libyan governmental scholarships and stipends. Generally, the students’ tuition payments are paid through an intermediary to the universities and colleges at the beginning of the semester and living expenses arrive in monthly installments.
As many may recall, in the middle of February 2011, a civil war erupted in Libya. Military forces remaining loyal to Moammar Gaddafi, Libya’s 41-year ruler, engaged in violent armed conflicts with some of the country’s population looking to oust Gaddafi. In response to perceived human rights violations occurring in Libya by Gaddafi’s regime --- which included possible indiscriminate shooting and killing of political protesters --- President Barack Obama signed an executive order freezing all Libyan assets. The United Nations and the European Union quickly passed similar resolutions. After the United States froze all Libyan assets, money earmarked for the Libyan international students became seized and unavailable. Thereafter, Colorado quickly became recognized nationally as ground zero as what was correctly described as the Libyan international student crisis.
In the middle of March 2011, large scale foreign military intervention occurred within Libya, predominately led by the United States. Ostensibly, the United States intervened militarily to prevent a humanitarian crisis. In response to the United States’ military actions, many of Colorado’s Libyan students engaged in perhaps the most fundamental of all American conduct: exercise of peaceful First Amendment political protest. Specifically, many students organized and participated in local anti-Gaddafi rallies and marches. However, Colorado’s Libyan student population is large and complex, and not homogeneous in its political beliefs. It is presumed that some students who were pro-Gaddafi video recorded the anti-Gaddafi students. Identifying information of some of the anti- Gaddafi students was quickly disseminated back to Libya, including the posting of videos on Youtube. Many Libyan students reported extensive FBI interviews. Demonstrating remarkably fast decision-making and responsiveness, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury permitted appropriate licensure to allow Libyan students to receive their tuition and stipend funding in April 2011. However, a greater issue soon arose as compared to the United States seizing Libyan assets. The Libyan government stopped funding its Libyan international students.
Soon thereafter, a small group of Libyan students alerted the Colorado Muslim Society’s leadership to the impending issue that more than 450 Libyan students and their families, most if not all Muslims, would have no source of income come July 1, 2011. The Libyan students quickly internally organized, and student leaders emerged. In April 2011, I met with approximately 100 Libyan students in an effort to understand the scope of the issues confronting the Libyan student community. Khaled Hamideh and Khalid Mahmoud, both elected members of Colorado Muslim Society’s shurah committee, personally acted as my Arabic translators, working late into the night, so I could appropriately interview many Libyan students.
A part of the obvious issues with having little to no money, the entire Libyan student population in Colorado and nationally, faced severe immigration consequences. Each Libyan international student would become almost immediately deportable if they missed their tuition payments for either the summer or fall school semesters. To compound the problem, many of the anti-Gaddafi student protesters recorded on video were either directly receiving death threats, or were being warned by their families not to return to Libya under any circumstances due to threat of severe criminal prosecution and possibly death. It quickly became apparent that much assistance would be needed to appropriately address the issues of the Libyan students. Many of the Libyan students would need individualized counseling on their potential applications for political asylum.
I reached out to the Colorado chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a group of lawyers that have substantial experience with and knowledge regarding immigration laws. Approximately 25 volunteer immigration lawyers immediately launched into action to assist Colorado’s Libyan student community. The AILA attorneys conducted free group presentations at almost every campus in Colorado, coordinating their efforts through the students’ foreign student advisers. The presentations focused on immigration law education, employment options, and asylum. Additionally, the AILA attorneys offered free individual consultations, and some attorneys astoundingly committed to free representation. The AILA attorneys started to politically campaign Colorado’s local, state, and federal government representatives, as well as the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The AILA attorneys advocated for Temporary Protected Status, Deferred Action, Administrative Closure and/or modification of the Libyan’s F-1 visa status to allow them enhanced ability to work.
Perhaps as a direct consequence of the efforts provided by the Colorado Muslim community and AILA attorneys, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced special relief for certain F-1 Libyan students, suspending certain regulatory requirements allowing eligible Libyan F-1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, and, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status. This was a major accomplishment, and one that greatly benefited the Colorado’s Libyan students.
Due to recent efforts of government officials in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, as well as the United Nations Security Council, the Libyan Ministry of Education and Scientific Research transferred funding through the Libyan Central Bank for the purposes of financing the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program. This funding covers the Libyan students’ tuition and living allowances through May 2012. Colorado’s Muslim community should be proud of its immediate responsiveness and community organizing abilities as it effectively assisted Colorado’s Libyan international students in their severe time of need. Insha’Allah, the Libyan students’ crisis will end positively for all involved.
Qusair Mohamedbhai is a Muslim Colorado attorney, practicing civil rights law and employment discrimination. He is general counsel to the Colorado Muslim Society. He can be reached at (303) 571-1000 or qmohamedbhai@kln-law.com.
For questions or clarifications please email: editor@frmnews.net
As many may recall, in the middle of February 2011, a civil war erupted in Libya. Military forces remaining loyal to Moammar Gaddafi, Libya’s 41-year ruler, engaged in violent armed conflicts with some of the country’s population looking to oust Gaddafi. In response to perceived human rights violations occurring in Libya by Gaddafi’s regime --- which included possible indiscriminate shooting and killing of political protesters --- President Barack Obama signed an executive order freezing all Libyan assets. The United Nations and the European Union quickly passed similar resolutions. After the United States froze all Libyan assets, money earmarked for the Libyan international students became seized and unavailable. Thereafter, Colorado quickly became recognized nationally as ground zero as what was correctly described as the Libyan international student crisis.
In the middle of March 2011, large scale foreign military intervention occurred within Libya, predominately led by the United States. Ostensibly, the United States intervened militarily to prevent a humanitarian crisis. In response to the United States’ military actions, many of Colorado’s Libyan students engaged in perhaps the most fundamental of all American conduct: exercise of peaceful First Amendment political protest. Specifically, many students organized and participated in local anti-Gaddafi rallies and marches. However, Colorado’s Libyan student population is large and complex, and not homogeneous in its political beliefs. It is presumed that some students who were pro-Gaddafi video recorded the anti-Gaddafi students. Identifying information of some of the anti- Gaddafi students was quickly disseminated back to Libya, including the posting of videos on Youtube. Many Libyan students reported extensive FBI interviews. Demonstrating remarkably fast decision-making and responsiveness, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury permitted appropriate licensure to allow Libyan students to receive their tuition and stipend funding in April 2011. However, a greater issue soon arose as compared to the United States seizing Libyan assets. The Libyan government stopped funding its Libyan international students.
Soon thereafter, a small group of Libyan students alerted the Colorado Muslim Society’s leadership to the impending issue that more than 450 Libyan students and their families, most if not all Muslims, would have no source of income come July 1, 2011. The Libyan students quickly internally organized, and student leaders emerged. In April 2011, I met with approximately 100 Libyan students in an effort to understand the scope of the issues confronting the Libyan student community. Khaled Hamideh and Khalid Mahmoud, both elected members of Colorado Muslim Society’s shurah committee, personally acted as my Arabic translators, working late into the night, so I could appropriately interview many Libyan students.
A part of the obvious issues with having little to no money, the entire Libyan student population in Colorado and nationally, faced severe immigration consequences. Each Libyan international student would become almost immediately deportable if they missed their tuition payments for either the summer or fall school semesters. To compound the problem, many of the anti-Gaddafi student protesters recorded on video were either directly receiving death threats, or were being warned by their families not to return to Libya under any circumstances due to threat of severe criminal prosecution and possibly death. It quickly became apparent that much assistance would be needed to appropriately address the issues of the Libyan students. Many of the Libyan students would need individualized counseling on their potential applications for political asylum.
I reached out to the Colorado chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a group of lawyers that have substantial experience with and knowledge regarding immigration laws. Approximately 25 volunteer immigration lawyers immediately launched into action to assist Colorado’s Libyan student community. The AILA attorneys conducted free group presentations at almost every campus in Colorado, coordinating their efforts through the students’ foreign student advisers. The presentations focused on immigration law education, employment options, and asylum. Additionally, the AILA attorneys offered free individual consultations, and some attorneys astoundingly committed to free representation. The AILA attorneys started to politically campaign Colorado’s local, state, and federal government representatives, as well as the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The AILA attorneys advocated for Temporary Protected Status, Deferred Action, Administrative Closure and/or modification of the Libyan’s F-1 visa status to allow them enhanced ability to work.
Perhaps as a direct consequence of the efforts provided by the Colorado Muslim community and AILA attorneys, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced special relief for certain F-1 Libyan students, suspending certain regulatory requirements allowing eligible Libyan F-1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, and, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status. This was a major accomplishment, and one that greatly benefited the Colorado’s Libyan students.
Due to recent efforts of government officials in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, as well as the United Nations Security Council, the Libyan Ministry of Education and Scientific Research transferred funding through the Libyan Central Bank for the purposes of financing the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program. This funding covers the Libyan students’ tuition and living allowances through May 2012. Colorado’s Muslim community should be proud of its immediate responsiveness and community organizing abilities as it effectively assisted Colorado’s Libyan international students in their severe time of need. Insha’Allah, the Libyan students’ crisis will end positively for all involved.
Qusair Mohamedbhai is a Muslim Colorado attorney, practicing civil rights law and employment discrimination. He is general counsel to the Colorado Muslim Society. He can be reached at (303) 571-1000 or qmohamedbhai@kln-law.com.
For questions or clarifications please email: editor@frmnews.net
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Friday Announcements August 19, 2011 (19 Ramadan, 1432)
Friday Announcements August 19, 2011 (19 Ramadan, 1432)
| Hadith (Pronounced)
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Denver Islamic Society (Masjid AnNur) http://www.denverislamicsociety.org 2124 S Birch, Denver, CO 80222 Not interested any more? | ||||||||||||
): The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from the mosques of Allah.”
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Masjid An Nur’s New Mission
Masjid An Nur’s New Mission
In March of 2011 Masjid An Nur elected a new board of directors. When the new board came on board so did a new mission --- to have the masjid full of community members from the sunrise to the sunset with activities for the community that follow the Qur’an and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SWA).
How will Masjid An Nur accomplish this you ask. Activities, activities, and more activities.
Activities such as a school, lectures, sports, Islamic games, memorization of the Qur’an, Qur’an competitions, and much more.
“To have the people tied to the masjid as much as we can. That is the goal. We want to motivate the people with physical activities, that is the plan,” explains Waleed Dabbour, the new president of Masjid An Nur, in a FRM News interview. And they have not wasted anytime in moving on their mission. Just that Sunday while talking with Waleed there were two activities taking place. They were conducting a Qur’an competition for those 18 years and older on Surrah Al Kaf; and upstairs on the third floor there was a ping pong competition taking place.
Al Hamdu’illah, I witnessed a group of six come into the masjid, pray asr and proceed upstairs for the ping pong competition. Then downstairs I saw young men and adults completing in the Qur’an competition. The liveliness of the masjid truly warmed my heart, MashaAllah.
One of the most important programs started by An Nur is the Islamic and Arabic school for the youth ages 4 through 18 years. Speaking with Waleed it is clear that this program has taken a lot and thought, time and effort of the board.
“We consulted some professors [and] some teachers who have experience with schools to set the school system, “ says Waleed. As a result the Islamic and Arabic school --- rather than established like most community weekend schools on Saturdays and Sundays --- is operating on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Waleed explains the reasoning behind this choice.
“Saturday and Sunday is not a success because they [child] don’t remember what they took (learned) from Sunday to the next Saturday.” So the An Nur program keeps the material in the students minds by having only a three-day lapse from class rather than a full six days like most community Qur’an programs. They came up with this solution after studying the common structure in Muslim communities in the U.S. that typically have weekend only Qur’an/Islamic studies programs for the youth. From their research and studies An Nur believe that this approach will be more successful.
Another strategy that An Nur is implementing is predefined courses that will be designed with a specific workload. They observed from other typical weekend schools that programs tend to have no defined criteria, objectives, or an end goal.
“So you have to take so many courses to be a graduate of our school. We don’t have the school for infinity,” says Waleed. Once a student has graduated they can continue their Islamic studies at an Islamic University, perhaps online, or even private studies at home with a tutor or qualified parent. The main object is to establish a set of goals from the beginning for the students to achieve.
Before a student starts the Islamic and Arabic studies at An Nur they are required to take a placement test. Then after two months the students will be tested to make sure that their current placement is right for them. If they discover a student is not keeping up with the course, or it’s too advanced the student will be moved accordingly. They have expressed that only when a student passes a level do they move to the next level. “We don’t have any reason to let them [the children] pass without any success. We don’t have to cheat, we don’t have to let them pass just for passing. The parents won’t be happy [and] the children won’t be happy.”
Waleed tells me that top priority in the school curriculum is to teach the students to understand and speak Fusha Arabic language, and that it will be the main language of the school. “We don’t have Egyptian accent, we don’t have Libyan accent, we don’t have Morocco accent. We have the formal Arabic language that is our main language in the school. So students will have to talk to the teacher and each other in formal Fusha Arabic language.”
Waleed further explains that by teaching the children to understand the language, then they can pick up a Qur’an and begin reading and understanding. Also is the benefit of memorization. Their research shows that once a child understands what he/she is reading, when memorizing it they will retain it longer and be less likely to forget it.
One of the most interesting strategies I found in their curriculum is no homework! That is right, you read it correct, no homework. All of the student’s material for the classes will be provided at the school and stay at the school. “Like football … when you go home there is no field to practice on, ” Waleed gave an analogy. One reason for no homework is if the parents try and teach the children at home without the proper Arabic pronunciation and skills it can unteach the child what they learned in class ultimately hurting their progress and not helping it.
Since starting in March, along with the Islamic and Arabic school, the new board at Masjid An Nur has started:
… The Qur’an competition for adults 18 years and older where every other month the community holds a competition of a different surah
… Evening fun activities for the youth between maghrib and isha every Saturday and Sunday. The purpose of evening fun is to give the youth a place where they can enjoy themselves in an Islamic environment, along with a light lesson on Islamic principles and values.
The Islamic and Arabic courses started June 18th and Al Hamdu’lillah they currently already have 50 students. The tuition is $50 a month for Wednesday and Saturday classes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the summer. [When the public school year starts in August, the Wednesday class will change to 5 p.m.]
… To enroll your child in Islamic and Arabic studies or for more information, call (720) 288-0113.
… To keep up with Masjid An Nur activities, visit its website at www.DenverIslamicSociety.org , or visit the masjid at 2124 South Birch St., Denver, Co., 80222.
May Allah guide all those at Masjid An Nur and give them success and what is best for them in this world and the hereafter, Ameen.
Juraij (Greg) Horton is the Editor-in-Chief at FRM News. For more information you may contact him at:
editor@frmnews.net
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