Speakers Training & Women in Religion Dialogue

ING News & Information, 02/06/08

In this Edition:

  • News of Interest: Granada Islamic School Girls in State Chess Championships
  • ING Hosts Three Speaker Trainings in February
  • ING Hosts Women in Religion Dialogue, Sunday, February 10, 2:45PM at MCA, Santa Clara
  • Epiphany West Conference, “Sacred Text as Window: Seeing One’s Self through the Eyes of Another,” 1/30-1/31/08
  • Arlington Community Church Presentation, Kensington, 1/31/08
  • ING Speakers Visit Middle Schools Across the Bay Area
  • Thank You for Your Support!


News of Interest: Granada Islamic School Girls in State Chess Championships

Five girls from Granada Islamic School in Santa Clara, California travelled to San Rafael last week to represent their school at the CalChess State Girls Championship hosted by St. Mark’s School. There were about eighty girls participating, with Granada girls composing the second largest group at the tournament. Each player excelled, even against heavily trained competition and no one returned without scoring. Granada started competing in chess events in 2006. Since then, their players have won four regional championships, four state championships, and three top 20 honors in nationals. As a team, they have won four regional championships, several top 10 honors in states, and three top 20 places in nationals. Kudos to the Granada Islamic School girls!

ING Hosts Three Speaker Trainings in February

To help ING meet its growing number of requests for presentations about Muslims, we are hosting three separate trainings in different parts of the Bay Area. If you want to help counter common stereotypes about Islam and Muslims, help educate the public about this topic, and enjoy speaking and meeting new people, we invite you to join our pool of talented speakers by attending one of the following trainings:

South Bay: February 9, 2008
Muslim Community Association (MCA)
Women’s Lounge, 3003 Scott Boulevard, Santa Clara, CA
Trainers: Maha Elgenaidi & Ismael Nass

East Bay: February 16, 2008
CSU East Bay Oakland Conference Center
Room 2, 1000 Broadway, Suite 109, Oakland, CA
Trainers: Farhan Syed & Ameena Jandali

San Francisco Area: February 23, 2008
UCSF Conference Center Laurel Heights
Chancellor’s Room, 3333 California Street, San Francisco, CA
Trainers: Fouzi Husseini and Reema Qadry

To register for one of the workshops, please contact Grace Fong, ING’s Sr. Program Manager at [email protected].

ING Hosts Women in Religion Dialogue, Sunday, February 10, 2:45 PM – 5:00 PM, MCA, Santa Clara

On behalf of women of all faith traditions, we would like to extend a personal invitation to the upcoming Women’s Dialogue Encounter where we will discuss THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE: Work, School and the General Public, scheduled for Sunday, February 10, 2008 from 2:45pm-5:00pm at the Women’s Lounge of the MCA at 3003 Scott Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95050. Through small group and large group interactions we will explore how our faith and cultural traditions guide us in finding a bridge between sacred and public space. How do we respectfully express our values in school, work and public settings? How do we come up with meaningful responses during this election year and time of economic strains? Please help us with planning and RSVP by emailing or phoning Maha Elgenaidi at 408-296-7312 or Sharla Kibel, [email protected] or 408 353-4349. Please also consider bringing young (teen) women in your lives and families as we are interested in having a table for younger women at which to exchange experiences. We look forward to seeing you.

ING Events of Interest

Epiphany West Conference, “Sacred Text as Window: Seeing One’s Self Through the Eyes of Another,” 1/30-1/31/08

ING speaker, Ameena Jandali took part in the Epiphany West Conference at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific on Berkeley last week, titled: “Sacred Text as Window: Seeing One’s Self Through the Eyes of Another.” The focus of the conference was upon developing a deeper understanding, both of other’s faith and one’s one by hearing others read and interpret their own sacred texts. The conference involved scholars and leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim community presenting in classes, workshops, and plenary lectures. Ameena Jandali joined Rachel Biale on Wednesday morning in a workshop on Women in Jewish and Muslim Law, where they addressed issues such as marriage, divorce, sexuality, and child bearing in each of their faith traditions, noting the parallels between them. She also spoke the following day in a workshop on Reading Sacred Texts, in which she described the position of Islam’s two most important sacred texts, the Qur’an and Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. She explained some of the challenges of interacting with a sacred text in a changing world, and methodologies that Muslims use for interpreting text. Attendees had numerous questions about some of the basics of Islam, as well as more contemporary issues. After each session, attendees chatted with the speakers, learning more about their work. Congratulations to the organizers for a successful conference.

Arlington Community Church Presentation, Kensington, 1/31/08

An ING speaker delivered an Orientation on Islam and Muslims to an interfaith group called the Spirit and the Arts: Embracing World Tradition, Learning Universal Value, an adult study group that meets weekly to read and discuss The Faith Club, a book written by three mothers (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) who explore their own and each other’s faiths as a way of clarifying their beliefs and teaching their children about religious belief within a secular and multi-cultural world. Simultaneously, participants’ children were learning Sufi dancing across the hall in honor of studying about Islam. The group was very interested in learning about the faith, and expressed an interest in learning more in future sessions.

ING Speakers Visit Schools Across the Bay Area Supplementing Education About World Religions

ING speakers visited middle and high schools across the Bay Area last month in both private and public schools, supplementing education about world religions in the context of social studies and world history classes. Amany Nasser and Nora Talebi visited East Avenue Middle School in Livermore; Adeel Iqbal and Omar Ansari visited Cesar Chavez Academy in Palo Alto; Adeel and Imran Maskatia visited Winton School in Hayward; Fouzi Husseini visited St. Martin School in Sunnyvale and Hillview Middle School in Menlo Park; Uzma Husseini visited St. Theresa School in Oakland, and other speakers visited Town Boys School in San Francisco, Hall Middle School in Larkspur, Lagunitas School in San Geronimo, and Tomales High School in Tomales. It’s been a busy month with the new semester, and a lot of activity for ING speakers! To fill ING’s numerous requests, ING is holding three trainings for new speakers in February. If you are interested in becoming an ING speaker, please contact Grace Fong, ING’s Sr. Program Manager, at [email protected].

Thank You for Your Support!

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