As we seek Laylatul-Qadr, the night of Power, in the last days of Ramadan, let us also remember to reflect on the conditions of the powerless on this earth; there are hundreds of millions of them, and the majority of them are Muslim.
How can that be, when Islam categorically rejects both oppression and neglect of any Muslim, and indeed of any human being?
Let us think of the poor, the refugees, the homeless, the occupied, the besieged, the hungry, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the abused, the unjustly jailed, the tortured…
Let us think of the suffering children, the orphaned one, the scared ones, the malnourished ones…
Let us think of the anguished parents, unable to provide for their children’s basic needs…
Let us think of those suffering all over this earth…
Let us also, in particular, think of the Iraqis and the Palestinians and their terrible plight…
Let us think of ways of offering help, regardless how small that may be…
Let us learn to be ashamed to be wasteful, when there are so many in need…
Let us learn to be ashamed to be exuberant and boastful, when so many are silently weeping in despair…
Our suffering brothers and sisters will also be commemorating the Night of Power and Peace, except that they have very little power, and very little peace…
With all our collective resources as an Ummah, and they are vast, we are, nonetheless, disunited, humiliated and subjugated. ..
During the Night of Power, let us lament the ugliness of the absence of power, and I do not mean the power to conquer, but merely the power to protect the innocent and the weak...
Ahmad Jarrah
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Panel: Are Americans Obsessed with Islam
This is Iftekhar's personal blog. The ideas expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of organizations that he is associated with.
Moderating a panel presentation
Panel: Are Americans Obsessed with Islam
Hosting high school students at a mosque
Teaching an Elderhostel "Understanding Islam and Muslims" class
At the 1st Annual CAIR-PA Banquet with Ed Rendell and Ahmed Bedeir
About Me
- Iftekhar Hussain
- Iftekhar is the Chair of the CAIR-PA Board of Directors and a member of the Executive Committee of CAIR-PA Philadelphia Chapter. He is engaged in local interfaith educational initiatives with a focus on 'Islam and the Middle East' and 'US Foreign Policy and the Muslim world'. On behalf of CAIR-PA, he has developed a 10-part course titled 'Understanding Islam and Muslims through History and Jurisprudence' and has taught it at churches, synagogues, mosques and local county night schools. He has presented this course at over 30 different venues over the past 6 years. Iftekhar serves as Friday prayer service leader at suburban mosques in the Delaware Valley. Iftekhar was born in Bangladesh, has lived in the Middle East and Europe and studied and obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at Texas A&M University and worked toward a PhD at Penn State University. He works as a consultant in the Pharmaceutical industry, traveling in Asia Pacific and Europe on business process re-engineering engagements. Iftekhar is married to Bushra Kourani for the past 14 years and has three children Yousef (age 12), Omar (age 11) and Huda (age 7).