The building was dim and there was an underlying must of construction. Fortunately for that Saturday night, the Holy month of Ramadan brought over 700 Muslims to brighten up the Islamic Foundation of America (IFA). The First Hijrah Foundation held its annual Ramadan iftar for the larger community on Saturday, August 29th 2009. Although they hadn't expected the great turn out, they determined, from prior experience, that the First Hijrah Community Center in Washington, D.C. would not comfortably accommodate the great number of community members that attend the annual iftars. As a result, it was held at IFA in Alexandria, V.A. Although the center is currently undergoing renovation, First Hijrah community members worked diligently at cleaning and preparing a suitable environment for the adults and children in attendance. The doors were open and anyone was welcome to attend the iftar buffet and prayer at IFA that Saturday night. There was even a separate area for children under the age of 10. They prayed, had pizza, and watched a Disney classic. Sounds better than any school night to me! First Hijrah regularly holds iftars during Ramadan at their center in Washington, D.C. Usually around 100 people attend, many of whom are new to Islam. To make the most of these gatherings, it is important to stay in the remembrance of Allah. May Allah bless us all and bestow his forgiveness upon us during this Holy month of Ramadan.
First Hijrah Foundation “Ethiopian Muslims Community in Washington metropolitan area” wanted to congratulate all Muslims in Diaspora and everywhere for finishing the first 10 days of Ramadan and wishes the next 20 days to be the best time to remember Allah (SWA) and ask forgiveness and blessing. In addition to the regular Ramadan activities listed below, First Hijrah is glad to announce the long expected visit by Sheik Ali Mohamed Ebba (Ali Jimma). Sheikh Ali Jima is a renowned scholar of Hadith with tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in Islamic affairs. He was born in Ethiopia and now resides and teaches in Kenya, East Africa. At this moment, he is on a Dawa tour throughout the United States. Sheikh Ali Jimma speaks Amharic, Oromiffa , and Somali. He will visit our center from Ramadan 23 to 28 (September 13-18, 2009). He will spend his six days at the First Hijrah center and share his knowledge and experience with all of us, InshaAllah!!! We invite every Muslim to come and join his lecture in the last ten days of Ramadan. Sheik Ali Jimma will also be the guest speaker for the special program in the 27th night of the Ramadan. Every Muslim is invited. The lecture schedule for Sheik Ali Jimma will be posted on our website soon, InshaAllah. Regular Ramadan activities hosted by First Hijrah Foundation:
Iftar every day in our center, 4324 Georgia Avenue, NW
Special Iftar every Saturday in IFA Islamic center, Virginia
Teraweeh Prayer in our center
Itikaf for the last 10 days of Ramadan in our center
Special program for the night of the 27th of Ramadan.
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By Michael A. Fletcher (Washington Post) President Obama will host a White House dinner Tuesday night celebrating Ramadan, the Muslim holy month during which the faithful fast from dawn to sunset each day.
Obama will be joined at the dinner by three Cabinet members, five members of Congress, nearly two dozen foreign diplomats, and 33 community leaders. Among the invited diplomats are the Israeli ambassador and the chief of mission for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, as well as the Indian and Pakistani ambassadors to the United States.
Asked about the unusual step of inviting the Israeli ambassador to the dinner, the White House described it as a small part of the event. "Tonight was an opportunity to continue the tradition of hosting iftars at the White House, while celebrating Muslim Americans, and tonight's dinner is made up of a diverse group of individuals from business leaders to members of the US military," White House spokesman Thomas Vietor said. "Additionally, we thought it was an opportunity to reach out to ambassadors of nations with sizable Muslim populations, including the ambassadors of France, the [United Kingdom], India, and Israel."
Obama intends to highlight one story in particular: that of Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, a young woman who broke high school basketball records in Massachusetts before heading to the University of Memphis -- while wearing a traditional hijab.
Obama, who held an intimate Passover Seder at the White House in April, will host the dinner beginning at 8 p.m. tonight. Ramadan, which started on Aug. 22, will end on Sept. 20.
On Aug. 21, the president released a Ramadan video message to Muslims around the world. W The guest list released by the White House follows:
CABINET Secretary Robert Gates, Department of Defense Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Justice Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services
DEPUTY CABINET SECRETARIES Deputy Secretary Dennis Hightower, Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Adam Miller, Department of Education
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Congressman Andre Carson (Indiana 7th) Congressman John Conyers (Michigan 14th) Congressman Keith Ellison (Minnesota 5th) Congressman Rush Holt (New Jersey 12th) Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
DIPLOMATIC CORPS Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein, Jordan Ambassador Adel A.M. Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Pakistan Ambassador Erlan A. Idrissov, Kazakhstan Ambassador His Excellency Said Tayeb Jawad, Afghanistan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar, Morocco Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego, Kenya Ambassador Roble Olhaye, D'jibouti Ambassador Michael Oren, Israel Ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, Indonesia Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, Germany Ambassador Meera Shankar, India Ambassador Nabi Sensoy, Turkey Ambassador Sir Nigel Elton Sheinwald, United Kingdom Ambassador Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Egypt Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie, Iraq Ambassador Pierre Nicolas Vimont, France Chargé d'Affaires Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Bangladesh Chargé d'Affaires Ilango Karuppanan, Malaysia Chargé d'Affaires Mohamed O Maiga, Chargé d'Affaires Angela Oi Foong Shim, Brunei Chargé d'Affaires Baba Gana Wakil, Nigeria Mr. Maen Areikat, Chief of Mission, PLO
COMMUNITY MEMBERS Ms. Bilquis Abdul-Qaadir, University of Memphis Professor Azizah Al-Hibri, University of Richmond School of Law Ms. Reema Ali, Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights Mr. Hasan Chandoo, Oppenheimer & Co. Rabbi Nathan Diament, Director, Institute for Public Affairs, Orthodox Union* Imam Plemon El-Amin, Atlanta Masjid al-Islam Mr. Wahid Hamid, PepsiCo Ms. Dina Hammad Mr. Lutfi Hassan Ms. Nashala Hearn Ms. Rosalind Hearn Imam Yahya Hendi, Chaplain, Georgetown University Pastor Joel Hunter, Northland Church* Mr. Nooman Husain Mr. Imad Hussain Mr. Sanford Ibrahim, CEO, Radian Group Mr. Jameel Jaffer, Staff Attorney, ACLU Mrs. Elsheba Khan Dr. Mansur Khan, UMMA Community Clinic Ms. Farhana Khera, Muslim Advocates Lt. Commander Abuhena Saifulislam, U.S. Marine Corps Mr. Kareem Salama Imam Yusuf Saleem, Masjid Muhammad Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President, Islamic Society of North America Mr. Farooq Mitha Ms. Dalia Mogahed, Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies* Ms. Hutham Olayan, Olayan America Corp. Mr. Eboo Patel, Interfaith Youth Corps* Imam Yusuf Saleem, Masjid Muhammad Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism* Ms. Mina Trudeau, Executive Director, El Fatiha Foundation Mr. J. Saleh Williams, Congressional Muslim Staffers Association Mr. Mohamed Zakariya, Zakariya Calligraphy
*denotes members of the President's Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Islamin Ethiopia has historically found itself in the shadow of the dominating Christian state. The intermarriage between the state and the church, with the monarchy and Christianity as the defining elements of Ethiopian nationhood, led to the perception of Islam as its anti-thesis; one the one hand because of the perceived danger Islam as an external force posed to the Christian Ethiopia, and on the other hand because the Ethiopian Muslims refused to let themselves become culturally/religiously integrated into this Ethiopianness. Whereas the state-church marriage came to an end with the revolution in 1974, the Muslims largely remained on the margins of society. Although the new Marxist regime (the Derg)2 initially was welcomed by the Muslims, the regime’s policy of curtailing any form of religious expressions was soon felt by each religious community, including the Muslim. In other words, Islam being subject to subjugation both from the Christian state and the Marxist project, has created a situation where Ethiopia’s Muslims have remained a rather invisible entity within the country, marginalized and secluded from the rest of the Ethiopian society.Read More about the document from here
The building was dim and there was an underlying must of construction. Fortunately for that Saturday night, the Holy month of Ramadan brought over 700 Muslims to brighten up the Islamic Foundation of America (IFA).
Islam in Ethiopia has historically found itself in the shadow of the dominating Christian state. The intermarriage between the state and the church, with the monarchy and Christianity as the defining elements of Ethiopian nationhood, led to the perception of Islam as its anti-thesis; one the one hand because of the perceived danger Islam as an external force posed to the Christian Ethiopia, and on the other hand because the Ethiopian Muslims refused to let themselves become culturally/religiously integrated into this Ethiopianness. Whereas the state-church marriage came to an end with the revolution in 1974, the Muslims largely remained on the margins of society. Although the new Marxist regime (the Derg)2 initially was welcomed by the Muslims, the regime’s policy of curtailing any form of religious expressions was soon felt by each religious community, including the Muslim. In other words, Islam being subject to subjugation both from the Christian state and the Marxist project, has created a situation where Ethiopia’s Muslims have remained a rather invisible entity within the country, marginalized and secluded from the rest of the Ethiopian society.