On Friday, April 1, students from Dominican University visited American Islamic College to observe Friday prayer and participate in interfaith dialogue over lunch. Nora Zaki, AIC chaplain intern and student at the University of Chicago led the group in a rich discussion about Islam.

Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Time: 6:00pm Reception; 6:30pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Dr. Robert A. Pape is Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs. His publications include Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It(Chicago 2010) (with James Feldman); Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House 2005); Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War (Cornell 1996), “Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work,” International Security (1997), “The Determinants of International Moral Action,” International Organization (1999); “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism,” American Political Science Review (2003); and “Soft Balancing against the United States,” International Security (2005). His commentary on international security policy has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, New Republic, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, as well as on Nightline, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and National Public Radio. Before coming to Chicago in 1999, he taught international relations at Dartmouth College for five years and air power strategy for the USAF’s School of Advanced Airpower Studies for three years. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago in 1988 and graduated summa cum laudeand Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. His current work focuses on the causes of suicide terrorism and the politics of unipolarity. He is the director of the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism.

20 college students from the University of North Dakota and Minot State University visited AIC as a part of their Spring Break Youth in Mission tour of Chicago. The group learned about AIC, Islam, and had the opportunity to observe afternoon prayer. AIC students participated in the dialogue, as well. Much was shared about the similarities found in both traditions to build a basis for dialogue. Differences regarding the doctrine were also discussed. Lunch was provided, and the conversation continued. AIC was very happy to host the group and look forward to being continued interfaith engagement with both schools.

Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Time: 6:00pm Reception; 6:30pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Dr. Charles Stewart is Professor Emeritus of History and Professor Emeritus of the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His areas of specialization include Africa, 19th century West Africa, Islam in the 18th through 20th centuries and African historiography. Dr. Stewart is currently serving as visiting scholar at Northwestern University, where he is engaged in the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA). ISITA is the first research center in the United States devoted entirely to the study of Islam and Africa. ISITA sponsors and facilitates collaborative interdisciplinary scholarship on the Islamic tradition of learning in Africa and promotes broader awareness of the role of Islam in African societies, past and present.

In 2015 Dr. Stewart complied a book titled, The Writings of Mauritania and the Western Sahara, which is a compilation of 300 years of literary production, consisting of more than 10,000 works by over 1,800 authors. This compilation documents a vibrant Islamic culture and educational system in a Bedouin society lacking any overarching state. This contradicts our received wisdom about the nature of high Islamic scholarship, and it offers insights into complicated relationships between the authority of the Word and everyday life in nomadic society. Biographical profiles of the writers and analyses of significant works tell a story of the organic growth of a Saharan scholarly tradition, linked but largely independent of the heartlands, original in its Hassaniyya verse and extensive legal literature, and deeply rooted in its Islamic culture. In addition, Dr. Stewart also developed the first computer-based bilingual cataloging system for Arabic manuscripts in West Africa, now on-line, for Mauritanian collections.

On Tuesday, March 1, AIC welcomed Shaykha Tahera Ahmad, Assoc. Chaplain and Director of Interfaith Engagement at Northwestern University. She opened the program with a beautiful recitation from the Qur’an. Sr. Tahera shared her own spiritual journey, which for her began right after 9/11. Muslim women were the main targets of Islamophobia, and so, discrimination toward Muslim women was heavily felt. This raised a lot of critical questions for conversation and self-introspection among the Muslim community. Her talk was thoughtful and thorough. You can view the video recording below.

Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Time: 6:00pm Reception; 6:30pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Chaplain Tahera Ahmad is a dynamic Muslim “scholar-practioner” who was raised in Morton Grove, IL and graduated from Niles West High School where she played Varsity basketball. Ahmad studied classical Arabic and traditional Islamic Sciences at Al-Diwan and Al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt and in Department of Islamic Studies and Christian Muslim Relations and Islamic Chaplaincy at Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut. During Women’s History Month 2014, Chaplain Ahmad was honored at the White House as a leading Muslim female in the United States and recognized among top ten good Muslim stories of 2013.

Ahmad serves on the board of ACURA (Association of College and University Religious Affairs) and is the co-president of the ACMC (Association of College Muslim Chaplains). She has supported leadership for premier Muslim organizations including the Islamic Society of North America, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, and served as the Department Head of Islamic Studies at the Nation’s largest Muslim Schools, the Islamic Foundation, Villa Park IL. Ahmad is a passionate advocate for social justice and works with young adults in the interfaith movement on artistic and athletic projects to help develop a balanced faith identity in a diverse global world.

She has been featured on NPR, Chicago Public Radio, Chicago Sun Times, USA Today, and recently featured in the national PBS documentary titled The Calling, which portrays the struggle of faith in the 21st century for leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. Ahmad is a renowned speaker and has worked closely with the U.S. State Department through leading international workshops on cultural awareness of Muslims and religious diversity. She was recently recognized and hosted by President Obama at the White House for her interfaith work and collaborative initiatives.

Ahmad has received graduate certification in various religious fields including Applied Spirituality in Women’s Leadership from the Women’s Leadership Institute at Hartford Seminary, Ijaazaat or classical certification in Quranic Recitation, Arabic language and Islamic sciences from Al-Diwan in Cairo, Egypt. During her graduate studies at Hartford seminary, she served as the Muslim Chaplain at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Currently she serves as the Director of Interfaith Engagement and Associate Chaplain at Northwestern University.

Program was as follows:

Welcoming & Introductions
Session 1: ACADEMICS
Faculty | Degree Programs & Curriculum | Career Options | Academic Rigor | Spirituality on Campus | Q & A

Session 2: ADMISSIONS & STUDENT LIFE
How to Apply | Scholarships | Campus Environment | Events | Internships |
| Student Clubs & Sports | Housing | Q & A

Tour & Reception

Al Firdaus Ensemble based in Granada was founded in 2012 by the English violinist and singer Ali Keeler and includes musicians from England, Spain, and Morocco.

The group takes its inspiration from the word Firdaus, which is the Arabic name, of Persian origin, for the most elevated abode in Paradise. The intercultural nature of this name reflects the character of the group in which musicians from different countries and cultural backgrounds are brought together with one purpose. Just as the musicians tune their instruments, so they need to tune their hearts to receive the inspiration of the moment and transmit that to the audience. The traditional Arabic term for this kind of music is sama` which could be translated as “the art of listening”.

The unique sound of their music is due to a synthesis of different musical styles. These include original compositions of a more Western classical character with influences from both Celtic and Flamenco traditions, and arrangements of songs drawn from the rich heritage of traditional sufi music from Arabic, Andalusi and Turkish sources. The words of the songs are mainly in Arabic drawn from the poetry of the great sufis from Al Andalus and the Arab world such as Ibn Arabi and Al Shushtari. Also, within their repertoire are musical adaptations of poems inaljamiado, the Spanish language written by the Moriscos using the Arabic script.

Al Firdaus usually plays in quartet or quintet formation, but is versatile and can perform as a trio, or in larger formations depending on the requirements of the concert. They use a combination of Arabic and Western classical instruments in addition to the flamenco guitar, and have a range of singers, some of whom are soloists and others who sing in the choruses. They also perform in choral formation accompanied only by percussion instruments.

They have performed in concerts and international festivals in Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the UK, the US, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

They released their first CD Safa in 2014.

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Time: 6:00pm Reception; 6:30pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Dr. Thomas E.R. Maguire serves as Associate Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in media studies from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied global media and the contemporary Middle East. His dissertation was a case study of Huda TV, an English-language Islamic satellite television channel based in Cairo. Dr. Maguire conducted fieldwork at the channel for over a year while working as a program presenter and producer. His publications include: “New Media and Islamism in the Arab Winter: A case study of Huda TV in Pre-Revolutionary Egypt,” Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research (2011) and “The Islamic Internet: Authority, Authenticity, and Reform,” in Thussu, Daya, Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra Flow (2007). Dr. Maguire previously taught at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Dr. Maguire is teaching a graduate course in Islam and Media and an undergraduate course in Islam and World Cinema at American Islamic College.