Lecture Notes Creating Masjid structure in Bakersfield•

Three sisters model. Iroquois. Three crops together. ○

Corn + Bean Plant (nitrogen + supply) + Squash - All three are needed to grow together○

Muslim Public Affairs Council in creating •

Formation of MPAC came out of Los Angeles. Youth •

"If you care about the future. You are the youth" - Jane Goodall○

How well do our Islamic center/organizations train our communities to build our own trellises○

Constantly need someone to "fix things" for them○

#1 Islamic Institution - Family•

Serve as a private circle for the "religious elite" or as "Homesickness institutions"○

Self-sustaining, lacks shoots○

Ineffective institutions: •

Serve as an open space for all ages & types of Muslims○

Engages generations of hearts, minds, and souls○

Effective institutions•

Upon first arriving in Houston. ISGH members say it is: "Haram to vote". Today 98% of mosque leaders say Muslims involved be in American institutions. And 91% agree that Muslim should be involved in politics.

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Khutbahs here in Houston are apolitical. Khutbahs in California were a lot more contemporary in relevance.•Examination of multiple masjids in different organizations. (see slides)•Los Angeles population 4 million. MPAC. New Horizons. Family Counseling big.•Singular individuals can begin creating new structures on their own. (Las Vegas Masjid)•Become like the cave of the seven sleepers and need to reimagine the masjid structure.•

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By far the most diverse audience we've ever had•

In order to succeed, Youth really need a way to flex their leadership muscle in the masjids. •Z: Youths masjids and institutions can grow. Can find good group of brothers and sisters where they can get better together. It's important that we nurture that growth and families.

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Ah: Question of irrelevance. Walk into masjids take off your shoes. And turn off your brains. •

Out of protest with ISGH. I avoided ○

Hired out of interfaith ministries.○

First time walk for Houston area Muslims. Muslims walk against violence. ○

Self-defense classes ○

Regular conversation with Isa Galloway - Executive Director of ISGH•

Masjid politics - welcome as a clique (Masjid center of clearlake actually stands for CLK).•

○ Try to make a difference in the Muslim community.

○ Hired someone to teach them Quran. Made to be more curious about why I married a white person instead of teaching him Quran.

Marriage to a white person… saw that Muslims didn’t not accept him in the community. Consistently did not feel welcome.

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Which masjid can I take a person that would make him feel comfortable?○

○ Convert friend had a Moroccan girlfriend. First week was told that he needed to do Dawah that others will go to Hell.

Having Masjid as a judgment free zone. The day he gave his shahada in the masjid… Old uncle says "How dare you go over the time" for the khateeb. Imam then gives announcement about the convert saying: "But I am not so sure he wants to do that [convert] anymore."

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Discussion Notes

H. Hawk - "A Critique of Islamic Organizations and the Need for Upgrade"Friday, April 04, 20147:08 PM

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others will go to Hell. ○ Love Mercy Masjid. Loved River Oaks Masjid.

ZG: Jumpstart that integration to be relevant. Halaqah done by an older person. •Key is to not organize events on the masjid. This is no t the environment for what we want to do. •ISGH Main as a board room with a prayer hall. •Eastside masjid - Fine with it. This is not a msajid. You need to come to clearlake. You need to come to Maryam.

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Houston is a huge city. One area to another takes a long time. Masjids crop up wherever the high congregations of Muslims are.

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Communities are tied to bricks and mortar is a flawed concept. Communities that can move anywhere is pivotal.

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Mod - Jummah Rus. Peculiarly American to get outraged over 10 minutes past two. Progress has many layers to adaptation. What exactly does it mean? Does it mean we shed off the garb of tradition of history? Do we shed cultural interpretation? Is it bid'ah. Nuts and bolts masjids will need to invest in institutions that create new models.

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Is it important to create successful "silo communities" or is it better to create diverse community?•Mosque Dawah Center isn't open for everyone. Bahai temple in Chicago. It's not just Persian. It's become a tourist destination. When you just have people walking in the door. People walk out with pamphlets and an impression of Islam.

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Its okay to build another community. •Turquoise Center as being an icon of the masjid center.•Grand Masjid of Paris as being an icon. Had a coffee shop known for having tea from all over the world. Helps combat the impression of Muslims all over.

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Faroukh: US is miles ahead of what is had in Pakistan. We are really critical of uncles who are really strict. But however the issue is the young do not get engaged in a substantive way. We come in with a brash way and then get hit back. Go in without getting discouraged. Mosques need to be made more mainstream.

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Houston Chronicle sitting in on a crazy khutbah on fluoride in water. Real headache. •Popular sentiment about asking questions with conversation. •

2000 masjids how do we fix them? ○

"I ruined his life and his understanding of what a masjid should be." ○

Z: Basketball Hoop story "Mussalah has the word Sallah!!!". It cannot have a basketball court said one guy in the masjid to him.

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"We've made Quran that it is so sacred that we don't even reach it to change it. Masjid is too sacred a place to be human"

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Masjids should be somewhere you can get your religious fix and your social fix. In Austin there is a masjid near campus and it is just run by students. Run under an umbrella organization. Imam comes from masjid. All of mosque affairs run that. Nueces Mosque. Youth run. Run by campus. All students and campus members. Large age gap between those

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What does it take to change to make a change in the Masjid. It might not change?•You build trellises all around it. Masjids are a few individuals doing this… because one individual did something. Invite ISGH can come to an existing structure. Analogy to the Vine reaching out to the trellis.

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Step #1 you have to be a member. Step #2. Once you are inside you can see what is going on. Step #3 Do your best to get rid of everyone who has an accent. Difficult to change their minds. Help from the behind.

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Token convert issue. •River Oaks I want to see where it goes. Masjid that will be great for women to get involved. •Women/ISGH not allowed to get involved•Man came who fighted to remove the wall dividing genders. •Don’t get discouraged in dealing with the communities. •Some people use masjids as political lead.•Has: Education Director of River Oaks Islamic Center. Obaid •Farsays he will become a member of the ISGH board.•Voting is very different.•Zaid: How do you create a community that excludes the "bidah" guy and create a real community? •Razi: Cant ignore individuals who are decrying "bidah" because you cant help them on the outside. But there is sometimes a value in bringing them to the table. People can change until the moment that they die. If people criticize you loudly in the masjid… take the conversation outside.

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Sometimes its popular to view the issue as just being older individuals. Ideologies do get passed down.•Fran: Non-muslim in the room. Doesn't drink, doesn't smoke. But scared of the Muslims in the world. Don't speak Arabic. Scared of the Saudi stuff. Cautiously looking to learn about Islam because of the scary

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speak Arabic. Scared of the Saudi stuff. Cautiously looking to learn about Islam because of the scary individuals. Glad to see individuals here who are showing that it doesn’t have to be scary.

Change takes time. When you try to make change you have to be nice as possible. You have to kill them with kindness.

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Instead of always being defiant I sit and talk with them.○

Has relatives who say that if you arent wearing a hat then they get angry. If I don't pray sunnah they tell me to get out.

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Hasan: Had a period of great rebellion against typicak masjid structure so he went to another masjid. So he left the masjid and stayed at another masjid. Friend told him: You used to be really involved in the other masjid. Don’t let them discourage you.

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Additionally, ask the question of "where's the money coming from".○

Tithing 10% of income in Mormon churches○

Put your money where your mouth is. Created an organization that operates as you pay to define the rules.

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Newer generation needs to take ownership. There also needs to be openness and willingness to say that some sheikh somewhere has authority. Sheikh point to particular texts and offer their brand of Islam. Now in the age of Google, individuals can often find the information themselves.

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The ideologies are stated○

Southern California had an application that you had to be accepted for.•

There is no compulsion in Islam. Different flavors of prayer. •Additionally there is sometimes a point in saying one person to offer their critique when it comes to fin peace one way or the other. You have to respect one person over another. We don’t have to just have the masjid Muppies (Masjid Urban professionals), OPEN Houston (Pakistani entrepreneurs), Risala Foundation (civic minded speaking)

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Vicky: Most important thing. When you go to an Islamic organizations what do you want? It really just comes to being able to reach out and embrace someone. Many instances where I would go to Islamic events an dI would not feel welcome because I did not look a particular way or was from a particular culture. (First generation Nigerian) And I cannot tell you the number of times I have felt excluded. Always important to reach out to others and make

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Action Items:•Become an ISGH Member.•Don’t feel bad for being the annoying voice in the machine. Write letters. Call them up. Few people do that. Don't put up with garbage.

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Next time bring one more person to the event.•Houston Muslim Group on Facebook •Feedback to ISGH •

• Potential future topic: Adoption in Islam as Next Topic -- Muslim Women Leadership Forum

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