All Praises are for Allah Lord of all that exists and peace and blessings of Allah be on His final Messenger and his household. Saqib Attique popularly named as “Wonder of HHRD” and “One Man Army” by his colleagues and friends was born on Sep-1974 in Pakistan. With the philosophy of “do good until I no longer can,” Saqib Attique continued his humanitarian work and fulfilled his role as Assistant Director of Development team, HHRD Helping Hand for Relief and Development, USA until his last days even with a series of serious health setbacks. Moreover, he was Program Manager of Children with Disabilities and Physical Rehabilitation, facilitator of HHRD operations in Haiti Lead, Regional Manager New Jersey, Promotional Manger of Marketing and National Conference Lead. Upon reflection on how one man could make such a positive difference in so many lives, those who knew him best identify qualities that were interwoven in the fabric of his being. A tireless work ethics that seemingly allowed him to bend space and time. An unshakable faith in Allah who calls us to a life of service to others. Saqib Attique had an uncanny ability to find happiness in his daily activities and his pleasant personality was contagious to everyone he met. A warmth and kindness that when you spoke to him, he made you feel like you were the most important and beloved person in the world. He wasn’t trying to win any popularity contests but lived a life of purpose by helping distressed humanity through welfare work.  He was making difference and changing lives of many by dedicating his life for Islamic movement, supporting fund raising activities, collecting donations, organizing refugee camps. His positive work has inspired a lot of younger generations and motivated them to participate in community services. One of his biggest achievement was starting 1st Mid Atlantic Regional convention as his everlasting charity. At the age of 48, on Dec 9, 2022 the Muslim community mourned the tremendous loss of Saqib Attique who fought a courageous battle of kidney failure.  Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi Raji’oon. To Allah we belong and to him we must return. Although, he battled chronic and debilitating illnesses for several years but he rarely talked about his challenges and always showed courage and patience. He left a legacy of Islamic Movement workers which is filled with selflessness, unconditional love, courage, commitment, compassion, standing for truth and pure dedication. He will be remembered forever for his everyday acts of kindness, commitment to working in the path of Allah SWT and in the service of those in need. He dedicated his life as a giver and more importantly he was extremely generous. One cannot describe the extent of loss that the Muslim community has felt with his departure. He will always be surrounded in the special prayers by the loved ones and they will continue to honor his legacy.  Although he left this world but his loving heart has left a beacon of light for all Muslim Community.

Walking the Red Path in Islam Anthropologists and archaeologists are generally unified in their view that Native Americans (Red Indians) were the original inhabitants of the Western hemisphere. The ancestors of modern-day Native Americans are uniformly heralded as the “First Americans,” whether the hypothesis is that migrants arrived in the Americas when the South American and African continents were physically joined, or that a mass migration came from eastern Asia across the Bering Straits to the southern-most regions of South America. Evidence of Islam among Native Americans during the pre-Columbian period is mostly sketchy as there is relatively little research on the subject. Notable exceptions are the works of a few individuals including Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick, Dr. Jerald Dirks, and Kambiz Ghanea Bassiri. Further historical documentation of indigenous people embracing Islam through their interaction with Muslim Malian explorers in the Americas in the early 1300s, as well as the Natives’ synergy with runaway Muslim African slaves in the United States, holds the promise of validating and building upon preliminary research in this recent field of study. While there is abundant historical research about the relationships between Europeans and Native Americans, and Europeans and Africans in America, definitive works about the relationships between Native Americans and Africans in America, from the 15th to the 19th centuries, have yet to be written. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, heralded as the “Father of Black History,” in 1920 referred to the absence of research in this area as, “…one of the longest unwritten chapters in the history of the United States.” The interaction of Natives and Africans in America is exemplified by a number of well-known historical figures. Crispus Attucks is recognized as the first martyr of the American Revolution. He was fatally shot by British troops during a street fight between American colonists and British soldiers in 1770. Tensions ran high due to the heavy taxes imposed by Britain. The incident became known as the Boston Massacre. Attucks was a Black Natick (Nantucket) Indian. Similarly, the father of the Back to Africa Movement, Paul Cuffee, was of Black and Indian (Dartmouth) parentage. He was a successful shipowner in Massachusetts, and in 1815 he transported and resettled in Sierra Leone 38 Black freedmen and former enslaved Blacks. Another example, one of the most notable and effective abolitionists of the mid-19th century, was Frederick Douglas, also of mixed Native American and African American ancestry. Following two previous failed attempts at freedom, Douglas escaped from a Baltimore plantation to New York, eventually settling in Massachusetts where he became known as a brilliant orator, author, and compelling abolitionist voice. Continue Reading…. Being Native American and Muslim I prefer being referred to as Native American. When someone says “Indian,” most people think it refers to a person from India. It’s more accurate to say Native American or Indigenous. My family is from South Dakota and growing up in Oglala in the southwest of the state, you are used to being around Native Americans every day, and everybody is related to you in some way. Both my mother and my father are Lakota (Sioux) Oglala. Being Native American and Muslim is a balancing act that is interesting because you know your heritage yet now you must learn new and different traditions. Some Muslims told me that you must turn your back on your native culture once you become Muslim. I wasn’t going to do that. Our family’s history goes back to the days of traveling with Crazy Horse, one of the most famous of the Oglala Lakota war chiefs. Both sides of my family fought at Little Big Horn, then they branched out with Red Cloud. We have a proud history that I can never ignore.My grandparents were very strict in religion. They were Christian. My grandfather knew the Old Testament backward and forward. It was rather difficult growing up with my grandparents because they would not allow certain things in the house. They insisted that Native Americans shouldn’t eat pork. I discovered that Muslims don’t eat pork and do several other things in a similar way as my grandparents. My grandparents and my mom lived in Oglala, South Dakota and my uncle lived in Wolf Point, Montana. We would spend part of the time in South Dakota and the other time in Montana. Growing up in two different states was interesting and fun. Coming to Islam I started to do research about Islam in 2005. I wanted to find out about Shariah law and what it meant. I was on a hunt to learn everything I could about Islam. I met online a brother from Egypt and he taught me a lot about the Islamic religion and being Muslim. When I asked him questions that he wasn’t sure about, he would tell me to keep the questions until I go to the mosque to take shahadah (declaration of faith). I eventually took my shahadah in 2007 at the mosque. Continue Reading….

All Praises are for Allah Lord of all that exists and peace and blessings of Allah be on His final Messenger and his household. ICNA mourns the passing of one of the most renowned Islamic scholar of economics, Dr. Nejatullah Siddiqi on Friday, Nov 11th, 2022 at the age of 91. He was also a member of Jamaat-e-Islami India central executive. May Allah SWT grant him highest place in Jannatul Firdous! Dr. M. Nejatullah Siddiqi (born 1931, Gorakhpur, India) died this morning. He was a pioneer of Islamic economics and taught this subject in Aligarh Muslim University and King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He was also associated with Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah.He was a prolific writer in Urdu and English and had 63 works in 177 publications. His works were translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, etc. His most widely read book is “Banking without interest” which was published in 27 editions between 1973 and 2000. He supervised dozens of PhD theses in Indian, Saudi and Nigerian universities.He was also associated with Jamaat-e Islami of India and was a founder-member of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, an umbrella body of Indian Muslim organizations established in 1964.

All Praises are for Allah Lord of all that exists and peace and blessings of Allah be on His final Messenger and his household. ICNA mourns the passing of one of the most renowned contemporary Islamic scholars Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi.  He was the Founding President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and only recently stepped down from its presidency. He was 96. The death of Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is a great loss to this Ummah and particularly to Islamic Movement. The Ummah has lost one of the most brilliant minds. Dr. Qaradawi was honored in 1994 with the prestigious King Faisal International Prize, recognizing his exceptional service to humanity in religious scholarship. Then again in 2000, he was given an international award as the “Islamic Personality of the Year” in Dubai. He spent his entire life calling Muslims both leaders and followers to come back to the Hukm of Allah SWT. In the process he challenged rulers including of his own country where he was jailed three times and subsequently stripped of his Egyptian citizenship driving him to seek exile in Qatar. He had strong determination, insight and a pragmatic approach in dealing with the problems facing the Muslim Ummah; qualities that are not given to many. His goal was clear; to please Allah SWT. He was not preoccupied with criticism but was very focused in solving the issues of the Ummah. His thoughts will live with us in the 120 books which he authored and from which millions have benefitted. May Allah SWT grant him the highest paradise of Paradise and grant patience to his family.

Renowned Islamic scholar, former president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari passes away. New Delhi, 26 Aug. 2022: Renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, former president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and author of more than two dozen books died at Al Shifa Hospital in New Delhi at around 8.30 pm today. He was 87 years of old and is survived by two sons and two daughters. His funeral prayer will be held at 10:00 am tomorrow(Saturday, 27th Aug 2022) at the JIH Markaz mosque (Masjid Ishat-e-Islam), Abul Fazal Enclave, Okhla, New Delhi. Maulana Umari was born in 1935 in a village called Puttagram in the North Arcot district, Tamil Nadu, India. He has been the president (Ameer) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind for the three consecutive terms from 2007-2019. He completed Alimiat and fazilat (Masters in Islamic studies) from Jamia Darussalam, Omerabad, Tamil Nadu. He obtained his baccalaureate (Munshi Fazil) in Persian from the Madras University. He also received a B.A (English) from Aligarh Muslim University. Maulana Umari associated with JIH during his student life. After completing his studies, he dedicated himself to its research department. He officially became its member in 1956. He served as the JIH city president of Aligarh for a decade. He was the editor of its Urdu monthly organ Zindagi-e-Nau for five years from June 1986 to December 1990. Later, he has become JIH Vice President, which he served for four consecutive terms from April 1990 to March 2007. Maulana Umari was rendering his valuable services as the chairman of the JIH Shariah Council. He was also Vice President All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a premier umbrella body of Indian Muslims. He was also the founder Editor of the quarterly Islamic research journal – Tehqeeqat-e-Islami since 1982. Being a noted Islamic scholar, educationist, researcher, orator, and author Maulana Umari has penned over 40 books in the Urdu language and contributed hundreds of research articles in various journals and magazines, on various topics including Islamic doctrines, Islamic jurisprudence, Dawah, Islamic social system, human rights, contemporary challenges and political issues. Later, a large number of books were translated into various languages. https://jamaateislamihind.org/eng/renowned-islamic-scholar-former-president-of-jamaat-e-islami-hind-maulana-syed-jalaluddin-umari-passes-away/

47th ICNA-MAS Annual Convention Memorial Day Weekend 2022 in Baltimore, MD ‎السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ رَحْمَةُ اللّهِ وَ بَرَكَاتُهُ Alhamdulillah, this past weekend, Muslims from across the country gathered to attend the ICNA-MAS Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. This event is the largest gathering of Muslims in the United States, featuring renowned speakers and national leadership along with a huge bazar, Halal food courts, a parallel youth conference, health clinic, childcare, career fair, and more. This year, after a 2 year hiatus due to pandemic, the ICNA-MAS Convention welcomed more than 21,000 attendees. Event hosted 160+ sessions over the long weekend with close to 200 speakers and presenters. Young attendees also participated in Quran memorization and recitation, Spoken Word, Hackathon, Debate and Speech Competitions. The bazar, which welcomed Islamic clothing shops, art, skincare, and different charities and Muslim businesses, had 535 booths buzzing with activities. Such an effort is a feat of logistics and planning, so to make it all happen, our organizers thank the 700+ volunteers, who ushered attendees, helped at registration, manned the booths, and moderated the sessions, and much more! This year’s convention was a much needed gathering of our Muslim community, and we are so excited to host you all again in Baltimore, Maryland, during Memorial Day weekend in 2023 inshallah. Photo Credit: Najam Abbasi, Asim Mushtaq Become a “Friend of ICNA”