Summary of MFI Activities in 2008

December 2008

• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed by Alex Serotin of Radio Free Europe on the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
• Imran Malik wrote a blog on Hindu Terrorists.
  
• Dr. Ahmad wrote a blog on The Tragedy in Gaza.

November 2008

• We met with a delegation from Kyrgystan to discuss development of Islamic civil society.       
• We attended a CATO forum on intellectual property rights       
• We attended an Atlas special program on lessons from the poor.      
  
• Dr. Ahmad spoke on the Gulen movement at GU’s CMCU.       
• Dr. Ahmad was a panelist on EBRU-TV’s World Affairs programs on Third World Debt, and The Financial Crisis.       
• We met with a Muslim delegation from China to discuss Islam in the U.S. and characteristics that distinguish it from Islam in other western countries as well as in other regions of the world.         
• Dr. Ahmad represented the Minaret of Freedom Institute at the 62nd annual MEI conference on “US Middle East Policy: Pathways to Renewal.”       
• Dr. Ahmad represented the Minaret of Freedom Institute at the unveiling of the AMCE book digest project at IIIT.       
• Imran Malik wrote a blog on “Obsession: Neoconservatives Assault on the Islamic Faith”
  
• Dr. Ahmad wrote a blog “Dare We Hope?” on the prospects for an Obama administration.

July 2008

• MFI president Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad gave a presentation on "Religion and Science from the Quranic Perspective" at the IIIT Scholars Seminar and at GW Law school for Karamah. 
  
• Alejandro Beutel met with Senator Menendez’s staffers on Homeland Security and Civil Liberties issues, and presented his paper on Homegrown Terrorism and Radicalization.
• Dr. Ahmad participated in EBRU-TV “World Affairs” panel discussions on “world hunger” and “interfaith cooperation and reconciliation.”
• Esam Omeish’s speech at our annual dinner is the subject of a Scholar’s Chair program on CTV and Bridges TV. And is available on DVD.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed by Soraya Salam of IBN on Muslims in America.
• Charles Butterworth published a guest blog “Averroes Would Be Appalled” (unpublished letter to the Washington Post) on a Zionist attack on an Arabic Textbook.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed by Josh Gerstein of the NY Sun in a NY Sun article on a Virginia prosecutor's persecution of Muslims in America.
• Alejandro Beutel wrote a blog on the DC MPAC Youth Summit.
• Dr. Ahmad and Alejandro Beutel published a blog on “Politics and Policies are the Real Problem, Not Faith.”

June 2008

• MFI president Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad was interviewed on Ernest Hancock Air America program on Islam and relationships between people and their governments and the true beliefs and goals of people that are Muslim.
• Civil rights activist Mauri` Saalakhan discussed his new book The Palestinian Holocaust, followed by a comment from Palestinian political science writer Mohamed Nimer, in our brown bag luncheon series.
• Dr. Ahmad and Alejandro Beutel critiqued Monica Duffy Toft’s Christian Science Monitor article (“Why Islam Lies at the Heart of Iraq’s Civil War”) with the observation that "Politics and Policies are the Real Problem, Not Faith" in their MFI blog.
• We released a DVD recording of Esam Omeish’s address on the Muslim Brotherhood from our annual dinner.
• Dr. Ahmad appeared on the Scholar’s chair program on “Epistemology.”
• Prof. Peter Bechtold gave us an update on Darfur at our brown bag luncheon series.
  
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed by Josiah Ryan on the Gallup poll on Muslim Opinions for crosswalk.com.

April 2008

• MFI president Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad spoke in a panel discussion entitled, "Protecting Human Dignity and Freedom of Worship" at The Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University with Islamic leaders from Indonesia and the Philippines.
• MFI Vice President Aly Abuzakouk and Dr. Ahmad participated in the Pope’s meeting with Muslim and other American religious leaders in Washington DC.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on EBRU TV's "Perspectives on Faith" program on the relationship between Islam and science.
  
• Dr. Ahmad appeared with Alison Weir on “The Spiritual Politician” radio program to discuss the plight of the Palestinians.
• We were interviewed by Michelle Boorstein on the significance of the Pope’s visit to Muslims.
• Dr. Ahmad spoke on a panel on the “Prophets in the Abrahamic Religions” for the University of Maryland Honors Program.
• Dr. Ahmad participated in a panel discussion entitled, "Protecting Human Dignity and Freedom of Worship" before a visiting delegation of academics from the Philippines and Thailand at the CCMU at Georgetown University.
• Zaynab Alwani gave a presentation on Women in Islam at our brown bag luncheon series.
• Dr. Ahmad represented the Minaret of Freedom Institute at a Heritage Foundation presentation on the late Barry Goldwater at which he inquired as to Goldwater’s position on warfare in the absence of a declaration of war.
• Alejandro Beutel’s article “Western Foreign Policies and State Security: Proposal Framework for International Strategies in the War against Global Terrorism” was published in the International Journal of the Humanities.
• Dr. Ahmad participated in the Heritage Resource Bank and Atlas Economic Research Foundation Liberty Forum in Atlanta.
• Alejandro Beutel published two blogs: "Democratization in Turkey: Stumbling Blocks and the Prospects" and "A Metric of Security Failure: America “Bleeding Green” in the Fight Against Al-Qaeda."
  
• Dr. Ahmad published a blog on "The Economic Impact of the Iraq War."

March 2008

• MFI President Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad spoke on “Prophet Abraham from an Islamic Perspective” in a panel discussion in the series "Children of Abraham, Jews and Muslims in Conversation" at the Islamic Society of Southern Prince George’s County.
• MFI Vice President Aly Abuzakouk and Dr. Ahmad participated in a discussion of "Faith-Based Diplomacy: Bridging the Religious Divide" with Dr. Douglas Johnston, Founder and President of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, at the International Institute of Islamic Thought, aimed at deepening our understanding of the positive role that religion and religious actors can play in peacemaking or in addressing conflicts with a real - or percieved - religious dimension.
• Dr. Ahmad gave a presentation on "The Unity of the Islamic Ummah" for the Islamic Information Center at the Jafary Mosque in Burtonsville, MD.
  
• Josiah Ryan included Dr. Ahmad's comments as a counter-balance to Walid Phares's views in "Jihad Against West Well-Entrenched, Author Says."
  
• Dr. Ahmad spoke on "Muslim Victims of Grand Jury Abuse" at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring.
  
• Dr. Ahmad gave a presentation on “Prophet Abraham from an Islamic Perspective” as part of the interfaith dialog curricullum: "The Children of Abraham; Jews and Muslims in Conversation."
• We participated in the Arab and Youth Summit in Dearborn, Michigan, with a special focus on interfaith activity.
  
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on "Shariah in the American Courts" for the "Living Islam in America" television program on Fairfax Public Access.
• Dr. Ahmad gave an "Introduction to Islam" at Edge Consulting.
• Alejandro Beutel wrote a blog on "Bonyads and Iranian Liberty."

February 2008

• MFI president Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad spoke on "Minority Rights in Islam" at the Rumi Forum.
  
• MFI Vice President Aly Abuzakouk and Dr. Ahmad met with the former President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Prof. Sibghatullah Al-Mojadded, at the International Instiute of Islamic Thought to discuss the prospects for reconciliation.
• The Washington Post published a letter to the editor from MFI Advisory Board member Charles Butterworth regarding the Archbishop of Canterbury's remarks on Islamic law in Britain.
• Dr. Ahmad spoke on "Islam and the Development of Modern Science" at a brown bag luncheon in the Higgins House Great Hall at the Worcester Poytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA.
• Sarah Swick wrote a blog on "Being Profiled."
  
• Dr. Ahmad wrote a blog on "Gallup Poll Lets Muslims Speak for Themselves."

January 2008

• PressTv aired a panel featuring MFI President Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad and Vice President Aly Abuzakouk discussing U.S Media and Islam-Related Issues on "The American Dream."
• We hosted a group of Ugandan civil society leaders at MFI and discussed the possibility of having them host a workshop in Uganda that we could cosponsor.
• An abridged version of Alejandro Beutel’s “Breach of Law, Breach of Security: A Muslim American Analysis of US Counterterrorism Policies” was published in Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Islamic Horizons.
• Sharmin Ahmad was interviewed by al-Jazeerah for background on their program on the Hajj.
• Dr. Ahmad made a presentation at the National Defense University on Political Islam, discussing the differnces between conservatism, extremism, militancy, and terrorism.
• Linguist and National Writers Union member Sohair Soukkary spoke at our brown bag luncheon series on Demonization of Islam and the reasons behind the colonialist antagonism towards the madrassahs.
• We were interviewed by Farspress on the Iranian Revolution.
• Dr. Ahmad wrote blogs on Ignored by Israel, American Policies Alienate Egypt and Strengthen Hamas exposing the flaws in capital punishment for adultery (Is This the Shariah?).
• Alejandro Beutel wrote blogs on A Security Analysis of Bush’s State of Union Address and  Pentagon Removes Incompetent Ideologue on Muslim Affairs.