Summary of MFI Activities in 2001

December 2001

• MFI President Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad participated along with a Christian and Jewish panelist in a press conference organized by the Peace and Justice Foundation on "Peace in the Middle East: Why the Process Continues to Fail." 
• Dr. Ahmad's article "Islam Demands a Muslim Response to the Terror of September 11" has been accepted for publication in the Middle East Affairs Journal.
• Dr. Ahmad gave an introduction to Islamic History to the staff of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 
• Dr. Ahmad gave a presentation on "Turning Points in the Past Fifty Years in Palestine" to an assembly of Fairfax County schoolteachers. 
• Dr. Ahmad gave an interview on the significance of the Eid-al-fitr on WTTL radio in Washington, D.C.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on Blaquita Cullum show on the radio america network on the legality of prosecuting John Walker Linder (the "American Taliban").
• MFI board member and officer Sr. Sharmin Ahmad participated in a presentation on "Rediscovering the Qur'anic Premises for Relationships with non-Muslims" for the Initiatives of Change series in Washington, DC. 
• Dr. Ahmad presented an introduction to Islam at the Bethesda Presbyterian Church.
  

  

 November 2001

• Dr. Ahmad joined Rabbi Mark Gopin in a dialog on "Holy War, Holy Peace: Religious Terrorism and Strategies of Religious Counter-terrorism in the Mid-east" at a Conflict Resolution and Prevention Forum sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for Preventive Action of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Conflict Management Program of the School for International Studies Search for Common Ground, and the Conflict Prevention Project of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at Johns Hopkins University.  He argued that one must make a distinction between religious motivations for violence and religious legitimization. That is, that the political motives of the Sept. 11 attacks must not be obscured in the debate over the dubiousness of the arguments of religious legitimacy. 
• Dr. Ahmad joined a few dozen other American Muslim leaders for a meeting with Iranian President Mohamed Khatemi during his visit to the United Nations.  Dr. Ahmad urged Khatemi to take the lead in a Muslims initiative against terrorism.
• MFI officer Omar Altalib spoke on November 7, 2001 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Center at Bowling Green State University, Firelands College campus, in Huron, Ohio.  The talk was sponsored by Professor Larry Smith, from the Peace and Justice Club.  100 people attended the event, including students, faculty, staff, and community members.  The topic was War, Religion, and the World.  Omar gave a Criminal Justice and Sociology perspective on the topic.  Omar indicated that war is sometimes necessary in self defense, and that religion can be an important force in establishing justice and promoting peace and the rule of law.  There are many parts of the world today where war is taking place, and religion is sometimes used to promote war.  The U.S. war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and against Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist group is unique in that our enemies are claiming the moral high ground.  When we fought Fascism and Communism our enemies did not try to justify themselves by resorting to religion and morality.  In this case, however, our enemies are trying to make us out to be evil and immoral, when in reality the terrorists and their supporters are evil and immoral.
• Dr. Ahmad presented an introduction to Islam at the Foreign Service Institute of the State Dept. and at the Potomac Presbyterian Church.
• Dr. Ahmad gave a presentation on Muslim Faith and Values to the staff of the Foreign Service Institute
• Dr. Ahmad participated in a dialog on Islam, Democracy and Market Economy at the Center for International Private Enterprise in Washington, D.C.

October 2001

• Dr. Ahmad met with the Washington office director of the FBI and warned that FBI actions like the shutting down of the Muslim web providers in Texas and the government's continued persecution of immigrants like Mazin An-Najjar would inhibit Muslims from cooperating in the investigation into the Sept. 11 terrorism.  He encouraged the FBI to investigate an Internet intruder who seemed to have advance knowledge that something was about to happen on Sept. 

September 2001

• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed by a wide range of newspaper, radio and television stations on the events of Sept. 11.  Interviews included local ABC and NBC affiliates, the Washington Post, the Montgomery Gazette Newspapers, NPR, UPI, a Texas radio station, AM 700 in Washigton, D.C., and the Washington Times
• MFI cosponsored a prayer service for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, organized by Muslim women including MFI Secretary Sharmin Ahmad.
  

• MFI board member Sr. Sharmin Ahmad represented Islam in the Day of Prayer at the Washington, D.C.'s Unity Church
• Dr. Ahmad presented an introduction to Islam at the Foreign Serivice Institute of the State Dept.
• Dr. Ahmad participated in a panel discussion on the teachings of Islam at an Adventist church in Washington, D.C.

August 2001

• We submitted a rebuttal to Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson's call for a Federal shutdown of Muslim web sites.
• MFI President Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad was interviewed on the Muslim view of stem cell research on AM 700 in Washington, DC.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed for background information on the growth of Islam for the NPR radio program "Talk of the Nation."

July 2001

• Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad participated with other American Muslim leaders in a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Malaysia in which the importance of a speedy and just resolution to the persecution of Anwar Ibrahim to the progress of American Muslims and the Islamic movement in general was emphasized.
• Dr. Ahmad has sent a rebuttal to Objectivist Edwin Locke's bizarre accusations that it is the Palestinians who oppose property rights to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily News.

June 2001

• MFI President Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad was interviewed about the Taliban on an NPR national broadcast of Public Interest with Kojo Anande.
• Dr. Ahmad and MFI Secretary Sharmin Ahmad participated in a brainstorming session on conflict resolution in Sudan at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, based on the analysis of Islamic conflict resolution by Islamic scholar Khalid Abul-Fadl.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on the election of Khatemi by Bob Madrid on regional Utah radio station KIQ.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on the relationship of Islam and modern science on AM 700 in Washington, DC.

May 2001

• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on the situation in Palestine on AM 700 in Washington, DC.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on polygyny by Bob Madrid on regional Utah radio station KIQ.

April 2001

• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer about the Pope's visit to Syria.
• Imam Wallace Deen Mohammed and Dr. Anwar Haddam addressed the Minaret of Freedom Annual Dinner on "the Importance of Liberty to Muslims."
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on the Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate on the Islamic view of polygamy in connection with the story of a Mormon on trial for bigamy.
• Dr. Ahmad moderated a round-table discussion with Israeli writer Israel Shamir at the United Associates for Studies and Research.
• Dr. Ahmad submitted a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal demonstrating how Antonin Scalia is actually opposing freedom of religion. 
• Liberty Magazine has published a version of our expose on "the Real Reason to Oppose Aid to Israel" that reveals the ugly collectivist objectives of the Israeli persecution of the Palestinians. 

February 2001

• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed on the Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate on the implications of Ariel Sharon's election as Prime Minister of Israel for the future of the occupation of Palestine. 
• Dr. Ahmad participated in a planning session for a new Islamic University in America. 
• Dr. Ahmad met with U.S. Institute of Peace director David Smock to discuss the need for an objective interfaith fact-finding mission to Sudan. 
• Dr. Ahmad gave an introduction to Islam to the Foreign Services Institute.

January 2001

•  Dr. Ahmad participated in a delegation of American Muslims participating in the "First Conference on Jerusalem" in Beirut which will establish a new organization dedicated to the liberation of Jerusalem.
• In a meeting arranged by the Islamic Institute, Dr. Ahmad met with Republican leadership regarding the Bush transition and explained to former House Speaker Newt Gingerich why the Israel has no more right to claim Jerusalem as its capital than Russia has a right to claim New York City as its capital and to Congressman John Sununu, Jr. why Muslims are concerned about whether John Ashcroft will back Bush's professed stand against secret evidence.
• Islam and the Discovery of Freedom went into its second printing.
• Dr. Ahmad was interviewed by the Hizbullah newspaper on the need for Muslims to speak plainly and consistently on the issue of Jerusalem, working within the framework of international law.
• Dr. Ahmad presented a talk on the cultural biases in the Western understanding of Umar Khayyam at the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena conference in Sicily, cosponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the University of Arizona.
• Dr. Ahmad participated in an AMC radio panel discussion on the role of Muslim-Christian Relations in 21st century culture, with Prof. John Esposito.