Lecture Schedule

1. January 10, 2010
   Emotionally Supporting Our Children During Difficult Times
   Dr. Gagan Joshi, Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
   A talk about the problems that Muslim parents have to deal with as they are trying to raise their children in very uncertain times. With the constant in flow of negative messages that our children are exposed to in the media today, it is very important that we as parents acquaint ourselves with issues that we need to grapple with in order to ensure that our children develop necessary emotional resilience to deal with these challenges.
   
   
2. November 1, 2009
   Navigating Hajj
   Mario Moreira
   An interactive presentation with an overview of Hajj, personal Hajj experience (with numerous photos), and some insights for Hajj preparation including Expectations, Myths, and Recommendations for the trip.
   Presentation Slides (PDF - 1.64 MB)
   
   
3. October 25, 2009
   Blueprint For Financial Success
   Nathania Ustan and Elizabeth O’Boyle
   An informative workshop on building a strong financial foundation for yourself and your family.
   
   
4. May 31, 2009
   raising Muslim Children In The U.S.A: How to Deal With Bullying in the Schools?
   Dr. Giath Reda
   Growing up is difficult in any country and at any time. Children in the schools can be mean and unkind to each other and therefore societies take appropriate precautions and institute remedial measures in order to deal with bullying situations. Experiences of Muslim children are no different in this regard; however, in light of the difficult circumstances, that prevail today, and which have led to the creation of ugly stereotypes of Islam and Muslims, their parents have to deal with additional burdens and trauma.
   
   Wisdom and patience are the endearing qualities needed by parents to deal with such situations; the important thing for the parents is to not allow their anger to take over their approach to this problem. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has said:

   "He is not from us who does not have Mercy on our little ones, doest not show Respect to our elderly and does not Recognize the ones with knowledge"

   
   
5. September 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2008
   Raising Children in The U.S.A: Relevance of the Blessed Month of Ramadan
   Dr. Giath Reda
   During the month of Ramadan, Dr. Giath Reda, the Imam and Director of Religious Affairs of our center, will give a sequence of four talks on issues that Muslim parents face in raising their children while living as a minority religious group in the United States of America. In this series we will explore how the month of Ramadan is relevant to this challenge, what guidance it provides to the parents, and how we can benefit from it.
   
   
6. May 18, 2008 – The Muslim Public Service Network (MPSN):
   Haroon Ullah and Meryum Kazmi
   Haroon Ullah and Meryum Kazmi, Meryum is an alumni of ICB Sunday School, will talk about The Muslim Public Service Network (MPSN).The Muslim Public Service Network is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that assists Muslim undergraduate and graduate students prepare for careers in public service and policy development. Its Summer Internship Program, begun in 1994, was the first such program for American Muslims and still is the only Muslim internship program in Washington DC. MPSN has graduated over 200 alumni, placing them in organizations and policy formulation positions in places such as the World Bank, U.S State Department, Congressional Offices and leading educational institutions like Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Berkeley.
   
   The Muslim Public Service Network takes a proactive approach to engaging American Muslims in public service and policy development. Experience, education, and expertise are the means to obtaining a seat at the table – the table where critical issues are discussed and far-reaching decisions are made. MPSN provides an important conduit for young American Muslims to become involved in effectively serving their communities and country.
   
   
7. April 27, 2008 - MPAC – Muslim Public Affairs Council: Making Muslims Part of the Solution
   Farah Husain
   Farah Hussain will talk about MPAC. In this presentation Farah would introduce MPAC to the greater Boston community and to describe her experiences while working with the organization and the unique opportunities that it offers to Muslims who would like to get involved with mainstream of public life in our country.
   Farah is an alumni of the Sunday School at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland. She got involved with MPAC during the summer of 2005 when she worked as a government and media affairs intern in MPAC's Washington DC office. During this time, she co-coordinated the drafting and publication of the first National Muslim American Youth statement about the the terrorist attack on the subways in London in the summer of 2005 and its aftermath. In July 2007, she participated in the first National Muslim American Youth Summit in DC, which involved 27 young Muslims meeting with top-level government officials.
   
   
8. April 13, 2008 - Guidelines For Islamic Funerals - Part II
   Shamim Ahmed and Aneess Khan
   sisters Shamim Ahmed and Aneess Khan will give a presentation about the Guidelines For Isla mic Funerals for Women. They will discuss the special issues that we need to be aware of when the deceased person is a female. Their talk will supplement the discussion that we had in a Conversations program several weeks ago in January on this subject.
   
   
9. March 16, 2008 - Know Your Neighbor
   Leah Ann Fredrickson
   Leah Ann Fredrickson an Intern from Harvard Divinity School would be giving a presentation about "Know Your Neighbor". This is a program which has been designed to bring various communities of faith in our area to get to kno! w each other better, and to bring them closer to each other by encouraging them to visit each other's places of worship.
   
   
10. February 3, 2008 - Islamic Perspectives on Cloning and Genetic Technology
    Dr. Syed Asif Razvi
    Dr. Syed Asif Razvi will give a talk about “Islamic Perspectives on Cloning and Genetic Technology”. The presentation will provide a brief historical background on cloning followed by a range of opinions on this issue by a number of Islamic scholars. The talk will conclude with Dr. Razvi’s own comments on the subject and a question and answer session.
    
    
11. January 28, 2008 - Guidelines For Islamic Funerals
    Dr. Riaz Khan
    Dr. Riaz Khan will give a presentation about the Guidelines For Isla mic Funerals.
    
    
12. January 20, 2008 - Rihla in Medina with Hamza Yusuf
    Omer Bajwa
    Omer Bajwa presently the Interim Muslim Chaplain at Cornell University will give a presentation about a three week journey through Saudi Arabia that he under took with the well known American-Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf. The presentation pays special attention to Mecca and Medina from the perspective of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). During their trip they were granted exclusive access to numerous historical sites that are not normally accessible to the general public.
    Brother Omer received his M.A. in Near Eastern Studies, with a specialization in Islamic Studies, from Cornell University's Department of Near Eastern Studies. He also holds an M.S. in Communications and a B.A. in English from Cornell, and is at present completing his pastoral studies in Hartford Seminary's Islamic Chaplaincy Program.
    
    
13. January 6, 2008 - Justice in Islam: Reflections On The Contemporary Islamic Court Systems
    Dr. Ghiath Reda
    Dr. Giath Reda, the Imam and Director of Religious Affairs of our center, will give a talk commenting on the workings of court systems in the contemporary world of Islam, in light of the normative concepts of Justice in Islamic Jurisprudence that are contained in the guidance provided by the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).