Jewish, Muslim volunteers join to help out during Christmas

Ari Goldberg filled Styrofoam cup after Styrofoam cup with lemonade from a giant jug cooler in soup kitchen at the St. Leo Catholic Church's on Detroit's west side on Christmas morning.

The 13-year-old West Bloomfield resident was one of about two dozen volunteers from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit who helped prepare and serve a festive holiday meal to less-fortunate people.

It was part of the organization's annual Mitzvah Day program, the largest single day of volunteering by the region's Jewish community, which enables Christians to spend the holiday at home with their loved ones, according to the Federation. This year, for the third time, an estimated 1,000 Jewish volunteers joined forces with their Muslim neighbors

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http://www.freep.com/article/20111225/NEWS01/312250002/Jewish-Muslim-volunteers-join-forces-to-help-out-on-Christmas

Windsor Islamic Center to produce solar power

WINDSOR, Ont. -- A new solar project on the roof the Rose City Islamic Centre has the potential to produce enough electricity to power 250 homes in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Located on Empress Street in partnership with Solgate Solar, the project will result in the installation of solar panels on about 55,000 square feet of the building's roof.

[...]

It's expected that the project will generate 250 kilowatts of power, reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 371,000 kilograms per year, save more than 500,000 acres of forest and displace more than 4,000 barrels of oil.

Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/Windsor+Islamic+centre+produce+solar+power/
5503673/story.html#ixzz1aO24bQ8b

Ugandan Muslim Religious Organization Launches Safe Motherhood Project

A sh10.5b programme to sensitise Muslim women on safe motherhood and reduce the school drop-out rate among children has been launched in Kabarole district.

The programme was launched on Monday at Toro Main Mosque in Fort Portal town by the Mufti, Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mubajje.

The four-year project worth sh10.5b was named "Keeping Mothers and Children Alive, Safe and Learning." It is funded by the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

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http://allafrica.com/stories/201107281382.html

Islamic Reality TV show in Malaysia seeks best women preachers

A forthcoming Islamic reality television show in Malaysia aims to find the best women preachers and change conservative mindsets on the role of women in Muslim societies.

The 13-episode prime time program titled "Solehah," an Arabic word meaning "pious female," is a talent contest that will feature charismatic young Muslim women judged by clerics on their religious knowledge as well as their oratory skills and personality.

Although Islam allows both men and women to preach the religion to society, the field remains dominated by males in most Muslim countries, something the show's producers in this mainly Muslim but multi-religious Southeast Asian country hope to change.

"If American Idol can help their contestants develop as singers, our show aims to help Muslim women develop as Islamic preachers," said Zulkarnaen Mokhtar, brand manager at the private television station which produces the show.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/18/us-malaysia-islam-idUSTRE75H0RP20110618

Muslim 9/11 hate victim tries to save his attacker from execution

Just 10 days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rais Bhuiyan was working at a gas station in Dallas when he was shot in the face by a man named Mark Stroman.

Stroman was on a shooting spree, targeting people who appeared to be Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent. Stroman is due to be executed July 20; Bhuiyan, the only survivor of the attacks, is fighting to save his life.

When Stroman entered the gas station, Bhuiyan initially thought it was a routine robbery.

"I opened the cash register, offered him the cash, and requested him not to shoot me," Bhuiyan tells weekends on All Things Considered host Laura Sullivan. "In reply he asked me, 'Where are you from?' And the question seemed strange to ask during a robbery. And I said, 'Excuse me?' And as soon as I spoke, I felt the sensation of a million bees stinging my face, and then heard an explosion."

Bhuiyan required medical attention for years after the attack. The bullet hit him on the right side of the face, leaving severe injuries, particularly to his right eye.

[...]

"According to my faith in Islam, there is no hate, no killing. It doesn't allow anything like that," says Bhuiyan. "Yes, Mark Stroman did a horrible thing, and he brought a lot of pain and disaster, sufferings in my life. But in return I never hated him."

Bhuiyan has created a website called World Without Hate to educate others about hate crimes as a means of preventing them. He's also working with Amnesty International and Stroman's defense attorney, who has filed several appeals on Stroman's death sentence.



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http://www.npr.org/2011/06/19/137283467/9-11-hate-crime-victim-seeks-to-save-his-attacker

Positive Muslim News is now on Facebook!

Well, Positive Muslim News realized that it should be on Facebook, so better late than never. Please check out the page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Positive-Muslim-News/232420980115131?sk=wall

Eco-mosque is another powerful symbol of Islamic ingenuity

News that a small Muslim community in Norderstedt, Germany, has pioneered renewable energy sources by placing a wind turbine within the minaret of their mosque comes as a welcome surprise to most. Yet for some commentators the minaret continues to symbolise the march of an intolerant Islam intent on proselytising liberal Europe, a view made clear in 2009 when a Swiss referendum banned the construction of any new minarets.

To those versed in the proclivities of Islamic art and architecture, however, the mosque and its minaret have always stood as positive examples of syncretism.


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jun/24/eco-mosque-wind-turbine

Muslims donate $26,000 to Greater Chicago Food Depository

He is not a true follower who eats to his satisfaction and sleeps comfortably at night while his neighbor goes hungry - and he is aware of it."

Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him

Under the visionary leadership of Zakat Chicago, a committee of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, on May 5, the Greater Chicago Food Depository received a check for more than $20,000 to provide supplies for food pantries across Chicagoland. The Northern Illinois Food Bank received another $6,000 for food for the needy in the collar counties.

"Zakat Chicago has been supporting local food pantries for three years, but this year we decided to take this route to ensure that all the money is spent on food and the system is more centralized," said Maqsood Quadri, board member of CIOGC who played an instrumental role in this project. "At a time when hate against Muslims is on the rise across the nation, it is crucial to be proactive in letting our neighbors know that Muslims are helping anyone who needs assistance."

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http://www.ciogc.org/Go.aspx?link=7655415

Muslim doctors offer free clinic

Robert Bowling has diabetes, high blood pressure and gout, and has been unable to work since 2002.

At Thanksgiving 2009, when he had to be rushed to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital Anderson, a nurse referred him to a free clinic that had just opened in the adjacent medical office building.

The Muslim Clinic of Ohio, Cincinnati Chapter, now known as the Mercy Care Clinic, was started by a group of local Muslim physicians.

“I think a lot of the American public sees the news and thinks if they see a Muslim that they’re automatically a terrorist,” said Bowling, 53, of Anderson Township.

[...]

The rest are Jewish and mostly Christian, like Jean Houck, 60, of Loveland. Unable to work for the past five years because of deteriorating health, she said the clinic has helped her deal with hypertension, high blood pressure and several stomach and digestive problems.

She is able to get prescription medicine regularly now.

“As far as any doctoring I’ve ever gotten in my life,” she said, “this is the most respect I’ve ever been treated with.”

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http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110404/NEWS01/304040037/1196/NEWS010702/Muslim-doctors-offer-free-clinic-?odyssey=nav|head