Reaffirming the Values that Guide Our Work

By Maha Elgenaidi, founder and Chief Innovation Officer March 23, 2021 In the past several days, we have learned that ING’s participation at a recent California Department of Education board meeting —where the adoption of a model ethnic studies curriculum, the first of its kind in the nation, was approved —has been met by criticism...

ING founder Maha Elgenaidi’s comments at the California State Board of Education on the model curriculum on ethnic studies

By Maha Elgenaidi, founder and Chief Innovation Officer March 18, 2021 Good morning. Thank you State Superintendent Thurmond for the invitation to speak with you all today. Based on AB 2016, we are very happy to see the first version of the ethnic studies model curriculum being voted on today. This comes after years of input...

Liberals Should Listen to Muslim Voices Instead of Those Who Speak for Them

By Maha Elgenaidi, founder and Chief Innovation Officer Islamophobia is essentially an instrument of colonialism; an instrument that was used historically to subjugate the colonized by portraying them as barbarians or primitives needing civilizing, or in the present day, to suppress Muslim populations in various ways including ignoring or dismissing their voices for gain or...

Virtuous Activism: Friday Reflection for ISNA

By Maha Elgenaidi, founder and Chief Innovation Officer This speech was delivered online to audiences at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) on Friday, January 22nd, 2021. View the recording on YouTube. Bism Allah ar-Rahman ar-raheem. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. I begin with the prayer of Moses, “My lord,...

Does the Muslim American Community Have a Problem with Intra-Muslim Racism?

By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. It’s hard for a community that feels under siege from Islamophobia to admit that it has a problem with racism and bigotry within its ranks; it’s hard, but necessary. Our Muslim American community must be united to respond effectively to bigotry directed against us, especially when the vast majority of...

Muslim-American Maha Elgenaidi On Advocacy And Experience

Muslim, a new online magazine and an off-shoot of the popular MuslimGirl featured ten prominent Muslim figures who have made an impact within the Muslim American community for their publication launch in the month of Ramadan. One of them is ING Executive Director Maha Elgenaidi featured below. This feature is in partnership with Asian American...

Statement from the Executive Director on COVID-19

What an interesting time we live in! It is astonishing to me how something as miniscule as the COVID-19 virus, which is visible only through an electron microscope, can turn our world upside down as it has. As a Muslim, I am reminded of the Quranic verses on the power of the Creator: For the...

Decolonizing Interreligious Education: The Example of Islamic Networks Group (ING)

By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at the American Academy of Religion conference in San Diego on Monday, November 25th, 2019. I. Context Good morning. The title of my presentation this morning is decolonizing Interreligious education by using the example of programs by the Islamic Networks Group, also known as ING. I’ll...

Celebrating Margaret Jones, Founder of URI Peninsula Circle, 2001-2013

By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This memorial speech was delivered at the New Vision United Methodist Church in Millbrae on Sunday, May 19th, 2019 as part of a funeral service for Margaret Jones, founder of URI Peninsula Circle from 2001-2013. I’m deeply honored to be here to celebrate the life of Margaret Jones. I personally...

The Case Against Patriarchy in Islam: Fitra, viceregency, and universal principles

By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This article is published in the winter 2019 issue of Tikkun Magazine. I define patriarchy as a socio-cultural system in which men are ideologically viewed as inherently dominant over women, regardless of abilities, and therefore belong in positions of power and authority over them. Women in this worldview are viewed...

Posts By: Maha Elgenaidi