Archives
Muslims and Nostra Aetate: Fifty Years of Rapprochement
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion appeared at the ING blog. The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate marked a watershed in the relationship of Catholics toward Muslims. For the first time, a major church document broke with the old missionizing and Orientalist way of looking at Muslims and spoke of these… Read More
Addressing Islamophobia, One Person at a Time
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at iSLAMiCommentary. “We need more than the law to combat what are often deep-seated prejudices and attitudes that are the root causes of discrimination… Face-to-face interaction, education, and inter-religious engagement are key to breaking the grip of Islamophobia in this… Read More
Is Islamophobia Real?
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at the Huffington Post. Some people ask the question, is there really such a thing as “Islamophobia,” or are Muslims merely indulging in a culture of victimhood? While most Muslims may feel that even to ask the question… Read More
Invocation at Notre Dame de Namur University Commencement
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This invocation was delivered at Notre Dame de Namur University’s Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 9th, 2015. Maha was the first Muslim to present such an invocation. She was joined on stage by university President Judith Maxwell Greig, Ph.D. and Fedele Bauccio, Chief Executive Officer… Read More
Why Muslims Must Continue to Stand Up to Anti-Semitism
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at Patheos. On April 7, congregants of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, Maryland, found their synagogue defaced with swastikas and profanity. The incident devastated congregants like Michael Weisel, who said, “When my wife called me and told me what… Read More
American Muslim Groups as “Native Informants” of Neo-Orientalism: Essentialism, Reproduction, and Intellectual Manipulation
y Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This paper originally appeared in Avicenna: The Stanford Journal of Muslim Affairs. This paper seeks to show how U.S. Muslim organizations are inadvertently contributing to a new form of Orientalism by reproducing old tropes in their efforts to combat it. The paper… Read More
ING Speech at Women’s Interfaith Dialogue
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered on November 15th, 2014, for a gathering of over one hundred Christian, Muslim, and Jewish women who came together at Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos for a discussion of the book “The Faith Club” by Suzanne Oliver, Ranya Idliby, and… Read More
ING Speech at Women’s Interfaith Dialogue
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered on November 15th, 2014, for a gathering of over one hundred Christian, Muslim, and Jewish women who came together at Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos for a discussion of the book “The Faith Club” by Suzanne Oliver, Ranya Idliby, and… Read More
Being UnMosqued and Complacent is No Longer an Option
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at Patheos. I broke down in tears recently while recording an interview for the Taleef Collective, which really surprised me. I was talking with the filmmaker Mustafa Davis about my views on the purposes of masajid in the… Read More
Face-to-Face Interaction is Key to Changing Misperceptions of Muslims
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at the Huffington Post. Pastor Michael Barnes of Gordon Uniting Church in New South Wales, Australia, said it best, “I have found connection with people of other religious traditions to be fascinating and stimulating. It has caused me… Read More
