Staff Insights

Hajj and Rosh Hashanah: A Time for Introspection, Reflection, and Rejuvenation Through Our Religious Rituals

By Ameena Jandali, Content Director. This opinion appeared at the ING blog. This year two important religious holidays coincide, with the season for both beginning this week: the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, the month in the Islamic calendar when Hajj takes place begins tonight after sunset, and Rosh… Read More

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

Talk to Others, Transform Yourself: Interfaith Dialogue Combats Ignorance

y Tim Brauhn, Communications Manager. This opinion originally appeared at the Interfaith Youth Core blog. I took Interfaith Youth Core up on their challenge for Better Together Day on April 14th and reached out to others of faith or philosophical tradition to have a conversation about what… 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