Honoring our Shared Humanity
Through Education and Engagement

ING Condemns Terror Attacks in London

(San Francisco Bay Area, 7/07/05) – Joining Muslims around the country and the world, the San Francisco Bay Area based Islamic Networks Group condemns the terrorist attacks in London today. As Muslims, we utterly deplore these heinous and horrific acts that contradict all laws of Islam and civilization. To those who would commit such acts in the name of Islam, we say, that they are distorting and defaming a religion whose very name comes from the word “peace”, and which holds the highest regard for human life. As the Qur’an states: “Whoever takes an innocent life, it is as if he has killed all of humanity.” The Prophet of Islam condemned the targeting of civilians, and even infrastructure; there is no precedent in Islamic law or history for such a barbaric act. Read More

ING's Annual Community Support Dinner

On Saturday, October 4th, 2003 ING held it’s 11th Annual Community Support & Fundraising Dinner titled, “Muslim Heritage and Contributions for a New Generation,” at the Chandni restaurant in Newark, California. The program this year had the perfect blend of inspirational & artistic expression with guest speakers Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (on video) & Imam Zaid Shakir as the keynote speakers and performances by Calligraphy of Thought and Azhar Usman (Muslim Comedian) as the entertainment. Read More

Celebrating the Fourth of July

Celebrating the Fourth of July – An Arab-Muslim-American’s Journey to Discovering their American-ness. By Maha Elgenaidi, Founder and Director of Islamic Networks Group (7/4/05) As an American of Arab ancestry and Muslim background, I’ve always felt slightly disingenuous about becoming emotionally involved in the 4th of July holiday. I was never quite sure about my American-ness, despite my citizenship, nor did I feel that my fellow Americans, particularly those of European descent, viewed me as authentically American. I’ve always wondered how other groups, like African Americans reconciled their difficult history in America with celebrations of the American nation, which is reflected in Independence Day. Growing up in the United States, after having emigrated here from Egypt with my parents at the age of 7, we never celebrated the 4th of July holiday, because it wasn’t “our holiday,” as my mother would tell us. Like many children of immigrant parents, I grew up neither being authentically American nor identifying with mine or my parents country of origin. It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s, free from my parent’s control, that I declared my identity as an American, although I still hadn’t fully understood what this meant. I knew what it was not – it only took a year living in Egypt to convince me that I was not Egyptian, and while both my siblings married Egyptians and visited Egypt at every opportunity they had, I didn’t return to Egypt again for two decades. So, embracing my newly found identify as an American, I began a conscious journey in my early 20’s to discovering exactly what being American meant for me. Read More