For the Muslim, therefore, it is essential to find a Quranic/Islamic grounding for the protest-oriented agenda of black religion.

That is the task Dr. Jackson undertakes in this pathbreaking work. The book is published by Oxford University Press, it is available on Amazon.com as well.

The most recent national presidential election elicited – for obvious reasons – the highest level of political participation, interest, and media coverage in recent history, not only amongst the general public but also the American-Muslim community in particular. The election of President Obama to the White House comes with cautious optimism to many. What doors of opportunity does this election open for the Muslim community? Does the election facilitate local participation at a political and social level? Does it alleviate the challenges of allegiance to the global Muslim community while still maintaining a genuine national identity? Does the election of a democratic candidate solve the challenge of a presumed Muslim platform of moral conservatism and social liberalism?

The topics discussed at this year’s ALIM program will include: American Muslim political identity: Possibilities and Problems, Muslim allegiance between the global muslim community and local political priorities, social consciousness: universal moral concerns and regional action, American Muslim political schizophrenia: social conservatism versus human liberties amongst others.

The scholars on tap will be Dr. Ali Sulaiman Ali, Dr. Muneer Fareed, Dr. Abd al-Hakim Jackson, and Imam Mohamad Magid. The starting date is Sunday, July 19th, 2009, from 9am to 6pm [do try to be on time!]. The session will be held at the Science Lecture Hall, located on Madonna University’s campus in Livonia, Michigan. Registration fee is $25 per person (lunch included). For more information please contact the ALIM program at community@alimprogram.com, or brother Hammad Suhaib (313) 595-6851, or visit the ALIM Program’s web site.

May Allah make this year’s ALIM program a successful and beneficial one for this life and the next.

Amin.

Dr. Jackson will be one of many guest speakers at this year’s 3rd-annual CAMP Summit in Princeton, NJ, on May 2nd, 2009. Click here for registration and info.

Dr. Jackson’s seerah talk [A Perfect Message For Imperfect Times] at the ADAMS Center, in Herdon, Virginia, was quite a success. The attendence was decent and after speaking with a number of people who attended, they felt it was a highly productive and infomative two-day event. If you attended the talk and wanted notes, please contact the ADAMS Center for them.

B. Jihad in the Classical Juristic Tradition

Turning to the post-Prophetic era, classical jurists unanimously divided jihad into two main modalities. The first we may refer to as “aggressive jihad,” which is pro-active, and according to the majority, constituted a communal requirement to be carried out at least once every year. The second modality was the “defensive jihad,” which was waged whenever Muslim lands were attacked. This jihad was actually a much more serious affair than its counterpart, inasmuch as many of the stipulations and restrictions governing aggressive jihad were dropped in the case of defensive jihad. For example, the Muslim ruler did not have to announce the obligation to join the defensive jihad nor conscript soldiers for its prosecution. Similarly, all those groups who were normally exempt from participating in the aggressive jihad, e.g., women, minors, the elderly, young men who had not been granted permission by their parents, were required to participate in defensive jihad. For our purpose of trying to determine the credibility of the claim that Islam is a religion of peace, we may ignore the defensive jihad. For no one would accuse Islam, or any other religion for that matter, of not being a peaceful religion simply because it insisted on defending itself. We shall thus restrict the remainder of our discussion to the aggressive jihad.

Part 1 is also available.

Before the 2008 Presidential election, 28 million copies of the DVD Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West were distributed in major newspapers to voters in swing states. As certain groups fan the flames of prejudice against Islam in America, Muslims must be able to collectively articulate a response that is balanced and effective. Please join us for a special presentation by Sherman Jackson and Zaid Shakir, two American Muslim scholars whose advice is well worth considering.

During the program, you will also learn how you can participate in the efforts of Zaytuna Institute to promote a better understanding of Islam in the West.

Sherman Jackson is a professor of Islamic Studies, Law, and Afro-American Studies at
the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is the author of the acclaimed Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the Third Resurrection (2005, Oxford University Press), and his Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering, is forthcoming in 2009.

Zaid Shakir is a resident scholar at Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, California. He is a leading public voice on Islam in America and most recently published Treatise for the Seekers of Guidance (2008, NID Publishers), a translation and commentary of a classic early work on Islamic spirituality composed by Imam Harith al-Muhasibi (d. ah 243, Baghdad).

Where: Muslim Community of Western Suburbs, 40440 Palmer Rd., Canton, MI 48188
When: 7:30 pm (after Isha) | Thursday, December 4th

Sponsors: Zaytuna Institute www.zatuna.org and Muslim Community of Western Suburbs www.mcws.org