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All the articles related to Community Builders listed in this section.Days of Ramadan
Tradition has it that the fasting month of Ramadan is divided into three periods. The first ten days are when Divine Mercy is most manifest. The next ten days are when Allah’s Forgiveness is most expressed. The last ten days are for the liberation of the soul and for its journey to God. This piece is written with that tradition in mind.
As with all other days the days of Ramadan are busy and full of activities for many of us. There is the grinding routine of our work places, the usual chores of our home lives, the mundane and the urgent, the expected and the unexpected that never seem to change. Although fasting is center stage and a concern to begin with, yet after the initial day or two it seems the craving for food fades away and gets lost in the hustle and bustle of our daily engagements. It is the night that brings out the pleasure and the passion and creates the special circumstance in our lives that can only be experienced in Ramadan. Every evening is a festival of food and every night is a fellowship of faith. As the sun goes down and the Muezzin’s call announces the fullness of time, hands are raised in gratitude to Him who grants us life and to Him who gives us sustenance. No one seems to mind the hunger anymore. A couple of dates and a few sips of water seem all that is needed. A short while later when the flurry of food ends it is time for Maghrib and then to Isha and then on to Taraweeh. The mosques come alive in Ramadan, with people and children, some praying, some playing, some quietly resting, some joyfully embracing each other, some reading the Quran, some chatting about their stories of the day.
Support Democratic Candidate for the Illinois State Senate District 28 in supporting new efforts to create job opportunities!
When: August 28, 9am-4pmWhere: IIT Rice Campus located at 201 E. Loop Road, Wheaton, IllinoisOpen for ALL, Admission is Free!
To register and for more details, please visit www.iacsjobfair.com or view the flyer 
for the event.
Being a Good Neighbor to America's Muslims
Kari Ansari
Writer and co-founder of America's Muslim Family Magazine
Posted: August 18, 2010
The ninth Islamic month is Ramadan, a time of spiritual connection between a Muslim's heart and God through prayer and contemplation of the Quran.
The cornerstone of Ramadan is the fast. Briefly, a fasting Muslim rises before dawn for an early meal with plenty of water. The dawn prayer is performed, and then maybe some reading of the Quran, or going back to bed before work or school. The fasting Muslim goes about his or her normal day: work, school, and caring for children, but without the benefit of food or water.
Paid Fellowships in Community Organizing and Civic Engagement with the Muslim Community.
With the rise of Islamaphobia, the CIOGC is looking for young people who are interested in working with the Muslim community, exploring a career in social justice work, and contributing to the participation of the American Muslim Community in the American democratic process.
The Fellowship will run from August 20 to December 1, 2010, and pay an educational stipend of $425 per week. Participants will receive training in the skills of community organizing, non-partisan voter registration and `Get-Out-The-Vote" (GOTV) efforts from professional staff and from our partners.
Michele Bachmann and John Campbell
When we started Democracy for America immediately after my run for President in 2004, one of our founding principles was to work for Democratic votes in every district in every state. As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, we called it the 50 State Strategy and I made it my mission to fully fund it and deliver results.
The strategy worked in 2006 and 2008. And it works in 2010. No district is safe for Republicans if Democrats stand up for what we believe, fight for our universal values, and ask every American for their vote.
Eating Right in Ramadan
Standing on the threshold of yet another Ramadan it is perhaps useful to remind ourselves of some dietary rules to follow and some essential concepts of good nutrition to remember in the ensuing days of fasting. While most of us in good health have little to worry except for feasting too much following fasting, some with such problems as diabetes, hypertension, kidney stones and heart disease, to name a few, do need to pay attention and consider the potential risks of complications from dehydration and missing to take their regular medicines on time. Obviously for them the wisest counsel will come from their own personal physicians.
However there are many food fads that can be recognized and fixed in these short four weeks than can be either identified or easily corrected in the remaining 48 weeks of the year. For food consciousness is often heightened as much as or occasionally even more than God consciousness, during this month.
ISNA Applauds NYC Mayor Bloomberg's stance on Freedom of Religion and Mosque Near Ground Zero
Tuesday August 3, Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg delivered a passionate speech in support of the decision by the New York Landmark Preservation Commission and others to deny landmark status to the current building occupying the area for a proposed mosque and Islamic center. The Commission thereby removed the only hurdle that stood in the way of the construction of a mosque and Islamic Center near Ground Zero in New York City, New York.
The speech was part of a press conference held on Governor's Island where Mayor Bloomberg was surrounded by members