As Jacob Bender, CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director, emphasized in his recent “Director’s Desk” article “On Losing a Battle,” despite the waves of sad and angering events in our country, we are keeping our spirits up by channeling our energies to serve and empower the American Muslim community in these difficult times.
On Friday August 24, CAIR-Philadelphia -- together with two other American Muslim organizations: Emgage Pennsylvania and MPower Change -- organized a voter registration drive as part of National Muslim Registration Day (#NMVRD #mymuslimvote). The drive took place at Islamic Society of Chester County in West Chester, and CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director Jacob Bender and Outreach and Education Director Ahmet Tekelioglu spent the afternoon registering many new Pennsylvania voters arriving for Jumma (Friday afternoon prayers).
Essay by Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu
Published in Pennsylvania Legacies Magazine (Vol. 18, No. 1, Spring 2018).
There can be no doubt that Islam, viewed as a systematic and religiously-based physiological guide for human behavior, frowns upon extravagant displays of arrogance on the micro-level (“The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise…” Sahih Muslim), as it eschews extremism on the macro level (“Oh People of the Book, don’t go to the extreme in your religion…” [Qur’an, An-Nisa’ 4: 171]).
It is best, therefore, to praise others than to heap acclaim and acclamation upon oneself. It is in this spirit (especially prescribed during Ramadan) that I take this opportunity to write about my two colleagues: Dr. Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu and Timothy N. Welbeck, Esq., respectively, CAIR-Philadelphia’s Education and Outreach Director, and our Civil Rights Attorney...
Now is not the time for silence or lethargy, but of activism and commitment. Let CAIR be your voice, from the public arena to the courthouse, from the pulpit to the halls of power. So please help CAIR help you. This Ramadan, give generously to CAIR-Philadelphia; your donations are tax-deductible and zakah-eligible. You will be making an investment in the future of the Philadelphia Muslim community and the healing of our nation.
I spent Monday glued to the BBC, Reuters, Aljazeera, and Haaretz broadcasts from Gaza. By Tuesday morning we knew that 58 Palestinian demonstrators had been killed by Israeli troops, while a staggering 2,700 had been wounded, including one infant who died from tear gas inhalation.
In the midst of a steep increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes and the bullying of Muslim students in Pennsylvania and across the country, Muslims from around the state will be coming to Harrisburg for the Third Annual Muslim Capitol Day on April 17, 2018.
This will be a crucial opportunity to make our voices heard in defense of civil liberties, religious pluralism, and democracy, and to roll back the Islamophobic virus infecting our country.
CAIR-Philadelphia Joins HIAS and NSM to present Anti-Bullying Workshop CAIR-Philadelphia presented its anti-bullying workshop to parents and community members in Philadelphia’s Gilbert Spruance School on February 23, 2018. The presentation was part of an event titled “Love your Neighbor,” convened…
Dr. Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, Education and Outreach Director at CAIR-Philadelphia and CAIR-PA Advisory Board Members were invited to join the “Equity and Inclusion Committee” at Pennsylvania Department of Education. Tekelioglu and Noor participated in a committee meeting in Harrisburg on February 8th at which Tekelioglu presented CAIR-Philadelphia’s “Anti-Bullying Workshop.” The Committee’s members include representatives from multiple NGOs and agencies that work to ensure a safe and welcoming educational environment in the State’s schools.
