The Racial Justice in Islam: Opening Our Hearts<\/em> series was created as a space for students to learn about Islam\u2019s approach towards justice, its historical foundation, and modern-day implications. Through asynchronous dialogue with noted Islamic leaders students were encouraged to express their lived experiences and explore issues that lie deep in the soul, affect the heart, interrupt harmony in our society and offer new paradigms for repair.<\/p>\n

The series initially started as Racial Justice in Islam: Searching For Answers,<\/em> co-hosted by Kim Alston, Muslim Student Adviser in the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life and Heba Saleh, Smith alumna and Muslim religious liaison who has worked with the Smith community, teaching Islamic educational courses. It continued into the spring semester because of the vastness of the subject material. Heba relates that “the series on racial justice in Islam was a nice experience that opened the doors of knowledge and conversations. The variety of topics and speakers was fascinating and the multidimensional conversations were held with some of the best scholars in the field.”<\/p>\n

These intriguing, thoughtful discussions included spiritual stories, personal reflections and thoughts around Islamic doctrine and practice as well as a celebration of Islamic history, contributions and the multi-faceted journey in Islam in America. All eight recordings were listed on the CRSL Facebook page and were designed to spark student-led discussions that encourage students to express their perspective. We invite you to watch each of the discussions and write us on Facebook with your feedback!<\/p>\n

\n
1. Islamic Stories from the past on social and racial justice informing the present<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   Dr. Nisa Islam Muhammad, Assistant Dean for Religious Life at Howard University; teaches nonacademic personal enrichment classes on the Islamic tradition<\/p>\n

   https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/7JCR1UOTlRL6G9yG7P4izJlN-CnAkFUNzrGWrgOR-JDpl4ctbclKsHgPu49vAnv-.v5HJHyb4UzhCiAlj<\/strong><\/a> Passcode: ?2#RM8Zt<\/strong><\/p>\n

   \n
   1. Islamic Stories from the past on social and racial justice informing the present <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Dr. Bilal Ansari, Assistant Vice President for Campus Engagement in the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Williams College; teaches at Islamic Studies Hartford Seminary<\/p>\n

      https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/ZWDLIXusD4UtXMZB-clG0T_lB4aa0lQ6Libv2Nc9LlSuZFcerT8IHiA2Pb6ANEXH.iLJh0urN6plSchlg<\/a> Passcode: vX.6QBy@<\/p>\n

      \n
      1. Diversity in Islamic Identity\/Blackness in America<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         Rasul Saifullah, former resident Imam of the Al-Baqi Islamic Center for Human Excellence in West Springfield, Massachusetts for over 20 years; former university and house of corrections chaplain<\/p>\n

         https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/FwUe48YSihvzEFEfRbE6xxjEgX5MK-TFmKhsIwOyNb5F5Zn4MxPqQWLSugRzjRWZ.8uC4oJS65VENKcHY<\/a> Passcode: $7+@^YaF<\/p>\n

         \n
         1. Is Islam Anti-Black?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Jonathan A.C. Brown, an American scholar of Islamic Studies, professor at Georgetown University\u2019s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization<\/p>\n

            https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/VrTS5APXJoBwRyLVoNTAaL0uOdwvU7k7vLd90eii5PanQyvcqXTbmw13NkIvPEVZ.G1yN20n1f8t2bskr<\/a> Passcode: LcCw9^T6\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
            1. Blackness in America<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

               Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, Esq., a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and state of New York as well as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women<\/p>\n

               https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/ZLfLLscssTjR6ortzlTjo2eFAnSGqf3m-tTTcnJzcB8YLtQ9-0MjNzZ8uQz5jD-X.NExSwjqreGG7TO8G<\/a> Passcode: 7#0dRAoi<\/p>\n

               \n
               1. Diversity in Islamic Identity<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Dr. Ingrid Mattson, a Muslim religious leader, author, professor of Islamic studies at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada; and an interfaith activist<\/p>\n

                  https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/VZxxkrBQwLjei2Lf-dd1d-uY1XmDcNQmUoCqvgQGlSsp_DxTtx0tUHJ7sy03tkj8.S9uw6EG3gTe1kpCt<\/a> Passcode: Y3kEY=+H<\/p>\n

                  \n
                  1. Celebration of Islam<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                     Tamara Gray, founder of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive cultural change through creative educational experiences; has studied traditional and classical Islamic sciences, Quran, and Arabic<\/p>\n

                     https:\/\/smith.zoom.us\/rec\/share\/dGODhDJZE4SvStjUiQjq864vYMOc1XSHesbZuLofUC3UgCrAPr2Ga2utRgO4JQ.Z9ogRM1juznCn0Jp<\/a> Passcode: 0f6#W@x7<\/p>\n

                     \n
                     1. Celebration of Islam<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                        Linda Sarsour, an American political activist, co-chair of the 2017 Women\u2019s March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women\u2019s March<\/p>\n

                        https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/17q1DCAk6o1BMsAGo8i8OKrHeOhcddBrA\/view?usp=sharing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                        The Racial Justice in Islam: Opening Our Hearts series was created as a space for students to learn about Islam\u2019s approach towards justice, its historical foundation, and modern-day implications. Through asynchronous dialogue with noted Islamic leaders students were encouraged to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":776,"featured_media":1906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,223,224,323,177,322],"tags":[],"coauthors":[268],"class_list":["post-1905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-newsletter-articles","category-programs-events","category-reflections","category-social-justice","category-spirituality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/776"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1910,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905\/revisions\/1910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1905"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/religious-spiritual-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}