“To really have the spirit of the Middle Eastern music, you shouldn’t be looking at a piece of paper, you know, you should be looking at each other or closing your eyes or looking at your instrument.” Right before the pandemic, Dena and I were practicing for an upcoming Turkish concert. After our rehearsals, I… Read more »
Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country on the globe, laid along the equator in Southeast Asia. The culture is diverse, with over 300 ethnic groups and hundreds of traditional languages. Religious values abundantly influence our lives in Indonesia. We are practicing our beliefs, doing the services as manifestations of our faith regardless of our religion…. Read more »
Shems al-Ubaidi and Audria Hettinger, two seniors in Professor Iman Al-Ramadan’s course “Arabic Culture through Music” at Indiana University, met with Syrian artist Ala Hayani and his son Yaman Hayani to discuss Arabic music, their music, and how the war in Syria has impacted their lives as artists. Hayani and his family are originally… Read more »
“A GEM FOR THE COMMUNITY”, THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF GREATER TOLEDO** “A gem for the community” was how Bill Hilt, a local teacher from Perrysburg City Schools described the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) during a pre-pandemic visit to their annual “International Festival” that has been running for almost 2 decades now. At this… Read more »
FIRST GENERATION MOSQUE PRESIDENT? We often hear the term “first generation” used in contexts such as the first-generation college graduate, first-generation American, or first-generation immigrant, etc. However, at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT), this term is used to define their former young female president Dr. Nadia Ashraf-Moghal, an emergency medicine doctor at Wood… Read more »
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) is an integral part of the local northwest Ohio community. This religious institution does not want to be a space only for Muslims or only for religious worship. Instead, it sees itself as an institution that can bring together people from different backgrounds in a spirit of tolerance,… Read more »
Step inside the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT), and it’s clear that this is an active community space, not just a place for prayer services. This is especially true during the annual International Festival, when the mosque invites members of the public, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to come together around delicious food and carnival… Read more »
Islamophobia in the United States rests on a number of negative assumptions about Islam and Muslims. Many Americans consider Islam to be a foreign religion that is incompatible with Western values. Politicians and media commentators commonly describe American Muslims with suspicion, associating them with terrorism, violence, and isolation from the wider American community. These stereotypes… Read more »