Fundraiser for Michigan Organization–The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan

Southfield–April 30–As a sign of the increasing collaboration of Michigan’s Muslim community’s infrastructure, this past Sunday saw a gathering of about 200 powerful imams and leaders from the Muslim community at the Westin Hotel in Southfield.

The purpose of the fundraiser, sponsored by the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan, was to raise funds for three important Michigan Muslim organizations, namely Muslim Family Services, the Islamic Shura Council itself, and for the Huda Clinic, which all perform essential services for Michigan residents, both Muslim and non-Muslim. The Huda Clinic leverages volunteer hours by high-powered doctors to bring medical care to an underserved impoverished area. Muslim Family Services provides essential services related to protecting and strengthening Muslim families, the Shura Council is a part of the infrastructure between about 30 participating mosques.

The keynote speaker was Professor Abdul Hakeem Jackson of the University of Michigan, who spoke, in the words of one audience member, “On the importance of a framework of compassion and ‘we’ instead of ‘you and I’. He emphasized that this is a very important crossroads in the American political context, and emphasized the importance of donating for belief and for God rather than participating in society as a way of currying favor with others in that society–because of the shifting winds of politics, favor, and circumstance.

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