The holy month of Muharram is the first month of the Hijri calendar and one of four sacred months alluded to in the Holy Quran. To deepen our spiritual connection to the lives and lessons of the Prophet (pbuh) and his family, we invite you to a lecture by Dawud Walid (see bio below). Against the backdrop of present-day racism and xenophobia, Dawud will discuss how Imam Hussain's revolution — arising in an environment of tyranny, corruption, and socioeconomic inequality — informs our role in fighting against the injustices of our time.
Dinner will be provided. A children's program for youth (ages 3-10) is available until 9pm. Afterwards, we invite you to stay for an intimate coffeehouse gathering, in which community members inspire us with short TED-style talks focused on the theme of struggle and sacrifice, in honor of this auspicious month. We hope to share this special program with you!
Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) and a Senior Fellow at Auburn Seminary. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence and sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan. He is the author of the book Towards Sacred Activism, co-author of the books Centering Black Narrative: Black Muslim Nobles Among the Early Pious Muslims and Centering Black Narrative: Ahl al-Bayt, Blackness & Africa, and author of essays in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim and the 2014 book Qur’an in Conversation.
Walid has lectured at over 100 institutions of higher learning in North America and West Africa about Islam and social justice. He also has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.