m s a

Muslim
Student
Association

Western Michigan University
M S A
WhatMSA Event - Islam: Putting the Inner City on the Dean's List
WhenFriday April 11th, 2008 @ 6:00 p.m.
Note: an invitation e-mail sent recently to previous guests had a typographical error on it, the correct date is Friday, April 11, 2008 and the correct time is 6 PM. The information on this website as well as advertisments posted around town and campus are also valid and correct. sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused.

Register Here

Description of Event

This event will be presented by the Muslim Students Association in collaboration with the Arab Students Association at Western Michigan University on Friday April 11th, 2008 at 6 PM in the Bernhard Center Ballroom. The speaker at this event will be Brother Mukhtar Curtis who has both been a recommended speaker.

There are many Muslims living in America, approximately 10 million, this event will help bridge the gap between the Muslim community and the non-Muslim community in the United States. Western Michigan University has a substantially large Muslim population; therefore, this would especially benefit WMU students.

In addition, this event will bring Muslims and non-Muslims of all different backgrounds together in one room on the same night. Guests will converse with others seated at their tables and discuss different cultures and cultural perspectives. Our members, and members from other registered student organizations will be seated at tables (at least one at each table) in order to provide viewpoints from all parts of the spectrum.

This topic was chosen directly from suggestions we received on the surveys from our last event. The speakers came with high recommendations from many groups around the country.

Biography of R.M. Mukhtar Curtis, PhD

“My best claims to fame are my older children who all graduated from college with 3.0 or higher; one of whom is Dr. Munirah Curtis a pediatrician; Isma'il Curtis who graduated from U of M Engineering, and Ali Curtis who, after playing professional soccer after being the college player of the year, is now an assistant to the Major League Soccer Commissioner. Now I have two little ones, Ahmad and Zaynab.) My main worship place is the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor (where I am a member of the board of trustees).”

EXPERIENCE
  • 1993- Supervisory Chaplain, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, present Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan.
  • 1992-93 Director, Islamic Teaching Center, Islamic Society of North America, Plainfield, Indiana.
  • 1991-92 Instructor of Islamic Theology, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana.
    1990-91 Visiting Associate Professor, International Studies and History, Hanover College.
  • 1986-90 Student Assistant Cataloger of Arabic, University of Michigan, Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.
  • 1982-83 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Arabic for Self-Instruction, University of Michigan. 1974-77 Substitute Teacher, Philadelphia Board of Education. EDUCATION
  • 1989 Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, Specialties: Islamic Theology, Text Analysis.
  • 1981 M.A., Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan. Specialty: Linguistics, English Grammar
  • 1977-78 University of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Arabic Language Institute, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • 1970 B.A., Economics, Howard University, Washington, D.C. Minor: History and Sociology.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Foreign Language Area Studies Grants; University of Michigan Minority Fellowships; Last Lecture series: Mortar Board of Hanover College; Honor citation from the International Islamic Education Institute and Council of Islamic Education.

CREATIVE PRODUCTS
  • 'Urban Muslims: The Formation of the 'Dar ul-Islam Movement,' in Yvonne Haddad, Muslim Communities in America, Suny Press, 1994.
  • Reviewer of Peoples and Nations (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1991) for Council of Islamic Education.
  • Dissertation: 'Authentic Interpretation of Classical Islamic Texts: An Analysis of the Introduction of Ibn Kathir's "Tafsîr al-Qur'ân al-'Azîm."'
  • News
    • MSA annual Winter 2008 event is on April 11th @ 6 PM, reserve your spot now.
    • MSA participated in food festival 2008. We enjoyed ourselves there, we hope you did too.
    • MSA Website updates, we hope you like them.
  • About Us
    We are a student organization in Western Michigan University located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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Background: Inside The Sacred Mosque, Mecca