Just a brief announcement for my blog, I have been appointed by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) as the “West Zone Representative”- which is a volunteer role that has some major responsibilities for oversight and management of the organization, including attendance at t
heir “executive council” and “Majlis.” It is a role held by some of the most esteemed individuals in the Muslim community, most recently Imam Tahir Anwar, which makes this a tremendous honor.
I do have a history with this ISNA, I have spoken at their National Convention several times on Islamic Inheritance (obviously), though I had not attended these past few year, at least until this past September when I did attend. In addition, I have been a member of their Endowments Committee, though that means a lot less than it sounds. I anticipate though that I will have to show up at ISNA for the next few years (this role has a two year term).
ISNA is a unique organization in the Muslim community. It is fairly general and open to Muslims with a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs, at least as far as Muslim organizations go. It is over half a century old, having been founded as the Muslim Students Association. Its conventions tend to set the standard for events in the Muslim community. It is going through some challenges right now, as is bound to happen with all organizations.
This is a new thing for me. To the extent the organization is important to ISNA as a national organization and to the limited extent it operates on the west coast. Currently, ISNA has a west coast education forum in Anaheim (January next year) and often does a “west zone conference” in the Bay Area.