Wasat’s New Ameer for 2011, Ali Fiaz!

[Saqib Shafi]

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

At The Last Breath: Fiqh of Death in January 2011, I made an
announcement on the last day of class. After two years of serving as
Ameer of Qabeelat Wasat, a new Ameer will insha’Allah be stepping up
to the challenge.

As I told the class, the time I spent serving the Chicagoland student
body was an incredible experience, but I decided it was time for me to
move on and for someone else to step into my place.

The next Ameer

The person who’ll be doing so is none other than Ali Fiaz.


Me symbolically handing over Ameership to Ali Fiaz by handing him the mic to
announce the next seminar at the end of the The Last Breath: Fiqh of Death in
January 2011.

An Islamic Foundation School and recent Benedictine University
graduate, Ali served as conference chair for the 2011 MSA National
Central Zone conference in Chicago just before stepping into Ameership.

The conference was a huge success and I was not the only one
impressed by how smoothly it ran. Ali managed a team that brought in
nationally recognized speakers both local and from across the country,
putting Central Zone’s visit to Chicago on the map (think Derrick Rose
and the Bulls).

I’m confident with Allah’s help him and our powerhouse Ameerah, Aisha
Mashood, will insha’Allah use these skills to take AlMaghrib to the next
level. May Allah keep him and the team sincere.

You can Email him at ameer.wasat@almaghrib.org, as I will be handing
over that Email address to him. Enjoy using it, Ali, it’s fun!

Behind “The Decision”

When our first and former Ameer of Qabeelat Wasat, Siraaj Muhammad,
stepped down from Ameership for me to jump in, he mentioned he had a
goal as Ameer that was actualized during his work, allowing him to hand
it over to me with peace.

Like Siraaj, I, too, had some goals. I’ll mention two.

New horizons

AlMaghrib was made familiar with Muslims in the west suburbs, but
there were more places for it to go. I was blessed to see more areas in
Chicago benefit from our seminars, particularly in Orland Park and my
masjid community, Naperville, as well as MSAs such as UIC and
Benedictine.


Shaykh Yaser Birjas at Islamic Center of Naperville, September 2009. Image © Pooh
Bear. All rights reserved.

It probably helped that during my Ameership, Shaykh Yaser Birjas
moved to Chicago for a bit and was able to go around and give lectures
at these various places, but that’s a different story. :)

Working toward unity

In addition to expansion, I also wanted to see that AlMaghrib Institute
could serve the community through a means of unity and appreciation
of diversity in thought. We all know that Muslim organizations and
institutes each have their own Islamic “flavor” if you like.

Unfortunately, instead of treating this like a means of flexibility to
benefit from a variety of different learning avenues, many Muslims
create zones of disunity and groupism amongst these different
organizations, creating unnecessary notions of sides, this Shaykh
vs. that Shaykh, and an unhealthy attitude of Islamic activism in
what is a clearly pluralistic era in history both in the Islamic world
and Islam in America.

In other words, there was a lot of Haterade being passed around. And
if you live in a big city like Chicago, you know that unfortunately that
can be the case, from all sides.



The goal was to work on that, and alhamdulillah the team did. As a
result, I now see students taking our seminars from all sorts of
understandings and backgrounds, be it race, area of Chicago, various
understandings of Islam, you name it.

Students who benefit from more regular local Chicago organizations like
Darul Hikmah, IMAN, Darul Qasim, YM, Islamic Learning Foundation,
Project Downtown (RIP!), and more, which meets one of the goals of
AlMaghrib Institute itself: to supplement one’s local Islamic experiences,
not replace them.

What’s next

We all have some talents we’re blessed with by Allah, and it’s up to us
to find and use them to serve Him and His creation. Insha’Allah with the
free time I have, I plan to find mine.


Epic pic of me that makes it look like I’m trying to find my talents. Maybe they’re in
the lake?

In the meantime, I’ll also be dedicating time to my family. Especially
since the birth of our son now makes my wife and I more family than
ever.

Speaking of which, where’s the seminar on children, AlMaghrib? I mean,
I took Love Notes twice. And Fiqh of Love. Let’s get something on the
next stage of life! Double-weekend, please! :)


If I’ve wronged anyone ever please let me know and forgive me. In
organizing classes like these, I may have done or said something to irk
someone the wrong way, and I hope you can find it in your heart to let
me go.

I pray that Allah accepts from me and I thank all the volunteers who did
all the work for me that won’t get credit. But who cares? The real credit
comes from Allah in the next life.

Thank you all and jazakumAllahu khairan.


Your brother,

Saqib Shafi
saqibshafi@gmail.com
April 2011

[Omar Khan]

Masha'Allah! May Allah (SWT) grant you success akhii.