Islamic Writers Alliance is proud to announce a membership change:  brothers are now eligible for membership!  The members of IWA have voted to open membership in the organization to Muslim men. We look forward to our brothers joining us and benefiting from the organization as we have. Full information on membership benefits and the application to join are here.

Sister Pamela Taylor – Her poem, Foreign Thoughts, has been nominated for the 2007 Rhysling awards in the long poem category.  Her poem, Al Muhyi, will be published in an anthology about gardening.  Also, a story and a poem of hers are to be published in the Ars Concordia anthology.  Three articles she has written have been accepted for Muslim Girl Magazine:  an interview/feature story on Randa Abdel Fattah who wrote Does My Head Look Big in This; a personal essay on raising teenagers; and a story about Tasha Richardson, young convert and activist.

Sister Amatullah Abdullah – has been asked by Al Hikmah, a weekend Islamic school in Chennai, India, to help out with their newsletter they intend to produce, Insha Allah.

 Sister Kareme Akifah Saleh (Sister Cara) – was interviewed on a radio show.  She was asked to participate regularly on Elements of Faith, Contemporary Societal & Social Issues on AM 1560, KILE. See http://www.iqranewspaper.com for more information.  Sister Cara will also be co-hosting the program on occasion.  She was also invited to produce Islamic Show (public access technical director/editor).  Additionally, she is assisting with the formulation of a non profit Islamic organization to assist battered women.  All this while working on the 4^th edition of Iqra!, and publishing a book called Save Our Children, poems from Bilal the Poet.  Alhamdullilah, she is keeping busy! 

Iqra! Newspaper (Sis Amatullah and Sis Cara), 3^rd edition, is out!  Total pages 28, Alhamdulillah!  They would like to personally thank all their friends, supporters,, and staff for all the prayers, ideas, submissions, etc.  Added sections are:  Imam’s Corner, Health, Editorials, Letters to the Editor, The Political Asylum, The Review.  Iqra Newspaper can be purchased directly from the website, which has a Buy Now option.

Sister Zabrina Abu Bakar – has had My Morning Dew, accepted to Anthology of Mother and Daughter, Malaysia.  Likewise, Management Lessons You Must Know, and A Lesson in Communication have been accepted for Prophet Muhammad SAW Essays Book.  She is launching her first book, A Motivational Book, in June of 2007, Insha Allah.

Sister Anisa Abetiya – continues to be a monthly contributor to Illume and The Lone Star Crescent.  She also contributed an article on detoxification to Sisters magazine.  She contributed an article on the Avian Flu to Azizah.  Lastly she is working on an article for a forthcoming Chicano (Mexican American) art exhibit and an interview with a convert who found Islam 30 years ago, but converted 2 years ago. 

Sister Widad (Linda Delgado) won top adult prize in the first annual Praise the Prophet International Poetry Competition, http://IslamicPoetry.com.  Her submission, My Hero Is Your Hero won her up to $1,000 US for airfare to the homeland of the Prophet (Makkah & Madinah, Saudi Arabia).  Mabrook Sister Widad! 

Sister Pamela Taylor - has started writing for Newsweek-The Washington  Post online panel, On Faith, http://www.newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith.  

Sister Corey Habbas - has published Digital Masjid Technology series on IslamOnline.  Links to these articles are:

 The Digital Masjid Technology Series: Introduction

         Incorporating IT Into Your Masjid Management Strategy

         Pooling Community Talent

         Planning the E-Masjid

         The Digital Madrasah

         The Da`wah Database

         Fixing the Risky Masjid: Data Protection in a Hostile World

         Building a Bridge

Sister S. E. Jihad Levine – had three book reviews published.  Echoes and Rebounding by Jamilah Kolocotronis in Al-Jumuah, and A Muslim’s Guide to Publishing and Marketing by Linda D. Delgado in Illume. 

Sister Amatullah Abdullah – had two articles published in Iqra! Newspaper, 3^rd edition.  Two of her other articles, Racism in Ummah and Friends were published at IslamOnline.net.    

Sister Zabrina Abu Bakar – Published A New World, http://nisaa.ca/index.php/featurearticles/comments/a_new_world and The Story of a Farmer and His Donkey http://www.islamnewsroom.com/content/blogcategory/16/49.  She was also interviewed by a local journalist from national newspaper, Mingguan Malaysia, on Managing Stress Topic from Islamic Perspectives, entitled, "Ilmu Mengendalikan Stres Kurang Ditekankan”.  Clip appeared on 25^th February 2007   

Sister Widad (Linda D. Delgado) – as publisher of Muslim Writers Publishing (MWP), reports that she just released Turbulence, authored by Jamilah Kolocotronis.  It is the third book in the Echoes series.  Sister Widad has also published a new poetry book designed especially for teens and at-risk youth.  The book, Power Poetry For Wide Awake Youth, authored by Habibullah Saleem, has a planned release date of March 9, 2007.  Sister Widad has also launched a new marketing project called the JAMS Book Fair.  Her publishing business works with Islamic schools to help them raise money for their school and they help by making MWP titles available for sale during a two-week JAMS Book Fair at their schools.  To date, she has had 14 responses out of the 16 schools she contacted.  Eleven schools have scheduled a JAMS Book Fair during 2007.  The MWP website at http://www.MuslimWritersPublishing.com has just been updated with loads of new information.  A special page was created for MWP Recommended Books.  The first book being sponsored is a fiction novel by IWA member Mariam Akabor titled Flat 9.  MWP will have a very limited number of autographed titles available in the very near future. 

MWP publisher, Linda Delgado AKA Widad, has made a contract with her Illustrator Shirley Gavin to create-write and publish a new Islamic Rose story coloring and activity fun book for younger children. The book will include three Islamic stories, wonderful illustrations for children to enjoy coloring, and for each story a connect the dots page, a seek 'n find puzzle and a Bake with Grandma cookie recipe. Work has already begun and publication is planned for this year (2007). This book will be a welcome addition to MWP titles as it will be the first book available for our younger sisters and brothers-PreK through 3rd grade.

The field testing at Al-Hijra School in Windsor, Ontario, Canada of the new and very first MWP teacher study guide created for the first book in the Islamic Rose Books series, The Visitors, has been completed successfully.  Reviews by the students participating, and an analysis by the teacher implementing the field testing has been completed. This MWP program will be launched to Islamic schools mid March. The purpose of creating this program is to make available to Islamic schools' Language Arts programs quality English language Islamic fiction books for the students. It is hoped that other Muslim publishers will be persuaded to also publish this genre and create teacher study guides, too. You can see a sample of the teacher study guide at: http://www.muslimwriterspublishing.com/schools.html

MWP sponsored a creative writing contest for Sis Aliyah who is a teacher working in the UK and a member of the Islamic Writers egroup created by sister Widad (MWP publisher). The contest stories were judged by the MWP publisher and winners selected on the merits of the fiction stories written. Much appreciation goes out to Sister Aliyah for taking the time to implement the writing contest to help her students grow in their writing abilities.

A.  Sisters Magazine seeks fresh, exciting, and inspiring poetry to feature in the Voices section of their magazine.  For more information, contact info@sisters-magazine.com.  

B.  Call for Entries:     

The Al-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X) Khutbah Competition

Sponsored by Muslims for Progressive Values

Submission Guidelines:  

The competition opens February 15^th, 2007

Final Deadline to submit entries is April 30^th, 2007.

Winners will be announced June 15^th, 2007, at the MPV Conference

Sermon entries for the year 2007 should describe ways in which North American Muslims can apply Islamic principles to better our world, country, communities, and the lives of family, friends, and others. Special consideration will be given to sermons which demonstrate how North American Muslims, individually or collectively, can take leadership roles in long-term civic engagement efforts. The focus should be on turning hope and good intentions into practical action, with the goal of making Islamic principles come alive to solve problems and move the Muslim community and American society to a better place.

All khutbahs should be between 3000 and 7500 words (approximately 20-40 minutes delivery time), and must be written in English. Qur’an and hadith may be quoted in Arabic, although it is not required. If Arabic is used, translation should be provided. Use of technical language from fiqh and theology, Arabic phrases, and other jargon should be kept to a minimum.

The competition is open to all Muslims, of any race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, and religious affiliation (sunni, shii, sufi, etc). While imams and chaplains are encouraged to submit entries, no official position, title, or educational background is required of contestants. Judging will be upon the merits of the khutbah, not the merits of the writer.

 All identifying information (including name, gender, age, ethnicity, and contact information) will be stripped from the written entries before being sent to the judges or being posted on the competition website to ensure a fair competition.

 In the juried competition, each khutbah will be given 1-5 points in five categories:

 1)      content (including clarity, organization, understandability)

2)      use of Qur’an and/or hadith

3)      rhetoric/strength of argument

4)      emotional appeal

5)      relevance to the North American context

Thus, there will be a maximum of 25 points from each judge, or 100 points total. The khutbah receiving the highest cumulative marks will be the winner.

In the people’s choice award, readers will rate each khutbah on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the best, 10 being the worst). Each khutbah will be ranked according to the average of all scores received. In the event of a tie, the khutbah with the largest readership among those who received the top marks will be deemed the winner.

Entries should be in Times New Roman, 12 point, double spaced, and with at least 1 inch margins on all sides.

All entries should include a cover sheet with a title for the khutbah, author’s name, address, phone number, and email. Only title, with no personal identifying information, should be on the subsequent pages of the khutbah itself.

Submission to this competition constitutes agreement on the part of the author that the submitted khutbah may be posted on the People's Choice website and may be included in any compilation/publication of winning entries.

Email all entries to techdarwaish@...

For further information please contact the competition coordinator, Sabahat Ashraf, at techdarwaish@...

C.  2007 Jack G. Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarship
Purpose: To recognize Arab-American students who excel in Media Studies.
Amount: $1000
Eligibility:

Juniors, Seniors, or Graduate Students.

Must be attending college in the 2007-08 academic year.

Must be majoring in Mass Communications, Journalism, Radio, Television, and/or Film.

Must have at least a 3.0 GPA and be a U.S. citizen of Arab heritage

Applicants should send the following to the ADC Research Institute:

A one-page statement stating that you are a US citizen, explaining your goals and why you merit the scholarship.

Copies of articles, videos, films, etc.

Official academic transcripts including your GPA.

Two letters of recommendation from Mass Communications professors.

Permanent home address, phone number, email address; also address, phone number, and email address during the school year.

Deadline: April 12, 2007

Awards will be announced and presented during ADC's Annual Convention in Washington, DC.

Send materials to:

Attn: Nawar Shora
ADC Research Institute (ADCRI)
1732 Wisconsin Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Tel: 202-244-2990
Fax: 202-244-7968
 

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To donate or become a member of ADC click here: https://www.adc.org/membership/

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American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Organizing Department
1732 Wisconsin Ave NW.
Washington, DC. 20007, U.S.A.
Tel: (202) 244-2990
E-mail: organizing@...
Web   : http://www.adc.org

D.  Iqra! Newspaper is accepting articles for 4th edition and also accepting poetry for "Poetry Page". For more details, please contact Sr. Amatullah Abdullah: amatullah.abdullah@... or mail@...

-   Sisters Umm Junayd, and Najiyah Umm Waheeb joined IWA this month.

-   Currently IWA has 38 members and 25 associates.

Happy Safar!