Dr Jamal Barzinji, Anwar Ibrahim and Dr AbdulHamidAbuSulayman
Our Brother Dr Jamal Barzinji,
May Allah have mercy on him
To Allah we belong and to Him we
return. The Muslim Ummah lost this morning one of its visionaries, leaders and
pioneers, Dr. Jamal Barzinji, President of the International Institute of
Islamic Thought, and a dear brother and mentor (Jasser Auda)
International Institute of
Islamic Thought
Jamal Barzinji was founding
member, trustee and president of International Institute of Islamic Thought
(IIIT). IIIT was incorporated in 1980 in
Pennsylvania, but its roots can be traced back to a 1977 Islamic conference in
Lugano, Switzerland sponsored by the American Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS),
where attendees discussed the idea to create IIIT. The conference was held at the house of
Youssef Nada. Soon after its establishment, IIIT moved to Herndon, Virginia and
the institute was officially authorized to transact business in the state of
Virginia in 1985.
Muslim Students Association (MSA)
Many of MSA’s founding members were
involved in the Islamic movement, and three of its most significant founders,
Hisham al Talib, Jamal Barzinji, and Ahmed Totanji, were movement activists and
leaders of Iraqi descent.
In 1963, Barzinji became a
founding member of the Muslim Students Association (MSA). He also served as
president of MSA in 1972. With nearly
600 chapters (including roughly 150 chapters directly affiliated with MSA
National) located in the United States and Canada, MSA is the most visible and
influential Islamic student organization in North America. Through conferences
and events, publications, websites and other activities, MSA disseminates and
promotes the understanding of Islam.
North American Islamic Trust
(NAIT)
In 1973, Barzinji became the
founding general manager of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). NAIT is
responsible for the development of mosques in the United States.
Islamic Society of North America
(ISNA)
Barzinji had also served as a
member of the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) Majlis Al-Shura or
Board of Directors. ISNA was founded in 1981 in the U.S. and grew out of the
MSA.
SAAR Network
The origins of the SAAR Network
reside with a group of Muslim scholars, businessmen, and scientists from the
Middle East and Asia who gathered in the United States in the early 1980s. The
network was officially was born with the incorporation of the SAAR Foundation,
Inc., in Herndon, Virginia, as a nonprofit on July 29, 1983. Barzinji served on
the initial board of trustees of the Virginia-based SAAR Foundation, Inc. in
1983. The SAAR Foundation is a network of 100 nonprofit and for-profit
organizations. Barzinji held leadership positions in a number of SAAR
organizations, among them posts as director and vice president for research and
publications of IIIT, director of Safa Trust, president and chairman of Mar-Jac
Poultry, and member of the Board of Trustees of Amana Mutual Funds Trust.
American Muslim Council
An article titled “”Muslims Must
Get Involved in U.S. Politics” in the summer 1994 issue of the AMC Report, quotes
Barzinji saying American Muslims need to enhance their participation in public
life to ensure their rights and integration. Barzinji was considered a
“principal patron” of the American Muslim Council (AMC).
Islamization
This Position is borne out of the
experiences and reflections of many professional Muslims working in academic
and research institutions in North America. Their formal education and training
was generally based on secular theories of knowledge and their professional
careers also developed in institutions which had very little to do with their
belief systems. This created an inner need to look into the deeper issues
involved and resulted in the establishment of several organizations such as
Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS, established in 1971/72),
Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE) and Islamic Medical
Association (IMA). In 1983, Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) was
established as an umbrella organization.
The Lugano Conference held in
Switzerland in 1977 was attended by thirty leading Muslim intellectuals and
they unanimously agreed that “the contemporary crises of the Ummah was
intellectually a crisis of thought and that the remedy was to be
found in that framework.” Thus IIIT was founded in Herndon, Virginia, in 1981.
This was followed by a series of activities, which included, among others, a
second conference held in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1982 and the publication of a
book, Islamization of Knowledge: General Principles and Work Plan.
This Position is based on the
premises that Muslim Ummah is in a state of malaise; the roots of this malaise
are to be found in influences from a world of ideas based on a vision foreign
to Islam. Exponents of this Position are more concerned with social sciences
than natural sciences thus the main thrust of IIIT and various scholars
associated with the movement has been in the domain of social sciences.
However, since science cannot exist in a vacuum or in total isolation of the
historical and cultural conditions therefore Islamization of knowledge, in a
general sense, can be taken as including the Islamization of science as well.
According to this Position, the
fundamental premises for establishing an Islamic science is based on the
worldview which recognizes that the Word of God is relevant in each and every
sphere of human activity, that God has created this universe with a purpose and
he has made Man his viceregent for an appointed term. The model and example to
be followed is that of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Nature is not to be exploited
but should be understood and treated as a trust given to him by the Creator.
Islamophobia
In the aftermath of 9/11, Dr
Barzinji and colleagues in the Islamic movement faced severe persecution and
relentless harrassment by authorities and forces engaged in targetting and unjust
profiling of Muslim activists.
(May Allah have mercy on Dr Jamal
Barzinji)
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