SIDDIQUE MALIK
October 12, 2021 | 0 COMMENTS |The purpose of this letter is to recommend The Salaam Network, a Louisville-based organization, for a 2020 Atlantic Renewal Award. TSN’s objectives revolve around fostering inter-faith camaraderie and triggering modernistic and humanistic tendencies in society’s collective thought processes.
An attribute of this group that excites me greatly is its pluralistic and scholarly composition. Professors, philosophers and thinkers of multiple cultural and religious backgrounds are among its leaders. The group holds meetings and debates on various topics that confront humanity today. I look forward to attending such meetings, when I can.
When various segments of society interact with each other from a position of strength based on equality, it enhances society. It helps society become a place in which its subgroups and subcultures maintain their individuality, yet happily and uninhibitedly contribute towards society’s collective interests.
But this is easier said than done. Some segments of society are not even aware of their rights that their faith and country give them. This lack of awareness subtracts from their ability to seek and sustain equality in society. It diminishes them and hampers society.
One handicap that society, time and again, exhibits is its general inability to recognize the need for gender equality. This is an area on which TSN has focused since its inception. It has tried to educate and empower women — especially women who have ties with the subcultures that discourage women from fully exploring their God-given abilities. It has made a number of presentations on women rights and LGBTQ issues.
TSN is offering an ongoing free program “Qur’anic Teachings relating to Muslim Women”. It is taught by the TSN founder, Dr. Riffat Hassan, a pioneer in the area of Feminist Theology in Islam. A number of men and women, including non-Muslims attend this course.
Muslim women in the U.S. are engaged in an intense struggle to define their identity. They find that the patriarchic tendencies and conservatism of their communities are an impediment in their quests for self-empowerment. But they are reluctant to take a stand for their fundamental rights because they do not always understand that these rights are God-given and not dependent upon social approval. TSN wants to educate them about the Qur’anic teachings relating to their rights so that they can become free of their inner doubts, fear and guilt.
TSN needs and deserves help as it strives to enrich society by empowering its vulnerable. A 2020 Atlantic Renewal Award will go a long way in helping TSN help society become an equitable place for all human beings. A few words about myself: I am a keen observer of sociopolitical affairs and often express my viewpoints in the local newspaper. Louisville knows me well. It’s my honor to recommend TSN for the award.
Siddique Malik
November 18, 2019
