By Nana Firman

Sept/Oct 2023

I first met Ibrahim in New York City. Back then, I didn’t even know that I was going to move to the U.S. in the future. I still remember what he said when I was getting married.  “You know that it’s a double whammy to be Black and Muslim, right?” Perhaps he was referring to my husband, Jamal. Back then I didn’t know what it meant, but I am forever grateful for his words.

Ibrahim and I attended and spoke at many environment and climate gatherings organized by Muslims, multi-faith, or conventional non-religious groups. We collaborated at the local, national, as well as international level. In 2012, we were invited to the World Islamic Economic Forum in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. I remember he texted me, “What should we wear to dinner with the Sultan?” I replied “Batik!” Apparently, he loved the batik shirt that I had given him, and even wore it in his TV interview. I promised that I would get more batik shirts for him when I visited my family in Jakarta.

The funniest moment we had was when we were invited to speak at the 2019 Zero Waste International Summit in Istanbul, Türkiye. Ibrahim insisted that we could go in the same car. However, the organizer was firm that we had to ride in our assigned cars. Little that we knew, it was for security reasons. We were the guests of First Lady Emine Erdoğan, so each of us got our own guard. We laughed every time we thought about that trip.

Ibrahim and his wife, Fatima, along with their sons, Ismael and Yousuf, also participated in the 2014 Climate March in New York City. He agreed to be the keynote speaker when I told him that I was going to launch a Global Muslim Climate Network back in 2016. He even brought his amazing mother to that event.

Last year, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer. I cried the whole day when I found out. Al hamdu lillah, the treatment worked well. So, in October 2022, Ibrahim and I were able to share our journeys at the Green Festival in Kocaeli, Türkiye. He looked healthy and even extended his stay to visit some friends in Istanbul afterward.

In early June, my husband and I visited him and the family in their house near Pasadena, Calif. Fatima served us a delicious dinner. We ate and prayed together. We talked about so many things from the bear coming to their backyard to the green movement and world politics. Then my husband said, “You guys should come to our house before you leave for New York. I’ll cook, you’ll see!” We were so looking forward to their visit and I kept reminding myself to get halal marshmallows for their 3 boys so we could make smores in our firepit. Perhaps we could discuss GreenDeen, the book he wrote in 2010 that has inspired so many Muslims around the globe, including the Muslim youth in Indonesia. Every time I brought up the need for a sequel to his book, he kept telling me, “You’ll do it!” but I didn’t take it seriously. Instead, I was exploring any possibility to invite him to Indonesia this year.

On June 21, I was shocked and speechless when I found out that Ibrahim left this world. Innalillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’uun. As much as we love Ibrahim, Allah loves him more. Farewell, dear brother, and comrade. May Allah grant you among the highest levels of Jannah. Ibrahim’s legacy won’t end here. I and many Muslims will continue the GreenDeen journey and shape our strategies for a faithfully sustainable world, inshaAllah.

 Nana Firman has about two decades of experience working with advocacy and raising awareness about environmental degradation and climate crisis, advocating urban sustainability for a better future, and developing green economy concepts and strategies. She is a native Indonesian and resides in Southern California.

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The post In Memoriam: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

Passionate about Education, Business, and Kashmir 

Sept/Oct 2023

Rizwan’s sad departure at a young age is truly painful. It reminds us of the uncertainty of our own lives. Death is so unpredictable and yet so inevitable. Rizwan was a very articulate and reflective person who spoke eloquently on behalf of our community. With his immaculate academic credentials there were very few who could match his level of scholarship and talent.

His passion for community service is reflected in a multiplicity of ways. Education and business were his essential playgrounds. He helped develop programs for Muslim schools at a national level when we were still tinkering with the issues of weekend schools. He saw where we needed to go. More recently he was appointed to serve as the chair of MCC’s full time Islamic school board, in Morton Grove, Ill.

He was equally passionate about his native Kashmir. He founded the Pakistan Business Club at the University of Chicago, which remained close to his heart. He was active in the early years of Community Builders, Sabeel Pantry, MCC, and was a powerful spokesperson for the Muslim community at interfaith gatherings and community forums.

He was a man with strong convictions and as often happens with such individuals they are sometimes met with strong reactions. He had his share of detractors too. That comes with the territory of being outspoken as he certainly was. He was never afraid to speak his mind and say it as he saw things to be.

In His Own Words

In June 2010, he was interviewed by the Glenview Patch. This is what he had to say:

On being Spiritual: “Every now and then, I find myself able to go to the mosque in Morton Grove for the morning prayer service. It’s held before dawn. So, driving to it, while most of the neighborhood is asleep, is a calming experience by itself. The quiet streets at 4:30am; the prevailing silence just before the birds start chirping (as if they are singing God’s praises as well); driving to the house of worship being an act of worship itself; remembering and thanking God’s bounties that we all are blessed with – all these elements make it a great spiritually uplifting experience.”

On being American: “American Muslims are the proverbial new kids on the block. Most Patch readers didn’t grow up with us, but their kids are growing with ours in local schools and neighborhood parks. Unfortunately, most Americans first learned about Muslims and Islam during tumultuous times in our nation’s history. While these events are not reflective of the wider Muslim communities, they didn’t create a positive and realistic image of Muslims, either. Events such as the Iranian hostage crisis (1979), the first World Trade center bombing (1993), USS Cole bombing (2000), and, of course, the 9/11 tragedy. That history poses a challenge for us Muslims to constantly overcome the negative stereotyping, especially as we are cultivating an American Muslim identity. I wish more people in the community knew that the American Muslims, not much unlike the rest of the Americans, are not monolithic in any sense. We are of varying ethnic backgrounds (including blacks, who have been here for centuries, and converts); we come from a myriad of political and social backgrounds, and we are your neighbors, your employees, your bosses, clients, classmates, and fellow citizens.”

Rizwan’s short life exemplified that beautiful tradition of being problem solvers not documenters of despair. He was genuinely admired by the youth in the community to whom he was a sincere friend and advisor. Though Rizwan has departed, his legacy will live on. May Allah grant him a place in Jannah. 

His family mourns the loss of the only brother to six sisters. He is survived by a son, Yousuf, and daughter, Sana. 

Contributed by Dr. Azher Quader and Abrar Quader, JD

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The post Obituary: Khawaja Rizwan Kadir appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

July/August 2023

Mark “Issa” David Smith, a social activist, passed away on May 22 in Northern Virginia.

Imam Saffet Catovic, director of UN Operations for Justice For All, recalls, “I had the honor to know and work closely with him on the Bosnian struggle in the early 1990s (and before this in other justice work).

He was a longtime community activist, organizer, and a pillar of the Muslim community in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area.  Issa advocated for and provided assistance to Muslims in need all over the world through organizations like the Bosnia Task Force and Americans for Soviet Muslim Rights. In 1983 he wrote about the case of the imprisonment of Bosnian Muslim leaders in then-Communist Yugoslavia including, possibly, the first mention of Ali Izetbegovic and Mladi Muslimani (Young Muslims), the Islamic movement in Bosnia. 

Izetbegovic would become the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1990 and the founding father of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. Issa was also involved in the American Muslim press and the American Muslim Council. 

Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, then secretary general of the Institute of Islamic Thought, recalls that when he came back after a long trip to the Soviet Union and established ASMR, he was looking for someone to lead it. He found Issa to be the only one who had taken courses on Central Asian Muslims. He took the responsibility and started the ASMR Newsletter. This is the only organization that had to fold after a few years because of the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of independent Muslim republics.

Issa was a member of the ADAMS community since 1987. His involvement included serving as an amir and khateeb in the community as well as a Sunday School teacher.  

CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said, “Issa was a pioneer of activism in the Muslim American community and will be fondly remembered for his humor, his hard work, and his defense of human rights in this nation and worldwide.” 

Issa was a prominent advocate for helping refugees of Bosnia and Kosovo, as Washington, D.C. coordinator of the Bosnia Task Force which later became Justice For All (www.justiceforall.org).

He spent many years in support of Imam Jamil Al Amin and was a member of leadership of the National Community of Imam Jamil Al- Amin. He was also a strong supporter of African American and Native American causes.

His career also included years working as a geospatial analyst.

His wife Khadija, his children Tazkiya, Tauhid, and Taslim as well as his grandchildren, Myiesha, Mujahid, Zayna Lyn, Majeed, Layton, Emmeline, and Amira, and siblings Craig, Scott, and Lisa survive him.

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