TEXAS

FRIDAY, MAY 8
Misquoting Muhammad: Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy
· Speakers: Dr. Jonathan Brown & Dr. Jihad Turk

· Summary:
Named as one of the top books on religion of 2014 by The Independent, Dr. Brown’s book, “Misquoting Muhammad” takes the reader back in time through Islamic civilization and traces how and why such controversies developed, offering an inside view into how key and controversial aspects of Islam took shape.

Join us for a discussion with the author, moderated by Dr. Jihad Turk. From the protests of the Arab Spring to Istanbul at the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and from the red walls of Delhi’s great mosques to the trade routes of Islam’s Indian Ocean world, come learn how Muslim intellectuals have sought to balance reason and revelation, weigh science and religion, and negotiate the eternal truths of scripture amid shifting values.

· Venue: Masjid As-Sabireen (610 Brand Lane, Stafford, TX)
· Time: 8PM (after Maghrib) until Isha

SATURDAY, MAY 9
Answering with Love: Responding to the Haters
· Speakers: Dr. Reza Aslan, followed by a panel featuring Dr. Jonathan Brown and Dr. Jihad Turk
· Summary: “Love is my sin and thy dear virtue hate” – Shakespeare, Sonnet 142

Reza Aslan said, “Religion doesn’t make people bigots. People are bigots and they use religion to justify their ideology.” Join us for an elucidating discussion around how Muslims can formulate a response to the dialed-up rhetoric of present days and how American-Muslims are uniquely positioned to bridge the divide between the West and the Muslim world.

· Venue: Maryam Islamic Center (504 Sartartia Rd, Sugar Land, TX)
· Time: 2 PM (after Dhuhr) until 4:30 PM

|| FREE AND OPEN TO EVERYONE ||

DR REZA ASLAN, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, which has been translated into twenty-eight languages.

Aslan is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside and serves on the board of trustees for the Chicago Theological Seminary. A member of the American Academy of Religions, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the International Qur’anic Studies Association, Aslan’s previous academic positions include the Wallerstein Distinguished Professor of Religion, Community and Conflict at Drew University in New Jersey (2012-2013), and Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Iowa (2000-2003).

He is the founder of AslanMedia, a social media network for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East.

Aslan’s first book is the International Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into seventeen languages, and named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in a Globalized Age), as well as editor of two volumes: Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, and Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalties, Contentions, and Complexities.

DR JONATHAN BROWN is the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and he is the Associate Director of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding. He received his BA in History from Georgetown University in 2000 and his doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago in 2006. Dr. Brown has studied and conducted research in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, South Africa, India, Indonesia and Iran. His book publications include The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon (Brill, 2007), Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World (Oneworld, 2009) and Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2011), which was selected for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Bridging Cultures Muslim Journeys Bookshelf. His most recent book, Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenges and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy (Oneworld, 2014), was named one of the top books on religion in 2014 by the Independent. He has published articles in the fields of Hadith, Islamic law, Salafism, Sufism, Arabic lexical theory and Pre-Islamic poetry and is the editor in chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law. Dr. Brown’s current research interests include Islamic legal reform and a translation of Sahih al-Bukhari.

JIHAD TURK is the son of an American Methodist mother and a Palestinian Muslim father. He is Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC), the oldest and largest masjid in the Los Angeles area. He is also completing a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at University of California, Los Angeles. He is a popular speaker, advocate and expert in the media. Turk teaches Arabic and is widely involved in interfaith advocacy and dialogue across Southern California. He also serves on the Board of Governors for Claremont Lincoln University.

Brought to you by the Risala Foundation

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Islamic Society of Greater Houston