Tag Archives: Eboo Patel

Inside Islam Radio Show: 2011 Hours Against Hate

Posted on by

Hannah Rosenthal and Farah Pandith (from left) attended a Ramadan iftar dinner hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. Photo: Israeli Embassy

Make sure to tune in today at 3pm CST (GMT+6) for the latest Inside Islam Radio Show, 2011 Hours Against Hate. Jean will speak with Farah Pandith, US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, and Hannah Rosenthal, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, to learn about how their partnership at the US Department of State has sparked a global movement to build intercultural and interfaith connections through service.

For more information related to the show, check out our past pieces on interfaith service, Muslims and Jews in America, and a recent radio show with Interfaith Youth Core founder, Eboo Patel.

How to Listen and Participate

  • Leave a post below and the Inside Islam radio team will consider airing your comments and question during the broadcast.
  • Listen live on radio stations in Wisconsin Public Radio listening areas. The show will be broadcast live at 3 p.m. and re-broadcast at 9 p.m. CT.
  • Listen to a live webstream of the show on the Ideas Network.
  • Call 1-877-GLOBE-07 to leave a voice mail for Here on Earth: Radio without Borders anytime.
  • Leave a comment on this page, or send us an email with your thoughts.

Inside Islam Radio Show…Bridging the Faith Divide: Eboo Patel and the Interfaith Youth Core

Posted on by

Eboo Patel Photo: Carlos Ortiz, The New York Times

Tomorrow at 3 pm central standard time (GMT-5:00), Muslim-American Eboo Patel will speak with Jean Feraca about his organization, Interfaith Youth Core, and its mission to counter religious extremism by building young leaders through service projects and interfaith dialogue. Make sure to tune in to a live webstream of the show!

How to Listen and Participate

Eboo Patel: One Muslim’s Vision for Interfaith Dialogue and Service

Posted on by

Eboo Patel speaks with students, University of Chicago Divinity School Photo: Stephen J. Carrera

On September 27  October 19, Here on Earth Host Jean Feraca will speak with Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), to discuss the latest IFYC success in promoting dialogue and strengthening communities through service.

Building on his previous experience with interfaith service projects in South Africa, India, and Sri Lanka, Eboo Patel started Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) in 2002 from the humble settings of a Chicago basement. In just under a decade, Patel’s vision to build religious pluralism has created interfaith dialogue and service projects on all six continents and IFYC has hosted delegations and trainings from 16 countries.

Conferences, trainings, and dialogue are important to IFYC, but the primary purpose of Patel and the other 30 full-time IFYC staff is to build leadership within all faith communities. Patel notes that while 99% the world “inclines towards tolerance and cooperation,” a large portion of the remaining 1% are strong leaders and successful in their pursuit to discriminate and divide. Patel believes that if a larger portion of that 99% become leaders in their own communities, a better, stronger world will emerge.

Continue reading →

Asra Nomani: “A Bad Girl of Islam”

Posted on by
Upcoming Documentary A Mosque in Morgantown

Upcoming Documentary A Mosque in Morgantown

The Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog recently posted video of a two-part conversation with Asra Nomani, journalist, Muslim activist, and feminist. She is also part of the upcoming documentary The Mosque In Morgantown about a Muslim community in West Virginia.

“On Faith” hosts the blog of another prominent Muslim-American voice, the founder of the Interfaith Youth Core Eboo Patel who is a regular contributor to the site. His entries can be found on “The Faith Divide.”

Continue reading →

Eboo Patel on White House Faith-Based Partnerships

Posted on by

In an earlier post here on Inside Islam, we announced President Obama’s expansion of federal funding to faith-based and community partnerships. Executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core Eboo Patel opened up in an interview on CNN about President Obama’s decision to expand federal funding and support interfaith cooperation. He also addressed criticism that religious organizations are more likely to discriminate against potential employees on the basis of personal belief.

Continue reading →

Senate Hearing on “Engaging with Muslim Communities Around the World”

Posted on by

This Thursday, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a hearing on “engaging with Muslim communities around the world.” The hearing is part of a series led by Senator John Kerry on improving relations between the US and the Muslim world, and will include testimonies from well-known Muslim Americans.

Continue reading →

The White House Office of Faith-Based Partnerships

Posted on by

President Barack Obama has announced the expansion of aid to faith-based partnerships. His executive order built upon President Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships initiative, slightly changing the name to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. As has been much discussed, government support of faith-based initiatives calls into question the separation of church and state. The worry is that federal funds may go to businesses whose hiring or service provision discriminates against people with different religious beliefs. At The National Prayer Breakfast this month, President Obama announced the office and called for religious leaders to let go of intolerant attitudes. He asked America to return to pluralism:

the particular faith that motivates each of us can promote a greater good for all of us. Instead of driving us apart, our varied beliefs can bring us together to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted; to make peace where there is strife and rebuild what has broken; to lift up those who have fallen on hard times. This is not only our call as people of faith, but our duty as citizens of America, and it will be the purpose of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships that I’m announcing later today.

President Obama promises the White House office aid will extend outreach to organizations based on the impact of their work, not the influence of faith-based institutions. He also ruled out proselytizing and laid down the first practical outcome of launching outreach is to to improve services that reduce poverty. In addition, the president has adopted a pluralistic vision for reaching out to the Muslim community in the Arab world. He hopes to open a dialogue with Islamic leaders around the world and believes it can happen soon.

Continue reading →

Eboo Patel and The Interfaith Generation

Posted on by

Interfaith Youth Core (Flickr)Writer, scholar, and youth leader Eboo Patel is executive director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core and writes a blog for The Washington Post. Patel’s ongoing work with youth and study of religious divisions is rooted in his own struggle choosing between Indian, Muslim, and American identities and faith in a common “dream of pluralism.” In Acts of Faith, he defines pluralism as

a form of proactive cooperation that affirms the identity of the constituent communities while emphasizing that the wellbeing of each and all depends on the health of the whole. It is the belief that the common good is best served when each community has a chance to make its unique contribution.

Continue reading →