IECRC (USA & Canada)

Dedicated to:
The Life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him and his family)

When:
Sunday, May 25 (Memorial Day Weekend)
3pm – 10pm

Where:
Mehran Restaurant, 5774 Mowry School Road, Newark, California

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• International Speakers
• Intellectual and Spiritual Discourse
• Poetry, Qasaid and Na’at Recitations
• Sufi Cultural Expression (Qawwali, Daf, etc)
• Prayer, Education, Spirituality, Culture, Food

May 9, 2008 (Fremont, CA): As efforts are underway in search for a true and lasting peace around the world by those who are committed to its cause, the members of the Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center (IECRC) are ramping up for their Annual Conference themed on the same concern, during the Memorial Day weekend, Sunday, May 25, 2008 in the exquisite Mehran Restaurant (5774 Mowry School Road, Newark) in Northern California.

 

The IECRC is a six year old non-profit, non-political, 501(c)(3), grassroots, community service organization, based in Northern California, created in the wake of the September 11^th tragedy  with the mission to promote spirituality through education, research, and counseling, based on the centuries old Islamic traditional values of the Awliyah (the Saints of the Islamic Tradition) — love, tolerance, peace and harmony.

 

Muslims believe that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him and his family) was the last of a long chain of Prophets of God (peace and blessing of God upon them all), and that his message was a Universal one in that he was not just sent to the Arabs, but to all of Humanity, and that the message he brought holistically embodies the principle of Peace.  Thus the religion was not named “Muhammadism” or similar, but rather “Islam” or “Peace.”  Each year, the IECRC dedicates its annual conferences to the life of the Prophet of Peace.

 

As part of a global community, it is essential that the individual consciousness of people grows into a joint social order. World Peace, an element of this order, can only be achieved when respect for the “Other” becomes the norm and rich exchanges of cultural values and perspectives are common.

 

To help achieve this goal, two purposes have been identified for the 5^th Annual IECRC Conference: 1) Promote interaction between diverse communities through an exchange of ideas and culture in an effort to achieve respect for each other at a local level; and 2) Educate about the code of behavior as practiced by the pious predecessors and Saints of the Islamic tradition (may God be pleased with them all) in promoting the values of unity, peace, love, harmony, and tolerance at a global level.

 

The conference will aim to shed light on the intellectual and spiritual tradition of these values, as lived and practiced for over 14 centuries by countless spiritual luminaries in Islam.  “The Islamic tradition teaches that peace is achieved through tolerance and forgiveness.” Thus, the contributions of the great men and women who lived and died according to this principle are immense and warrant attention in the modern age when inspiration and guidance are needed even more than ever.  The conference will consist of speakers from diverse cultures and perspectives towards World Peace, and will include intellectuals, social workers and religious scholarship, both from within and outside the fold of Islam.  As a result, the theme for the conference has been named: Respecting Cultural Values: a Criterion for World Peace.

 

“Through the interaction of notable personalities from different cultures, backgrounds, and levels, doors will be opened towards new avenues addressing the complex problems that we face in achieving world peace and harmony,” says Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ahmed Qadri, Founding Director of the IECRC.  Dr. Qadri is a renowned scholar and the recipient of many prestigious international awards including the Ambassador for Peace Award presented by the Universal Peace Foundation and Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace in Canada.

 

Among the international and national guest speakers confirmed to present are keynote speaker, Dr. Prof, Muhammad Ahmed Qadri, Ph. D in Political Science, Islamic Scholar, and Founding Director of the IECRC (via remote message); Prof. Dr. Derryl Maclean, Associate Professor, Social Historian of Religion, Department of History, and Director, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada; Prof. Dr. Neelam Canto-Lugo, Professor, English Department, and Director of Crossing Borders Building Bridges series of lectures and presentations, Yuba College, Marysville, California; Farzana Nayani M.A., Education, Training Consultant and Cross-Cultural Researcher, Los Angeles, California; Mr. Charan Gill, M.A., M.S.W., Social Worker, Community Activist and CEO Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, Surrey, British Columbia. Several other important personalities at the local, national, and international level have also been invited and are expected to present at the conference. The event will also be an exhibition of the rich fabric of Islamic culture in the recitations of poetry praising the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in many languages including English, Urdu, Farsi, Arabic, and Punjabi. The conference will include the traditional Sufi Qawwali Samaa (devotional music) of the Subcontinent with performance by Mr. Muhammad Shaan and ensemble. There will be much young talent on display in the many children’s performances which are a part and parcel of all IECRC events. Attendance of a diverse audience is expected from around the Greater Bay Area and beyond.

 

We invite all regardless of religion or race to join us for an evening of spirituality, knowledge, poetry, peace building, and friendship.

Admission is free. Childcare is available. Complimentary Dinner is served.

This event is open to all.

Visit www.maulud.org for registration and additional details about the Conference.

Media Contacts: Ayyaz Yousaf Qadri at 510-475-7867 (ayyazy@yahoo.com),
Sharaaz Khan at 916-687-7547 (sharaaz2001@yahoo.com).

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