AMU - Aligarh Muslim University Conference Summary report

Summary: The Aligarh Muslim University held a conference, "First high profile conference. Intellectual crisis of the Muslim Ummah; Rethinking traditions solutions" on April 6 and 7th this year.

Conference pictures http://futureislam.com/conference/2015/

I believe,  AMU was looking for critical thinkers who can challenge the prevailing practices and take the Ummah forward to live the God given life on this earth to the fullest without compromising it for the Akhira (hereafter), which is a natural consequence of the good we do here.   Sir Syed Ahmed took dauntless steps to establish the institution despite the opposition and hurdles, his vision was bold at that time, and it is perhaps the first "Muslim" university in the world where Muslims were taught subjects other than memorizing Quran and Hadiths. 

We have got to thank Sir Syed for that vision and thank the VC General Shah, Pro-VC Brig Ali and professor Shaz for having the courage to resuscitate that vision and bring critical thinking to AMU. We have admire the staff and volunteers who supported them without any reserve. I pray that AMU will become one of the high profile Muslim Universities and I hope you as a Muslim, would also wish it to go further. I am not an Alumni of AMU, but my spirit has been with AMU since I learned about Sir Syed in my school days. Now, I feel that I belong to the Alumni of AMU without taking away anyone's assets. 

I have started writing about different aspects of the AMU conference where I was involved. Insha Allah, I will complete that in the next few weeks.

1. Plenary Session - The Muslim puzzle of misplaced focus on Aakhira while ignoring the Hazira - I spoke about the need to refocus on Hazira instead of dying for Akhira. We cannot cheat on the God given Amana of life. We have to live this life to the full and not sacrifice an ounce of it for Aakhira, which is a consequence of Hazira. This is a major flaw in our thinking and we need to invest our time in learning about it and change the future of Muslim Ummah. Thanks to Pro VC Ahmed Ali Sahib, who acknowledged on the thought and expanded further. I will be writing the full outline of my speech.
2. Chaired the panel on "Islamic perspective for the future" - notes will be added soon.
   
3. Panel speaker on "Who speaks for Islam today" - Can Muslims lead the world?
   
4. Chaired the panel on "Gender Issues and Gender Pluralism"  -http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2015/05/dignity-of-women-in-islam-conference-at.html
   
5. Valedictory Session -  I spoke about "the power of engagement" with the civic society to change things for common good, and I have three of the attendees ready to take on Subramanian Swami, Taslima Nasreen and their likes - to get them engaged in discussion and let them silence themselves as I have done with many here in the United States. I will add the notes soon.
   
6. General Notes -http://www.worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2015/04/congratulations-to-aligarh-muslim.html
   
7. Summary remarks -http://www.worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2015/04/back-to-dallas-from-conference-at.html
   
8. Official Conference pictures: http://futureislam.com/conference/2015/ 
   
9. Personal pictures:https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157651704661377/

Thank you
Mike Ghouse,
World Muslim Congress
Dallas | Washington
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator onPluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon | He is producing a full feature film ” Sacred” to be released on 9/11 and a documentary “Americans together” for a July 4 release.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com – Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.