Muslim American Society – Boston Chapter

The Muslim American Society of Boston works to educate, organize, and empower the Muslim community to be active, contributing citizens who are civically engaged, and who are motivated by Islamic values. We strive to achieve this mission by: 1) teaching young Muslims social responsibility and equipping them for leadership, 2) educating and organizing the Muslim community towards civic engagement, 3) developing interfaith understanding and cooperation, and partaking in coalitions on issues of shared concern, and 4) faith and cultural programming for youth and families.

The Muslim American Society of Boston runs the new Islamic cultural center (ISBCC) in Roxbury, a nationally unique cultural landmark.

 

Some Accomplishments

  • Co-convening a monthly forum with FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, State and Boston Police, and US and State Attorney Generals’ offices, to educate officials about the needs and concerns of the Muslim community and discuss with the community law enforcement concerns relating to terrorism and security.
  • The director of MAS Boston co-chaired the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization’s 10th anniversary action on May 27th 2008 that featured the Governor, the Mayor and the Speaker of the House. Also attending were over 15 state legislators, over 30 corporate and philanthropic leaders, and 1700 community members from over 65 faith institutions.
  • Training over 1500 law enforcement officers from Boston Police, TSA, and ICE about Islam and Muslims in order to improve relations and cooperation with community and to improve security operations. The Outreach Director was awarded by the Justice Department for the quality of these trainings.
  • Mobilizing a coalition of community activists, leaders, and lawyers to engage in a grassroots campaign to address the closure without explanation of accounts of a large number of Muslims and Arabs in Boston by Fleet Bank. Resulted in the bank re-opening most accounts and dedicating a $50,000 fund towards diversity training and discrimination redress.
  • Conducting a Teens Program that has served over 800 teens in community service, civic engagement, interfaith dialogue and leadership development programs.
  • Creating dialogue for social justice between young Jewish professionals and young Muslim professionals that resulted in easing some of the tension between the communities in the wake of the Israel-Lebanon crisis in the summer of 2006

 

Some of MAS Boston’s Involvements and Leadership Affiliations

-        Member of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries – the oldest interfaith organization in greater Boston

-        We regularly partner in our various programs with many institutions including: (a) Massachusetts Council of Churches, (b) Mass Vote, (c) Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, (d) Jewish Kavod House, (e) Boston Workmen’s Circle (f)  Harvard Civil Rights Project (g) Harvard Islam in the West Program (h) Rosie’s Place (i) Pine Street Inn (j) Cradles to Crayons and more

-        MAS Boston Board members also serve on:

  • Strategy Team (equivalent to a Board) of GBIO – Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, the largest interfaith social justice advocacy group in New England.
  • Board of MIRA – Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
  • Advisory Board of the Asian American Civic Association
  • Board of the Interreligious Council for Public Life – a collection of faith and lay leaders from various faith communities (the council was created by Hebrew College and Andover-Newton Theological Seminary)
  • Board of advisors for Harvard’s Islam in the West Program: Muslims in Boston Survey.

 

The Board

Mohammad Bilal Kaleem is the President and Director of MAS Boston. He received his B.S. and M.S. from MIT. He is currently a Dubin Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership. His focus is Muslim Civic Engagement. He also serves on the board of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA).

Hossam Al Jabri holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas, and an M.S. in Computer Science from Boston University. He is completing his MBA at Suffolk University. He is currently the Sr. Enterprise Architect & Chief Technical Architect for devising international strategy in industry. Hossam has served on the Partners for Prevention Safety Initiative Coalition at Northeastern University, a program committed to fostering good relations between the law enforcement community and minority groups. Hossam is a frequent lecturer on topics including Christian-Muslim relations, Understanding Islam, Challenges facing Muslim Youth, and other faith-related topics.

Mona Abo Zena is a recent Ph.D graduate from the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University and her research interests include religion, identity development, and immigrant families. She earned her B.A. in sociology from the University of Chicago and her Ed.M from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.  As an educator, she seeks to empower students, teachers, and families to engage in civic activity. She is a founding board member of the Malik Academy and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Council for American Private Education. She is also an appointed board member to the Cambridge Coordinating Council for Children and Families (Kids’ Council).

Dr. Eman Atef received her Masters and PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science (MCP), where she is currently an associate professor of Pharmaceutical Science. She serves as an advisor for various MAS Youth programs, and is the Muslim Students’ Advisor at MCP. She also teaches a Women’s Religion and Spirituality class at the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge.

Abdullah Aweiss, CPA received his Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy at Bentley College and is completing his Master of Science in Accountancy at Bentley College. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and oversees a number of the finance and compliance issues of MAS Boston. He founded and directed a number of the weekend and summer community development and civic engagement programs for the Somali Community. He has mentored Somali youth in their pursuit of college education.

Nancy Khalil is a doctoral student in Social Anthropology at Harvard University and a Research Associate working on issues of Islam and Citizenship for the Islam in the West Program. Prior to starting her doctoral studies at Harvard, Nancy worked for four years as a Muslim Chaplain at Wellesley College and as Advisor to the College’s Multi faith Living and Learning Community. She attained a Master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Development from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.

Dr. Andrea Borgmann-Traiba, M.D. – Member: received her Artium Baccaleaureus from Harvard University in 1985 and her Medical Doctorate from the Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1998. Dr. Borgmann-Traiba works as a Pediatric Hospitalist for the Children’s Hospital of Boston. In addition, she is an instructor at the Harvard Medical School and also serves on the Board of Islamic Relief.

Sheikh Basyouny Nehela, has been the Imam of the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge for the past ten years. He received his Masters and PhD in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University in Egypt. He currently teaches a variety of classes including Arabic, Qur’anic Sciences, and Religious Studies. Imam Basyouny is a talented counselor, teacher, and mentor, and is dedicated to the development and improvement of the Cambridge community.

Hassan El-Alami is a medical technologist at St. Elizabeth Medical Center. He received his Bachelors of Science at Kuwait University, and his Masters in Medical Technology at SUNY Buffalo in New York. He is currently a PhD candidate in Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He is the Director of Al-Basha’er Islamic School. Hassan is also a frequent speaker on Spirituality and Social Responsibility at various mosques in the Boston area.