Rankings of Best U.S. Business Schools in 2011

Bloomberg Business Week Check out Bloomberg Businessweek‘s latest ranking of the best part-time MBA, executive MBA, and executive education programs by clicking here.

Muslim Woman Is One of Three to Win 2011 Nobel Peace Prize

Los Angeles Times… [Read more…] The Nobel committee’s selection of Tawakkul Karman, a journalist and longtime human rights activist, is a nod to the democratic revolutions sweeping North Africa and the Middle East. Karman has organized anti-government protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh and in 2005 founded Women Journalists Without Chains to demand wider freedom of… [Read more…]

Fiqh of Fasting for Working Muslims

Last updated August 13, 2011 I have extracted from Fiqh us Sunnah, the website Sunnah.com and the website fatwaIslam.com  relevant information that relates to some of the issues faced by Muslim brothers and sisters at work during Ramadan.  The following is not meant to be exhaustive or to replace the opinion of Fiqh scholars, but… [Read more…]

College degrees that are most sought after in 2011

Larry Buhl, Career Builder While the job market can’t be called robust, employers say they plan to hire almost 20 percent more four-year college graduates than they did last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.… [Read more…] 1. Computer science More than 56 percent of computer science majors in the class of… [Read more…]

CAIR: An Employer’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices

www.cair.com Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing and other terms of employment. The act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of the employee, unless doing so would create an “undue hardship” for the employer. CAIR offers… [Read more…]

Why Islamic Leadership must be competent

Rafik Beekun, theislamicworkplace.com Many Islamic community organizations, masajids and businesses are often characterized by leadership lacking  any vision and the requisite skills for the job.  As a result, masajids have been reduced to mere prayer halls,  community organizations lack a sense of direction and do nothing really well, and businesses are characterized by nepotism, favoritism… [Read more…]

Muslim Maid Allegedly Sexually Assaulted by IMF Managing Director, Dominique Strauss Kahn

Source: www.lemonde.fr… [Read more…]Interrogé mardi par CNN, l’avocat de la jeune femme, Jeff Shapiro, indique que sa cliente est une veuve de 32 ans, mère d’une adolescente de 15 ans. D’origine guinéenne, elle serait arrivée aux Etats-Unis en 2004, dans des “circonstances très difficiles” qui lui ont permis d’obtenir l’asile politique. Des élements contredits par le… [Read more…]

The Problem with Business Schools (and Business School Students)

David Glenn, Chronicle of Higher Education, U.S.… [Read more…] Business [school]  majors spend less time preparing for class than do students in any other broad field, according to the most recent National Survey of Student Engagement: Nearly half of seniors majoring in business say they spend fewer than 11 hours a week studying outside class. In… [Read more…]

Sexual Harassment: A Muslim Problem

By Hena Zuberi… [Read more…] Most of us have heard the the reports out of Egypt, but this is not just an Egyptian problem. It is experienced in many Muslim countries. Many women in Muslim countries don’t even know that this is a crime. Lets look at the stats coming from Egypt more closely.  In 2008,… [Read more…]

Online Islamic Management Course now being offered at Islamicity.com

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim – In the name  of God the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful Announcing Good News Jan 7, 2011 – Anaheim: Islamic Shura Council of Southern California is pleased to launch an online leadership and management course tailored for the current and future leadership of Masajid and non-profit organizations. “Masajid ought… [Read more…]

Maid Abused in Saudi Arabia: Beatings, Rape and Murder Alledged

BBC News A court in the Saudi city of Medina has sentenced a woman to three years in jail for the severe physical abuse of her Indonesian maid. Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, 23, was admitted to hospital in November with broken bones and burns to her face and body. The case received worldwide attention, and… [Read more…]

Microlenders, Honored With Nobel, Are Struggling

By VIKAS BAJAJ, NYtimes.com MUMBAI — Microcredit is losing its halo in many developing countries. Microcredit was once extolled by world leaders like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair as a powerful tool that could help eliminate poverty, through loans as small as $50 to cowherds, basket weavers and other poor people for starting or expanding… [Read more…]

Rape and Sexual Assault Rampant in U.S. Military

english.aljazeera.net Sexual assault within the ranks of the military is not a new problem. It is a systemic problem that has necessitated that the military conduct its own annual reporting on the crisis. A 2003 Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal prompted the department of defense to include a provision in the 2004 National Defense… [Read more…]

Heroic, female and Muslim

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, New York Times What’s the ugliest side of Islam? Maybe it’s the Somali Muslim militias that engage in atrocities like the execution of a 13-year-old girl named Aisha Ibrahim. Three men raped Aisha, and when she reported the crime she was charged with illicit sex, half-buried in the ground before a… [Read more…]

Berkeley schools sued over denial of Muslim pilgrimage

December 14, 2010 The federal government has sued a west suburban school district for denying a Muslim middle school teacher unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca that is a central part of her religion. In a civil rights case, the department said the school district in Berkeley denied the request of Safoorah Khan… [Read more…]

Employers in Europe discriminate against Muslims, study finds

By Steve Connor, Science Editor, independent.co.uk Muslims face “massive discrimination” when applying for jobs, according to the first scientifically validated study of anti-Muslim bias among employers in France. Researchers now want to study whether there is a similar bias in Britain, where unemployment among Muslims is higher than in any other religious group. The French… [Read more…]

13-Year Old Muslim Girl Heads to University

Why ARE so many modern British career women converting to Islam?

Daily Mail Reporter,  October 28, 2010 Eve Ahmed Much of my childhood was spent trying to escape ­Islam. Born in London to an English mother and a ­Pakistani Muslim father, I was brought up to follow my father’s faith without question. But, privately, I hated it. The minute I left home for university at the… [Read more…]

Muslim First Responder after the 9/11 terrorist attack speaks up

Workplace Exploitation in Kuwait: Foreign Maids Are Abused More in Ramadan

Kareem Fahim, New York Times KUWAIT — With nowhere else to go, dozens of Nepalese maids who fled from their employers now sleep on the floor in the lobby of their embassy here, next to the visitors’ chairs. In the Philippines Embassy, more than 200 women are packed in a sweltering room, where they sleep… [Read more…]

Courageous Afghan Girls Brave Taliban Terrorists To Get An Education

English.aljazeera.net The Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls who go to schools in their Afghan strongholds. A series of attacks against schools and female students have driven many girls to go underground to receive an education. In one attack in Kandahar in 2008, around 15 girls and teachers were sprayed with acid by… [Read more…]

Governor signs repeal on teachers’ religious dress; ban will lift in July 2011

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian April 01, 2010, 1:08PM With supporters of religious freedom looking on, Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a bill this morning that will end Oregon’s ban on teachers wearing head scarves and other religious attire. The ban won’t lift until after the 2010-11 school year. The rationale for the delay is to… [Read more…]

Female Muslim doctors allowed to wear disposable sleeves for modesty: official guidance

By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor, Telegraph.co.uk All staff involved in caring for patients should be ‘bare below the elbows’ to ensure sleeves do not become contaminated and hands can be washed thoroughly to prevent infections passed around the ward. However female Muslim staff had been concerned about the rule as exposure of their forearms is… [Read more…]

Federal Panel Finds Bias in Ouster of Principal, Debbie Almontaser

March 12, 2010 By ANDREA ELLIOTT, New York Times A federal commission has determined that New York City’s Department of Education discriminated against the founding principal of an Arabic-language public school by forcing her to resign in 2007 following a storm of controversy driven by opponents of the school. Acting on a complaint filed last… [Read more…]

A Tribute to Our Sister, Aminah Assilmi

Rafik Beekun I knew Sr. Aminah from 1979 until her death.  She was very close to my family, helping me get married to my wife, Nadiah, and being a very close friend.  Her whole life was dedicated to Islam and to representing it in the best possible way. Sr. Aminah brought many to Islam and… [Read more…]

Action: Contact Abercrombie & Fitch About Hijab Firing

Calif. Muslim employee fired for refusing to remove scarf in public (SANTA CLARA, CA, 2/24/10) – The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) is calling on Abercrombie & Fitch customers who value diversity and inclusion to contact the company to express their concerns about a Muslim employee who was… [Read more…]

Pakistan’s female fighter pilots break down barriers

CNN ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Six years ago an ad in the Sunday paper changed a young Pakistani woman’s life and made aviation history. The ad read: “Pakistan Air Force recruiting females cadets.” Back then Ambreen Gul was 20-years old and living in Karachi. Her mother wanted her to be a doctor. She remembers her… [Read more…]

Open Season on Muslims: Increase in Profiling

CAIR Nadia Hassan says she was the victim of profiling during a full body search at an airport. CNN’s Alina Cho reports. (CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad quoted on profiling incidents.) Muslim Fears Over Profiling Heightened Debate over Racial Profiling

Former baptist Embraces Islam

From Party Girl to Belonging Please click here to listen to her talk about fasting. Video 1 Video 2 Nicole Queen: Why do I wear a scarf?” I was asked how I began to wear the scarf, and how was I able to have the courage to face the challenges of wearing it? This was… [Read more…]

ABC Primetime: Is there Discrimination Against American Muslims?

Rafik Beekun While some may discriminate against Muslims, many day-to-day Americans are just and decent folks, and will also stand up for and defend Muslims’ rights to practice their faith. This sense of balance and fairness among my American countrymen is what makes America such a great and welcoming country.

Muslim Customer Allegedly Harassed at CitiBank for Wearing Hijab

CAIR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAIR-Chicago Asks Citibank to Apologize for Hijab Incident Muslim customer allegedly harassed by bank guard because of Islamic scarf (CHICAGO, IL, 12/8/09) — The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) today called on Citibank to apologize to a Muslim woman who was allegedly verbally abused by a security… [Read more…]

Transparency International 2009: Muslim-majority Countries Among the Most Corrupt on Earth

Thansparency International 2009 The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) table shows a country’s ranking and score, the number of surveys used to determine the score, and the confidence range of the scoring. The rank shows how one country compares to others included in the index. The CPI score indicates the perceived level of public-sector corruption in… [Read more…]

Niqab Controversy: Egyptian Scholars Cannot Make Up Their Mind

CNN and Al Jazeera Please click here to watch a video clip of the controversy. Muslim scholars have questioned plans by the head of Egypt’s most famous university to ban female students from veiling their faces on its premises and affiliated educational establishments. Shaikh Ali Abu al-Hasan, the former head of the Fatwa Council at… [Read more…]

Hillary Clinton Appoints U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities

Swearing-In Ceremony for Farah Pandith US Dept of State’s (first) Special Representative to Muslim Communities. While we congratulate our sister in Islam for her appointment, please note that Secretary Clinton is dressed more modestly and thus in a way more acceptable to Muslims than Pandith.   http://www.state.gov/video/?videoid=40275422001 by Secretary Clinton: September 2009 While U.S. Muslims applaud this… [Read more…]

Position: Islam and Gender, Wesleyan University, Asst Prof

Wesleyan University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the assistant professor level starting July 2010, from scholars specializing in Gender and Islam. The successful candidate will hold a joint appointment in the Religion Department and in the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. Applicants should have expertise in one or more of the following:… [Read more…]

Can Muslim Women Work Outside Their Homes?

By Maulvi Waris Mazhari (Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand) Some traditional ulema are of the view that Muslim women must not work outside their homes. They even argue that women can step out of their homes only under extreme necessity. Otherwise, they insist, they must remain within the four walls of their homes. Ironically,… [Read more…]

Blackberry Adventures: Fantastic App for Business Travellers

Rafik Beekun If you travel a lot for business or even for leisure , and own either a blackberry or an Iphone or possibly other pda-phones, I am using an excellent app called Worldmate Live. I have attached the link below. The free version gives you just 30 % less that the Gold version, but… [Read more…]

10 Questions Every Change Agent Must Answer

Bill Taylor, Harvard Business Publishing Website As leaders, we have no control over how fast markets grow or how wisely banks lend. But we do control our own mindsets and “animal spirits” — the phrase coined by John Maynard Keynes in the depth of the Great Depression. If all you’ve got is a spreadsheet filled… [Read more…]

Follow Br. Rafik on Twitter

Please click here to follow me on Twitter. Brothers and sisters email to me about various issues relating to Islamic Management; Your humble brother in Islam is offering you another way to keep in touch with him.

Fake Degree Scam in Gulf and Saudi Arabia

ArabianBusiness.com by Claire Ferris-Lay More than 180 people from across the Gulf have been blacklisted for holding fake US academic certificates allegedly bought from non-accredited institutions, including 69 from Saudi Arabia and 68 from the UAE. Almost 10,000 people in total have been blacklisted by the US Department of Justice for purchasing fake high school… [Read more…]

New Brochure from the US State Department: Being Muslim in America

The U.S. State Department has just released a very beautiful and informative brochure about “Being Muslim in America”.  Please click here to see the brochure.

New Female Judge Transforms Islamic Court

Ilene Prusher, Staff Writer, Christian Science Monitor RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - Khouloud el-Faqeeh has shattered the glass ceiling of Islamic jurisprudence. After years of pushing to break into the all-male ranks of sharia judges in the Palestinian territories, she finally secured a post after scoring among the best – along with another woman – in a recent test… [Read more…]

Riz Khan: Unemployment in the Arab World

Al Jazeera Riz Khan speaks with Ron Bruder, a successful American businessman who took a deep look at the problems of the Middle East after the attacks of 9/11 and founded Education for Employment which now operates in several Arab countries.

Professional Muslim Women in Great Britain: To Be or Not To Be?

Please click here to listen to the audio of the plight of professional Muslim Women in Great Britain.

Islamic Society of North America responds to murder of Aasiya Hassan

By Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali Executive Director, ADAMS Center Vice-President, The Islamic Society of North America Source: www.isna.net. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is saddened and shocked by the news of the loss of one of our respected sisters, Aasiya Hassan whose life was taken violently. To God we belong and to Him… [Read more…]

Video Preview: Business Ethics from an Islamic Perspective

Please see description of the “Islamic Management Series” in the article below. This lecture on business ethics is based on my book, Islamic Business Ethics. Sample Preview: Business Ethics from an Islamic Perspective Please feel free to order the Islamic Lecture Series either from my e-store or from the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California… [Read more…]

British Police adopt uniform hijab

Note from Rafik Beekun: British Police should be praised for incorporating the hijab into their uniform. It is noteworthy that while some “Muslim” countries are often resistant to giving women their rights, Britain in this case is one step ahead of them. Saturday, January 31, 2009, Police have opened the door to female Muslim recruits… [Read more…]

Video Preview: Strategic Planning & Implementation in Islamic Organizations

This video clip is from the “Islamic Management Series” DVD set, and is based on my book “Strategic Planning and Implementation for Islamic Organizations”. Both my book and the DVD set are available from my online store. The DVD set alone is also available from the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.

Video Preview: How does Islam guide us in managing stress?

The short excerpt below is from the “Islamic Management Series” of lectures, and this specific lecture is by Professor Beekun and Dr. Tahar Salaat, and is part of a series of ten lectures in the DVD set. The Islamic Management Series set can be ordered either from Dr. Beekun’s online store at: http://www.theislamicworkplace.com/Books.html or from… [Read more…]

Leading@Google: Authentic Leadership

True North shows how anyone who follows their internal compass can become an authentic leader. This leadership tour de force is based on research and first-person interviews with 125 of today’s top leaders—with some surprising results. In this important book, acclaimed former Medtronic CEO Bill George and coauthor Peter Sims share the wisdom of these… [Read more…]