We are honored to have Syed Ali Hur Kamoonpuri visiting us from New Delhi, India. Syed Hur will be delivering lectures in English for the first 12 nights of Muharram. We are also pleased to announce that we will have Zakira Latifa Samji who will be here to deliver lectures for our Ladies. A brief biography for both of our guest speakers is given below:

Syed Ali Hur Kamoonpuri.

Syed Ali Hur was born in Swaziland, and moved to Dar-es-Salaam

(Tanzania), and lived there for about 12 years during which he completed his primary and secondary education from the Al-Muntazir Islamic Seminary, passing his O-levels (IGCSE) and A-Levels (Cambridge) exams with distinctions. He pursued further studies and undertook intense personal research in India, where he graduated with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Arabic Studies from AMU (Aligarh Muslim University), the flagship Muslim University in India.

He began his study of the Holy Quran from a very young age and had committed it to memory by the age of fifteen. He was tutored in the Islamic sciences by his father Maulana Dr. Sayyid Qasim Kamoonpuri, who was himself taught and groomed by his father, the late Allamah Dr. Sayyid Mujtaba Hasan Kamoonpuri, one of the most esteemed and leading Mujtahids of the Indian Subcontinent in the twentieth century.

Syed Ali started lecturing at the age of 12, and has delivered lectures for Ashra-e-Muharram, Ashra-e-Zaynabiyyah, Ayyame Fatimiyyah, Shahr Ramadhan and other religious occasions at different Islamic centers in the United States, the UK, East Africa, South Africa, India and the Middle East.

He has participated in, and presented papers at, numerous national and international level seminars and symposiums organized by the Departments of Arabic, English, Islamic Studies, and Theology at the AMU. His primary areas of academic and research interest include Quranic sciences, Tafseer (Exegesis), Hadith literature and textual criticism, the Nahjul Balagha, Islamic history and historiography, comparative jurisprudence as well as comparative religion.

He was also honored as the top English speaker in the Annual All-India Sir Syed Memorial Debates for several years in a row. He has a wide variety of awards from his university, has spoken at various conferences, and has gone on several international lecture tours to different countries in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe conducting workshops and interactive programs for the benefit of the youth.

He has been selected this year to pursue his PhD in Arabic Language and Literature as part of a doctoral program at the Aligarh Muslim University, and his dissertation proposal focuses on showcasing the literary contributions of Ibn Abil Hadeed al-Madaini (d. 656 AH), author of one of the most famous, colossal and voluminous commentaries of Nahjul Balagha to be written in the Abbasid period.

Zakira Latifa Samji

 Zakira Latifa Samji was born in Zanzibar and completed her secondary education in Dar-es-Salam. Immigrating to Toronto in 1985, she pursued further studies in accounting.

Her migration to Canada during her teenage life led her to experience the western culture first hand and raised questions of her own identity and religion.  Her search to find answers led her to four years of studying at Hawza Ilmiya Imam Al-Asr in Medina, New York followed by a further four years at Jameat al-Zahra (sa) in Qum, Iran.  Zakira Latifa was honored with her degree in Islamic studies in 1996.

Returning back to Canada, she joined Seneca College and obtained her Diploma in Social Service Work.  She continued to pursue post secondary education at Ryerson University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Social Work.

Zakira Latifa combines her love for her religion and her knowledge in social work by conducting seminars and workshops for mainstream Health Care & Social Service Providers on cultural awareness and issues that affect Muslim families.  She gives lectures both, locally and globally, especially about Islam and Women's issues. She has had the privilege to humbly serve communities in Australia, Ghana, Iran, and Tanzania.

Serving Hot Meals in Minneapolis

Our community has partnered with Masjid Nur in Minneapolis to help prepare and serve meals to those in need. Having started this initiative in Ramadhan we've had a number of successful events for the past three months and we want to keep up the momentum!

We currently have opening for both sponsors and volunteers for November and December. We are looking for 8 volunteers for each event and sponsors to help with the cost of the food which is $300 per service which serves over 100 people.

Please find the details of our next event below. For those interested in either volunteering or sponsoring please contact either Br. Sameer at sameers7@gmail.com or Br. Ahmad at akr786@gmail.com.

What: Cooking hot meals under the guidance of chef from Masjid An-Nur and serve those in need

When: Saturday, November 22nd

Time: 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm 

Venue: Masjid An-Nur at 1729 N Lyndale Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Tasks: Help cook, Clean Kitchen, Box Meals, Serve

Volunteers Needed: 8

Age Limit: 16 years or above

Helpers of Imam Husayn Blood Drive Campaign - Muharram 2014

In preparation for our annual blood drive, please sign up using the form below. For more questions, contact: Sameer Parmar at sameers7@gmail.com 

Click Here to access the form online

The content of this section of the samachar has been taken from Ayatullah Sistani's website

Anjuman-e-Asghari (AeA) is not responsible for non-AeA events or announcements placed in this section.  This section is provided as a service to our community and members requesting these announcements are solely responsible for their contents.  All funds raised, their distribution and their legal reporting is the responsibility of the members placing the announcement.  All request should be within Islamic guidelines

 The wait is finally over.  The new CD by our very own reciter, Shafik Kassam is here.  The minimum hadya for the CD is $5.00.  To buy a CD please contact Imtiaz Salemohamed on the gents side and Sakina Bai Salemohamed on the ladies side.