3RD ANNUAL MUSLIM CHAPLAINS CONFERENCE

Cherishing Diversity, Reaching Out in Unity

Aug. 29 – 30, 2007

Crown Plaza Hotel, Rosemont, IL

The Annual Conference of Muslim Chaplains provides Muslim chaplains the opportunity to share notes, evaluate concerns and challenges, and plan for the future. The conference is open to Muslim chaplains working with hospitals, universities, the Armed Forces, and federal and state prisons from around the country.

Conference Program

For questions regarding the program, please contact Chaplain Bilal Ansari at bilal.ansari@muslimchaplains.org. Chaplain Bilal serves as a consultant with ILDC.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Opening Remarks

Speaker: Louay Safi

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM – Session I:Conversation on Religious Diversity and Accommodations in Chaplaincy

This session discusses ways and means to improve working conditions in a diverse work environment setting, and to exchange such experiences. A new guide for interfaith dialogue will also be introduced and discussed.

Speaker: Muhammad Shafiq
Moderator: Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM - Break

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Session II: Mapping the Future, Building on Past Experiences

This session aims at developing a strategy to strengthen performance, build capacity, improve networking, and use collective resources to address issues peculiar to the Muslim prison population.

Facilities: Bilal Ansari and Umar Bajwa
Moderator: Milia Islam

6:00 PM– 7:00PM – Prayer and Break

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM – Reception

Keynote Speakers:

Col Steve Moon, US Army Chief of Chaplains Office
Dr. Muneer Fareed, ISNA Secretary General

Thursday, August 30, 2007

9:00 AM- 10:30 AM Session IV: Leadership Development: How we can raise the bar of Islamic Chaplaincy

The session is intended to stimulate discussion on the state of Muslim chaplaincy and explore ways and means to improve the work and raise professional standards.

Speakers: Abdulah Hulwe, Rabia Harris, Mumina Kowalski , Yahya Hendi
Moderator: Abdullah Antepli

10:30 AM- 11:00 AM: Break

11:00 AM- 12:30 PM Leadership Development: Breakout Session

Breakout groups to discuss in more detail proposed ideas and then report the findings to the conference.

Facilitators: Abdul-Rasheed Mohammad, Bilal Ansari, Shareda Hussain, Ahmad Alwani

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM – Prayer and Lunch

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM - Session II: Trauma Transformation in the Work Place

What does a prison riot, major highway catastrophe, roadside bombed convoy and the Virginia Tech massacre have in common? TRAUMA. As a chaplain how do you become a transformative agent in your workplace when faced with traumatic events such as those mentioned? Where does faith fit into the human dimensions of surviving trauma? This workshop will answer these questions from literary and religious sources as well as from the presenters' research and clinical work that articulates the coping and growth process and cultivation of compassion and understanding necessary to transform trauma in the workplace of chaplains.

Speakers:Osman Ali and George Fitzgerald
Moderator: Hena Saifulislam

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM -

3: 30 PM - 4:00 PM – Break

4:00 PM- 5:30 PM - Session VI: Educational Challenges in Muslim Chaplaincy

The session explores approaches for improving chaplains’ continuous education at both the institutional and personal levels.

Speaker: Ingrid Mattson