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5th Annual Muslim Chaplains Conference
The 5th Annual Muslim Chaplain’s Conference (July 2-3, 2009) held in Washington D.C. was attended by chaplains with many years of experience as well as students of chaplaincy. The theme of the conference was “Chaplains as Caregivers, Mediators and Teachers”. The keynote speaker was Professor Khalid Blankinship from Temple University. His theme was “History of Islam and Chaplaincy”. He reflected upon the many centuries of Islamic history and shared some key insights along with hadith and ayahs of the Quran which support chaplains within the communities they serve. He mentioned “prison being the maximum institution and most controlled space for individuals” and tied that in with a hadith from Sahih Muslims which states “this world is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the unbeliever.” He said that chaplains help “make the world better incrementally” and mentioned that the seed of chaplaincy might be of those who are mentioned in the Quran “…special groups stayed behind to teach the people….”
Other speakers were U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains Rear Admiral Robert F. Burt, US Army Chaplain Colonel Scottie Lloyd and BOP Chief of Chaplains Joseph Pryor who spoke about the need for more chaplains within their ranks to serve the Muslim community. The BOP has created an extensive outreach program with the Muslim communities in the U.S. and will need the help of chaplains and religious leaders to enlist Muslim Chaplains. Dr. Teresa Snorton from the Association of Clinical Pastoral Counseling shared her knowledge on “Is CPE is right for you?”
The Muslim Chaplain Association held a vote for the three positions of the current board and are as follows: Chair, Rabia Harris; Secretary, Shareda Hosein & Treasurer, Kamal Abu-Shamsieh. The advisory committee is Abu Ishaq Abdul Hafiz and Chaplain Abdul Rasheed Muhammad.
During the Inaugural Session of the ISNA 46th Annual Convention, Chaplain Abdul Rasheed Muhammad was honored for contributions to ISNA and ILDC’s Chaplaincy program. It was mentioned that he is the highest ranking Muslim Chaplain in the US military after his recent promotion to Lt. Colonel in the US Army. Chaplain Abdul Rasheed played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Chaplains Conference that is now held yearly.