The Women's Mosque of America

"Sexual Violence and the Necessity of Compassion with Justice" Khutbah by Sumaya Abubaker (4/24/15)

**Do you need help regarding sexual assault? Please visit this national list of resources to find an organization in your area: http://www.nsvrc.org/organizations Or, email info@womensmosque.com if you need assistance finding help. You are not alone.**

Khateebah Sumaya Abubaker delivers the 4th khutbah for The Women's Mosque of America on April 24th, 2015. In her sermon, Sumaya speaks to the centrality of compassion in Islam, its link to the concept of justice, and the insight and guidance it provides in meeting the challenges of addressing sexual assault and sexual abuse.

Bio:
Sumaya Abubaker serves as project manager for the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. For over eight years, she has managed many of the Center’s civic engagement leadership institutes for minority faith communities including the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute.

Prior to joining CRCC, she worked for Wells Fargo Bank, the Council for Islamic Education and The Minaret magazine. She spent many years on the board of ELEV8, a nonprofit designed to empower youth with the tools to engage in activism through the arts. Sumaya is a fellow of NewGround, a program that engages diverse groups of Muslim and Jewish Angelenos in an innovative community-building process of intra- and inter-faith education and reflection, leadership training and civic engagement.

Sumaya is also co-founder of the Rahma Network, an organization established to assist American Muslim communities in addressing sexual violence and abuse. She is a survivor herself and through her involvement in the Rahma Network, she works with survivors, builds resources and conducts speaking engagements on how to prevent and address sexual violence and abuse.

She received her BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied international development with a specialization in the Middle East/North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

"Being a Steward of God's People and Planet" Khutbah by Sarah Jawaid (3/27/15)

Khateebah Sarah Jawaid delivers the khutbah for The Women's Mosque of America jumma'a servce on March 27th, 2015. In her sermon, Sarah discusses the role humanity has in protecting the earth and God's people. She speaks about environmentalism and social justice, particularly how racial hierarchy impacts people to this day. Sarah also discusses how to overcome the internal challenges one faces in fighting for a just and safe world by using examples from Islamic religious texts.

Bio:
Sarah Jawaid is a community organizer with LA Voice, a non-profit affiliate of the PICO National Network, where she does faith-based social justice organizing and leadership development in Los Angeles. She has worked on policy change for affordable housing issues, economic opportunity, and criminal justice reform—the most recent win being the passage of Proposition 47, a state-wide ballot initiative to redirect money from prisons to schools. Sarah worked on national transportation policy at the Brookings Institution and the Urban Land Institute and affordable housing advocacy at the National Housing Conference. During this time, she was the Director of Green Muslims, a group started to raise awareness of environmental issues within a Muslim context. Jawaid is also an artist who has exhibited work in several shows and galleries. Her work can be seen at sarahjawaid.com. She has a B.S. from the University of Southern California in Public Policy and a Master’s degree from UC Irvine in Urban Planning. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband.

"Taking Account of Ourselves to Give Back" Khutbah by Dr. Rose Aslan (2/20/15)

Khateebah Dr. Rose Aslan delivers the 2nd khutbah at The Women's Mosque of America on Friday, February 20th, 2015. After listening to an inspiring first khutbah by Edina Lekovic, who challenged the congregation to step up and into more leadership roles, Dr. Aslan was the congregant sitting in the audience who rose to the challenge and decided to volunteer to give the next khutbah, as she had written khutbahs for men before but had never once delivered her own.

Bio:
A recent transplant to Southern California, Dr. Rose Aslan is an Assistant Professor of Religion at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. She teaches courses on Islam, Global Religions, and the Abrahamic Traditions in Comparative Focus. Her research focuses on the construction of sacred space, ritual, and pilgrimage in medieval Iraq and other medieval and contemporary Islamic contexts, including America. She is also active in inter-religious engagement in various communities.

Dr. Aslan received her PhD in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with her dissertation on the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf and Sunni-Shi’i debates and Shi’i pilgrimage rituals at Ali’s shrine. She received her MA in Arab Studies from the American University in Cairo, and her BA in Near Eastern Studies from the University of British Columbia.

Adthan by Travina Springer (2/20/15)

Mu'adthinah Travina Springer calls the 2nd adthan for The Women's Mosque of America on February 20th, 2015. A recent convert to Islam, Travina inspired the congregation of women and children as she courageously stepped into this new leadership role of calling her sisters to prayer.

"Stepping Up" - Khutbah by Edina Lekovic (1/30/15)

Khateebah Edina Lekovic delivers the first khutbah (sermon) for The Women's Mosque of America's inaugural jumma'a prayer service on January 30th, 2015, at the Pico-Union Project in Los Angeles. Her inspiring message is one of empowerment as she challenges women to step up and into the roles that have been opened for them, no matter how difficult the journey may be.

Bio:
Edina Lekovic is MPAC’s Director of Policy and Programming, where she oversees strategic initiatives in government and policy, media and communications, and leadership development. From 2004-2010, Edina served as MPAC’s Communications Director, and has appeared regularly in major media outlets, including CNN. MSNBC, Fox News, CBS Television, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times.

A recent appointee to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Service Cabinet, Edina has been committed to promoting relationships between diverse Angelenos for nearly 15 years. As a co-founder and the current chair of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, Edina is proud to have been part of a impactful program who’s high school dialogue program was named Gov. Jerry Brown’s top interfaith group in 2013.

Edina joined the faculty of Bayan Claremont, part of the Claremont Lincoln University, as an Adjunct Professor in Fall 2013, where she teaches “Religious and Spiritual Leadership in a Muslim Context.” Edina has spoken in hundreds of national and international conferences, community events and interfaith dialogues on a variety of issues related to American Muslims. She has also had the opportunity to participate in a United Nations program on “Confronting Islamophobia” and the International Conference of Muslim Young Leaders, which served as a precursor to the annual conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

She is co-founder and graduate of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute and also co-founded Elev8, an arts-based youth leadership development program. She has an M.A. in Communication from Pepperdine University and a B.A. in American Literature & Culture from UCLA, where she also served as the Editor in Chief of the Daily Bruin.