Peer Talks

LOUD THINKING   

#PeerTalks with Dr. Michael Barak on "The struggle between Modern Salafism to Modern Sufism"  

Dr. Michael Barak is a researcher at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) of Lauder School of Government Diplomacy and Strategy, at The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, and serves as the Team Leader of the Global Jihad & Jihadi Websites Monitoring Group and the Team Research Manager of the ICT Cyber-Desk In addition, He teaches as well in IDC courses on Terrorism and Islamic radical movements.  

Dr. Michael also serves as a researcher and a member of the Social Media Networks in the Arab World (Beehive) research board at The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (MDC) in Tel Aviv University (TAU).  

Prior to his current post, he was the Team Leader of the Arabic, Turkish & Persian Online Media at The Arabic Press Archive of MDS, and a researcher assistant on Palestinian issues at the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at  TAU.  

He has been teaching Spoken and Colloquial Arabic for more than a decade at various institutes including the Arabic Language Department at TAU, the Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel, as well others.  

Dr. Barak holds both a B.A. and an M.A. degree in “Middle Eastern Studies” and “Arabic Language” from Tel Aviv University. He has finished his Ph.D. at the School of History in Middle Eastern and African Studies, TAU. His Ph.D. dissertation is concerned with “Sufism in Wahhabi and Salafi Polemic Discourse in Egypt and the Mashriq (Arab East) 1967-2001”.  

He has published several articles in Hebrew and English on Modern Salafism and Sufism in Egypt and on prominent trends in the Social Media Networks in the Arab World. He has lectured in several research forums including the IDC, TAU, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.  He has participated in several international programs including: “Study of Turkish Language and Culture” at Boğziçi University, Istanbul (2006), and “Study of the US National Security Policymaking” at the Institute for Training & Development (Amherst), USA (2014). 

 #Sufism #Salafism

#PeerTalks with Dr. Qamar ul Hda  

Qamar-ul Huda is an American religious scholar.  

As an assistant professor at Boston College, in 2002 he published a revised version of the dissertation with Routledge Sufi Series entitled, "Striving for Divine Union: Spiritual Exercises for the Suhrwardi Sufis" (London and New York).  

He wrote a personal account of the new demands for his expertise following the attack on the USA on September 11, 2001. 

He was one of three American professors of religion who drafted letters to be submitted to Murat Kurnaz's Administrative Review Board.  

Huda joined the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Program for Religion and Peacemaking as a senior program officer.  

The United States Department of State (State Department) hired Huda to be seconded as a subject matter expert to build up Hedayah: The International Centre of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  In 2012, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, established a new office called The Religion and Global Affairs (RGA) to demonstrate the critical importance the role of religion plays in foreign affairs. In 2017, Huda with several colleagues co-founded the Center for Global Policy, a non-partisan independent policy think tank focused on U.S. foreign policy and national security and the geopolitics of Muslim majority countries in the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. He was the founding director for the Program on Conflict, Stabilization, and Development where the program focused on development issues, moving from conflict toward peace processes, conflict management, and new metrics to understand stabilization. For the Center for Global Policy, Huda authored over a dozen policy briefs and a policy report entitled "A Critique of Countering Violent Extremism Programs in Pakistan." (August 2020). Based on this study, the Near East and South Asia Center Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, DC, conducted an interview on the core findings of the countering violent extremism policy report, and on religion, diplomacy and global affairs.  

#QamarulHuda #Sufism

LOUD THINKING   

#PeerTalks with Dr. Michael Barak on "Sufism in Damascus during 16-18 Centuries"  

Dr. Michael Barak is a researcher at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) of Lauder School of Government Diplomacy and Strategy, at The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, and serves as the Team Leader of the Global Jihad & Jihadi Websites Monitoring Group and the Team Research Manager of the ICT Cyber-Desk In addition, He teaches as well in IDC courses on Terrorism and Islamic radical movements.  

Dr. Michael also serves as a researcher and a member of the Social Media Networks in the Arab World (Beehive) research board at The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (MDC) in Tel Aviv University (TAU).  

Prior to his current post, he was the Team Leader of the Arabic, Turkish & Persian Online Media at The Arabic Press Archive of MDS, and a researcher assistant on Palestinian issues at the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at  TAU.  

He has been teaching Spoken and Colloquial Arabic for more than a decade at various institutes including the Arabic Language Department at TAU, the Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel, as well others.  

Dr. Barak holds both a B.A. and an M.A. degree in “Middle Eastern Studies” and “Arabic Language” from Tel Aviv University. He has finished his Ph.D. at the School of History in Middle Eastern and African Studies, TAU. His Ph.D. dissertation is concerned with “Sufism in Wahhabi and Salafi Polemic Discourse in Egypt and the Mashriq (Arab East) 1967-2001”.  

He has published several articles in Hebrew and English on Modern Salafism and Sufism in Egypt and on prominent trends in the Social Media Networks in the Arab World. He has lectured in several research forums including the IDC, TAU, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.  

He has participated in several international programs including: “Study of Turkish Language and Culture” at Boğziçi University, Istanbul (2006), and “Study of the US National Security Policymaking” at the Institute for Training & Development (Amherst), USA (2014). 

#Sufism #Damascus

#PeerTalks with Sheikh Ahmed Tijani Ben Omar

Ahmed Tijani Ben Omar (أحمد تيجاني بن عمر‎) is a Ghanaian born American Islamic scholar and Imam.

Tijani was born in Accra, Ghana. His hometown is Asamankese, West Akim Municipal District, Ghana. He specialized in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, including comparative religion, astronomy, spiritual science and healing, divine poetry and chanting, fine arts, and culture.

He took Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Kulliyat Athakaffah Al Arabiyah in Ghana and studied Biblical Science and History through the Methodist Missionary High School in Ghana.[citation needed] He specialized in media-broadcasting and mass-communications and also obtained masters in comparative religion. He studied and memorized the Qur'an at the age of 15 and the Bible by the age of 20.

Tijani is a leader of the Tijaniyyah, which came to the United States in the 1970s. He is also the National Advisor International Association of Sufism USA; Advisor Islamic Studies and Research Association ISSRA USA; President and Imam Universal Islamic Center USA; Member of the World Council of Religious Leaders under the auspices of The United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit.

He has traveled to over 115 countries worldwide giving numerous lectures and presentations at conferences, universities, and public gatherings around the world. Hosted and directed several national and international Islamic conferences for peace.

Tijani spends his time between the United States and Africa. He has been involved in peacemaking work in Chicago's inner cities and inter-faith activity across the world. He opposes literalism and extreme Wahhabi theology.

#AhmedTijani #Sufism

JAIZA

U.S. Presidential Elections   2020

Expert: Ahmed Rana

Ahmed Rana  

When it comes to taxes, is a BALTIMORE tax man with over 600 clients. When it’s come to buying or selling he helps his clients to make the right decision for home or commercial property, specialize in investment property along taking the right lender for the lower interest rate for a mortgage. Also, he serves humanity via food for the homeless on cold snowy nights when everyone sleeps but he is there for them.

Whenever the community needs him, he is always there for fundraising for nonprofits, finding jobs, finding shelter, and involves a politician as a community leader.

Last, not least he also has a passion for cricket so he promote cricket in the USA  where is no market buy his passion is there. Hosting, commentary, and gala dinner for cricketers in the USA.

#PeerTalks #US #PresidentialElections

#PeerTalks with Ely Sandler, on " 50:50 STARTUPS ( A Big Idea).

50:50 Startups is the groundbreaking new tech accelerator for Jewish and Arab co-founders. 50:50 Startups is a U.S non-profit operating in Israel, Palestine, and Boston. We believe that investing in socially-responsible tech companies founded and equally-owned by Jewish and Arab entrepreneurs will build a better future. Our 8-month accelerator creates and grows 50:50 Arab & Jewish tech startups.

Our team comprises Arabs & Jews, Palestinians & Israelis with vast experience and proven investment records, including founders, investors, and academics.

Ely’s background is in finance, and his career started at Morgan Stanley within the global capital market division. He rose to the firm’s senior management, working directly with Morgan Stanley's international CEO. In 2019, Ely helped launch 50:50 Startups, the ground-breaking tech accelerator for Arab and Jewish co-founders in Israel and Palestine. Ely holds a first-class degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from the University of Oxford, and was previously a researcher in global governance at Oxford’s Martin School.

#ArabJew #Startups

#PeerTalks with Noor Dahri

Noor Dahri is the Executive Director of ITCT. He was born and raised in Pakistan. He has studied Forensics and Criminal Psychology from Oxford – the UK, Counter-Terrorism from the University of Maryland – U.S.A, and also studied Counter Terrorism from International Institute for Counter-Terrorism ICT- Israel. Mr. Dahri is an independent researcher in Counter Islamist Terrorism and Islamist Extremism. He is a contributing writer at the US Homeland Security Magazine (HSToday). Mr. Dahri is also a member of the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS), UK. Mr. Dahri has written many research articles and research papers on hot issues such as Counter-Terrorism, Violent Extremism, De-Radicalisation, and Israel-Palestine issues which have been published in various newspapers and journals. Noor has attended many events, conferences on the threat of Counter-Terrorism, and also visited many institutes and libraries. He is a Middle East Analyst at The Great Middle East and a regular contributor at the Times of Israel (Israel) and The Daily Times (Pak). Mr. Dahri has appeared on numerous TV and Radio shows for his interviews. Noor has been invited to deliver his speeches at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism -ICT in Israel on the topic of “From Da'wah To Jihad: Breaking the Radicalization and Violent Cycle”. Mr. Dahri is a fellow member of the Intelligence Community USA and a member of the security think tank Henry Jackson Society UK. He regularly attends discussion-based events in the House of Commons and the House of Lords (UK Parliaments). He has visited many countries for his research work. Noor Dahri has also worked with the London Police department for the last 7 years and received a “Life Achievement Award Certificate” by Lord Frank Judd at The House of Lords- UK. He has recently authored two books called “Global Jihad, Islamic Radicalisation and Counter Strategy” and “Terra Nullius: The Rebirth of a Land Without Peace” which were published from India in 2019 and also edited the book “Marketing Terrorism: The Continental Fear from the Middle East to Asia & Africa” which is published in 2020. Mr. Dahri is currently working on his third book on the subject of “Islamic Theology of Counter-Terrorism” where he would counter the Islamist’s narratives from the theology of Islam.

#NoorDahri #CounterTerrorism

#PeerTalks with Dr. Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin on Early childhood development and the mind and body language of the terrorists - the prologue to violence is early childhood.

Dr. Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin began her academic career after receiving a doctorate in comparative literature, with a focus on the Islamic literature of medieval Spain – Ahadith of the Moriscos. She has a tremendous interest in the coexistence of the three Abrahamic faiths. A graduate analyst of the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis and a PTSD trauma expert, she taught and supervised psychiatry residents in Minneapolis, where she had a private practice. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, she was contacted by the U.S. Army concerning her work on the link between the devalued female and the jihadi suicide attack and was invited by the military and law enforcement to lecture on radical Islam and conduct prison interviews among the Somalis in Minnesota. She is also a graduate of the Human Terrain Program, Leavenworth, Kansas, which is affiliated with the U.S. Army. In 2010, Dr. Kobrin is an internationally renowned counterterrorism expert ― emigrated from the Twin Cities to Israel, where she continues her work. She is a fellow of the American Center for Democracy. Dr. Kobrin holds an academic appointment as an external expert at La Universidad de Granada concerning Jihadese, the special nonverbal pantomime language that the Jihadis speak related to early childhood trauma in the maternal attachment. She has authored The Banality of Suicide Terrorism (also in Hebrew), Penetrating the Terrorist Psyche, The Maternal Drama of the Chechen Jihadi, The Jihadi Dictionary [soon to be published in French), and The Last Two Jews of Mogadishu Living under Al Shabaab’s Fire.

#Terroism #Jihadi

Humaray Aslaf

Mai Safora Qadria 

Guest: Sahibzada Yousaf Tahir

#PeerTalks #SaforaQadria #Sufism

HUMARAY ASLAF

Makhdoom Abdul Rehman Shaheed, Ghora Shareef, Sindh

Guest: Makhdoom Nadeem Hashmi

#PeerTalks #KhoraShareef #Sufism