FLORIDA MUSLIMS GET INVOLVED

Muslim leaders in South Florida Metropolitan are meeting to discuss motivating Muslims for more involvement in civil life. “We are encouraging people to get more involved in their communities,” Altaf Ali, executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida chapter, the organiser, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel daily. The meeting tackles Muslims’ contributions to their communities and how to make their voices heard in the local civic life. Participants, who represent mosques and Islamic centres in South Florida Metropolitan, will fill out a survey answering questions about their mosques, schools, interfaith activities and voter registration drives. They will be asked to help make a census about Muslim population in the metropolitan and their political leanings ahead of the November White House elections. Roland Foulkes, Chairman of the Broward County Commission’s Diversity Advisory Council, will urge Muslims to volunteer for county and city boards, create community newspapers, oppose racial profiling, apply for grants and run for office. “All the Muslims I have met are busy with their jobs, their businesses, their faith and raising their kids,” Foulkes noted. “As a result, they do not have a whole lot of time to be active in these volunteer positions.”