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Thursday, July 3, 2008

[ALOCHONA] NABIC 18th Annual Convention Held in Houston

NABIC 18th Annual Convention Held in Houston
 
(Houston, Texas) The 18th Annual Convention of the North American Bangladeshi Islamic Community (NABIC) was held successfully on Saturday, June 21, 2008 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 7611 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas. The convention had interesting and informative programs for both adults and youth. About 160 individuals from 6 states attended the convention. During the day-long convention various issues related to basic Islamic teachings, education of Muslim children, NABIC activities, the youth, and Bangladesh were addressed.
 
The opening session was moderated by the newly elected President of NABIC, Dr. Rashed Nizam of Columbia, MO.  The program started with a recitation from the Holy Quran by (hafiz) Anisul Haque, a young member of Houston Bangladeshi community. Dr. Mohammad A. Haque, a longtime resident of Houston welcomed the convention attendees.  Dr. Hamid Ghazali, Superintendent of Iman Academy of Houston spoke on the various aspects and options of teaching Islam to Muslim children in America. NABIC Executive Secretary Dr. Abu Bakar Ahmed spoke about the development and relief efforts of NABIC with emphasis on charity through institution building.
 
The second session had two parts: the first part had two lectures on issues related to Bangladesh. Speakers were Zia Khondoker of Old Rajshahi Cadet Association (ORCA) and Dr. Mohammad A. Rob of University of Houston-Clear Lake. Mr. Khondoker highlighted various activities of ORCA including a major Sidr rehabilitation project jointly sponsored by NABIC and IMANA. Dr. Rob talked about the prospect of implementing US secondary education in Bangladesh. The second part of the session was targeted towards the younger attendees. The session was moderated by Sanzid Haque of Houston and was composed of screening the award winning documentary "A Son's Sacrifice," an interesting lecture by Dr. Mohammad Karim explaining the technique and logic behind the marvelous art work by Muslims in 10th and 11th centuries, and a picture based quiz testing the knowledge of young attendees about the life and culture in Bangladesh.
 
The third session titled, "Muslim Global Issues" followed Lunch and Duhr prayer and was moderated by Dr. Mohammad Karim, a past President of NABIC. There were three speakers for the session: Dr. Hafizur Rehman, president elect of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) talked about how IMANA is serving Muslims and the Muslim healthcare professional here in the US and abroad. Dr. Abdul Hye of Houston made an interesting presentation on the mysteries of space and related those to some of the verses of the Quran. The last speaker of the session was Dr. Parvez Ahmed of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In his speech Dr. Ahmed urged Muslims to transition from a reactive mode to a proactive mode in regard to their participation in civil and political activities.
 
At the end of the third session there was an hour long open question-answer session moderated by the outgoing NABIC President Dr. Sadrul Ula. He introduced the new officers and the Board of Directors of NABIC to the convention attendees. The audience was also given the opportunity to interact with the NABIC Board with their questions and comments.
 
The event ended with a banquet and a fund-raising session presided by Dr. Mohammad K. Zaman, NABIC Vice president and the chair of NABIC the fundraising committee. Dr. Mohammad Karim spoke glowingly and convincingly about the potential of Bangladesh. He made a powerful case for the attendees to be optimistic about Bangladesh and urged to them to support the activities of NABIC to contribute towards this optimism. The last speaker of the day was Br. Rodwan Saleh, President of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston. In his motivational speech Br. Saleh reminded the audience that according to the Quran charity is actually investing in our future. Under his insistent, able, and patient control and guidance over $135,000 was raised (or pledged) for NABIC's development and relief activities. 

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For more information, contact or visit:
Abu Bakar Ahmed ~ (865) 481-8988 or (865) 387-0135 ~ abahmed@nabic.org
www.nabic.org
 
 
 
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[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
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