First ever Al-Ghazaly school yearbook

What you are looking at is the first ever year book published for the Al-Ghazaly school in all of its black and white glory. This is truly a gem that deserves to be in a museum. Thank you Sr. Hanini for sharing this with me.

Organizing footage for Al-Ghazaly Documentary

Spent the better half of yesterday color coding interview transcriptions for an upcoming #documentary film I’m working on. Once each paragraph of the transcription is color coded by subject, it is ready to be imported into final cut and applied the correct keyword. Organizing footage like this is crucial when dealing with a large amount of interviews.

Interview: Bilques Muhamad

Bilques Muhamad was one of the first people involved in the creation of the Al-Ghazaly Islamic school in 1984. She joined the school after founding another school, Al Madrasa Al Islamiya, in Brooklyn NY in the late 1970s. Born in 1926, Bilqees has seen the Muslim community grow significantly over the years.

Today we met and spoke about her conversion to Islam, her involvement with the islamic schools, her first Hajj, and much more.

New Project: Documenting the founding of the major Islamic Institutions in Northern NJ

Al-Ghazaly school in 1989

From Islamic schools, marriages and funerals, to communal Eid prayers and Ramadan Iftars, the Islamic institutions of northern New Jersey play a major role in the daily lives of thousands of Muslims. But who founded these institutions? And what were the challenges that they faced in establishing them? 

This project will tell the fascinating stories of the founders of a few of the most impactful and influential Islamic centers. These people worked behind the scenes to ensure that the Muslim communities needs are met, rarely accepting credit and putting themselves in the spotlight. As I’ve dug a little deeper into some of the stories, a few themes have emerged. The first of which is the formation of the state of Israel.  Almost all of the founders have immigrated to the United States and were deeply impacted by either the creation of Israel in 1948 or the Six Day War in 1967. The second theme is survival. While some of them were doctors and imported their degrees from overseas, others were barely struggling to make ends meet. Many of them worked multiple jobs and were juggling work, family, community work, all while feeling home sick. They were from different countries, and despite their cultural differences worked together towards a common goal to establish a Muslim presence in this country.

This project is an effort to document not just institutions themselves, but the people behind them. It will weave together around 10 different people’s stories to show us what determination, perseverance, and long term vision can accomplish. What were their values and priorities? What were the challenges they faced? Who were they? The young Muslim generation of today is in the process of obtaining the reins to these institutions, and we would like this project to document the original intention of these institutions by their founders.  These founders are reaching their old age, and their stories must be documented.  We would also love for this project to inspire other communities across the country to document the stories of their respective founders.