#FGM, Burundi, Black History Month, Blair Imani, interfaith
marriages, CSW and more!

The Oldest Progressive Muslim Organization in America

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The Fog is Clearing!

The year 2021 started on a good note with H.R. 1600, an amendment
to the anti-FGM law in America, being signed into law.

As a member of The US End FGM/C Network, Muslims for Progressive
Values has been advocating against FGM/C for many years, both
here in the U.S., and abroad in partnership with religious
leaders #ImamsForShe Champions. In 2018 in Detroit, a Muslim
doctor was charged for cutting 9 young girls from Michigan,
Minnesota, and Illinois, and the doctor tried to use the
Religious Freedom Reformation Act (RFRA) to justify FGM. MPV
wrote to the prosecutors to vehemently disagree with allowing
RFRA as a justification because FGM has no basis in Islam. So,
today we feel vindicated for the grief we get for speaking up
against FGM practices within the Muslim community. Children are
now protected from this abominable cultural practice of torture.
Celebrate with us and share. Having the law strengthened is one
thing, but like all laws, people always find a way to break them.
Whether here in the US or elsewhere, the hard work is to change
the culture such that FGM and other harmful practices are
undesirable and done away with voluntarily. More good news to
share: thanks to the support of donors, friends and allies, I was
able to get support for our partner, Imam Khalfan of Burundi, to
safety to receive comprehensive medical care outside his country.
He is back in Burundi and back at work bettering women and girls’
rights.
In America, February is Black History Month, so I urge you to
make an extra effort in learning more about the contributions of
African Americans to society and check out this
#BlackIslamSyllabus ( [link removed] ) curated by Dr. Kayla Renee Wheeler!

Lastly, we are proud to announce social media influencer and
erstwhile MPV Ambassador Blair Imani has joined our Board of
Trustees!

Onward and upward…

Ani Zonneveld

Founder, president

U.N. Updates

Highlighting CSW Events for which MPV will be involved in and all
events are virtual and free (note: all time zones EST):

March 16: Women in Faith Based Organizations organized by World
Jewish Congress. On the panel will be Ani Zonneveld.
Date: 16 March 2020 Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

March 20: MPV’s CSW Event Details: A Women's Rights Compliant
Sharia Court
Date: 20 March 2020 Time: 6:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

About the Project:

In Kenya, MPV have partnered with AMWAN, a sharia law expert and
the Kadhi Court in developing a women's rights compliant form of
interpreting religious laws that give women their rights in
marriage, divorce, and inheritance. This panel will share our
form of work toward this end which includes advocating for women
kadhi (judges), and training within the judicial system and most
importantly the womenfolk. This initiative is funded with the
support of the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands.

To register, please RSVP on the Eventbrite page ( [link removed] ) and an event link will be forwarded to you in advance of the
event.

March 23: Equality in Family Law: Committing to Reform organized
by Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law an umbrella
organization made up of Act Church of Sweden, CLADEM, Equality
Now, Musawah, Muslims for Progressive Values, SOAWR represented
by FEMNET, Women’s Learning Partnership, and UN Women.

This side event is co-organized by the U.N. Missions of Sweden
and Maldives in New York.

Date: 23 March 2020 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

To learn more about CSW65 Parallel Events, visit NGO CSW65
Parallel Event Schedule ( [link removed] ).

National Updates

February 24, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. PST: SB Events Co and MPV are
coming together to bring interfaith couples an informational
session to help you while you plan for your wedding now or in the
future. We want to make this a safe space for all.

MPV provides nikah/officiant services and their specialty is that
of interfaith wedding services that is Islamicly compliant and
inclusive of non-Muslim traditions. Over the years they have
conducted hundreds of wedding services particularly between
Muslim woman and non-Muslim men. Their services include
consultation, a custom marriage ceremony, a personalized contract
(nikah), and a beautifully designed marriage certificate.

Click here ( [link removed] ) to register.

Chapter Updates

MPV-LA

February 20, 10 am to 12 pm PST: Every month, MPV-LA organizes a
progressive discussion of the Quran where grammar, historical and
social contexts are included as part of the critical readings. As
a result of the virtual nature of these sessions, our audience
have grown to include attendees beyond our LA community to those
in the U.K., Jordan, Bosnia, and Turkey.

The Quran is the central text of Muslim religious tradition and
deeply poetic and beautiful. Yet it has been and continues to be
used to justify oppression like misogyny and violence.
Approaching the text can be difficult, but it's crucial for us to
reclaim our heritage by exploring contextualist/progressive
approaches to the text. Everyone's welcome -- no level of
familiarity or knowledge of Arabic required. This time, we'll be
reading from Surah Talaq (65, Divorce) ( [link removed] ).
To RSVP please visit our Meetup ( [link removed] ) site.

MPV-Boston

February 7, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. (EST) MPV-Boston will host their
first event of the year: MPV Art Night. This is a virtual event
to learn how to make different shapes of Mandalas by a
progressive Muslim women artist, Nadia Khan. This event is to
embrace the Islamic art in a modern way by showing our
appreciation for art which is often neglected in traditional
Muslim communities. Please register using this link ( [link removed] ).

MPV-Boston wrapped up the year 2020 with 15 incredible programs.
In January 2021, MPV-Boston will restructure the chapter board.
If you are interested in joining our chapter board, email us for
more details ( [link removed] ).

MPV-San Francisco Bay

MPV-San Francisco Bay had its recent January meeting with an
overview and discussion of Islam in Pakistan and South Asia which
attracted a new mix of participants.

February 21, 2020, 11:00 a.m. - 1 p.m. PST: MPV-San Francisco Bay
will hold its next 3rd Sunday meeting. We will discuss secularism
in its different forms and historical and social contexts.
Announcements and links will be made soon on our Facebook page ( [link removed] ) and Meetup group ( [link removed] ).

In This Issue:
* President's Greeting
* U.N. Updates
* National Updates
* Chapter Updates

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