Community

Endowed Chair at San Jose State University for the Study of Islam and Islamic Civilizations
By Javed Khan
Santa Clara, CA

Respected Sisters/Brothers: Asslamo-Alaikum :

By now many of you would have received the attached letter requesting your support for establishing an Islamic Studies Program at San Jose State University.

Your help is desperately needed to raise the remaining amount required to complete the initial funding of $1M. So far about $600k have been raised.

I strongly believe that if every “earning” member of our community donates at least $250 or more, we can easily meet the above target, Inshallah.

Also, those community members who can afford to donate $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 or more, please do so as well.

The strength and barakah lies in a smaller donation made by a large number of our community members, Inshallah.

That said, I would like to bring to your attention the following two points:

 There is a window of opportunity at SJSU for the Islamic Studies Program. The current President of SJSU, Dr Mohammad Qayoumi is leading this effort.

For some reason if he moves on, all this momentum would be lost.

 I sincerely believe that establishing an Islamic Studies Program at educational institutions like SJSU is the best form of Dawah for our beautiful/peaceful religion.

For example, a lot of school teachers attend institutions like SJSU for their certifications. Just imagine how many more people they can influence if they get exposed to a positive image of Islam and its contributions to the world civilization.

The checks/CC payments need to be made to “Sterling Charitable Gift Fund” where all the money is parked until the $1M target is met. Then it will be released to SJSU as certain milestones are met.

Your donations to SCGF are Tax Deductible: Tax ID 54-1978669.

May Allah (SWT) bless you and your families for supporting this very worthwhile cause not only for the present but future generations of American Muslims.

(The author is Chairperson, SJSU Islamic Studies Program Fundraising Committee. Tele: 408- 836-1121)

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