8810 Hickory Ridge Road, Harrisburg, NC 28075
A group of Muslim Scholars from North African and Near East countries visited Charlotte Islamic Academy on May 8, 2017.
These visitors are invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Their program is arranged by the Institute of International Education.
The Department of State has outlined the following specific objectives for the project:
- Review the moral and philosophical basis of religious life in the U.S., the historic origins of religious freedom, and how immigration has impacted religious life in America;
- Explore the role of religious leaders in the community and their cooperative efforts with leaders of other religious traditions;
- Examine the impact of religion on political life in the U.S. and the reasoning for separation of religion and state; and
- Visit religious based primary/secondary schools and universities to meet with students, teachers, professors and faith‑based groups.
The group included the following scholars:
| Algeria | Mr. Youcef HAFSI Director Cooperation and Legal Studies Ministry of Religious Affairs and Wakfs |
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| Chad | Mr. Mahamat HAMAT ABDRAMAN Vice President Association for Dialogue between Youth of Diverse Religions Commission on Islamic Affairs |
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| Egypt | Mr. Sheikh Khaled Mahmoud Ali HEMAYA Imam Sultan Hassan Masjid |
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| Iraq | Mr. Ahmed Abdulqader Abdullah AL ANI Assistant Teacher University College of Imam AdhamMr. Naseer Kareem Kadhim AL SAEDI University Teacher University College of Imam KadhimMr. Hazim Fahim Jaber NASSAR Teacher Al Hawaza of Najaf (Religious Classical School) |
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| Mauritania | Mr. Sidi El Moctar Derdery MAATA Member Religious High Council |
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| Morocco | Mr. Hicham EL HLIMI Imam Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs |
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| Palestinian Territories | Mr. Muath SHARIDA Chief Editor and News Presenter Palestine TV |
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| Saudi Arabia | Mr. Abdulrahman Abdullah A BATWA Imam Bugshan Mosque |
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The group was welcomed by the Principal, Br. Azim Beg and Shaikh Bassam Obeid, the Head of the Islamic Studies Program at the Charlotte Islamic Studies. The visitors were highly impressed by the school’s program of studies, including the QAIS (Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies). As most of the visitors were fluent in Arabic, Shaikh Bassam led the discussions (without assistance of Interpreters provided by the US State Department). They were keen to know how we are able to accommodate extra load of religious education in our daily schedule in addition to providing the teaching of core curriculum mandated by the Federal and State Departments of Education.
The discussion followed the visit to our classrooms in order to observe the learning activities going on in various levels of our school, i.e. Elementary, Middle, and High School. They were delighted to meet students from different ethnic and national backgrounds.