#MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast Podcast Por American Muslim Community Foundation arte de portada

#MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast

#MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast

De: American Muslim Community Foundation
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Founded in 2016, American Muslim Community Foundation is a grassroots, national nonprofit organization in the United States. Our focus is on creating Donor Advised Funds, Giving Circles, distributing grants, & building endowments for the American Muslim community.Alll Rights Reserved Ciencias Sociales Economía Espiritualidad Gestión Gestión y Liderazgo Islam
Episodios
  • #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast – From Fort Pierce to Congress: CAIR Florida on Civil Rights, Community Defense, and What It Means to Show Up

    #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast – From Fort Pierce to Congress: CAIR Florida on Civil Rights, Community Defense, and What It Means to Show Up
    Apr 14 2026
    When a mosque burns down, when a 16-year-old American is imprisoned overseas, when a Muslim family is killed by a drunk driver and the father is in Dubai — who shows up? In Florida, more often than not, it’s CAIR Florida. On a recent episode of the #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast, AMCF co-founder Muhi Khwaja sat down with the CAIR Florida team: Hiba Rahim, Executive Director; Megan Amer, Policy Director; and Wilfredo Ruiz, Communications Director. What unfolded was a wide-ranging conversation about what it actually takes to defend a community — legally, politically, and on the ground — in one of the most challenging civil rights environments in the country. Three People, Three Paths to the Same Work The most striking thing about this conversation is how differently each of these three leaders arrived at CAIR Florida — and how clearly their paths reflect the breadth of what the organization does. Wilfredo Ruiz was born in Puerto Rico, raised in the Catholic church, served as a Navy defense attorney representing Marines and sailors in court martials, and embraced Islam in 2003 after pulling over outside a mosque in San Juan and walking in. He pursued a master’s degree in Christian-Muslim relations at Hartford Seminary, served as one of only four Muslim chaplains in the entire U.S. Navy fleet, and worked in immigration detention center chaplaincy before landing at CAIR Florida — where he has now served for 15 years. Hiba Rahim grew up partly in Panama City, Florida — deep in the Panhandle, what she calls “LA: Lower Alabama” — in one of the first Islamic schools in the United States, where civic responsibility was embedded into the curriculum alongside Quran and Islamic principles. She was on track for a PhD in psychology when 9/11 happened, and she found herself doing community outreach and interfaith presentations with police departments, the FBI, and church groups instead. She never looked back. She has been with CAIR, non-consecutively, since 2015. Megan Amer is Catholic. Her husband is Muslim. Her kids go to an Islamic school. She has a master’s from George Washington University, worked at the Department of State on nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and then moved to police reform through the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement bureau. She moved to Florida five years ago, and after October 7th and the security lockdowns at her children’s school, she realized she needed to do something. She started organizing. She joined CAIR Florida officially, and hasn’t stopped. “We were lucky to have Hiba and Megan on our team,” Wilfredo said. What CAIR Florida Actually Does — and Why It’s Different CAIR Florida was founded at the end of September 2001, weeks after 9/11, by a group of Florida Muslims who saw what was coming and organized before it arrived. In nearly 25 years of operation, the chapter has built a three-part structure that Hiba describes as genuinely unique in the state. The Programs Department works within the systems of society — hospitals, media, police departments, schools — educating the public on Islam and Muslims to foster mutual respect and understanding, while also educating and empowering Muslim community members directly. The Policy Department, led by Megan, does the proactive advocacy work — promoting legislation favorable to Muslim and minority communities, opposing harmful bills and resolutions, getting out the vote, and building the political infrastructure that prevents crises before they require emergency response. The Legal Department handles civil rights defense in the trenches — representing Muslim victims of discrimination from advocacy all the way to the courtroom, often in cases that no other organization in the state is equipped to handle. “There is no other organization that does for the community and within the community what CAIR Florida does,” Hiba said. “There are so many amazing organizations that do relief work — feed the hungry, take care of orphans, shelter women. All of that is incredibly valuable. But there is a very different type of work where you plan for the protection of a community — whether they’re Muslim or not.” The Fort Pierce Mosque Arson: Where CAIR Florida Was Tested Wilfredo walked through one of the most pivotal moments in CAIR Florida’s history: the arson attack on a mosque in Fort Pierce in 2007. It was a small community — Friday prayers drew forty or fifty people. The imam was on Hajj. His sons were the ones at the mosque when it happened. Within hours, more than a dozen news trucks were parked outside with satellite antennas transmitting nationally and internationally. The FBI descended — not just to investigate the arson, but, as Wilfredo put it, to “expand their investigations beyond what happened that day.” The community, as victims, found itself needing legal representation not against the arsonist but against government overreach. CAIR Florida was there: handling...
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    51 m
  • #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast with Oussama Mezoui

    #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast with Oussama Mezoui
    Apr 12 2026

    Muhi Khwaja interviewed Oussama Mezoui, a nonprofit consultant and expert, for the Muslim Philanthropy podcast. Oussama shared his journey from growing up as a refugee in London to his career in nonprofit leadership, particularly in Muslim-led organizations. They discussed the challenges and opportunities in nonprofit work, including the importance of mentorship, professional development, and addressing “founder syndrome” in organizations. Oussama emphasized the critical need for better governance, talent development, and board leadership in Muslim nonprofit institutions. He also highlighted the importance of donors supporting these organizations and encouraged community members to get involved through volunteering or board service. The conversation covered Oussama’s current work as a consultant and his recent decision to take a more public role in advocating for stronger practices in the Muslim nonprofit sector.

    Listen to the Full Episode


    The full conversation with Oussama Mezoui is available on the #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast.
    Listen to the #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast

    Learn more about AMCF

    The post #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast with Oussama Mezoui appeared first on American Muslim Community Foundation.
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    1 h y 1 m
  • #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast with Zain Shamoon

    #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast with Zain Shamoon
    Apr 2 2026
    Poetry Was My First Therapist: Zain Shamoon on Muslim Mental Health, Narratives of Pain, and Showing Up for Your Community There is a version of mental health advocacy that stays safely abstract — statistics, awareness campaigns, the occasional social media post reminding people that therapy exists. And then there is the version that Zain Shamoon has been living for the past two decades: showing up in community, creating spaces where people can be witnessed, and insisting that healing was never supposed to happen in isolation. In a recent episode of the #MuslimPhilanthropy Podcast, AMCF co-founder Muhi Khwaja reconnected with a longtime friend: Zain Shamoon — marriage and family therapist, spoken word artist, co-founder of Narratives of Pain, and a core member of the Institute for Muslim Mental Health. What followed was one of the most honest conversations the podcast has hosted — about stigma, identity, art as healing, and what it actually means to show up for people who are struggling. Growing Up in a Family That Talked About the Things Nobody Talked About Zain grew up in Southeast Michigan, the son of a South Asian man who was, as he put it, “very uniquely” a manager of social services — a role that was rare in the community at the time. While his peers were navigating the ordinary silences of suburban Muslim life, Zain’s household was already talking about divorce, housing, substance use, and mental health. Not because it was comfortable, but because it was necessary. “You don’t even know you’re witnessing it because you’re just a kid playing,” he said. “But that became language. How do you remove people’s barriers?” His brother became a doctor. His sister, a social worker. And Zain became a marriage and family therapist — each of them, in their own way, continuing what their parents modeled. But before any of that, there was poetry. Growing up as a tokenized minority in what he described as a very “Mitt Romney-ish” suburb, Zain found that the mental health system wasn’t built for him. The therapists he encountered didn’t want to talk about his culture or his religion — or worse, they saw those things as impediments rather than sources of meaning. So he found something else. “My first mental health therapist that was culturally sensitive — and I want to emphasize the first that was culturally sensitive — was poetry.” That line landed like a thesis statement for everything that came after. The Private Struggle Behind the Public Performer Zain was a performer long before he was a therapist — doing shows across the Midwest, appearing at conferences and colleges. From the outside, he was thriving. Inside, he was fighting. He opened up about living with intense OCD symptoms, depression, and isolation during his early years. “You can be alone in a crowd of people you don’t feel you trust,” he said. “And so I struggled with that.” It was his sister who finally gave him permission to stop chasing a path that didn’t fit — telling him to take whatever classes he wanted instead of following peers into pre-med or law school. He discovered theater, human development, family therapy coursework. Things came naturally. A personal renaissance began. It was also around this time that he found a therapist willing to actually engage with his culture and religion — and the difference, he said, was everything. “We know that the biggest part of therapy that generates positive outcomes is a strong therapeutic alliance. And you can’t do that without broaching people’s cultural and religious backgrounds.” He says the problem hasn’t gone away. In 2026, too many Muslim clients still arrive at therapy and find providers whose cultural sensitivity is performative at best — anxious about getting it wrong, overcompensating, or simply avoiding the conversation. “It’s not the fault of the client who’s just trying to have a better life.” The Institute for Muslim Mental Health: For the Community, and for the Professionals In graduate school, Zain was drawn into the orbit of Dr. Hamada Talib and Dr. Abbasi — two figures who were quietly building what would become the Institute for Muslim Mental Health. He was twenty years old and already in the room. The Institute, which traces its roots to the Journal of Muslim Mental Health founded in 2006, operates on two parallel tracks. The first is community education — programs on ADHD, depression, domestic violence, autism, suicide prevention, and grief, designed for any Muslim who wants to understand these issues better. No professional credentials required. The second track is professional development for Muslim mental health practitioners themselves — the social workers, counselors, therapists, and psychiatrists who often find themselves isolated in their fields, waiting for an annual conference to feel like they’re not alone in caring about this work. The Institute has been building the ...
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    29 m
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