December 14, 2005

 During its fifth annual convention on Saturday, December 17, the Muslim Public Affairs Council will launch two exciting new publications -- the Muslim Public Affairs Journal and a book entitled "In Pursuit of Justice: The Jurisprudence of Human Rights in Islam."

"The quarterly journal's mission is to engage American Muslims and the American Muslim perspective in public policy, political and moral debates that shape the interests, core values and identity of our society," said Dr. Muqtedar Khan, editor of the Muslim Public Affairs Journal and professor of Political Science at the University of Delaware.

The first issue includes articles written by prominent scholars and intellectuals. (Click here to view the Table of Contents and/or request a copy of the journal.)

Senior Advisor Dr. Maher Hathout will also announce the upcoming release of his new book, entitled "In Pursuit of Justice: The Jurisprudence of Human Rights in Islam." Written with Dr. Nayyer Ali, Dr. Gasser Hathout, and Uzma Jamil, the book is a 500-page examination of critical issues facing Muslim Americans, foremost among which is the ability to reconcile Islamic law with democratic principles.

"The thesis of this book is that Islamic extremism does not arise spontaneously, but rather must be deliberately cultivated through a distortion of Islamic law," said Dr. Maher Hathout. "This book comes at a critical time, when Muslims are engaged in a definitive struggle to understand their role within their religion and their nation."

These important new publications will be released during MPACs 5th annual convention on Saturday, December 17th, which will tackle the theme of "Examining Our Role in America." Among the pressing current issues to be discussed are the emergence of a religious and civic identity among American and European Muslims, the role of Muslims in addressing intra-religious conflict, and the position of Western Muslims within the international Muslim community. For more information and to view the full program, go to: archive.mpac.org/convention.

To date, other confirmed speakers include: Parvez Ahmed, Salam Al-Marayati, Mockbul Ali, Reza Aslan, Dr. Maher Hathout, Zahir Janmohamed, Muqtedar Khan, Waqqas Khan, Farhana Khera, Edina Lekovic, Dr. Sulayman Nyang, Naheed Qureshi, Dr. Tariq Ramadan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alina Romanowski, Sireen Sawaf, Ambassador Joe Wilson, and Ahmed Younis.

Adult tickets are available for $35/convention, $35/banquet or $50/both. Student tickets are available for $15/convention, $15/banquet or $25/both. Purchase your tickets online at archive.mpac.org/convention by Friday, December 16th, and you could win a 4GB Apple iPod Nano. Discounted rates at the Hyatt Long Beach Hotel are also available for convention attendees (mention MPAC when booking to qualify for $99/night room rate).