Muneer Fareed

Education

• Ph.D. Islamic Studies, University of Michigan, U.S.A.
• M.A. Religion: University of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan
• B.Th. and Islamic Law: D~r al-`Ulãm Seminary, Deoband, India
• Diploma: Arabic Language and Literature, King Abdul `Aziz University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Appointments

Secretary General, ISNA (2006 to present)

Responsibilities 

General

· Responsible for all administrative operations of ISNA

· Responsible for the operation of appropriate projects and development activities.

Human Resources

· Maintain an effective personnel system to support the hire, promotion, and professional development of all employees.

· Develop and implement a formal personnel accountability structure

· Establish and maintain personnel assessment programs.

· Maintain a systematic wage and salary plan

· Ensure that all policies and procedures are in accord with federal, state, and local government requirements

 Finances

· Ensure the financial integrity of the institution

· Ensure that all financial transactions are conducted in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards (GAAP), prudent judgment and within the framework of the requirements of local, state and federal laws

· Oversee an annual financial audit.

· Formulate work plans and budget recommendations for annual approval by the Executive Council.

· Strategic Planning

· Periodically assess Secretariat activities, organizational structure and staffing

· Review and update all short and long term strategic plans aimed at achieving the mission and goals of ISNA

Fundraising

· Oversee all fundraising activities, identify resource requirements, research funding sources, and establish strategies for donor management.

Public Representation

• Develop effective national and global networks in accordance with the policies of the Executive Council

· Ensure that public relations are well organized, and conducted in a cost effective manner

· Represent ISNA at public, civic and other organizational activities and meetings, as appropriate

· Serve as representative of the Executive Council in all matters, except where otherwise authorized by the Executive Council.

Academic

Associate Professor

• Near Eastern and Asian Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202. Taught classes in Classical Arabic literature, Middle Eastern civilization, Muslim Personal law, Islam and the West, and World religions. As Graduate advisor, designed several new graduate level courses that have helped increase enrolment.
• Center For International Studies, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48305. Taught survey classes in Middle Eastern Studies.

Religious Director,

• Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, Rochester Hills, Michigan: Imam and religious director responsible for academic and interfaith outreach programs of the Association

Principal

• As Salam Education College, Breamar, South Africa: Responsible for the administration of the college, and the coordination of the Arabic and Islamic studies program.

Senior Lecturer

• Dar al `Ulum, Newcastle, South Africa: Taught Islamic legal philosophy (Usul al-Fiqh), Islamic Law (al-Fiqh wa al-Fiqh al-Muqaran), Qur=anic exegesis (`Ilm al-Tafsir wa `Ilm Usul al-Tafsir), Arabic rhetoric (Balaghah) and classical Arabic literature (Adab al-`Asr al-Islami wa al-`Asr al=Umawi wa al-`Asr al-`Abbasi)

Publications

Books

1996: Legal Reform in the Muslim World: Ijtihad and its Interpretation in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. (Bethesda, 1996)

Translations

2005: >L-Suyuti, >l-Itqan fi `Ulum >l-Qur`an Brill Publishers (under review) 3 vols.

2001: Abu `Amr b. Al-Salah, Muqaddima Ibn al-Salah wa Mahasin al-Istilah fi `Ilm Usul al-Hadith trans. E Winkel ed. M. Fareed. London: Garnet Publishers. 2005

2001: Ibn Kathir, Ismail, Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyyah trans. T. Le Gassick. ed. M. Fareed. London: Garnet Publishers. 1996. vol. ii, iii, and iv.

Articles in Refereed Journals and Encyclopedias

2006 AHanbalite Hermeneutics: Beyond Reason and Between Texts@ in Muslim World 2006 (Hartford, 2006) (under review)

2006 AQuranic Studies in South Asia: The Jew in South Asian Tafsir Literature@ in International Journal of Middle East Studies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

2005 ALaw: Modern Family Law: 1800-Present, United States@ in Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Culture (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2005)

2004 AAdhan@, AIjtihad@, AHalal@, ASalat@, and AWudu@. In Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Ed. Richard Martin (New York: Macmillan, 2004).

2004 AIjtihad and the Islamists@ Journal of the United States Institute for Peace (2004)

2001 AIn Defense of Taqlid: The `Ulama=s Response to Islamic Legal Reform@ Journal of Islamic Studies. University of Cape Town 21 (2001)

2001 AAgainst Ijtihad@ in The Muslim World vol.91. No. 3, Fall 2001

Papers Presented: Invited/Refereed

2008 “The Interpretation of Koran: Transformation of the hermeneutical process” University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.

“Islamic Law in the Secular Public Space” University of Florida, Gainesville

“Sunnis and Shiites: Towards a New Ecumenism” NYU, New York

2005 AApostolic Emulation as a source of Social Reformation in Islam@ Brown University, Rhode Island

2004 AIjtihad in Modern Times@ United States Institute of Peace. D.C.

2004 AThe Afterlife in Modern Theology@ Georgetown University, D.C.

2004 AThe Concept of the Divine in Muslim History@ Georgetown University

Funded Research

2003 AMuslim Women in the Greater Detroit Area@ WSU Omnibus Grant for Departmental Project

SERVICE

• Advisory Board: Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. (ISPU)

ISPU provides cutting-edge analysis and policy solutions through publications, public events, media commentary, and community research. Its multidisciplinary approach, in partnership with universities and other research institutes, serves to build understanding and create programs that effect lasting social change.

• Advisory Board: The Muslim Observer.
• Member: Fiqh Council of North America

The Fiqh Council of North America traces its origins back to the Religious Affairs Committee of the then Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada in the early 1960s. This Religious Affairs Committee evolved into the Fiqh Committee of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) after the founding of ISNA in 1980. As the needs of the Muslim community and the complexity of the issues they faced grew, the Fiqh Council was transformed into the Fiqh Council of North America in 1986.

• Advisory Board: Journal of Islamic Studies University of Cape Town.
• Senior Scholar: ALIM:

ALIM is dedicated to empowering Muslims through education. ALIM provides substantive knowledge in all relevant aspects of Islamic Sciences but goes beyond these basic building blocks and teaches critical thinking intertwined with the elements of true Muslim character as applied to these subjects. This leads to basic Islamic Literacy which allows for the development of empowered Muslims through meaningful discourse and true intellectual and spiritual development