Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,
A couple of updates:
Ummah Films Movie: A found a great director in Toronto to Direct our next short film. About two weeks ago, I did a show with
Boonaa Muhammad and was so impressed by his work, I asked him to come on board and he accepted. Being that he's in Toronto, it works out really well. I met a sister in Ottawa who does editing and she said she wants in so I forwarded her info to the Director and inshAllah they are going to coordinate. As far as casting, Toronto has plenty of talent so we're all good in that dept. The script is almost as in its final draft and we're hoping that pre-production starts next month inshAllah.
Half Our Deen: The project is moving along smoothly. We just got an update the from our programmers and everything is on schedule to launch in June inshAllah.
Kalimaat Video Contest: We have 10 submissions so far (
view) and less than 10 days left for submissions. One of these videos is winning $1,000 and that decision is up to the jury...which is you, the viewer.
Ali Standup: I'm still performing basically every weekend. My schedule has been crazy thus far. Check out from Feb till May, I'm living in airports like every weekend....
# Feb 19th Raleigh, NC
# Feb 20th Grand Rapids, MI
# Feb 26th Chicago, IL
# Mar 6th Glendale, CA
# Mar 13th Memphis, TN
# Mar 20th Durham, NC
# Mar 26th Boston, MA
# Mar 27th event link Ottawa, ON
# Apr 4th Phoenix, AZ
# Apr 6th Pennsylvania, PA
# Apr 10th San Diego, CA
# Apr 17th (not available)
# Apr 24th Dallas, TX
# May 1st Stony Brook, NY
# May 2nd Mohegan Lake, NY
# May 7th Little Rock, AR
# May 8th Tulsa, OK
Alhamdulillah as much as I enjoy doing live events and meeting new bros/sis, its makes it almost impossible to make reminder videos. I work during the week and am Baba Ali on the weekend so things can get really busy. Then again, the experience has been amazing Alhamdulillah and the opportunity to see what different communities have been doing has been really interesting.
Recently, I was notified of what the Community in Melbourne were up to and they built an awesome center (far more sophsicated than most of the youth centers I have seen). Then again, its Australia and the communities there are really ahead of the game. When I did the Australia tour, I had to do two shows in Melbourne back to back because they show quickly sold out. I miss Australia...I would a great tour and the communities were amazing.
Here is some more info about the center:
The Hume Islamic Youth Center or HIYC is a first of its kind in the region. The surrounding suburbs boast the largest Muslim population in Victoria.
InshAllah, with the opening of this Youth Center, we are able to engage and educate a key and emerging demographic, the Youth.
- On the weekend of the 9, 10 and 11 of April,
Launch and Grand opening of our Youth Center with a jam packed schedule consisting of fun and educational activities, talks by local and inter-state speakers, famous Muslim personalities, multi-media presentations, entertaining sketches, food and lots more…*Attached flyer has more information
Below is a ‘snapshot’ of the programs and facilities offered at the center.
- Learning and Education
o Quran (beginners, intermediate and memorization) – for all ages groups
o Homework clubs – For Primary and High School students
o Drug education – preventative
o Calligraphy
o Islamic Bookshop and Multimedia
o Kids activity days
o Specific Ladies only Islamic classes
- Sports and Recreational
o Billiards/Snooker
o Table Tennis
o Mixed Martial Arts
o Taekwondo
o Aikido
o Boxing
o Mini Gym
o Movie/Documentary screenings
- Others
o Full time Café with Lounge area
o Separate function hall that can cater for up to 200 people (has projector screen)
o 5 daily prayers and Friday Sermon
