Chaplain Mohammed M Abdelaal
Mohammed M Abdelaal
Mohammed earned his CAD certificate in 2001 from the Boston Architectural College with his award wining thesis project “Prayer as a Generator or Architecture in Islam,” exploring the connection between the Muslim five daily ritual prayers and architecture.
Mohammed’s interest in Islam and its principles has led him in 2004 to become a co-founder and former president of Hampshire mosque in Amherst.
From 2006-2010 he served as the director of religious affairs and chaplain of the mosque, leading services and weekly talks on Islam for local Muslims.
Sermon on Koran prayers – 9:5, 9:12, and 8:72
Mohammed has also been deeply involved in interfaith activities. For the past 10 years, he has had the opportunity to speak on Islam to congregations at community gatherings, temples, synagogues, churches, high schools, and college campuses.
He has appeared on radio and TV news interviews, including ABC, the Boston channel and NPR, Western New England, and has been featured in local newspapers such as the Hampshire Gazette and the Amherst Bulletin.
Mohammed is currently serving as a Religious Advisor for Muslim students at Amherst College .
Position: Advisor to Muslim Student Association
Office Hours: Wednesday, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Schwemm Coffee House and by appointment
Cadigan Center for Religious Life, 38 Woodside Ave., Amherst, MA 01002
Phone: (617) 953-2805
NEW TRANSGENDER POLICY
Mr. and Mrs. Abdelaal on Mt Holyoke College’s new transgender policy.
Mr. and Mrs. Abdelaal are proud to support the new trans policy at Mt. Holyoke College.
Mount Holyoke College – redefines womanhood – Mt. Holyoke Muslim Chaplain Mrs. Elizaveta Lozovaya/Abdelaal. FULL VIDEO – bottom of page
” the new transgender policy does not contradict our world view. We believe that we are in the world that needs more human understanding AND more human bond and creating those spaces and communities where we can be ourselves and where we can feel where we are among other human beings BECAUSE at times I feel so rushed I feel so stressed I feel so misunderstood just because there is no time to talk to people, there is no time to ask and answer questions … “
Mr. and Mrs. Mohammed Abdelaal
Chaplains Mohammed Abdelaal and Liza Lozovaya
NOTES AND QUOTES
‘I feel that I’m very proud of this girl [Jill Caroll] that graduated from UMass,’ said Mohammed Abdelaal, a university graduate from Egypt who now works in the facilities and campus planning department.
‘It’s very important for any Islamic organization to have an imam to lead prayers and give a Friday speech and respond to the needs of the community,’ said Abdelaal. ‘Since Hampshire mosque is a young organization, now we don’t have a full-time imam, but eventually we will work on that.’
“Mohammed Abdelaal, with his design for an Islamic Awareness Center for Boston, was the most successful at boiling his theoretical concerns away. He began his research by considering how Islam should inform architecture in a more intimate, organic way than simply serving as a paradigmatic historical style. This initially led him down various abstruse alleys of inquiry but, in the end, he contented himself with a parallel between the “fixed and flexible” aspect of praying and the fixed and flexible requirements of an architect’s design brief. This, together with his conviction that Islam requires a building to be professionally competent, left him free to let his architectural imagination take over completely. And, hence, he arguably came up with the most successful piece of architecture, with its great semi-circular sweep of a façade punctured, punctuated by a rhythm of beam endings.”
Mohammed Abdelaal earned his CAD certificate with his award winning thesis just months after 9/11
Understanding the Needs of Muslim Students: A Conversation with Mohammed Abdelaal
Facilitated by the Rev. Paul Sorrentino, Director of Religious Life, Amherst College
Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:00 -10:30 AM Cadigan Center for Religious Life
Please join us for a discussion that will focus on helping all of us to develop a broader understanding of five college Muslim students.
Mohammed Abdelaal, Co-Founder and Chaplain of the Hampshire Mosque, also serves as Adjunct Religious Advisor to Muslim Students at Amherst College.
He is a CAD Designer for the Facilities and Campus Planning Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“a great semi-circular sweep of a facade punctured, punctuated by a rhythm of beam endings.”
Chaplain Liza speaks at 6:41
I was surprised to learn that Prophet Mohammed himself enjoyed wearing the garments of his pre-teen wife, and revelations from Al’lah came to him best in that way.
“Do not annoy me regarding ‘A’isha, for inspiration has not come to me when I was in any WOMAN’S GARMENT but ‘A’isha’s.” Bukhari – 2442
