“You can pray in your garage…”

So said Imam Zaid Shakir at last nights fundrasier for Illume Magazine, encouraging people to donate generously to ensure that Javed Ali can continue to produce this independent Muslim magazine. His point was that many people, including a lot of those sitting in the Chandni banquet hall last night, donate a lot for masjids. However, Imam Zaid said, one can pray anywhere, from one’s garage to the parking lot outside. “No one can tell a people’s story like the people themselves,” he said, emphasizing the need for Illume magazine.

The night was filled with speakers – Shahed Amanullah, Souheila Al-Jadda, Hatem Bazian, and Imam Zaid – who all spoke along a similar theme: the importance of media and why Muslims need to have their own outlet. In his introduction to the fundraiser, Amanullah, journalist and editor of AltMuslim.com, spoke about how it is necessary to take Muslim media out of just the volunteer arena and that we need multiple institutions to create a “vibrant, Muslim media.” He also mentioned that some stories only made it to the mainstream media after a Muslim outlet broke the news first. Al-Jadda , journalist and producer at LinkTV, talked about her start in journalism and the necessity of getting stories out to news sources. After talking about how 90% of the worldwide media is owned by 4 corporations, Bazian reiterated the need for Illume and said that “History comes from the bottom up,” which is why we should all support Javed Ali and Illume.

The night went well and the crowd gained a better understanding of the importance of Illume and the ability for it to be a viable platform for Muslims. The fact that Ali has already produced 10 stellar issues of Illume leads to his credibility to achieve the goals laid out for the magazine, which include hiring Muslim and non Muslim interns and hosting media workshops (the latter in conjunction with the SBIA Media Committee).

Javed and comedian Preacher Moss, who closed out the night, at the first Illume Media Banquet and Fundraiser:

InshAllah may Illume become successful and provide the Muslim community with a voice to rival the mainstream media.