The Shia Muslim Council of Southern California (SMC) is an independent umbrella organization comprising of various Shia Muslim centers, mosques, and organizations in southern California. Please see the following letter by the SMC President, Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
September 19, 2014
Launch of the Shia Muslim Council of Southern California
Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
The Shia Muslim community in the United States has witnessed a rapid increase in its size and proportion within the past few decades. In the southern California region alone, there are now 22 Shia Islamic centers, mosques, and organizations. These organizations represent the wide spectrum of various Shia Muslim communities in terms of background, nationality, language, ethnicity, and outlooks. Such a rapid growth of the Shia Muslim community in southern California, coupled with an urgent the need for organization, cooperation, and representation, prompted a number of dedicated southern California Shia Muslim community leaders and members to come together and – after two years of continuous meetings and discussions – collectively form a independent non-profit umbrella organization, the Shia Muslim Council of Southern California (SMC).
The primary objective of SMC is to provide members with a platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences, to enhance and support both individual and joint member religious, social, and educational initiatives, and to cooperate regarding a vast array of issues pertaining to the promotion of the Shia Muslim community specifically, as well as to the general larger Muslim community in the region and nation. These objectives will be pursued in cooperation with SMC members, as well as other relevant Muslim and non-Muslim organizations.
Currently, SMC is composed of 17 member organizations, and on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, the following seven officers were elected by the members to serve on the Board of SMC:
- Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini (Islamic Educational Center of OC) – President
- Dr. Hasnain Walji (Shia Ithnaashari Jamaat of LA) – Vice-President
- Hajj Khalil Dewji (Shia Ithnaashari Jamaat of LA) – Secretary
- Mr. Mehdi Hirji (Muslim Burial Organization of LA) – Treasurer
- Hajjah Fatma Saleh (Islamic Educational Center of OC) – Councilor
- Dr. Sayed Ridha Hajjar (Ahlulbayt Mosque) – Councilor
- Br. Asghar Rizvi (Zainabia) – Councilor
SMC encourages other Shia Muslim organizations and centers to join this council in order for the entire southern California Shia community to benefit from the collective insights, support, and cooperation of its members. It is only when we are able to come together as various communities and to work together that we will be able to overcome the various challenges that we face and help one another, as well as our collective communities, families, and children to prosper.
Finally, we pray to the Most Merciful Lord to grant us wisdom, sincerity, and the capacity to join together and do what that which is pleasing to Him, and what is best for Islam, the Ahlulbayt, and the Shia and larger Muslim community.
Wassalaamu alaikum warahmatullah,
Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini
President, Shia Muslim Council of Southern California
