ISLA Crisis Management Presenters: Dr. Samar Almajaideh, Research Manager & Chris Joffe, Joffe Emergency Services

Did You Catch Us?

The ISLA Team was on the road over Martin Luther King, Jr., weekend.

Our booth could be found at the ISNA West Ed Forum where ISLA passed out chocolates and “super teacher” stickers to many of the 150+ attendees at this year’s event. Held on a rare rainy afternoon in Southern California, participants had flown in from across the country and joined locals for a stimulating weekend event. Vendors in the hallway, three concurrent streams of workshops, luncheons, prayers, and Friday evening banquet, marked a busy weekend.

If you were there, you would have seen us passing out chocolates and “super teacher” stickers along with flyers for our Crisis Management Toolkit, Celebrating African & African-American Muslim History Contest, Membership, and our Islamic School Survey. Over 45 individuals signed up for our FREE IECN listserv over the course of the weekend.

In collaboration with Chris Joffe, Joffe Emergency Services, ISLA presented on “Crisis Management.” Dr. Samar Al-Majaideh discussed the Maqasid al-Shariah (the higher objective of Islamic law) by which effective response to crisis situations is highly valued in Islam, since it can potentially save lives. Chris Joffe led participants through several table-top exercises discussing appropriate responses as a potential crisis was unfolding. A key point Mr. Joffe made, was to make sure that the local authorities have the name and number on file for your school in the event of a potential crisis. Many schools are co-located with a masjed or Islamic center, and the school contact information may not be on file with the local police or fire department.

ISLA’s Crisis Management Toolkit was developed with a grant from IRUSA and has a wealth of resources, including the following which have been tailored for Islamic Schools: