Muslims for Progressive Values is excited to bring to our community the Progressive Islam Curriculum Live Workshop with Kendra Cordova, educator, MPV Board Member, and the brilliant mind behind our Youtube Series, MPV with Kendra. 

The second workshop in this online series will cover the first part of Unit 2 of the Progressive Islam Curriculum, Foundations and Practices of Progressive Islam, to introduce attendees to a concise and clear description of the term Progressive Islam and the values and beliefs associated with this term and the movement it is associated with. In this workshop, participants will learn about the various ways of defining Progressive Islam before understanding the historical roots of the movement on which Muslims for Progressive Values bases so much of its advocacy work. 

MPV's Progressive Islam Curriculum Live Workshop

Date: Saturday April 5, 2025 

Time: 7:00 PM PT | 9:00 PM CT | 10:00 PM ET

Registration Fee: $15 donation to Muslims for Progressive Values' Public Education Fund to compensate our educator with the benefit of an interactive question and answer session.*

*48 hours before the first live workshop begins, you'll receive an email from Kendra with the Zoom link to join the live workshop.

About the Registration Fee:

We want our educational resources to be as accessible as possible but we also believe in compensating our educators and the people who make these educational programs possible. If you would like to attend but cannot afford the $15 donation to MPV, please reach out to us at info@mpvusa.org.

If you have the ability to and would like to sponsor an individual's attendance for the workshop, please make a donation of $30 and add a note to your donation signaling that you are sponsoring a community member's registration fee.

About the Educator:

Kendra Cordova (they/them) is a revert Muslim. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing and their background includes advanced language and composition, storytelling, literary analysis, world literature, and training as a spiritual life coach. 

Kendra was raised with a strict religious education within the Catholic Church, but didn't feel that the teachings reflected their belief in God's compassion and love. They went on to spend time studying world religions and spent years with New Age movements. These teachings were full of healing and compassion, but were still missing an important aspect: the Oneness of God.

In 2019 Kendra was diagnosed with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, and felt drawn to study Islam. After reading the Quran and a few years of study, they knew they had found the truth in Islam and converted at the end of 2021.

As a queer person (nonbinary asexual panromantic), and the mother of two special needs children, Kendra has been inspired by the beauty of the Quran and the core Islamic principles including social justice, fostering a personal relationship with God, and the celebration of diversity in God's creation. They have incorporated Islam into their creative life as well, writing sufi poetry and including Islamic imagery in their paintings which have been featured in juries exhibitions in the U.S.

As a host for MPV, Kendra hopes to share the progressive message of Islam and help Muslims who have often felt marginalized in the community to feel seen, heard, and loved through sharing Islamic stories, analyzing scholarly research, and encouraging viewers to share their stories, too.

You can contact Kendra at mpvwithkendra@gmail.com

Join MPV DC on Sunday March 30, 2025 from 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM for an Eid Potluck Celebration. RSVP below to confirm your attendance and receive more details about the event!

Join MPV Boston at the Community Church of Boston on March 30 for an Eid Prayer and Social from 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM EST.

Join MPV DC for an iftar at the Diaynet Center of American on March 29 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. To confirm your attendance please RSVP at the link below!

Please join MPV DC on Friday March 28 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at the Diaynet Center of America for a community iftar. RSVP below to confirm your attendance

Salaam everyone and Ramadan Kareem.

Please join us for a potluck Iftar. We have a comfortable space at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Berkeley. We will gather, set up and socialize a bit at 6:45 and then break fast, pray Maghreb and share Iftar together. We will end with Isha, a khutba, and a go-round of thanks and intentions. All are welcome. Bring friends or family.

Here is a doc for the signup sheet for food to bring:
https://bit.ly/4i7zSzg

If you can, bring your own plates and utensils. We will have disposables available to supplement.
We will be in the Fireside Room. Use the front entrance and walk out the glass doors to the terrace. Enter the Fireside Room from the side door.

Join MPV DC on March 22 from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM for a community iftar in Maryland. For more details and to confirm your attendance, please RSVP at the link below.

Please join MPV LA for our third Community Iftar of Ramadan from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM PT on Saturday March 22. Please RSVP at the link below for more details.

Please join MPV LA and Iqra for a virtual Ramadan Qur’an Chat on Saturday March 22 at 9:30 AM PT and 12:30 PM ET.

About the IQRA group:

We gather virtually or in-person to discuss the Quran. The group aims to be an inclusive space to connect to, struggle with, and grow from the sacred and deeply lyrical text while exploring the gamut of possible interpretations (whether progressivist, shia, modernist, sunni, feminist, sufi, queer, or salafi). Core to this endeavor is a commitment to 1) recognizing the historic multiplicity of Muslim interpretation and 2) embracing the diversity of our own personal experiences and understandings. In this process, we will differ and disagree - it's only natural! Let's embrace that and grow from one another.

Ground rules:

Bring your whole selves into the conversation. Be respectful. Share air time so everyone has an opportunity to speak. There are no silly questions. Each of us are at different places of our spiritual journey and we look forward to supporting each other wherever we may be. No level of familiarity or knowledge of Arabic is required.

Join MPV DC for an iftar at the Diaynet Center of American on March 21 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. To confirm your attendance please RSVP at the link below!

MPV-Boston will be hosting their 8th Annual Iftar on March 15, 2025 at 6 PM at the Community Church of Boston. This event invites members, community partners, friends and families of liberal and progressive muslims in the greater Boston area. 

Please join MPV LA for our second Community Iftar of Ramadan  from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM PT on Saturday March 15. Please RSVP at the link below for more details.

Please join MPV LA and Iqra for a virtual Ramadan Qur’an Chat on Saturday March 15 at 9:30 AM PT and 12:30 PM ET.

About the IQRA group:

We gather virtually or in-person to discuss the Quran. The group aims to be an inclusive space to connect to, struggle with, and grow from the sacred and deeply lyrical text while exploring the gamut of possible interpretations (whether progressivist, shia, modernist, sunni, feminist, sufi, queer, or salafi). Core to this endeavor is a commitment to 1) recognizing the historic multiplicity of Muslim interpretation and 2) embracing the diversity of our own personal experiences and understandings. In this process, we will differ and disagree - it's only natural! Let's embrace that and grow from one another.

Ground rules:

Bring your whole selves into the conversation. Be respectful. Share air time so everyone has an opportunity to speak. There are no silly questions. Each of us are at different places of our spiritual journey and we look forward to supporting each other wherever we may be. No level of familiarity or knowledge of Arabic is required.

We’re excited to share with you that the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL) is hosting a side event titled ‘The Rise of ‘Family Values’ & Strategies for Rights-Based Family Law Reform’ at #CSW69 on 12th March 2025 at 8:30 am. The event will be held at the Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave, New York (see Google Maps here). 

We would like to invite you to kindly register here or RSVP via email. 

About the Event

Women and girls globally are affected by discriminatory family laws, policies, and practices, which consequently have multiple and intersecting impacts in all other areas of their lives. In the recent decade, there has been a stagnation of progress globally in the reform of unequal family laws. 

Speakers from national governments, global, regional and national women's rights organisations and UN agencies / Special Mechanisms will set the global context of anti-rights pushback including the instrumentalization and rise of 'family values' discourse and the impact on equality for women and girls within and outside the family. They will primarily discuss how family law reform and movement-building are key strategies to counter pushback and transnational mobilization by anti-rights groups. Speakers will also discuss why reforming family laws and practices must be prioritised by States and amplified and resourced by all actors working towards gender equality. 

This event hosted by the GCEFL, is co-sponsored by the Government of Zambia, the Government Offices of Sweden, UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, UN Women, CSO members of the GCEFL Coordinating Committee* and ACT Alliance. 

The Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law is led by a committee of 8 women’s rights, human rights and faith-based organisations: Equality Now, Musawah, Act Church of Sweden, UN Women, FEMNET, CLADEM, Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP). 

The NY chapters of MPV and HfHR are partnering to bring a screening of Ram Ke Naam, a documentary that critically examines the rise of Hindu nationalism and its impact on India’s secular fabric on March 11 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM. As this is during Ramadan, Iftaar will also be provided.

Partnering for Change: Working with Faith Leaders to Uphold Women and Girls' Rights

This side event, hosted by PaRD’s Gender Equality Workstream, will provide a collaborative forum for Governments, UN representatives, Faith-Based actors and Women’s Rights Organizations to explore best practices, challenges and opportunities in working with faith actors to advance Gender Equality.

Join us at Scandinavia House for a morning of action-oriented roundtable discussion. Now is the time to address the challenges and opportunities for faith actors’ engagement in this area for the years to come.

*Registered Attendees Only (names will be checked at the door)

The Gender Working Group of the Multi-Faith Advisory Council’s to the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development, the Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action (JISRA) project with partners Mensen met een Missie, the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, Tearfund and the Faith to Action Network, the Act Alliance and the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) are organizing a High-Level Multi-Faith Reception to mark 30 years since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+30). The Reception will be held on Monday March 10, 2025 at the Tzu Chi Foundation (229 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022) from 18:00 to 20:00.

If you are interested in attending, please fill in the below form by March 7th COB. For security purposes, all submissions will undergo a vetting process. Once verified by our partners, you will receive a confirmation email regarding your approved attendance

Join the MPV Chicago community for a virtual iftar on March 8, 2025 beginning at 5:45 PM. RSVP below to join!

Join MPV DC on March 8 from 5:45 PM - 8:45 PM for a community iftar in Maryland. For more details and to confirm your attendance, please RSVP at the link below.

Please join MPV LA and Iqra for a virtual Ramadan Qur’an Chat on Saturday March 8 at 9:30 AM PT and 12:30 PM ET.

About the IQRA group:

We gather virtually or in-person to discuss the Quran. The group aims to be an inclusive space to connect to, struggle with, and grow from the sacred and deeply lyrical text while exploring the gamut of possible interpretations (whether progressivist, shia, modernist, sunni, feminist, sufi, queer, or salafi). Core to this endeavor is a commitment to 1) recognizing the historic multiplicity of Muslim interpretation and 2) embracing the diversity of our own personal experiences and understandings. In this process, we will differ and disagree - it's only natural! Let's embrace that and grow from one another.

Ground rules:

Bring your whole selves into the conversation. Be respectful. Share air time so everyone has an opportunity to speak. There are no silly questions. Each of us are at different places of our spiritual journey and we look forward to supporting each other wherever we may be. No level of familiarity or knowledge of Arabic is required.

Muslims for Progressive Values is excited to bring to our community the Progressive Islam Curriculum Live Workshop with Kendra Cordova, educator, MPV Board Member, and the brilliant mind behind our Youtube Series, MPV with Kendra. 

The first workshop in the series will cover Unit 1 of the Progressive Islam Curriculum, "What is Islam?", which seeks to address the ever evolving answers to the question “What Is Islam?". Through participation in this workshop, participants will be taken through a journey from Pre-Islamic Arabia, to the introduction of Islam to the Arabs and the impact this had on one man’s life in particular, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The content of the unit also attempts to expand participants' understanding of what it means to follow an Islamic way of life, briefly covering the Five Pillars of Islam before expanding on 8 core Islamic values that are core to leading an Islamic way of life.

MPV's Progressive Islam Curriculum Live Workshop

Date: Saturday March 1, 2025 | 7:00 PM PT | 9:00 PM CT | 10:00 PM ET

Registration Fee: $15 donation to Muslims for Progressive Values' Public Education Fund to compensate our educator with the benefit of an interactive question and answer session.

About the Registration Fee:

We want our educational resources to be as accessible as possible but we also believe in compensating our educators and the people who make these educational programs possible. If you would like to attend but cannot afford the $15 donation to MPV, please reach out to us at info@mpvusa.org.

If you have the ability to and would like to sponsor an individual's attendance for the workshop, please make a donation of $30 and add a note to your donation signaling that you are sponsoring a community member's registration fee.

About the Educator:

Kendra Cordova (they/them) is a revert Muslim. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing and their background includes advanced language and composition, storytelling, literary analysis, world literature, and training as a spiritual life coach. 

Kendra was raised with a strict religious education within the Catholic Church, but didn't feel that the teachings reflected their belief in God's compassion and love. They went on to spend time studying world religions and spent years with New Age movements. These teachings were full of healing and compassion, but were still missing an important aspect: the Oneness of God.

In 2019 Kendra was diagnosed with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, and felt drawn to study Islam. After reading the Quran and a few years of study, they knew they had found the truth in Islam and converted at the end of 2021.

As a queer person (nonbinary asexual panromantic), and the mother of two special needs children, Kendra has been inspired by the beauty of the Quran and the core Islamic principles including social justice, fostering a personal relationship with God, and the celebration of diversity in God's creation. They have incorporated Islam into their creative life as well, writing sufi poetry and including Islamic imagery in their paintings which have been featured in juries exhibitions in the U.S.

As a host for MPV, Kendra hopes to share the progressive message of Islam and help Muslims who have often felt marginalized in the community to feel seen, heard, and loved through sharing Islamic stories, analyzing scholarly research, and encouraging viewers to share their stories, too.

You can contact Kendra at mpvwithkendra@gmail.com 

Please join MPV LA for our first Community Iftar of Ramadan with MPV’s Board of Directors at Ani’s house from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM PT on Saturday March 1. Please RSVP at the link below for more details.

Please join MPV LA and Iqra for a virtual Ramadan Qur’an Chat on Saturday March 1 at 9:30 AM PT and 12:30 PM ET.

About the IQRA group:

We gather virtually or in-person to discuss the Quran. The group aims to be an inclusive space to connect to, struggle with, and grow from the sacred and deeply lyrical text while exploring the gamut of possible interpretations (whether progressivist, shia, modernist, sunni, feminist, sufi, queer, or salafi). Core to this endeavor is a commitment to 1) recognizing the historic multiplicity of Muslim interpretation and 2) embracing the diversity of our own personal experiences and understandings. In this process, we will differ and disagree - it's only natural! Let's embrace that and grow from one another.

Ground rules:

Bring your whole selves into the conversation. Be respectful. Share air time so everyone has an opportunity to speak. There are no silly questions. Each of us are at different places of our spiritual journey and we look forward to supporting each other wherever we may be. No level of familiarity or knowledge of Arabic is required.

Please join MPV Chicago on Sunday, February 23 from 2:30 PM CT to 3:30 PM for a virtual community meet up! You can RSVP to receive the link to join below.

Salaam everyone!

Join us for a virtual gathering on a Saturday afternoon! Feel free to cozy up to the zoom call with some coffee or tea, and join us for a discussion. Because it is virtual, we hope we'll get to see members and new faces from across the greater Bay Area. Discussion topic TBA, stay tuned :)

See you then, Inshallah!

Muslims for Progressive Values is happy to announce the roll out of our Mental Health Counseling of LGBTQ+ Muslims Workshop. It is a culturally competent training program consisting of 8 modules for individuals who work in the formal and informal mental health sectors to compassionately and appropriately work with LGBTQ+ Muslims. The workshop modules center on culturally competent and compassionate care and will also feature situational case studies to help LGBTQIA+ Muslims come out, as well as best practices to address family dynamics.

By attending this course participants will gain a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ Muslim individuals, including within Muslim communities. They will develop culturally competent skills to support LGBTQ+ Muslims in reconciling their faith and sexuality through the lens of a compassionate and merciful faith. Additionally, participants will learn strategies, insights, and reflections on navigating difficult conversations about coming out, enhancing professional practices and fostering empathetic, inclusive environments.  

The workshops will be held virtually and in person over a series of six months beginning in September 2024 and ending in February 2025. Our February 2025 workshop is now open for registration.

Workshop IV (2 sessions) | February 19th & February 20th | 9 AM - 1 PM PST  | Virtual 

Salam & Rahma everyone!

We'll gather on Zoom this Saturday, February 15, at our usual time 930am PST / 1230pm EST / 530pm GMT, to discuss Ramadan quickly approaching

***

About the IQRA group:

We gather virtually or in-person to discuss the Quran. The group aims to be an inclusive space to connect to, struggle with, and grow from the sacred and deeply lyrical text while exploring the gamut of possible interpretations (whether progressivist, shia, modernist, sunni, feminist, sufi, queer, or salafi). Core to this endeavor is a commitment to 1) recognizing the historic multiplicity of Muslim interpretation and 2) embracing the diversity of our own personal experiences and understandings. In this process, we will differ and disagree - it's only natural! Let's embrace that and grow from one another.

Ground rules:

Bring your whole selves into the conversation. Be respectful. Share air time so everyone has an opportunity to speak. There are no silly questions. Each of us are at different places of our spiritual journey and we look forward to supporting each other wherever we may be. No level of familiarity or knowledge of Arabic is required.

Let’s kick off the new year by celebrating ourselves and all the ways we keep moving forward, no matter the obstacles. Join us for a New Year’s brunch in historic queer WeHo!

Sure, you may have been to The Abbey before—but have you been there with other queer Muslims? 😉 Let’s make this a gathering full of joy, connection, and belonging. Hope to see you there!

RSVP below for location details and to confirm your attendance!