Plan Islam » Events

Islamic Inheritance: Masjid Taqwa Workshop after Ramadan

Ahmed Shaikh — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 07:46:19 +0000

I had previously posted I will be at Masjid Taqwa on August 7. This has been moved. I do not anticipate any Islamic Inheritance workshops until after Ramadan. Masjid Taqwa in Altadina, CA will be one of these insha Allah. I will also announce a few others inside and outside California coming in the next few months.

Islamic Inheritance Workshops

Ahmed Shaikh — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:00:16 +0000

Yesterday we had a great workshop at Masjid Ibaadillah in Los Angeles. The issues of concern to those who came to Islam later in life are dramaticaly different from most immigrants. Planning also takes into consideration the fact that many people have fewer Muslim relatives and more non-Muslim relatives, who do not inherit by right in Islam. The choices made are harder. However the basic principles are the same.

Unfortunately I missed ISNA, some of you may have noticed I was on the program (those of you who were at the conference, know me and reviewed the program). However because of the birth of my child (my second daughter) that weekend I was unable to attend. I always find ISNA beneficial and look forward to next year insha Allah.

Altadena, CA in August and other future dates

I plan to do my next workshop on Islamic Inheritance, including a step by step guide to Inheritance, the weekend before Ramadan. I do not anticipate any workshops in Ramadan. However I do plan to speak in Florida and other locations in Southern California after Ramadan. The next workshop is going to be on August 7, 2010 after Maghrib at Masjid At-Taqwa. If you are in the area, please stop by and encourage others to come.

Building an Endowment

Ahmed Shaikh — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:23:17 +0000

I recently spoke in Chicago on building endowments for Islamic Schools. Its not an easy subject and in fact, many schools would not be able to set up an endowment as they are too new or too small or do not have enough of a donor base. Before delving into the issue, you want to have the consulting and legal expertise available. Trusts and Estates Magazine has a brief primer on building a better endowment. You can access it here.

A few highlights:

Endowments are not especially common among US charities. While everyone has heard of the giant Harvard and Yale endowments, they are more the exception then the rule. Furthermore, and this is obvious to many, Endowments have taken massive hits recently.

Endowments may have many, sometimes thousands of seperate special use funds associated with them. The purposes of donors in such accounts are governed by state law. Most states have adopted the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA). Here is a link to a PDF of the act.

The Act uses a "total return" approach to investing, rather then the traditional way, which was looking at income alone. In developing a trust based Waqf, I have looked at removing some of the "default" UPMIFA rules, particularly on investment returns so as to make them more conservative. However the Uniform Act has a good approach and does much to protect endowments. Of particular interest for many in the Muslim community is the difference between they way Trusts and Corporations are treated. For historic reasons, as well as the continued inclination to to develop Islamic Rules of Awqaf by contract, I continue to favor the use of Trusts when developing endowments.

Lomita, San Bernardino, Newbury Park and Chicago

Ahmed Shaikh — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:36:27 +0000

If you are at any of the places I am going to be speaking at please come by and visit.

March 12, after Maghrib I will be at the Islamic Center of South Bay in Lomita. You can check out their website here.

March 15, I am going to be co-presenting at an one day seminar on Probate law for Attorneys through the National Business Institute in San Bernardino, CA. You can learn more by clicking here.

On March 26, at the Islamic Center of Conejo Valley, 2700 Borchard Road Newbury Park, CA 91320-3860. I would send you a link to their website but it appears to be down at the moment.

April 2-4 (not sure of the date and time) I will be presenting on how to create a waqf for Islamic Schools at the ISNA Education Forum in Rosemont, Il (Chicago area). Check out the Forum's website here.

Posted via email from Ahmed Shaikh’s stuff

Speaking in the Pacific Northwest

Ahmed Shaikh — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:41:22 +0000

Insha Allah I plan to speak in the Pacific Northwest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Islamic Inheritance in conjunction with ISNA and Saturna Trust. The flyers are here.

Download now or preview on posterous

Estate Planning Flyer WA 2.pdf (1150 KB)

Download now or preview on posterous

Estate Planning Flyer WA.pdf (1154 KB)

Posted via email from Ahmed Shaikh’s stream

Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara

Ahmed Shaikh — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:09:51 +0000

Last Friday we had a wonderful series of programs at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara, CA. The programs focused on Waqf, or the endowment bulding process as well as the 1/3 rule in Islamic Inheritance. It also included a brief introduction to Islamic Inheritance.

On Saturday, we had a program called "Islamic Inheritance: Step-by-step." This is a brand new program I plan on doing at other Islamic Centers around the country. It includes a 38 page outline, which I plan to continualy improve and for some programs, expand on. The entire contents of the outline will be adopted for this website in the comming days and weeks. Its an intense program that goes over every major issue that individuals need to tackle when planning based on the Islamic Rules of Inheritance for American Muslims.

Unlike other programs, the Saturday program is not an "argument" for Islamic Inheritance and assumes everyone thinks this is a vital step for their families. In the future, that "argument" may well also be included. It would just have to be a longer program.

Posted via email from Ahmed Shaikh’s stream