About Us | Webb Foundation

Who was Mohammed Webb?

Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (1846-1916) was among the first prominent Euro-American converts to Islam. He accepted Islam in 1888 while U.S. Consul to the Philippines.

Upon returning to America, he established an Islamic mission in Manhattan with a mosque, circles of brotherhood, and reading rooms. Webb was the father of the North American Islamic press and published several booklets and journals, the most famous of them being a monthly called The Moslem World. Webb was the official spokesperson of Islam at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. In 1901, he was appointed honorary Turkish consul to the United States, decorated by the Ottoman state for his service to Islam, and given the deferential title of Bey. Webb considered himself every bit an American whose Islamic convictions were in complete harmony with the best in his national heritage. Today, we are honored to help carry his legacy forward.

Our Vision & Mission

In keeping with the teachings of Islamic law, Muslims, throughout history, have created beautiful, indigenous cultures wherever they went. The Muslim community of America aspires to be a vanguard in the West, and, as such, the Mohammed Webb Foundation seeks to integrate the best of the American tradition with the universal teachings of Islam. As a great West African Muslim sage once taught, Islam is like a crystal clear river. Its waters (Islam) are pure, sweet, and life-giving but—having no color of their own—reflect the bedrock (indigenous culture) over which they flow. In keeping with the legacy of Mohammed Webb, Abdulla Quilliam, Marmaduke Pickthal, and many others, we hope to take our community full circle, from east to west and back again, so that we may all come to the realization that ours is an interconnected, interdependent world in which civilizations are meant not to clash but to dovetail, complement, and enrich each other. The Webb Foundation invites American Muslims who share this vision to join with us in the creation of a people-friendly and Islamically positive environment that will lay the basis of a lasting and dynamic indigenous Muslim community in America.

Our Vision

We seek to create a comfortable and inviting space for Americans to experience Islam through spirituality, and an atmosphere of community love and respect. We stress authentic relationships in an environment that offers opportunities for small groups of people to develop spiritually while building life-long friendships.

Our Mission

The center will promote the practice of Islam while embracing the positive aspects of American life and culture. It seeks to provide facilities and programs that offer guidance and create a spiritually uplifting atmosphere in which the community may prosper within our pluralistic society while maintaining its core beliefs and values.

Our History – The Beginning

The Mohammed Webb Foundation is based on an idea shared by many American Muslims-that of creating a space and community that embraces American values in an Islamic context. In March of 2004, a group of seven individuals began the initiative to translate this desire into a physical space that can serve everyone who shares these values and ideals. To date, The Webb Foundation has hosted various events with the express purpose of creating a community that will populate a future physical space, embrace its activities, and each other.

Board of Trustees

The Mohammed Webb Foundation's board of trustees is comprised of individuals with diverse ethnic and professional backgrounds. In order to best serve the community, it is imperative for an organization to reflect its community in its decision-making body. As such, the board has teachers, entrepreneurs, physicians, and engineers each making contributions based on their skill set and all being equal participants in framing the future of the Foundation. Please feel free to contact any of the board members at board@webbfound.org with your questions or comments.

	Asma Akhras Asma is a founding board member of the Mohammed Webb Foundation. She received her B. A. in Education, Summa Cum Laude, from Saint Xavier University in Chicago in 1995 and completed her M.Ed. in 2002 from Benedictine University. Asma currently works as an adjunct instructor at Moraine Valley Community College. She resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and three children.
	Edmund Arroyo Edmund is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He is the founder of The Heartspeak Institute, which is an organization that provides counseling and education to individuals, couples, and families. Edmund also works full time in a suburban public high school. He converted to Islam in 1999, and has been working to advance the acceptance of constructive mental health dialogue in the Muslim community since 2000.
	Rich Bashqawi Rich has a BS degree in mechanical engineering and works in the food manufacturing industry. He is the coordinator for the Webb Teens Program. He currently resides in the Chicago suburbs with his family.
	Humaira Basith Humaira is a founding board member of the Mohammed Webb Foundation. She received her B.A. in biology from Knox College. She served as the director of the Nawawi Foundation and as a Thursday night radio host for Chicago’s Radio Islam. She currently resides with her family in the Chicago suburbs.
	Dilara Sayeed Dilara is an educator in Naperville's District 203 and in the Department of Education at Benedictine University. She has an M.S.Ed from Northwestern University and is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dilara serves on the Boards of KidsMatter (www.kidsmatter2us.org) and the Mohammed Webb Foundation, and is on the Education Committee of the Islamic Center of Naperville’s School.
	Sofia Shakir Sofia was born in Chicago and grew up in Lincolnwood. She is a general pediatrician practicing in Dupage County.She is married with three children: ages 10, 7 and 5.
	Judy Weddle Judy has worked as a business manager, program administrator and educator in the medical, academic and not-for-profit sectors for the past thirty years. She has a Ph.D. in International Relations, with a focus on intercultural communication. Before joining the Webb Foundation Board, she served for several years as Vice President and Board member of a Montessori school.