Lots of entertainment and fun at MAPS "Art and Culture Day"

Plenty of good art and entertainment at Saturday's MAPS "Art and Culture Day"

Last Saturday was an excellent day to connect with the Muslim residents and some of the culture of greater Redmond.  This is a photo of  some visitors to the "Arts and Culture Day" held the mosque in SE Redmond.  (Their dress can be art it itself). We were fortunate to run into Hyder Ali in the morning who told us exciting news that the Mayor of Bellevue and Redmond Police Chief Gibson had already stopped by. 

Hyder is a resident of greater Redmond, works at Microsoft and is President of MAPS (Muslim Ass'n of Puget Sound), the sponsoring organization.  The event was held in a SE Redmond Muslim mosque named "Maasjid Ar-Rahmah," which is also a gathering place for the cultural community.  We enjoyed a brief visit with Hyder's son.The Event was very entertaining and fun with dancing and singing and we learned a lot about the cultures of Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Palestine, and Turkey at their art exhibits.  Hopefully, a slide show to follow.  Please send in your pictures!

Read more about Hyder Ali and how to connect with the cultural center and mosque  Read More >>

Hyder Ali is cur­rently employed at Microsoft as an Indus­try Man­ager in the Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Sec­tor. He moved to Seat­tle in Sep­tem­ber 2005. Hyder has been actively involved in Mus­lim com­mu­nity activ­i­ties for the past 15 years in US. More recently, he served as the Pres­i­dent of Bay Area Coun­cil on Amer­i­can Islamic Rela­tions (CAIR). As the chair­man of the Khutba Com­mit­tee in Mus­lim Com­mu­nity Asso­ci­a­tion in Santa Clara, CA, Hyder stream­lined the khutba process that is still being fol­lowed today. He helped estab­lish a vibrant Islamic cen­ter in Huntsville, AL. Born in India, he spends his spare time out­doors with his son, plays ten­nis and enjoys jog­ging and biking.

MAPS website:  http://www.mapsredmond.org/

Story and Photo by Bob Yoder
Co-reported with John Reinke