Festival Information
Philadelphia Muslim Communities Arts and Culture Festival
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Saturday, November 22, 2025 â 1:30 PM – 9:30 PM
đ« Temple University Performing Arts Center
đ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Celebrating the diversity and creativity of the Muslim communities of the greater Delaware Valley. Event is open to the public and tickets are free.
MC Bio | Performer Bios | Schedule | Venue Information
MC – Imam Faisal Latif
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Imam Faisal Latif is a respected Islamic speaker, educator, vocal artist, poet, and humanitarian with a strong foundation in Quranic studies and Arabic. He briefly studied at the Islamic University of Madinah, focusing on Arabic and Quranic sciences at Masjid Nabawi, before continuing his studies privately in Cairo with scholars affiliated with Al-Azhar University.
He holds an ijazah in Quranic recitation and teaching and has dedicated his life to spreading Islamic knowledge and uplifting communities. In addition to leading Taraweeh prayers in Times Square, he is the Executive Director of Help Yateem USA, and is the founder of Tahleeq Institute, which focuses on developing spiritual intelligence.
Performer Bios
Modero
modero.co | Instagram | Facebook
Modero and Company presents Tanah Bhineka Tunggal Ika, which means unity in a diverse land! Dive into the captivating story of Indonesia, the world’s biggest island country, and discover how it became the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Learn about the rich history of our ancient traditions and the beautiful blend of Islam with our cultural heritage and how Indonesian people live side by side in harmony, celebrating our wonderful differences! This one-hour journey is filled with enchanting storytelling, mesmerizing gamelan music, and stunning dances from different islands. Experience the magic of unity in diversity! Enjoy the intricate movements, gorgeous music, and dazzling costumes from our beloved Indonesia.
Modero is a community-based group that was founded by Indonesian dance artist Sinta Penyami Storms. Modero started as a dance company in 2011 with the mission to preserving the traditional Indonesian culture through various aspects such as dance, food, fashion, and beyond. Modero is committed to working with the community in order to empower them by creating events revolving around performance arts, food festivals, social issues, art exhibitions, and much more.
Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans
Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans is ALIMâs first Scholar-in-Residence. He converted to Islam while in high school. Upon conversion, Ustadh Ubaydullah began studying some of the foundational books of Islam under the private tutelage of local scholars. Since then he has studied at Chicagolandâs Institute of Islamic Education (IIE), in Tarim, Yemen, and Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he is the first African-American to graduate from its Shariâa program. Ustadh Ubaydullah also instructs with the Taâleef Collective and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN).
Mona Haydar
Mona will perform a selection of her songs, and will intersperse her performance with poetry, spoken reflections on her music and break downs of the lyrics. Within the performances she often speaks about Muslim identity, the power of art and media, being a good steward of the planet and ultimately each person utilizing their greatest personal potential to better our world and how this leads one to be truly happy in this life and the next.
Mona Haydar is a Syrian-American Muslim who spent her early career as a performance poet. In 2105 she and her husband, Sebastian gained national and international attention for their âAsk A Muslim” project, a public booth that invited dialogue and questions in the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino extremist attacks.
In 2017 Mona broke into the hip hop music scene with Hijabi (Wrap My Hijab) whose video- featuring Haydar seven months pregnant with her second son- went viral. Billboard Magazine named Haydar’s track one of the top feminist anthems of all time (alongside hits by icons BeyoncĂ©, Christina Aguilera and M.I.A.). She followed up with Dog, featuring actress and singer Jackie Cruz, which predated the modern #metoo movement, and called out abuse by spiritual elders.
Her first EP, Barbarican, dropped in 2018 and took aim at global patriarchy, orientalism, immigration policy, white supremacy, national identity, and suicide. That same year, she earned her Masters Degree in Theology, focusing on Christian Ethics, from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
For the last ten years, Mona has been performing her poetry and music, leading writing and activism workshops, and speaking at universities and colleges about art, Islam, feminism, hip hop, theology, and inter-faith dialogue. She has performed internationally, spoken at churches, synagogues and conferences, and been invited to speak at such institutions as Smith College, MIT, Princeton, UC Berkeley and the Parliament of World Religions.
She has been featured in major campaigns for Microsoft and Google. Most recently, Mona and her husband are featured as the hosts of The Great Muslim American Road Trip, a three-part docuseries on PBS. Mona and Sebastian serve as hosts on this journey through the American West, encountering fascinating Muslims in unusual places, and undergoing a spiritual journey of their own.
Mona Haydar’s performance/conversation is made possible thanks to the generous support and partnership of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture.
Samar Dahleh – Tatreez Workshop
Samar Dahleh is a Palestinian organizer, activist, and creative, born in Tulkarem and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Rooted in a deep commitment to preserving her heritage, she is passionate about tatreez as a tool of resistance and a powerful tool for storytelling and historical documentation through needle and thread. Samar has honed her craft by learning from her ancestors and collaborating with some of the most influential tatreez artists in the U.S., further deepening her love for the art and its community. In Philadelphia, she builds safe third spaces that nurture community in the diaspora, hosting monthly tatreez circles for fellow stitchers and workshops for new learners to share, sustain, and celebrate Palestinian culture.
The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble
unitycommunity.com
The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble was founded in 1984 by Robert Dickerson and his wife, Wanda Dickerson. Today, it is co-directed by their eldest son, Jamal Dickerson, and his wife, Ronsha Dickerson, along with their son, Nasir Dickerson, and daughters, Atiya Johnson-Dickerson (with her husband, Dwayne Johnson) and Ayanna Dickerson. Over the decades, the Ensemble has grown into one of the largest and most respected professional African dance and drum troupes in the United States.
Headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, the Ensemble includes members from Camden, Philadelphia, and across Africa. Since its inception, the troupe has been mentored by world-renowned traditional African teachers, scholars, and historians, as well as highly respected African American cultural leaders. The Ensemble is honored to have one of the finest African dance instructors and Djeli (oral historian), Yalani Bangoura from Guinea, West Africa, as a daily member of its teaching staff.
Recognized by scholars, historians, and African Djelis as one of the best African American dance and drum troupes in the nation, the Ensemble is celebrated for its electrifying performances. Their shows feature captivating stilt walkers, dynamic dancers, and master drummers, each performance a vibrant celebration of African culture.
The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble has graced countless prestigious stages, performing for and honoring world leaders, celebrities, politicians, religious figures, business pioneers, and community icons across the United States, the Caribbean (including Trinidad & Tobago), and Africa. Their artistry has been showcased to millions through appearances on local, national, and international television, serving as a proud ambassador of African heritage and culture.
Ustadh Shafaat Khan
Music to Heal the Soul. Ustad Shafaat Khan will perform Classical Sufi ZIKR music on Sitar, Vocals, percussion with an “East Meets West” style, an energetic, exciting and educational way for audiences to engage themselves and tap into other cultures.
He will explain and perform the Muslim influence on music in our subcontinent today. He will educate the audience about the history of Indian music, Raags, Taal, instruments and techniques. The performance pieces will highlight Classical/Folk music and other light forms of music such as Qawwali, Ghazal and Thumri.
Ustadh Shafaat Khan is a torchbearer of the Imdadkhani Gharana. He is the son of the legendary Ustadh Imrat Khan and nephew of the great Ustadh Vilayat Khan. Khan Saheb is the first known artist in Indian Classical Music to have achieved the highest levels of excellence across three demanding instruments: Sitar, Surbahar, and Tabla. His adeptness across the genres of Hidustani Classical, Folk, Ghazal, Sufi, and Bollywood has been featured in all of the major concert venues across the globe. Khan Saheb continues the tradition of teaching music under the âGuru-Shishya Paramparaâ method of musical training. Through his teaching, Khan Saheb is carrying forward the legacy of the Imdadkhani Gharana. He has taught musicians of all ages and backgrounds and has even adapted Indian Classical music to be played on western instruments, such as violin, cello, guitar, piano / keyboard, and harp. With Khan Sahebâs support and best wishes, his students are currently performing in live concerts and recordings across genres throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Suâad Abdul Khabeer
suadabdulkhabeer.com
In this one-woman show Suâad Abdul Khabeer brings Muslim life to the stageâfrom the dreams of young Black teens to the struggles of Kashmiri auntiesâthrough theater, poetry, and dance. Like a hip hop DJ with vinyl, Suâad samples real stories, mixing them into a moving portrait of joy, pain, and everyday life. Inspired by her acclaimed book, Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States, Sampled is a vibrant journey through the many âbeatsâ of Muslim lifeâacross race, gender, and generation.
Suâad Abdul Khabeer is a scholar-artist-activist. In her most recent work, she examines the intersections of official history and the untold stories of Black women and Black Muslims through the lens of her motherâs life. Umi means mother in Arabic, so she named the series of digital exhibitions Umi’s Archive. The project sees everyday Black women as people who know things we all need to know.
Trained as an anthropologist, Suâadâs first book, Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States (NYU Press 2016), is a critically acclaimed ethnography on Islam and hip hop that examines how intersecting ideas of Muslimness and Blackness challenge and reproduce the meanings of race in the US. Suâadâs written work on Islam and hip hop is accompanied by her performance ethnography, Sampled: Beats of Muslim Life. Sampled is a one-woman solo performance designed to present and represent her research and findings to diverse audiences as part of her commitment to public scholarship.
In line with this commitment Suâad co-founded Sapelo Square, the first website dedicated to the comprehensive documentation and analysis of the Black US American Muslim experience. She has also written for The Root, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Ebony Magazine, the Huffington Post, Religious Dispatches and Trans/Missions, and has appeared on Al Jazeera English. Additionally, Suâad is a Senior Project Advisor for the US Public Television award-winning documentary, New Muslim Cool and her poetry was featured in the anthology Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak. In 2018, Suâad was profiled as one of 25 influential American Muslims by CNN and received the Soros Equality Fellowship in 2019.
Su’ad is currently an associate professor of American Culture and Arab and Muslim American Studies at the University of Michigan. She received her PhD in cultural anthropology from Princeton University and is a graduate from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and completed the Islamic Studies diploma program of the Institute at Abu Nour University (Damascus).
Schedule
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 1:30 – 2:00 | Welcome/Start |
| 2:00 – 3:00 | Modero Indonesian Art Convo+Dance performance |
| 3:05 – 3:40 | Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans speech about arts, culture, Islam |
| 3:45 – 4:45 | Mona Haydar performance and conversation |
| 4:50 – 5:45 | Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble African Drum performance |
| 5:50 – 6:45 | Dinner and prayer break |
| 6:45 – 7:30 | âMusic to Heal the Soul: Muslim Music of the Sub-Continentâ Ustadh Shafaat Khan performance |
| 7:35 – 8:30 | Tatreez/Palestinian embroidery presentation and conversation by Samar Dahleh |
| 8:35 – 9:30 | Sampled: Beats of Muslim Life with Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer performance and conversation |
Venue Accessibility
Address: 1837 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19122
Temple Performing Arts Center is a fully ADA-compliant venue.
There are 12 seats/spaces reserved for wheelchair seating. ADA entrance is on the north corner of the building, on Broad intersecting Polett Walk with elevator access.
Photosensitivity warning: some performers may have theatrical lighting.
For parking information, please see: templeperformingartscenter.org/plan and campusoperations.temple.edu/parking-services.