First Times......

This past week, I had the opportunity of going to Washington, DC. It is obviously not the first time I have gone, but it was the first time for a few of things.

First time I gave a seminar at a picnic..........
First time I gave a seminar at ADAMS........
First time I attended the ICI Small Funds meeting.....
First time I attended the ICI General Funds meeting.......
and the most interesting of all,
First time I learned what a Cicada was........don't know? it's ok, I will explain later....

Friday May 14, 2004

I took the Red Eye to Dulles Airport and was surprised to find that the flight was absolutely full. The other times I have gone, it have been able to sleep lying down on three seats. I was afforded no such luck. Upon my arrival, I met with Abdulkader Thomas from Shape Financial and we spoke about the joint seminars we did in Michigan. He thought they went really well. Shape, as it gets off the ground, is sharing an office with one of it's Board members who has numerous properties in the Herndon, VA area and imports Tea from Sri Lanka. I tried it and it was pretty good. He is of Pakistani origin and has done business with many people in the Arabian Gulf. Interestingly, typical of Arab culture, half way through the conversation, he gave me his card and it was a flip kind. On the front was a list of 15 positions and honors he has held in his life. I say interesting because this is fairly typical in the Arabian Gulf from my experience, and although his has been her now since 1990, he was still carrying on the tradition.

Next I met with the Imam of All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), Mohammed Maged. He, apart from being the Imam, is also on the Board of Zamzam Travels, a hajj and umra group. He told me that he met with the Qatari gov't and they want to give $500,000 per year to needy individuals wanting to go for hajj in the US. Similar to something Brian Ingram used to go. We talked a little about structure and then also spoke in length about a charity for hajj, similar to the Hajj Foundation. Next time I go to DC for the Board meeting, we will discuss further.

I gave the Friday sermon at ADAMS and there were approximately 700 people there. I did not speak about Islamic Investing as I could do this the next day. Afterwards, I headed out to La Plata, MD to visit with the community there. Now it is only about 40 miles from ADAMS, but it took me 3 hours because of the traffic. In fact, one stretch of 5 mi. took me 1.5 hours!!!!! So glad I don't have to deal with traffic every day. The Muslim community was holding a picnic and the food was great!!! Afterwards, I gave a presentation on the Amana Funds to a crowd of about 50 men and women. About half of the men were MDs, so it was a good crowd. Being in the middle of a park, I gave the presentation without the powerpoint, and it went well, with people asking good questions about the funds. Here, I also met a Chaplain of the Pentagon who invited me to come and speak to the Muslims there, approximately 30 come for Friday prayers.

I went back to my friends house, this time it took only 1.5 hours and I was completely exhausted, have slept on the plane the night before and then a long (productive) day.

Saturday, May 15, 2004

This day I gave the seminar at ADAMS, which was a first for me. The community is very familiar with the fund since Dr. Mirza, Dr. Unus, Dr. Albarzinji, and Dr. Al-Alwani all live there. I didn't know what to expect as far as crowd, but I was told not to be optimistic. Since Guidance Financial and Azzad are both located in this area, the Muslims are well aware of investing. Whenever they do a presentation, the gave less than a handful of people. Also, the weekend before, Allied Asset Advisor visited the area and gave a presentation that attracted 8 people. With all this, I went in with a low expectation and I was pleasantly surprised. There were 30 in attendance. I attribute this turnout to the good reputation Amana has in the community, here and elsewhere. Being no load, I think people realize that our presentations are informative rather than a sales pitch. Dr. Mirza was in the crowd, and because I was talking to the people afterwards, did not get a chance to ask him what he thought of it.

May 17 - 19, 2004

These two days, I attended the ICI Small Funds Conference where there were approximately 30 small funds represented and then the general meeting. There is a section in there called Shop Talk and this was very productive. Throughout this meeting, I learned two truths:

1) Most, if not all, of us have the same issues.
2) Nick is a "legend at the ICI", a quote I heard more than once by people in attendance.

I got to walk around the bazaar at the General meeting and picked up a lot of trinkets to give us an idea about what maybe we should offer at ISNA and other places. I also met a small fund group based in Bloomfield Hills, MI that runs the Ave Maria fund. They are a Catholic based fund targeting only them. Very similar to Amana in there audience. The fund was funded by the person who founded Domino's Pizza.

And Now............ "The Return of the Cicadas"

Still don't know what they are. Cicada is an insect that hybernates for 17 years, comes out en mass, lays 600 eggs a piece, lives for 2 months and dies. Leaving behind a next generation to come out 17 years later. I saw pictures of the old parts of the Washington area where it looked liked fall when the leaves fall to the ground and cover the grass. Although in the picture, they weren't leaves, they were Cicadas. It was amazing. Can you imagine, the last time they came out to this time? what a change of environment!!!! I think if the parents were alive, they would have thought: "Its the Invasion of Humans". 17 years ago, the Dulles area was a small city, with many of the companies that are now in the area not even being conceived of. I remember visiting a friend there in 1995, and the area like a small town. Now it is one of the fastest growing in the country. But the "Invasion of Humans" is not too far off. I often wonder what other creatures think of us. Probably like parasites, living off the land, using and abusing, and leaving things for waste. I am not trying to be "green" but just stating an observation. Even the bacteria living in our stomachs act more like symbiots. They help us, and we give them a place to live? Do we humans do the same thing on earth?