MAS Offers "Free Imams" to Boston Colleges

The college students are back, and the Muslim American Society is offering "free imams" to area colleges, including Harvard, MIT, Wellesly and Northeastern.  First, the MAS notice, followed by some questions:

The Muslim American Society - Boston Chapter

Khutba Service

"Friday Prayer is an important part of the weekly worship of Muslims. Every Friday around 1:00PM, thousands of Muslims across the US leave their work for a couple of hours to attend a 45-minute prayer and sermon in many Mosques and Musalas across MA."  

"Because most of the Prayer spaces (Mosques and/or Prayer halls) in MA do not have a full time Imam, MAS Boston offers a Khutba Service to the Muslim community in MA.  The MAS Khutba Service is part of the MAS Boston Speakers Bureau Initiative."

MAS Boston is currently providing Khutabaa on a monthly basis in the following locations:

-          Islamic Society of Boston

-          Wayland – Islamic Center of Boston

-          Burlington - Islamic Center of Burlington

-          Boston University

-          Harvard  University

-          Northeastern University

-          MIT

-          Wellesley College

-          Al-Huda Society

-          Downtown Musala (Park Street)

-          MASS General Hospital 

Below is a partial list of MAS Boston Khutaba: 

-          Abdullah Aiweiss

-          Ahmed Elewa

-          Imam Basyouni Muhammad

-          Bilal Kaleem

-          Hassan Al-Alami

-          Hossam AlJabri

-          Hussein Dayib

-          Loay Assaf

-          Imam Muhammad Wadeed

-          Muhammad Hassan

-          Omar Abdala

Some questions:

1. Five of the men are MAS directors: Abdullah Aiweiss, Imam Basyouni Muhammad (who?), Hassan Al-Alami, Hossam Al Jabri, Bilal Kaleem, Perhaps it would be more appropriate for the MAS to announce the availability of "Free MAS Directors."  Another MAS director, Abdul Badi Abou Samra was a Boston "free Imam" until February 2007.   Why do the "free imams" seem to only come as MAS directors?

2. It appears that the US Government Department of Health and Human Services gave a grant of $50,000 to MAS Boston.  Not sure how MAS wrangled that, or what the money is supposed to fund.  One wonders if the DHHS has the resumes and biographical data of the free imams.  After all, the government funding lends legitimacy to the MAS, which makes parents of college students less likely to check the people who are coming in contact with their children.  But does the government know the ideology of the organization and its directors? 
3. One of the two imams listed at the MAS "Free Imams" notice is Imam Basyouni Muhammad.  Under the page of MAS directors, the name given is Sheikh Basyouny Nehela. So what is this gentleman's real name? 
4. Do  BU, Harvard, MIT, Wellesly and Northeastern even know that once a month, they are getting free imams?  Do the colleges have the resumes of these folks on file? After all, the colleges are exposing students to non-faculty members in a teaching environment.  Do the student deans know?  Is this allowed under college rules?
5. The two female MAS directors, Mona Abo Zena and Eman Atef, are very active with the student population in "Halaqas", "Tarbyia" and are often seen at these same universities.  We'll have some questions on this later.