Muslim board remains all-male after candidate’s bid fails

Sarah Alikhan lost her bid Sunday to become the first woman ever elected to the shura, or governing board, of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, one of the largest Muslim organizations in the U.S.

Incumbent Faizan Atiq will retain his seat as director of ISGH’s Southwest Zone.

It’s not clear how large a role gender played in the race. Atiq is generally recognized as one of the board’s strongest proponents of women’s issues, and some prominent women in ISGH either backed him or chose not to endorse either candidate.

The race, like other ISGH races in recent years, was extremely heated. Rhetoric by the candidates’ supporters ran high on Facebook, and voter-outreach tactics resembled those used in political campaigns.

Some of that aggressive outreach may have backfired. Alikhan belonged to a slate of candidates, United for Change, that sent campaign mailings and texts to ISGH members.

Many of those potential voters wondered how the slate had acquired their contact information.

Late Friday night, ISGH’s executive committee posted a statement on the organization’s Facebook page,saying it had never authorized release of members’ information.

“ISGH has authorized an investigation into these matters,” the statement said, “and will bring any and all legal actions to those individuals responsible for any unauthorized access and/or misrepresentation of the ISGH and/or its records.”

In Sunday’s election, none of the United for Change candidates won.

The president-elect is Sohail Syed. Badar Alam will serve as general secretary. And director of the North Zone will be Ayman Khalil.

Neither Alikhan or Atiq was available for comment Sunday night.

There was a 5 percent increase from last year’s turnout, said Rashid Khokhar, chairperson of the elections committee.