English Newsletter - Mosque Foundation

August 2015 – Shaw wal –Thul- Q’ada 143 6 Issue 94
Message From The Imam
Keeping Ramadan Alive:
Three Disciplines for Nurturing Istiqamah
Sh. Ahmed Arafat
Sh. Ahmed Arafat
Imagine that a person dedicated an entire month accumulating a large amount of money tirelessly and suddenly begins
throwing away all of what he collected! How would you view
that person? Unfortunately, this is the condition of many people who earnestly worship Allah (SWT) during Ramadan and
turn to sinning and/or neglecting their religious duties after
Ramadan. The Quran illustrates this condition stating, “And
do not be like the one who untwisted her spun thread after it
was strongly done,” (16: 92). In this verse we find a reproach
to those who made a covenant with Allah (SWT) but failed
to keep it. The verse could also apply to those who exerted
their utmost in Ramadan and dedicated time for praying, fasting, giving, forgiving, Qiyam, Quranic recitations and ‘Itikaf
and, yet, abandoned most of these acts of worship as Ramadan
came to an end. The following attempts to outline three basic
tools that can help us maintain the great values gained during
the month of Ramadan.
1- Ikhlas
If you felt that you started neglecting some of your
religious and moral duties after Ramadan, you should sincerely ask yourself why you were so committed to worship in
Ramadan. Was it for seeking people’s approval or for seeking
Allah’s pleasure? If your Ramadan worship was dedicated to
Allah as the only Witness for and Compensator of your deeds,
then you successfully managed to meet the condition of Ikhlas
without which our deeds would be rejected.
One way to test your level of Ikhlas in Ramadan is
to examine your life after Ramadan. If you truly had Ikhlas in
Ramadan, you should be able to maintain your religious duties after
Ramadan since the God of Ramadan is the same God of Shawwal
and the other months of the year! If you managed to pray eleven
rak’at after Ramadan’s ‘Isha’, then five-rak’at of Qiyam, for instance,
should not be an impossible feat. If you fasted correctly in Ramadan,
even though you could have broken your fast without anyone noticing, you should have some remnants of muraqabah (living in the
presence of Allah) in your heart. To maintain this muraqabah after
Ramadan, make sure that you do some good deeds entirely for Allah
(SWT) without allowing anyone to know about them. In this way,
you are training yourself to be satisfied with Allah’s sole knowledge
of your actions and thereby resisting the temptation of working only
for gaining people’s approval.
2- Salat
Praying five times a day is a great way for maintaining Istiqamah. Let us rediscover the power of the Muslim prayer in helping
us stay on the Straight Path. During Salah, as illustrated by sujud
(the prostration position), we declare the supremacy of Allah and
our complete submission to His Will by placing our forehead on the
ground in complete humility. Therefore, Salat represents an implicit
commitment to obeying Allah and a serious promise to stay away
from the haram. So when we make sujud, we remember our sins and
shortcomings and plead to renew our covenant of obeying Allah. It
is like saying, “Oh Allah, we are sorry for the sins we committed; so,
forgive us.” That is why sujud is associated with crying as the Quran
describes the prayers of the righteous, “They fall down on their faces
in tears” (Q.19:58).
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EVENTS OF THE MONTH
MF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1. Hussein Ata
2. Oussama Jammal
3. Jamal Said
4. Habes Abdallah
5. Abdallah M Shuaibi
6. Kalid Baste
7. Fahim Aref
8. Jehad Materiyeh
9. Ahmed Kamni
10. Aisheh Said
11. Banan Said
12. Marwan Elsafadi
13. Jafar Ahmad
14. Safaa Zarzour
15. Mohamed Aduib
16. Montaha Salem
17. Muin Abu Sharara
18. Ziad Zatar
19. Karen Danielson
Community Leaders Share Ramadan ‘Iftaar
Together
The Mosque Foundation held its annual Community ‘Iftaar this year which served as a wonderful opportunity for community leaders, officials and neighbors from diverse backgrounds
to share a meal, join in good conversation, and attend a lively program celebrating the spiritual and religious aspects of the month of fasting.
Rev. Dr. Robert Reynolds, Executive Presbyter from the Presbytery of Chicago discussed the
challenges we face as Americans and emphasized the importance of interfaith dialogue offering direction for future community engagement activities. Pastor Michael Kooy from Grace
Community CRC, reflected on our Southside suburban history as he received the Mosque
Foundation Community Neighbor Award on behalf of the Oak Lawn Clergy & Religious
Workers Association. Bridgeview Police Chief Walter Klimek kindly accepted the Mosque
Foundation Community Service Award for his vigilant care in keeping our community safe.
Finally, Dr. A. Amine from Universal School and Dr. M. Ismail from Aqsa School both graciously accepted the Mosque Foundation Community Leadership Awards this year for their
life-long commitment to Islamic education and community.
As the evening came to a close, attendees expressed their gratitude and looking forward to
next year’s ‘Iftaar. Congratulations to the Mosque Foundation for hosting a wonderful event
and a special thanks to all the volunteers who helped make it a blessed and successful event.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Hussein Ata
Sh. Jamal Said
Sh. Ahmed Arafat
Tareq Abu-Ammer
Aisheh Said
Mohamed Chehade
Banan Said
Abdel Baset Hamayel
A u g u st 2 0 1 5 Vol. 06, Issue 94
Copyright © 2015 by The Mosque
Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction without permission is
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August 2015 – Shawwal
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August 2015 – Shawwal – Thul-Q’ada 1436
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Keeping Ramadan Alive
Accordingly we should deal with sujud as a means of ‘daily repentance’—something that really helps us to be protected
against the Shaytan’s attempts to make us despair of Allah’s
mercy or to dissuade us from maintaining the level of ‘Ibadah
we have by making us feel guilty of hypocrisy if we decide to
go to the Masjid.
awaits them—except those who repent and have Faith and do good
deeds. Such will enter Heaven and will not be wronged at all,” (19:
59-60).
Essentially, Shaytan cannot defeat a practicing Muslim
who always maintains daily prayers and recognizes the significance of sujud. If a Muslim commits a sin after Thuhr, he
or she has an appointment with Allah (SWT) at ‘Asr to wash
away this sin and to renew the covenant with Allah. If the same
person commits a sin after ‘Asr, he or she will get rid of it
at Maghrib and renew the relationship with Allah. This happens five times a day. In other words, Allah gives us five main,
obligatory chances to start a brand new life, follow His Way
and avoid the paths and whisperings of the Devil. Thus through
Salat, and particularly sujud, you have the chance to wash
away your past sins and embrace a new beginning every day.
Pray that Allah guides you to His Straight Path and keeps you
guided. The Prophet (S) taught us to pray, “O Allah Who turns the
hearts, keep our hearts steadfast upon Your Deen.” For such a prayer
to be effective, it requires sincerity, certainty, and action. Pray to be
guided sincerely as you would ask to be saved if you were stranded
in the middle of the ocean on a wooden board. Pray with certainty
and hope and do not belittle yourself since Allah loves those who
turn to Him in repentance. Be practical in your prayers by having
good friends and staying away from bad ones whom you know will
keep you away from Allah.
In this way, Salat should be considered as the fountain of
hope for everyone who tries sincerely to overcome Shaytan’s
whisperings and to nurture their spirituality. The late Sheikh
Muhammad Mutwalli Ash-Sha’rawi once said—with some
modifications and additions—: “Can you imagine that your car
will break down if your mechanic checks it out five times a
day? Most likely it will not, simply because if the mechanic
noticed a problem, he would fix it right away. By the same token, a Muslim presents himself five times a day before Allah to
check the level of his faith and character and to cleanse himself
from the dirt of sins.”
3- Du’aa
We ask Allah lead us from sin to forgiveness, from darkness to
light, from fear to trust, and from hatred to love. O Allah kindle in
our hearts Your love, the love of those who love You and the love of
all that You love. Ameen.
Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim reported, on the
authority of Abu Hurayrah (R), that the Prophet (S) once asked
his Companions, “‘What do you think if one of you had a river
running past one’s door and one bathed in it five times a day,
would there be any trace of dirt left on him?’ They replied, ‘No
trace of dirt would remain on him.’ Upon this the Prophet (S)
replied: ‘This is the case with the five daily prayers, through
which Allah washes away our sins.’”
In contrast, abandoning Salat will result in being easily
trapped by Shaytan and following our whims and desires. In
reading the Quran carefully, we find a close connection between abandoning Salat and following our lusts and desires.
Allah (SWT) says, “There came after them an evil generation
that neglected their prayers and followed their whims; so, loss
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MFCC
AT THE FIELD MUSEUM
CRAFT TIME !
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August 2015 – Shawwal
- Thul-Q’ada 1436
LEARNING SURAT NUH
REPTILE SHOW
TIME TO HANG AROUND A THE ZOO !
August 2015 – Shawwal – Thul-Q’ada 1436
MFCC KIDS TARAWEEH
WITH TASTE OF FUN
TARAWWEH BOYS AT UNIVERSAL
Hundreds of our community kids
have enjoyed yet another year
of separate taraweeh programs.
Boys at Universal School and
girls at MFCC. In addition of
performing Taraweeh program,
young boys and girls enjoyed
a 30 minutes fun/sports period
each night and they were treated
with candy and toys a few times
during the blessed month of Ramadan.
GIRLS PRAYER
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i know my deen
For the second year now, Al-Siddiq School held its “I Know My
Deen” competition. Students used kindles to access a variety of
books that covered several topics ranging from the Quran, the life
of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and his righteous Companions.
Students were then assessed on each topic through oral and written exams. Counselors were invited to discuss with participating
students the topics covered.
Alhamdulilah, 37 participants graduated this year alone after
two years of hard work and determination. Al-Siddiq School is
so proud of the achievements of its students and their families.
Graduates were rewarded with a monetary gift and a Kindle.
They were also invited to participate in a fun field trip to build
teamwork skills.
Faried Alwan, a 2nd year participant, expressed his thankfulness
with the experience stating, “What I love about I know my Deen
is that it helped me gain and increase my knowledge about Islam,
and also helped me remember what I was taught as a kid and
change what I did on a day to day basis.” Nedah Abdelrahim, another 2nd year participant, also expressed her gratitude at having
an opportunity to join stating, “Book after book, test after test, I
knew more than I ever did, and I was pretty happy that such an
opportunity was given to me…the nights of reading were sleepless, but the knowledge that I learned canceled that all out.”
wan, Ahmad Mohammed, Omar Al-Tabakhi, Eman Hasan,
Dania Hasan, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Sami Hajjer, Omair Ibrahim,
Othman Ibrahim, Baraa Musallam, Battool Mussalam, Wala
Adawi, Mohamad Hassoun, Zayd Tamimi, Mohammed Al
Azmah, Sara Al Nashef, Ibrahim Tamimi, and Nail Musa.
Al-Siddiq School is very pleased with the enthusiasm of our
students and their hard work! May Allah (SWT) reward them
all for their efforts and increase their knowledge insha’Allah!
The winning graduates are:
1st Place: Battool Musallam
2nd Place: Baraa Musallam
3rd Place: Mohammed Al-azmah
“I Take the Challenge because I Know my Deen”
This program was held at the Mosque Foundation on Sunday,
April 19, 2015. Participants were seated on a stage as they completed a preliminary written test. After judges graded the tests,
Round 2 began with the remaining 27 participants. 14 students
successfully completed the second part of Round 2 moving on
to Round 3. The 3 remaining students were tested verbally in
Round 4.
The winners are:
1st Place: Omair Ibrahim
2nd Place: Othman Ibrahim
3rd Place: Omar Al-Tabakhi
The following lists the graduates of, “I Take the Challenge because I Know my Deen” program: Carmel Al-Shaeik, Dalia
Al-Sheikh, Hazim Zain Edin, Ramzi Abo Zir, Batol Bsharat,
Nedah Abdelrahim Hala Shaban, Tasneem Musa, Jena Nimer,
Amal Abdel Jamil, Lena Mohammed, Jamal Nimer, Alaa Mohammed, Khaleel Saadeh, Reana Hammad, Laila Hammad,
Hanin Abu Zer, Faried Alwan, Farreh Qatanani, Mahdi Al-
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August 2015 – Shawwal
- Thul-Q’ada 1436
August 2015 – Shawwal – Thul-Q’ada 1436
“I Take the Challenge
because
I Know my Deen”
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mfcc annual ramadan
quran competition
For the 9th year, MFCC holds the Ramadan Quran competion, 47 participants competed this year ranging from under 8 years
old till adult levels.
Results were announced on a special Award Ceremony held at MFCC Saturday July 25, 2015. The result were as follow.
LEVEL 1 (ABASA THROUGH ALBALAD)
1st place: Nashuha Mohammad
2nd place: Naeem Mohammad
3rd place: Liyan Nassar
$100
$60
$40
LEVEL 2 (ALMOLK THROUGH ALMAARIJ)
1st Place/tie: Omar Khan
1st Place/tie: Taseen Ismail
1st Place/tie : Mariyam Alaani
1st Place/tie : Huda Mohammad
$150
$150
$150
$150
LEVEL 3 (GHAFIR)
1st place: Mokram Samara
2nd place: Hamza Batroukh
3rd place/tie: Fatima Abouzekry
3rd place/tie: Yasmin Rumman
$150
$100
$50
$50
LEVEL 4 (ALISRAA)
1st place: Ronya Kawji
2nd place: Yousef Abdelal
3rd place: Yousef Reham
$200
$100
$50
LEVEL 5 (ALBAQARA & AL-IMRAN)
1st place: Mohammad Ata
2nd place: Salma Salah
$200
$100
All participants were awarded a gift card as well. Thanks to an anonymous family from our community who generously
sponsored this contest for the last 5 years, may Allah reward them.
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August 2015 – Shawwal
- Thul-Q’ada 1436
August 2015 – Shawwal – Thul-Q’ada 1436
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