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| The Latest News and Articles of the Mosque Foundation
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Thursday, May 01, 2008 |
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May 2008
By SuperUser Account @ 8:59 PM :: 634 Views :: 2008 English Newsletter
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| Message From the Imam - Wealth & Trusting in Allah |
The headlines lately speak about the difficult economic situation. There is growing fear about loss of jobs, increase in cost of living, and continued decline of important business sectors. The news is creating much anxiety, and as a result, increases in crime and family disruption. But we must also remember and be reminded often of God's promise. So let us contemplate on the following verses from Surat Ibrahim: "God is He who created the heavens and the earth. And He sends down water from the sky and thereby brings forth fruits as your provision. And He subjugated the ships for you that they may sail the sea at His command, and He subjugated the rivers for you. And He subjugated for you the sun and the moon, both constant in their courses, and He subjugated for you the night and the day. And He has given you from all that you have asked of Him. And if you were to count the favors of God, you could never enumerate them. Man is surely most unjust, most ungrateful!" (14:32-34)
Brothers and sisters, it is Allah the Exalted who has created humankind, and it is He alone who has accounted for each human being. And it is He who allots provisions for them, and He alone knows when each person's time will come to an end. You have not eaten a single mouthful of food without it being accounted for by your Creator. It is He alone who has knowledge of every matter, big or small. "With God is the knowledge of the Final Hour. He sends down abundant rain, and He knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. God is All-Knowing, Aware." (31:34)
 If Allah the Exalted wills to bless His servant with provisions and time, then nothing can stand in the way of His will. Remember it is He who increases wealth, opens doors that were once shut, cures illnesses, brings rain in times of drought, provides shade in the heat, and guides people on His straight path when they seem hopelessly astray.
But we must also remember that for Allah's bounties and mercy to reach us, we must first and foremost fear Him. We must remember that He is not our servant (we seek refuge from such notions); on the contrary, we are His servants. So we must always be mindful of Him, reverent of Him, eager to abide by our obligations to Him, and remember His name often, whether in times of difficulty or in times of ease. Allah states: "And if the people of the cities had believed and feared [God], We would have opened up for them blessings from the heavens and from the earth. Instead, they rejected [God's message], and so We seized them on account of [the evil] they have wrought." (7:96)
Whosoever fears Allah, He will create for him ease from every affliction, comfort from every worry, and will provide for Him in ways he could not have imagined possible. My brothers and sisters, this worldly life does not distress a person who fears the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The person who fears Allah is not troubled by the provisions and livelihood that Allah has allotted for him. On the contrary, he is content and happy with His Lord.
If you seek anything, then turn to your Creator and ask of Him. If the troubles of this world become heavy on your chest, then knock on the door and you will be received well and not left standing. Ask the One who will never turn you away no matter how great your sins may be. My brothers and sisters, turn to your Lord for help, for He is the Most Generous, the Most Merciful. Prophet Muhammad (God's peace and blessing be upon him) was reported to have advised young Ibn Abbas, "Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that even if the whole nation were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except with what Allah has already recorded for you; and that if they gather together to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried."
Let us also remember the benefits of being God-fearing and the blessing of supplication to Allah, and that both of these merciful deeds invite Allah's provisions and mercy to reach us. The same is true with how we related with those who are related to us, which means that provision is connected with maintaining ties of kinship. Those of us who have mothers, aunts, and sisters must not fail to offer them help if they are in need, or visit them when they are sick.
My brothers and sisters, do not forget that if you relieve a Muslim from a distress, Allah the Almighty will relieve you of your distresses. So if you feel as if doors are closing, then you should try to open a door for your fellow brother and sister and Allah will open a door for you. Increase  in your charity giving and Allah will bless your wealth. Allah states, "Who will offer to God a goodly loan so that He may multiply it for him many times over? It is God who contracts and expands [your provision], and to Him is your return." (2:245) The word "loan" here is a figurative usage, for God is not in any need. He wants people to engage in the noble enterprise of spending toward the benefit of others, which is an exaltation of human character and proof of one's faith. When one gives selflessly for the sake of God and not for any other reason, God shall give this person a return that is magnificently generous, well beyond the measure the person had sacrificed or "loaned." This goodly loan and God's rewarding of it is mentioned frequently in the Quran. See also 5:12, 57:11, 64:17, and 73:20.
One of the most important ways to receive the mercy and bounty of Allah is to seek only permissible (halal) provisions. Ibn Abbas narrated that he recited the following verse in front of the Messenger of God: "O believers, eat from that which is good and lawful in the world (earth?)" Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas stood up and said: O Messenger of God, make supplication that God answers my supplications." The Prophet replied: O S'ad, eat pure [lawful] food and your supplications will be answered."
Allah calls us to strive. He says: "He is the One who has made the earth even and smooth for you; so walk in the spacious paths thereof, and eat of His provision. And unto Him will be the resurrection." And in Surat al-Jumu'ah, He said, "And when the Prayer has ended, then disperse in the land and seek of God's bounty, and remember God much that you may succeed." (62:10)
Allah also states, "Do not devour one another's wealth unjustly nor bribe people in authority that you may wrongfully usurp something from the wealth of others intentionally." (2:188) Imam Al-Qurtubi said: The meaning of this verse is that one should not consume the wealth of another without right. It is like gambling, deception, or fraud.
So have consciousness of Allah the Most High, for He sees you. Consuming or taking that which is unlawful is a great matter with God Almighty and it has grave consequences. Many people neglect this in matters of eating, in buying, selling, and amassing wealth. But those whom God has blessed with His mercy are concerned with the lawful and unlawful. May God guide us to avoid the unlawful and bless us with what is lawful and give us well-being. Ameen
Sh. Jamal Said
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| Upcoming Events |
| May 3, 2008 - Taste of Taqwa Follow Up, 5 - 6:30 PM at MFCC
May 11, 2008 - Mosque Foundation Annual Fundraising Dinner, 6 PM at the Chateau Del Mar in Hickory Hills. Tickets $25 for adults, $15 for kids 6 -12. Click here for contest
May 21, 2008 - Law 101 Seminar, "Buying & Selling a Home" 6:30 - 7:30 PM in Universal School Library
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| Message From the President - Muslims & the Changing Religious Landscape |
The latest survey of the PEW Forum should ring the alarm bells in the minds of American Muslims. The leadership of Islamic institutions especially Mosques, schools and other educational and national organizations should study the findings carefully and reflect on them.
The survey showed that "more than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion - or no religion at all. The survey finds that constant movement characterizes the American religious marketplace, as every major religious group is simultaneously gaining and losing adherents. Those that are growing as a result of religious change are simply gaining new members at a faster rate than they are losing members. Conversely, those that are declining in number because of religious change simply are not attracting enough new members to offset the number of adherents who are leaving those particular faiths."
Another interesting finding of the study is that the biggest gainer of religious groups is not Islam or Christian denominations, but the unaffiliated groups (agnostics, atheists, and others) followed by nondenominational Protestant churches. The much repeated and pacifying claim that "Islam is the fastest growing religion in the US" cannot be supported by the above mentioned study. Among the "established religions," Buddhism is faster growing than Islam in the U.S.
In the losing category, the group that has experienced the greatest net loss by far is the Catholic Church. Overall, 31.4% of U.S. adults say that they were raised Catholic. Today, however, only 23.9% of adults identify with the Catholic Church, a net loss of 7.5 percentage points.
What about Islam? According to the survey, Muslims represent 0.6% of the population (about 3 million, which is at least half of the often reported estimate of 6-7 million). About 40% of U.S. Muslims are converts, while 60% were raised or born as Muslims. Less than 0.3% enters Islam and an equal percentage leave Islam. That last number is very alarming.
 Although Muslims in the U.S. are still increasing in numbers because of higher birth rates (second only to Mormons), immigration and conversion, and not losing numbers (as the case of Catholics, Baptists, or Methodists), it looks as though there is a percentage of people who are leaving Islam to other religions, not only among the new converts, but also those who where "born or raised Muslims."
Many Muslims believe or would like to believe that Muslims are somehow immune from changing their religion, and if you were born to Muslim parents or converted to Islam, then it is very unlikely to change religions. That might be the case, with God's guidance and protection, for those who were raised with strong Islamic identity, those who balance a strong belief in the pristine message of Islam, a strong understanding of its teachings and a consistent practice of its rituals, and for those who find in Islam the solutions to their spiritual, social and global problems.
However, a few famous anecdotes, and some of the evangelical claims that are difficult to confirm, make the picture less rosy, especially after 9/11 and the famously phrased "War on Terrorism."
History tells us that Muslims are not immune from conversion to other religions during the time of political, economic, social, or military pressure or upheavals. Muslims in Spain become extinct following the Reconquista and Inquisition that followed by the Catholic Church. Hundreds of thousands of Spanish Muslims and Moriscos were forcefully converted to Catholicism, killed or expelled from their homes. Similar outcomes faced Muslims of the Philippines in the Sultanate of Manila, China, East Africa, West Africa, Soviet Union, and now in Sudan, Nigeria, and Muslim minorities in Europe. Some experts argue that current hot areas in the Muslim world, like Darfur and Iraq, are fertile ground for Christian missionary activities where vulnerable Muslims are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place, and sometimes are faced with the choice of adopting a new religion for survival.
The findings of the PEW study should compel us to reconsider the ways we raise our children, how to provide them with strong and balanced Islamic identity, and how to protect their faith in the very competitive landscape of American religions.
We are certain that Islam is the only religion that can address and provide solutions to the complicated social and spiritual crises humanity is facing, including racism, poverty, materialism, exploitation of resources, and more. It is the religion that satisfies the soul and mind and does not conflict with reason or science. It is imperative that we make our homes, our Mosques, our schools, and other institutions the right environment for nurturing Islam in our children and youth and make it relevant to their lives in this land. It is vital for our future to open our doors to our neighbors and make our Mosques, sermons, and programs more attractive and less ethnocentric, more welcoming to all Muslims, especially new Muslims who need well-reasoned answers, measured and relevant teachings, guidance, comfort, solace, and above all, friendship, brotherhood, and sisterhood.
If we succeed in this transformation, then we can look forward to a broader and more meaningful role for Muslims in this land.
The full study titles are: PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life on Religious Landscape in the US. If interested, you may visit PEW's Website.
Dr. M. Zaher Sahloul
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| MFCC Basketball Champs! |
Mosque Foundation Community Center (MFCC) basketball team participated in its first tournament on March 29, 2008 in Milwaukee, and brought home the  1st place trophy. Sacrificing their usual Saturday morning sleep-in, more than 30 very excited players gathered early at MFCC to load up the bus for the all day trip. We started with duaa to implore Allah to keep us safe as we embarked on our trip with a bus full of boys ready to play. When we reached the Milwaukee Masjid we were all amazed over the full indoor basketball court that connected to the Masjid. Our team dressed out in our new black shirts emblazoned with the MFCC emblem on the front and "Sympathize With Gaza" on the back.
The day was full of exciting teeth clenching games which included two overtimes and three game winning shots. Coming in with an undefeated record, the Mosque Foundation Community Center faced Milwaukee MAS Youth for the championship game and won 45-37. In a unanimous decision for MVP, our very own Ibrahim Saleh took the prize title, and the Mosque Foundation Community Center returned to Bridgeview with a trophy and bragging rights until the next tournament.
by Ahmed Aduib, MFCC Counselor
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| Calling All Youth to RISE! |
A talented music group well known to Islamic school and public school students alike gave a live performance at Aqsa School on Sunday, April 6th, 2008.  The Sound of Reason, a group of converts originating from Canada, performed their own original songs detailing the struggles faced by youth.
The event, organized by the Aqsa School seniors and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, and co-sponsored by the Mosque Foundation Community Center and the American Islamic Association Youth Group, featured dynamic speeches by Rami Nashashibi of IMAN and Amal Ali of CIOGC, along with local  professional beatboxer Hassan Ahmad.
Break-out sessions were coordinated by the CIOGC youth facilitators to allow the youth to discuss important issues they are facing, such as peer pressure, how to balance Islamic dress with current fashion trends, and how to battle misleading Muslim stereotypes.
RISE is part of a larger youth outreach project aimed toward high school students throughout Chicago's southwest suburbs. For more information about this project, contact youth@ciogc.org.
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| Community Center Corner - Parenting! It's Hard Work! |
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Generation after generation, we notice parenting is becoming more difficult while at the same time, the challenges youth and children face are more complex. With my experiences dealing with both, youth and parents, I see the frustration from both sides.  When I speak with parents about their children, they express their challenges dealing with their son/daughter's actions, grades, behavior, and more. Then, I speak with youth and they express that parents are not supportive or understanding; there is truth to both sides. Abu Salmah (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) related that Abu Hurayrah (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) said, "The Prophet of Allah (Peace and Blessings be upon Him) kissed Hasan ibn 'Ali while Aqra' ibn Habis was sitting nearby. Aqra' said, 'I have ten children and have never kissed one of them.' The Prophet looked at him and said, 'Those who show no mercy will be shown no mercy.' Hadith - Bukhari (#91) and Muslim
(2) Listen when your children talk. Listening to your children tells them that you think they're important and that you're interested in what they have to say.
(3) Make your children feel safe. Comfort them when they're scared. Show them you've taken steps to protect them.
(4) Provide order in their lives. Keep a regular schedule of meals, naps and bedtimes. If you have to change the schedule, tell them about the changes ahead of time.
(5) Praise your children. When your children learn something new or behave well, tell them you're proud of them.
(6) Criticize the behavior, not the child. When your child makes a mistake, don't say, "You were bad." Instead, explain what the child did wrong. For example, say: "Running into the street without looking isn't safe." Then tell the child what to do instead: "First, look both ways for cars."
(7) Be consistent. Your rules don't have to be the same ones other parents have, but they do need to be clear and consistent. (Consistent means the rules are the same all the time.) If two parents are raising a child, both need to use the same rules. Also, make sure baby sitters and relatives know and follow your family rules.
 (8) Spend time with your children. Do things together, like reading, walking, playing and cleaning the house. What children want most is your attention. Bad behavior is usually their way of getting your attention.
In closing, I pray that Allah (swt) guides and protects us in the journey of parenting and He provides for us success in this world and in the next.
Lena Tleib
Assistant Director of MFCC
Parents must understand the difference of opinions and challenges that each generation goes through and understand that their children are growing up in a different atmosphere than their parents grew up in. From generation to generation, the trends, culture, and individual experiences change.
It is essential that every parent and every household studies and implements what the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon Him) did, because he is our prime example for how to do everything. Keep in mind though, that there is not only one correct way to raise children and there is no such thing as a perfect parent or a perfect child. But here are some guidelines to help your children grow up healthy and happy, inshallah:
(1) Show your love. Every day, tell your children: "I love you. You're special to me." And be sure to give them lots of hugs and kisses.
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| Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium |
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 The Mosque Foundation was a proud sponsor of the first official Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) conducted by CAIR-Chicago, April 5th-6th at the MFCC. About 100 high school students from across the Chicagoland area attended the two day workshop, which included speakers such as Rami Nashashibi of IMAN, Safaa Zarzour of Universal School, Ahmed Rehab and Yaser Tabbara of CAIR-Chicago, and Sh. Kifah Mustapha of the Mosque Foundation, to name a few.
The students split into teams and spent the two days in workshops and presentations reflecting what it means to be a Muslim in America, and how to translate that identity into community activism, civic participation, as well as cultural empowerment.
United States Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, was invited as keynote speaker for the symposium, delivering an inspirational speech reflecting on his own experience. "You've been given a gift," Congressman Ellison said, "an opportunity to face adversity with courage, with patience, with the assistance of prayer, and to come out on the other side of it more successful than you were before."
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| Spring 2008 Qur'an Competition |
The MFCC's Spring 2008 Qur'an Memorization Competition has been completed, and as always it must be said that everyone who commits the words of the  Holy Qur'an into their hearts is a winner.
Competition winners are as follows: For Surat An-Naziat: First place - Bisher Almasri, $100; Second place - Tariq Nasir, $60; Tied for Third place - Faroq Tabbara, $40 & Nada Mohamad, $40.
For Surat Al Hashr: First place - Mahmoud Yousef, $100; Second place - Narmin Shehaiber, $60; Tied for Third place - Ayman Elgoweiny, $40, Ayshah Obeid, $40, & Rabia Mahmood, $40.
For Surah Muhammed: First place - Aala Mohamed, $150; Second place - Bilal Chaudhary, $80; Third place - Duaa Mohamed, $50.
For Surah Younis: First place - Asma Abuzaghleh, $200.
For Hafiz: First place - Ashraf Aloweiny, $200.
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| The Value of Time |
| by Sh. Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda
The Prophet (God's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are two blessings which many people lose: Health and free time for doing good." Time is a precious blessing and a great gift, the value of which is only realized and benefited from by the successful guided ones, as indicated by this noble statement of the Prophet (God's peace and blessings be upon him). The expression, "... which many people lose," implies that only a minority benefit from time, while the majority waste and lose it
 Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said that one should have regret over any time that has passed [wastefully]! And it is a deadly regret, for time passes fleetingly, and is difficult to hold on to, slow to regain. Time for the worshipper is the time for worship and litanies, and for the spiritual seeker, it is time for drawing close to God and devoting one's heart completely to Him. Time is the dearest thing to the spiritual aspirant; he fears that it may pass without him achieving his desire! If time passes him, he can never get it back, for the time that follows it has its own accompanying obligations and opportunities, such that when one time is lost there is no way to regain it. The regret of hearts at the loss of time is mournful.
Time passes naturally, ends automatically, so whoever is not aware of his soul, his time will be lost, his loss will be great, and his regrets will be severe. How will he feel when he realizes, when his loss becomes certain, the magnitude of what he has lost? And when he seeks going back and finds it impossible to regain what he has lost? For how can yesterday be returned in a new day? But then there will be no escape [for them], and they will be seized from a position [quite] near. And they will say, "We do believe [now] in the [Truth]"; but how could they receive [faith] from a position [so far off] (Quran, 34:51-52). And when he is deprived of what he wishes and desires, and becomes certain that what he had purchased was not fit to be purchased by a rational person, and there will be a barrier between him and that which he desires (Quran, 34:54).
Events are short-lasting; they pass like the passing of clouds, and time passes, and all that remains is its effect. Hence choose for yourself what will remain with you of your time, for the effect will surely remain, and thus to the happy ones it will be said in Paradise: Eat and drink to your heart's content because of what you did in days gone by (Quran, 69:24). And it will be said to the wretched ones in the Hellfire: [You have met this fate] because you exulted in the earth without right and because you were insolent (Quran, 40:75).
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim also said: "The highest, noblest and most beneficial of thoughts are those that are for God and the Hereafter. What is for God is of many types... the fifth kind is reflecting on the obligation of using time and its function, and gathering all of one's resolve for that purpose alone. For the intelligent one is the one who is conscious of his time, and if he loses it then he would have lost all his interests, for all interests derive from time, and whenever time is lost it can never be regained!"
 It is said, "Time is a sword; if you do not slay it, it will slay you.' And the second: 'Keep your soul occupied with good, otherwise it will keep you occupied with evil.'"
One's time is in fact one's life, and the substance of one's eternal life in lasting pleasure or of a life of suffering. For he who spends his time in negligence, desires and false wishes, and spends most of his time in sleeping and idleness, then the death of such a person is better for him than his life.
Time is ever moving, and does not return once it has passed, such that its loss is an irreplaceable loss that cannot be regained, for each time has its own actions to fill it. The eminent companion 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may God be pleased with him, said: "I have never regretted anything as much as my regret over a day on which the sun sets and my life span decreases while my good deeds have not increased."
The pious caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'AzIz, may God be pleased with him, said: "Night and day are ever working on you, thus work in them."
(This excerpt was taken with permission by Awakening Publications.)
The pious predecessors and those successors who followed their way were the keenest of people to gain time and to fill it with good deeds, whether they were scholars or common worshippers, for they raced against the hours so that they may not lose any part of time.
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My Name is Rachel Corrie
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The five year anniversary of the tragic death of young peace activist Rachel Corrie just passed on March 16th. Most are familiar with the shocking story of the 23 year old American, a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who traveled to the Gaza Strip and was run over by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to protect the home of a Palestinian family from being demolished.
 In honor of Rachel's legacy, Count Down to Zero, a traveling theater company based in Colorado, presented "My Name is Rachel Corrie," a two hour monologue taken verbatim from Rachel's own journals and emails, at Universal School, Sunday, April 20, 2008.
Although some of the content and language was a little shocking and inappropriate for this venue, perhaps more suitable for a university sponsored event rather than a mosque sponsored event, nonetheless the dialogue was riveting and inspiring, and the actress, Julie Rava, was superb. It almost felt like the audience was peeking into the private thoughts of Rachel Corrie, as she struggled to stand against oppression for a people and a place which had no personal connection to her, other than her moral sense of justice. Many in the audience were brought to tears by the end of the dynamic performance, which was banned in New York for its pro-Palestinian content.
Some of the audience stayed after the play for an informal question and answer session with the actress who portrayed Rachel, Julie Rava, and the production crew of Count Down to Zero.
For more information about Rachel Corrie's life, visit the Rachel Corrie Memorial Website.
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| Healthcare is a Priority |
 Did you know that 43 million people in America are uninsured? Nearly 1.7 million in Illinois are uninsured, with close to 700,000 in metropolitan Chicago alone. Dr. Azher Quader, Executive Director of Compassionate Care Network (CCN) is well aware of the health crisis in America, and one of the services CCN offers on a regular basis is Free Health Screenings such as the one held at MFCC on Sunday, April 13, 2008. Around 34 uninsured mosque community members benefited from the Free Health Screening. May Allah reward Dr. Quader and CCN and continue to bless this important cause.
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| MF General Assembly Elects 7 New Board Members |
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The Mosque Foundation Annual General Assembly meeting was held on Saturday, April 26th, 2008. Among the highlights of the evening's discussion were priorities for the coming year such as youth development, introducing Arabic language into public schools, more community outreach, and the launch of a new endowment fund as a long term investment. Seven new Board of Director members were elected by the general assembly. Congratulations to Dr. Talal Sunbulli, Oussama Jammal, Khalida Baste, Habes Abdallah, Samer Shalabi, Kamal Eldeirawi, and Khaled Ata.
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