Muslim Voice September 2014

Muslim Voice ARIZONA

SEPTEMBER 2014

Monthly Newspaper

thulquida / THUL HIJA

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

Vol.18 Issue No. 217

US Muslims Urge Probe of Anti-Veil Attack A leading US Muslim advocacy group has called for investigating a possible hate-crime attack against a veiled Muslim woman who has been struck in an Indiana store a few weeks ago.

“Without an alternative theory for the motive of the attacker, anti-Muslim bias based on the victim’s ethnicity and religious attire must be investigated by law enforcement authorities,” Ibrahim Hooper, National Communications Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement obtained by OnIslam. net on Saturday, August 23.

Bouchra Bahda, the Muslim mother of two, was attacked form from behind last Ramadan when a young man struck her with a hard downswipe on the shoulder outside a Wal-Mart store in Indiana.

The Muslim woman and her husband, both native Moroccans, were accompanying kids to shopping in the WalMart in Avon where the assault

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happened.

“What was he thinking?”

Abdelhakim Ejjair, the husband who moved to the US in 1998 told Indystar.

“Does he hate Muslims? I just want know what was in his head. What was the reason?”

The attack has left the couple shocked, stressing they have never faced a similar assault in the area.

“She got mad — really, really mad,” Ejjair said, translating for his wife, 42, who speaks Arabic and French but only limited English.

“This has never happened to her in her life.”

Eijair could follow the assailant and catch him, by confronting him the man offered “fight”, an offer that was disdained by the father who feared for the safety of his kids who were watching.

“I was mad and I felt like I wanted to fight him,” he said.

Continued on page 5

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september 2014

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Terms used in this paper Alhamdulilah: Praise God Allah: Arabic word for God Fatwa: Islamic decision based on Shari’a Hadith: Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca Halal: Allowed in Islam Halaqa: Group study Haram: Prohibited in Islam Hijab: Head cover for women Hijra: Migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Madina Imam: Islamic scholar Iman: Faith Inshallah: God willing Madina: City near Mecca in Saudia Arabia Masjid: Place were Muslims gather for prayer and studies Mecca: City in Saudi Arabia where Prophet Mohammad was born Pbuh: Peace be upon him Quran: Islam’s Holy book Shahadah: Is saying “I accept Allah as the one God and Mohammad as his messenger” when someone accepts Islam.

Sharia’: Islamic law Shura: A council of Muslim scholars (SWT) Subhanahu Watala: Praise be to Allah Taqwa: God consciousness

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Alaska Set to Open First Mosque ALASKA – A relatively small Muslim community in America’s far north western state of Alaska have put final touches on their first mosque.

“It will be a two-story building.

The men will be in the prayer area on the first floor and the women will be on the second floor,” Heather Robertson Barbour, a Muslim who lives in Anchorage, told PRI on Tuesday, August 26.

“There will be a balcony where women can watch the Imam when he does sermons,” Barbour added.

For decades, Muslim community in Anchorage, Alaska, used to hold their gatherings and communal prayers in a rented space in a shopping mall.

“It’s a small place,” Barbour said.

Over the years, the Muslim community in Alaska has grown larger and the space they rented became too small.

With the growth of the Muslim community, demand increased for a larger place to host Muslim prayers The idea for the mosque came about a few years ago and after years of fundraising, construction finally began in 2010.

After almost four year of work, Alaska Muslims will have a brand new mosque to call their spiritual

home.

Finishing the first phase in the mosque, the second phase of the construction consists of creating classrooms, offices and a library.

Diverse Community Because of harsh winters and heavy snowfalls in Alaska, the mosque will not have a dome.

However, the cold weather hasn’t stopped the flow of immigration to Alaska, creating diverse Muslim communities of all backgrounds.

“We have people from all over the world,” Barbour said.

“We have people from southeast Asia, south Asia, India, Pakistan,

the Middle East, Europe.”

The diversity of the society was widely accepted in Anchorage.

“If, say, an Arab tries to impose their culture, Pakistanis say, no, that’s not Islamic. You have to go to the books, you have to research,” Barbour said.

Opening their new mosque, Barbour thinks Muslims there will feel more organized. The place will give them more of an identity.

“We’ll have the facilities. We won’t have a kind of a rag-tag operation,” she says.

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Muslim Health Center Unites US Faiths NEW YORK – A US Muslim healthcare unit has been praised not only for helping needy patients but also for presenting a perfect example of interfaith cooperation between Muslims and Jews for the benefit of the less-privileged in their society.

“The issue is not Muslim, Jewish or Christian suffering. The issue is human suffering,” Dr. Aijaz Ali Khowaja, Chief Executive Officer of Ibn Sina, said in a press release cited by PRWEB on Thursday, August 21.

Serving Houston community for more than 13 years, Ibn Sina Foundation caters to the needs of about 85,000 patients locally with its medical, dental and pediatric clinics.

The Muslim foundation, which offers low-cost health care for uninsured and needy people, provides inexpensive medications, and a quarterly checkup by a primary care physician.

Along with offering treatment for diabetes, heart disease, pulmonary disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, the health center operates surgeries, gynecology, cardiology and urology services as volunteered by specialists.

Away from the news about sectarian wars and conflict across the world, the heath center offered a true-image of interfaith relations after hiring a professional Jewish team that is eager to serve the community.

“We must serve the community to live the complete Jewish life,” said Brith Shalom Rabbi Ranon Teller.

“That means both the Jewish community, and the larger community. In this way, diversity is the soil of peace.”

Ibn Sina foundation was lately joined by members of Houston’s Congregation Brith Shalom and JSLI trained Rabbi Harvey Rosenstock, a well-respected psychiatrist, who

deems his participation as an act of “healing the world”.

“Two groups of people come from different sides, meet, shake hands, and through their work, they multiply blessings in the world,” said Rabbi Dr. Harvey Rosenstock, a psychiatrist and member of Congregation Brith Shalom who works with Ibn Sina.

“Ultimately, we are healers.

We heal everyone,” said Rabbi Rosenstock.

Though there are no official estimates, the US is home to an estimated Muslim minority of six to eight million.

An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States.

A recent survey found that

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“Profiling Targets US Muslims Too” FERGUSON, Missouri – A leading American Muslim civil rights activist has complained that US Muslims were enduring similar racial profiling to AfricanAmerican in Ferguson suburb in Missouri state.

“Profiling in post9/11 America of ArabAmericans and SouthAsian Americans cannot be dealt with in a silo separate from the profiling and misconduct that is done towards AfricanAmericans by law enforcement officers,” Dawud Walid, a director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told RIA Novosti.

Anger across the American society raged after the fatal shooting of Brown two weeks ago in Missouri by police.

According to media reports, St. Louis County police claimed the unarmed Brown had struggled for an officer’s gun in a patrol car before he was killed.

Witnesses said Brown, who

is African-American, had his hands up when he was shot.

Brown’s death triggered angry demonstrations and calls by several civil rights organizations

have erupted since a white police officer fatally shot Brown.

CAIR has also said that prosecutor should replace St. Louis County

for the US Justice Department to investigate the shooting.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday ordered the Missouri National Guard to begin withdrawing from Ferguson, where nightly scenes of unrest

Prosecutor Robert McCulloch, who allegedly has personal and professional ties to the Ferguson police department.

“It’s important for Arab Americans and South Asian Americans to show solidarity

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with black Americans about the racial profiling that we all experience at the hands of law enforcement officers – irrespective of them being Christian or Muslim,” Walid added.

This is not the first time CAIR official expressed concerns over the rising racial profiling in the US. Last week, 100 groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), issued a statement urging the American authorities to address ‘racial profiling’ by law enforcement.

The group urged the Congress to pass the ‘End Racial Profiling Act’, which would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using profiling based on race, ethnicity, national origin or religion.

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September 2014

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US Faiths Demand Basketball Religious Outfit WASHINGTON – Pursuing their dream of being professional Basketball players, two female Muslim have called International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to revoke the imposed hijab ban during match, a similar request has been raised to allow turbans worn by Sikh players.

“Basketball has been an integral part of my life, and I pray it will continue to be in the coming years,” Indira Kaljo, a Muslim Basketball player, wrote in a letter o Internatwional Basketball Federation (FIBA) that was obtained by OnIslam.net on Tuesday, August 19.

“It has opened doors and paved ways that have given me opportunities that I could have never dreamed of.

“Unfortunately, the discriminatory FIBA rule banning head covering in competition is preventing me and many others around the world, like Bilqis, from continuing to pursue our passions,” she added.

According to FIBA rules, Islamic headscarf or hijab is banned in matches. The ban was justified by FIBA as a way to remain religiously neutral.

The ban has shattered dreams of female Muslim players who were banned from participating in overseas matches.

“Wearing the hijab during sport is in no way harmful to the player wearing it, or the other players participating.

If anything, it provides safety

because the hair is covered, keeping it from swinging freely and possibly becoming a hindrance,” Bilqis AbdulQaadir wrote in FIBA letter.

“I can personally attest that I’ve never endured an injury caused by my head covering. It has actually saved me from a few possible head concussions during basketball games.

“I am not only writing this letter for my benefit, I am trying to help pave a way for future Muslim women basketball players. I don’t want them to have to withstand any struggles when pursuing their dreams. I want everyone in that board meeting to know, MUSLIM GIRLS HOOP TOO!” The case of young Muslim players has won support from the leading American Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which called for allowing hijab in basketball matches.

“Without a change in this discriminatory policy, Muslim women and Sikh men will continue to be blocked from playing basketball while following their religious beliefs and practices,” CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement on Tuesday.

“FIBA should expand international access to the benefits of basketball by dropping its ban on religious head coverings.”

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Continued from p. 1

a turban has been dangerous during basketball games,” the letter says and points to football’s world governing body, FIFA, which permits players to wear turbans.

Last May, a New York Muslim student has won a worthy fight after being granted the right to wrestle while wearing beard, a decision which overturned an earlier ban which denied him the chance to compete for a full season tournament.

FIFA’s International Football Association Board has allowed Muslims’ hijab and Sikh turbans last March.

In June 2011, an Atlanta Muslim woman was allowed to compete in international weightlifting tournaments while donning hijab after the sport’s world governing body modified its rules to accommodate her Muslim beliefs.

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US Muslims “But my kids were with us, and I thought about what they would think, and I didn’t want to lose everything for pride.”

Peaceful Community The apparent racial attack has drawn the ire of Indiana’s Westside Muslim leaders who deemed it an “aberration” in the community that used to welcome the growing Muslim community.

“I’m shocked this would happen in a town like Avon, a place with very low crime,” Edgar Hopida, communications director at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), said.

“It’s a very peaceful community.”

ISNA’s Hopida said that hate crimes are a reflection of the conflict in the Middle East like the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant (ISIL).

“What I have seen is that anytime something goes on overseas, or anytime there is an attack in the United States, there typically is some kind of backlash (against Muslims in America),” he added.

Inspecting footages captured by WalMart surveillance cameras, police

Sikh Turbans A similar request of allowing religious garments in basketball matches was raised by two US politicians who demanded allowing Sikh players to wear turbans.

“We are concerned about recent reports indicating that Sikhs are not able to participate in International Basketball Federation (FIBA) games while wearing a turban, which is essential to their faith, and ask you to change this discriminatory policy,” Yvan Mainini, American Congress member and co-author of the letter along with Joe Crowley and Ami Bera, wrote in a letter to FIBA quoted by Al-Jazeera.

“Basketball is a beloved team sport that has the ability to bring people of all backgrounds together, regardless of history, culture, language, and religion.”

Demands to allow turban at FIBA tournaments followed asking Indian players, Amritpal Singh and Amjyot Singh, to take off turbans at the FIBA Asia Cup tournament last month in China.

The letter says the players were told their turbans violated FIBA’s rules which states: “Players shall not wear equipment that may cause injury to other players.”

“There is no evidence showing that

has identified the suspect as a young male between 15 and 17 years old.

Department spokesman Jeff Ritorto said he has reviewed every police report filed in and around Avon of late and is confident “that this is the only incident of its kind from this area.”

As the police couldn’t locate the suspect, the Muslim couple couldn’t feel safe. “We just want to be safe,” Ejjair said. Since 9/11, Muslims, estimated between six to seven million, have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights, with a prevailing belief that America was stigmatizing their faith.

An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States. A recent survey found that American Muslims are the most moderate around the world.

A US survey has also revealed that the majority of Americans know very little about Muslims and their faith. A recent Gallup poll has found 43 percent of Americans Nationwide admitted to feeling at least “a little” prejudice against Muslims.

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www.AZMuslimVoice.com 6 september 2014 INTERNATIONAL Ethiopia Muslims Boost Social Services Israel Blows Gaza Children Education Dream

ADDIS ABABA – Expanding its social work in the Ethiopian community, the Islamic Affairs Supreme Council has revealed plans to boost its health and education services in the populous landlocked African country.

“Though the Supreme Council is a religious institution, its development wings will work as per the rules and regulations put in place for charity organizations of the country,” Sheikh Kiyar Mohammed Aman, the Council President, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday, August 26.

The new services were first disclosed at a meeting organized by the council to discuss means of expanding social services in health and education.

These services will be offered in the Horn of Africa country through the Awalia Aid and Development Organization.

“The organization will strive to expand education service at all levels – kindergarten to college level – and work towards increasing health service coverage through building new health facilities and upgrading existing ones,” organization manager Se’id Asmare said.

“Awalia will work towards the success of the country’s efforts to distribute education service among all citizens and help the public get access to improved health services.

Awalia would “build a new

kindergarten in the southwestern part of the country and build a seven-floor building for the Awalia School in the heart of Addis Ababa as part of efforts to expand educational facilities,” Asmare added.

The organization, Awalia Aid, which was once managed by a Saudi Islamic organization, became a part of the Islamic Council in 2012.

“Awalia is responsible to actively participate in the development agenda of the nation and enable the public to benefit from development,” Council President Aman added.

Muslims make up about 34 percent of Ethiopia’s population, according to the government’s 2007 census.

But other sources put Ethiopia Muslims at about 50% of the country’s population.

Last July, hundreds of Ethiopian Muslim protested against what they perceive as unjustified arrest of 17 of their leaders over terrorism charges in 2013.

Muslims say the government move is in violation of the constitution, which prevents the government interference in religious affairs.

Amnesty International has also condemned what the rights group described as the Ethiopian government’s use of repressive tactics against demonstrators.

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GAZA CITY – Though the first day of school has been usually marked with joy and excitement, the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza Strip has left about half a million Pa l e s t i n i a n c h i l d r e n without proper schools after they were forced to take shelter in UN schools with their families.

“I don’t want to have to live in a school,” 11-year-old Amin al-Kilani, whose family was driven out of their home in Beit Hanun in northern Gaza after Israel bombarded the area, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Monday, August 25.

“I want to learn here, then just go home,” he said.

Al-Kilani lined up on the early morning of Sunday with dozens of his colleagues in the playground of a UN school to make a symbolic welcome to the new academic year by chanting the Palestinian national anthem.

Returning to classrooms crowded with displaced families, northern Gaza students have recited the opening Surah of the holy Qur’an Al-Fatihah for thousands of martyrs killed in the latest Israeli aggression on besieged Gaza Strip.

“Classes will remain closed in the conflict-stricken coastal enclave, denying these nearly 500,000 children their right to education,” Unicef said in a statement obtained by OnIslam. net.

The symbolic start of the new school year also included reciting poem and popular Palestinian songs by thousands of the disappointed students.

“I was looking forward to school beginning again so I could finish my tawjihi exams (the Palestinian high school diploma),” said 17-year-old Wujud Zayeda.

“This year it’s different. One of my friends was injured in a strike near her home. I’m really upset, we just want to learn.”

During the 48-day Israeli military operation against Gaza, more than 219 schools have been damaged, with 22 totally destroyed and cannot be used any more, UNICEF revealed.

According to the UNICEF, about 330,000 internally displaced Palestinians are sheltering in 103 UNRWA schools, 50% of them are children.

Repairing schools Concerned about the future of displaced Palestinian kids, Save the Children, UNICEF and UNESCO issued a joint statement on Sunday, urging a “durable” ceasefire to help starting the

school term within a few weeks.

“Going back to school means bringing back normalcy to children. For this

we need a durable ceasefire, and we must meet the most pressing needs for the rapid recovery of the education system,” said Lodovico Folin Calabi, Acting Head of the UNESCO Office in Ramallah.

The trio organizations said that Gaza students must be granted the chance to “heal from the trauma” of having lost loved ones and facing Israeli daily airstrikes.

“This is the time when children should be in school to study, not to try and survive armed conflict,” said David and Paulette Hassell, Co-Country Directors of Save the Children, who together with UNICEF co-lead the Education Cluster coordinating humanitarian action in the sector.

“This has been a dangerous summer for Palestinian children in Gaza, who could not even go outside to play. School is a vital lifeline to these traumatized children, which plays a key role in their healing,” the Hassells added.

Children were not the only sector affected by the ongoing Israeli aggression.

For Gaza mothers, the war has left them with a feeling of being incapable of protecting their children right of safe life and education.

“Even the right of our children to study is denied,” said Hanan Matar, 48, who is living in a UN school with her nine children.

Israel has been launching relentless airstrikes against Gaza since July 8 where more than 2,100 have been killed and thousands injured.

According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about 80% of deaths in Gaza are civilians, including dozens of children and women.

The large scale of mass destruction in Gaza has left about 5,510 homes completely destroyed and about 31,000 partially damaged, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes that were caught up in the Israeli air strikes.

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Syrian Refugees Reach Three Million

NEW YORK – Three years of civil war have forced more than three million Syrians to flee their country, a third of them during the past year along, the United Nations said in its report issued on Friday, August 29.

“The Syrian crisis has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them,” UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said in the statement.

“The response to the Syrian crisis has been generous, but the bitter truth is that it falls far short of what’s needed,” he added.

Help Syrian Refugees (10+ Hadiths) Help Now: The Plight of Syrian Refugees Europe Failed Syrian Refugees: Amnesty Less than a year ago, the number of registered Syrian refugees stood at two million, according to UNHCR records.

However, a series of reports of “increasingly horrifying conditions inside the country” have led to the surge.

It described “cities where populations are surrounded, people are going hungry and civilians are being targeted or indiscriminately killed.”

“Syria’s intensifying refugee crisis will today surpass a record three million people,” the UN’s refugee agency said in a statement, adding that the number did not include hundreds of thousands of others who fled without registering as refugees.

Most of the Syrian refugees have found their way to neighboring countries, with Lebanon hosting 1.14 million, Jordan 608,000 and Turkey 815,000.

The UN agency for refugees added that the strain on the host countries’ economies, infrastructures and resources is “enormous”.

It added that nearly 40 percent of the refugees were living in sub-standard conditions.

The agency said its work to help the Syrian refugees now marked the largest operation in its 64-year-history.

The increasingly fragmented conflict raging in Syria has claimed more than 191,000 lives since erupting in March 2011.

In addition to the refugees, the violence has also displaced 6.5 million people within the country, meaning that nearly 50 percent of all Syrians have been forced to flee their homes, UNHCR said.

Over half of all those who have been uprooted are children, it lamented.

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Shocking State The UNHRC warned that increasing numbers of families were arriving in a shocking state, exhausted, scared and with their savings depleted.

“Most have been on the run for a year or more, fleeing from village to village before taking the final decision to leave,” the statement said.

“There are worrying signs too that the journey out of Syria is becoming tougher, with many people forced to pay bribes at armed checkpoints proliferating along the borders.

“Refugees crossing the desert into eastern Jordan are being forced to pay smugglers hefty sums (ranging from $100 per person or more) to take them to safety,” it added.

More than half of those arriving in Lebanon had fled at least once before crossing the border, while one in 10 had fled more than three times, UNHCR said, adding that one woman claimed to have moved no fewer than 20 times before crossing into Lebanon.

Meanwhile there are worrying signs that the journey out of Syria is becoming

more difficult, the agency said.

Many people are being forced to pay bribes at a growing number of armed checkpoints along the borders, and those crossing the desert into eastern Jordan are being forced to pay smugglers hefty sums to take them to safety, it said.

The agency also voiced deep concern for several hundred Syrians trapped inside the remote al Obaidi refugee camp in Iraq after UN agencies and other groups were forced to abandon their offices and warehouses as the region became overrun by Islamic State jihadists.

“National partners are continuing to provide supplies and maintenance, but the situation is volatile,” it said.

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FAMILY

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You Were a Spouse Before You Became a Parent

Escapism is officially defined as: Es•cap•ism (-skpzm) n. The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment. ***He arrives home at 8:30 p.m, exhausted from the day’s work. As he shuts the front door gently, she hears him enter, totally engrossed in the latest plot twist of the local prime time television show.

After having meticulously supervised the children’s homework, prepared their bags and uniforms for school the next day, and spent the rest of the early evening cooking dinner, she is finally enjoying her ‘break‘: the latest episode of her favorite drama serial.

She responds to what vaguely sounds like him greeting her, with a fleeting smile and a slight nod of her head, her eyes glued to the television screen.

The children are in their rooms, their iPads and laptops on, tapping away instant messages to friends over social media. None of them hear him enter the house.

During the show’s 5-minute commercial break, she rushes into the kitchen, and starts to set the table for dinner in a hurry.

In the meantime, he takes a shower, changes into his sweatpants and a T-shirt, and turns on his laptop in the bedroom. The presentation that he has yet to finish before the office board meeting the next day, is still on his

mind.

Within minutes, his eyes are glued to the day’s headlines on his favorite news website. His iPhone pings. In the background, he hears what faintly sounds to him like she calling him for dinner.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, he reaches for his phone, calling out, “In a minute…!” into the empty hallway outside the ajar bedroom door.

Convenient Distractions from Marital Problems Children and work become a convenient distraction from the smaller problems between a married couple very early in a marriage.

Whatever the reason might be for the emotional distance between a husband and wife – and there can be many – the highly ‘engaging’ occupation of raising children (for the wife), and work/job/ career (for the husband), become a convenient means of keeping their minds off the problems between them.

Ignoring and avoiding their problems is even easier in joint/extended family systems, where there is always someone else present to spend time with instead of your spouse.

As the years pass, the couple can grow even further apart if they don’t work on removing the problems that exist between them.

Before they know it, they are elderly: the husband is retired from work, and

the wife is becoming too weak to do all the housework by herself, which she has been doing for years. Their children have flown the nest, busy in their own adult lives.

Now – at this stage – the couple are faced with their problems, glaring them in the face.

The New Scapegoats Since they have used avoidance and escapism for 3-4 decades, a couple that finds it difficult to communicate openly with each other because of the emotional distance that has risen between them over the years, might start to cling emotionally to their grown-up children and grandchildren.

This might be evident in their calling them up very often, wanting to repeatedly come over for extended visits, complaining about having nothing to do, lamenting about their own house being too silent/empty, snapping at each other at the drop of a hat, and not being able to find anything enjoyable to do together.

Consequently, the husband’s best friend becomes the television and the daily newspaper, and the wife’s best friend?, —– well, the kitchen and housework, as always.

Introspect and Act – While Young Do you want to ‘end up’ like such a couple?

Because the years will pass very quickly, and if you don’t work on your problems rightnow, you won’t be able to spend any enjoyable time together alone if and when you grow old (say, at the age of 55+), when your chosen ‘distractions’ are no longer there to occupy you.

Ask yourself some key questions about your marriage: - Do you communicate with your spouse candidly and openly about everything? Or do you bottle up your feelings inside (mistakenly considering this a sign of “patience”), only to vent them later on in front of a parent/ sibling/friend, when your spouse’s back is turned?

- Do you look forward to the weekends more than the weekdays? Or do you ‘dread’ the weekend, because it will mean that your spouse will be around near you?

- Is there any activity that you and your spouse enjoy doing together, alone, just the two of you?

Even if it is simply reading/discussing a book, visiting a library, going to the masjid, attending a knowledge-based/ scholarly event, going for `umrah, taking a walk in the park, cycling/hiking in the hills, having dinner, coffee or ice cream at your favorite restaurant or cafe, doing grocery shopping, going out for a brunch of halwa puri on Sundays, playing a board game, cooking a meal together and eating it? Anything?

- What do you envision your old age to be like? Do you see yourself insisting that your married son(s) don’t move out, so that your house remains full?

Do you see yourself imposing your company on your grown-up children who are living in separate homes: sons

and daughters-in-law (or daughters and sons-in-law), uninvited, going to live in their homes for months at a time, away from your spouse, because your own home has become too ‘boring’ for you?

Or do you see yourself doing that which you’ve been wanting to do for years, but couldn’t because of a lack of time or because of other obligations: spending quality time with your spouse? – For healthy recreation, for da’wah pursuits, for seeking knowledge, for leisure – while also giving a portion of it to your offspring and grandchildren (on a demand basis), and to your greater community?

- What do you enjoy doing now, when the kids are asleep? If it doesn’t involve your spouse at all, and mostly involves useless time-fillers such as watching television, reading ‘fluff’, gossiping/ venting on the phone, window shopping, or going out with ‘friends’ (i.e. people you hardly know, like, or are close to), then this is a warning sign of an impending old age filled with boredom.

Do something about it NOW, before you become a clingy, snappy senior who is always complaining of being lonely.

The Foundational Relationship Remember that the husband-wife relationship was the first one created

by Allah.

When Allah created Prophet Adam (PBUH) the first human being, the immediately next one to follow was his wife.

This makes it clear how the marital relationship comes into existence even before that of motherhood/fatherhood!

A single parent has to make double the effort to raise a healthy, well-rounded and righteous child, because they lack in their lives the automatic ‘boost’ provided by spousal love that makes the job of co-parenting so much easier to do.

It would, therefore, not be an exaggeration to say that your relationship with your spouse is extremely important.

I acknowledge that many of us might not even live to see old age, or that many of us might lose their spouse naturally long before they grow old, and I pray that Allah spares everyone of us the loneliness and weakness that comes with such a trial.

Which is why Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has also taught all of us to seek refuge from debilitating old age early on, while we are young and active.

But I also want to remind everyone that we need to ask ourselves the above key questions about our marriages NOW, in order to prevent bigger problems from cropping up when/if we get old.

And working on cultivating a loving, caring, and emotionally close relationship with your spouse right NOW, while you are still young, instead of caving in to escapism (using your children and careers as diversions), is one of the most effective ways of preventing many of those old-age problems.

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

CALENDAR / ANNOUNCEMENTS

Phoenix Prayer Times

September 2014 • Thulquidah/Thulhija 1435 H

September 2014

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Directions to the Islamic Cultural Center Cemetery

From the Islamic Cultural Center (ICC):

ISLAMIC WEEKEND SCHOOLS Islamic Community Center of Phoenix: Islamic Cultural Center: Muslim Community Mosque: Masjid Omar ICNEV Weekend Islamic School

ACA Weekend School Sultan Education in Chandler Greenway Islamic Academy

Sunday at 9:45 am-1:20 pm.

Sunday at 10:00 am Sunday at 10:00 am until 2:30 pm.

Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm.

Tel: (480) 346-2081Classes held on Sunday K thru’ grade 12 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Sunday 10:00 am-1:15 pm. www.azacademy.org/weekend Saturdays & Sundays - children/adults 480-593-7066 Tajweed, Islamic Studies, & Arabic Language 602-565-0500

1) Go South on Forest to University Drive. Turn right.

2) Go West on University to the I-10 highway.

Take I-10 East.

3) Proceed on I-10 East (~12 Miles). Exit at Queen Creek Rd. (EXIT #164).

4) Turn right on route 347 South. Proceed for about 14 miles.

5) Turn right on route 238 West. Proceed for about 8.7 miles.

6) Turn right on unnamed/unpaved street after you see the street sign which reads “36 miles” and proceed to the cemetery.

IN CASE OF DEATH • Call Sandy at Angel’s Burial, at 480-962-6435 • Total cost is $1,800.00

Check our website for up to date information www.tempemasjid.com ISLAMIC CENTERS IN ARIZONA

PHOENIX Arizona Cultural Academy 7810 S. 42nd Pl. • Phoenix 602-454-1222 Islamic Center of Arizona 9032 N. 9th St. • Phoenix

Islamic Center of N. Phoenix 13246 N. 23rd Ave. 85029 602-371-3440 Islamic Comnty Ctr of Phx 7516 N. Black Canyon Hwy. Phoenix • 602-249-0496 Muslim Community Mosque 1818 N. 32nd St. • Phoenix 602-306-4959 Masjid Al-Rahmah 2645 E. McDowell Rd. • Phoenix 602-275-5493 Masjid Muhammad Ibn Abdullah

5648 N. 15th ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85015 602-413-5279

Al Rasoul Mosque 5302 N. 35th Ave. • Phoenix 602-864-1817

CHANDLER Masjid AsSalam 1071 N. Alma School Rd.• Chandler 480-250-7522

PEORIA Greenway Islamic Center 6724 West Greenway • Peoria, Islamic Center of East Valley AZ www.greenwaymasjid.com 425 N. Alma School Dr. • Chandler TEMPE 602-388-9900 Islamic Comnty Ctr of Tempe LAVEEN 131 E. 6th Street • Tempe 480-894-6070 Islamic Center of Laveen P.O. Box 1107 • Laveen Masjid Al Mahdi 602-361-4401 1016 S. River Dr. • Tempe MARICOPA 480-557-9699 Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah Masjid Omar Bin Al-Khattab 44370 W. Arizona Ave. Maricopa Arizona 85138 6225 S.McClintock • Tempe contact# (602)312-7913 480-775-6627 MESA Masjid-el-Noor 55 N. Matlock • Mesa 480-644-0074 SCOTTSDALE Islamic Center of N.E. Valley 12125 E. Via Linda • Scottsdale 480-612-4044

CASA GRANDE Masjid Sajda is located c/o: The Legacy Suites 540 North Cacheris Court Casa Grande`, Arizona 85122 480.332.8618

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