The Muslim Link - August 12, 2011 by The Muslim Link

Ramadan 1432 A.H. Issue

w w w. M u s l i m L i n k P a p e r. c o m

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

Rights Groups: White House Strategy On Countering Violent Extremism Lacks Substance By Fatimah Waseem Muslim Link Staff Writer

EM POW ER I NG LOCA L PA RT NER S TO PR EV EN T V IOLEN T E X TR EM ISM I N T HE U N I T ED STAT ES

AUGUS T 2 011

After more than a year in the making, the White House released its strategy on countering domestic terrorism, Wednesday, August 3, 2011, leaving many civil rights organizations disappointed and uncertain of what President Obama’s ﬁrst strategy on the controversial issue means. The eight-page report – titled “Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the U.S.” - says the federal government’s “most effective role” against domestic terrorism is to support local organizations and communities in a bottom-up approach.

“The federal government will often be ill-suited to intervene in the niches of society where radicalization takes place,” the report says, “But it can foster partnerships to support communities through its connections to local government, law enforcement, [and] mayor’s ofﬁces.” Rather than creating new programs, the federal government will expand upon existing community-based problem solving models which include more engagement with local communities, building law enforcement expertise >> SUBSTANCE Pg 8

Humanity Twisted Together: Reﬂecting on Joplin Relief By Nasreen Baten-tschan Muslim Link Contributing Writer

MWB Reaches Out for Support At Home | pg 4 Germantown Muslims Eye Ground Breaking | pg 5 ICM Raises $110K In Prep for Expansion | pg 6

Despite Challenges, Muslims Unite in Ramadan | pg 9 FILM REVIEW: HBO’s Koran By Heart | pg 16 WORLD PRESS: East Africa Crisis In Pictures | pg 17

Sweat pours down your back and the sun is relentlessly pounding on your skin, but you feel better than ever! How is this possible, you wonder? What could ever be worth the physical discomfort?

ISLAM: Building Ramadan Family Ties | pg 20

I found the answer in small Midwest town of Joplin, Missouri, volunteering for AmeriCorps.

>> JOPLIN Pg 6

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

The Muslim Link One of the many messages of hope painted on the walls still standing in tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. Photo by the author.

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

4 | COMMUNITY NEWS

Community News Muslims Without Borders Reaches Out for Support At Home By Fatimah Waseem

Muslim Link Staff Writer At most masjid fundraisers, Muslim youth sell tickets, collect donations, and man registration booths. But Saturday’s July 30, 2011 “Muslims Without Borders” (MWB) fundraiser took youth involvement to a whole new level as students fundraised, vocalized, and organized for the budding non-profit organization’s world-wide relief efforts. Born at George Mason University after 2010’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, the student-based relief agency and aid organization has grown to great heights, sending thousands of hygiene kits to schools and survivor camps in Haiti and launching similar projects in Egypt, Mexico, and Libya. The even younger Maryland chapter’s ﬁrst fundraiser, attended by 150 people at University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), was undoubtedly part of this astounding growth spurt. The luncheon - which began after Dhuhr and ended at 3:30 pm - was what many called “a huge success,” exceeding its goals to increase awareness about MWB’s relief missions

and raise money for its emergency appeal to provide humanitarian relief for the disturbing famine in Somalia, Maryland Chapter Coordinator, Saad Rahman said. The event raised $19,000, surpassing its goal of $15,000. But MWB didn’t just raise donations. If there was a way to calculate the inspiration and passion be part of MWB’s global mission, the numbers would have rocked the charts. The first fifty attendees were given Ramadan-preparation kits. People signed up for list-serves. Students liked MWB’s Facebook page. Youth put their name down for volunteer activities.Heartfelt speeches by Imam Mahdi Bray, now recovering from a recent stroke, Dr. Altaf Hussain, and MWB founder Shaﬁ Khan left the audience inspired and yearning to do more. “From the different speakers down to the sister manning the soda booth, you could tell their efforts were driven by an underlying passion to MWB’s goals and the values it espouses,” attendee and UMCP graduate Sanjana Qauseum

Maryland Chapter Coordinator, Saad Rahman, speaks at his chapter’s ﬁrst fundraiser. The chapter began in February 2011. Photo courtesy of Jamal Aladdin Photography. said. Among others, she was particularly moved by the “palpable passion” she witnessed. As the luncheon drew to a close, it seemed the fundraiser’s theme “Replenishing our Faith, Restoring Their Hope” written in bold black letters on its ﬂyer was lifted

and placed in the hearts and minds of the attendees - a goal Rahman said was just as important as raising funds. And for Qauseum, this profound ability to change the lives of those giving help

>> SUPPORT Pg 11

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

COMMUNITY NEWS

13 Years Later, Germantown Muslims Eye Ground Breaking By Fatimah Waseem

Muslim Link Staff Writer In 1998, a group of leaders had a vision: building a masjid for the Germantown community. In 2001, they found land right in the middle of the northern Maryland area. Within two years, the $290,000 block was theirs, the water sewage connection system project was underway and the Islamic Society of Germantown’s (ISG) was set for smooth sailing. But it didn’t. Bogged down in years of legal paperwork, a never-ending thread of email exchanges, and the nit-and-grit of county regulations, the vision was yet to become reality. Now - thirteen years later - ISG’s building project is finally nearing its closing stages. In late June, the board ﬁnalized its borders, increased from 0.8 acres to 1.3

acres – a few square feet shy of a football ﬁeld. Architects and civil engineers are gathering documents in preparation for ﬁnal site plan hearings with the county in December of this year. ISG has also launched a community-wide appeal to raise an immediate $250,000 to pay for construction fees. As of the second day of Ramadan, the budding society gathered $12,000. Though ISG has no place to call its own, it is as active as most other masajid. It has services and events scattered across the area: Jummah prayers at two locations in Germantown and Gaithersburg attended by over 150 people, daily fajr and Ishaa prayers at Iman Learning Center, weekly family halaqas and a Sunday school at Fox Chapel School, and Iftars on Saturdays at the Germantown Boys and Girls Club. However, the delay has left the Germantown community understandably

“restless,” Ammar Najjar said. The ISG Imam has faced his fair share of badgering questions from frustrated community members. “They want to see something quick and easy. Unfortunately, they don’t understand the complexity of the county system,” he said. “You have to wait your turn.”

When asked to elaborate on this “complexity,” Najjar described a laundry list of obstacles that clogged ISG’s mission like kitchen sludge.

>> BREAKING Pg 11

Avondale Islamic Center Holds On to Building, Community By Fatimah Waseem

Muslim Link Staff Writer East Ranier Avenue is just like every other suburban community in Maryland, lined with small, brick houses with white shutters and separated by the same rickety wire fences. But only at first glance. The avenue is home to Mount Ranier’s only local masjid: the Avondale Islamic Center - a small, but thriving center that nests in the midst of five local churches. The center began in 2000 in response to “disturbing levels of bid’ah [innovated religious practices] in the local Nigerian Muslim Community,” Imam AbdulKareem Affinnih said, “We had to start something that taught Islam according to the Quran and Sunnah.” Since then, the center’s mission has expanded from the specific community it initially sought to serve, with the Nigerians only 15% of its community. African Americans compose more than half of the population.

However, the road to such activities was not easy. Aside from purifying Bid’ah into blessing, the center faced ﬁnancial problems, especially when it came to failure to pay the property tax required by the government. The small, brick building, splashed with green, was put on the auction block. “We thought we were going to lose [the building],” Afﬁnnih said. However, the community rallied to raise more than $20,000 to pay the taxes. The property was theirs to keep and was granted tax-exempt status. Though the property resembles a home form the outside, the story inside is

far different. The main level houses a musallah for more than 300 people, Imam ofﬁces, a meeting room that serves as a library and media center. The basement has a multi-purupose hall lined with orange carpets and a bathroom designed especially for making wu’duu. The center is open for the five daily prayers and Jumuah is held regularly at 1:30 pm, drawing close to 300 community members. During Ramadan, the masjid offers tarawih prayers led by young hufaz in the community. The center’s weekend programs – Al-Mubarak Academy for youth - however, attract a smaller

crowd. “We’re a small group,” Afﬁnnih said, “But we are a center of learning that is growing.” Recently, an inﬂux of Muslim high school students moved to the local area, opening new avenues of programs in the center’s limited but significant activities. When asked what stands out most about the masjid, the imam -who has travelled far and wide throughout Nigeria - said center’s like these exemplify the binding nature of a religion that has brought people, no matter how few, together.

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

6 | COMMUNITY NEWS

ICM Raises $110K In Preparation for Ground Breaking Hiba Akhtar

Muslim Link Staff Writer At the Islamic Center of Maryland, there is a group of people who make things happen. You can see them every Sunday, guiding ﬁrst-graders to Qur’an class and making copies for busy teachers. They are there on Friday evenings, playing basketball after Asr or running to the McDonalds across the street for a quick bite before the evening halaqa. They showed up three and even four hours early to Saturday’s ICM fundraiser, setting up chairs and arranging bottles of water and dates for the guests. One could see their dedication during the event itself- many of them weaving in-and-out of the crowd to register attendees, control the mob of sticky hands in the babysitting room, and extend their hunger past their fast to serve dinner to a community with an appetite. They are the youth, and Saturday night, August 6, 2011 was their night. JOPLIN

>> continued from pg 1

With a population of about 50,000, this town one couldn’t pinpoint on a map was decimated by a category 5 (the highest) monster tornado this past May. The twister touched down and razed almost everything from Sunset Drive to Texas Avenue. But it also attracted the spirit of good Samaritans from all over our great country, inspiring so many to make the trek to this disaster zone for no reason other than goodwill. Though I ﬂew in via Dallas on

In his appeal to the crowd, made up of well over the expected 800 community members, youth coordinator Br. Shafiq Ahmed spoke of the circumstances of the ICM facility before the arrival of the soft carpets and air-conditioned halls which make up the mosque today. “I remember when we prayed on cement,” said Ahmed. “When we prayed Taraweeh, we literally felt it. And look how far we’ve come today.” The same burst of productivity is just what ICM needs again, and the reasons for it expand beyond a desire for more space. Ahmed says ICM needs a bigger, well-established facility if its members want to see its community, especially the spirit of the young volunteers, grow and prosper. “We need to look forward, to progress, July 17th, a Sunday, and departed on the 21st, the following Thursday, there were volunteers who came prepared to remain for months, having made an incredible commitment to the human spirit. The week I had the pleasure to witness as a relief volunteer had an average temperature of at least 105°. Touring the town for the first, second, fifteenth, and last time, I remained shocked by the utter destruction. The twisted sheet metal, wrapped around trees with their bark stripped, and the sheer flatness of the land remains ingrained in my memory. The relief effort was made up of men and women, teenagers and elderly from

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to give the banner of Islam to the young brothers and sisters of this masjid,” said Shafiq. “People come to me with suggestions for sisters programs, and for how to make the youth group better. I want to answer these suggestions, but I too have my limitations. Sometimes they come with the lack of proper facilities.” The construction of a larger mosque, complete with a larger prayer hall, recreational facility, and better classrooms has been the dream of the masjid board of trustees and constituents of the ICM community for years, but the need seems greater than ever in a time in which even the younger members of the community are asking ‘when will this finally happen?’ Yusra Karim, 11, a fifth grade student at the Islamic Center of Maryland Sunday School, voiced this frustration. “I really wish we had better classrooms, sometimes Colorado to Pennsylvania, all who came out to the rolling hills and small towns that is Missouri with no incentive other than compassion. There were larger groups, church groups, and there were people like me: who came with a friend or in my case, my mother and brother. The instant camaraderie within the volunteer community was astounding. We swapped stories about home, the weather, our shared catastrophe, and made sure the others stayed hydrated. Most people were staying at local churches or camping, but we had the good fortune to be staying with a wonderful Muslim family who offered up their basement to us with no reservations and unlimited hospitality.

it becomes too cold during the winter and too hot during the summer. Having nice classrooms would help us concentrate more and we wouldn’t get distracted.” And the need to begin construction as soon as possible is one that has recently taken on an even greater precedence. During his address, board of trustee member Nadeem Ahmed explained that a Montgomery County law prohibits organizations from owning more than 8% of the land that they don’t use to develop. If this law is applied in the case of this masjid, the vast, buildable lands behind the masjid facilities will have to be returned to their natural state. This would include the portable classrooms, playground and basketball courts, and the pavilion and library facility next to the masjid. ICM would be reduced to just the >> ICMPg 15

There was Terry, the school teacher from Kansas, who left her kids with a babysitter every weekend and spent her free time doing the manual labor we all did; Ellis, the headstrong boy with the inescapable sense of humor hailing from a juvenile boys home in Philadelphia; and even Mike, the bus driver who housed 13 refugees from the tornado and desperately tried to make ends meet. Waking up everyday, the volunteers slowly trickled into the campus of the University of Southern Missouri at around 9, waiting for assignments and

>> JOPLIN II 22

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

8 | COMMUNITY NEWS SUBSTANCE

>> continued from pg 1

on extremist activities and methods, and countering extremist propaganda through Internet monitoring. This approach includes building a “robust training program with rigorous curriculum standards” that will avoid both “misinformation” and “creating tensions with potential community partners.” The Council on American-Islamic Relation’s (CAIR) Government Affairs Director, Corey Saylor, told The Muslim Link that the document was headed “in the right direction” and “hit all the right notes.” In four locations, the document emphasizes that violent extremism can come from all directions and is not exclusive to the Muslims, offering “Neo Nazis,” “racial supremacists,” and “hate groups” as examples of ongoing violent extremism in the US. The plan clearly states that America is not at war with Islam and condemns any propaganda that stigmatizes Muslim communities

based on the actions of a handful of extremists.

community engagement program,” CAIR’s Saylor said.

“Rather than blame particular communities, it is essential that we ﬁnd ways to help them protect themselves [against violent extremism],” the report notes. It also affirms that the federal government will do “everything in its power” to “protect the civil rights and liberties of every American.”

For attorney Veena Dubal of the Asian Law Caucus - a legal and civil rights organized based in California - the plan isn’t just clouded in questions; its incrusted with ﬂowery language.

Despite these assurances, civil liberties organizations are wary of what paths this seemingly welcoming step may lead to. “Because it doesn’t say much about “how” the government’s policy aims will be translated into policy practice, the document doesn’t qualify as the “strategy” as which it has been presented. It represents a framework – nothing more, nothing less,” the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR), based in the UK, said. In this sense, the report stands best as a “philosophical background to a good

“It is nothing more than lip-service,” she said, and is unconvinced of the positive “local partnerships” the report aims to reap - aims that bear striking resemblance to former President Bush’s 2006 White House strategy to counter domestic terrorism. “When two individuals are partners, there is an underlying notion they are equal,” Dubal told The Muslim Link. “But when talking about the FBI which has the power to investigate individuals, it is not a partnership. They have the power position.” As an attorney, she has ﬁrsthand clients whom the FBI has reached out to; though they have not become informants, requests for iftar invitations and community contacts have placed

strain in their relationships. She is not alone. Civil rights organizations like the the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) say that community partnerships mutating into people serving as informants is a very understandable concern. FBI training programs are yet another sticking point in the long awaited plan. “If someone has been trained by an antiMuslim trainer, there is great potential to poison community relationships,” CAIR’s government affairs director said. Through its civil rights work, CAIR unearthed many examples of anti-Muslim trainers in the US. In her work with clients, Dubal has seen the very slides the FBI uses to train its agents – which contain statements like the ‘Arab mind is swayed more by ideas than facts’ and has Robert Spencer’s anti-Muslims books as mandatory, educational reading.

>> SUBSTANCE II Pg 15

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

RAMADAN COVERAGE

COMMUNITY NEWS

Regardless of Challenges, Muslim Celebrate Unity in Ramadan By Farkhunda Ali

Muslim Link Staff Writer

easier when my children are in school and I am able to catch up on rest from worshiping during the night.”

Thirteen long hours of blazing sun, humidity, and hot weather is a reminder for Muslims to sympathize with unprivileged members of society. When DC Area Muslims experience the difficulty of abstaining from food and water this Ramadan, they pray for Allah’s blessings to shower down with mercy. Often times, rain showers have provided relief from extreme hot weather, making it an ease to do their daily errands.

Taylor takes her three children with her to the Masjid for Taraweeh prayers. She prepares suhoor for the next morning before taking a three hour nap. She wakes up an hour before Fajr to microwave the food and serve her family breakfast. After prayer, she takes a short nap and begins her daily household chores around 10AM.

This year, fasting is a test of patience for Metropolitan Muslims. Everyone is learning to maneuver around his or her own set of challenges. Whether it is lack of work, full-time summer school, big households, or burning weather, Muslims are adapting in order to maintain their daily fast. The biggest challenge of mothers at home with children is being able to attend to their children while recuperating from lack of sleep. “It is not the same as every other year,” said Romana Taylor of Maryland. “It is

“I am learning to revolve my schedule around my children’s needs. It is better for me to get my children involved in learning family unity, especially in Ramadan,” added Taylor. During the day, Abdul-Hakim Jackson spends his time studying at the local library in DC. The daily iftar and suhoor programs are his only source of guaranteed meals during this month. Jackson has been struggling ﬁnancially for eight months after losing his home and job in 2010. For a year, it has been a challenge for him to get access to food and a place to lay his head at night. Jackson said Muslims in DC Area have been welcoming him into

their centers for daily meals. “The fasting days area longer, but at the end of the day, I can get a hot meal to open the fast with other Muslims,” said Jackson. The recession has impacted DC Area Muslims positively this year. There are several families with decreased household income with a few members out of work. They are using this time to come together and share their resources. Even though Americans are generally cutting back in order to reserve, Muslims are sharing with family members and friends in order to multiply their reward. It is common to see more families invite others for iftar parties to their homes. “I know my friend’s husband is unemployed, so without making her feel bad, I just ask her to join us for iftar everyday,” said Faiza Majeed of Chantilly, VA. Majeed said Ramadan is a great time to do many good deeds without giving someone money. She said Muslims should use this blessed month to share their wealth with others they know who are less fortunate.

“Feeding a hungry person, whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim is one of the most basic obligations of a Muslim,” said Majeed. While Muslim youth prepare to get back to school, they spend less time on facebook and more time listening to Quranic recitation on Youtube. Having very little energy during the day, they dread doing household chores. “When I’m offered popsicles, I refuse. When I’m invited to a cookout, I explain to my friends I’m fasting,” said Akillah Iman of Alexandria, VA. Iman said friends at her creative art summer camp have been sensitive toward her and often refrain from eating in front of her. Iman has been teaching nonMuslim teenagers about the signiﬁcance of fasting. “This as my chance of showing my friends good morals of Muslims,” said Iman. “When my non-Muslim friends join me for iftar, they see that we are all about community and sharing love with other people.”

Our Sisters - Inspiring Torchbearers By Shahnaz Baten

they fairing this Ramadan?

With Ramadan fasts averaging 16 hours or so, it is a test of the ummah’s determination and devotion particularly upon our brothers and sisters in their golden years Alhamdulillah. As Allah subhana wa ta’la bestows upon the believers this endearing month to refocus, recharge and cleanse, it is a treasured guest that has become an integral part of their lives; most of them have been fasting for some 40 – 50 years! With health issues becoming a prominent concern in their lives, how are

“Ami chesta korbo roza raktay (I will try to fast),” intended Sr. Ferdowsi Begum, a grandmother of 8 in her 70s. She has seen her grandchildren, 18 years to 8 years old now begin their fasting histories - fasting half days, a full day, then 10 days and now the whole 30 days. She has witnessed this and now she was letting go as her grandkids are picking up Alhamdulillah! She is able to fast some days but in others as she becomes weak, her breath tightens and her general condition gets uneasy. This is a grandmother who used

Muslim Link Contributing Writer

to wake up at 2:30am, make fresh bread for suhoor for herself and her family, eat and then begin her lengthy Tahajjud salah mashaAllah. She is no longer comfortable from 5pm onwards if she is fasting but she tries Alhamdulillah. You ﬁnd her in the coolest part of the house, restless. She must miss waking up for suhoor, preparing food for her children and grandchildren, anticipating iftar and rejoicing in this aspect of His bounty. While everyone is away at the local

Masjid for Taraweh, she rejoices in her >> SISTERS Pg 12

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RAMADAN COVERAGE

10 |COMMUNITY NEWS

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

Community Members Enjoy Camaraderie at Masjid Al-Islam Iftar By Farkhunda Ali

Muslim Link Staff Writer On a busy Friday night, Masjid Al-Islam in Southeast, Washington, DC feeds an estimated hundred community members. The Masjid is open to Muslims and nonMuslims. Masjid Al-Islam, which sits in the middle of some of the worst housing projects in the inner city, welcomes all children and adults in their neighborhood to break fast with Muslims. Imam Abdul Alim Musa, director of Masjid Al-Islam, said showing community members Islamic way of life is the best form of Dawah. He said ﬁfteen percent of the members attending the daily iftar program are non-Muslims. Some of them come back and eventually accept Islam.

Masjid Al-Islam is an independent community and has been relying on direct contributions of the community members to manage its iftar program for twenty years. According to the director, community members donate funds or volunteer their services. “We cook everything on-site,” said Imam Musa. “It is totally a stress free environment.” The objective of the program is to develop unity, camaraderie, and gain blessings from sharing a meal together. Imam Musa said Ramadan is an opportunity for Muslims to “refresh their Islam,” by coming together and establishing friendships, and harmony.

“It is a time to focus on our mistakes and work on perfecting our character,” added Imam Musa.

about Ramadan is to improve our character and increase our level of faith, said one

The most important thing to remember

>> IFTAR Pg 14

Ramadan Leads to Radical Schedule Changes For Some By Hiba Akhtar

Muslim Link Staff Writer Often, non-Muslims see Ramadan as a lose-lose situation. Abstaining from food and drink all day and just to sacriﬁce precious sleep at night, opting to stand, kneel, and bow one’s way through 8 or 20 rakahs of Taraweeh does not seem like the ideal situation to the disbelieving heart. And, somehow, every year, Allah makes it possible for Muslims around the world to observe their physical and spiritual fasts and spend the month in the pursuit of self-purification, saddening as its days dwindle, and, eventually, spending another 11 months hoping to be fortunate

enough to see the blessed month next year and do it all over again, hopefully more ardently than before. This year is no exception. The progression of the lunar calendar has pushed Ramadan closer to summer in years past, and this year Muslims have scheduled summer vacations and weddings early to accommodate for Ramadan in August, the hottest month of the year in many places throughout the world. But the spirit and essence of Ramadan, especially in the DC metropolitan area, knows neither late iftar times nor hotter fasts. Muslims throughout the community

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are adjusting their timetables and outside commitments to accommodate the next twelve years of summer Ramadans, and they are doing so cheerfully, and with the knowledge that the worldly discomfort can only bring greater reward in the Hereafter. Such is the case for Sumah Azizi, a graphic designer in Sterling, Va. who plucked up the courage to ask her boss if she can spend the month of Ramadan working from home. She was given permission, and, since then, Azizi has completely shifted her schedule around Ramadan. She begins working just after Fajr and breaks around three to nap and

begin preparing iftar and dinner for herself and her husband. The rest of her night is dedicated to Taraweeh prayers, some Qur’an reading, and another short nap before it is time for suhur. Azizi is not the only one accommodating a busy schedule with her commitment to ensuring a productive Ramadan. Kanza Abbas, an internal auditor at Marriott International, is balancing long work hours with nightly trips to ICM, where she prays Taraweeh.

>> MARYLAND Pg 30

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011 BREAKING

>> continued from pg 5

The first obstacle was limited parking spaces. The masjid needed an additional 20 spaces to accommodate the masjid’s 220 occupants and looked to their neighbor – Fox Chapel Shopping Center – for space. When the center shot down negotiations requests, ISG turned to their neighbors across the street: three parcels of land which belonged to the county. These small parcels were heavy weight for ISG. Because county agencies had the first bid on the parcels, ISG was at a standstill. But when no one stepped up to buy the land, ISG bought one of the three parcels it needed. But disappointment came in the form of a new Germantown master plan which revealed it would connect a major road – Middlebrook Road – with a minor road – Blunt Road, stuffing the masjid in the cornering intersection.“It would have reduced our size to a townhouse.” Najjar said. “It was a dead end.” However, after discussing options with the county, ISG was able to move away from the old Blunt Road and buy a small road that sustained ISG’s size and connected ISG to the its parcel on the other side of the road. The obstacles didn’t end there. Because the road sliced right through the three parcels, the county insisted ISG had to buy all of them. Left-over parcels, like crumbs, are an unnecessary waste for the county’s plate. “These downturns are just part of the process,” he said. “There’s really nothing you can do.” He says the county has been very cooperative.

SUPPORT

>> continued from pg 4

and those receiving it makes MWB “a true gem.” But this gem needs to be unearthed by the one thing that has yet to truly appreciate its unique luster: the DMV community. “For a community that emphasizes youth development, it’s important that we support organizations like MWB that provide Muslim youth with opportunities

COMMUNITY NEWS | 11

By May 2011, ISG finally owned all three parcels, their original land, and the newlypaved road connecting the two locations, setting the foundation for the masjid. Plans call for a new building, accented with gentle arches, sandy brown walls, and subtle domes containing three floors. The first floor is for brothers and will have an assembly hall for 150 occupants, a foyer, meeting room, shoe closet, and bookstore. The second floor – designated for sisters – will have a prayer hall for 100 occupants, a work out room for the sisters, a bathroom, and four classrooms. The basement will be multifunctional. With two areas for brothers and sisters and a commercial kitchen, the floor would easily accommodate food and childrenoriented events. The completed building will have over 10,000 square feet of floor space. “We took a tour of masjids in Virginia and Maryland to see what they had to offer,” Imam Ammar Najjar said. “We’re trying to make this building as practical as possible.” ISG’s floor design is very simlar to Dar-Al-Hijrah’s in Virginia, allowing people on the second floor to look down on the first level. Construction equipment will break ground in March 2012, inshaAllah. ISG hopes to complete building construction by early 2013 at a cost of close to $1 million. “We’ll be standing on our own two feet before you know it.” Najjar said. He looks forward to building the trust of the Germantown community in the upcoming months.

for leadership.” she said. It is MWB’s hope that the larger community will embrace their mission. With this fundraiser success that is living testimony of Muslim youth without borders, MWB looks forward to crossing even tougher boundaries in the future. To support Muslims Without Borders and learn more about its projects including its newly launched East Africa Student Task force (EAST) - visit www. mwbrelief.org.

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

12 |COMMUNITY NEWS SISTERS

>> continued from pg 9 quarters doing her Taraweh in solitude and peace; her grandchildren marvel at how long her salah takes, mashAllah. She has been and continues to be a beloved torchbearer to her family members no doubt. “Zaroor rakhengai; Allah pak himmat dayga (Certainly I will fast; Allah subhana wa tala will grant me strength),” smiled Sr. Tasneen Yazdani. She had undergone several medical testing prior to Ramadan which worried her; would she be able to fast? Alhamdulillah, she is going strong. She makes it to Taraweh everyday. In her 4foot 11inch frame, she is barely the height of some of the 7-year olds around her. The kids in the jamah scurry to get her a chair when they see her coming; she sits to do her salah to please Him subhana wa ta’la. She is passing on her routine to others around her who love her devotion and cheerful disposition. Nadirah Rasheed, now 62, started fasting when she was 22 years old. “It is amazing; Allah subhana wa ta’la gave us relief after the first few days – it hasn’t been so hot,” she comments. “I’ve retired so that’s been good so I can rest after Fajr. It’s definitely easier being home,” she adds. She takes her medication at suhoor and she is set for her fast. “I’m trying to get to taraweh,” she giggles and she will join the other sisters with her chair. She finishes by adding, “I pray that He subhana wa ta’la will make it easy for everyone and will accept everyone’s deeds.” She us giving us a window into what many of us will face at one time or another inshAllah. It wan’t my imagination that were more chairs being used during Taraweh salah this year than ever before! If you looked closely to the 110 plus sisters gathered in the main Sal hall for Taraweh at Islamic Center of Maryland in Gaithersburg during the first week or Ramadan, you would note a sizeable number of sisters are well into their 60s/70s – most of them required chairs to sit during prayer. The sister next to me could still sujood but due to her stiff knees and ankles, she had difficulty getting up from ruku and sujood. Still, now into the second week of Ramadan, this sister and the 25 others came everyday for Isha and Taraweh, found their chairs and happily awaited the anticipated salah. Sayeeda Huque, now 60 years old, is an unique exception to many in her age range. She runs a home daycare in Gaithersburg , MD , from 7am – 7pm. She averages very

little sleep but is present at her local Masjid for iftar and then Taraweh. She is one of those that sits in the row of chairs due to her arthritic knees which usually causes her much distress and painful. “Ramadan ki barkat main teekh hai (By the Mercy of Ramadan, it’s ﬁne),” she shares referring to her joint pain. She is glowing as she gets ready for her salah among her sisters. Fatima Jimale, a 60 year old Somali native, clad in her red and gray printed robe, sits nearby. She won’t discuss how her fast went until I eat from her malawah (sweet ﬂat bread). So I tear off a few pieces and eat.

She smiles and is willing to speak. “I have coffee and milk at suhoor and I am fine,” she relates. Next to her is seated Habibo Hasan, also from Somalia, now 74 years old. When I ask her if her fast was difficult, she seems not to understand me. I repeat the question only to realize a few minutes later that it’s not because she didn’t understand my question, but rather, she didn’t understand the concept of her fast being difficult. In her deep blue and white colorful robe with her deep black eyes twinkling, she smiles and shrugs at my question as if to say “no sweat” mashaAllah. She also sits in her chair with swollen ankles awaiting tonight’s salah.

As I close my notebook at the conclusion of all the interviews, I can’t help but make dua for these sisters, these grandmothers, mothers and all those that have carried the torch of our deen in our daily lives through their practice and perseverance. What a mercy it has been to know them, grow up with them and learn from them. May He subhana wa ta’la in His mercy grant them all their duas during this Ramadan and for many more to come; may He subhana wa ta’la bless them with the very best in the dunya and akhirah and may He subhana wa ta’la be pleased – amen.

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

14 |COMMUNITY NEWS we left off.

IFTAR

>> continued from pg 10

community member. Providing a pleasant environment and showing compassion toward one another is the simplest deed that is pleasing to Allah, he added. “We don’t see everyone all of the time,” said Ruqaiyah Sadeq. “But, when we see each other, we just pick right up where

Sadeq, mother of five girls, has been actively participating in the Masjid Al-Islam community for twelve years. She said in addition to “Imam Musa’s famous homemade salad,” the iftar menu is irresistible. Masjid Al-Islam remains steadfast in respecting diversity. One day, the smell of soul food immerses to the front entrance of the building. Another day, members are

surprised to Mediterranean, South-Asian, or Middle Eastern cuisine. “You will ﬁnd a little bit of everything here,” said Abdul-Malik McKenzie. McKenzie, a resident of DC, attends this Masjid solely because of its cozy and friendly environment. McKenzie said he sees that members of Masjid Al-Islam show good character of kindness not only in Ramadan, but all year long. It is tolerance and acceptance that

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draws people to Islam, he added. During a short lecture to the community, Imam Musa gave a small talk on the significance of Ramadan. He urged Muslims to set goals in life, and elevate self-esteem. He said Muslims rely on prayers in order to gain success in worldly life. Aamilah Richardson of Forestville, Maryland said she enjoys the iftars because she does not have to ﬁght for space. Richardson said the ability to have direct conversation and the accessibility of the Imam is the greatest asset of this Masjid. Masjid Al-Islam has been a home for Richardson’s family for fourteen years. There is always plenty of food for members to go back for seconds. The children show joy to have their desserts after meals. The members come together to eat, pray, and clean up before they line up for Taraweeh prayers. By coincidence, this year Masjid Al-Islam began Ramadan on August 1st, coinciding with major Islamic organizations in the US.

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>> continued from pg 8

“Its absolutely ridiculous,” she said. Dubal went further. Citing social science data that contradicts the reports claims, Dubal said, “The idea that American Muslims are susceptible to being ‘lured’ by terrorist ideology is not just reductionist and stereotypical, it’s empirically false.” The FBI has placed its magnifying glass on the Muslim population by putting what Dubal calls “an undue and undeserved light on the criminal culpability of a community unfairly.” Her colleague, Summer Hararah, Program Coordinator at the Asian Law Caucus, said, “Without any suspicion of criminal activity, our mosques are inﬁltrated by FBI informants and our community members are visited by FBI agents. And now, the White House is proposing a national plan that will engage civil society in the ﬂawed premise that American Muslims are vulnerable to radicalization. This is ICM

>> continued from pg 15

main prayer hall and sisters’ prayer hall. How can the youth be expected to thrive in such a state? Keynote speaker Ali Darwish expanded on the idea of establishing the masjid as a home base for Muslims, revealing to the crowd a statistic reached through an ISNA study- that only one-third of new converts to Islam remain Muslim. The reason? A lack of solid Muslim communities establishing their home base masajids and taking responsibility for the prosperity of its constituents. “If there is a sin to be earned, who earned it? Them or us?” he asked. The event raised over $110,000 for the construction of the new mosque, a figure which is expected to increase dramatically in the coming weeks. The spirit of hope for the community was reflected through the unwavering determination voiced by ICM Chairman Sayed Naved: “I am confident that, insha Allah, this center will be built,” he said. “If we focus on the future, on our children and their children, this center will become one of the prime Islamic centers of this region.”

COMMUNITY NEWS | 15

not a step forward for the safety of our communities; this is a step backward.” The magnifying glass isn’t the only issue, its the question of whether the government is really zooming in on what is really important. Michael German, a national security and privacy policy counsel of ACLU, said. “It unfortunately reinforces a false radicalization theory that extreme ideologies inexorably lead to violence. Developing counter-terrorism policy based on [this] ﬂawed theory… is

a recipe for failure and opens the door for abuse based on racial and ethnic bias and political considerations.” Given this uncertainty, it seems the reports true test will be the level of transparency the government will provide, Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project said. “They’re building upon models that we know are ﬂawed. We have data. So why is the administration sending out a white

paper, saying this is going to be our new plan of action?” Dubal said. She urges the federal government to engage in such community partnerships with Muslims through more than just a national security lens. “Take a step back and let’s talk about education, about civic leadership,” she said. For now, she warns that “moving forward, we have to be vigilant.”

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

16 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Arts & Entertainment Koran By Heart Resonates On Many Levels By Fatimah Waseem Muslim Link Staff Writer Silence engulfs the competition room. A young hafidh climbs his seat and faces a panel of four judges dressed flowing white and brown garments. He turns to the computer screen in front of him, pushes a button that tells him which verse to begin with and which verse to end with, and then – he recites. His melodious voice, far beyond his tender age, casts a breath-taking aura over the room, engulfing the hearts and minds of its listeners in appreciation of the Qur’an. This was the enrapturing scene at the world’s oldest and most prestigious Qur’an memorization contest - a contest Greg Barker artfully and boldly captures in his documentary film “Koran By Heart.” Hosted in Cairo, Egypt every year, the competition draws 110 contestants from 70 countries around the world. The rigorous competition is held over three days - running into the wee hours of the morning. “Koran By Heart” weaves together this compelling story of three of its competitors in a colorful and dramatic saga of human competition, complete with suspect parents, bite-size heroes, and stomach-sinking moments. As we follow the journeys of these three inspirational 10-year olds – told through raw, unedited moments and competing against teenagers almost twice their agewe cannot help but fall in love with their personalities and the complexities of their stories before us on the screen. Take inspirational 10-year-old Nabiollah as an example. The boy, from Tajikstan, is a hafidh well-versed in his art and has a voice that truly captures the beauty and raw emotions of the Qur’an, literally bringing an Egyptian judge to tears. However, for all his religion education, the boy is functionally illiterate in his own language. Rifdha, however, is another story. Acting as a foil to Nabiollah, the 10-year old, sparking girl from the Maldives is what some would call a prodigy. She excels at Qur’anic memorization – and, as it seems, everything.

The three child heroes of “Koran By Heart”, from right to left: Rifdha, 9, from the Maldives; Nabiullah, 10, from Tajikistan; and Djamil, 10, from Senegal. Over 100 children and teenagers from all over the world competed in the annual Qur’anic competition in Egypt. Photos courtesy of HBO. Garbed in a black hijab throughout the ﬁlm, the girl hopes to become an explorer. Her father, a bearded, religious man, says she will not pursue a secular education; rather she will educate herself on the religion and become a housewife. But it was 10-year old Djamil who captured my heart. The son of an Imam and comes from an impoverished village in Senegal, he travels by himself as a representative of a nation on the outer fringes of the Islamic world. Sisters, when you watch his turn in the Qur’an competition – keep trusted companion Kleenex by your side. You might need it. This worldwide recitation contest, however, is more than just another “Spell Bound.” It isn’t just a documentary that traces three impressive competitors in a neck-to-neck competition The ﬁlm is something more. It’s a documentary that artfully uses this competition as a launch pad to bravely and artfully delve into aspects about Islam that the average Western director would shy away from, allowing the movie to resonate beyond its obvious parameters. Through humorous shots of competitors utterly befuddled as their Arab-speaking judges comment in rapid Arabic on the text they just recited, Barker touches upon the strange notion that the competitors have memorized a book in a language they do not understand.

Equate this to Muslims who are not familiar with the words of this faith. Now consider Rifdha’s “fundamentalist” father and the values he espouses. Then contrast this “fundamentalist” Islam with the moderate way of teaching competition head Salem Abdel-Galil, who believes that the root of all problems is failure to under the Qur’an, represents. Do this and this movie becomes so much more than just a Qur’an memorization competition. It transforms into a story of great depth and insight. These layers, though not completely representative of the Muslim world, offer a vast window into the lives of a handful of our brothers and sisters, making me feel ever-closer to the Ummah on the other side of the world. You can call Barker’s directing stereotypical or dangerously reductionist, but I embrace the complexity this film offers in a genre and in an industry where films like these are a scant few. However, the most remarkable thing about the film is that these complex underpinnings somehow do not transform the movie into a political-fist fight. Rather, as the credits roll down the screen, the movie remains what it set out to be: the journeys of three inspirational Muslim children worlds apart and brought together by the Word of God. Yes, former Egyptian President Hosni Mobarak’s brief appearance towards the movie’s conclusion serves as a painful

reminder of the politics associated with Islam in the world today. But that’s okay. The ﬁlm, from its appreciation of the sandy streets of Senegal to the lapping shores of the Maldives to the prevalent presence of a myriad of shoes outside masjid halls across the world, goes beyond that. It is undoubtedly a must-see. For as I watch Rifdha squeal as she struggles to get off a camel while sightseeing in Egypt, I can’t help but smile. When I see Nabioallah’s mind whirr as he struggles to understand how a ferris wheel works, I can’t help but enjoy that moment. And when I see these youth recite the words of God, I can’t help but listen. Director Greg Barker may have said that this movie shows the true face of Islam. Honestly, maybe not. But what I do know is that it shows some part of that face, a face we are in ever search for. A face seen through our pintsize heroes: sweet Nabiollah, intelligent Rifdha, and ever-compassionate, Djamil. And that part certainly touches the heart, making this movie truly deserve its title “Koran By Heart.” “Koran by Heart” is available on the cable network “HBO On Demand”and “HBO Go” through September 11, 2011.

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

WORLD PRESS | 17

World Press

Ofﬁcials warn as many as 800,000 children could die across the Horn of Africa due to hunger and drought. (AP)

Photos by: A. REUTERS/Omar Faruk. B. AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam. C. AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam. D. AP Photo/Sayyid Azim. E. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell. F. AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor. G. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without proﬁt to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. “The example of the Believer in their mutual love and mercy is like the example of a body, if one part of the body feels pain, then all the body suffers in sleeplessness and fever. [Bukhaaree and Muslim]

More than 700,000 Somalis have left their country to seek help in Kenya and Ethiopia. 50% of Somali children in the refugee camps in Ethiopia are so malnourished they may die within days of arriving. The infant mortality rate of babies in Kenya has tripled in recent days because of the drought. (Sources: UN and UNHCR via Islamic Relief Worldwide) /www.irusa.org/emergencies/east-africa-crisis/

www.hhrd.org/hhrd_AfricanDroughtCrisis.aspx

www.zakat.org/where_we_work/campaign/somalia/horn_of_africa_humanitarian_crisis/

18 | CIVIL RIGHTS

Civil Rights

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

Want to Sue the FBI for Spying on Your Mosque? Sorr y, That’s Secret. Obama, once a critic of the state secrets doctrine, has invoked it repeatedly. But critics say his latest use of Bush’s favorite get-out-ofcourt-free card is different. By Hamed Aleaziz | Mon Aug. 8, 2011 The state secrets privilege—perhaps the most powerful weapon in the government’s legal arsenal—has a complicated history. For years, Democrats, including thenSen. Barack Obama, accused the Bush administration of overusing of the privilege, which allows the government to quash cases that involve national security before a court even hears evidence. Then, after Obama took office, his Justice Department used this get-out-of-courtfree card repeatedly. Last week, the DOJ invoked the state secrets privilege yet again. But this case, civil liberties groups say, is different. Most of the post-9/11 cases that the government has killed with the state secrets privilege have either involved foreign-born terrorist suspects or the government’s actions abroad. The case the Obama administration tried to quash last week doesn’t explicitly involve either. The case in question, which was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), focuses squarely on domestic intelligence-gathering targeting Americans—namely the FBI’s allegedly widespread use of informants and surveillance against Muslim Americans. The FBI’s involvement in the case—and the fact that it involves Americans—makes it stand out among the other state secrets cases, says Ameena Qazi, CAIR’s deputy executive director. “We’re surprised at the government’s shocking move in

invoking the state secrets doctrine in this case of all cases,” Qazi says. Since this case “involves domestic intelligencegathering on US soil against Americans,” she explains, “it’s an unprecedented move to our knowledge.” The case, Fazaga v. FBI, stems from the purported actions of Craig Monteilh, a 49year-old convicted criminal who claims that he spent 15 months in 2006 and 2007 inﬁltrating mosques in Orange County, California, as part of an undercover FBI investigation known as “Operation Flex.” The Fazaga case, which the ACLU and CAIR filed in February 2011, claims that the FBI utilized Monteilh to “collect personal information on hundreds and perhaps thousands of innocent Muslim Americans in Southern California.” The ACLU says that the FBI investigation “violated the Constitution’s fundamental guarantee of government neutrality toward all religions.” For evidence, the two groups point to a somewhat problematic source: Monteilh. According to Monteilh, Operation Flex did indeed involve the indiscriminate monitoring of the Southern California Muslim community with the goal of apprehending terrorists. Monteilh claims to have gone by the name Farouk al-Aziz and posed as a French Syrian man pushing a radical Islamist view on mosque-goers in Irvine, California. And after months of Monteilh’s spying, Southern California Muslims did in fact call the FBI [1] to alert them of a possible terrorist: Monteilh. The whole episode was a bit of an embarrassment for the FBI, and received

national press attention after 2007, when Monteilh was imprisoned for grand theft and started talking to the press.

To CAIR’s Qazi, the fact that Operation Flex allegedly took place in the United States and targeted Americans makes Fazaga v. FBI different from previous state secrets cases. “If the government were to prevail on their invocation of the state secrets doctrine it would essentially make such FBI actions non-reviewable by the courts and render any redress by our clients or by any other Americans for such activities ineffective,” she says. “That’s really the concerning part of what their use of the state secrets doctrine implies.” Robert Chesney, a law professor and

national security law expert at University of Texas-Austin, disagrees with Qazi’s assessment. “At the end of the day, the FBI is part of the intelligence community as well—it’s not necessarily thought of as any different than the NSA,” Chesney said. “Is the effort to prevent a bombing only national-security-related if the perpetrators have an international connection? I wouldn’t hold my breath on a court accepting that logic.” Just because an international connection hasn’t emerged so far in this case doesn’t mean one isn’t there, Chesney explains. “It certainly could be the case that the

>> MOSQUE Pg 24

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

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20 | ISLAM

Islam

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

Ramadan and Family Ties By Sheikh `Ādil al-Khawfī Ramadān provides us with many unique opportunities to bring the family together and strengthen the fabric of our family ties. Ramadan fortifies our religious faith in ways that brings people’s hearts together as one. Reading the Qur’ān When family members, young and old, male and female, all spend time at home reading the Qur’ān, it provides a special pleasure and brings a renewed commitment to adopt its noble manners in our lives. Parents should therefore encourage their children to read the Qur’ān in Ramadan, if possible from beginning to end. The whole family should participate in reading the Qur’ān in a spirit of seeking Allāh’s blessings and they should supplicate to Allāh together as a family. This is especially so when any member of the family completes reading the Qur’ān in full. Ibn al-`Uthaymīn informs us that: “coming together at home when someone completes reading the Qur’ān in full has its basis in the practice of the Companions. It is related that when Anas b. Mālik (ra�iyallāhu anhu) completed reading the Qur’ān, he would gather his family together and offer supplications.” In this light, an-Nawawī writes in atTibyān: “It is very much recommended to attend the gathering of someone who completes reading the Qur’ān.” Starting and Breaking the Fast The whole family gathers together at the table before dawn to take their morning meal before the start of the fast. They do so again at Sunset to break the fast. This is a unique and special gathering, since it is founded upon faith and obedience to Allāh. It is the commencement and

completion of an act of worship. These two gatherings at the table are times of blessings and prayer as well as times of festive joy. It is a sweet experience for the family to share this occasion together. It is a time when our prayers are answered. The Prophet (Aallallāhu àlayhi wasallam) said: “A fasting person at the time of breaking the fast offers a supplication that will not be refused.” [Sunan Ibn Mājah] Charity There is a great opportunity for family togetherness in giving charity. When an adult family member goes out to give charity to poor relatives or strangers, or to charitable centres, they should really involve their children. This gives the children a sense of importance and of real participation. Similarly, children can get involved in laying out the tables and preparing meals in providing for the poor to break their fasts. These activities teach our youth about the love that human beings should have for each other and it also strengthens their sense of fraternity with their fellow Muslims. It is also a way of developing character and remedy for whatever selfish tendencies the children might have. Moreover, we should know and remind our children that whatever we spend for the sake of Allāh, we know that Allāh compensates us for it with what is far, far better. A man once donated a finely haltered camel in charity, saying: “This is for Allāh’s sake.” The Prophet (Sallallāhu àlayhi wa-sallam) said: “On the Day of Judgment, you will have 700 camels, all of them finely haltered.” [Sahīh Muslim]

>> FAMILY Pg 30

Knowledge Seeker’s Inn: A place to stop and reﬂect, repair what we have broken, reﬁll what we have exhausted and enjoy a nourishing serving of knowledge.

Improving Your Recitation: A Religious Obligation Tajweed comes from the root j-w-d, which means “to repair” as in “to repair that which is broken.” In Islam, repairing and improving our lives and the lives of those around us is a religious obligation that brings us closer to Allah (the Gloriﬁed and Exalted) and that multiplies the rewards of our good deeds. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him) said, “whoever perfects his Islam, all his good acts are multiplied from ten to seven hundred times (and are recorded in his name) and all the evils that he commits are recorded as such (i.e. without increase) till he meets Allah.”(Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0235)

we must first learn how to recite it properly. We should also keep in mind the great virtue and salvation that comes with reading the Qur’an. Some of these blessings are recorded in these authentic ahadith: Whoever recites the Qur’an well and clearly is equal in rank to the Angels who record creation’s deeds. These Angels are gracious, honorable and of lofty rank. He who finds difficulty in reciting the Qur’an will obtain a double reward. (Bukhari, Muslim). Continue reciting the Qur’an because on the Day of Qiyaamah it will appear as an intercessor for the reciter. (Muslim).

Allah (the Glorified and Exalted) through His Qur’an and the prophetic guidance of His Messenger (may Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon On the Day of Resurrection the Qur’an him) teaches us how to improve will petition Allah to cloak the one who everything from our relationship with had recited it with garments of honor Him to our interactions with others and respect. A crown of honor will then to using the gifts of listening and be placed on the head of the reciter. speaking in the most excellent manner. The Qur’an will then petition Allah to This Ramadan, and throughout the rest of our lives, if we are to embark on improving our lives with the Qur’an, >> RECITATION Pg 22

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

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IRHSCA BEGINS 30 DAY DRIVE Ramadhan has become the month of massive efforts in fund raising. Every masjid, muslim school, and social service seeks to benefit from the benevolent spirit that Ramadhan brings. We at IRHSCA find ourselves in the same boat. Though there are many commendable and deserving Islamic efforts and projects here in the U.S.there’s something about IRHSCA that’s outstanding. We are an outpost in the 21st century. We are taking in converts at an alarming rate.The Executive Director, Talib Abdul-Samad has reported that, “the rate of converts coming to this masjid is 15 per month!” And at the rate we’re growing now we could loose them without the proper infrastructure. These converts are mostly young African Americans between the ages of 17 and 32. Many of them are in high school, newly graduated, college students, young employees, looking for employment or seeking a career. All of them are curiously engaged in making a new life for themselves as Muslims. They see the need to transform themselves and thereby, transform their community and a future that’s not so promising. The administration at IRHSCA is working diligently to meet the needs and help fulfill the aspirations of these “young” Muslims. As of present IRHSCA’s resources are limited. Herein lies a problem. Without a proper infrastructure these “young” Muslims face not having their needs met which could lead to them seeking fulfillment in areas of life that are less constructive and conducive to a life of moral up righteousness. They stand a greater chance of veering off the straight path and back into the lives from which they came. Your charitable contribution to IRHSCA’s cause is tax deductible will make a remarkable difference in your and their lives here and hereafter. IRHSCA’s goal is to raise $600,000.00 in 30 Days or have 1000 people give $100.00 per year for five years. these funds will cover the cost of purchase of our center, Islamic learning tools, programs leading to Islamic development and humanitarian efforts and to pay the faculty and staff who are necessary to guide these “young” brothers and sisters in their Islamic duties and their personal growth. The Imam Shiekh Abdul-Rahman , Yaki , has since the establishment of IRHSCA being deferring his complete salary back to the Center to allow it time to grow and become self reliant. If possible, team up with another brother or sister whereby each of you contributes $50.00. The two of you will count as one toward the 100 donations of $100.00.

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

22 | SALAAH TIMES

Salaah times for August 12th - August 25th, 2011 If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it fi ve times a day, do you think he would have any fi lth left on him?” The people said, “No filth would remain on him whatsoever.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, “That is like the fi ve daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them.” ---Hadith in Sahih al Bukhari and Muslim

Prayer times generated from www.islamicﬁnder.com for the WASHINGTON, DC area.

RECITATION

>> continued from pg 20

shower His pleasure on the reciter. Allah will then become pleased with him. The

JOPLIN II

>> continued from pg 6

a yellow school bus to take us to where houses remained crumbled. We saw saw a ravaged college campus and homes that were completely knocked off their foundations. On the way to our sites, it was impossible to miss the messages of survival spray painted onto the one wall of a house that still stood. “All survived, cat missing. God has His plan for us. Thank you volunteers.” Another image that remains with me is the eerie carcass of St. Johns Hospital, with no windows and no sign of life, only metal pillars that had shifted on their very foundation. We would pile out of buses with only gloves, goggles, and masks to protect us from the dust and ﬁberglass. Using rakes, shovels, and our hands, we dug until we saw earth, scraped and sorted different

Day

Date

Hijri

Fajr

Sunrise

Dhuhr

Asr

Maghrib

Isha

Fri

12/9

4:58

6:18

1:14

5:02

8:08

9:29

Sat

13/9

4:59

6:19

1:13

5:02

8:06

9:27

Sun

14/9

5:01

6:20

1:13

5:01

8:05

9:26

Mon

15/9

5:02

6:21

1:13

5:01

8:04

9:24

Tue

16/9

5:03

6:22

1:13

5:00

8:02

9:23

Wed

17/9

5:04

6:23

1:13

4:59

8:01

9:21

Thu

18/9

5:05

6:24

1:12

4:59

8:00

9:19

Fri

19/9

5:07

6:25

1:12

4:58

7:58

9:18

Sat

20/9

5:08

6:25

1:12

4:58

7:57

9:16

Sun

21/9

5:09

6:26

1:12

4:57

7:56

9:14

Mon

22/9

5:10

6:27

1:11

4:56

7:54

9:13

Tue

23/9

5:11

6:28

1:11

4:55

7:53

9:11

Wed

24/9

5:13

6:29

1:11

4:55

7:51

9:09

Thu

25/9

5:14

6:30

1:11

4:54

7:50

9:08

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types of debris until the site was clean enough to at least consider rebuilding.

okay were many, and pictures of rescued animals often accompanied them.

The sad truth was, most residents who had survived the tragedy didn’t plan on rebuilding or returning at all, leaving behind any personal items with the rest of the debris. I found Christmas décor, house keys, and clothes, although the storm had left them in a state where I couldn’t tell if they were new or worn. If the heat wasn’t too much, at times the realization was, and one or all of us would have to sit down on one of the many water coolers provided & ﬁnd shade under a tree.

But there was one more thing at this refuge: Missouri natives, who roamed the structure simply to speak and reassure the men and women who came so far.

and said, “I’m glad it’s there, still there. We had to protect it after 9/11, me and a bunch of others.”

reciter will then be asked to recite the Qur’an, thereby attaining higher ranks of elevation. In reward for each ayat a virtue will accrue to him. (Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzaimah).

At around noon, we pile back on the buses and head to the equally wrecked local high school, whose parking lot had a sign out front that boasted: “Free Food! Cold water!” Four to six hundred volunteers, standing in line for a lunch undoubtedly provided by a local church or group converged at this site, to eat and talk and under a tent with multiple fans blazing. A wall had been set up where pictures that described hope and survival were tacked, along with inspirational messages other volunteers had written. Promises that God had a plan and that it would all be

I was one of the two Muslim women there, the other being my mother. And this was Missouri, this was the Bible Belt, this was the land where every other building was a church, but somehow, I felt more comfortable in my outward identity there than I ever had been in my home of the East Coast.

It nearly moved me to tears, to see the genuine affection in him and every single other individual I came across in the short time I was blessed to be there. We were bonded over God, hope, compassion, and shared experience. Together we traveled miles to rival Lewis & Clark, and here we were, a melting pot of every age, race, and religion. Every push of a wheelbarrow, every scrape of a rake, moved in sync with our general body. And I was humbled, nearly ﬂoored, by the beauty of it all.

I had people tell me how refreshing it was that everyone could see Muslims doing such good work. People apologized profusely for not serving a halal or vegetarian options. One man stood out: a middle aged man with soft blue eyes, who came by while I was sitting, recuperating from the last site work. He thanked me and told me that every single person here was an angel in disguise. He politely asked if I saw the mosque in town, a rarity in this part of the country. I smiled and said yes, and he grinned even larger

Later on in the evening, when the deep colors of the sky began to recede and I meandered into that resilient Masjid for Maghrib Salah, I found myself marveling, not at the terrible woes of the unstoppable force that had ripped this city center apart, but at the miracles, the blessings I had encountered during the day. It was here ultimately, in this town of an odd 50,000, that I discovered within me and within us all the bonds of brotherhood and love that tied every single human being to the other.

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

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24 |

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

CONTINUED

very secret at issue here has to do with a possible foreign nexus,” he says.

one instance, Monteilh says, the FBI asked him whether he’d be interested in traveling to Pakistan to assassinate a terrorist target. Monteilh claims that a CIA representative reviewed his progress in Arabic and Islamic training every month.

Monteilh, for his part, says he knows what the government might be trying to hide. Monteilh—who, for what it’s worth, is a convicted felon—now says that the FBI broached the subject of his traveling abroad to act on the intelligence he gathered during Operation Flex. In

Monteilh alleges that during his time as an informant, the FBI also involved him in an elaborate plan to present himself as a single, Muslim man seeking introductions to potential wives in Orange County and record his meetings with the women. Monteilh says that before the relationships

MOSQUE

>> continued from pg 18

turned sexual, he approached the FBI agents on the case: “I said look guys, as you hear the recordings, if it goes to a level where there’s a potential sexual encounter what do you want me to do?” According to Monteilh, the agents said to go ahead with the sexual interactions in cases where good information existed. After learning more about the women’s potential “terrorist” connections abroad through Monteilh, the FBI would confront the women with recordings of their sexual encounters with Monteilh, intending to frighten them into giving the bureau actionable intelligence. “They told me

that we’re going to use the [Islamic] culture against the Muslim community,” Monteilh says. Monteilh’s claims aren’t the kind of thing that anyone would believe without further proof of the kind that could be obtained in a courtroom. But if the Justice Department gets its way, that kind of proof is unlikely to be forthcoming. “In asserting the state secrets privilege they have sealed the gaps of the entire Department of Justice on Operation Flex,” Monteilh says. “There’s one gap they can’t touch—which is me.” For the alleged victims of Operation Flex, that probably seems like cold comfort. -----------------------------------------------[Source: motherjones.com] -----------------------------------------------In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

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26 | OPINION

Opinion

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

Where Are All the Islamic Terrorists? By Charles Kurzman Earlier this month, a few hours after a bomb exploded in downtown Oslo, I got a call from a journalist seeking comment. Why did Al Qaeda attack Norway? Why not a European country with a larger Muslim community, or a significant military presence in Muslim societies? I said I didn’t know. A second media inquiry soon followed: G i v e n N AT O ’s i n v o l v e m e n t i n Afghanistan and Iraq, and the number of disaffected Muslims in Europe, why don’t we see more attacks like the one in Norway? This question was more up my alley. I recently published a book asking why Islamic terrorism has been rarer than many of us feared after 9/11. Before answering, I checked the news. Norwegian officials were reporting that the attacker was not Muslim. I was no longer an authority on the incident. A third reporter called the next morning: Has the focus on Islamic terrorism distracted us from the threat of nonIslamic extremism? I felt a creepy sensation that I have experienced often since 9/11. In the fields of Middle East and Islamic studies, bad news is good for business. The more that non-Muslims fear Islam, the more security threats are hyped, the more attention my colleagues and I get. Journalists want insights from “Islam experts” and “Middle East specialists,” regardless of how remote our area of research is from the day’s news. Universities are hiring—there were more than 40 tenure-track jobs last year in Middle East and Islamic studies. Federal research grants are plentiful, especially from the military and the Department of Homeland Security. It all points to an inescapable conclusion: Martin Kramer was right. A decade ago, just after 9/11, he accused scholars of profiting from the Islamist violence that

their political correctness prevented them from taking seriously: “How many resources within the university could they command if their phones stopped ringing and their deans did not see and hear them quoted in the national newspapers and on public radio? And how would enrollments hold up if Muslim movements failed to hit the headlines?”

In the United States, 15,000 people are murdered each year. On the other hand, “Islamic terrorism”, including the Beltway sniper attacks, has accounted for almost three dozen deaths in America since 9/11.

Scholars are not the only ones to beneﬁt from these headlines. Kramer, a former professor who now holds positions at two think tanks, the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, benefits, too. Just like university deans, think-tank administrators and donors allocate resources based in part on presence in the news media. Kramer exemplifies this arrangement. Every time he sounds an alarm about Islamic radicalism, he helps raise public vigilance, and increase ﬁnancial support for his institutions.

higher if the perpetrators had been more competent; for example, if Faisal Shahzad had used higher-quality materials in his Times Square car bomb. Even so, the number of perpetrators has been relatively low. Fewer than 200 Muslim-Americans have engaged in terrorist plots over the past decade—that’s out of a population of approximately two million. This constitutes a serious problem, but not nearly as grave as public concern would suggest.

By contrast, I am in the awkward position of undermining the importance of my own ﬁeld. My research ﬁnds that Islamic terrorism has not posed as large a threat as reporters and the public think—certainly not as large a threat as Al Qaeda and its affiliates intended. They routinely complain about the failure of Muslims to join their movement. Of the 56 million people who die each year around the world, around two million die from HIV/AIDS. Nearly one million die from malaria. Almost three quarters of a million die from violence. According to the National Counterterrorism Center, terrorism peaked in 2007 with 23,000 fatalities, half of them in Iraq—a terrible toll, but not a leading cause of death. In the United States, 15,000 people are murdered each year. Islamic terrorism, including the Beltway sniper attacks, has accounted for almost three dozen deaths in America since 9/11—a small fraction of the violence that the country experiences every year. The toll would have been

When scholars in Middle East and Islamic studies point that out, we are accused of being apologists for terrorism. Some of my colleagues have been the focus of smear campaigns. I’ve been fortunate not to experience anything of that sort, though Rep. Peter King, Republican of New York and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called my work “biased” and “slanted.” As it turned out, King’s criticism was great publicity. I issued a press release rebutting each of his points, which wasn’t difficult, because it was clear that he hadn’t actually read my work. The media attention was both exhilarating and troubling. It reinforced my sense that the field benefits not just from Muslim violence but also from the ignorance and paranoia of non-Muslims. As a result, my colleagues and I spend much of our time in the limelight trying to dispel the anxieties that helped bring us into the limelight. We are not very good at this task. Our

books rarely sell as well as the more scaremongering titles. Our television appearances look stiff next to the mediasavvy hotheads from the think tanks. Surveys report that American attitudes have not budged over the past decade— evenly split in their view of Islam and favorable toward Muslims, by a 2-to-1 margin. A decade after 9/11, many Americans still believe that we are experiencing a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. It’s the default, easy explanation for violent incidents like the terrorist attack in Norway. When this narrative fades, replaced by some other panic, my colleagues and I will lose the public’s eye. We’ll return to academic obscurity. That’s our goal—that, and promoting our ﬁeld as energetically as we can in the meantime. -----------------------------------------------Charles Kurzman is a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author, most recently, of “The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists” (Oxford University Press). -----------------------------------------------In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. ------------------------------------------------

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

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28 | OBITS & UPCOMING EVENTS

Request For Dua’s

{ To Allah We B e l o n g , a n d t o H i m i s O u r R e t u r n }

“Everyone is going to taste death, and We shall make a trial of you with evil and good, and to Us you will be returned.” (Surah Al-Anbiya:35)” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7-30-11 It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Sis. Mamuma Mark. Janazah salat was on July 31, 2011 in Lanham, Maryland. May Allah (SWT) grant her Jannatul Firdous and May HE grant the family ease. (Source: PGMA) 7-31-11 With a very heavy heart I am sharing this news with the community. One of our youth Sr. Sumaya Paracha daughter of Tahir Paracha has passed away today. I pray to Allah to open the doors of His Jannah and accept her into His infinite love and compassion, and give patience to her family and MAV community in this difficult time. (Source: M. Mehboob) 8-1-11 It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of our dear elder and mother Ghulam Fatimah. She is the Grandmother of Brother Kashif Khan. Janazah Prayers were on August 2, 2011 in Laurel, Maryland. We ask Allah SWT to forgive her, have mercy on her and give her Jannat ul-Firdous. We also ask Allah SWT to give patience to her family during these difficult times.(Source: ICCL) 8-1-11 It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Javed Firdaus, brother of Azam Khalid. The Janaza (funeral prayer) was on August 1, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. May Allah (SWT) forgive his sins, give his family patience, and enter him into Jannat ul Firdaus. (Source: ISA) 8-5-11 It is with deep sadness and regret that I inform the community that Syed Hissain , the father of Syed Shakeel and Syed Waseem returned Allah(SWT) . The Janazah was August 5, 2011 in Sterling, Virginia. May Allah shower patience upon the family during these difficult times and forgive Syed Hissain and make his grave a garden from the Gardens of Paradise. Ameen. (Source: A. Rehman)

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

Upcoming Events In Your Area

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Muslimat Al-Nisaa 2011 Annual Health Fair Saturday, August 13 2011, 11:00am - 5:00pm Healthy Solutions Holistic Health Center and NAACP Health Committee Presents: 2011 Annual Health Fair. Features: School & Sports Physicals (fee), HIV Testing, Dental Exams, Blood Pressure Screenings, Diabetes Screenings, and Health Organizations to answer your questions. Location: 5115 Liberty Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21207 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PGMA Fundraising Dinner Saturday, August 13 2011, 7:00pm - 10:00pm Please Join us for Community Iftar, Maghrib Salat and a Special Dinner. InshaAllah we promise an enlightening evening of Quranic Recitation and presentations by Imam Azzaaria, special guest and others. (Please note that no Iftar will be provided at PGMA on this day.) We look forward to seeing you there inshaAllah. Location: Eleanor Roosevelt High School, 7601 Hanover Parkway, Greenbelt, MD 20770. Contact: www.pgmamd.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iqra Academy of VA Annual Ramadan Fundraising Iftar Saturday, August 13 2011, 7:00pm - 10:00pm Iqra Academy of Virginia invites you to attend its Annual Ramadan Fundraising Iftar. Guest Speaker: Dr Altaf Husain, Ph.D. Tickets: Individual, $40; Family, $80. Eid Bazaar, Maghrib & Isha Prayers, Iftar & Dinner. For Ticket Purchase or More Information, please contact: Br Farooq Hamid at 245-9668 Sr Aliya Farooq at 7218110 Sr Shaheen Mustafa at 745-3737. Location: Islamic Center of Virginia, 1241 Buford Rd, Richmond, VA 23235 . Contact: Iqra Academy at 330-4888 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Helping Hand Iftar Fundraiser for African Drought Crisis Friday, August 19 2011, 7:00pm - 10:00pm Brothers and Sisters please join us for Iftar and a fundraiser to support victims of the African Drought Crisis. Speakers: Br. Tarif Shraim, Chaplin UMD College Park and Dr. Zahid Bukhari, President ICNA. Dinner will be served. No ticket needed, everyone is welcome to join. Location: Islamic Society of Western Maryland, 2036 Day Rd, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Contact: For more info: Br. Asif Khan, (301) 252-7553; Sr. Atiya Ahmed, (304) 267-4660 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dar-us-Salaam Elevation through Revelation Iftar/Dinner Saturday, August 20 2011 Please join Dar-us-Salaam for a Special Ramadan Event, Elevation through Revelation. Iftar and Dinner. Free parking (after 4:30 PM) at Lot C1, C3, S9, & L adjacent to the Reckord Armory. Location: Reckord Armory Building (078), GYM, University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP). Contact: ramadan@duscommunity.org ; 301-982-9848 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dar Al-Hijrah Ramadan Fundraising Dinner Saturday, August 20 2011, 6:30pm - 10:30pm Today’s Youth; Tomorrow’s Leaders; Invest Now! Ramadan Fundraising Banquet. Featuring Guest Speaker: Sheikh Hassan Abunar. Children’s Entertainment and Meal, $3.00 per child. Tickets: $45/person, $75/couple. Maghrib, Taraweeh on-site. Buy tickets at the oﬃce or www.daralhijrah.net. To advertise or sponsor a table, email: asra@mirzapr.com. Location: Mark Center Hilton, 5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA 22311 Contact: Dar Al-Hijrah, 703-536-1030 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ISB 25th Annual Fundraising Dinner Saturday, August 20 2011, 7:00pm - 10:00pm Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB) & Masjid Al-Rahmah 25th Annual Fundraising Dinner. Guest Speaker: Dr. Radwan Baytiyeh. Free Iftar & Dinner. No tickets, Free Entrance. Please come with your families and attend.. Location: 6631 Johnnycake Road, Baltimore, MD 21244 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MCC Community Fundraiser Saturday, August 20 2011, 7:00pm - 10:00pm The Muslim Community Center (MCC) fundraising event: It’s Time to Build for the Future. For expansion of ADA Compliant Bathroom, Wudu Facility, Sister’s Prayer Hall and Sunday School. Speaker: Imam Mohamed Abdullahi – MCC Imam. Tickets: $50 for 12 and over. Location: Muslim Community Center, 15200 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20905 . Contact: mccmd.org/301.384.3454, Br. Mansoor Mohiuddin 301.294.6110 or Br. Issa Ndour 240.441.914

August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

30 | CONTINUED RAMADAN Editor-in-Chief: Minhaj Hasan Office Manager: Stephanie Benmoha Layout & Design: Fadlullah Firman Staff Writers: Fatimah Waseem Farha Marfani Rashad Mulla Sharia Advisors: Sheikh Salah as-Sawi Imam Safi Khan The Muslim Link (TML) is published every other week on Fridays and distributed throughout the Washington, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia Metropolitan Areas. TML is a non-profit publication and is based at Dar-us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland, USA. Staff and contributors are not necessarily affiliated with Dar-us-Salaam. The views expressed in The Muslim Link do not necessarily reflect those of Dar-us-Salaam or TML management or their underwriters. Dar-usSalaam and TML are not responsible for the accuracy of information presented by advertisers, or for the religious compliance of events, products, or services published in TML. This publication contains the names of ALLAH (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). Please keep, recycle, or share it with others The Muslim Link 5301 Edgewood Road College Park, MD 20740 Phone : (301) 982-1020 Fax: (240) 209-0702 editor@muslimlinkpaper. com Advertising: 301-982-1020 or email us at ads@muslimlinkpaper.com The Muslim Link. All Rights Reserved 2011

>> continued from pg 10

“One of the most challenging things about Ramadan this year was that I had to travel for work right before Ramadan started. It was hard to ﬁnd zabiha-friendly options when I was out of town, so I already felt a little nutritionally unbalanced when Ramadan began. But, what I try to remember is that it is all about mind over body. If Allah brought you to it, He will bring you through it,” she said.

FAMILY

>> continued from pg 20

Learning Patience Ramadan is a time for bettering ourselves, for learning self-restraint, consideration for others, and for bringing our tempers under control. The first place we put these valuable skills into practice is in our homes. The month of fasting is a time when we hold back on our desires, which merely starts with our restraining our desire to eat and drink. When we fast, we also strive to treat other people with kindness and generosity, and we exercise self-restraint in our interpersonal dealings, especially our disagreements. Our Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) teaches us that when someone insults us or tries to instigate an argument with us when we are fasting, we should say to them: “I am a person who is fasting.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Sahīh Muslim] We indicate in this way that we are not going to argue. We are not going to return that person’s bad behavior. This is

Maymuna Khan, a young mother of three in Fairfax, invites her in-laws over for the ﬁrst iftar of Ramadan every year. This year, the Khan family is forgoing tradition due to the short time between iftar and the start of Taraweeh. Instead, they are moving their get-together to a lunch party the day after Eid. “It was a little sad to give up something that everyone in the family has come to expect, but we also want to allow as much time for ibaadah as possible. We are all looking forward to a new tradition of Eid lunch instead- the kids have already Ramadan when the devils are restrained, and we want only to compete with others in who can show the most kindness, goodwill, and generosity. Allāh says: “The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one that is better, then lo! he between you and whom there had been enmity will become as though he were a bosom friend.” [Sūrah FuSSilat: 35] Ramadan teaches us patience and forbearance, even when we see from others what displeases us. This is all the more true when those others happen to be our nearest and dearest. Ramadan is a special time that calls upon us as husbands and wives to see the beauty and goodness in our life partners, to stress their good qualities. The Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) advised husbands: “A believing man should never despise a believing woman. If he dislikes one of her personality traits, he will surely be pleased with another.” [Sahīh Muslim]

started looking at cupcake recipes for that day.” For many Muslims, the longer fasts are just another Ramadan blessing. “The later times give me the chance to relax, read some Quran, and try new dishes for iftar,” said Shama Shaikh of Bowie, Md, who is also planning to invite friends for iftar this month. “I’m leaving for Texas just after Eid, so I thought about not having an iftar party, but inviting friends to spend time with before I leave is important to me, plus Allah rewards those who feed fasting people.” our love for our children. We can see this in the reward Allāh gives us for the good that we do for family. The Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) said: “A coin that is spent in Allāh’s path, or for freeing a slave, or for helping the poor, or for providing for your family, the greatest of these in blessings is what is you spend on your family.” [Sahīh Muslim] When you gather as a family at the Ramadan table, make our love and regard for one another more visible. Every kindness, no matter how small, is blessed. The Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) said: “Whatever you spend, it is charity, even the morsel that you bring to your wife’s lips.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī] Ramadan is a chance for family members to renew their commitments to one another, to correct their former errors, forgive each other, and turn over a fresh page. This is easy during Ramadan, the month that brings everyone together in fasting and devotion. [Source: http://en.islamtoday.net]

Ramadan is a special time that calls us as husbands and wives to express our love for our spouses, and as parents to express

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MASJID LOCATOR

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Do you have additions, changes, or corrections to the event listings in the Muslim Link? Email us at events@muslimlinkpaper.com, or call us at 301-982-1020. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------All Muslim Brothers Association 3900 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302 Tel: 703-647-0515 Jumma Prayer Only - 1:15 P.m --------------------------------------------------------------------------ICNA VA Center: 2913 Woodlawn Trail, Alexandria, VA 22306. Tel: 703-660-1255 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Idara Dawat-o-irshad: 4803 VAlley St, Alexandria, VA 22312 Tel: 703-256-8622 ww.irshad.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Mustafa Center: 6844 Braddock Rd., Annandale, VA 22003 Tel: 703-658-7134 www.mustafacenter.org E-mail: Mustafacenter@gmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Baitul Mukarram: 2116 S Nelson St., Arlington, VA, 22204, Tel: 703-778-1550 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Zakaria Islamic Academy: Galesbury Lane, Chantilly, VA 20151 Tel: 571-969-2123 www.ziacademy.org E-mail: Contact@ziacademy.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Badr Community Center Of Dumfries: 17794 Main Street, Dumfries, VA 22026 Tel: 703-585-1689/703-554-7983 www.bccd.org E-mail: Info@bccd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar Ul-ghuraba (Masjid Ur Rahmah): 155 Baker St., Emporia, VA 23487 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar Al Hijrah: 3159 Rowe St., Falls Church, VA 22044, Tel: 703-536-1030 www.hijrah.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Center Of Northern VA Trust (Icnvt): 4420 Shirley Gate Road, Fairfax, VA, 22030 Tel: 703-591-0999 www.icnvt.org E-mail: Info@icnvt.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar Al-noor (Muslim Assoc. Of VA): 5404 Hoadly Rd., Manassas, VA 20112, Tel: 703-580-0808 Fax: 703-221-8513 www.daralnoor.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Manassas Mosque: 12950 Center Entrance Ct, Manassas, VA Tel: 703-257-5537 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Islamic Center Of Virginia: 1241 Buford Rd., Richmond, VA 23235 Tel: 804-320-7333 www.icVA1.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Greater Richmond (ISGR): 6324 Rigsby Road, Richmond, VA 23226 Tel: 804-673-4177 www.isgr.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al Rahman: 1305 Hull St., Richmond, VA 23224 Tel: 804-232-7640 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjidullah Of Richmond: 211 North Ave., Richmond, VA 23222 Tel: 804-321-8864/804-647-4297 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar-ul Huda: 6666 Commerce St., Springfield, VA 22150, Tel: 703-922-0111 www.darulhuda.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Foundation of America: 6606 Electronic Drive, Springfield, VA 22151 Tel: 703-914-4982 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Noor: 8608 Pohick Rd, Springfield, VA 22153 Tel: 703-451-7615 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Adams Center: 46903 Sugarland Rd, Sterling,VA 20164, Tel: 703-433-1325 www.adamscenter.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Heritage Center (IHC): 262 A-3 Cedar Ln., Vienna, VA 22180 Tel: 703-206-9056 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON D.C.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------First Hijra Muslim Comm. Center: 4324 Georgia Ave, NW Washington, D.C. 20011 www.ﬁrsthijrah.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ivy City Masjid: 2001 Galludet St. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 Tel: 202-529-3100 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-islam: 4603 Benning Rd., SE, Washington, D.C. 20019 E-mail: Imammusa@hotmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Muhammad: 1519 4th St. NW, Washington D.C. 20001 Tel: 202-483-8832 | www. masjidmuhammad.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Muslim Society Of Washington, D.c. (MSWDC): Howard Center, Room 805 (Above Hu Bookstore)

Tel: 202-328-3236 --------------------------------------------------------------------------The Islamic Center: 2551 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-332-8343 www.theislamiccenter.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MARYLAND

--------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Annapolis (ISA): 2635 Riva Rd. Suite 110, Annapolis, MD 21401 Tel: 410-266-6660 www.isamd.org Email: Info@islamannapolis.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Bait-Allah Masjid of Baltimore Inc 1935 Frederick Ave Baltimore, MD 21223 Imam’s cell: 571-721-9938 email: baitallahmasjid@yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Bilal Dawah Center, Inc: 1910 Frederick Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21223 Tel: 410-945-1515 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar ul Uloom: 6334 Dogwoood Rd, Baltimore, MD 21207, Tel: 410-493-0785 Email: Darululoommd@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Ul-haq: 514 Islamic Way (Wilson St. ), Baltimore, MD 21217 Tel: 410-728-1363 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-mumineen: 2642 Harford Rd., Baltimore, MD 21218 Tel: 410-467-8798 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Jamaat Al-Muslimeen: 4624 York Rd., Baltimore, MD 21212 Tel: 410-891-8451 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-rahmah/ISB: 6631 Johnnycake Rd., Baltimore, MD 21244 Tel: 410-747-4869 | www.isb.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid As Saffat: 1335 W. North Ave., Baltimore, MD 21217 Tel: 410-669-0655 --------------------------------------------------------------------------IRHSCA (Islamic Research And Hum. Services Center Of America): 1 Chambers Ave, Capitol Heights, MD Tel: 301-324-5040 www.irhsca.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Southern Pg County (ISSPGC): P O Box 99, Clinton, MD 20735 5410 Indian Head Hwy, Oxon Hill, MD 20745 Tel: 240 603 4618 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar-us-Salaam: 5301 Edgewood Rd.,

College Park, MD 20740, Tel: 301-982-9848 www.duscommunity.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Zamzam 1510 Lynch Road, Dundalk, MD 21222 Tel: 410-284-2840 www.masjidzamzam.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar al-Taqwa: 10740 Rte. 108, Ellicott City, MD 21042, Tel: 410-997-5711 www.taqwa.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-Hikmah: 11064 Livingston Road Unit L (101) Ft. Washington, MD 20744, Tel: 301 292-9009 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Frederick (ISF): 1250 Key Parkway, Frederick,md 21702 Tel: 301-682-6090 www.isfmd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Center Of Maryland (ICM): 19411 Woodﬁeld Rd. Gaithersburg,md 20879 Tel:301-840-9440 www.icomd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Makkah Learning Center (MLC): 814 Brandy Farms Ln., Gambrills, MD 21054 Tel: 410-721-5880 www.isamd.org Email: Info@mlcmd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Germantown (ISG): 19900 Brandermill Rd., Germantown, MD 20876 Tel: (240)-277-7758 www.isgtown.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Ibn Taymiyyah: 8000 Mlk Highway, Glenarden MD Tel: 301-461-9325 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society of Western Maryland: 2036 Day Rd., Hagerstown, MD 21740 Tel: 301-797-0922 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Southern Maryland Islamic Center (SMIC): 1046 Solomons Island Rd, Huntingtown, MD, 20639 Tel: 410-535-0000 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Avondale Islamic Center: 4637 Eastern Ave., Hyattsville, MD, 20782 Tel: 301-779-9292 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Prince Georges Muslim Assoc.(PGMA): 9150 Lanham Severn Rd., Lanham, MD, 20706, Tel: 301-459-4942 www.pgmamd.org Imam’s Ofﬁce: 301-459-1441

E-mail: Imam@pgmamd.org. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Turkish American Community Center 9704 Good Luck Rd, Lanham, MD 20706 Tel: 301-459-9589 www.taccenter.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------La Plata Masjid: 111 Howard Street, La Plata, MD 20646 Tel: 301-609-8769 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Com. Center Of Laurel (ICCL): 7306 Contee Rd., Laurel, MD 20707 Tel: 301-317-4584 www.icclmd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-Ghurabaa: 8220 Washington St., South Laurel, MD 20724. Tel: 301-604-3295 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Center Of Lexington Park 22583 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, MD 20619 Tel: 240-538-7839 or 561-414-0994 www.iclpmd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Medina Center: 11600 Falls Road, Potomac MD 20854 www.medinacenter.net E-mail: Admin@medinacenter.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------Randallstown Islamic Center 9019 Marcella Ave. Randallstown, MD 21133 Tel: 410-971-4018 www.ricbaltimore.org E-mail: Info@ricbaltimore.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of The Washington Area (ISWA): 2701 Briggs Chaney Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20904 Tel: 301-879-0930 www.iswamd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Muslim Community Center (MCC): 15200 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20905 Tel: 301-384-3454 www.mccmd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Imaam: (Jumuah Only) Jumuah: 12:50pm 3201 Randolph Rd, Wheaton, MD 20906 www.imaam.org Email: Fridayprayer@imaam.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid An-nur: 5418 Ebenezer Road, White Marsh, MD 21162 Tel: 410-663-9637 Fax: 410-663-9817 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-inshirah: 7832 Fairbrook Road, Windsor Mill, MD 21244 Tel: 410-298-2977

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Place a personal classified ad. Call us at 301-982-1020. Office@muslimlinkpaper.com We invite you to place a classified on the web FREE of charge at www.muslimlinkpaper.com. Classifieds in the print edition of the Muslim Link newspaper are only $1 for every 3 words. All classifieds run for 3 issues in the Marketplace section. Get started by emailing your exact text to office@muslimlinkpaper.com and then call in your credit card payment to 301-982-1020 or send a check or money order payable to: The Muslim Link, 5301 Edgewood Rd, College Park MD 20740.

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also called Najeebudheen Appat, a 30-year old living in Los Angeles, CA. He’s had a severe dandruff

“Alhumdulillah, I found Honeyderm’s

Dermatonic-P, and it is really, really a blessing for people with Eczema or other skin illnesses. I no longer wake up sweating at night! Allahu-Akbar!.” -- Br.Hasan, Maryland problem for a long-time, and had been searching for a solution. “I tried so many different products like tonics and shampoos, I can’t even remember them all, until I found this product around 2002. My problem was solved completely, the entire thing is taken care of. I even called [Honeyderm] with the great feedback,” recalled Najeebudheen. He told us that Allah creates shifa in many things, and Honeyderm’s products are a part of that. “For dandruff problems, this is the total solution,” he told us from his mobile phone.

BEFORE

AFTER

On Honeyderm’s website, there are many more testimonials from Muslims and non-Muslims from around the nation and the world. There is also a gallery of “before and after” pictures of both hair loss treatments as well as skin treatments. And best of all, for those of us who’ve “tried it all”, there is a full money back guarantee. Allah said honey heals. The Prophet Sallallahu’alyhi wa sallam said honey heals. The people we called said honey heals. With a money back guarantee, there is absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain – your hair and skin!

BEFORE

AFTER

Honey-Based Healing for:

Hair Loss, Hair growth, Itching, dandruff, and Scalp Psoriasis. Acne, Wrinkles, Psoriasis, Eczema, Dermatitis, and Rosacea. Plus Supplements for Diabetics, Immunity, and Liver Health. Order Risk Free Today by calling (800) 424 - 7710 or buy online at www.honeyderm.com 2522 East Michigan Ave Lansing, Michigan 48912 MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

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August 12th 2011 - August 25th 2011

MP - ADVERTISEMENT | 47

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