th March 2012 - April 12th 2012 ARTS 30 & ENTERTAINMENT
16 |COMMUNITY NEWS buddy
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compared to the trophies and gifts they may win then. A short break for dhuhr prayer and a catered lunch, provided free of charge for all attendees, followed. Despite the dreary start earlier in the day, skies had cleared up by the afternoon and families were seen enjoying the food and company both inside the masjid and under the arched brick passageways outside. For many in the city, this has become a much anticipated annual event in their family calendars, with the joy and enthusiasm on the children’s faces clearly evident especially when a giant, five pound Hershey chocolate bar in honor of the young contestants, was revealed. “Is that real or plastic?” exclaimed one of the excited participants, as he rushed to touch it. After the break, Br. Haroon Baqai, Principal of Al-Huda school and Director of the Hifdh program at Dar-us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland, gave a speech entitled, “The Quran is My Buddy”. He
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a starkly different picture of Gujarat than the one painted by the recent TIME Asia cover story and a Brookings Institution blog article,” said Mr. Shaheen Khateeb, President of IAMC. Both stories were largely seen as promotional articles aimed at rehabilitating the tainted Narendra Modi for higher office even as the judicial process is tightening around him. Dr. Hussain noted with regret that despite the killing of over 2,000 Muslims during the carnage, glaringly low number of arrests have been made to date with even fewer convictions. “An inclusive India would also be a stronger India, that could provide power for our mutual progress, economic development, and growth,” Dr. Hussain said in his testimony. “That goal cannot be realized without ensuring justice to the minorities of Gujarat,” the testimony added.
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explained how, in the company of one’s “buddy”, one feels very comfortable and does not get distracted. Similarly, when one makes the Quran his or her “buddy”, one spends time with it everyday, and doesn’t get bored reading it. “True believers are those who, when the Quran is recited to them, their hearts tremble with fear and they feel the iman rush in their hearts,” said Br. Haroon. He related a story about the noble companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Uthman ibn Affan, who would stand up in prayer at night, reciting the entire Quran. In spite of this, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) would say, “If our hearts were pure, we would never have enough of the Quran.” Br.Haroon also pointed out that one often turns to one’s buddy for sincere advice and, upon getting the advice, one usually listens and acts upon it because one knows that one’s buddy cares and truly wants what’s best. Similarly, one should follow the advice given in the Quran and act upon it, believing it to be what’s best for all of one’s affairs. Following this speech, the youth speaker - Br.Suleman Mian was introduced to the
community. Br.Suleman, a graduate of the AlRahmah Quran Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, and one of the judges at this year’s testing, spoke about how his journey to memorization of the Quran changed his life for the better. As the young audience listened attentively, Br. Suleman reflected on the hurdles he experienced, including the difficulty he had felt in memorizing his first “juzz”. He then warmly recounted how he was inspired to memorize by the unwavering resolve of his father, who memorized the Quran after 30 years of commitment to his goal. Br. Suleman related how he had set out to “race” his father on his last two surahs to completion -surah alAhqaaf and surah Muhammad - ones that Br.Suleman himself had found especially difficult. He ended his speech with five points of advice for those aspiring to memorize the Quran. Those included; obeying Allah, following the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), respecting one’s mother, respecting one’s father and respecting one’s teacher.
The Quran Competition Committee expressed their gratitude to all those who participated, assisted and financially contributed to this event. “Your support and enthusiasm goes a long way towards instilling, by the Grace of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), a love of the Qur’an in the hearts of our children and solidifying their Muslim identity. Events such as this encourage our children to feel a sense of pride in their deen, and we hope they will look back upon these formative experiences as having a very positive impact on their Islamic identity and connection with the Book of Allah,” said the committee.
The awards ceremony was conducted
Dr. Hussain urged the Commission to deny any recognition to Mr. Modi and to use the United States’ influence and friendship with India to ensure freedom, justice and security for the minorities in Gujarat as well as other Indian states. Dr. Hussain also deplored the continued suffering of more than 16,000 people still living in squalid refugee camps. Most people displaced during the pogrom have to date not been allowed to return to their homes as the state government has turned a blind eye to their boycott and ghettoization.
earthing of unmarked mass graves based on her report. This highlighted the impunity enjoyed by the Army despite gross violations of human rights. She also referred to the denial of independent religious identity to Sikhs.
Dr. Angana Chatterji testified before the Commission on similar targeting of Christians by right wing Hindu extremists organizations. Violence against Christians resulted in the murder, rape and massive displacement of thousands of people in the state of Orissa.
IAMC has also noted with regret the rising discrimination and violence against religious and disadvantaged minorities. “The harassment of minorities and the lack of due process in the arrest of Muslim youth after every terror attack have eroded the people’s confidence in the impartiality of the nation’s law enforcement agencies.” said Mr. Shaheen Khateeb. Several terror attacks for which Muslim youth were arrested were
Dr. Chatterji’s testimony covered the vast number of disappearances in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the un-
after this speech. The top three contestants for each category were called up to the front and seated on chairs as the first place winner was then asked to recite a surah from that category. Apart from the Tots’ categories (who received toys as gifts), all three winners in every category received cash prizes, and the winners of the reading category each received a “Touch and Learn” digital Quran reader generously donated by one of the community members.
Dr. Chatterji further called attention to the various Indian diaspora charitable organizations affiliated with the Hindutva ideology operating in the West and their efforts at influencing public discourse and policy in the United States in relation to India.
later found to be the handiwork of right wing Hindu extremists, In addition to extrajudicial killings and the denial of constitutional rights to large sections of the Muslim population, their increasing marginalization in education, essential services and employment have reached alarming proportions. IAMC hopes the awareness created by the testimonies of Dr. Najid Hussain and Dr. Angana Chatterji will lead to concrete steps by the Government of India to redress the grievous injustices committed against minorities in Gujarat and other parts of India. Indian American Muslim Council is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 10 chapters across the nation. For more information please visit our new website at www.iamc.com.