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September 2016
Northwind Islamic Association Traders Newsletter of North West Calgary Newsletter
New Board of Directors
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new board has been elected to serve IANWC. Visit https://ianwc.ca/about-us. Led by Dr. Abdul Rahman, the board of directors are here to serve your best interests, the Muslims of NW Calgary.
Inshallah, in the coming year, we would like to: 1. Resolve the Bearspaw Masjid Project and the NW Musallah restrictions 2. Reignite youth programs 3. Increase communication and engagement between the board and the community 4. Create neighbourhood based Muslim community groups But we can't do this without your support. In the next few months, will be begin recruiting volunteers for specific committees that will be working towards the goals mentioned above InshAllah. Please sign up, bring your ideas and your concerns, and be ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Committees: Future Projects, Community Outreach, Women, Youth, Sports, IT, Communications, Facilities, Religious Affairs, Seniors, and Fundraising. If you have specific skills you would like to contribute, we would love to hear from you. volunteer@ianwc.ca. Stay in touch by liking our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ IanwcIslamicAssociationOfNorthWestCalgary
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man asked the Prophet ( )ﷺ, "What sort of deeds or (what qualities of) Islam are good?" The Prophet ()ﷺ replied, 'To feed (the poor) and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not Know” [Sahih Al-Bukhari Book Hadith 5]
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he Prophet ( )ﷺsaid, "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself." [Sahih al Bukhari Book 2 Hadith 6]
Questions? Concerns? Info@ianwc.ca.
Eid Mubarak September 12th
Taraweeh, Edgemount Community Center
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Beenish Khurshid
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magine the time of the Pharaoh, a strong king who granted himself the title of God. Someone who does what he likes, and powerful enough to enslave an entire Ummah and get away with treating them as sub-humans for generations. This was the era into which Musa (AS) was born. It was a time of real hardship for Bani-Israel since Pharaoh was murdering their newborn sons. Imagine the time when all the male children are being slaughtered and you gave birth to a male child. It is an understatement that you want him to be safe, but don’t know how to. You know that king has deployed his spies to find all the possible male children and his strategy seems to be working effectively. How anxious and desperate you will be! Allah (SWT) promised Musa’s (AS) mom the safety of her newborn and gave her the task to put her newborn in the river. Imagine the confusion, pain and helplessness she was feeling at that time. Her faith and Tawwakal in Allah (SWT) pulled her towards Allah (SWT) and her nafs pulsed her in the opposite direction. As the story continued, Musa (AS) was rescued by the Pharoah’s wife and was raised as a prince right under the nose of the king whom he was about to topple over. Rewind this story a little; Allah (SWT) put Musa’s (AS) mom into this great test and asked her to be have faith and patience. Quran over and over again describe the virtue of Emaan in exemplary women: whether she be Musa’s (AS) mom, Hajjar, Aasia (the Pharoah’s wife) or Maryam. He describes their Emaan, their understanding, and self-control and ability to do right thing at the right moment. However, being sad, anxious, worried or even helpless doesn’t mean that you lost faith in Allah (SWT). In this story, Quran describes the emotions of Musa’s (AS) mother, when she puts her child in the river as she became anxious.
“Soon after, Moses’ mother felt a void in her heart––if We had not strengthened it to make her one of those who believe, she would have revealed everything about him” [28:10]
Points to ponder:
Allah’s (SWT) promise is not a joke and whatever Allah (SWT) wants and wills, happens.
No matter how big and powerful knowledgeable we think we are, still tiny to understand the big picture.
Women are creations of Allah (SWT) and they are smart, resilient, logical, objective resourceful and independent. Whom don’t need assistance to think and make decisions. Their brains are fully developed by their creator Allah (SWT)
Almost same thing is told in Quran about Yusuf (AS) when the Aziz’s wife pulled him towards adultery. “And she certainly determined [to seduce] him, and he would have inclined to her had he not seen the proof of his Lord. And thus [it was] that We should avert from him evil and immorality. Indeed, he was of Our chosen servants.” [12:24] Both stories tell that the strength of Emaan comes from Allah (SWT) only. This story describes the two prong trust in Allah (Tawakkal) . She had enough trust to put her newborn in the river but Tawakkal is also about putting your effort (tying the proverbial tying the camel) and leaving the rest to Allah (SWT). In order to do this, she asked her daughter Maryam who was approximately 10-12 years of age, to follow the basket. A sister, young herself, but very resourceful, walked along the shore, smart enough to hide herself, got to the palace and found that her brother reached safe and sound and been rescued by the Queen. The story also describes the smartness and confidence of Maryam, Musa’s (AS) sister, whom after finding out situation of her little brother offered the Queen the whereabouts of a wet nurse (her mother) who could be the best match for their newly found son. In this way Musa (AS) was back right in the hands of his loving mother. Irony is, now he is treated like a prince and his mother now paid to do what she supposes to do, anyways. What initially Allah (SWT) had promised Musa‘s (AS) mom that he will return him back, at that time it might have seemed completely illogical and downright insane, but it came true within days.
Allah (SWT) loves his women creations as much as any other creations and interestingly, in Islam many of the rituals obligated to be done by all Muslims (men & women) are the celebration of resilience, Emaan, and dedication of female follower of Islam. This story can be read in Quran in Surah Qasas (7-13)
Building An Ummah of Readers
Enjoy Your Life By: Muhammad Bin AbdulRahman Al-Areefi
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Community News Fasting on the Day of Arafa Abu Hafsah (RA) reported that Prophet, upon whom be peace, said: "Fasting on the Day of 'Arafah absolves the sins for two years: the previous year and the coming year, and fasting on 'Ashura, (the tenth day of Muharram) atones for the sins of previous years." Reported by all except Al-Bukhari and AtTirmidhi
Community Iftars Every Ramadan, IANWC arranges for community to get together and share Iftars on Saturdays. This year, Iftars took place in Dalhousie Community Center and Edgemount Community Center. Over 400 people attended each Iftar, and enjoyed good food, and good company Alhamdulillah.
Community Iftar, Dalhousie Community Center
Beenish Khurshid
Farewell Imam Fahad You may be familiar with Fahad Farooq’s Khutbahs: to the point, full of depth, straight from the Quran, and full of spirit. It is with much regret that we inform you of Fahad`s departure from Calgary. We send our Salam, and pray that he find success in his academic pursuits.
Weekend Ilm Intensive
“And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate” (25:67) Who are they?
What is moderation?
Am I moderate?
An Ibad-ur-Rahman is a person who is very moderate in spending. What is spending? Usually we understand it literally as spending our money, but it also can be described as spending of our time and resources. Allah asked us to be moderate in every aspect of life. From spending moderately upon ourselves, our families, or helping other people in general. The same guidelines also goes for moderations in our time, resources and affection.
A Muslim is not a person who excessively or sparingly spend his money and resources on things that do not matter. Being moderate actually means to understand that everything we have is provided by Allah (SWT) and He has all power over all of our provisions.
In Surah Furqan Allah (SWT) talks about Ibad-ur-Rahman, a special group of people on “Prophetic Happiness” whom Allah shows immediate and special mercy. There are 8 of IbadurA 2 day Intensive discovering the Keys characteristics Rahman. The third characterisof Prophetic Happiness & the Art of tic of an Ibad-ur-Rehman is that Interacting with People. he is a justly moderate person. Saturday, November 26 1:00 - 6:00 In previous articles, we dis- “Eat, drink, spend, and dress Sunday, November 27 10:00 - 4:00 cussed how an Ibad-ur- without extravagance or arroRehman is a person who is gance.” [ Al-Bukhari] NW Musallah humble and he fears Allah that $80 Course Fee includes textbook, 3 he wakes up in the middle of night to pray and ask for formeals and an information package. giveness from him.
So moderation is to spend as He (SWT) would want us to, with our primary aim as His pleasure and attainment of Jannah. With Allah (SWT) at the center of our purpose, it becomes easier to understand when the love for things in this world becomes excessive, and which forms of spending are moderate.
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ho can forget those student years, where when instead of preparing for exams, we often procrastinated and distracted ourselves with pastimes. Every day, we have a choice to either lead our lives focused on achieving our goals for the Akhirah, or to indulge ourselves in pastimes and distractions. Whether we choose short term pleasure or the everlasting but distant depends heavily on our willpower. Roy E Baumstein wrote in his book Willpower Discovering the greatest Human Strength “Willpower is not a personality trait a skill or virtue. Instead it operates like muscle and as such can be strengthened.” We all want the strongest willpower and want to know how can we strengthen it?
going on in our lives and in the world around us. We should thank Allah for his blessings. When we pray five times daily and are mindful of what we are supposed to do in Salah rather than rush through it mindlessly, then Salah will become the best way to strengthen our willpower. Self-Accountability Another way to strengthen willpower is “SelfAccountability”. Five times a day we present our self to Allah for accountability and ask for his forgiveness for anything we did wrong. If we are mindful in Salah to think about we did wrong and to make Tauba it will make our willpower stronger to stay away from sins and things we do not want to do.
were doing, and perform Salah. If we are quick to get up for Salah and pray five times a day without fail, we make our willpower more robust and help ourselves move away from distractions and temptations. Strong Rituals In addition to that we can exercise muscles of our willpower by “Having strong rituals, routines and habits”. Incorporating Salah into our daily ritual ensures that Allah (SWT), and our Akhirah, become a strong part of our daily lives, and our operational psyche. When we do things out of routine, we do them automatically, reducing number of decisions we make, and prevent wrong decisions. There is no better way to develop stronger willpower than having a strong habit of praying Salah on time, five times a day, to achieve what we want in this life and Akhira, and for staying away from temptation for things that are not good for us in this life or Akhira.
Meditation
Reducing Temptations and Distractions
Kelly Mcgonial, a PhD who teaches Science of Willpower in Harvard University ranked “Meditation” as #1 way to improve willpower. During the five prayers we should be mindful of what is
Similarly we can build muscles of our willpower by “Reducing Distractions and temptations”. Pray Salah early: when it is time to pray, stop whatever you Mah Talat R Ph, APA, B Pharm
Contact Us Got a question? info@ianwc.ca Islamic Association of NW Calgary #23, 7750 Ranchview Drive NW Calgary Alberta NWMusallah.ca, ianwc.ca
Contribute Got a story? newsletter@ianwc.ca Editors Afshan Habib Shaista Khurshid Beenish Khurshid
Bye Bye spring, See You Later Shaista Khurshid
Tawakkul is having full faith in Allah: that He will take care of you, even when things look impossible. Thank You Gift to Our Community Partners
Beenish Khurshid
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