Al Madina Associationalmadina-association.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/6/0/...Al-Madina Association is...

- -

Al Madina Association

Honesty

April 2013 Issue No. 2

Table of Contents

Content Page

Director Reports 2 Tech Corner 3 Service Central 5 Enlightened Reading 6 Kids Zone 8 Inspiring Artists 9 Prayer Times 10

Board of Directors

President Muhammad Kashif

Vice President Shazad Saleem

Religious Directors Communication Directors Farrukh Haider Mobeen Siddiqui Shakil Maruf Muhammad Kashif

Financial Directors Operations Shakil Maruf Shahzad Saleem Mobeen Siddiqui Moni Islam Education Directors Social Directors Zain Diwan Zain Diwan Moni Islam Moni Islam

Al Madina Service Offerings

Daily 5 time Prayers Weekly Jummah Khutbah and Prayer Monthly Hadith & Qur’an lectures, Kids’

Game Night & Family Potluck Quarterly Al-Madina Newsletter Daily Iftar and Ramadan Taraweh with Hafiz Al-Madina Association Website Al-Madina Association email event updates Food Shelf Program Membership to Al-Madina with special

privileges including voting rights

All articles & opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of Al Madina Association®.


Rosemount Plaza Unit 206

14555 South Robert Trail

Rosemount MN 55068

Copyright Al Madina Association®

Become a Member Today

Membership forms are available at Al Madina Association in Rosemount

Go to www.almadina-association.org for further information

http://www.almadina-association.org/

- -

Director Reports

Religious: 1. Sheikh Faraz’s Hadith lecture is on the first Sunday of every month, and Asad Zaman’s Qur’an lecture is every

second Sunday of the month. 2. We thank all the Imams who have volunteered to lead the Friday Khutbah and prayers. If you have ideas on

Khutbah topics please email us at [email protected]. 3. We are currently undergoing a search for 2 Hafiz who can lead the Ramadan Taraweh prayers.

Communication: 1. One of Al-Madina Association’s objectives is to keep the community up to date with respect to different

programs run at Masjid and provide timely reminder for those programs through email for larger community participation. Without Community involvement and participation, we cannot attain success. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please email us at [email protected] or talk to any board member.

2. We also have a plan to redesign our Al-Madina website in the next few months so we can have a better look and feel for the website.

Financial: 1. Alhamdulillah we are collecting around $1100-$1300 in donations every month. The bulk of this goes to pay

the rent for the facility. Jazakumullah to our 37 sustaining members and other regular donors. We need to increase this number in order to establish a permanent or better facility InSha'Allah.

2. We will also be planning on having a fundraiser to jump start the project to acquire a new Masjid. 3. Al-Madina Association’s “Book of Accounts” is maintained by Acctec LLC (www.acctechllc.com).

Operations: 1. We have posted a weekly sign-up sheet at the Al-Madina where you can volunteer to help clean and tidy up Al-

Madina. We need 1 family/volunteer per week. InSha'Allah you will get a lot of sawab for helping keep the prayer area clean.

2. For special events e.g. Friday Khutbah, Game Night, etc, we will continue to rent the adjacent room to provide more space. For the month of Ramadan, we have secured the adjacent room to help facilitate Iftars and Taraweh for the whole family.

3. Al-Madina Association is introducing a new policy that before any posters or signs are put up on the Al-Madina premises, permission needs to be obtained first from the Board Members.

Education/Social: 1. Game night is every 3rd Sunday where we continue to change the theme to make it educational and fun e.g.

the latest introduction of debates. We are planning on having a summer camp and have some educational and sports activities included. There may be a small charge to cover for lunches. If interested, please contact Brother Moni or Brother Zain.

We would like to get your feedback on the above events and also if you have ideas for other events. Please email us

at [email protected] with your comments.





Rosemount MN 55068


mailto:[email protected]

- -

How to Use Social Media as a Muslim

By, Kashif Ahmed www.kashifahmed.com

We all are living in a digital age where technology is advancing rapidly. It is almost impossible to keep yourself away

from it. As with everything that is good, there is bad as well. Similarly where technology brings good to society, there

can also be negative. It all depends on how you use it. Being a Muslim, we all should be learning about cutting edge

technology, bringing ourselves up to speed, and finding out creative ways on how best to use it for the well being of the

entire Ummah and society. In this article, I am going to talk about Social Media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,

Google+ etc.) and how, as Muslims, we can leverage these platforms to better educate ourselves, connect with other

Muslims, preach others about Islam, and what we should avoid.

I will be focusing mainly on the Facebook platform this time, as I believe many young Muslims are using Facebook the

most. However, some of the general guidelines below apply to all mediums of communications. The first thing I would

advice everyone would be to visit the following page and review your Facebook privacy/security settings:

The questions you should be asking yourself about setting up privacy settings on Facebook:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/technology/personaltech/protecting-your-privacy-on-the-new-facebook.html

The Privacy Guide to review your settings and update:

http://mashable.com/2011/02/07/facebook-privacy-guide/

It is important to understand basic privacy settings so that you know and understand what information is going to be

public and what would remain private. You probably don't want your family pictures to be public and tagged by

strangers or used by them in an inappropriate manner.

Let us begin with some information about Facebook and basic principles I would recommend for young Muslims:

What is Facebook:

Started in 2004 by Mark Zuckerburg at Harvard University, it is the largest social network to date.

It is no longer for a specific audience. You will find people ranging from children to people in their 80's.

Even companies are on Facebook due to a large user base – using this medium to engage with prospects and

customers.

My Recommended Ground Rules for Muslims using Facebook :

Simple rule of thumb is: "If you are not sure about saying something, do not post/share it".

Do not post you or your family’s pictures on your or any friend’s wall if you do not HAVE to.

When sharing personal pictures or updates with the family, make sure you verify the share settings and privacy of

that post (e.g. create a Family list or Friends list), so that only targeted audience can see it.

Set your privacy setting to restrict people tagging you on any picture, or posting anything on your wall without

your approval.

You can disable your profile so it does not show in search results and you can also have settings for sending or

receiving only private invitations to/from friends or family.





Rosemount MN 55068






Rosemount MN 55068






Rosemount MN 55068

Tech Corner

http://www.kashifahmed.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/technology/personaltech/protecting-your-privacy-on-the-new-facebook.html

http://mashable.com/2011/02/07/facebook-privacy-guide/

- -

Keep a positive attitude and refrain from any negative discussion or comments about Islam.

Share things that can help others learn from.

If you are an expert in a particular topic, start a page and start sharing your knowledge with the world.

Even though, it is good to use these social platforms to connect with families, friends, and relatives etc., it is also very

important, being a Muslim, to know how we can leverage these platforms to learn and share more about Islam. Also, be

cognitive about what we share and talk about on these social platforms.

I would encourage all Muslims to subscribe to a few of the following pages and get involved in those communities to

learn more about our religion. Some of the Islamic Pages on Facebook to subscribe to are:

Islam, Quran, Ahadith Pages:

• Islam: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Islam/109523995740640

• Quran: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quran/108636229167153

• Prophet Muhammed: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prophet-Muhammed-P/55931926842

• Ahadith for You: https://www.facebook.com/AhadithsForYou

• Qurani Duaain (Suplications) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Qurani-Duaain/376002580520 Minnesota Mosque and Organizations Pages:

• Al-Farooq Youth & Family Center: https://www.facebook.com/AlFarooqYouthFamilyCenter

• Masjid-Ar-Rehman: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masjid-Ar-RahmanMCC-Muslim-Community-Center-

Bloomington-MN-non-profit/374497925459

Islamic Personalities & Organizations:

• ICNA: https://www.facebook.com/ICNA

• Islamic Society of North America https://www.facebook.com/isnahq

• Zaytuna College: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zaytuna-College/264566099252

• Maulana Tariq Jameel: https://www.facebook.com/MaulaanaTariqJameel For General Education Purpose:

• Khan Academy for Education: https://www.facebook.com/khanacademy

• Google Students: https://www.facebook.com/GoogleStudents

• Academic Earth: https://www.facebook.com/academicearth

• Udemy: https://www.facebook.com/udemy

My Final Thoughts:

Be yourself and have fun as long as you know what you are doing.

In this digital age, it is hard to keep everything private, it just takes less than a second to get across a billion users.

Thus, if you do not want to see something come back to you in the future and feel embarrassed about, better not

to say or share it on Facebook.

Facebook helps connect with your networks and be social, yet never underestimate the power of face to face

meeting or talking to your friends or families over the phone directly.

Value your relations and try spending quality “in person” time with them as well.

"Facebook or other Social Networks are NOT a replacement for communicating with others in the real world".





Rosemount MN 55068


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Islam/109523995740640

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quran/108636229167153

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prophet-Muhammed-P/55931926842

https://www.facebook.com/AhadithsForYou

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Qurani-Duaain/376002580520

https://www.facebook.com/AlFarooqYouthFamilyCenter

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masjid-Ar-RahmanMCC-Muslim-Community-Center-Bloomington-MN-non-profit/374497925459

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masjid-Ar-RahmanMCC-Muslim-Community-Center-Bloomington-MN-non-profit/374497925459

https://www.facebook.com/ICNA

https://www.facebook.com/isnahq

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zaytuna-College/264566099252

https://www.facebook.com/MaulaanaTariqJameel

https://www.facebook.com/khanacademy

https://www.facebook.com/GoogleStudents

https://www.facebook.com/academicearth

https://www.facebook.com/udemy

- -





Rosemount MN 55068


Review of SwiftKey Android Keyboard Application

By Shakil Maruf

There are many android keyboards out there but my absolute favorite is from a UK company that goes by the name SwiftKey. It is a replacement keyboard for your android phones and unlike other keyboards that just predict words based on the letter you type, SwiftKey goes a step beyond. It is capable of understanding your typing pattern and how words fit together in a sentence. The result is an uncanny ability to predict words even before you type. Swiftkey also learns from your e-mails, text messages, and also social media like Facebook and Twitter. If you are a fast typist you can forego putting spaces between words because SwiftKey has something called SmartSpace which figures out where spaces should be between words. The best thing I like about this keyboard is that you can download other languages like Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Farsi, etc. and search the web for an app for particular words. I use it quite a bit when I search for an ayah or a phrase in an Arabic text. The latest version of SwiftKey, SwiftKey Flow, has added gesture based typing allowing you to glide from initial letter to end letter to type a word. SwiftKey has won numerous awards for innovation and is very easy to use. I recommend you try out the free version and if you like it, support the developers by buying the paid product.

Al Madina Association and Building Blocks have joined forces to help Muslims in need in Minnesota. We are collecting non-perishable items to donate to Building Blocks’ food shelf. Please bring such items in when you come to Al-Madina Association for Salah or when you come for the Family Potluck and Kids Game Night.

Jazakh Allah Khair

Service Central

- -

Enlightened Reading

Food for Thought

By, Zain Diwan

Muslims believe in one God – Allah (s.w.t.), Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) as his last Messenger, and the Qur’an being the word of Allah (s.w.t.) sent down to our Rasullah (s.a.w.) through Angel Gabriel (a.s.). Muslims also believe that not all aspects of religion can be explained, for example there are still Ayahs in the Qur’an that they do not fully comprehend, but they believe in the Qur’an 100% and what they do not understand they acknowledge that Allah (s.w.t.) knows best. The Qur’an is a living miracle. As scholars continue to study and examine the Holy Qur’an they find countless miracles even some mathematical miracles. Some of these miracles could not have been discovered until now partly because we did not even have the technology (computers) to do this level of analysis. Some interesting numerical patterns and statistics that have been recently compiled from the Quran are listed below:

"Day (yawm)" is repeated 365 times in singular form, while its plural and dual forms "days (ayyam and yawmayn)" together are repeated 30 times. The number of repetitions of the word "month" (shahar) is 12.

The statement of "seven heavens" is repeated seven times. "The creation of the heavens (khalq as-samawat)" is also repeated seven times.

The number of times the words, "world" (dunya) and "hereafter" (akhira) are repeated is also the same, i.e. 115.

The word "satan" (shaitan) is used in the Qur'an 88 times, as is the word "angels" (malaika).

The words "paradise" and "hell" are each repeated 77 times.

The word "zakah" is repeated in the Qur'an 32 times and the number of repetitions of the word "blessing" (barakah) is also 32.

The number of times the words "Summer-hot" and "winter-cold" are repeated is 5 times each.

The words "benefit" and "corrupt" both appear 50 times.

The word "salawat" appears 5 times in the Qur'an, and Allah has commanded man to perform the prayer (salat) five times a day.

The significance of the number 19 in the Qur’an: Some examples include: (a) 114 chapters in the Qu’ran, 114 = 19 x 6; (b) Total number of verses in the Qur’an is 6346 = 19 x 334; (c) There are 30 different numbers mentioned in the Qur’an (i.e. 1 God, 2 brothers, 7 heavens etc.), If we add the 30 numbers we get a total of 162146 = 19 x 8534; (d) The very first revelation that was given to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) consisted of 19 words; (e) God's name in Arabic, `Allah,' occurs in the Quran 2698 times = 19 x 142; (f) If you add the numbers of the verses where `Allah' occurs, the total is 118123 = 19 x 6217; (g) The main message in the Quran is that there is only 'One' God. The number of times the word 'One' is used to refer to this concept of One God is 19; (h) The word `Quran' occurs in 38 different chapters = 19 x 2.

The above examples do not have any significance to Islamic teachings. They were listed only with the intention to highlight a handful of mathematical miracles in the Holy Qur’an that present physical and unquestionable evidence that the mathematical structure of this book could not have been conceived by any human even today, let alone 1400 years ago. In conclusion, even from a purely mathematical standpoint, you can prove that the Qur’an is the word of Allah (s.w.t.).





Rosemount MN 55068


- -





Rosemount MN 55068


Paid In Full

Author: Unknown

Contributors: Annur ul Islam (Romo) & Mubassir ul Islam (Rono)

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and he handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

For cutting the grass: $5.00

For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00

For going to the store for you: $0.50

Babysitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $0.25

Taking out the garbage: $1.00

For getting a good report card: $5.00

For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00 Total owed: $14.75

Well, his mother looked at him standing there; the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he'd written on, and this is what she wrote:

For 9 months I carried you while you were growing inside me: No Charge.

For all the nights that I've sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you: No Charge.

For all the trying times, and all the tears that you've caused through the years: No Charge.

For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead: No Charge.

For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose: No Charge, Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is: No Charge.

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, "Mom, I sure do love you". Then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: "PAID IN FULL".

Honesty

By, Abiha Kashif

Honesty is when someone tells the truth. Muslims need honesty because the Holy Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.) was honest to everyone. All Prophets were honest to everyone even if the people lied to them. Why you have so much trouble being honest is that Shaitan is whispering in your mind and telling you to do bad things such as gossip, rumors, not praying, believing in more than 1 god, lying, and other bad things. Being honest is important because all of our Prophets from Prophets Adam (a.s.) to Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.) did it. We should follow them because Allah sent them down for us to follow them.

An example of not being honest is that your friend went away and he lets you borrow his toys he comes back and he is missing a toy. He asks if you have it and you say you don’t have the toy and you actually have it. Parents of both you and him figure out you have it and they tell your friend about it. He gets mad and doesn’t want to be your friend any more. What will you do? A solution would be to tell your friend that you are sorry and want him to trust you again. Everyone should be honest because Islam teaches honesty.

- -

Word Scramble By, Hana Diwan

Can you unscramble these words?

RURAQ _________ DAJISM _________ MLUSIM _________ MASIL _________

JAHJ _________ KATZA _________ HUMAR _________ HLSAA _________ BAKAA _________ DUWU _________

Kids Zone





Rosemount MN 55068


Tricky Trivia Can you answer the following questions? The first 3 people to email their answer to [email protected] will get their name published in the next issue.

1. Can you name the prayer where if you join the imam at a certain incomplete state, it will end up causing you to recite tashahud in every raka'h? 2. What is the language of the Quran? A) English B) Arabic C) Urdu D) Hebrew 3. What do we call the Angels who write down what we do? A) Israfil B) Kiraman Katibin C) Mikail D) Izrail

Winners of January 2013 Newsletter Tricky Trivia:

Annur ul Islam (Romo) Mubassir ul Islam (Rono)

Safwan Diwan

Answer to the January 2013 Newsletter Tricky Trivia Questions: Qs 1. What was the first man made object to break the sound barrier?

Answer: A Whip

Qs 2. Break down the word ELECTRICALACTIVITY by following the specified directions. What is the final answer? Answer: GOOD ON YOU FRIEND


- -

Artist: Ayesha Ali Age: 10 Years

Artist: Hana Diwan Age: 8 Years

Would you like to see your creativity in the newsletter? Send us your art work to:

[email protected]





Rosemount MN 55068


Inspiring Artists


- -





Rosemount MN 55068


Prayer Times

Al Madina Associationalmadina-association.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/6/0/...Al-Madina Association is...

Documents

Transcript of Al Madina Associationalmadina-association.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/6/0/...Al-Madina Association is...