The Youth – Muslims or otherwise- throughout the world are facing many challenges.
In Britain more than 50% of the Muslim population is under the age of 25. Although Muslims are the fastest growing ethnic group in the UK, their success rate overall in the mainstream activities has not been a source of pride for the youth themselves or their parents and there are many psychological, social, political, cultural and economic reasons for that. In the recent years, there has been increasing rates of involvement in crime & violence, drugs use, gang culture and anti-social behaviour. In additions, there are further issues around relationships, mental health, school drop-outs and unemployment.
Youth Committee of MINAB- the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board-recognizes that British Muslim community has a serious challenge on its hands: to ensure that it invests in today’s children (tomorrow’s adults) so that the youth play a more fulfilling role in British society. It requires all partners involved in the upbringing of the youth working towards this objective and not wait for a crisis to occur and then react.
From religious perspective, parents, teachers, mosques and Imams, youth workers and social workers all need to work together to help the youth overcome these issues & challenges.
MINAB and Leeds Makah Mosque in join venture with Muslim Youth Skills has organised a programme around the theme: ‘A Time to Invest’. This event will cover the importance in investing in our future generations.
The event is held on Friday 3 September 2010 after Taraweeh prayer at Leeds Makkah Mosque.
The event is open to everyone.
Speaking about the event, MINAB Youth Committee chair, Qari Asim, said: “Youth are the community of tomorrow. The British Muslim Community needs to transform the mindset towards youth and development to embrace youth as equal partners in the decision making and problem solving processes of their community. It is an investment that is most needed in our community.”
Sayyid Ibn Tawus and Shaykh al-Saduq have both narrated the following on the authority of Jabir ibn `Abdullah al-Ansari:
I visited the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on the last Friday of Ramazan. As he saw me, he said, “Jabir: This is the last Friday of Ramadan. You should thus bid it farewell by pryaing in the following manner:اللّهُمّ لا تَجْعَلهُ آخِرَ العَهْدِ مِنْ صِيَامِنَا إِيَّاهُ
allahumma la taj`alhu akhira al`ahdi min siyamina iyyahu
fa-in ja`altahu faj`alny marhuman wa la taj`alny mahruman
“O Allah: do not make it the last of our fasting in this month;
but if You decide so, then make me enjoy (Your) Mmercy and do not make me deprived (of it).”
Indeed, anyone who says this supplication will be granted one of the two good things; either live long enough to be see the next Ramadhan so that he can agin dip in the occean of mecry of God, or attain the forgiveness and mercy of teh Lord of the Heavens & Earth.
In the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast which involves refraining from food, drink, smoking and conjugal relations from dawn until sunset for a whole month. Fasting is one of the pillars of Islam and over 2 million Muslims in the UK have been fasting for a month to detox their bodies and to re-direct their hearts and souls. It is an act of worship which is designed to bring believers closer to Allah and to rediscover and re-direct themselves and teach self-discipline.
In the spirit of the month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast, Leeds Muslim Council annunly holds a community iftar reception. This year, Leeds Muslim Council cordially invites the whole community of Leeds to share a meal with them at Leeds Makkah Mosque on Tuesday, 7 September 2010. This meal, called Iftar, is eaten after sunset and breaks the Muslims’ day long fast.
The management committee of Makkah Mosque, Leeds Muslim Council, has historically been committed to helping achieve harmony within the local community by planning initiatives that actively engage with different community organisations, with the aim of providing opportunities for visitors to explore and share the beauty of Islam.
PAKISTAN FLOOD APPEAL
Refraining from food and drink teaches people to empathise with those who cannot afford to have a meal and have access to clean water.This year, Muslims of Leeds have been focusing on this aspect of fasting more than ever due to the terrible floods that have swept away villages upon villages in Pakistan. Consequently, there are people in Pakistan who have not had food for 3 days, not by choice but because they have lost everything that they owned. Families and friends of people who are caught up in the floods have reported that some of them have been eating leaves from trees as that is the only dry thing that is available for them to chew. According to UN the effects of floods in Pakistan have exceeded the combined total in three recent mega disasters being, Tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Concerted efforts have therefore been made at Leeds Makkh Mosque to raise funds for the victims of flood in Pakistan.
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun. Jim McKenna, launched his eight week long Pakistan flood appeal on Monday 16 August 2010 from Leeds Makkah Mosque and he will be a special guest of honor at the community Iftar dinner. Leeds Muslim Council will handover the funds raised at Makkah Mosque to the Lord Mayor of Leeds to form part of his Pakistan flood appeal. The donations will then be sent to Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
Please see below coverage regarding the Pakistan Flood Appeal:
On Sunday 29 August 2010, the Muslim community of Leeds will mark the 7th anniversary of the opening of the Makkah Mosque, Leeds and over 40 years of the Muslim community establishing mosques in Hyde Park Leeds.
Makkah Masjid and Madina Masjid were built and have been running due to the endless prayers and hard work of the Muslim community of Leeds.
By the grace of Allah, Makkah Mosque has achieved a great deal over the past 7 years nationally and internationally. Makkah Mosque has won a nation-wide competition to become the UK’s Model Mosque. The Mosque is a leader in the field of promoting and enhancing community relations, something which HRH Prince Charles has noted in one of his speeches.
In order to mark the anniversary of Allah giving the community of Leeds the gift of His Houses in the form of Makkah Masjid and Madina Jamia Masjid, a special ceremony will be held before the iftari dinner at Makkah Masjid on Sunday 29 August 2010. The purpose is to show gratitude to Allah and thank Him for enabling the community to be part of the mosques. Also, Leeds Muslim Council wishes to thank the community for their continued support.
On the day after Asr prayer, the community will recite the Holy Qur’an and remember their Lord doing different zikrs until Iftar. The hard work and services of all those who were part of the success of the mosque will be remembered. In particular, the efforts of Shaykh Hafiz Fateh Muhammad (May Allah have mercy on his soul) will be remembered.
InshaAllah, the occasion will be a joyous one, with everyone- brothers and sisters, elders and children coming together to break their fast in Allah’s House with a real sense of community spirit and affinity with the Masjid.
Imam of Makkah Masjid, Qari Asim, said: “the Holy Qur’an tells us to remember the Days of Allah, which include days on which blessings are granted on an individual or a community, and clearly the day on which Allah gifted the Muslims of Leeds with Makkah Masjid was a day on which He showered us with His blessings. It is therefore incumbent upon us to show gratitude to Allah on this occasion.
Inviting the whole of the community to collectively praise their Lord and celebrate together is in keeping with the spirit of the month of Ramadan.”
In Makkah Masjid, the recitation of the Holy Qur’an is completed in the Taraweeh prayer (night prayer) every year. It has been a tradition of Madina Jamia Masjid and Makkah Mosque, for the last 25 years, that the key themes contained in a part of the Noble Qur’an that is recited each night is explained to the congregation after the Taraweeh prayer. This tradition was set up by the late Imam professor Shaykh Hafiz Fateh Muhammad (May Allah bless his soul), who fist served as an Imam and khateeb at Madina Jamia Masjid for 20 years and then founded the Makkah Masjid in 2003. Since last year as the Tarweeh prayer finishes around midnight, it has been decided by the Imams of the Masjid that rather than presenting the meaning and tafseer of the juz (part) of the Glorious Qur’an that is recited each night after the Night (Taraweeh) prayer, the same undertaking will take place after zuhr prayer each day, save for Friday.
Throughout the month of Ramadan, the Qur’anic study circles will be held every day after the Zuhr prayer at 2:15pm. In these Qur’anic study circles, the key theme(s) of each of the juz/sapara/part of the Holy Qur’an will be explained in English and Urdu by the Imams, Qari Asim and Qari Qasim.
Makkah Mosque study circles are open to Muslims and non-Muslims, brothers and sisters who have an interest in learning about Islam.
Ramadhan is a month of intensive spiritual, physical and mental training so that one can become closer to Allah. Remembrance of Allah, Zikr, is the key to gaining closeness to Allah and obtaining contentment of the heart. Progress that each Muslim shall make during the month of Ramadan in achieving this objective will be up to him. However, at an individual and collective level, we should set ourselves specific goals to achieve in the month of Ramadan and then to maintain such goals throughout the rest of the year.
At Makkah Mosque, we have set ourselves a number of individual and collective spiritual, financial and intellectual goals.
On the basis of the following hadith, one such goal is to collectively recite:
i) 5 million times – reciting the declaration of faith (shahadah): There is no one worth of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
ii) 5 million times – reciting any “Istighfar” that a person may know; in other words seeking forgiveness from Allah Almighty; and
iii) 5 million times – salutations on the Prophet Muhammad / darood sharif/salat alan-Nabi. Sallal laahu alaihi wa-alihi wa-ashabihi wasallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Prophet, his family and companions) is the shortest darud sharif.
In a hadith, narrated by Salman Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him relates), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said the following in a sermon prior to the arrival of the month of Ramadan:
“O people! …. try to have the following four things with you in the month [of Ramadhan].You will make your Lord be pleased with you with two of them, and you cannot do without the other two.
One of the things that will make Allah be pleased with you is to continue saying kalima shahada “La Ilaha Illalaahu” (there is no one worth of worship except Allah…) and the other is asking forgiveness from Allah.
One of the two things that you cannot do without is asking Paradise from Allah and taking refuge in Allah from Hell…..”
Altogether, we are inshaAllah hoping to collect over 15millions of these blessed words during the month of Ramadhan.
We will insha’Allah also complete the entire recitation of the Noble Qur’an 100-150 times over the course of the month.
We also intend to recite 1,000 times surah Yasin (surah 36)insha’Allah over the course of the month. It will only take 35 people reciting surah Yasin once everyday of the blessed month.
If you wish to join us, please e-mail us on mail@makkahmasjid.co.uk and let us know how much you would like to recite these words or a part of the Glorious Qur’an. It could be as little as reading 10 times each of the above mentioned zikrs everyday or a page of the Holy Qur’an every day or surah Yasin once a day/week.
Come & join us in gaining the pleasure of Lord of the Heavens & Earth and making your future brighter!
We are fast approaching the blessed month of Ramadan. In order to:
make the most of the month of Ramadan;
learn about the fiqh of fasting, ins & outs of fasting (rozay);
increase knowledge about Do’s & Don’ts in the month of Ramadan;
learn about physical & spiritual benefits of the month of Ramadan;
prepare an individual and collective Ramadan planner;
learn about self-discipline & self-assessment;
learn about the link between chsrity & fasting
a workshop will be held at Makkah Masjid on Sunday 8th August at 5-7pm.
As month of Ramadan is when many Muslims offer their Zakah and many Muslims are unsure how Zakah principles apply to certain commonly held assets such as shares/investment properties, debts owed etc and consequently may be incorrectly calculating their Zakah liability. Consquently the workshop will also cover the fundamentals of Zakah.
The workshop will be held on Sunday 8th August at 5-7pm.
The workshop is open to both brothers and sisters and literature will be available to participants to take away at the end of the session. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.
The purpose of the workshop is to empower British Muslims with the information required to correctly discharge their Fasting & Zakah obligations.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Lunar calendar. Muslims practice fasting for the entire month of Ramadan. Muslims are obliged to abstain from all food, drink, use of tobacco, and marital relations from dawn till sunset. However, that is merely the physical component of the fast; the spiritual aspects of the fast include refraining from gossiping, lying, slandering and all traits of bad character.
A fasting person’s aim is to attain purity of thought and action. The act of fasting redirects the hearts away from worldly mundane activities, towards Allah – the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth.
The month of Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, prayer, recitation of the Qur’an, doing Zikr, remembrance of Allah, endurance and self-discipline. It is a month of training – training the soul and body- to be able to exercise self-restraint. The fasting Muslim is continuously tied with rules and regulations for an entire month and then released for 11 months to see whether the training has been adequate and effective.
A workshop about fiqh of Fasting, ins & outs of fasting, learning about making the most of Ramadan will be held on Sunday 8th August at 5-7pm at Makkah Masjid.
The session is open to both brothers and sisters and literature will be available to participants to take away at the end of the session.
During this month the personality of a Muslim develops so that during the rest of the year, the trained Muslim does not commit wrong under unrestricted conditions. Ramadan is a month to purify ourselves. Fasting helps to overcome bad habits either gradually for some of us or immediately for those with a stronger will power.
The Qur’an commands: “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, so that you attain taqwa (self-restraint)” (2:183).
The Holy Quran says: “Ramadan is the month in which we sent down the Holy Quran, as a guide to mankind, also clear Signs for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong).” (2:185)
AHADITH ON FASTING
Abu Huraira related that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven (Bukhari, Muslim).
Abu Huraira related that Allah’s Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Allah said, ‘All the deeds of Adam’s sons are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.’ Fasting is a shield or protection from the fire and from committing sins. If one of you is fasting, he should avoid sexual relation with his wife and quarrelling, and if somebody should fight or quarrel with him, he should say, ‘I am fasting.’ By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. There are two pleasures for the fasting person, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be pleased because of his fasting.” (Bukhari )
On the Day of Judgement, “Fasting will say: O My Lord I prevented him from food and desires so accept my intercession for him.” (Ahmad, al-Haakim and Abu Nu’aim, Hasan)
The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said: He who gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, he will receive the same reward as him, except that nothing will be reduced from the fasting persons reward.” (Ahmad, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah, Ibn Hibbaan, Saheeh).
Abu Huraira related that Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Many people who fast get nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst, and many people who pray at night get nothing from it except wakefulness (Darimi).
Abu Huraira related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If anyone omits his fast even for one day in Ramadan without a concession or without being ill, then if he were to fast for the rest of his life he could not make up for it (Bukhari).
Ramadan has another deeper significance for Muslims. Ramadan’s greatness is manifest in the fact that Allah Almighty chose it for the revelation of His Scriptures from time to time. In every Ramadan the Muslims celebrate the spiritual significance of that divine fact the eternal abiding permanence of the Holy Quran.
During this Holy month therefore, Muslims recite the Holy Quran more than in any other month. Throughout this holy month, therefore, from every Muslim home is heard, during the day and night, the pleasant and beautiful cadences of Quranic recitation. The Holy Qur’an states “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find peace” (13: 28.) Peace of mind and contentment of the heart can only be attained by sincere and continuous remembrance of Allah.
For information about the month of Ramadan and fasting: virtues of the month of Ramadhan, who must observe fast (sawm), who is exempt from fasting, conditions of observing Roza (fasting), what does or does not invalidate a fast (sawm), particular rulings relating to women and fasting etc, please visit Deen Foundation on: Important Conditions of Fasting and What Invalidates Fasting
May Allah grant us the strength to benefit from this blessed month of Ramadaan and may we take full advantage of these powerful days.
May Allah’s mercy and blessings be with us throughout the Holy month of kindness, brotherhood, sacrifice, patience and mercy, and throughout the year, Inshaa-Allah.
We take this opportunity to wish you, your family, friends and loved ones, A Blessed Month of Ramadan.
Administrator on September 3rd, 2010
