Iqra Issue 1 Volume 4.

7/30/2019 Iqra Issue 1 Volume 4.

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Iqra Issue 1: HomecomingNewsletter

Assalamu Alaikum my beautiful brothers and sisters,

Welcome back to another school year. InshAllah, your

summer vacation was one of learning, relaxation, family,

spirituality and summer fun.

In the words of the MSA President, The MSA, similar to the

Ummah as a whole, is only as strong and effective as the sum of its

parts, and thats why we want YOU to be a part of our family!Getting involved is easy because we have five weekly events

Friday prayer, weekly halaqas (religious study) for brothers and

sisters, Friday General Body Meetings, and Project Downtown eachSunday, which is a philanthropic function where members of the

MSA make lunches for the homeless and deliver the food to those

in need. Our generation has been given the responsibility todemystify Islam, extinguish stereotypes, combat misinformation and

slander, as well as to educate our peers on the true Islam; in other

words, we have the unenviable duty to ameliorate the image and

social standing of Islam and Muslims in this country and across theworld. The only question is, how will you contribute?

So come to MSA with ideas, excitement and preparedness. From

our collaborative RUN FAST Mali awareness campaign, the

Winter Conference to our End of the Year Banquet. This year will

be one of service, involvement in our community and giving back.

Be prepared.

Mushtaq DualehSecretary

The Volume IV

SISTERHOOD

Wednesdays. 5:30pm.

Ohio Firsts Room.

BROTHERHOOD

Thursdays. 6:30.

Hale Hall Room 120.

PROJECT DOWNTOWN

Sundays. 12pm.

Aviation Room.

WEEKLY GBMSFridays. 6:00pm

Davis Interfaith Room.

JUMMAH

Fridays. 2:30pm

Davis Interfaith Room

Dates to Remember


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IQRA Newsletter Issue 1: Homecoming

As all of the Eid meals andcelebrations come to an end, I

cannot help but think how fastRamadan passed me by. But then again, I think thatevery year. I always tend to overshoot my goals in thebeginning of the Holy month, which often results in myfalling short with my overall achievements. However,setting the bar high has its advantages; so that even ifI fall short, I at least achieved as much as I could.Every year I make the intention to finish a full recitationof the full Holy Quran in Arabic. This year I also madeit a goal to pray more nawafil(recommended prayers),make more duaa (supplication), and pray every nightoftaraweeh (Recommended

Alhamdulilah I can honestlysay that for the first time inmy life I've had one of thoseRamadans where you really

feel like your life has changed for the better becauseyou've been able to overcome a certain element ofyourself. Up until this year I always felt thatRamadan was sensationalized-made into some idealmonth where suddenly people become angels. WhatI hadn't realized was that this sensationalization wasa direct result of the experiences people have hadthat mirror the one I had this year. I think the reasonwhy this Ramadan went so well for me is because Itruly stuck to my goals.

What happened to me this Ramadan was

very simple: I worked on the basics. I read thesurahs every Muslim supposedly knowns, recited theduas every Muslim supposedly knows, and evenreread some of the prophetic stories of Islam thatsupposedly every Muslim has a firm grasp upon.What this did was reestablish the core of my faith. Byfocusing on the fundamentals I rebuilt my foundationin faith. I wasn't ashamed to face the reality that myunderstanding of some of the most basics tenants ofthis faith are eerie, and subhanallah by relearningthe "easy" stuff I really gained something that is"hard" to achieve: stronger faith. I think that we asMuslims really should embrace the simpler parts of

our faith and not be afraid to admit that we might notnecessarily understand them. If we can do that, wecan begin to more strongly establish the essence ofiman.

Inshallah my experience was insightful foryou, and I would like to ask you to please pray forour Muslim brothers and sisters across the world,

especially in Syria and Egypt.

Ahmed Daboul

Public Health 16

To me, Ramadan means comingtogether and striving forbetter. In my family, most of the

time everyone is at work or school so we never

have time to sit down for a family meal. We eatwhenever it fits into our schedules. DuringRamadan, we gather around the table every nightand get a chance to hear about each others days. Inever realized how important this was untilRamadan. Also, this holy month is a time where theshaytaan is locked up so it allows us to recognizeour own faults as opposed to the faults that are aresult of the shaytaans whispers. The absence isshaytaan makes bettering ourselves a lot easierand is something that we, as Muslims, should alltake advantage of.

Ilham AbdiMicrobio 16

My Ramadan did not

exactly go the way that Iwanted. This is due to the

fact that I took summer classes, and completelyunderestimated the amount of stress that I would be underduring Ramadan. It seemed manageable prior to Ramadan,but after it began, things got bad really fast. I found myselfstaying up until suhoor studying, and going to sleepafterwards only to wake up a couple hours later to go toclass. I would go through the whole day tired and unable toconcentrate. I was miserable. In addition, I was not able togo to taraweeh for days at a time. Typically I would go andpray all the rakahs in the previous Ramadans, so this,among other things, made me feel as if I was not doing my

part. After exams were over, I went full force in doing mypart of Ramadan. Since there were less than 10 days left,this experience was short lived. I felt regret on the last dayRamadan, because I had voluntarily chosen to take classeswhich hindered my ability to properly worship during the holymonth. It was an honest mistake on my part, and inshallah Iwill be more careful to make sure that I have sufficientamount of time for next Ramadan.

Talha Saif

Biomedical Engineering 16

My Ramadan goal is the same every year: to strivefor better than Ive done during the year. Not only spiritually

but in all aspects of my life. I definitely think Iveaccomplished my goal this year, alhamdulilah. In the pastyears, Ive never struggled with the spiritual aspect but Iwould basically just sit around my house all month, notbeing very productive. This year I managed to work, go toschool, and just get out of the house more than I have inpast years. This not only made the time go by faster, but itmade me feel a lot better about my day when it came timeto break my fast. I was saddened to see such a beautifulmonth come to an end but Im grateful for the opportunity to

better myself and know the good Im capable of.

Eyad HamzaEconomics 15


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IIQRA Newsletter Issue 7: Homecoming

Ramadan night prayers). Alhamdulilah, Praise beto Him, I was able to fulfill most of my goals;however, I was not able to finish a full Quranrecitation. I could make the excuse that I had

summer courses going on as well as volunteeringand a bunch of other things to do, but in reality,these things do not prevent one from making timefor the Quran. I know this because I was able tomake time for so much more unimportant things.For example, I probably ate at Ihop forsuhoor(Pre-dusk meal) more times this Ramadan than Idid in my entire life.Ramadan is the best time of the year and isdefinitely one of the best experiences one can gothrough in ones life. The amount of rewardgranted to us by His mercy for doing that which weshould already be doing is unimaginable. So lets

make sure we take advantage of it when it comesand pray to meet it again, as much as we can

because nobody is guaranteed to see it next year.

Continued from page 2

Superhanallah


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5/8

IIQRA Newsletter Issue 7: Homecoming

Mashhood SalahuddinHistory 14

The soft voice of the adhan starts seeping through the slightly open window above my mattress. I hear my father

wheeze a few feet from me. My vision clears as I sit up and see the innocent faces of my two little sisters sleeping

peacefully, snuggled together. The dust is still present around our apartment from the rubble that lay where once our

kitchen and living room was. Bashars planes had given us an early Eid present this year by bombing our building.

Next to my fathers mattress, was a cracked frame with a black and white picture of my beautiful mother from when

she was in college right here in Damascus. My father talks to it every day after my mother was killed in a school attack

carried by Bashars men. I lost a mother that day; over two hundred mothers lost a son or a daughter. Nothing has

been the same since that day. I get up and kiss my fathers forehead lightly and then lightly walk over to my sisters and

kiss them on the forehead as well and place a candy at the side of their pillow each. I

got paid yesterday, so it was a good night yesterday. I bought my sisters

candy, my father a fake pair of Ray Bans, and for all of us, some fresh meat

and rice. I

walk to the

restroom and turn on the faucet

for the hundredth time with hope that we

might have water today. But the faucet

too coughs dust. I walk down the broken

steps and use the water from the pumpoutside. I start my long walk to my local masjid. Every day, less and less men make the ranks of Salah at the Masjid. I

turn the corner two blocks from my building and suddenly a whizzing sound overhead. It is so loud, that it deafens me

for a good two minutes; One of Bashars planes doing a fly over. I continue my walk. Suddenly the ground shakes and

shrieks in the distance go off. It wasnt a fly over, it was a pre dawn bombing. I run towards the noise, a fire blazes on

in the distance. Suddenly, an eerie silence, then a loud noise as something pierces the ground in front of me. The

ground from underneath leaves my feet; I am airborne, part of the debris, dust, and human body parts. Suddenly a

loud thud, the pain is so much for the first second or so, then nothing. I see the Angel of Death coming for my soul, and

I become frightened and saddened. My father, my little sisters, I cant leave now. Then I calm down, I smile, I am going

to be seeing my mother again. I start reading the Shadah. I land with a thud. I see the bucket from which I had made

Wudhu just moments ago. I was home, Allhamdulillah.

And with that, I breathe my last breath asa son of Mother Syria.

Free Syria


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If you sleep before midnight(meaning halfway between Maghrib

and Fajr), after Isha, then thatsleep is worth up to twice as much

as the sleep that occurs aftermidnight. The Sunnah of the

Prophet is to go to bed right afterIsha, and sleeping after Fajr, before

sunrise (shuruq), is considerednegative sleep. So, if you slept for

two hours it is as if you weredeprived of two hours of sleep. It isnegative sleep. If you sleep before

Zuhr or before Asr, then that ispositive sleep and it is worth twicein terms of the rejuvenation of the

body. According to Imam As-Suyutiin Tibb An-Nabawi, Whoever

sleeps after Asr and wakes up madlet him blame only himself.

The Prophet (peace be upon him)

used to sleep after Zuhr and he said:Take an afternoon sleep (qaylula)

because Shaitan does not take one.This practice helps you get up at

night for the night prayer(tahajjud). When you take the

afternoon rest it literally brings youback to the freshness of the

morning. It is like starting the dayall over again.

-Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

If Allah has put you in a difficult situation

in this world, its a chance to earn ease in

the hereafter through patience.

If falsehood and corruption are on the rise,

its a chance to do more Daawah and

spread the truth.

If youre being ridiculed for your faith bythe creation, its a chance to earn the praise

of the Creator.

Everything from Allah is good because even

the bad in this world is in essence just a

means of attaining good in the hereafter for

the believer.

The sunnah is to be optimistic and

opportunistic!

Omar Suleiman

Words of Wisdom


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Issue 1: HomecomingIQRA Newsletter

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375 F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar

and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well aftereach addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by roundedtablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove towire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spreadinto prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.Makes 4 dozen bars.

SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE VARIATION:

PREPARE dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or untilfirm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheatoven to 375 F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to coolcompletely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 bag of chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

Prep:15 minsCooking: 9 mins

Level: EasyCooling:15 mins

Yields: 60


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UNITE. EMPOWER. TRANSCEND.

The Ohio State Universitys

Iqra Newsletter 2013

Iqra Issue 1 Volume 4.

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Transcript of Iqra Issue 1 Volume 4.