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LNS NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 1 AUTUMN TERM 2014

British Museum

LNS hosted its first careers evening on

Tuesday 4th November for Years 9—

11. The evening commenced with a mo-

tivational talk by Saira Majid (Mosiac

Mentor of the Year 2013), followed by

small group consultations between stu-

dents and different female profession-

als. Students met professionals from a

range of backgrounds (dentistry, coun-

selling, lawyer and so on) and had an

opportunity to discuss routes into the

profession, expected salaries, working

hours etc. The event proved to be very

successful and enlightening for all par-

ticipants.

Jazakallah khair to Ust Poppy for ar-

ranging this event and to all the profes-

sionals who attended.

As part of Art and Design class, ear-

lier this term we organised an inspi-

rational trip for KS3 students to visit

the Islamic World exhibition at the

British Museum in central London.

We spent the day looking at histori-

cal pieces based around Islamic Art

and Design. Year 7 focused on re-

searching the geometric shapes and

patterns in Islamic Design. They also

looked at colours, shapes and de-

signs. The students also completed a

worksheet that was based around

On 11th October in the after-

noon we held an Eid al Adha

party in school. Students

were allowed to come in non

-uniform and many had

bought in snacks for every-

one to share. We ordered

Pizzas for everyone and sang

nasheeds.

Careers Evening

We held our first Meet &

Greet on 1st October at

5:00pm. Mums come to-

gether and socialised over a

cuppa. The Headteacher and

the parent governor Shahida

were both present. The

mums have created a

whatsapp group “Friends of

LNS”. If you are interested in

getting involved or would

like to attend the next Meet

& Greet please email us.

Eid Party

what we saw. Overall it

was an enjoyable and in-

teresting trip. MashAllah

all the students behaved

very well and I had great

support from Ust Doaa and

two parents Veena Lamari

and Shahida who gave up

their time to come along

on the trip.

Ust Nazia

Mothers Meet & Greet

Assalamu alaikum Parents and Friends!

We have had a long and busy first term at LNS. There have been

many new projects and initiatives started this year which would

not have been possible without the support and dedication of the

staff. Jazakallah to all staff and volunteers for your time and effort.

I would also like to give a special thanks to the prefects for the

hard work and commitment they have shown this term!

Inside this issue:

Eid Party 1 British Museum Trip 1 Mothers meet and greet 1 careers evening 1 Pearls of Islam 2 Black History month 2 Coffee republic trip 2 House of Parliament trip 2 Ibadah competition 2 Open Evening 3 Article about Lady Nafisa 3 Natural History Museum 3 Westminster Abbey trip

Prefects 2014—2015 YR 8 - Ariza Motin - Zara Sarwar YR 9 - Athiya Azard - Zaynah Ahmed -Rahima Kooshin YR10 - Haniya zaka -Rahima Bhally - Taiba Naeem Librarians -Aqsa Khan -Rahmaroon

For their topic on franchises, Year 10

business studies class went on a trip to

Coffee Republic, Hounslow. They were

given a 20 minute talk on why the owner

set up this brand of a franchise opposite

the successful brand Costa. They listened

to all the steps involved in making a suc-

cessful franchise from how to undertake

market research to the unique selling

point of the Coffee shop. The girls were

truly inspired and asked many questions.

Coffee republic trip -24/10/14

This term Year 10 learnt about how de-

mocracy works in the UK in Life Skills

lessons and Year 11 were learning about

how the EU is set up and run. Both

classes had an opportunity to visit Parlia-

ment for a thoroughly informative guided

tour. The students visited both chambers

(although were not allowed to sit in any!)

“I found the trip really interesting and

very informative. It was a great oppor-

tunity to actually be able to see inside

the Houses of Parliament” (Year 10

Maryam Saleem)

We would like to welcome many new stu-

dents to LNS. It is lovely to see LNS grow-

ing and our bonds of sisterhood expand-

ing.

Sajida Syeda Asma Abdullahi

Hafsa Adaed Faduma Farah

Asha Mohamed Naima Mohammed

Hafsa Ali Jood Jamjood

Hiba Butt Iman Elmellas

Rahima Kooshin Ayan Shire

Khadeeja Syeda Tahera Syeda

LNS students have been very warm and

welcoming to the new girls and everyone

has settled in well and made friends.

Yr 7 and Yr 9 visited Hounslow Library

on the 15th of October for a talk by

writer Rupert Colley covering various

topics related to Black History. They

were given an insight into American In-

dependence, the slave trade, revolts and

abolition of slavery in the UK and the US.

The talk also covered prominent figures

such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther

King, Malcolm X and Barak Obama.

Black history month-Library Trip

House of ParliamentTour-1/12/14 Netball Competition

LNS took part in their first competitive

netball match against Ayesha Siddiqa

school, Southall on Wednesday 12th No-

vember. Students were highly enthused

from start to finish and were ecstatic with

their win! The final score was 6-5 and

both teams played incredibly well!

Well done Team LNS!!Ust Poppy

Pearl of Islam Visit

New students October is Black History Month and the

Pearls of Islam came to LNS to teach the

students about famous black Muslims,

both historical and current. The stu-

dents learnt about Baraka, Ameena Mat-

thews and other inspiring women. It was

an interesting presentation which ended

with everyone singing nasheeds! We

hope they can come back again soon.

Annual Ibadah competition 2014

This term saw our first LNS Ibadah

competiton to mark the 10 special days

of Dhul-Hijjah. Students formed teams

and undertook a rigourous ibadah

scdule for 7 days, earning points for

tahajjud, nafl prayers, Quran reading

and so on. The winning team (The Mus-

limah Swag) consisted of Musna, Iman,

Rahma,Hibaq and Athiyah have their

name engraved on the LNS shield.

Westminster abbey visit -23/10/14

Natural History Museum/ Ice Skating Trip—9/12/14 We would like to warmly wel-

come Ust. Shebana (Life Skills and Eng-lish Support teacher), Ust Saima (Islamic studies teacher), Ust Khadija (Islamic Studies teacher) Ust Sadia (Admin and ICT teacher) to our team! Sister Fatima (Admin volunteer). We hope you enjoy being part of LNS!

‘I really enjoyed lighting the candle and sitting in the pews where only the choir boys are allowed to sit.’ Tahera Syeda Y11 ‘The building was unique and its history was spectacular.’ Maryam Mohamud Y11

New Staff

Open Evening-11/11/2014

Who was Lady Nafisa - Interesting read

Usually, when western Muslims speak of women and

Islam, we speak of the rights and opportunities Islam

afforded women in the economic, social and political

realms long before similar developments occurred in

Christendom. There is nothing wrong with such a narra-

tive and it helps to normalize Islam to people in the west,

both converts and others who are seeking to better un-

derstand a sometimes controversial world religion.

Hence, we will begin by mentioning some famous Mus-

lim women, whose exploits reflect the lofty social status

Islam afforded to women. The accomplishments of

women among the Companions of the Prophet, in this

regard, are well-known. Khadija’s financial and moral

support to the Prophet and his mission were critical to

the success of the fledgling Muslim community. Aisha’s

learning and leadership gave her a standing in the early

community that rivals that of her male contemporaries.

Umm Salama’s wisdom and decisiveness broke the im-

passe that confronted the believers at Hudaybiya.

Nusayba’s heroic defense of the Prophet, peace upon

him, during the height of the Battle of Uhad, is legendary.

Hafsa, the daughter of Umar bin al-Khattab, at the time of

her father’s death, was entrusted with the protection of

the standardized rendition of the Qur’an, considered by

some to have been the greatest trust ever vouchsafed to

anyone in the history of the Muslim community.

For the end of term trip, KS3 and KS4 went to Natural History Museum for an interesting work-shop related to Science. KS3’s workshop was ti-tled, ‘Colour of Nature’ where students learned about all the different colours we find in nature and why colour is important. They had hands-on activities to do after the talk. After the workshops, everyone took to the ICE! Ust jahanara also joined the students! Despite the knocks and bumps, everyone thor-oughly enjoyed the trip. Jazakallah to all the teachers for taking the stu-dents.

We held our first open evening

of the year which was attended

by numerous families. The eve-

ning started with a presentation

by the Head teacher about LNS

and its vision followed by a Q &

A session. Jazak Allah to Mulki

(Y7) and Hibaq (Y9) who pre-

sented their work to the par-

ents. Prefects led small groups

of parents on a school tour

which included seeing some

experiments in the new Science

lab. Light refreshments were

served in the Main Hall which

were generously prepared by

parents. It was a great opportu-

nity for staff, prospective par-

ents and students to mingle. All

in all a very successful open

evening!

CONTACT DETAILS:

Lady Nafisa

Independent

School for Girls.

Banklabs House,

33 - 41 Cross Lances

Road, Hounslow.

TW3 2AA.

Telephone:

020 8570 0033

Email:

admin@ladynafisa.org

Website:

www.ladynafisa.org

Have you seen our Face-

book page?

It has all the latest informa-

tion and showcases student

work. Take a look and ‘Like’

us!

www.facebook.com

Lady Nafisa School

Other women were known for their great linguistic prowess. In more recent times, we

can mention the example of Aisha Ismat bint Isma’il Taymur, who passed away in

Egypt in 1902. Educated in both the linguistic and religious sciences, she became one

of the leading literary figures of her time. A master of Arabic, Turkish and Persian, she

embodied the Egyptian-Ottoman culture that dominated Egyptian intellectual life

during the latter half of the 19th Century. She published lengthy collections of poetry

in Arabic and Turkish, wrote for many of the leading literary magazines of her day

and was a staunch advocate for female education. Although she was not known for

her religious poetry, she was known to be a woman of great piety.

As Muslims, we cannot limit our appreciation of women to their social, economic and

political accomplishments. Many women throughout the history of our community

are famous for their devotional acts and the high spiritual stations they attained. Ra-

bia al-Adawiyya is well-known in this regard, however, there are many others who

are largely unknown. One such woman is well-known by name, but most Muslims

know very little about her life. She is Sayyida Nafisa. The daughter of al-Hasan bin

Zayd bin al-Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib, she was born in Mecca in 145 AH. She grew up

in Medina, but spent her later years in Egypt where she is buried.

Sayyida Nafisa was a scholar of repute, having memorized the Qur’an and mastered

the exegetical sciences. It is said that Imam al-Shafi’i, whom she greatly respected,

studied hadith with her after his arrival in Egypt. She was most known for her devo-

tion and piety. She fasted perpetually, prayed the entirety of the night, constantly re-

cited the Qur’an and frequently wept out of fear and longing for God. She performed

thirty pilgrimages to Mecca. She was also blessed with considerable wealth and spent

freely on the sick, poor and downtrodden. She was also a financial supporter of Imam

Shafi’i during his time in Egypt.

Sayyida Nafisa was associated with many great blessings. Once, she was left to care

for the invalid daughter of her Christian neighbors who left their house to go to the

marketplace. When she saw the bedridden child she began fervently praying for her

cure. No sooner had she finished her prayer did the young girl regain the use of her

limbs and was able to walk to the door to greet her parents upon their return. The

entire family then became Muslims.

At the end of her life she fell ill. Her attendants beseeched her to cease fasting for the

sake of her health. She replied, “For thirty years I have fasted asking Allah that I meet

Him while I am fasting. Am I to break my fast now [while I am close to the meeting]?

Never!” She recited Sura al-An’am during the still of that night until she reached the

verse, “They will have the Abode of Peace in the presence of their Lord, while He is

their loving protector, because of the righteous deeds they used to do (6:127).” She

then uttered the Testimony of Faith and quietly passed away.

As we celebrate International Women’s day let us celebrate this aspect of femininity.

Islam certainly advocates for a balanced social order where there is space for the con-

tributions of men and women. However, its primary purpose is to prepare human

beings to succeed when we meet our Lord. Ultimately, we are living for the Hereafter,

not this world.

In this regard, as we strive to accomplish the worldly objectives demanded by our

social, economic and political situations, let us never forget that there are overarching

otherworldly objectives that we should never lose sight of. Let us celebrate the likes

of Sayyida Nafisa and other great women who reminded us so powerfully of those

otherworldly objectives. Let us further consider that perhaps the best way we can

celebrate their lives is to aspire to live as they lived.

http://www.newislamicdirections.com

SPRING TERM Important Dates

Tuesday 6th January 2015

- Beginning of Spring Term.

School starts 8:20am

4/02/15 -sponsored walk

12/01-16/01/15– Y11

Mock exams

20/01/15– Y11 Controlled

assessment