IMAN NEWSLETTER 23 Aug 2013 (PDF)

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST GRACIOUS THE MOST MERCIFUL

I M A N
NEWSLETTER
15 Shauwal 1434 / 23 August 2013

Issue 150

A WELLINGTON ISLAMIC CENTRE PUBLICATION

From the office of the president of IMAN
Iftar at Kilbirnie masjid
This year we had more iftar at
Kilbirnie masjid than in previous
years.We would like to thank
everyone who sponsored the
various iftar. A special thanks to
all volunteers. May Allah SWT
accept all your efforts and good
deeds and may HE accept all
your siyam and qiyam.

Zakat Al-Fitr
We collected a total of $5160
zakaat al-fitr and zakat al-maal
(combined). The money was distributed as follows;
$2330 to Syria
$1000 to Palestine
$1000 to Somalia orphanage
The remaining $830 was distributed to local needy people
Some people in the masjid have
been quoted as saying "there are
no poor people in New Zealand"
and that ALL of the zakaat al-fitr
money should be sent overseas.
The President wishes to encourage these people not to make this

type of extreme statements without
having all of the information in
hand. Everything is relative and to
compare New Zealand Muslims'
situation with Muslims of the rest of
the world is like comparing apples
to bananas. In other words it is not a
comparison we can or should make.

Mosque Open Day
The next mosque open day will inshallah be on Saturday 31 August
2013.There will be hundreds of
Muslims and non Muslims visiting
the mosque during the open day.
Many Muslims will be coming to
observe how Muslims behave and
what we stand for.
We expect that all Muslims will be
behaving in an exemplary good
manner during the open day.
The President of IMAN Br Asif
Koya has come out and stated
clearly that there will be zero tolerance to Muslims behaving badly on
mosque open days. Anyone behaving in an improper manner will be
evicted from the mosque without
delay or hesitation.

Message from the Secretary of IMAN
We are looking for volunteers on
various projects for the Kilbirnie
Masjid and the Muslims community. Do you want to make a difference?
Please contact Br Tahir on 027 571
0929 or Br Asif 021 181 4951 or
email:
secretaryofiman@gmail.com
(The Messenger of Allah - SAWsaid: Whoever directs someone to
a good, and then he will have the
reward equal to the doer of the
actions. (Muslim))

Islam Awareness
Week 2013
FIANZ has announced this
year’s Islam Awareness Week to
be from Monday 26 August to
Sunday 1 September. The theme
for this year is “the role of youth
in the community”.
This is a nationwide programme
to promote education and understanding, during this time
mosques and Islamic Centres
open their doors with various
special programmes to attract
and engage the general public.

IMAN Newsletter, Issue 150, p.2

As stated earlier, the mosque in
Kilbirnie will have an Open Day as
well on Saturday 31 August from
10am to 3pm. This is a great opportunity for you to engage your
neighbours and co-workers and
invite them for a visit. There will
be displays, demonstrations, video
screenings, and food stalls among
other things.

Role and Participation
of Youth
Youth are the future of the ummah,
they symbolise as well as bring
freshness, vigour, enthusiasm, and
will. However, these qualities are
not in themselves a recipe for success, there must be appropriate
learning and preparation to accompany these very valuable qualities.
The history of Islam is rich in examples of youth participation and
achievement, indeed, many of the
great Companions of the Prophet
SAW were in their youth when
they achieved remarkable feats.
What must be a consideration today, however, are the modern challenges faced by the Muslims, especially youth, as society witnesses
the transition in youth from generation y to generation z, one wonders about their expectations and
thought processes given they are
ever more used to having most
things at their fingertips - be it a
click or a tap
In this age of information technology there is vast amount of information available at ease, how is it
being received and processed, and
in what manner is it being applied.
The youth would be well advised
to take special note of referring to
the Ulama and the elders for
knowledge, wisdom, and guidance.
The righteous predecessors succeeded by sticking to One God,

one Prophet, and one Book. There is
great hope for the future for people
who stick to this formula.

fore Maghrib, one after Taraweeh, and
again the following morning after Fajr.

Resumption of ProEid Function at the Par- grammes
liament
As usual, the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs organised a function at the Parliament to mark the end of Ramdahan
on Tuesday 20 August.
Select number of Muslims are invited
through FIANZ from throughout
New Zealand.
The function was opened with Qur’an
recitation by Sheikh Amir, followed
by speeches from the Hon Prime
Minister, Hon Minister of Ethnic Affairs, and other officials including the
FIANZ President.

After the completion of the month of
Ramadhan, as we readjust to our daily
routines with a heightened sense of
taqwa, the usual adult and youth educational programmes have been resumed.
These are:


Tajweed classes on Mondays and
Wednesdays.



Ijazah on Tuesdays.



Tafseer on Thursdays.



Arabic language on Sundays.

Visiting Scholars at Kilbirnie Masjid

The Hadeeth sessions after Fajr and
Maghrib continue every day as usual,
people have the opportunity to ask questions.

Wellington has been blessed by visits
from two scholars in the last few
weeks.

For more information please contact
Sheikh Amir.

Sheikh Muhammad Al Akkas

Haleema Kindergarten
News

On Thursday 15 August Sheikh Muhammad Al Akkas from Saudi Arabia
visited our Islamic Centre where he
gave a talk between 6pm and 720pm.
Sheikh Akkas has vast experience
and is very knowledgeable in Dawah
work. His presentation included tafseer of Surah Al Fatiha, as well as
some other important aspects of
Dawah work. This replaced the
weekly Tafseer classes by Sheikh
Amir.

Sheikh Abdool Kader Hoosen
Earlier on Sunday 4 August, a scholar
from South Africa, Mufti Abdool
Kader Hoosen, visited the Wellington
Islamic Centre and conducted four
programmes; one after Zuhr, one be-

An Islamic organisation in Hamilton
(WISE) is in the process of setting up a
new kindergarten. As part of their research and preparation they have been
liaising with Haleema Kindergarten
Trust.
Four representatives visited our Centre
on Tuesday 20 August to observe and
learn about its operation. They have recently been granted resource consent to
establish the kindergarten, and are on
track to obtaining an operation license
from the Ministry of Education for it.
We wish them all the very best in this
endeavour.

www.iman.org.nz

IMAN Newsletter, Issue 150, p.3

Earthquakes - Faith
Perspective
By Fawzan Hafiz
The earth is the epitome of physical stability for us little mortals,
and so when it starts to shiver beneath our feet there is no place to
run and no place to hide, we get
shaken in more ways than one.
We may well comfort ourselves by
saying it is simply the activity in
the fault lines resulting from the
movement of the tectonic plates.
However, these are means not the
cause, to understand the cause we
have to put on the lens of faith.
The earth, like all creation, exists
in servitude to the will of its creator. Consider the rain and the consequential vegetation, for example,
it is one thing to note the water
cycle; how water evaporates from
the oceans and moves as clouds by
the winds inland where it falls as
rain and ultimately making its way
back to the ocean via rivers and
other channels. Yes, this is true,
but they are means (asbab) not
causes. The cause is clearly stated
in the Qur’an repeatedly, for example:
“Or, Who has created the heavens and the earth, and Who
sends you down rain from the
sky? Yea, with it We cause to
grow well-planted orchards full
of beauty of delight: it is not in
your power to cause the growth
of the trees in them. (Can there
be another) god besides Allah?
Nay, they are a people who
swerve from justice.”
(Chapter: ‘The Ant’, verse: 60)
This is our belief. In one place we
read:
“See ye the seed that ye sow in
the ground? Is it ye that cause it
to grow, or are We the Cause?

Were it Our Will, We could crumble it to dry powder, and ye would
be left in wonderment”
(Chapter: ‘The Inevitable’,
verses:63-65)
Consider another example of the bird
and how it flies, we may well note
the aerodynamics of its wings, the
atmospheric pressure, and its calculated moves to make it airborne,
these are means not the cause, the
cause is stated clearly in the Qur’an:
“Do they not look at the birds,
held poised in the midst of (the air
and) the sky? Nothing holds them
up but (the power of ) Allah. Verily in this are signs for those who
believe.”
(Chapter: ‘The Bee’, verse :79)
All of creation is in complete submission to the will of the Creator
Jalle Jalalohu, in fact, they came
into being through complete submission, we read in another passage of
the Qur’an:
“Then He directed Himself to the
heaven while it was smoke and
said to it and to the earth, “Come
[into being], willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have
come in willing obedience.”
(Chapter: ‘Explained in Detail’,
verse:11)
The earth is where it is and the sun is
where it is and the stars are where
they are because of the amr of Allah
Jalle Jalalohu. They will move by
His amr also.
In fact, the earth does not need the
same means, it can simply open up
and swallow anything by the amr of
Allah through other means and
make us refer to it as ‘sink hole’, for
example.
When such things happen we are
required to take heed as the last part
of verse 59 in the chapter of The
Night Journey states:

“And We send not the signs except as
a warning.”
What does Islam teach us to do at times
like these?
When we look at the life of the beloved
prophet Muhammad SAW we find that
he SAW used to turn to Allah in repentance during times of natural disaster or
calamity and taught others to do the
same.
You see, the earth is a witness to our
existence on its back. It is effected by
what we do on it.
On the day of judgment the earth will
give evidence when the deeds of man
are being heard in the Court of Allah.
The Holy Qur’an, referring to the earth,
states:
“On that Day will she declare her tidings:”
(Chapter: ‘The Earthquake’, verse:4)
To further understand this, consider also
two people who are ill with the same
disease, treated in the same hospital,
prescribed the same medicines, yet one
heals the other does not, that is because
the medication is the means not the
cause of healing, the cause is Allah Subhanahu.
We are becoming accustomed to witnessing more and more natural disasters
in more and more places throughout the
world. Today we are witnessing corruption at every level, blood is spilled unjustly, life has become cheap, morality
is being trampled on by greed, the ignorant and arrogant are assuming leadership, our Ulama are being disrespected
and mistreated. Zulm is the order of the
day. Humanity will reap what it sows.

Views expressed in this Newsletter are not
necessarily those of the Shura Council of
IMAN. For feedback please email to:
fawzan@xtra.co.nz

The International Muslim Association of New Zealand Inc. www.iman.org.nz
7-11 Queens Drive, Kilbirnie, Wellington, Tel : (04) 387 4226 Fax (04) 387 4227 Email : info@iman.org.nz