Newsletter of the Islamic Center of Rochester August 2005 Jumada-II / Rajab 1426

All adults and children are welcome! Guidance from the Qur'an And the servants of () Most Some of the attractions:

Gracious are those who walk on the earth MoonWalk in humility, and when the ignorant address Cotton Candy them, they say, “peace”. Those who send the night in adoration of their Lord Mehndi/Face Painting prostrate and standing. Those who say: Games our Lord! Avert from us the wrath of Hell, for its wrath is indeed and affliction Food

grievous. “Evil indeed is it as an abode, All Proceeds to Benefit the Masjid and as a place to rest in”. Those who when they spend, are not extravagant and not Expansion Project. niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those extremes. (25: 63-67). If you have items that you would like to donate to the fund-raising garage sale please leave them in the designated boxes at the Masjid. FUN FAIR, BBQ and If you would like to sponsor part Community Garage Sale of this event or if you have questions, please contact Noreen Noon, September 18th (Sunday). Galaria ( [email protected] ), or Islamic Center of Rochester Nadine Anaizi ( [email protected] ) Stories of the Sahabah- Rabiah Ibn Kab anything to distract me from your service,' I replied. 'Moreover, I don't have anything to give as mahr (dowry) to a wife nor any place where I can Here is the story of Rabiah told in his own words: "I was still quite accommodate a wife.' The Prophet remained silent. When he saw me again he young when the light of iman shone through me and my heart was opened to the asked: 'Don't you want to get married, Rabi'ah?' I gave him the same reply as teachings of . And when my eyes beheld the Messenger of God, for the first before. Left to myself again, I regretted what I had said and chided myself: 'Woe time, I loved him with a love that possessed my entire being. I loved him to the to you, Rabi'ah. By God, the Prophet knows better than you what is good for you exclusion of everyone else. One day I said to myself:'Woe to you, Rabi'ah. Why in this world and the next and he also knows better than you what you possess. don't you put yourself completely in the service of the Messenger of God, peace By God, if the Prophet, peace be on him, should ask me again to marry, I would be on him. Go and suggest this to him. If he is pleased with you, you would find reply positively.' Before long, the Prophet asked me again: 'Don't you want to happiness in being near him. You will be successful through love for him and you get married 'Rabi'ah?''Oh yes, Messenger of God,' I replied, 'but who will marry will have the good fortune of obtaining the good in this world and the good in me when I am in the state you know.' 'Go to the family of so-and-so and say to the next.' This I did hoping that he would accept me in his service. He did not them: the Prophet has instructed you to give your daughter in marriage to me.' dash my hopes. He was pleased that I should be his servant. From that day, I Timidly, I went to the family and said: 'The Messenger of God, peace be on him, lived in the shadow of the noble Prophet. I went with him wherever he went. I has sent me to you to ask you to give your daughter in marriage to me.' moved in his orbit whenever and wherever he turned. Whenever he cast a glance in my direction, I would leap to stand in his presence. Whenever he 'Our daughter?' they asked, incredulously at first. 'Yes,' I replied.'Welcome to expressed a need, he would find me hurrying to fulfill it. I would serve him the Messenger of God, and welcome to his messenger. By God, the messenger of throughout the day. When the day was over and he had prayed Salat al-Isha and God's Messenger shall only return with his mission fulfilled. 'So they made a retired to his home, I would think about leaving. But I would soon say to marriage contract between me and her. I went back to the Prophet and myself:'Where would you go, Rabi'ah? Perhaps you may be required to do reported:'O Messenger of Allah. I have come from the best of homes. They something for the Prophet during the night.' bed in his Salat. believed me, they welcomed me, and they made a marriage contract between me and their daughter. But from where do I get the mahr for her?' The Prophet So I would remain seated at his door and would not leave the threshold of his then sent for Buraydah ibn al-Khasib, one of the leading persons in my tribe, the house. The Prophet would spend part of his night engaged in Salat. I would hear Banu Asiam, and said to him: 'O Buraydah, collect a nuwat's weight in gold for him reciting the opening chapter of the and he would continue reciting Rabi'ah. This they did and the Prophet said to me: 'Take this to them and say, sometimes for a third or a half of the night. I would become tired and leave or this is the sadaq of your daughter.' I did so and they accepted it. They were my eyes would get the better of me and I would fall asleep. It was the habit of pleased and said,' This is much and good.' I went back to the Prophet and told the Prophet, peace be on him, that if someone did him a good turn, he loved to him: 'I have never yet seen a people more generous than they. They were repay that person with something more excellent. He wanted to do something pleased with what I gave them in spite of its being little...Where can I get for me too in return for my service to him. So one day he came up tome and said: something for the walimah (marriage feast), O Prophet of God?' The Prophet 'O Rabi'ah ibn Kab.' 'Labbayk ya rasulullah wa Sadark - At your command, O said to Buraydah 'Collect the price of a ram for Rabi'ah.' They bought a big fat Messenger of God and may God grant you happiness,' I responded. ram for me and then the Prophet told me: 'Go to Aishah and tell her to give you 'Ask of me anything and I will give it to you.' I thought a little and then said: whatever barley she has.' Aishah gave me a bag with seven saas of barley and 'Give me some time, O Messenger of God, to think about what I should ask of said: 'By God, we do not have any other food.' I set off with the ram and the you. Then I will let you know.' He agreed. At that time, I was a young man and barley to my wife's family. They said: 'We will prepare the barley but get your poor. I had neither family, nor wealth, nor place of abode. I used to shelter in friends to prepare the ram for you.'We slaughtered, skinned and cooked the the Suffah of the mosque with other poor Muslims like myself. People used to ram. So we had bread and meat for the walimah. I invited the Prophet and he call us the "guests of Islam". Whenever any Muslim brought something in charity accepted my invitation. The Prophet then gave me a piece of land near Abu to the Prophet, he would send it all to us. And if someone gave him a gift he Bakr's. From then I became concerned with the dunya, with material things. I had would take some of it and leave the rest for us. a dispute with Abu Bakr over a palm tree.'It is in my land,' I insisted. 'No, it is in So, it occurred to me to ask the Prophet for some worldly good that would save my land,' Abu Bakr countered. We started to argue. Abu Bakr cursed me, but as me from poverty and make me like others who had wealth, wife and children. soon as he had uttered the offending word, he felt sorry and said to me: 'Rabiah, Soon, however, I said: 'May you perish Rabi'ah. The world is temporary and will say the same word to me so that it could be considered as qisas -just pass away. You have your share of sustenance in it which God has guaranteed retaliation.' 'No by God, I shall not,' I said.'In that case, replied Abu Bakr. 'I shall and which must come to you. The Prophet, peace be on him, has a place with his go the Messenger of God and complain to him about your refusal to retaliate Lord and no request would be refused him. Request him therefore, to ask Allah against me measure for measure.' He set off and I followed him. My tribe, the to grant you something of the bounty of the hereafter.' I felt pleased and Banu Asiam, also set off behind me protesting indignantly: 'He's the one who satisfied with this thought. I went to the Prophet and he asked: 'What do you cursed you first and then he goes off to the Prophet before you to complain say, O Rabi'ah?' 'O Messenger of God,' I said, 'I ask you to beseech God most about you!' I turned to them and said: 'Woe to you! Do yo u know who this is? High on my behalf to make me your companion in Paradise.''Who has advised This is As-Siddiq... and he is the respected elder of the Muslims. Go back before you thus?' asked the Prophet.'No by God,' I said, 'No one has advise me. But he turns around, sees you and thinks that you have come to help me against when you told me 'Ask of me anything and I will give to you,' I thought of asking him. He would then be more incensed and go to the Prophet in anger. The you for something of the goodness of this world. But before long, I was guided to Prophet would get angry on his account. choose what is permanent and lasting against what is temporary and perishable. Then Allah would be angry on their account and Rabi'ah would be finished.' They And so I have asked you to beseech God on my behalf that I may be your turned back. Abu Bakr went to the Prophet and related the incident as it had companion in Paradise.' The Prophet remained silent for a long while and then happened. The Prophet raised his head and said to me:'O Rabi'ah, what's wrong asked: 'Any other request besides that, Rabi'ah?' 'No, O Messenger of God, with you and as-Siddiq?' 'Messenger of God, he wanted me to say the same Nothing can match what I have asked you.' 'Then, in that case, assist me for your words to him as he had said to me and I did not.''Yes, don't say the same word sake by performing much prostration to God.' to him as he had said to you. Instead say: 'May God forgive you Abu Bakr.' With So I began to exert myself in worship in order to attain the good fortune of tears in his eyes, Abu Bakr went away while saying: 'May God reward you with being with the Prophet in Paradise just as I had the good fortune of being in his goodness for my sake, O Rabiah ibn Kab... 'May God reward you with goodness service and being his companion in this world. Not long afterwards, the Prophet for my sake, O Rabiah ibn Kaab..." called me and asked: 'Don't you want to get married, Rabi'ah?' 'I do not want

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THE BELIEF, THE ACTION, THE PURIFICATION: ISLAM ENCOMPASSES IT ALL By Sr. Yasmin Kabir

There is more to Islam than rituals; the spontaneous, repeated acts of worship, day in day out…sometimes we even forget what we are doing, why we are doing, who are we doing it for. There has to be more to Islam, the most beautiful and perfect way of life. What is it that gives all these acts of worship meaning, depth, purpose? Well, let’s dive deep into the heart of the matter; let’s open up the treasure chest. We find three things: belief, action and purification

First we look at BELIEF or iman. Iman is the very essence of Islam, the first pillar of Islam, the very foundation of Islam. Belief - blind, unconditional belief....Belief in Allah....That there is no god but Allah. That is the beginning place of submission. Then, the other beliefs follow …belief in Allah's words (books); also a blind faith concept...we cannot see it but we believe that these are words of Allah. The other articles of Iman: prophets- we believe that they are prophets of Allah because He said so. His angels- we cannot see them but we believe in them because we believe in His book and He said so in the Book. Day of Judgment, we believe in it because we believe in Allah's word to be flawlessly true. And Qadr...what is to be.....that is also not a very difficult concept. Some things are pre determined, some we etch it by our actions, decisions, choices. All of the articles of Iman are by the way built on faith or belief...not action. Yet belief with out being backed by action is useless. If I tell someone "I care about you" but action shows otherwise then the person is not going to believe me. I have to show through my action that I care. Iman with out action is useless. That's where the action comes in. If you notice the five pillars of Islam they are all action (except Iman that goes to the very beginning, the starting point). Salat is action...we actually do the ritual...the motion, the recitation...very structured. Now look at fasting.....action, very structured...you eat during a certain portion of the day and abstain from eating during a certain portion of the day. Now look at zakat...again action… the actual act of giving money, also very structured, a fixed amount...involves calculation...2.5 % of one's annual income and assets. Hajj the last of the compulsory action...VERY structured....actual act of physically going to a distant land and performing all the ritualistic action. So Iman is the belief that needs to be backed up by action.. we submit, then act. Yet our action is useless if the intention of our action is not pure. Now we are getting to the heart of worship. The first two are easy; submission and action...anybody can do it and we really spend our entire life trying to do it. Sadly we do not realize that much of our action, if not pure in intention will be rejected by Allah and thrown away. Allah has said so in a long qudsi,... scholars will come to Allah and say that "I have become a scholar to please you...." Allah will reject it and say you did it for your own glory and to feed your own ego...the scholar will be thrown away in the hell fire....another man will come and say " I have spend in your path ...." Allah will reject it and say you have spent it to gain recognition for yourself....he will be thrown into the hell fire...rest of the story you all know.... Thus, even if we spend our entire life doing what we think is the best form of worship and that we are serving Allah in the best way, our action may not be accepted. We are putting all our stakes in something, investing all our time and yet our deed may not help us when we need it. So what will make our deeds acceptable? Are our deeds ever transferable to Hereafter? Do we even own our deeds (good deeds, that is)? If our good deeds are for Allah then does not our good deeds belong to Allah just as our wealth, time and our children belongs to Allah? We have to own something for it to be counted in our favor. Do you know what we own; if not our deeds ...it is our niyah....intention. That is all. Once someone told me that we will leave everything in this world; even our good deeds; what will accompany us to the grave is our niyah. We make niyah, we make intention and Allah helps us achieve what our niyah stated. That is why when we make a good niyah Allah will reward us as if we did the action even if we did not get to do it. If niyah is so important, and its purity is essential then how do we achieve it? The most important aspect of our worship is purification of our niyah. How do we purify our niyah? Again going back to one hadith....when asked about Ihsan ..our prophet (S) said ihsan is worshiping Allah as if you see Him, and even though you cannot see Him, surely He can see you. That Allah is ever present, always there, seeing us and knowing us, any pretension on our part will be exposed. That is why the prophet (S) always acknowledged Allah in everything he did… in eating, sleeping, and praying, before starting a job, after finishing a job..... Ihsan purifies our deeds because it makes us conscious of Allah (SWT) at all times. And reminds us the purpose of the deed….. to please Allah (SWT). Outcome is not always important if the niyah is good, because outcome is in Allah's hands. Ihsan is the most beautiful part of the worship of Allah and the most difficult part. It is easy to give to charity, but to give solely for the pleasure of Allah, expecting nothing in return, ...that’s hard. I think about this a lot. Some say when you give with your right hand, the left hand should not know. That is how silent we have to be in our deeds. It is hard. But that is what we have to strive for. The more we try to take charge and take control try to shape events and outcome, the more we lose it. If you want something for the pleasure of Allah the best way is to do it is with utmost sincerity; with thoughts of Allah, thoughts of pleasing Him. If Allah is pleased with your efforts then the outcome is just wondrous because Allah is Wonderful, most Compassionate, Most Merciful, Most Kind and Most Forgiving. I have not said anything that you did not already know. May Allah forgive me if I have misspoken or said anything wrong, and May Allah purify our niyah. Upcoming Events Fall 2005 Commission on Christian Muslim relations (CCMR) Series

Each program in the series will begin at 7:30pm and end at 9pm in the meeting area on the second floor of the Islamic Center of Rochester on Westfall Road. All those attending are invited to stay afterwards to observe the Isha prayer beginning at 9:10. Someone from the Center will be available to explain the meaning of the prayer to you. Monday, September 12, 2005 Title: Islam in America: Many Faces Speakers: Dr. Malik, Professor of History at SUNY Brockport and Najmah Abdul-Matin, principal in the Rochester City School system. The media often talk about Islam as if it were exactly the same in every country and at every time. Tonight’s program will try to dissolve this myth by describing two of the “many faces” of Islam here in the United States: the face of the Muslim immigrant community and the face of our home-grown African American Muslim community. Monday, September 19 Extremism and Fundamentalism in Islam and Christianity Speaker: Dr Emil Homerin, Professor of Religion in the Department of Classics of the University of Rochester. Dr. Homerin teaches courses in Islam, Middle Eastern History, and mysticism. How is it that Islam and Christianity, religions dedicated to peace and human flourishing, have in many instances become distorted by fundamentalism and extremism— and have even been manipulated to justify violence? Tonight’s session is dedicated to addressing this controversial question in calm, informed, and a respectful way. Monday, September 26 Meeting Islam as a Christian: A Personal Journey Speaker: George Dardess, Deacon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester What happens when a Christian, following Jesus’ commandment to “love thy neighbor,” tries to see the world— and his own Christian faith— as Muslims do, through the perspective of the Qur’an and ? What are the dangers of such a journey? What are the great rewards? The speaker will present some landmarks in his own journey. (Note: After the talk there will be an opportunity to buy a signed copy of the speaker’s just-published book on this same topic, MEETING ISLAM: A GUIDE FOR CHRISTIANS. Fifty-percent of the sales will be donated to the Islamic Center and the Commission on Muslim Christian Relations.)

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