Location: Medina Center (11600 Falls Road, Potomac MD 20854)
Time: Saturday March 27, 2010 – from 6:00 PM until Salat ul Isha
Guest of honor: Shaykh Imadudeen Abuhijleh on “Admirable Qualities of an American Muslim”
Admission: FREE

Your Donations to Medina Center is Tax Deductible to the fullest extent of the law

RSVP: tazmowlana@gmail.com / (301) 312 9313

Shaykh Imad

Shaykh Imadudeen Abu Hijleh is conducting Deen Intensive Weekend at Medina Center

SATURDAY:

Ahlus-Sunnat wal Jama’at & Its Scholars

1. Discoursing Hadith Jibril

2. Aqeedah : Different Groups in Aqeedah; The position of Alus-Sunnat Wal Jama’at and who are they; The Research Methodology used by Ahlus-Sunnat wal Jama’at

3. Al Fiqh : Different Schools of Thought in Fiqh; The School of Thought of Ahlus-Sunnat wal Jama’at in Fiqh; The Research Methodology used by Ahlus-Sunnat wal Jama’at in Fiqh

4. At-Tasawwuf: Schools of At-Tasawwuf

SUNDAY:

Principles & Obligations of At-Tasawwuf – Islamic Spirituality

1. Detailed Explanation of Definitions: Sufism; Wali; Karama; dhikr

2. Who can be a Shaykh of At Tasawwuf

3. The Benefits of Dhikr & the Ruling on the Dhikr Beads

4. At Tariqa in Sufism & the Methodology of Research & Teachings in Sufism

5. The Sins of the Heart, Tongue & other Limbs of the Body

6. At Tawbah – Seeking Forgiveness

7. The Difference between Certainty (Yaqeen) and Faith (Imaan)

8. Being Satisfied with Allah’s Decree (Makam ar Ridhaa)

9. Examples of the Great Scholars of Tasawwuf

References From

‘An Nujum al Lama’a’ by Shaykh Imadudin Abu Hijleh; ‘Tarif al madhaaib al Islamiyyah’ by Imam Muhammad Abu Zahra; ‘Dhawahir al Islam wal Imaan wal Ihsaan’ by Habib Abdur Rahman dhal Faqih

Charges to cover expenses only: $40 per person (both days); students discount 50%; students grants available for eligible students

Dear Medina Center:

Wednesday night, September 16th, 2009, will be the 27th night of Ramadan. Medina Center will be doing a khatm of the Quran on this night, which is one of the possible nights for Laylatul-Qadr (with the 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 29th being the other 4 possible nights, with some scholars even saying that it can fall on any of the nights of the last ten days).

We look forward to seeing many of you come out for the great occasion. May Allah accept your fasting, prayers, and dua’s…

Isha prayer will begin at about 8:55pm as usual. Please come early, and don’t miss this great opportunity!

Please keep the worldwide Muslim community in your prayers on this night, as well as your friends, family, and local community.

Sincerely,
Medina Center Staff

Dear Medina Center:

As you know, by the beginning of Ramadan this year we were unable to locate a suitable Imam to lead the Taraweeh prayers. But, by the grace of Allah we received a merciful gift in that He gave us an opening in this regard, and hence, we began Taraweeh prayers with about 15 days still left in the blessed month of Ramadan, wal-hamdulillah.

Due to particular circumstances, the initial decision was made to perform 8 rak’ahs, plus the witr prayer after that (11 in all). But as we said in an earlier announcement on our website, as well as on this email list, the official position of Medina Center has always been that Taraweeh is to be 20 rak’ahs.

Therefore, in order to bring this vision to reality, we have renegotiated our agreement with the Imam and he has graciously agreed to perform the full 20 rak’ahs. Please keep in mind that this is very taxing and tiring upon a single Imam, so please pray for him and ask Allah to bless and reward him for so graciously and kindly accepting to do so.

Hence, from tomorrow night, Monday, September 14th, 2009, until the last night of Ramadan, Medina Center will be praying Taraweeh with 20 rak’ahs, plus the witr prayer after that (23 in all), as is the standard practice of the mainstream canonical schools of Sunni law (the traditional madhhabs).

Sincerely,
Medina Center Staff

Medina Center is pleased to announce that we will now be having NIGHTLY ISHA & TARAWEEH for the remainder of the month of Ramadan! Al-hamdu lilah…

Beginning tonight, Friday, September 4th, 2009, Isha prayer will begin at 8:55pm with the Taraweeh right afterwards.

Although Medina Center’s official position is to pray 20 rak’ahs, Taraweeh will be 8 rak’ahs + 3 rak’ahs for Shaf’/Witr until further notice.

The Qari will recite close to a Juz (1/30th of the Quran) every night, inshaAllah.

Sincerely,
Medina Center Staff

Medina Center Annual Iftar Fundraiser

When: Saturday 12th September, 2009 @ 7:00 PM

Where: Potomac Community Center (right down the street from Medina Center)

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rectmpl.asp?url=/content/REC/recipix/potomac.asp

Address:

11315 Falls Rd
Potomac, MD 20854-2246

Please RSVP for this event with the following Evite link:

http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/CCDLHTPYGGXMUKLGALNI/fundraiser

You can also RSVP by simply sending an email with the subject line “RSVP for September 12th” to:  rsvp@medinacenter.net

Kindly indicate how many people you are RSVP-ing for.

Event Schedule:

1.) Arrival at Potomac Community Center: 7pm
2.) Break of Fast (Iftar) @ Maghrib: 7:24pm
3.) Maghrib Prayer and Dinner: 7:34pm – 8:34pm
4.) Presentation of Medina Center’s 12-month Goals and Plans
5.) Fundraising
6.) End before 10pm
7.) Isha and Taraweeh prayers to be held back at Medina Center at about 10pm-10:15pm, inshaAllah.

Sincerely,
Medina Center Staff

Dear Medina Center patrons:

By the grace and mercy of Allah, yesterday’s weekly iftar and taraweeh program was a success! There was a turnout of about 45 brothers and sisters and we had a great time, al-hamdu lillah. May Allah reward all those who contributed their time, effort, and financial resources to make it a pleasant and fulfilling evening for all of the attendees. We hope to see you all again next week, inshaAllah!

UPDATE: We now have nightly Taraweeh prayers! Please ignore this next paragraph.

Please note that we do not have daily Taraweeh prayers. The reason for this is simply because we have been unable to locate a good Quran reciter who is available to lead the prayer on a consistent, nightly basis. We are still looking (and if you know of anyone, please do let us know!), but we are not sure if we will be able to find one or not. If we are able to arrange for a Quran reciter at any point during the month then we will keep the above schedule but will also have taraweeh nightly, inshaAllah. If this happens, we will immediately update the community, inshaAllah.

Finally, for next year we will make sure to have taraweeh every night, as well as lessons, short inspirational talks, and several community iftars, inshaAllah.

Here is the schedule for the remaining iftar programs at Medina Center (please RSVP with the Evite link provided):

1.) Sunday, August 30 (iftar at 7:45pm)

Evite RSVP link for Sunday, August 30th: http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/HFXMTNPBXOSUGACABUGL/iftar_02

2.) Sunday, September 6 (iftar at 7:34pm) [Evite link provided next week, inshaAllah].

3.) Saturday, September 12 (**Special iftar fundraising dinner to be held at the Potomac Community Center, right down the street from Medina Center. Doors open at 7pm. Kindly RSVP with the following Evite**)

Evite RSVP for the Fundraiser on Saturday, September 12th: http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/CCDLHTPYGGXMUKLGALNI/fundraiser

If you would like to sponsor one of these dinners, either with a financial contribution or with the actual meal itself, please do contact: admin@medinacenter.net

If you would like to RSVP but the links above didn’t work for you, kindly send your RSVP to: rsvp@medinacenter.net

Sincerely,
Medina Center Staff

Dear Medina Center:

According to many credible sources, the crescent (hilal) for the month of Ramadan 1430 has been sighted in many places in the United States after sunset on Friday, August 22, 2009. The astronomical data also strongly suggested the possibility of naked-eye sighting in most of North America (as can be seen on this page). Therefore, Medina Center officially announces that Saturday, August 22, 2009 is the first day of Ramadan 1430.

You can pray taraweeh tonight and you should begin your fast tomorrow (Saturday) before Fajr, inshaAllah. You should also make your intention to fast the entire month of Ramadan before you sleep.

May Allah usher in the new month with security (amn) and faith (iman) and peace (salamah) and submission to Allah (islam). May He make this Ramadan a time of mercy and abundant blessings for all… Amin.

More information may be found at: http://www.CrescentWatch.org (which is a good site to watch all year round).

Sincerely,
Medina Center Staff

Dear Medina Center:

As you know, Ramadan is close at hand, al-hamdu lillah. We pray to Allah that He blesses us to be able to fast and pray during this glorious month and that we will be able to develop that beautiful quality of taqwa (God-conciseness) that is its hallmark.

A few important items concerning Ramadan at Medina Center:

1.) When do we start the fast?

Medina Center has a policy of going with a regional (local) moonsighting approach. Hence, we will be closely watching the official announcement of such at the following website: www.CrescentWatch.org (a very reliable and trustworthy source affiliated with Zaytuna College and Sh. Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir).

On that site they say the following (which we agree with):

Crescentwatch.org encourages everyone to go out to look for the new crescent moon this Friday night (Aug. 21st) in anticipation of the beginning of the sacred month of Ramadan.

Qualified Muslim astronomers have indicated that on Friday evening the new crescent moon will likely be easily viewable throughout much of the U.S. (see visibility forecasts here). We are thus anticipating the sighting and the start of Ramadan to occur on Friday night with the first day of the fast on Saturday, August 22nd. (There is also a slim possibility that the moon won’t be sighted on Friday, in which case, we would complete the 30 days of Shaban and Ramadan would start Saturday night with Sunday being the first day of the fast.)

2.) Taraweeh Prayers and Iftars

So far we have been unable to locate a good Quran reciter who is available to lead the Taraweeh prayers at Medina Center. We are still looking (and if you know of anyone, please do let us know!), but we are not sure if we will be able to find one or not. Therefore, we have proposed the following schedule for the month of Ramadan at Medina Center:

On the following prearranged dates we will have iftar at Maghrib, dinner after Maghrib prayer, a short tarweeh after Isha prayer, and will finish by about 10:20pm, inshaAllah.

Here are the dates:

1.) Sunday, August 23 (iftar at 7:54pm)

Please RSVP for this event with this Evite invitation (click on that link).

2.) Sunday, August 30 (iftar at 7:45pm)

3.) Sunday, September 6 (iftar at 7:34pm)

4.) Saturday, September 12 (**Special iftar fundraising dinner to be held right down the street from Medina Center. Doors open at 7pm. Please save the date. More information forthcoming.**)

If you would like to sponsor one of these dinners, either with a financial contribution or with the actual meal itself, please do contact: admin@medinacenter.net

NOTE: If we are able to arrange for a Quran reciter at any point during the month then we will keep the above schedule but will also have taraweeh nightly, inshaAllah. If this happens, we will immediately update the community, inshaAllah.

Finally, for next year we will make sure to have taraweeh every night, as well as lessons, short inspirational talks, and several community iftars, inshaAllah.

3.) Eid Prayers

Due to budgeting and other logistical constraints we will not be holding Eid Prayers at Medina Center. There are many places to pray Eid throughout the D.C./VA/MD metropolitan area. Please plan in advance where you will be praying on Eid, inshaAllah.

** And finally, a few words about the future of Medina Center **

As of last Thursday, August 13, 2009, Medina Center is officially under new management and has appointed a management team comprising of several dedicated Muslim professionals (lead by Br. Khalil Abu Asmaa). This new team will ensure the success and longevity of the Center by the permission, help, and grace of Allah.

The new management team has set a “launch” goal of Saturday, December 5th, 2009 (which could possibly move forward) for the official rebirth of the Center. The months and weeks leading up to this “launch” will be spent planning, surveying, and organizing, as well as developing a new and more user-friendly website, recruiting dedicated volunteers, establishing “good practices”, implementing complete transparency, and forming a new Board of Directors, inshaAllah. We will update you as to our progress periodically, inshaAllah.

We sincerely request your dua’s, as well as your financial support, especially during the coming weeks and months.

Sincerely,
Medina Center Management Team

Khatib: Br. Ibrahim Hakim

Address: 11600 Falls Road, Potomac MD 20854

Parking: Plenty of parking available. Overflow parking next door at the Beth Har Synagogue

FREE lunch served after the salat to the congregation – Please ask dua for the sponsors and donate generously to Medina Center.

Medina Center is a Religious Non-Profit. Your donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.