East Cobb Islamic Center 1111 Braswell Rd. Marietta GA 30062

ec-ic.org

NEWSLETTER: February 2016 Assalamu Alaikum,

We hope and pray this newsletter finds you in the best of your conditions both physically and spiritually.

Here is an update on what has been happening at ECIC during this month.

What has been happening at ECIC in February? And what comes next?

Towards the end of January, ECIC invited its neighbors to an Open House. Positive feedback and

thank you letters from neighbors kept coming in the month of February. During this month, we turned our

attention to helping our neighbors in need by engaging in a series of charitable and community services

activities.

On the education front, we were fortunate to have had several knowledgeable speakers address

the community in Friday sermons and other lectures to enlighten us on some very important topics.

We have captured the gist of their messages in this newsletter.

Lastly, a lot has been happening in getting the cemetery project designed and permitted. Alham-

dulillah it has been a great month with a lot of progress. May Allah reward everyone who has con-

tributed to these efforts and may He guide us to do what pleases Him.

Participation in the Food Drive for The Atlanta

Community Food Bank to help the needy

ECIC Team is participating in Hunger Walk/

Run on March 13th and has been collecting

online donations to fight hunger

Made a commitment to increase the man-

power and financial contribution this year to

Habitat for Humanity to build a home for the

needy

Planning has begun to establish a Free Clinic

to serve the underserved: both Muslims and

non-Muslims.

ECIC served breakfast to the servicemen and women at Cobb

County Fire Station on Sewell Mill Rd to thank them for their ser-

vice to the community

Comments from our Visit a Mosque Attendees:

We received many thank you letters and notes from visitors, neighbors, and Muslims. We are sharing one

of these letters here:

New Donation Collection Kiosk

The new touch screen kiosk in the masjid lobby is oper-ational. Simply swipe your credit card and enter the do-nation amount.

The best donation is the one you give on a recurring ba-sis. You will have the option to select recurring monthly option.

Donation receipts for last year were sent out in January. If you have not received your donation receipt, please email info@ec-ic.org.

ECIC has committed a larger financial contribu-

tion, as well as human resources this year to build

a Habitat for Humanity home.

Islamic School Program (ISP):

As spring semester continues, we have had many new

students join the ISP program. Alhamdulillah, we now

have about 70 students registered in this program.

We have also been fortunate to have several additional

community members who have stepped up to volun-

teer to teach at ISP.

We are pleased to participate in a joint effort

by many Muslim organizations in metro Atlanta

by contributing food donations to The Atlanta

Community Food Bank.

Help us in the fight against hunger by dropping

off non perishable food items in the drums at

the masjid by March 11th. You can also drop

off a check in the masjid sadaqa box with “food

drive” in the memo before March 5th and we

will purchase the items for you.

Thank you to the families who have already

donated.

ECIC’s team will also be participating in the

Hunger Walk / Run event on March 13th. The

money raised will be donated to helping our

neighbors in need. More than 1 in 4 Georgia

children now live in a home where hunger is a

regular worry.

Please join us in this charitable cause. If you

can’t join our team, donations on behalf of our

team are greatly appreciated. Hope to see you

there!

Showing

appreciation for Fire Station Service-

men and women

ECIC thanked the staff of the Cobb

County Fire Station (No. 20) for all their

hard work by serving them a warm

breakfast.

Keith Elrod, EMT, thanked ECIC for the

appreciation.

ECIC is evaluating the feasibility of starting a free clinic to serve the uninsured or under-

served Muslims and non-Muslims. The plan is to provide free laboratory work as well. We

are in the process of evaluating the space needs, equipment, medical records mainte-

nance, free professional liability insurance through Georgia Volunteer Health Care Program

of Department of Public Health, availability of medical professionals and volunteers to run

the clinic. If you are a healthcare professional and would like to volunteer, please contact

Br. Mugees Khan at mugees@gmail.com or Br. Maged Awad at maged.awad@ksdiagnostics.com

Cemetery Update

Our engineers have been working hard to com-

plete the design and Alhamdulillah we are almost

there. We will be going through the permitting

process during the next few weeks and hope to

do the construction in the second quarter. In the

meantime, we are still collecting some of the

pledges. It is likely that the funds collected so far

will not be adequate to complete the construction.

Therefore we are seeking continued donations for

this cause.

Improving the business side of ECIC

Yes, the masjid also has a business side.

Collecting funds, paying bills, accounting, filing

taxes, renewing County and State licenses,

renewing insurance, managing vendors and

paid staff is all business. A lot of effort goes

into managing the business side behind the

scenes. We are working on making the busi-

ness side of masjid function more efficiently.

Programs in February

ECIC continued the Wednesday Qur’an halaqa in urdu by Dr. Anjum. Surah Hud was covered during most of the

weeks. Attention is devoted in this Surah to the history of the prophets, presenting their message as a continuous his-

torical process, and not as some isolated affair. It insists on the fact that the history of the prophets is governed by

laws, the study of which reveals the secrets of the rise and fall, the glorification and degradation of nations.

Also the weekly urdu halaqa on Thursday for sisters continued. They continued to study Surah Nisaa’.

Imam Sulaiman continued his daily hadith lesson after Fajr and Isha prayers.

Speakers and Messages:

Hafiz Mirza Krndic, from Islamic Center Nur, Lawrenceville, delivered the Friday Sermon on Feb 5th. His mes-

sage was to abstain from pride and arrogance. Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said: Never can the person who

possesses a speck of pride inside his heart enter Paradise

Hafiz Zakirullah’s sermon on Feb 12th included the importance of worship. He mentioned a prophetic hadith

which states that Dua’ (prayer) is the essence of worship. On the importance of being humble and patient, he

cited Surah Baqara (verses 45-46): And seek assistance through patience and prayer; and most surely it is a

hard thing, except for the humble ones , who know that they shall meet their Lord and that they shall

return to Him.

Get involved:

Please volunteer to help ECIC

to improve the programs we

offer and reap the rewards.

____________________

Contact Us

info@ec-ic.org

1111 Braswell Rd.

Marietta, GA 30062

(678)-528-1414

info@ec-ic.org

www.ec-ic.org

with your membership and monthly commitment. Forms are available on the website

Community News:

We’re excited to welcome Br. Amal Fawzi and his family to East Cobb. They have enrolled their children in ECIC

ISP program.

Also please join us in welcoming Br. Mohammed Alhajri and his family to East Cobb. He has moved from Dubai and

enrolled three of his children at ECIC ISP.

Alhamdulillah, our community is diverse and continues to grow.

Brother Shamikh Sahadat gave a relevant Khutbah on February 19th to

encourage us to to be obedient to Allah so that we may maintain the highest

status which Allah Has put us as humans. For if we do not obey Allah and

his Messenger (P.B.U.H), we will be worst than animals and will be cast into

the lowest level in the Hellfire. Allah the exalted said 'Verily We have creat-

ed man in the best form. Then We reduced him to the lowest of

low'(95:4-5), .

Imam Sulemana Alhassan's Friday sermon on Feb. 26th relayed a powerful

message to abstain from unfounded suspicion and give your brother/ sister

the benefit of the doubt. He reminded us of Allah's statement in the Holy

Quran: 'O those who believed, abstain from many of the suspicions. Some

suspicions are sins….’(49:12). We were also reminded of the Hadith in

Sahih Muslim where our beloved Prophet( P.B.U.H) said: "Beware of suspi-

cion, for suspicion is the falsest of speech....)”

Sr. Fatima Lette was invited to speak to our youth on Feb 13th. She spoke

about how young Muslims can maintain their Islamic values and identity

without compromising our religion while at the same time developing and

maintaining good relationships with friends.