The MessageThe Message Vol. 49a / No. 5 / Shaban-Ramadan 1439/ May 2018

A Publication of the Muslim Community Center, Chicago, IL

Dear Brothers and Sisters, السالم عليكم,

On behalf of the MCC, I would like to welcome you to the beautiful and blessed month of Ramadan. May Al-lah (SWT) make Ramadan a success for you spiritually. As we reflect, we see that there are many that we en-joyed breaking iftar with, praying next to, listening to hear speak, and they are not here anymore with us. We should cherish these moments that we have with our community, with ourselves, and with our families because we do not know how long they are going to last, and we do not know who will be lost to us when Ramadan comes back around again in 2019. With that being said, we intend to make MCC a place where you can come and truly reflect on the bless-ings we have been given during this month. As usual, MCC will provide many services for the community over the month and I encourage eve-ryone to please partake in some of the events as this is the time of the month that we really feel like a com-munity. Since we have over a 1000 people visiting our masjids on a daily basis, I ask that you all remain pa-tient when things don't go right or the way you think it should go. We are trying our best in fixing the prob-lems we have over the years but also enhancing the good that we do every year. Come enjoy our tarawihs at MCC with Hafiz Kamran Riaz and Hafiz Mohammed Saddam. At MEC, we once again have Maulana Yusuf Ab-dullah who has been leading for about 20 years. The last 10 nights we will have i'tikaf prayers and also

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President’s Report

"We surely belong to Allah (swt) and to Him we shall return” Dr. Irfan Ahmad Khan was a scholar of the Qur'an, president of the World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Rela-tions and Chair of the Inter-religious Engagement Project. He was also a trustee of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. He was the author of a new Quranic translation and commentary: "Reflections on the Quran: Understanding Surahs Al-Fatihah & Al-Baqarah." Dr. Irfan Khan was a professor of Philosophy at Aligarh Muslim Universi-ty in India, one the Ivy League universi-ty in India. He came to the USA in 1974 for his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus. Since then he lived in Chicago and was well connect-ed with the Muslim Community Center Chicago and many other Muslim/Islamic Organizations, not only in Chi-cago but in North America, as well in India, Europe, and other countries.

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Chicagoland Loses

Renowned Scholar

On Sunday, April 15th, a gathering at the Baha’i Temple in Wilmette recog-nized youth leaders from various faith communities. Ten young men and women were given the 9th annual Northshore Interfaith Leadership Award, which seeks to recognize youth who have used their faith and beliefs to make a difference. Two members of the MEC youth group, Iqra Ansari, and Mo-hammed Manzoor were among those recognized for working to improve their community. Iqra Ansari is a senior at Niles West and has been the director of marketing and public relations and has been involved with The Humanity Pro-jects. Mohammad is a senior at Loyola Academy, on the football team, presi-dent of Loyola Academy Interfaith Youth Core and a participated with Hands of Peace. — Muhammed and Iqra

May Allah (SWT) rest his soul in peace, grand him with His Mercy, for-give him for any shortcomings, give him a place in Jannat-ul-Firdaus and give Sabr-e-Jameel to his loved ones, fami-lies, relatives, friends, and community at large. Ameen. —Abdul Ghani Desai

(Dr. Irfan Khan page 1)

Q.: How can we benefit those who have died? A.: All scholars agree that a per-son can make Dua for the de-ceased, seek repentance (Istighfar) for the deceased, per-form Hajj and Umrah on their behalf, and spend in charity on their behalf and the reward of all such actions will benefit the deceased. As far as performing Salat, fasting, reciting Quran, and other similar optional ac-tions, there is a difference of opinion about the rewards of these actions benefiting the de-ceased. The Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali Madhabs of under-standing all hold the opinion that the rewards of all optional actions benefit the deceased just as the rewards of Hajj, Um-rah, and spending in charity benefit the deceased. The three of the four Madhabs hold the opinion that there should be no distinction between all of them. In other words, throughout the annals of Islamic history, the majority of scholars held the opinion that the rewards of eve-ry good deed performed on be-half of the deceased benefits the deceased including reciting the Quran for the benefit of the deceased. The Shafi Madhab holds the opinion that the re-wards of Salat, fasting, reciting Quran and other optional ac-tions do not benefit the de-ceased. A person can adopt whichever opinion they feel comfortable adopting. What is wrong is when we become in-tolerant of other opinions and start unnecessarily quarreling over differences of opinion. I was sad when I was recently told that a disagreement hap-pened at someone’s house be-cause the family wanted the Quran to be recited for the de-ceased and a person objected and then started arguing in the person’s house. Considering that the majority of Islamic scholars have held the opinion that when rewards of certain actions benefit the deceased and that there’s no logical rea-son why the rewards of other actions also cannot benefit the deceased, then there’s no rea-son to argue about such actions. #Betolerant

Community Spotlight The Overlooked Pillar of Islam

by Mohammed Kaiseruddin

Ask The Imam — Mufti Nazim Mangera

The MEC Women's Committee orga-

nized multiple events in the month of

March. On March 13th, the Women's

Committee's Mommy and Me program

arranged an exercise session for moth-

ers and their young kids. Kids ran

around, jumped, played, and exercised.

Mommies socialized and had fun exer-

cising too.

On March 24th, the Women's Com-

mittee arranged its sisters only Urdu

program. It was the last part of the se-

ries of 'Signs of the Hour' by Sister

Fouzia Rahman. More than 150 sisters

benefited from the lecture. Refresh-

ments were provided at the end.

March 27th, the Mommy and Me

group took a trip to the Morton Grove

Fire Station. The kids had a wonderful

time meeting firefighters, taking a tour

of the station, and seeing what fire-

fighter duties are. MEC Women’s com-

mittee showed appreciation to our

Morton Grove Fire Department by

sending them an Edible fruit Arrange-

ments as a thank you for hosting.

Allah (SWT) has called it “an ordi-nance from Allah [9:60]”, a criterion for being counted among Muslims [9:11] and has joined it with Salat at numer-ous places in the Quran [e.g., 2:43].

Muslims are taught from childhood that Zakat is among the five pillars of Islam. However, Muslims in general, including our community, have not done nearly as much for the establish-ment of this pillar as for the other pil-lars. Examples of what we do for the establishment of Salat, Hajj, and Fasting are abundant, whereas those for Zakat are scarce. As a result, Zakat appears to be the least established pil-lar in community awareness as well as practice. When fully practiced Zakat could produce $50 million locally that would do wonders for the local com-munity.

Zakat is a very special kind of charity as it does not apply to the income, but it applies only to a small percentage of the savings (liquid assets) that have been in possession for a full year to be then given to those in need. The word means purity and implies purifying the assets and overcoming one’s attach-ment to and greed for material posses-sions.

Allah (SWT) has promised numerous blessings to Zakat givers [2:261] and severe consequences for those who ignore it [3:180]. Zakat given during Ramadan carries multiple rewards.

MCC has a well-established system of receiving Zakat and distributing it to individuals in dire need. Zakat Chicago

is a central zakat institution. It is also set up to receive Zakat as a one-stop service and distribute it LOCALLY to fulfill multiple deserving needs in the metropolitan area, such as food pan-tries, health and senior services, educa-tional projects and others.

winning the championship for the

third year in a row. With our captains

doubling as MVPs, Amar Alkhatib and

Wafa Choubka led the team into a 25-

17 point lead in the last game, with

Razan Abduljabbar scoring the last

point.

Since the beginning, the girls have

practiced like they never won and

played like they never lost. They con-

tinued to push themselves and each

other throughout every win and loss

they encountered and learned the im-

portance of confidence both on and

off the court. They successfully

showed that it is not how good you

are, it is how good you want to be.

-- Mr. Kadir Oz, MCCA Asst. Athletic

Director, Lead PE Teacher and Head

Boys Basketball Coach

MCC Publication Committee:

Shabnam Mahmood—Chair/Editor-in-chief Syed Mahmood—Co-Chair

M. Sabih Uddin—Advertising Manager

Hafiz Ikhlas Ansari—Prayer Timetable

Mohsin Bhatty—Distribution The Message is a monthly publication of the Muslim Com-munity Center that informs members of administration, organization and committee activities of MCC/MEC. Submit your questions and comments editormccpublica-tions@gmail.com. The opinions expressed in The Message do not necessarily represent those of the Publication Com-mittee. The editors reserve the right to edit all material.

Alhamdulillah, with great pleasure

we announce MCCA Hifdh student

Zunaira Ansari has completed her last

sabaq of her Hifdh journey. She start-

ed her memorization in 2015 and fin-

ished in 2018. From taking 3 months

to complete her first juz to taking 3

days to do her last juz, she showed a

tremendous zeal and passion for

Qur'an. MASHALLAH! She now plans

to finish her three evaluations by

summer and join academics in MCCA

middle school as a 7th grader, In Sha

Allah. It was an honor to teach her

and see her strive through her tough

phase and come out a winner. Zun-

aira strikes a perfect balance in her

Qur'an, academics, and athletics. She

was on both the basketball and vol-

leyball team. We ask Allah (SWT) to

guide her and protect her and her

Qur'an in this world and the hereaf-

ter. Ameen

-- Hafizah Saba Qadeer, MCCA Girls

Hifdh Teacher

The MCCA Girl's Volleyball Team

had a long and successful season

making their way to regionals and

Qiyam prayers at both masjids. I would also like to reiterate what you will be hearing by our Ramadan coordinators throughout the month: Be mindful of your neighbors. We will be having late nights because of prayers and school will still be going on for most of the Chicagoland area. So be good neighbors, be quiet as you enter and exit the buildings and keep the masjid and the area around the masjid very clean. Lastly, with the ever-increasing violence against Muslims, I ask that everyone be vigilant, everyone travel in groups, especially our sisters, and if you need assistance, please ask someone within the building to help you out, whether it be someone working for MCC, a volunteer, or one of your peers. JazakAllah and Rama-dan Mubarak! Any questions or comments or con-cerns, please feel free to contact me. Regards, Kamran Hussain president@mccchicago.org 847-452-5811

First of its kind. MCC’s new president, Dr. Kamran Hussain, held a program called Coffee With The President. Many people came after Maghrib in the community hall to hear introductions and make comments and suggestions.

(President: Continued from page 1)

For information regarding these and any of

our events please visit us at

www.mccchicago.org for further information.

MCCA News

Introducing Hafizah

Zunaira Ansari!

Since this is an Islamic publication, please dispose

of it in a respectable Islamic manner. Recycling

bins are available at both masajids.

MCCA Girl’s Volleyball

Team Wins Again!!

Breaking Silence This past weekend, MCC hosted HEART, a non-profit organization focused on rais-

ing awareness about sexual assault/domestic violence within the Muslim community. The crux

of the presentation focused on “Breaking Silence” a documentary highlighting the emotional

and psychological difficulty and challenges young victims of sexual assault faced during and

after their assaults.

While the movie was groundbreaking in its own right, the discussion focused on critical

steps the community can take to address these issues. Some suggestions included: (i) sex-education classes (health classes)

that goes beyond science and discuss/address boundaries and making children comfortable with their bodies; (ii) holding per-

petrators of sexual assault and domestic violence accountable for their crimes by properly reporting them to the authorities;

and (iii) implementing policies and procedures at an organizational level to address sexual harassment and assault (if it occurs

in the organization) and how to respond to it from an organizational perspective.

MCC leaders in attendance provided enthusiastic support to this initiative and indicated that the organization has a robust

policy on sexual harassment and violence. As a community, our obligation is to help put a stop to domestic violence and sexual

assault- because in our community, due to cultural sensitivities, we don’t discuss or address these issues enough. If our chil-

dren grow up seeing fathers hit or disrespect mothers (or vice versa), they become accustomed to behavior that feeds into a

cycle. — Anas Khan

MCCA Athletics Holds Special Olympics for STRIVE Students

The MCC Academy Athletic Department worked with Anwar Abdallah and Neha

Iqbal of the MCCA weekend Strive program for children with special needs to conduct the first

annual Strive Saturday School Special Olympics. We arranged for many MCCA alumni and com-

munity members to participate by running different stations for the kids including volleyball,

basketball skills, bowling, and an obstacle course. The entire experience was very humbling for

all of the volunteers. It was great seeing the Strive kids having so much fun and helping each

other. Many thanks to Anwar and Neha for giving us this opportunity, and to MCCA Coaches

Buraq, Amereh and Amina for their help, and to all of our youth volunteers. MCCA is all about

family and this event showcased just how well we come together as a family to do great work

for the community. — Mr. Azam Tai, MCCA Athletic Director

Community Spotlight: Dr. Shehwar Khan— Dealing With Seasonal Allergies

Seasonal allergies (also known as hay fever) occur from exposure to airborne substances that can cause an irritation of eyes,

skin, nasal and airway passages- thus, in turn, causing a reaction. During the spring they may be caused by trees, in the sum-

mer usually grasses, and during the fall ragweed—these are called allergens, they cause the allergies. Different people may

react to different allergens. Usually, early spring to late fall is when they occur. Symptoms may be itching of the nose, the roof

of the mouth, back of the throat and eyes. Treatment is using nasal saline washes, nasal sprays-such as Flonase, and antihista-

mines-such as Zyrtec-either alone or together. If seasonal allergies are not controlled with these measures allergy shots may

be considered.

Dr. Shehwar Khan is a board-certified physician specializing in Family Medicine for over ten years In Waukegan, Illinois.

Send address corrections to: Muslim Community Center 4380 N Elston Ave Chicago, IL 60641 Phone:(773) 725-9047 Fax: (773) 725-1616 Membership Questions mbijapuri@yahoo.com

Muslim Community Center 4380 N Elston Ave Chicago, IL 60641 www.mccchicago.org

Northwest Suburban College (nwsc.edu) seeks immediate applications for the following positions. Send resume at

openjobs@nws.edu . No phone inquiries please! 1.Librarian/Museum Curator (Immediate Full-Time Opening):A highly talented,

preferably a health science related, professional to serve as the College’s librarian

and museum curator. A Master’s degree in Library Science or related field is required along with significant experience in various aspects of managing a library. The per-

son will also help establish and curate a small Museum of Islamic Medicine. The posi-

tion requires knowledge of managing various databases, online resource search, and helping a diverse community of students and staff at the College. NWSC offers a com-

petitive salary for this full time position (40 hours/week, Monday-Friday) and a serene

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