9:00 AM                                    MASJID AL-NOOR (IIC)

9:00 AM                                    Omar Haikal ISLAMIC ACADEMY

8:30 AM                                    MASJID AL-NOOR (IIC)

9:00 AM                                    MASJID-E-TAWHEED

9:30 AM                                    Omar Haikal ISLAMIC ACADEMY

September 3, 2011

Space is Limited on the Al-Maun (Neighborly Needs) Tour Bus, please reserve your space now.

Departure time: 7:00 am  

Departing from: Jamie Masjid - ISON 4730 East Desert Inn Road Las Vegas NV, 89121

• Tickets $74 Round Trip Includes: Breakfast, Snack, Park Admission and Bus Ride

• Tickets Park only $29

• Bus Ride Only $45

*We are looking for sponsorships for our youth to help them to attend this special day.

 Please contact Amir Mahdi # (702)353-3773 for trip details and to purchase your tickets.

ABOUT MUSLIM FAMILY DAY

ICNA presents the Muslim Family Day. A fun day for the entire family at the most exciting theme parks in the world: The Six Flags Theme Parks.

Muslim Family Day is organized by ICNA Chapters in various cities. Please check the FAQ section for the details of each venue.

There are a host of things to do for the entire family including halal food stalls, ethnic bazar and family entertainment.

Thousands attend these events.

History of the Event
This event was first held at Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ, in September 2000. The event was immediately a huge success. The tragic events of 9/11 that resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives, also affected this event directly. The chief organizer, Tariq Amanullah, who worked on the 96th floor of WTC, Tower 2, passed away. The team was unable to come together again till year 2004, when the event came back bigger than ever before.

First day of Ramadan will be Monday, August 1, 2011 and

Eid al-Fitr on Tuesday, August 30, 2011,  inshaAllah.

 "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint." Qur'an 2:183 

The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) recognizes astronomical calculation as an acceptable Shar'i method for determining the beginning of Lunar months including the months of Ramadan and Shawwal.  FCNA uses Makkah al-Mukarram as a conventional point and takes the position that the conjunction must take place before sunset in Makkah and moon must set after sunset in Makkah.

On the basis of this method the dates of Ramadan and Eidul Fitr for the year 1432 AH are established as follows: 1st of Ramadan will be on Monday, August 1, 20111st of Shawwal will be on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Ramadan 1432 AH:The Astronomical New Moon is on July 30, 2011 (Saturday) at 18:40 Universal Time (9:40 pm  Makkah time). Sunset at Makkah on July 30 is at 7:01 pm local time, while moonset at Makkah is 6:41pm local time (20 minute before sunset).  Therefore the following day Sunday, July 31, 2011 is not the 1st day of Ramadan.   First day of Ramadan is Monday, August 1, insha'Allah. First Tarawih prayer will be on Sunday, July 31, 2011. Eid ul-Fitr 1432 AH:The Astronomical New Moon is on August 29, 2011 (Monday) at 3:04 Universal Time (6:04 am  Makkah time). On Monday, August 29, sunset at Makkah is 6:40 p.m. local time, while moonset is at 6:44  pm local time. Therefore, first day of Shawwal, i.e., Eid ul-Fitr is Tuesday, August 30, insha'Allah. May Allah (swt) keep us on the right path and accept our fasting and prayers, Ameen.  For more detailed information, please visit: www.fiqhcouncil.org or www.moonsighting.com. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi 

Chairman Fiqh Council of North America

Protect the spirit of the Quran and Sunna - Stand up against blaspheme laws

By Dr. Aslam Abdullah

There is nothing in the Quran or the authentic teachings of Prophet Muhammad justifying the killing of people for opposing, criticizing, humiliating or showing irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs and beliefs of Islam. 

The Quran says: "Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus We have made alluring to each people its own doings. In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did. [Quran 6:108]

"O ye who believe! Let not some men among you ridicule others: It may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): Nor let some women ridicule others: It may be that the (latter are better than the (former): Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: And those who do not desist are (indeed) doing wrong. [Quran 49:11]

"Those who avoid the greater crimes and shameful deeds, and, when they are angry even then forgive;" [Quran 42:37]

If blasphemy was punishable by death in Islam, then the Prophet would have been the first one to order the killing of hundreds of his foes who later became his closest companions. With the exception of a very few earlier Arabs who accepted the Prophet as the messenger of Allah, the majority of people of Makkah opposed him, humiliated him, cursed or blasphemed him or even tried to kill him, yet he preferred to practice forgiveness and to seek the divine mercy for them. 

The old woman who used to throw garbage on the Prophet was visited by him when he learnt that she was not well. When Suhail bin Amr, a poet who composed poetry ridiculing the Prophet was taken as a prisoner of war after the battle of Badr, the Prophet asked his companions to show kindness to him. There are examples after examples that show the Prophet never resorted to violence against those who were showing even the most utter disrespect to him.

The assassination of a Pakistani Christian cabinet minister for speaking against the blasphemy law is a stab in the heart of Islam and a humiliation of the Prophet by those who claim to be his followers. Those who are supporting his killing or similar actions are the worst enemies of Islam who neither understand Islam nor respect the Prophet . No matter who they are, they must be challenged on the basis of the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet .

Unfortunately, their argument is built on a position that is supported by a good number of Muslim religious scholars all over the world that demand death for acts of apostasy and blasphemy, two of the practices that were developed under the influence of corrupt despotic Muslim rulers who misused their power to twist religious scholarship to serve their political interests.

The idea of blasphemy is foreign to Islam. It was justified by many medieval Muslim scholars on the basis of their understanding of Christian and Jewish texts supporting laws against those who blaspheme and vilify their religions. 

The word "blasphemy" came via Middle English blasfemen and Old French blasfemer and Later Latin blasphemare meaning "I injure." Based on this definition, rulers used laws to victimize non-members of and dissident members of the ruling sect or cult. Countries that had a state religion used it often to serve the interests of the rulers. In Judaism, the third book of Torah, Leviticus 24:16 states that those who speak blasphemy shall surely be put to death. The seven laws of Noah seen by Judaism as applicable to all of humankind prohibits blasphemy.

In Christian theology, the Gospel of Mark 3:29, describes blaspheming the holy spirit as unforgiveable eternal sin. Thomas Aquinas considered blasphemy a major unforgiveable sin, more grave than murder. The Book of Concord describes it the greatest sin ever committed. The Baptist Confession of Faith calls it a disgusting and detesting act. Catholic Church has specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for blasphemy against God and the Church was a crime punishable by death in much of the Christian world. In England, the last blasphemy execution, was that of an 18-year-old Thomas Aikenhead who was executed for the crime in 1697. He was prosecuted for denying the accuracy of Old Testament and the legitimacy of Christ's miracles.

The Quran and the authentic teachings of the Prophet describe the practice of showing irreverence to God and his messenger as acts of ignorance, deliberate provocation or hatred. Yet the two sources of Islamic guidance never proposed punitive action on the basis of theological dissent or religious differences or irreverence. 

Some Muslim jurists, have, often misused the institution of ijtihad to serve the emotive interests of the people. The fatwa or religious decree issued by Khomeini proposing murder of Salman Rushdie was a personal opinion with no support from the divine guidance. 

The "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" also has in its penal code laws that prohibit and punish blasphemy against Islam ranging from a fine to death. The Criminal courts often decides a case of blasphemy on the basis of public emotions and political interests rather than the divine writ. Following are some of Pakistan's Criminal Code regarding blasphemy: Code 295 forbids damaging or defiling a place of worship or a sacred object. Code 296A forbids outraging religious feelings. Code 295 B forbids defiling the Quran. Code 295 C forbids defaming Prophet Muhammad .

Defiling the Quran in punishable by imprisonment for life and defaming Prophet Muhammad by death. With or without a fine none of these codes have any basis in the Quran or the authentic teachings of the Prophet . It is a position that many scholars adopted under the influence of despotism that prevailed in the Muslim world for centuries and still prevails in many countries. This position is rarely challenged by those who claim to have knowledge of the Quran and Sunna. Often, they use their religious authority to suppress debate on the issue.

The tyranny of religious scholars is so intense that those opposed to these laws are condemned as non-Muslims punishable by death. Some of the scholars even encourage their followers to unleash reign of terror against such people and their families. Their arrogance has reached a point that they do not want to listen to any argument based on the Quran and the teachings of the Quran. The religious and educational institutions of the Muslim world suffer from the tyranny of these scholars who justify their ignorance and arrogance on the basis of a literature that emerged at a time, when Muslims had lost connection with the Quran and by and large were at the mercy of autocratic rulers and their hired religious scholars. 

The un-Quranic and un-Prophetic practices adopted by many Muslims scholars must be challenged. Islam is not the monopoly of self imposed scholars. It is the responsibility of all who profess to be Muslims to understand their faith sincerely in light of the Quran and authentic Sunna and keep their scholars true to the religion with out any political and self interest. Those who assume the divine role in condemning people and deciding their life and death must be challenged and what better way than to seek the repelling of blasphemy law in light of the Quran and Sunna.

If Muslim religious scholars are seriously concerned about the sensitivities of people with regards to their faith and its holy figures, then they should advocate common laws for every religion and religious community emphasizing that respect must be shown to all religions and freedom of speech must NOT be seen as a license to hurt and provoke others.

It is time that Muslim scholars from all over the world revisit issues such as blasphemy and apostasy in the light of the Quran and Sunna rather than falling victim to positions that can not be substantiated by the divine writ.

Dr. Aslam Abdullah is the Director of Islamic Society of Nevada (ISON), he can be reached at dr.aslamabdullah@gmail.com

Who May Apply
Clark County School District seniors with a minimum 3.5 GPA, weighted or unweighted, who plan to attend a post‐secondary institution may apply for this scholarship. Student must be of Islamic Faith.

Award
Two scholarships in the amount of $500 each will be awarded.

Deadline
Applications must be received in the Foundation office or postmarked by February 25, 2011.

Continue below for more details and application

2010-2011 Munir H. Bawany Memorial Scholarship

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