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Youth Poetry Competition

A poetry competition open to all youth under 18 years old!

Registration deadline: February 10th at 11:59pm

Poem topic: Our Prophet Muhammad SAW!

Click here for details and to sign up

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Imam Zijad’s Corner: Time (Al ‘Asr) and Its Importance in Islam

 

Narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (r) that the Prophet (S) said: “There are two blessings which many people incur loss and they are a) good health and b) free time [for doing good deeds].”(Bukhari)


عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ نِعْمَتَانِ مَغْبُونٌ فِيهِمَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، الصِّحَّةُ
وَالْفَرَاغُ ‏”‏‏
Source: Bukhari
Transliteration: “Ni’matani Maghbunun Fihima Kathirun Minannasi: As Sihah Wal Farag.”

One of the important points of the Surah Al ‘Ast is the notion of time.
There are three important aspects of time that we should be aware of:
1) Time is the greatest blessings we were given by the Creator

2) Our time is spent fast

3) Whatever is gone will not come back until the day of Judgement

So firstly, time is the most important asset, blessing and gift bestowed upon us!
Actually, time is life itself! We are number of days. As one day goes by, part of us ends with it, as explained by Hasan Al Basri.
Each one of us is given credits of 86,400 seconds in a day and each day opens a new account.
If we fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is ours, because “the clock of age” reduces life by the tick of every passing second.

Secondly, our time is spent fast!
The lesson of the story of Nuh a.s tells much about the reality of life in Duniya and the speed of passing of our life. Even though he lived 950 years, when he was aske d about his life in Duniya, he said that it was like a house with two doors…through one he entered and through
another he exited.
The Qur’an cautions us: “And on the day when He shall gather them together, it will be as if they had not stayed (in Duniya) but an hour of a day.” (Yunus 45)
And lastly, whatever of our time passed will not come back but on the Day of Judgement!
Hasan Al Basri taught us that “Every day when Fajr approaches, a caller calls, O son (child) of Adam! I am a new day and a witness of your deeds, so seize the opportunity of me. Indeed, if I pass, I will not come back till the Day of Judgment.”
That is why we believers are asked to prioritize our time.
We are obliged to value and thus evaluate every moment of our life.
We are asked that every moment be filled with productive activities.

Our role-model Muhammad (S) gave us the guidance in this regard when he asked us to have time for:
a) ‘Ibadah;
b) accountability (putting your books in order);
c) relationship with other creation of Allah and
d) time to secure the necessities of life. (Ibn Hibban)

If we would really like to be productive believers than we must divide our tasks into fouressential categories:

• Urgent and Important and must be done NOW!
• Not Urgent but Important and we can decide when we could do it!
• Urgent but not Important and we may delegate them to someone else to do them!
• Not Urgent and Not Important and all we need to do is dump them!

As we explained earlier, time is a precious resource.
It is a measure of passing of our life.
It is irreplaceable; unlike wealth.
Time once lost, cannot be gained back.
It is something you cannot have enough of.
It is something to be respected (yours and time of other people).
If not managed well, it could be a source of stress.
Thus, believers are obliged to plan our activities and use our time wisely.
Subhanallah!

The Surah opens with a reference to the Time, which is presented here to show that a human being is in loss if he/she fails to realize the real significance of the time given to him/her before he/she departs from this world…before the allocated time expires.
The first message of the Surah is very clear in this oath the Almighty started the Surah with:
“Insan’s (human being’s) single greatest asset in life is the time at his/her disposal.”
Various commentators have offered different viewpoints of the meaning of Al ‘Asr.

Here are two of their viewpoints:
a) it metaphorically indicates that we do not have time to waste and
b) it indicates bygone days wherein humanity has already shown these truths.

While all these interpretations have merit, Al ‘Asr is interpreted mostly to be telling us that there is no time to waste!
Whatever ‘Insan” achieves during his/her short sojourn upon the Earth is crucial for his/her future in the life to come.
In short life of Duniya (this earthy life), one can achieve eternal bliss and peace, if he/she would use time wisely and in accordance with the laws laid down for him/her by the Creator.
A misuse or neglect of this gift, on the other hand, can lead human beings to disaster and unhappiness.
The word time is used for the past as well as for the passing time in which the present, in fact, does not signify any long stretch of time.
Every moment, when it has passed, becomes past, and every moment of the future, when it is passing, becomes present, and when it has passed, becomes past…

The oath by the time also means that human history testifies that the people who were without these qualities eventually incurred loss, and in order to understand the significance of the oath by the passing time, one should understand that the time which is now passing is,
in fact, the time which has been given to every single individual and every single nation so it is up to them how they would deal with their allocated time.

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Founder’s Corner: New School Year, September 2020, Emdad Khan

We are now nearly at the end of August 2020. We talked with a cross section of  parents and every one seems to have some anxiety about the kids and children as the new September 2020  school year is knocking at the door. We see the school boards in Ottawa and Toronto are debating various options, on line, physical school or hybrid options. The Ontario education ministry is also suggesting various alternatives.

According to  some parents only 1/4 of students are selecting  on online education and based on their experiences of the last few months they are worried about the quality of online education. Although as per data, 3/4  children have opted for hybrid or physical school education. They are also worried, as the children may bring home some form of virus..

According to a CBC.ca  news of August 21, 2020, 41 schools  in Berlin report the impact of the corona virus. Based on the August 10, 2020, www.mirror.co.uk, reported in the last 2 weeks of July,  in the USA, 97,000 school children tested positive for coronavirus before the start of the school year..

Another educationist from GTA reported, one school in GTA within 2 days of opening, got one case of positive coronavirus and the whole school of  250 students and 8 teachers were all quarantined for 2 weeks.

Some other Ottawa educationists are hesitant to advise parents what to do with their school children, They think it is certainly not an easy decision to take.  Each one , online schooling or physical schooling each has some advantage and some challenges.  Online schooling may be a bit  less risky but online schooling is not the same as physical schooling. As in physical schooling, teachers will engage the children, with help being handy and some children perform better in actual schools  under the supervision of teachers, Based on their own situation, a family can select online or physical schooling.

One thing is clear as  Ontario ( Ottawa and Toronto)  now for about two/three  months, are in stage 3 of business including places of worship/Masjids.  Alhamdu Lillah, in Ontario (Ottawa and Tornto), there have been some  reports of  some increased Coronavirus in few  businesses or places of worship, but still it seems businesses and places of worship are functioning ok under new normal.

Whatever individual parents decide, it is certain, majority of parents, for various reasons, will decide to send their children to physical schooling and the minority will select an online option.

First three months, March to May 2020 , most of the people, parents, children, we all were confined to home. From June to August 2020, most of us are out in parks, shopping malls and in the playground, we are increasingly adapted to new normal. We see parks are full, businesses are  functioning normally under new normal. Same way, with some ups  and downs, we visualize the schools will also run under new normal

We pray and hope for our children, parents and community to remain safe  and secure  as well as students can safely continue the school year from September 2020.

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Verse of the Week + Khateeb Schedule

VERSE OF THE WEEK WITH ARABIC/ENGLISH:
Almighty Allah reminds us in the Qur’an:

1. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most MercifulBy the passage of Time!

2. Surely, humanity is in loss,

3. Except for those who have faith, do righteous deeds and advise each other to the truth and advise each other to patience. (Al ‘Asr 1-3).

 

 

SNMC JUMA PRAYER September 4th , 2020 (Four Khutbahs):
1st Khutbah 1:00 pm: Khateeb – Imam Dr. Mohsen
2nd Khutbah at 2:00 pm: Khateeb – Imam Dr. Zijad
3rd Khutbah at 3:00 pm – Dr. Emdad Khan
4th Khutbah at 4:00 pm – Dr. Ahmed Alsayed

Jumah Prayer will be held @ the SNMC MASJID/CENTER, 3020 Woodroffe Ave,
Barrhaven, Canada.

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Abraham/Ibrahim AHS Festival of Sacrifice, Dr Emdad Khan

The Yam Al-Nahar, the day of Sacrifice, also known as Abraham/Ibrahim AHS Festival of Sacrifice,- the greatest  day of the year.

God tested in multiple ways, with  big tests, the founder of 3 unity faiths, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, prophet Ibrahim AHS..He was asked to sacrifice his dearest son, Ismail AHS and but at the end  the animal was sacrificed.  God tested his sincerity.  Its now has become an yearly  ritual in Islam coinciding with the yearly Hajj pilgrimage to Makakh.

In the Quran, in 108.2, the Most Merciful states, ” Therefore to your Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.”.  But to further clarify the purpose, He states in 22.37, ” It is not their meat or the blood that reaches God, it is your piety that reaches Him.”  so our sincerity in action is important.

SNMC instituted about 20 years back  to motivate and support the Ottawa muslims  to make the ritual sacrifice of an animal on the day of sacrifice coinciding with the Hajj pilgrimage.here in Canada along with back home. We are here to stay in Ottawa and Canada, is our new home.We are required and able to practice all aspects of Islam in a peaceful way in Canada.

Also we are encouraged to eat one portion by us and give one portion to friends and families and one portion to the needy.In the first week of August 2020,  we distributed  the sacrificed meat of lamb, goat and cows  in  one or two Kg  see-through ziplock bags to about 15 of our neighbours as we do every year.

We saw smiles in the faces of all families, men and women of all faiths..They will be inshaAllah,  real ambassadors of muslims and Islam in Ottawa.

Those made an animal  sacrifice here in Ottawa or Canada, please try to distribute to the neighbours. Those did not  give a sacrifice here in Canada, please try next year  in Canada and distribute to neighbours. Let us  see first hand  the joy and happiness and let us make our neighbours real ambassadors of Islam and Muslims in a an easy and affordable way by a simple action. Ameen.

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Founder’s Corner: Dr Emdad Khan

Reflection

Dr. Emdad Khan

Let us all reflect on our lives, the last seven months from January 2020 to July 2020 under the powerful invisible micro virus and if we are alive, look for a road map, for next six months up to January 2021. Also reflect on the lives of our known contacts, relatives, friends, neighbours, coworkers, and so on.We have all learned and rediscovered ourselves and the world around us.We have gone through many challenges and overcame them successfully..

So let us again, look at our new normal life and reflect how we all  changed  and our environment changed and keep on reflecting.Few things are part of new normal, online work and study, spending more time at home,  two meter social distancing, face masks, and line up in many many places and spend time in queque..

Thanks God, most of Ontario under stage three, in Ottawa and Canada we are far better off. Compared to Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr, we are better off spiritually in terms of places of worship, SNMC  and other masjids are open for Jumah, Eid AlAdha and regular prayers and some other spiritual and social programs are coming up slowly.
Now think of past history, God has tested earlier generations and this time He is testing the whole world. It is an opportunity for us, like we got a second chance in life,  to reflect and rectify, be caring and humble.Still we see in some countries , more arrogance and evil things happening. May God guide us all to  come to the straight  path, path of eternal success. Ameen

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Fall French Classes at SNMC

École des adultes Le Carrefour will be offering a Citizenship Preparation French course at SNMC this fall. Due to the situation with Covid-19, they are now offering online courses.

This class is meant to prepare newcomers to achieve a passing grade of 75% on the Canadian citizenship test. This course is offered in French or English.

Here is the link to enrol in the program!

For more information please visit their website: https://carrefour.cepeo.on.ca/programmes/education-aux-adultes/centre-de-langues-language-courses/

Below is the brochure, which offers more details:

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Founder’s Corner: Dr. Emdad Khan

Greeting by Dr. Emdad Khan

As-salaamu Alykum, meaning “Peace be upon you.”  Is the greeting used by all Muslims. The reply to the greeting is Wa Alykum As-salaam, which means “And upon you be peace.”

As-Salaam is one of the  beautiful names of Allah. In the Quran, in 26.61, He commands believers, “But if you enter houses, salute each other—a greeting of blessing and purity from Allah. –.” Again in 6.54, He states, “When those come to you who believe in Our signs, say: ‘Peace be upon you…” (6:54)

 Finally, in paradise, in 39.73, “And those who kept their duty to their Lord will be led to Paradise in groups. When they reach it, the gates will be opened and the keepers (angels) will say, ‘Salaamu Alykum, you have done well, so enter here to abide therein.’” 

The Prophet (pbuh) used to greet people by saying As-salaamu Alykum and encouraged the companions. The greeting helps bond Muslims together as one family and establish strong community relationships.

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I tell you about something which, if you do it, will make you love one another? Greet each other with salaam.”.

Let us revive saying As-salaamu Alykum to each other, we know or not know them

Greeting with salaam is sunnah/recommended but the rely is obligatory. The one who says first salaam get more Hashanah. It is one of the rights of one Muslim to another.

So, let us be the first one to greet with salaam and let us have a practice of giving daily at least salam to 10 believers.

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SNMC Eid-Ul-Adha and Friday Details

In Sha Allah,

SNMC Eid ul Adha Prayer Imams Schedule: (to enter SNMC, have your Masjid Pass ready)
1st Prayer at 7:00 am — Imam Mohsen
2nd Prayer at 8:00 am — Imam Zijad
3rd Prayer at 9:00 am — Hafiz Dr. Atif Kabir
4th Prayer at 10:00 am — Hafiz Samiullah Hashimy
5th Prayer at 11:00 am — Shaikh Youssef Berrada

SNMC Juma Prayer Khateeb Schedule for Fri July 31st:
1st Khutbah at 1:00 pm — Imam Mohsen
2nd Khutbah at 2:00 pm — Imam Zijad
3rd Khutbah at 3:00 pm — Br. Fahid Amjad

Commonly asked questions
1) You must have your Masjid Pass to enter SNMC. No pre registration is needed. If you haven’t yet, please register for your Masjid Pass at checkin.mysnmc.ca and more details at https://snmc.ca/reopen
2) Kids above 12 years only
3) Please read https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-stop-spread before coming to SNMC. Do not come if you have any symptoms, are in the at-risk groups or have been in recent contact with someone who has/had COVID-19.

Updates can be found at: https://www.snmc.ca/snmc-eid-ul-adha-and-friday-details/

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Eid Loot Bags Drive Thru – Sat Aug 1st 2:30-4:30pm

Drive thru SNMC with your kids Saturday August 1st between 2:30pm-4:30pm by entering from Springbeauty Ave and follow volunteer instructions to receive kids loot bags – while quantities last!

The Woodroffe Ave entrance will be closed – for everyone’s safety, do not attempt to come in from it.

Distribution will be contactless. You must be in a vehicle and stay in it at all times.

All are welcome! Dress up with your Eid clothes, bring Eid signs and roll down your windows so we can see your Eid smiles!