SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

ACTIVITIES IN AREA MASAAJID THIS FRIDAY AFTER ISHA

ISCJ: WEEKLY FRIDAY HALAQA: Imam Raouf Zaman (Imam of MCMC Masjid) 8 pm

Zubaida Foundation, Yardley, PA:

ICMC: BI-WEEKLY FRIDAY SEERAH CLASS AFTER

ISHA (8 pm) BY SHAYKH DR. MATEEN KHAN.

NBIC: NO FAMILY NIGHT

MASJID SHUHADA: WEEKLY FRIDAY HALAQA:

Fiqh Us Sunnah in relation to an individual’s daily life and

actions! 7:15 pm

MCMC: WEEKLY HALAQA: UTHMAN IBN AFFAN

BY MOULANA MOHAMMED CHAUDHARY 8:00 pm

ACTIVITIES IN AREA MASAAJID THIS SATURDAY AFTER FAJR

Usually light breakfast is served

IIS: Qur’an/Halaqa

Zubaida Foundation, Yardley, PA: ISCJ: Free Tajweed class by Shaykh Ismael Essa

ICMC: Qur’an/Halaqa by Brs. Abu Bakr,

Mohamed Esseghir and Nigel MCMC: Sh Okasha Kameny

February 21st NBIC Fundraiser

Sh Moutasem Atiya & Comedian Said Durrah

IIS has organized an informative SEMINAR on

Financial Planning Tax Deferred & Tax Optimization Strategies

Will, Trust & Estate Planning

Retirement Planning (Individual & Business)

Education Planning (529 Plans)

401K/IRA Rollover & Investment Strategies

With

Shariah Compliant & Islamic Law Considerations

Presentation followed by Questions & Answers

Location: Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) 379 Princeton Heightstown Rd, East Windsor, NJ 08512

Friday, February 20th

2015 from

8:50pm to 10:00pm

Presented by: Nabeel Abdul Khaliq

Financial Advisor

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

THE NEWMOON WAS SIGHTED TONIGHT: Due to positive naked-eye Hilal sightings on 29th Rabi

Ath-Thani 1436H - February 19th 2015G in

Mainland USA (positive reports from NJ, VA, PA), HSCNA announces start of Jumada-al-Ula 1436H from

Friday February 20th, 2015G in North America.

FOR SISTERS: Online CRASH COURSE 401 -

Essentials in the Life of Every Muslimah starting March 16 Instructor: Ustaadha Bint Umer Description: With the Grace of ALLAH (SWT), Noorul

`Ilm Foundation has designed CC - 401 to inculcate the Islamic rulings that are essential for every Muslimah to know. At the end of this 12-week crash course, inshaaAllah, the students are expected to master the detailed rulings of purification, prayer, and fasting. Course will be taught in English,

InshaaAllah.

Days & Timings: Mondays - Thursdays; 8PM - 8:40 PM Duration: 12 weeks,(March 16, 2015 - June 11, 2015) Age Requirement: 10 years of age & older Registration Fee: $30 Tuition: $0 – Free

Register at: http://www.noorulilm.org/short-courses.html

Note: Registration deadline is March 1st, 2015

Some important dates to mark your calendar

Feb 21 NBIC fundraiser

Feb 27 - Zaytuna Faculty at ISCJ

March 1 – ICMC sisters gathering @ ICMC

March 6 - Al Madina at NBIC

March 7 - NUI Gala

March 14 – ISCJ Volunteer Symposiusm

April 3-5 Northern VA, Al-Madina Pearls of the Quran

Apr 3-5 - Hamza Tzortzis class on Atheism for WhyIslam

Apr 4- IIS FR

Apr 25 - ICMC FR

April 25 - ICNA Quiz at Piscataway HS

May 2- ISCJ FR

May 10 - NUI Carnival

May 17 - Medina Clinic FR

May 23-25 ICNA Convention in Baltimore.

May 30 Al-Shifa FR

Quranic Arabic 101 by Imam Asif

Every Saturday, 4-7 PM from Feb-28 to Apr-25

At MCNJ, 15 South 2nd Street, Fords NJ

Register at mcnjonline.com

SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

Friday Jummah Kuthbas

ISCJ, South Brunswick, NJ: 12pm- Khateeb: Imam Chebli 1pm Khateeb: Dr. Hilmi Saud http://iscj.org ICMC, Lawrenceville, NJ: 1pm: Dr. Abdulbaset Abdullah http://www.islamicircle.org NBIC, North Brunswick, NJ: 1:10pm Khateeb Dr. Shadee El-Masry (usually) http://www.nbic.org IIS, West Windsor/Hightstown, NJ: 1pm: and 2 pm: http://www.iisnj.org MCMC, Piscataway, NJ: 1st Jum'ah 12:30 PM 1st khutbah: Imam Rauf Zamaan (usually); 1:30pm 2nd khutbah: Br. Ameer Tariq http://mcmcnj.org Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (Murray Dodge Hall): 1:20

pm- Khateeb: Imam Sohaib Sultan (usually)

ICE (Ewing): 1pm- Imam Qareeb Bahsir (usually)

http://islamiccenterofewingnj.org

Masjid As-saffat (Trenton): 1pm-

http://www.masjidassaffat.com

Zubaida Foundation (Yardley, PA): 1pm-http://www.zubaidafoundation.com Masjid Shuhada (Mt Holly/Springfield, NJ): 1pm-http://www.masjidshuhada.com Boonton Masjid (110 Harrison St, Boonton, NJ): 1pm- Edison Musalla (157 Plainfield Ave, Edison, NJ): 1:25pm- http://slmanj.org Masjid al-Tawheed, Jersey City, NJ:1pm- Shaikh Okasha Kameny) http://www.altawheedjc.com/ Masjid al-Wali, Edison, NJ: 1pm-Dr. Hatem Al-Haj http://www.masjidalwali.org/

MCNJ (Fords, NJ): 1:10pm- Br. Mujhe http://www.mcnjonline.com Al- Falah Center): 1:10pm- khutbah (Jummah location is at Day's Inn, 1260 US/Rt 22E, Bridgewater, NJ)Br. Shomail Malik http://www.alfalahcenter.org Dawatul Islamia Masjid, Somerset, NJ khutbah (1:10PM) by Brother Tanveer Sajjad (http://www.dawatulislamia.org/) Islamic Center of East Brunswick, NJ: www.iqra-nj.org Dawatul Islamia Masjid, Somerset, NJ: 1 PM Kuthba (http://www.dawatulislamia.org/)

Baytul-Iman Academy, 311 Laurel Ave, Hazlet (Keansburg for GPS), NJ: 1:25pm Baytul-Iman Academy, 8998 Hwy 18 North & Spring Valley Rd, Suite 112, Old Bridge, NJ: 1:25pm http://www.baytuliman.org/

Area Islamic Schools and Institutions: Noorul Iman School, South Brunswick, NJ http://nuischool.org

Baytul-Iman Academy, Hazlet and Old Bridge, NJ:

http://www.baytuliman.org/ Islamic Academy of Burlington County, NJ: http://islamicabc.com

An-Noor Academy, Piscataway, NJ: http://www.annooracademy.com

Darul Arqam, South River, NJ: www.darularqam.org

Islamic School of Trenton, Trenton, NJ:

http://www.islamicschooloftrenton.org Al Minhaal Academy (Islamic School, South Plainfield, NJ): http://www.alminhaal.org/

Nakhlah Institute, Trenton, NJ: http://www.nakhlahusa.org

Quran Academy, South Brunswick, NJ: http://iscj.org

Safina Society, North Brunswick, NJ: www.safinasociety.org

Mishkah University (online Islamic University with BA, MS and PhD

tracks and onsite classes): http://mishkahuniversity.com http://hmchaudhry.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-rejoinder-to-prmedia-islam-muslims.html?m=1

Nomination Process for Sunday, April 19, 2015 ISCJ Elections The Board of Trustees and Overseers have agreed to hold the General Body Meeting and Elections on Sunday, April19, 2015 Insha’Allah. Therefore it is time to initiate the nomination process. The term of the following three members of the Board of Trustees will expire this year: Sr. Atiya Aftab, Br.Arif Patel and Br. Mujibur Rehman The term of the following two Overseers will also expire this year: Br.Saffet Catovic, Br. Abbas Shaikh

SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

Please see the details below of 2 special sessions, including

Fri night Feb 27@ Masjid As-saffat in Trenton (with dinner) and Sat night Feb 28 @ ICMC, Lawrenceville (with dinner)

by the visiting scholar, Shaykh Hashim Ahmad: father of Imam-Masjid As-

saffat, Shaykh Abdur Rahman He is also conducting few other important classes in the area on week days.

The story of creation, one that virtually every Muslim man, woman and child is familiar with, is described on a number of occasions in the Qur'an. Join Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan for an evening of discovering the timeless wisdom, insight and beauty of some of the ayaat that depict the journey of our parents from Jannah to the earth.

INSTRUCTOR: Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

SCHEDULE: Friday, March 6th | 7-10 PM

LOCATION: The Ritz Theatre | 1148 E. Jersey Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201

TUITION: $20 USD

SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

IIS/WEST WINDSOR MASJID-YOUTH CENTER FUNDRAISER: SAT: APR 04 @ 6 PM

@ CROWNE PLAZA, MONROE, NJ

ICMC/LAWRENCEVILLE MASJID-YOUTH CENTER FUNDRAISER: SAT: APR 25

CONFIRMATION AND DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Apr 12 @ ISCJ - Special Conference –

"Woman: Heart of the Muslim Family"

Imaan Rising

MCMC Community Development Committee (CDC) presents 'Imaan Raising' - A comprehensive educational initiative to raise the Islamic Education standards of the community. Something to learn, something to gain on every night. Insha' Allah this is a new beginning, multiple speakers, and different areas of focus. Now it's up to you to take advantage of these programs.

SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

There are three program announcements:

1. Bensalem Masjid Update and Special event with

Dr. Daniel Tutt and Dr. Khalid Blankenship:

“Telling the American Muslim Story.”

“Telling the American Muslim Story” is an event scheduled for

February 28, 2015, at The Bensalem Country Club, 2000 Brown

Ave, Bensalem PA 19020. Guest speakers will be Dr. Khalid

Blankinship and Dr. Daniel Tutt, and the event will start at 6:30

PM. If you plan on joining us, seating is limited and we request that

you RSVP by emailing back at mchaudhry2012@gmail.com. Please

include your name and how many people will be attending. If you do

not RSVP and seating capacity is exceeded, we may be in the

difficult position of turning people back.

2. Shaikh Yahya Rhodus will be speaking at the Muslim Society

of the Delaware Valley, 2209 North Front St, Philadelphia, PA

19133 on Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 5 PM. This is part of a

weekly series that involves a reading from a classical biography of

the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Qadi Iyad’s As-Shifa, followed by a

discussion.

A brief biography of Shaikh Yahya: Shaikh Yahya Rhodus was born

in Kansas City, Missouri. At the age of 19, he embraced Islam in

Santa Clara, California. He pursued traditional Islamic studies in

Mauritania, Syria, and Yemen. He began his religious studies with

Shaikh Hamza Yusuf and is currently associated with Zaytuna

Institute.

3. CAIR Philadelphia’s annual banquet will be held at the Springfield

Country Club on Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 5PM. The guest

speaker will be Imam Suhaib Webb. CAIR’s banquet is one of the

marquee Muslim events in the metro Philadelphia area, and CAIR’s

work is vital for us as a community. For more information and to

purchase tickets, please go to http://pa.cair.com/banquet/tickets

BAYYINAH DREAM PROGRAM Applications close March 31, 2015. Alhamdulillah, Bayyinah's Dream Program is now entering its

sixth year and we would like to invite you to the Dream Class

of 2016. Are you ready to Dream? We're looking for students who have

already started their Quranic Arabic and are ready for the next

step. You can comfortably read the Quran and you've even

memorized some of your favorite ayaat and surahs. You don't

always understand what is read, but you do know that every

letter in the Quran was placed with a purpose. Every word is a

treasure and every ayah is a gem. You're ready to dive into the

original language of the Quran, access the beauty within, and

one day share it with others. This has always been your dream. Apply for Bayyinah's Dream Program, and make your

dream a reality. WWW.BAYYINAHDREAM.COM Jazakumallahu Khairan, Bayyinah Dream Admissions

ICMC LADIES GATHERING

Sunday March 1st from 3 pm to 7 pm

WITH DINNER @ ICMC

Obama Warns Against Profiling, Surveillance in Anti-Terror Speech President Barack Obama used his speech on the second day of a

three-day White House summit on extremism to warn against

profiling people or conducting surveillance simply because of their

religious beliefs.

The White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism came

under fire from critics for failing to state that the focus is on radical

Islamic terrorists, including groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS)

and al-Qaida, who are targeting the West in what they describe as a

holy war.

Obama admitted that such groups are the reason behind the summit,

but he reiterated that his administration will not label the groups

"Muslim" or "Islamic" because he said they are misusing passages of

the Koran to justify their violence.

Obama said it is important not to stigmatize entire communities.

"Nobody should be profiled or put under a cloud of suspicion simply

because of their faith," he said.

Obama pointed toward more cooperation with Muslim communities

in finding people early in the radicalization process, but, he said,

"Engagement with communities can't be a cover for surveillance."

Some in the Muslim community and on the left have been critical of

efforts to infiltrate mosques to find imams preaching radicalism or to

find members who have a radical ideology.

SOUTH & CENTRAL JERSEY MUSLIM NEWSLETTER

Jumada-I 1436 February 2015-3

In the United States, he said, local and federal authorities must make

sure that Muslims aren’t isolated and that they are welcomed and

integrated into society.

"Muslim Americans feel they have been unfairly targeted," he said.

"We have to be sure that abuses stop, are not repeated, that we don’t

profile entire communities."

Obama said the terror groups are trying to expand their reach by

portraying the U.S. and other Western nations as being at war with

Islam.

"We must never accept the premise they put forward, because it is a

lie," Obama said Wednesday. "They are not religious leaders, they’re

terrorists."

Deadly attacks in Paris, Sydney and Copenhagen by individuals of

Muslim background and possibly inspired by the brutal tactics of

ISIS, along with the group’s spread in Syria, Iraq and now Libya,

have raised alarms in Europe and the U.S. about danger of so-called

lone wolf terrorists, driven by extremist ideology and difficult to

detect before they act.

At the summit, the Obama administration is convening

representatives of Muslim organizations, law enforcement officials

and local political leaders to swap ideas about how to stem root

causes for extremism. It also has invited leaders from overseas to take

part.

Obama said civic leaders must recognize that Islamic State is

"reaching and brainwashing young Muslims" through social media

and need to act to alleviate the alienation and poverty that are the

extremists’ best recruiting tool.

In a nod to his critics, Obama admitted that not all terrorists come

from impoverished backgrounds, including former al-Qaida leader

Osama bin-Laden. But he likely gave them new bait when he

mentioned the Oklahoma City bombing and the attacks of 9/11 side-

by-side and also mention the Fort Hood shootings and the killings of

three Muslim college students killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The administration has been criticized for years for calling the Fort

Hood shootings "workplace violence" even though the shooter, Army

Maj. Nidal Hasan, held radical Islamic views. And the Chapel Hill

shootings are reported to have been a parking dispute.

The accused gunman is an atheist, but his wife has said he did not

shoot the three because they were Muslim.

"I'd like to know, over this last week, if he's had his intel briefing,

because that is a man who doesn't understand what we are up

against," Grenell said. "People are being burned in cages, and he's

talking about more investments, empowering youth for greater

service, entrepreneurship, not profiling. This is ridiculous."

Retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Cavuto that Obama's words that

the United States should reject "certain premises" are "dangerous."

"That is code for ignore," Shaffer said. "There's no war against the

Muslims. He is setting up a premise that is completely false."

CAIR: Community Safety Alert In light of recent events affecting American Muslims across

the country, CAIR-NJ is advising the Muslim community to

take all threats seriously and ensure that local law

enforcement are contacted in a timely manner to investigate

and address any threats. CAIR-NJ is here to assist you with

vetting the credibility of the threat and the proper means of

reporting. Here are some key terms to know and understand:

Islamophobia: a close-minded prejudice against or hatred of

Islam and Muslims. Islamophobic acts are directed at Islam

and Muslims in general. Anti-Muslim discrimination is

directed at a specific individual, institution or group of

individuals.

Hate Incident: an act such as hate speech made against a

person, property or society which is motivated in whole or in

part by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability,

sexual orientation or ethnic origin.

Hate Crime: a criminal offense that is a physical assault

against a person or property, which is motivated in whole or in

part by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability,

sexual orientation or ethnic origin.