Photos from the SVIC Picnic 2007 has been uploaded here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/svic/

You can leave your comments on Flickr or here.

Herhold: Bin Laden has no place in mosque debate

By Scott Herhold

Mercury News http://www.mercurynews.com/scottherhold/ci_6137329

Article Launched: 06/14/2007 01:33:17 AM PDT

Dr. M. Bakri Musa is a trim, smiling man of 63 who works as a surgeon in Gilroy and lives on a ranch in Morgan Hill with his wife, Karen. He has his own blog (http://bakrimusa.com) in which he writes thoughtfully about politics and economics in the developing world. Like the majority of Malaysians, he’s a Muslim. He’s also an American who treasures the freedom of the USA. He’s about as far from being a terrorist as I am.

Nonetheless, because of Osama bin Laden, Musa has to answer the stupid question about whether Muslims are prone to violence. As a leader in the South Valley Islamic Community, he’s part of an effort to build the “Cordoba Center,” a mosque and community center in San Martin.

Though it should never come to it – not in the USA, not in San Martin – the South County has just enough flag-waving yahoos to make the proposal controversial on its face. The Gilroy Dispatch ran an online poll that showed that 30percent of respondents believed the mosque should be denied because it’s Muslim.

If you believe some of the letter writers and correspondents, people like Musa (the Muslim version of “Moses”) are about to forcibly convert them or slay them. In this view, a mosque will unleash jihad.

So as Musa and I stood with the president of the Islamic community, Sal Akhter, at the site of their planned mosque – a 16-acre plot bordering Monterey Road just north of California Avenue – I had to ask him my own version of the stupid question. How did he react when he heard these predictions of violence?

No apology

“My reaction is that I don’t blame myself as an American when I see what happened at Abu Ghurayb,” Musa said. “We all know Osama is a bad actor. I don’t have to apologize.”

In fact, the plans for the center do present issues. They are the same land use issues that any development faces: Is there enough water? Will the septic system be sufficient? What about roads?

The community’s president, Akhter, a developer himself, says the community has answers to these questions: The land, once a walnut orchard, has electricity, a well and an old leach field. The surrounding plots are generally 5 to 10 acres. And the community may divide the land, which it has in escrow until next year, into three parts. That could let the Muslims sell off two to finance a 5,000-square initial building.

Noting that the matter would have to go to a public hearing, Akhter added: “We’re going to start talking to some neighbors and get some alliances.”

Same standards

Well and good: The Muslims should be held to the same standards as any other group. Absent proof to the contrary, Osama bin Laden has no part in the conversation.

Yes, I know that you can find verses in the Koran that sound bloodthirsty. And yes, you can find fatwas that are absurd. But much the same can be said of any religion. Christians, after all, ran the Inquisition and crusades.

It’s worth remembering that the Bay Area has a number of peaceful mosques. In Fremont, a leader at the Sunni Islamic Society of the East Bay, dentist Mohammad Rajabally, told me, “We haven’t had any incidents of violence. Not one.”

Finally, there’s this: The South Valley Islamic Community (www.svic.org), which has about 75 registered families and now meets in a private barn, has constituted itself as deliberately diverse, an Islamic mirror of America. Although it’s primarily Sunni, it welcomes Shiites. It has an Egyptian, a Moroccan, a Fiji islander, a Pakistani, a Malaysian and an Anglo on its board.

“The more people learn about us, the more they’ll learn about our faith and values,” says Akhter. “We’ve got 6 million Muslims in this country. Are you going to make us all terrorists?”

http://digg.com/world_news/Herhold_Bin_Laden_has_no_place_in_mosque_debate

Please visit this poll and click ‘NO!’ and support our community. Let your voice be heard and show solidarity with the Muslim community here in Morgan Hill/Gilroy/San Martin/Hollister.

http://www.gilroydispatch.com/poll/pollview.asp?p=1313

Please share this with your friends and family, please tell them to vote NO.

Thank you and JazakAllahkhair.

JUNE 16, 2007 – SVIC ANNUAL PICNIC! – http://svic.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/svic-annual-picnic-2007/
Come and see our 16 acre property! BBQ * GAMES * TRAIN RIDE * PETTING ZOO * FUN

Come enjoy an afternoon of fun & festivities with South Valley Islamic Community families & friends!

Activities:
• Food will be provided by SVIC:

BBQ Chicken, Hot Dogs, Burgers and Drinks.

• Plans for Volley Ball, Soccer, Frisbee
• Free Train rides, Barnyard Zoo, Castle Slide and the Mystery Maze.

R.S.V.P: Please let us know by calling (408) 535-0112 before 6/8/2007

Donation: $5/Person or $20/Family of 4 or more

Map of San Martin Country Park

To download the flyer, click on the image. Share it with your friends and family!

Technorati tags: svic, picnic, san martin, park, 2007

Illume Magazine has generously donated free copies of their latest issue to our community! The May issue includes an  article by an SVIC community member! The free copies will be available at the SVIC center after Friday prayers, insha’Allah. Please support them and subscribe today so you will never miss a copy! Subscribe before May 31, 2007 and receive all back issues FREE! The April issue, focusing on women’s issues, featured a book review by our own Dr. Bakri Musa.

Women of all ages are invited to join the SVIC sisters at an informal gathering. Come and meet your community members! Last month’s inaugural gathering was a huge success! Don’t miss out!

Venue: Sister Rohena’s house in Hollister.

Time: 6:30pm

Food: Potluck! Bring your favorite dish!

For complete details, please send an email to outreach at svic dot org.

Car pooling is being organized.

Our Obligation to God and Society – Shaykh Ilyas Anwar

A well known hadith has it that a time will come when the Muslim ummah would face so many tribulations that we would be overwhelmed and be paralyzed by them and not know what to do or how to proceed.  The Prophet’s companions and followers were reported to have asked the Prophet s.a.w. what they should do when such a time comes.

The Prophet referred to the Quran where Allah exhorts that we should not worry about what others should or should not under those circumstances but instead focused on what we should do on our own to resolve the issues and be part of the solution.

In striving to be part of the solution and not be part of the problem, we must remember two things:  One, our obligations to Allah, and the other, our obligation to our society and fellow human beings.

With regards to our obligations to Allah, we must be mindful that Allah is All Forgiving and All Merciful.  Meaning, if we failed to meet His obligations or transgress His commands in any way, we still could ask for and hope to receive His Mercy and Forgiveness.  Our fellow human beings on the other hand are less forgiving or merciful.  Thus we have a greater obligation and must put greater emphasis on our obligations to society and fellow human beings.

Our relations and obligations to our fellow human beings must be guided by the golden rule:  we should treat them as we would wish to be treated by them.  We should not speak ill of them, engage in back biting, and the other things that we do not like others to do unto us.

We have the Quran and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. to guide us.  The members of society most immediate to us are our family, thus we must begin with them.  One of the items emphasized in the Quran is the rights and obligations of parents and the reciprocal rights and obligations of our children to us.

As parents we have three obligations:  to give our children good and worthy names, give them good education and guidance, and when they reach marriageable age, to encourage them to get married.  Children in turn have to be respectful of their parents, especially their mothers as we discussed last week.

In the Quran, Allah says that our wealth and our children would test us.  Meaning, our wealth and children could either be our savior and a blessing to us, or they could easily be a burden upon us, the cause of our misery.

To ensure that our children would be our savior or be a blessing to society and us, we have to groom them right from the very beginning, starting at the moment of birth.  It is a good tradition that when a baby is born to call the Adhan, an acknowledgement of God’s gift, and asking for His Blessings.  We should recite the Azzan in the infant’s right ear and the aqimah in the left.  On the seventh day or later, we should ceremoniously shave its hair and give a donation in silver equal in weight to the shaved hair (Aqiqah).

Likewise, we should be selective and careful in picking names for our children.  If we choose one of the 99 beautiful names or attributes of Allah, we should precede it with “Abd” (a servant of).  As we live in a culture different from what we have been brought up, we should choose a name that could be easily pronounceable.  If we pick too exotic a name that his peers would not be able to pronounce or if it sounds too foreign, his or her friends would end up giving the child a nickname and that would negate the whole purpose of the original name.

Another custom would be to circumcise male babies.  Fortunately, this is a common practice here and that would not impose too great burden for us to do it to our babies.

It is instructive that that when Luqman, the prophet’s companion, was advising his son, the one thing the father stressed was not the praying or the giving of zakat, rather on the more issues like to walk with humility and to talk humbly.

Get ready for the SVIC Brothers El Toro Hiking Challenge!
For more details, click on the map above and then click on the links on the left panel of the map. This map shows more details of our path, our ascent, what to expect and our destination.

Date: Saturday, April 28, 2007
Time: Meet at 8am.
Park your cars here: Parking lot on West Dunne Ave (former Albertson’s).

What to bring:
- 2 (or more) bottles of water
- work gloves
- good hiking shoes
- prayer mat, if you intend to perform prayer.
- snacks (granola bars, trail mix, fruits, etc.)

Preparations:
- prior to hiking, all of us will stretch our muscles and condition ourselves for the climb
- if you are prone to sunburn, cover yourself with sunscreen
- have a decent breakfast, you will need the energy

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
*** This expedition is for brothers only. Future hikes we will invite sisters and family members.
*** This is a challenging hike. El Toro is very steep. Please consult your physician first.
*** This event is to build stronger brotherhood ties, have fun and have more fun.
*** This hike will include religious tidbits, advice, reminders and other useful pieces of information, insha’Allah.

Al Aqsa Masjid

Shaykh Ilyas Anwar

Many of you have received an e-mail from CAIR asking that we devote this week’s khutbah to the unfortunate event that occurred two weeks ago at Al Aqsa Masjid in Jerusalem. I have briefly discussed that incident in my khutbah two weeks ago upon hearing the news through the wire service on the Internet.

The Al Aqsa Masjid has a special place in our faith. It is mentioned in a number of places in the Quran, especially in relation to the Isra’ Mi’raj, the Night of Ascension, when our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. ascended into Heaven (see Surah al Isra 17:1). Al Aqsa is the holiest place in Islam, next to Mecca and Medinah.

In the early days of Islam, Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem, that was our Qibla then. This was later changed by our Prophet s.a.w. towards Mecca, upon receiving a revelation to that effect. That was also a test for believers at that time on their belief on the revelations of our Prophet s.a.w. (Surah Al Baqarah 2: 142-3).

Prophetic traditions mention about the special blessings of Allah for whosoever prays three consecutive Jemaah in Al Aqsa mosque.

It is indeed the supreme irony that a place regarded as among the holiest by the three major monotheistic Faiths – Islam, Christianity, and Judaism – would today be the focus of so much controversy and outright violence.

There was a time not too long ago when Muslims had the upper hand and were controlling Jerusalem as with during the time following the Christian Crusades. At that time the followers of the other faiths were allowed to live there and practiced their religion freely. It was the epitome of tolerance and harmony.

Even though we Muslims in the West are in a minority, we do have and enjoy the rights and freedom accorded to all the other citizens of the majority. As such we have a special obligation to speak out of not only against injustices and gratuitous violence occurring not only in Jerusalem but also in the greater Muslim world and elsewhere. Muslim minorities in Non Western countries like India for example not only do not enjoy comparable freedom that we enjoy here in the West, but they are also subjected to increasing sectarian violence.

To have an effective voice we must be involved in the political process so that we can influence and where possible change the political landscape. We must not tolerate violence and anarchic behaviors whether perpetrated by Muslim minorities elsewhere or imposed upon them by the tyrant majority. When we see Muslim youths go on rampages destroying churches, synagogues and the places of worship of other faiths in Muslim countries we must not hesitate in condemning them. Indeed we should go beyond simply condemning, rather we should educate them that such acts of violence especially on places of worship or indeed any act of senseless violence are not acceptable. They are not and should not be part of our tradition.

Such acts of senseless violence are abhorred in any religion. That many of our young in the greater Muslim partake in them reflects the general ignorance on their part. That can only be corrected though educating them not only to the futility of such acts as seen from our faith but also to direct them to more fruitful pursuits.

Let us at all times have taqwa, be conscious of Allah’s presence. Meaning, we must do our part to change things and events where we can, and to have the patience and to have faith in Allah and seek His help and blessings where we cannot.

By Imam Ilyas Anwar

This week we will continue to examine the various aspects of du’a. Although Allah has given us the power of the dua to seek His divine intervention, nonetheless there are certain things that cannot be changed or are beyond dua, or looked upon in another way, when our dua would be answered by Allah in the Hereafter. It is our natural tendency for us to conclude that when Allah does not answer our prayers and dua when in fact He may be deferring them to the Day of Judgment.

To enhance the power of our dua, we must ensure that our lines of communication to God must be clean and unhampered. Meaning, we must lead a life according to His commands. That aside, there are certain events and instances that Allah will not change regardless of our supplication.

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. never failed to mention the mercy and benevolence of Allah. At the same time the Prophet s.a.w. never hesitated to tell his followers that he was also the “Warner,” to warn us of the awful powers of Allah to punish us should we transgress His commands.

There was a hadith to the effect that the Prophet s.a.w. and the Day of Judgment were like two fingers stuck together, meaning it could come any time after the prophet’s arrival. The Quran listed some of the major and minor signs that would point towards the Day of Judgment.

Thus we must at all times pay attention to those obligations that are incumbent upon us and do not worry of the responsibilities of others and whether they are fulfilling them or not. Execute them to the extent of our capability and execute them well. Do not despair if you were not able to execute all of them; suffice that we have done our best and put in our utmost effort.

Let not the inaction of others be our excuse for not doing our part.

In the Quran it is mentioned that zakat is as important as solat (prayers). It is also mentioned in the Quran that obedience to Allah means being obedient to His commands as preached by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. The Quran and the sunnah illuminate one another.

One of the teachings of the Prophet is that we should be thankful to our parents. Someone came upon the Prophet s.a.w for advice on what he (the follower) should do. The prophet replied the young man to help his mother. The young man again asked what to do after that. Whereupon the prophet s.a.w. replied the same. The man came again the third time, and the prophet replied the same, again to emphasize the importance for us to be kind to our parents especially our mother.

On another occasion, a young man came upon the Prophet s.a.w. for advice before undertaking a jihad. Whereupon the Prophet s.a.w. replied that the young man should instead look after his parents instead of going on a jihad. We should reciprocate what our parents did for us when we were young and helpless. Jannah lies at the mother’s feet, goes a familiar hadith. Even if our parents have died, then we should remember them in our prayers and seek dua that Allah may bless them and grant them mercy. We should remember our parents who have died at least five times a day, meaning during our obligatory prayers.

If we do good to our parents, then Allah will in turn help us. We should also extend that same treatment and courtesy to our family and friends.

Transcribed by Dr. Bakri Musa