Mosque Building Block Set

Saturday - Kids Special of the week

The Mosque Building Block Set is a great addition to your child's toy collection. This one of a kind block set puts an Islamic twist on the classical building toy. Unique pieces such as domes, minarets, arches and arabesque patterns encourage kids to design and build the mosque of their imagination. The blocks are made of maple hardwood. 50 pieces in 13 shapes.

Building blocks seem to be regarded as the most simple of toys. That may be true with common blocks, but the Master Builder Sets by HABA inspire your master builder to design structures that honor creativity and imagination. The Master Builder System will appeal to both children and the inner child of every adult. Mix styles to create a structure distinctively your own. The blocks are of the highest quality and will stand up to the test of time, as well as the continued tests of children.

Source: AStrolabe

Hadith of the week

Sahih Bukhari
Volume 1, Book 2 (Book of Belief), Number 9:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr:
The Prophet said, "A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands. And a Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all what Allah has forbidden."

Islamic Bank of Britain eyes Middle East customers

Thursday - Islamic Finance News of the week

Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has announced the launch of its premier banking service and the opening of its premier banking office in Berkeley Square, London aimed at catering to customers from the Middle East.

The service has been designed to provide a high quality, personal banking service coupled with competitive long term savings options and Sharia’a compliant property finance to customers.

Driven by low property prices and the current favourable US Dollar/Sterling exchange rate, the UK is attracting a large number of customers coming from the Middle East and GCC countries looking to purchase a property, said Sultan Choudhury, commercial director at IBB.

The bank’s premier banking service has been set up to respond to this demand, he pointed out.

IBB (www.islamic-bank.com), Sultan said, was increasingly becoming a more attractive option for overseas investors, particularly in the GCC and Middle East countries, as it is a more stable alternative to conventional banks.

"The bank provides its premier customers a personal service along with Halal products, including the competitive Home Purchase Plan which is the Sharia’a compliant finance option for property purchases in the UK," he explained.

The customer must have a minimum annual net income of £100,000 ($159,782) to apply for IBB premier banking service available to customers in the UK and overseas, Sultan said.

The IBB premier banking service will provide its customers with a personal banking service; premier banking facilities available from a conveniently located Mayfair, London office; experienced fluent Arabic speaking staff and access to a higher amount of property finance - starting from £250,000 and up to £5 million per client.

Under this arrangement, both the customer and the bank will each contribute towards the purchase of the home and both become partners, Sultan explained.

Over the period of the agreement, the customer will make monthly purchase instalments through which he/she will buy the bank’s share. With each instalment paid, the bank’s share in the property decreases while the customer’s share correspondingly increases.

The premier service is being launched with the immediate availability of IBB’s flagship product, the Home Purchase Plan (HPP), a Sharia’a compliant mortgage alternative which is based on the Islamic financing principles of Ijara (Lease) and Diminishing Musharaka (partnership), he added.

-TradeArabia News Service

Conditions of tawarruq on shares

Wednesday - Islam Q & A of the week

I went to the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to get an Islamic loan, and they said we do not give cash but we give shares; for example we will buy shares for you worth 50,000 dirhams and sell them to you for monthly instalments over a year, and the price of the sale will be 52,600 over 12 months. We will give you ownership papers for these shares and we will give you a schedule with the names of the companies who will sell these shares for you. What is the ruling on that?

Praise be to Allaah.

This transaction is based on two things. The first is tawarruq, which is where a person buys an item to be paid for at a later date, then he sells it – to someone other than the person from whom he bought it – for cash, usually at a lower price. This transaction is called tawarruq, which is derived from al-wariq, meaning silver, because the purchaser does not want the product per se, rather he wants cash.

This transaction is permissible according to the majority of scholars.

The second is a muraabahah sale to the one who wants to buy, which means that the bank buys a specific item that the customer wants, then it sells it to him for a price to be paid in instalments that is greater than the price for which it bought it. This is also permissible, if it meets the following conditions:

1. The customer does not buy the product from the bank until the bank has taken possession of it in a real sense. If the item is shares, then it must be shares that are owned by the bank or that it buys and puts into its portfolio.

2. The customer should not sell the item until he has taken possession of it in a real sense and taken it from the bank in a way that is acceptable according to sharee’aha. If it is shares, then they must be put into his portfolio before he sells them.

3. The customer should not sell the item to the bank or to the organisation that sold it to the bank in the first place, and there should not be a prior agreement or any tradition concerning that, because this is ‘aynah which is haraam.

4. The contract between the bank and customer should not contain any penalty clause in the event of late payment of instalments, because this comes under the heading of riba which is haraam.

5. If the item is shares, then it is stipulated that they should be shares in companies that do not deal in haraam things. It is not permissible to deal in shares of companies whose activities are haraam or which have haraam dealings.

For more information please see the answers to questions number 95138, 112445, 89978.

And Allaah knows best.

Source: Islam Q&A

Al Huda Islamic School

Tuesday - Islamic Institution in USA Series

School Profile and Historical Perspective

The Islamic Center of Hawthorne was incorporated in the State of California on March 31st, 1995. The current building located on 12209 Hawthorne Way is fully paid for and owned by the Muslim community. The Islamic Center of Hawthorne is a non-profit organization committed to serving the religious and social needs of the LA community. We have a Mosque, a full-time Al-Huda Islamic School, a Summer School and a Sunday School. Al-Huda Islamic School started in September 1998 with 31 students; kindergarten thru third grade, with 4 classrooms using the premises of the Islamic Center of Hawthorne. The School serves the growing Muslim Community of South-Bay Area. The school currently serves Pre-K-8th grade with a 165 students. The Islamic Center of Hawthorne owns two facilities that operates all of the activities including the full-time school, the Sunday school, the Qur'an classes, Youth programs and other social activities. The Islamic Center of Hawthorne performs a crucial function in the community and provides several religious, social, financial, and educational services to the public.





Source: Al Huda Islamic School

The First Stage

Monday - Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Strife in the Way of the Call - Three Years of Secret Call

It is well-known that Makkah was the centre for the Arabs, and housed the custodians of Al-Ka‘bah. Protection and guardianship of the idols and stone graven images that received veneration on the part of all the Arabs lay in the hands of the Makkans. Hence the difficulty of hitting the target of reform and rectitude in a place considered the den of idolatry. Working in such an atmosphere no doubt requires unshakable will and determination, that is why the call unto Islam assumed a clandestine form so that the Makkans should not be enraged by the unexpected surprise.

The Early Converts
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) naturally initiated his sacred mission right from home and then moved to the people closely associated with him. He called unto Islam whomsoever he thought would attest the truth which had come from his Lord. In fact, a host of people who nursed not the least seed of doubt as regards the Prophet (Peace be upon him), immediately responded and quite readily embraced the true faith. They are known in the Islamic literature as the early converts.

Khadijah, the Prophet’s spouse, the mother of believers, was the first to enter the fold of Islam followed by his freed slave Zaid bin Harithah, his cousin, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, who had been living with him since his early childhood, and next came his intimate friend Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (Abu Bakr the truth verifier). All of those professed Islam on the very first day of the call. Abu Bakr, and from the first day he embraced Islam, proved to be an energetic and most zealous activist. He was wealthy, obliging, mild and upright. People used to frequent his house and draw nigh to him for his knowledge, amity, pleasant company and business. He invited whomever he had confidence in to Islam and through his personal efforts a good number of people converted to Islam, such as ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan Al-Umawi, Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam Al-Asadi, ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf, Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas, Az-Zuhri and Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah At-Tamimy. Those eight men constituted the forerunners and more specifically the vanguard of the new faith in Arabia. Among the early Muslim were Bilal bin Rabah (the Abyssinian), Abu ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah from Bani Harith bin Fahr (the most trustworthy of the Muslim Nation), Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd Al-Asad, Al-Arqam bin Abi Al-Arqam from the tribe of Makhzum, ‘Uthman bin Maz‘oun and his two brothers Qudama and ‘Abdullah, ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Harith bin Al-Muttalib bin ‘Abd Munaf, Sa‘id bin Zaid Al-‘Adawi and his wife Fatimah - daughter of Al-Khattab (the sister of ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab), Khabbab bin Al-Aratt, ‘Abdullâh bin Mas‘ud Al-Hadhali and many others. These were the Muslim predecessors. They belonged to various septs of Quraish. Ibn Hisham, a biographer, counted them to be more than forty.

Ibn Ishaq said: “Then people entered the fold of Islam in hosts, men or women and the new faith could no longer be kept secret.”

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to meet and teach, the new converts, the religion in privacy because the call to Islam was still running on an individual and secret basis. Revelation accelerated and continued after the first verses of “O you wrapped in garments.” The verses and pieces of Sûrah (chapters) revealed at this time were short ones with wonderful strong pauses and quite fascinating rhythms in full harmony with that delicate whispering setting. The central topic running through them focused on sanctifying the soul, and deterring the Muslims from falling prey to the deceptive glamour of life. The early verses used as well to give a highly accurate account of the Hell and the Garden (Paradise), leading the believers down a new course diametrically opposed to the ill practices rampant amongst their compatriots.

As-Salat (The Prayer)

Muqatil bin Sulaiman said: “Salât (prayer) was established as an obligatory ritual at an early stage of the Islamic Call, a two rak‘ ah (unit of prayer) Salât in the morning and the same in the evening"

“And glorify the praises of your Lord in the ‘Ashi (i.e. the time period after the mid-noon till sunset) and in the Ibkar (i.e. the time period from early morning or sunrise till before mid-noon).” [40:55]

Ibn Hijr said: “Definitely the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to pray before ‘The Night Journey’ but it still remains a matter of controversy whether or not the prayer was established as an obligatory ritual before imposing the rules of the usual five prayers a day. It is related that obligatory prayer was established twice a day, in the morning before sunrise and after sunset. It is reported through a chain of narrators that when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) received the first Revelation, Gabriel - the angel, proceeded and taught him how to observe Wudu (ablution). When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had finished, he took a handful of water and sprinkled it on his loins.

Ibn Hisham reported that when it was time for prayers, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and his Companions went into a mountain valley to pray secretly. Abu Talib once saw the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and Ali praying, he asked them what they were up to. When he got to know that it was obligatory prayer, he told them to stay constant in their practice.

The Quraishites Learn About The Call

This stage of the Call, even though conducted in a clandestine manner and on an individual basis, its news leaked out and assumed a public interest all over Makkah. In the beginning, the Makkan leaders did not care much about Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and took no heed of his teachings. At first, they thought that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was merely a religious philosophist like Omaiyah bin Abi As-Salt, Quss bin Sa‘idah, ‘Amr bin Nufail and their ilk who used to philosophize on godship and religious obligations. But this attitude of indifference soon changed into real apprehension. The polytheists of Quraish began to watch Muhammad’s movements closely and anxiously for fear of spreading his Call and producing a change in the prevalent mentality.

For three underground years of activism, a group of believers emerged stamped by a spirit of fraternity and cooperation with one definite objective in their mind: propagating and deeply establishing the call unto Islam. For full three years Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had been content to teach within a rather narrow circle. The time had, however, come to preach the faith of the Lord openly. The angel Gabriel had brought him down a further Revelation of Allâh’s Will to confront his people, invalidate their falsehood and crush down their idolatrous practices.

Source: Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar)
Author: Sheikh Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarkpuri