Translated by Aisha Bewley.

February 2nd –23rd 2010
Every Tuesday, 7:45 PM (Salat al Isha) to 9:00 PM
At SBIA Downtown: 325 N. 3rd St, San Jose, CA 95112
Register by emailing classes@sbia.info – See flier for more details

Friday, January 15th, 2010
Salat ul Isha – Salat ul Fajr
Dinner & Breakfast Provided

“Whoever Observes i’tikaaf for one day seeking thereby the Face of Allah, Allah will place between him and the Fire three ditches wider than the distance between the east and the west” (al-Tabarrani, al-Haakim and al-Bayhaqi)

Inspirational Talks:
“I’tikaaf of the Prophet (saw)” By Imam Tahir Anwar
“The Power of Dua” by Guest Speaker

Please register by Tuesday, Jan 12th by emailing events@sbia.info. Please provide (1) Father/Uncle/Elder Brother’s name. (2) Son’s name and age. Sons must be at least 11 years old or in 6th grade to participate.

When an SOS is received by any agency, all available resources are mobilized to save the threatened ship; the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, and any civilian vessels in the vicinity.  Our planet is currently sending out an SOS. The waves of pollution and environmental degradation are washing over its bow. The gathering storms of warfare and strife are threatening its course. It has been hijacked by the pirates of racism and xenophobia. Massive icebergs of disease, hunger, and economic marginalization litter the sea all around it.

As an Ummah, it is time for us to mobilize all of our resources to help save the ship of humanity, before it sinks, or is forever lost at sea.

Click here for details.

Speakers include Imam Tahir Anwar, Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al Kawthari, Shaykh Khalid Abdul Sattar and Brother Sa’ad Quadri.
Pleaseclick here for more information.

As many of you know, for the last 7 years we have been organizing to go for Hajj with El Madina Travel of New York, and I have joined them multiple times. Many people from the Bay Area have joined them, and last year there were over 175 people from the Bay Area alone.

Once again this year, due to high demand, we have begun making arrangements to go with them insha Allah. Regardless of your final choice, it is imperative that you investigate the group you plan to go with thoroughly and make your arrangements now, so that you can get the package and travel dates you need. A few years ago, Imam Tahir wrote an article titled ‘Do you plan to go for Hajj?’ Please click here to read it.

If you have any questions about El Madina Travel, or just in general about the Hajj, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Packages & Details
Currently, we have a total of three packages. You can see the charges and details by clicking here.

Cost
Please note: All packages are priced from JFK.

For Program 1 (Makkah first), you have the option of paying them for the land package and booking your own ticket.

There are 2 options:

a) Royal Jordanian or Egypt Air from New York. The price of this package is $6500, and the airfare is included in the package price.

b) Emirates from SFO or LAX to Dubai (non-stop), and Dubai to Jeddah. In this case, you will pay El Madina Travel for the land package ($4700), and purchase your ticket from Tri City Travel in Fremont.
(Br. Zaki at TriCity Travel in Fremont. 510.494.9444, or tctravel@pacbell.net – Give him the reference for El Madina Travel, and he will book your tickets for you.) – This airfare is $2160.00 (which includes tax). The itinerary is ready to be booked. Once you have mailed in your registration form, you can go ahead and book your tickets.

For Program 2 and 3 (Madinah first), you must book the land package and airfare through El Madina Travel, and make your own arrangement for the domestic travel. We have made arrangements with Emirates, so we now have seats available on Emirates from SFO, LAX, Houston to Dubai and to Madinah directly. This way you can bypass New York altogether. Please contact us for more information.

What You Need To Do (now)

• If interested, please send the following immediately to 325 North 3rd Street, San Jose, CA 95112.
• Hajj Registration Form – You can choose to register directly with El Madina Travel, but if I don’t have your email, you will not be able to receive the periodic updates that I personally send out. This not only helps with urgent matters, but also is great for us to communicate on a daily basis when the visas are issued (towards the end). Registering with me would make this possible, and I would be able to mail all checks, and forms to El Madina Travel.
• Hajj Visa Application
• Valid Passport (Make sure your passport is valid for 6 months from travel begin date)
• 4 passport sized photos
• Proof of Meningitis Vaccination
• Cashiers Check for $274.40 payable to United Agents Office
• Dhabiha Fee of $120 payable to El Madina Travel
• Full Payment (If you are buying your ticket from Zaki at TriCity Travel in Fremont, you will be paying him directly for your ticket. The airfare is around $2160).
• Marriage Certificate – If you don’t have one, I can give you a letter saying you are married.
• Shahadah Certificate – If you are a new Muslim, and have a non Arabic name, a letter of Shahadah, which I can provide for you.

Hajj Workshops
There will be 2 workshops held by Imam Tahir Anwar. They are each a complete workshop and only one needs to be attended. Please register yourself by emailing classes@sbia.info. The workshops are open to all.

The confirmed dates for the workshops are:

• Saturday, October 24, 2009 (10:00 AM to 3:00 PM)
• Sunday, November 1, 2009 (3:00 PM to 8:00 PM)

Preparations for Hajj
Please purchase your DVD and CD on the preparations for Hajj at falahproductions.com.

Class 1: Introduction and Scope
Class 2: Manners of Dressing, Entering, Leaving and Visiting
Class 3: Manners of Conversation, Parents, and Backbiting
Class 4: Manners of Social Behavior, Communications and Eating
Class 5: Manners of an Islamic Wedding and Visiting the Sick
Class 6: Manners of Traveling and Condolences

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you, as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint (Holy Qur’aan 2 : 183)

Sawm (fasting) means to refrain from eating, drinking and cohabiting from subha sadiq (early dawn) to sunset with a niyyah (intention) of observing fast. Fasting in the month of Ramadhaan is one of the five pillars of Islaam and is fardh (compulsory) upon every muslim who is sane and mature. Fasting has many physical, moral, and social benefits. However, Allah has made fasting compulsory so that we become pious and God-fearing. Fasting will not be valid without niyyah. It is not necessary to express the niyyah in words. However it is preferable to recite Allahumma asoomu laka ghadan (O Allah tomorrow I shall be fasting for you only). In the case of Ramadhaan, it is better to make niyyah in the night. However, should a person fail to do so, then it is permitted to make the niyyah during the day before zawaal (midday).

MUSTAHAB (DESIRABLE) ACTS IN FASTING

1. To eat sehri (the meal before subha sadiq).

2. To delay the sehri up to a little before subha sadiq (early dawn).

3. To break the fast immediately after sunset.

4. To break the fast with dates. If dates are not available then with water.

5. To recite this du’a at the time of breaking the fast :- Allahumma laka sumtu wa bika aamantu wa ala rizqika aftartu O Allah! I fasted for You and in You do I believe and with Your provision (food) do I break my fast.

THINGS MAKROOH (DETESTABLE) WHILE FASTING

1. To chew items such as rubber, plastic etc.

2. To taste food or drink and spit it out.

3. To collect one’s saliva in the mouth and then swallow it.

4. To clean teeth or mouth with tooth powder or toothpaste.

5. To complain of hunger or thirst.

6. To quarrel, argue with filthy words.

THINGS THAT BREAK THE FAST

1. To eat, drink or indulge in cohabitation intentionally.

2. To burn agarbatti (incense) and inhale its smoke.

3. If water goes down the throat while gargling.

4. To vomit mouthful intentionally.

5. To swallow vomit intentionally.

6. To swallow something edible, equal to or bigger than a grain of gram, which was stuck between the teeth. However, if it is first taken out of the mouth and then swallowed, it will break the fast whether it is smaller or bigger than the size of the grain.

7. To drop oil or medicine into ear or nose.

8. To swallow the blood from gums with saliva. However, if the blood is less than the saliva and its taste is not felt then the fast will not break.

9. Snuffing.

10. To eat and drink forgetting one is fasting and thereafter, thinking that the fast is broken to eat and drink again

11. Smoking.

12. To apply medicine to the anus.

13. For women to apply medicine to the urinary organs.

14. To swallow intentionally a pebble, piece of paper or any item that is not used as food or medicine. In all the above circumstances, only a single fast will become qadha except in the case of number one (1), where qadha and kaffarah both will become obligatory. (Consult an aalim regarding the rules of kaffarah).

THINGS THAT DO NOT BREAK THE FAST

1. To eat, drink or indulge in cohabitation in forgetfulness.

2. To vomit without intention.

3. To vomit intentionally less than mouthful.

4. To have a wet dream.

5. To oil the hair.

6. To use surma (collyrium) in the eyes.

7. To drop water or medicine in the eyes.

8. To clean teeth with wet or dry miswaak (a stick used for cleaning teeth).

9. To apply or smell attar (perfume).

10. To swallow a fly, mosquito, smoke or dust unintentionally.

11. To swallow one’s saliva or phlegm.

12. Water entering the ears.

13. To take an injection.

SUNNAHS IN THE MONTH OF RAMADHAAN

1. To observe taraweeh.

2. To increase the recitation of the Holy Qur’aan.

3. To observe i’atikaaf during the last ten days of Ramadhaan.

Sawm (Fasting)

Sawm is a shield, as long as he (the fasting person) does not tear it up. (Nasa’ee)

Note: Fasting is a protection from Shaytãn or from Allah’s punishment in the Hereafter.

One who indulges in sins whilst fasting such as lying, backbiting etc., they become the cause of the fast becoming wasted. All good deeds are for the one who renders them, but Fasting. Fasting is exclusively for me (Allah). (Bukhãri)

Fasting is a shield and a powerful fortress. (Ahmad, Bayhaqi)

I swear by that being in whose possession is the life of Muhammad! The odour of the mouth of a fasting person is sweeter to Allah than the fragrance of musk.(Bukhãri)

Fasting is exclusively for Allah, the reward of it (being limitless) no one knows besides Allah. (Tabrãni)

Suhoor

Verily, Allah and His angels send mercy upon those who eat suhoor. (Tabrãni)

Eat suhoor because in suhoor lies barakah. (Mishkãt)

Iftãr

Whosoever gives something to a fasting person in order to break the fast, for him there shall be forgiveness for his sins and emancipation from the fire of Jahannam; and for him (the one who gives) shall be the same reward as for him (whom he fed), without that person’s (the one who was fed) reward being diminished in the least. (Ibne Khuzaymah, Bayhaqi)

Whoever gave a person, who fasted, water to drink, Allah shall give him a drink from my fountain where after he shall never again feel thirsty until he enters Jannah. (Ibne Khuzaymah)

The fasting person experiences two (ocassions) of delight: at the time of iftãr and at the time he will meet his Rabb.(Bukhãri)

Not a single prayer made by a fasting person at the time of breaking fast is rejected. (Ibne Mãjah)

Step 1: Intending to go for Hajj:
The most important step is that we intend to go for Hajj.  Many of us delay this obligation to the point when we become old or less fit.  The best time to go for Hajj is while one is young.  If we have performed our Hajj and can afford to send our mature (baaligh) children, rather than wasting money on their wedding and graduation parties, give them that money to perform their Hajj.  If our children are very young, we should try our best to leave them behind with someone trustworthy.   It is not advisable to take young children along for Hajj.

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Surely, those who have made divisions in their religion and turned into factions, you
have nothing to do with them. Their case rests with Allah; then He will inform them of
what they used to do. (Qur’an, 6:159)

In light of the Divine Word, we recognize that the historical nature of Sunni Islam is a
broad one that proceeds from a shared respect for the Qur’an and Sunnah, a shared
dependence on the interpretations and derivations of the Companions (may Allah be
pleased with them), and a shared respect for the writings of a vast array of scholars who
have been identified by their support for and affiliation with the Sunni Muslims and have
been accepted as the luminaries of Sunni Islam – as broadly defined.

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