الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
Brothers and Sisters! Let us be truly grateful and thankful to Allah (SWT). It is with His blessings alone that all good and righteous deeds happen. It is with His tawfiq that we have gathered here tonight. Indeed, we have to praise Allah for giving us this great opportunity, and for guiding us. The Qur’an mentions how the people of paradise will praise Allah while entering paradise.
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ
“Praise be to Allah who has guided us to this! We would not have been guided, had Allah not guided us” (al-A’raf, 7:43)
Here in this world, we praise and thank Allah for guiding us to Islam. Had it not been for His guidance, we would never have been guided. Gratefulness and thankfulness to Allah should have a special place in the life of every Muslim. One of the ways to express one’s gratitude to Allah is to be His obedient slave—to worship and obey Him. And one of the ways to do that is to establish, maintain, and support the institution of Masjid. May Allah include us among such people.
The Masjid while being the prime place for offering the ordained prayers in congregation is also the vital cornerstone in the building of any Muslim community. It is the responsibility of the community to ensure that the Masjid is always a reflection of Islam. We must understand the nature, purpose and functions of the Masjid as an institution so that it does not remain confined to being a space for ritual worship, but plays its role as a place where education is imparted, social welfare schemes are implemented, and discussion and dialogue on a range of social issues take place. We are making an effort to do all this at AMDA.
Alhamdulillah, the AMDA Masjid moved to its new location in September, 2014. It has been a long journey for the entire community—from the groundbreaking in September 2012 to its present state that you now witness. Alhamdulillah, Allah (SWT) made this possible. This is an achievement for the entire community. We have tried our best to have this Masjid, which we hold so dear to our hearts, founded on taqwa from the very first day so that we and our succeeding generations who frequent it remain blessed in this world and the next; ameen.
Our vision for AMDA Masjid is to make it an expression of our commitment to Allah (SWT) in our mission to raise a strong and vibrant community of believers who can experience the joy of worshipping, learning, engaging together with a focus on strengthening our iman, raising our children in an Islamic environment, helping humanity, working for social justice, cooperating with our fellow countrymen in promoting all that is good, and forbidding all that is evil, and emphasizing our Islamic and family values so that Allah (SWT) may be pleased with us, and make us successful in real and absolute terms.
In order to update you on what’s going on in AMDA, please know that Alhamdulillah, over the last year and a half or so, we have tried our best to broaden the range and scope of our religious activities. We have become a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC). We have launched the ‘Muslim Youth of AMDA’ (MYAMDA)—a program that caters to some of the needs of our youth. We not only hold religious halaqas for them, but also arrange sports events for them. This, we believe, paves the way for our youth, and empowers them to discharge the duties of religious and community leadership. We plan to have a reading room in the Masjid. An outdoor basketball court is also being set up. All this is being done so that people begin to find the Masjid as a place where they do not feel alienated; rather they feel welcome; a place that helps them to strengthen their relationship with Allah (SWT), and a place that helps them to develop their bond with the community.
We extend social and humanitarian services by cooperating and partnering with other charitable organizations. We participate in food drives, help orphans, and assist in soup-kitchen activities. We impart Islamic education to the children through our Sunday school and to the adults through our Qur’an cum Arabic class and other religious discourses including seminars and workshops. AMDA’s Sunday school is run and managed by a team of dedicated professionals. The school will soon launch its own website. On a fairly regular basis, we invite guest speakers and scholars to hold halaqas for brothers and sisters in our Masjid. We participate in interfaith dialogues. Some of the important events that have been conducted in the near past are: (1) Lecture on Islam to the students of Central Michigan University (CMU), (2) Lecture on Islam to the senior residents of ‘Town Village Senior Living Complex’ in Sterling Heights, who also happen to be our neighbors, (3) Workshop on legal rights conducted by CAIR, (4) Workshop on the legal and spiritual aspects of Ramadan, and (5) The first Masjid Open House Event, which saw many non-Muslims, members of the clergy and city and political officials visit us.
Alhamdulillah, we have begun to conduct Muslim marriage services at AMDA. We have also started to offer funeral services through arrangements made with ‘Rahman Funeral Home’ in the city of Detroit. We have published Religious Brochures for free distribution to the community. We are also a part of ‘Adopt a Road Program,’ in which our community adopts a road and does road cleaning on a day in fall. AMDA’s Friday Sandwich Program sponsored by the community members is also one of our activities. This helps us to defray some of the recurring expenditure of the Masjid. A clothing bin has been installed in the Masjid premises for people to drop off clothing and shoes for the poor and the needy. Among some other activities are: an annual family picnic, a monthly family dinner, a weekly khatira followed by community breakfast, and a daily recitation and reflection of a few verses from the Qur’an after Fajr prayers. Insha’Allah, more activities are under our plan as we move forward.
May Allah (SWT) bless all those brothers and sisters who have contributed earlier and who are going to contribute now and in future in the AMDA Sterling Heights Center. Insha’Allah, their money, time, energy, effort, skill, experience, and other resources invested in the project are being recorded as Sadaqah Jariyyah in their books of good deeds. However illogical it may sound, spending in Allah’s way does not decrease one’s wealth. This is confirmed both by the Qur’an and the sayings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The contributions made by you are not donations per se. They are investments to earn the pleasure of Allah (SWT). They are investments made by you for yourselves and for your succeeding generations. I urge each one of you not be deprived of a beautiful opportunity to whole heartedly participate in tonight’s investment that will insha’Allah pay you rich rewards both in this life and the next. Moreover, Ramadan provides us a chance of multiplied rewards. May Allah (SWT) help us to open our hearts and bless us with the tawfiq to contribute once again towards a noble cause.
Indeed, the month of Ramadan is the month of giving and receiving. Righteous believers are steadfast in seeking the favor of their Lord. They pray regularly and spend secretly and openly out of what they have been provided with. They ward off evil with good. While they do all this on a regular basis, they do so more consciously during the month of Ramadan. And in return, they are promised the eternal abode of paradise.
وَالَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ
“And those who exercise patience to gain the pleasure of Allah, who are steadfast in prayer, who spend for the cause of Allah privately and in public, and who keep away evil with good will have the eternal abode” (al-Ra’d, 13:22).
May Allah make us of the dwellers of paradise and save us from the fire of hell (Ameen). We are on a journey. We are now, at this point of time, on this planet. Soon each one of us would have gone to our ultimate destination. Insha’Allah, the Masjid will outlive each one of us and remain established till the end of times. So tonight is an opportunity to invest in Sadaqah Jariyyah.
My dear brothers and sisters! Man takes nothing with him in his grave. We learn through a hadith which says, “When a man dies, his deeds come to an end except for three things: (1) ongoing charity (Sadaqah Jariyah), (2) beneficial knowledge that he leaves behind, and (3) a virtuous descendant who prays for him.” Such admonitions remind us that we should hasten in doing good deeds before our time is up and our book of deeds gets closed for ever. We should not be among those who will cry to Allah to give them more time to spend in His way and to be one of the righteous.
وَأَنفِقُوا مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَاكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَا أَخَّرْتَنِي إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
“Give from what We have provided for you before death comes to one of you and he says, ´My Lord, if only you would give me a little more time so that I can give sadaqa and be one of the righteous!” (al-Munafiqun, 63:10).
I ask Allah (SWT) to bless AMDA Masjid. I ask Allah (SWT) to bless those who envisioned the project of this Masjid. May Allah (SWT) bless you and your families, and your communities, and bless us all with great reward in this world and in the hereafter. Allahumma Ameen.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
وصل الله عَلَى خيرِ خَلقه مُحمَّدٍ وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين- بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا أرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِين
Wassalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
