Nashville Masjids Decide to Follow to Sunnah in Sighting While Clarksville Follows ISNA

Alhamdulillah, I was at one of the local masjid tonight in Nashville, and I decided to see if this masjid was with the whole modernist fiqh position of ISNA in regards to the sighting.  He told me that his masjid and all of the other masjids were having a meeting, and that they were waiting for the actual sighting.  He agree that going by calculation was not the correct way.

I also called one of the brothers tonight from the Islamic Center of Clarksville, TN and he was telling me that masjid is still going to go by ISNA.  The brothers there claim this is unity, but what really is is the tyranny of the majority.  They are imposing that fiqh position on those that live in that locality.  I am glad that I do not live in Clarksville any more.

Khalil Alpuertorikani
Nashville, TN

Clarksville Muslims achieve milestone: City's new Islamic Center holds open house
By ANN WALLACE • The Leaf-Chronicle • March 14, 2010
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100314/NEWS01/3140351/Clarksville-Muslims-achieve-milestone
 
 

 

                   Dr. Abu Sarwar, left, and Dr. Ahmad Joudah talk in the men's prayer room

during the open house for the new Islamic Center of Clarksville

Saturday afternoon. (Beth Liggett Cogbill/The Leaf-Chronicle)

 
 
Saturday marked a milestone for the local Clarksville Muslim community.


The Islamic Center of Clarksville hosted an open house Saturday in a newly renovated building on Uffelman Drive that will serve as a multipurpose mosque and education center.

"We are very joyful," said Jerome Heath, a local businessman born in America who converted to Islam nine years ago. "We now have a place that is permanent. We want to help with local charitable organizations. We want to share our faith and live in harmony alongside our neighbors."

Ahmad Joudah, current president of the center, stressed the new Islamic Center will serve for worship and outreach.

"This is more than a house of prayer for us," he said. "It is also a center where we educate our children in our faith and whoever wants to learn more about Islam.

"We invite the American community to come visit, to see us," Joudah added. "We are open for everyone. We would like for this center to be a place of learning, teaching and a place to reach out to others.

"We are open to speaking to anyone about Islam. We are very happy to explain as much as we can about Islam."

Joudah and Heath stressed their status as American Muslims.

"We teach our children that we are Americans and our religion is Islam," Joudah said. "As Muslims, we are not terrorists, and there is a tremendous difference."

Heath stressed Muslim parents are compelled to teach their children "Islam is a religion of peace and harmony."

"We are committed Americans who want our country to succeed and prosper," Joudah said. "

And many of us are helping to do that. We are productive citizens as professors, physicians, engineers, businessmen and merchants."

Joudah estimated about 75 percent of local Muslims are American citizens.

Several countries of origin are represented in the local Muslim community, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, India and the United States.

"We became American citizens by choice, out of the conviction that we can contribute to the buildup of our country as much as our country can contribute to the building up of our ourselves and our families," Joudah said.

Heath nodded agreement, adding, "I love those bumper stickers with all the different symbols that translate into 'coexist.'"


"We are looking forward to standing side by side with other faiths in giving back to the community," Heath said.

Winding road

Since moving to Clarksville in 1992, Joudah said he has noticed the Muslim community has expanded.

"When we first moved here, there were about three or four families. Now there are about 20-25 families," said Joudah, who is a naturalized American citizen.

Almost two decades ago, the small group of local Muslims alternated meeting for worship in each other's homes. They rented the Crow Community Center for special prayers held each Friday and for holidays special to their faith.

Later the group rented property on Madison Street.

Eventually the group purchased property on Rossview Road with hopes to build a permanent mosque for worship.

"We wanted to build, but we couldn't raise the funds," Joudah said.

He emphasized when the Uffelman Drive property became available local Muslim leaders were excited to purchase a "better location in the heart of town."

Joudah recognizes in the aftermath of 9/11 that many people have honest questions about Islam.

He said the local Muslim community prays for understanding and tolerance.

"You don't have to look at CNN or such TV media for answers about what Muslims believe," Joudah said. "Now that our center is open, people can say, 'Hey, there's a local mosque right here that I can go to and speak with local Muslims to know what is real.'"

House of prayer

The new Islamic Center of Clarksville is a place for worship for men, women and children of the Muslim community.

It is a tangible location where prayer takes place.

Prayer is a fundamental tenet of Islam. Muslims are expected to pray five times a day, which is referred to as "Salat."

And those prayers are recommended to be shared alongside fellow Muslims.

It is preferable for Muslims to join the congregational prayers, but sometimes that is not possible because of employment commitments.

Prayers are usually performed before sunrise, at noon, mid-afternoon, at sunset and the last daily prayer, "Isha," is usually voiced about an hour after sunset.

The Friday noon prayer is the only one that is required to be spoken with the congregation, and this is the time when two sermons are delivered.

Women and men come for Friday prayers, but pray in separate groups.

Sundays are usually set aside for Muslim women and children to gather at the center for classes similar to a Sunday school in Christian churches.

Huda Nasir, 7, from left, Zoha Nasir, 9, Arwa Nasir, 4, Rayan Mohsun, 4,

         and Fellah Mohsun, 7, play in the children's room Saturday at the new Islamic

                Center of Clarksville on Uffelman Drive. (Beth Liggett Cogbill/The Leaf-Chronicle)

Eid-ul-fitr Festival in Clarksville Marks End of Ramadan Month of Fasting

By TAVIA D. GREEN

The Leaf-Chronicle
September 21, 2009

Sunday morning showers eased up as a group of about 60 Muslims trickled in beneath a pavilion in Rotary Park to celebrate the end of a month of fasting called Ramadan.
Muslim men, women and children hailing from Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, Iraq and right here in Montgomery County greeted each other in Arabic and admired one another's beautifully decorated outfits before gathering to celebrate Eid-ul-fitr, an Islamic religious holiday.

For the local Islamic community, which is made up of about 50 families and growing, Eid-ul-fitr symbolizes the end of a period of self-sacrifice, deep meditation and thankfulness for what they have.

"'Eid' means 'festivities,' and 'fitr' means 'the break of fast,'" said Amena Mabrouk, a woman raised in the Islamic religion. "The holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. Eid is celebrated after fasting for the month of Ramadan as a matter to be thankful and show gratitude to God, Allah."

Worshippers took off their shoes and lined up in rows on blankets and carpets across the concrete pavilion floor.

Danny Salagado stood in front and led the group in Arabic chants and prayers. The congregation softly repeated the words and at times kneeled, sat or stood.

Salagado then gave the Identity of Muslims ceremony, a speech in Arabic and English that reminded the worshippers of the teachings of Allah and the way Muslims should live their lives.

A recent convert
It was her first Eid-ul-fitr celebration for Courtney Stewart, an Austin Peay State University student who marked the occasion by publicly converting to Islam.

Stewart, 19, began serious learning about Islam only two months ago while on campus.

"I was ordering a pepperoni pizza for a Muslim friend and they explained they didn't eat pork, and that led to explaining more Islamic beliefs. I started reading the Quran and started learning, and it all came from asking about pepperonis," Stewart said.
Stewart, who said she was raised in a strong Christian family, said her decision has put a strain on family relations.

"When I told them I was learning, most of them had written me off as not being family anymore," Stewart said. "This is a strong enough thing, and if they are not going to support me in my happiness, I will support my Muslim brothers and sisters."

On Sunday, she publicly gave her statement of faith, where she said there is no god but one god and Muhammad is his messenger.

Breaking the fast
Stewart said although she was not yet a Muslim, she participated in Ramadan and fasted. She said the experience strengthened her faith.

"It's a hard struggle, and you have to be very dedicated," Stewart said. "I thoroughly enjoyed it. ... You feel thankful, and you don't take food for granted. We fast because there are others around who don't get to eat all day, and you do not take food for granted."

Mabrouk said Ramadan is essential to cleansing and drawing closer to Allah.

"The purpose of the fast, or Ramadan, is to cleanse the human soul by remembering god, Allah, by doing worship," Mabrouk said. "When you're hungry and have nothing, you remember God more. That's the only thing to turn back to ... to feel what the poor feel and to appreciate what we have because you don't realize what you have until it's taken away."

Mabrouk said this year was one of the longest fasting periods, lasting from sunrise to sunset, which began at about 7:30 p.m. Mabrouk said nothing was consumed, including water or food.

"It elevates the level of our faith in that month," Mabrouk said.

Feasting on fine foods, gift giving and fellowship are all part of the Eid-ul-fitr celebration.

The week after the celebration has a special meaning for Muslims — they can fast for another week to have their sins forgiven for the previous year.

"It keeps me grounded," Mabrouk said about the fast and celebration. "You don't own yourself to decide the way you want. You belong to Allah. ... It is the mentality of a Muslim woman and man that keeps us grounded."

Ramadhan 2009 in Clarksville, Tennessee

Ramadhan 2009 in Clarksville, Tennessee

By Khalil Al-Puerto Rikani

Alhumdullah, this is the second year that the Islamic Center of Clarksville is holding iftar dinner at the L&N Train Station in Downtown Clarksville. The iftar is held on Friday and Saturday. The iftar is followed by taraweeh prayer. This is a great time of year when you see many of the Muslims come out. Once the adhan is called, we quickly break our fast with dates, and then we have some small items (fruit salad, samosa, etc) to eat. Then we pray the maghrib prayer. We have some rugs to use at his place, since it is not a regular masjid. The price to get this place was very steep, but alhumdullah some brothers from the community are flipping to bill.

I am glad to see all of the brothers from the community and their family come out. The Clarksville community is very diverse. There are Palestinians, Egyptians, African Americans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Puerto Ricans, White Americans, and Panamanians. There is about at least two from the above mentioned ethnic groups. On the social level, it is also diverse. There are professors, soldiers, doctors, businessmen, students, barbers, and other professions represented.

After the maghrib prayer, we wait to get the cue from the sisters to go and get some dinner. At the L&N Train Station, there are two main halls and a small hall between the two. The first one is the place of prayer and the second one is mainly a place for eating. One thing I greatly hate (for the sake of Allah) is the fact that we are in very close proximity to the sisters. Alhumdullah, I and some (not all brothers) try and take our food back to the musallah (prayer area) or pray with our backs toward the women so as not to cause any fitnah.

After we eat, it is usually time to pray. Since there is no imam in our community the president of the executive board Dr. Ahmad Joudah usually leads the Isha' prayer. Then I and/or a Palestinian brother named lead the salaah. We usually pray four rakaat each, but today he prayed the whole eight. Dr. Joudah finishes off the prayers by praying two rakaat shafi' and one witr. The last rakah includes dua (supplications).

Tomorrow there will be a fund raising iftar at Austin Peay State University (Morgan University Center, Room UC 303 & 305). The price is $25 for singles and $50 for families. The money is to help for the price of the masjid that the community is tryingto build. The main speaker will be an "uncle" from my wife's country (Kenya) - Dr. Awadh Binhazam from Olive Tree Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Anyone in the Middle Tennessee/Western Kentucky area who would like to go can RSVP by calling Mohsun Ghias at 931-237-1050.

The photos used in this post where extracted the following website:
http://rolandontheriver.activerain.com/post/1006528/the-last-train-to-clarksville-l-n-train-station