The Sun behind the Clouds
And as for the way of benefiting from me during my occultation, it is the same as benefiting from the sun when it is beclouded; and I am a safeguard to the inhabitants of earth as the stars are safeguards to the inhabitants of heaven. (
In this and other traditions of this kind the existence of the twelfth Imam and the benefit derived from him are compared to the benefit derived from the sun hidden behind the clouds.
To elaborate on this imagery let us remind ourselves of the way natural science explains the phenomenon. It is established in natural science and in astronomy that the sun is the centre of our solar system. The laws of gravity protect the earth from falling into an abyss, and permit the earth to revolve around the sun, generating the distinction between day and night and different seasons according to its position in relation to the sun. The thermal energy produced by the sun is the source of life on earth and its light illuminates the otherwise dark earth. This benefit accrues to the earth regardless of the fact of whether the sun is shining directly or from behind the clouds. In other words, all its functions (illumination, providing energy, growth, etc.) are intact even when it shines from behind the clouds. In fact, whether it is from behind the dark clouds or at night when we think the sun is not present, we are still recipients of the sun's thermal energy and all other benefits that are critical for our survival on earth.
The existence of the Imam is like the sun behind the clouds that benefits the dwellers of the earth. He is the heart of humankind and its existential guide. In order for his benefits to reach humanity it does not matter whether he is manifest or in concealment.
It was the theme of our current Imam Al Mahdi (atf) that we adopted for this year’s activity day on 10 July 2011. The children become aware of his existence and form a bond with our beloved Imam. With this they are better equipped to draw on our Imam as their intercessor and seek salvation from Allah. We also linked the thirst of the grandfather of our current Imam, Imam Hussein (a.s) and his family on the day of Ashura. This was established with the launch of the WoW (Walk of Water) appeal where the children walked in the rugby grounds with a 5 litre bottle signifying the people who have to walk daily to the wells in search of their daily provision of water. The children were tired with the short walk but really appreciated the true value of the basic necessity that we take for granted. Please be generous with your donations when the children approach you as they are raising the funds to build wells in
Nothing is like praying and rubbing the Satan’s nose with earth so pray and rub the Satan’s nose with earth. (Bihar_ul_Anvar, Vol.53, P.182)
The children took to heart this hadith of our living Imam when they went to Chessington World of Adventure on 30 May 2011. The children congregated in the green luscious grass and offered Jamaat Salat in front of the gazing public showing the world the importance of Salat where they are.
I am sure you will all recall what our Holy Prophet (SAW) mentioned in Hadith Thaqalayn – that he is leaving behind two precious things, the Holy Qur’an and the Ahl al Bayt. 10 July was dedicated to the Ahl al Bayt. In parallel the Holy Qur’an continues to be in on our forefront. We have introduced a new pilot Qur’an initiative, “Darul Qur’an – Al Itrah”, to align the message of the Prophet. Inshallah this will be a catalyst to taking recitation of this living miracle to another level within our community.
As part of this very busy term we invited parents and guardians to our Parents’ Day on 12 June to further reinforce our triangular relationship with the children and their parents. It is imperative that we retain this relationship in order to ensure we collectively achieve our common goal of guiding our children towards the right path.
On a final note please remember each other in the forthcoming month of Ramadhan and let us achieve the craving for the nearness to Allah (s.w.t).
I would like to wish you all a great summer break and a rewarding Holy month of Ramadhan and look forward to welcoming you all back on 4 September 2011 when Madressa reopens.
SIM Principal
Chessington 2011
On a sunny and warm Sunday 29th May, Madressa took students and their families to Chessington – World of Adventures.
Almost 500 students and parents assembled early on Sunday morning and all arrived at Chessington just around 10am, ready and eager for the clouds to stay away and no queues.
Children had already formed their groups on the coaches and whilst supervised by a parent or teacher, they all quickly disappeared, swallowed up in the huge theme park and amongst the thousands of other visitors.
The Dragon Fury, a fiery ride that is always a popular spin for students, some wishing to discover Wild Asia and take a ride on ‘Kobra’, Rising up from the ruins, KOBRA dominates Wild Asia’s landscape. An awesome new ride that spins explorers through the air, it is certainly a ride with some serious bite. Some wishing to start the day drenched with a ride on ‘Dragon Falls’ taking a leisurely boat ride with a difference, cruise along the winding river with its dips and falls – but with an exotic adventure promises a plunging finale! Some of the most popular rides like ‘Vampire’ - ready for a flight of fright as they shoot like a bat out of hell through the skies and across the treetops! For some foamtastic family fun, the Bubble works - an indoor water ride, the bubbles for frothy family fun on the foam-fizzing, bubble-bursting, sweet smelling, ducktastic was another popular visit.
Whilst the sun shone brightly on their day, the queues grew lengthier at each ride, but were taken in good spirit and as an opportunity to plan the day socializing in their peers.
Madressa organises such trips every year to provide an opportunity to students enact the teachings learnt throughout their time in Madressa. Salaat being the focus of our curriculum was prayed at the park in congregation, as well as organising themselves for wudhu using minimal amounts of water from their water bottles.
Lunch was at the park after Salat with all friends and family socialising and sharing good practises with others.
Soon the day came to an end and around 6pm, the coaches began to depart for home, all 7 making their way for the short journey to Stanmore. On the coaches, whilst parents and teachers rested, students buzzed with excitement describing their adventures of the day.
The community spirit and self-discipline displayed by students, parents and volunteers is always marveled and looked back on fondly as the making of another great Madressa community outing. We witnessed the children having fun in abundance, intermingling with others, sharing their food, cooperating with their group leaders and more importantly showing impeccable discipline and respect. It was a mammoth operation and without your support and dedication this event would not have been a success and may Allah reward you for all your efforts.
Parents Day 2011
The day-to-day reality of many families is different today than a generation ago. Family members spend far less time together and adults often face an on-going struggle to balance the demands of their families and their jobs. While these pressures can cause parents to participate less in their children’s lives, there remains a great need for them to be involved in their children’s education.
Recent studies show that when families are involved in their children’s education in positive ways, the children achieve higher results and demonstrate more positive attitudes and behavior. Reports also indicate that families who receive frequent and positive messages from teachers tend to become more involved in their children’s education than do parents who do not receive this kind of communication.
One way to foster children’s learning is through joint efforts involving both families and Madressa, where parents and teachers share responsibility for creating a working relationship that will help children succeed Islamically.
Parental commitment is a core family value; parental responsibilities are important to children’s growth and development; and that unconditional love is needed for a strong bond between parental figures and their children.
Madressa once again maintained this bond between the student, his teacher and parents to meet their children’s teachers at the annual Parents Day held on Sunday 12th June. The aim behind organising this forum is not only to obtain feedback from parents on how they feel their child is progressing, nor is it simply to report facts and figures back to parents. Rather, the purpose is to find and explore new avenues in order to improve and develop their child’s understanding through effective teaching complemented by parental guidance and support.
The mammoth task of organising nearly 2,500 appointments and co-ordinating the activities of over 150 teachers were all achieved through the dedication and commitment of Madressa volunteers in order to provide an environment for this crucial dialogue between parents and teachers to take place.
Please feel free to email us your suggestions/feedback on Parents’ Day on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Darul Qur’an – Al Itrah (SIM – Qur’an initiative)
Hadith Thaqalayn:
It is narrated that Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said in his last sermon that he delivered during his illness:
"O people, I leave behind two precious things (thaqalayn) amongst you: the Book of Allah – The Holy Qur’an which is a rope between Him and you, whose one end is in His hand and whose other end is in your hands so act according to its muhkamat and believe in its mutashabihat; consider as lawful that which it regards as lawful and consider as forbidden that which it regards as unlawful - and my `Itrah - my Ahl al Bayt, who are the second thaql. So don't outstrip them for then you shall perish.”
Dar ul Qur’an - Al Itrah, a new pilot iniative under our Qur’an Department of SI Madressa. As the Hadith says Qur’an and Ahlul Bayt go together, let us pray to Allah (swt) to give us guidance to read the words of Allah through the teachings of 14 Masumeens.
Just to give a background, we reintroduced Qur’an recitation for children in the Madressa a few years back. Trying various methods to improve the recitation, after initial enthusiasm and in spite of a very strong, dedicated and committed team of teachers we felt that there was not much significant progress. This was more noticeable in the children of older age category getting progressively substandard as they approached the teenage years. Time and again we concluded that a lesson of 35 - 40 minutes every Sunday was not sufficient.
The first thing that we started some 18 months ago was the training of our teachers under Sister Madiha Makki – An experienced teacher into the fields of Qur’anic knowledge and Tajweed. These classes were a are real eye opener.
Earlier this year we offered the same course to a group of mothers of students 8 years and over. This was very well received and recently we started another group. Needless to say be it a student, a teacher or a mother, the more one puts in the more one gets out of the course.
Also a few months back we started a class of 8 girls who were in the higher level to start them off on the Maqamaats. We were very priviledged that Sister Madiha agreed to give time for this. As for the boys again we were fortunate that Murtaza Uncle Bandali agreed to do the same. Both these classes are under the Darul Qur’an umbrella.
Our future Aims and Objectives are:
To promote and perfect the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by arranging on going courses for the students and mothers of the Madressa. If we have the commitment of male teachers, we would be keen to extend these classes to the fathers as well.
As part of our program we would like to offer classes on Science of tafseer and Qur’anic Arabic as well Inshallah.
We pray to Allah (swt) that this initiative benefits as many people and future generations with its credit to the Imam of our time Imam Mahdi (atf)
Qur’an Recitation on Wiladat of Imam Husein (A.S)
In our discussion of voice and tune in the context of recitation as previously mentioned, we cannot forget that a recitation that sounds good has to be strongly built upon the solid foundations of tajweed. A lot of tajweed deals with proper articulation and clarity of pronunciation, so it’s pretty clear that knowing tajweed will help recitation sound better. On the other hand, even if someone has a “good” voice (i.e. has the ability to carry a tune and/or modulate their voice), his recitation will not sound good if it’s built on a weak or shaky foundation.
Knowledge of tunes builds upon and adds to the knowledge of tajweed to further beautify recitation. Verses of the Holy Qur’an can be recited in different tune patterns, creating a different sound/feel while at the same time maintaining proper tajweed. The maqamaat really are quite flexible — they are not rigid tune patterns — so a good reciter should be able to recite beautifully while maintaining proper tajweed, and should never think of compromising correct tajweed in order to achieve a (perceived) better sound.
The students of Madressa under Darul Qur’an showed their talent on the Wiladat of our Imam, Imam Husein (a.s) on 3 Sha’ban where the boys demonstrated different maqamaat in one passage of recitation. The chosen passage was a few verses from Surah Qaaf where the boys were taught to apply 3 different maqamaat – Bayat,
Imam Al-Mahdi (atf) Day
The centrality of our living Imam, Imam Al-Mahdi (atf) to our faith is well established. However, very little material in English is available about him, and even less material is accessible to our children.
We are all of course familiar with the Hadith from the Prophet (saw):
"One who dies without recognizing the Imam of his time, then his death is that of an ignorant person."
[Yanaabiul Mawaddah, vol. 39, pg. 137]
Therefore, as we draw closer to the 15th of Sha’ban, and the birth anniversary of our Imam (atf), the Madressa decided to take advantage of the proximity of his birthday to the end of our second term and focus an entire day on just learning about the Imam (atf).
We decided to forsake our traditional sports day, but replace the usual action filled day with a variety of activities, each of which would stimulate the physical, intellectual and emotional faculties of our students. We therefore organised the day on Sunday 10 July into five distinct parts, each part intended to allow our students to explore a particular aspect relating to the Imam (atf).
The day began setting a scene of the day with introduction by our Principal together with a short presentation from our SIM Cares team, who have organised the Walk for Water (WoW) appeal, details of which can be found on www.madressa.net. This included a video (also on our website) which was shown to our students highlighting the importance of clean, running water to people all over the world and how we should all try and make every effort to conserve this crucial resource.
The five parts (stations) of the day have been detailed below, and we have endeavored to include comments from our students and teachers as well who were as always, instrumental in successfully delivering this project.
Areeza Station
Inculcating the ardency to connect with the Imam Mahdi (atf) at all times was the objective of the Areeza station. The students were given a novel sound and vision introduction (available on our website) to understand the meaning and purpose of an Areeza. The students went further and presented in groups on these following four topics:
“Why should we write an Areeza?” “How can we use Areezas to self-progress?”, “Who was Hussein Bin Rooh and why is he mentioned in the Areeza du’a?”, and “Different ways of communicating with our Imam (atf)”
The students filled the classroom with thought provoking and truly inspirational quotes in their presentations, and some of these were:
“I have learnt that no matter how serious a situation or grave a problem, rest assured that our Imam (atf) can intercede on our behalf”
“Imam Mahdi (atf) would like us to fight injustices and support charitable causes”
“I will pray on time and try to go on Hajj so that I can meet the Imam (atf)”
“The Quran teaches us that role models like Hussein bin Rooh (3rd representative of the Imam (atf) during the minor occultation) is still alive today. We should learn from his example!”
When the Areezas are penned on the 15th Sha’ban this year, our Madressa students will be utilising an Areeza with an English translation (available on our website).
Coupled with the fantastic work they put in at the Areeza station on Imam al-Mahdi (atf) Day, the students will InshaAllah have a deeper understanding on what and why they are asking Allah (s.w.t) through His Hujjat (atf).
Treasure Hunt Station
A treasure hunt was arranged outside in the respective Gents and Ladies Car parks with the aim for the students to familiarize themselves with the various signs of the reappearance on the Awaited Imam (atf).
Six signs were hidden within the car park, and the students were provided with clues in their Al-Mahdi (atf) booklets (available on our website). The students were expected to find the sign and then answer a question placed at each sign to receive a secret letter. They had to collect all six letters and then unscramble them to form the title of the Imam (atf) – Al Qaim. The winning teams received small prizes while all the other students received a token of
Through this exercise, our students had a chance to learn beyond the basic signs of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (atf) when they curiously asked how certain signs would occur, and discussed amongst themselves how 'scary' the thought of a 'one-eyed monster' sounded.
The younger classes became familiar with the obvious physical signs of the Imam’s (atf) reappearance, and whilst they may not have understood the intricacies behind all the signs, their curiosity led them to ask questions to help them gain a better understanding. Many of the older students have heard of some of the signs from lectures or through their syllabus, however in answering the questions in the Treasure Hunt, they were able to learn more details about the nature of the signs.
Hadith Station
At this station, we had displayed some of the Hadith of our Imam (atf) (available on our website) around the classrooms. We asked our students to read each of the Hadith and then undertake a small presentation in order to explain to their fellow students about that particular Hadith. The aim was to teach our students about some of the words of our Imam (atf) through a method that would allow them to relate to the Hadith.
There were several different Hadiths covering a variety of topics including, the Imam’s (atf) connection with us; our duty towards the Imam (atf), things we should be doing during Ghaybat as taught by the Imam (atf) etc.
Different methods were used by the students to present their ideas ranging from roleplays, freeze frames, poster making, speech bubbles etc. The children came up with some really great and innovative ideas. For example, one group acted out Shaitan rubbing his nose in the earth when he sees a person praying. Another group acted as stars telling the sleeping person to wake up and pray before they disappear.
Through these practical learning methods, the students will hopefully remember these Hadiths and apply in their lives to keep this bond with the Imam (atf) which was after all the main purpose of the Al- Mahdi (atf) day.
Movie Theatre Station
At this station the students were provided with all the amenities of a modern cinema, to be precise popcorn and soft drinks, and were presented with a short film on some of the events preceding the reappearance of our Imam (atf) as well as the events post the reappearance of our Imam (atf).
The aim behind showing the presentation (which is available on our website) aside from teaching our students about the particular events mentioned above, was to also demonstrate the wealth of resources available online in video format.
All too often the negative aspects of the Internet are spoken about and discussed, and very little attention is given to some of the excellent material available online, particularly about our Imam (atf).
Once the film was over, there were a series of questions provided to the children about the clip that they had just watched to gauge their understanding of the content of the film. However, the real value of this session was that we were able to break the students into smaller groups and discuss the questions in detail with them, and thereby enrich the understanding of our children relating to the above events.
Walk for Water Station
Rallying to cries of - "What are we doing.....WoW (walking for water), why are we doing it..... because we care!" the students of the Madressa carried containers of 5 litres of water for up to 30 minutes as a sponsored activity to raise money for water projects in Tanzania.
The project was intended to educate the students of the Madressa to appreciate the plight of 1 billion human beings of lack access to clean water and who walk great distances of up to 10 km every day to fetch water.
The children were invited to reflect on the central role water plays in Allah's creation, as a purifier of najasat, and in its use to prepare for ibaadat at least 3 times a day.
But whilst we are blessed with water in abundance here in the West, and we typically use up to 150 litres a day, the equivalent in number of Hujjat Jamaat's membership (approx. 6,000) die each and every day due to diseases related to unclean water.
The reality of what the needy go through on a daily basis quickly dawned on the participants who appreciated the value of their load and how it would wear them down having to carry it daily for longer distances. By the end as the students sat to drink some of the water that they had carried, they reflected on how they could conserve their own use of water.
Helpful suggestions of not running the tap constantly whilst doing wudhu and using a measured amount from a glass were presented. This in itself could save more than 17.5 litres per Muslim per day!
As we splash out less on our water bills at home and at the mosque and bring water closer to those that need it, it must be a win, win situation for all.
The campaign continues during Ramadhan, InshaAllah and we request you all to donate at: www.justgiving.com/teams/simwow or alternatively text SIMC72 £10 to 70070 to donate £12.50 (with GiftAid) to the appeal.
In summary, the eagerness of our students to learn about the Imam (atf) was an eye opener. Our students are all thirsty for knowledge, and if quenched and nurtured in the right way by those around them, then these children will truly grow to be great leaders of a future generation with the true love and preparation to serve His representative on earth.
Classes 1-4 Experience
The young ones, 4 to 7 years, also had various fun activities where they too learned about our living Imam (atf) through play. The students had the opportunity to enjoy face painting, beat the teacher in the goal, dart board and fishing games. In all these activities the children had to answer simple questions about our Imam (atf) prior to being granted the opportunity to play. These young artists also showed their skill in calligraphy by writing an Areeza to the Imam. The day culminated with class 4 presenting to the rest of the classes Qur’an recitation, kasida, munajat and a short play on the appearance of the Imam (atf).
Muslim Mums Issue 13 – Ramadhan 1432
Watch out for this Issue soon. It contains numerous features:
- Introducing Wajibaat to Children
- Family Night In
- An African Rant
- Unsung Heroines
- Optimum Living
- Laws of Success
- Kids Corner – Ramadhan Activities
……..And More!
Please pick up your free copy during program at Hujjat in the holy month of Ramadhan or download your e-copy from www.madressa.net closer to the time.
2011 - Dates for your diary
Madressa closed for Summer holidays/ Ramadhan
Sunday 4 September 2011 – Madressa resumes