The Time To Relax Is Over

By: Somayah Eltoweissy and Ayman Nassar

It is hard to recognize at first notice how much the Dar Al-Taqwa community has achieved over the past 2 years. With the grace and support of Allah (SWT), and the tens of hours a month its volunteers put into Dar Al-Taqwa, almost all of us can recognize the completion of the new Masjid facility and an expanded parking lot. However, the majority of us will fail to recognize the hard work and achievements we have come across in other domains.

Dawah is a whole domain in itself, a continuous outreach process towards non-Muslims as well as Muslims. One recalls how our Dawah activities used to be before we were blessed with the new building. We used to get groups of two to four people, maybe six at the most at any given time. It was very sporadic and inconsistent. The Imam used to visit a handful of colleges and schools in the area as well as a couple of other volunteers from the community. However the last 12 months alone have been a completely different experience for the community at Howard County. Over 800 copies of Quran translations were distributed. We had two major open houses; the largest had over 450 curious visitors. On an average basis we now get about one group of 20 to 40 non-Muslims visiting Dar Al-Taqwa a month. Groups range from middle school students, high school classes, college students, to church groups, public officials and just general neighborhood groups. Another aspect of change is that our relationship with most of these visitors is not a one-time experience. The community has established a relationship with many of these groups, in particular the church groups. Visits have been recurring and reciprocal.

Another area of Dawah that Dar Al-Taqwa has grown into is the inmate outreach. The goal is to not only serve the needs of the Muslims in detention centers, but also to be part of their transition back into the society through a stronger understanding of their Deen. Prior to 2006, Dar Al-Taqwa was active at the Women's Correctional Institute in Jessup. Through the hard work of five volunteer sisters and two brothers, weekly Saturday Halaqas and Thuhr prayer have been offered there. Today with the grace of Allah (SWT) and through the work of another four brother volunteers, Dar Al-Taqwa has been also providing services at the Howard County Detention Center which houses close to 320 inmates of which about 1% - 4% are Muslims. We have been offering Jumma Khutbahs for the brothers since October of 2007, during this period four inmates embraced Islam.

Dawah doesn't stop there. Today Dar Al-Taqwa has established relationships with the Police Department. The Imam and our community affairs officer met with the Police Chief as part of a larger Muslim group to discuss and share our community's needs and challenges. One of our Shura members is participating in Citizen's Police Academy, an 11-week program to learn about law enforcement and issues affecting the Howard County residents. Among the things we are interested in learning about through the Police Academy Program are youth gangs and challenges, drugs, community safety programs, employment opportunities and general knowledge. The Muslim community in Howard County had a difficult time in 2007 with two homicides from among the youth of our community. One took place in the quiet trails of Columbia and the other at a busy Ellicott City shopping center. Howard County had about 14 homicide cases in 2007, for the Muslim community to lose two of its members in two of those 14 is a large percentage. Other areas of Dawah and outreach Dar Al-Taqwa has been working on is the Howard County General Hospital where we have a strong relationship with the Pastor and are in the process of developing handbooks for physicians and nurses on how to deal with Muslim patient and employee needs. Insha Allah, we will soon have the ability to provide counseling services at the hospital for those patients who require it.

Education is another area Dar Al-Taqwa has been scoring progressively well. We are in touch with many of the 16 public high schools and visit various classrooms to discuss Islam. With a Saturday school that has grown to over 100 students in the first few weeks of its opening, and a Sunday school which has almost the same number of students, Dar Al-Taqwa is able to support the needs of our children ages 7 to 13. Recently we introduced Quran Tajweed workshops on Sundays. We currently have two groups of boys. The young teens, ages 12 - 15 started with three brothers, in a few months the number grew to seven, and more importantly they can read much more fluently. The older teens, ages 16 to 18, started with about six brothers and now are well over a dozen. It is a mercy from Allah (SWT) to see that we have such wonderful volunteers who are eager and competing in donating their time for the sake of Allah (SWT) for these types of events. The sister's teen Quran Tajweed is still struggling; it started with three sisters and then was unable to continue.

Taleem Al-Quran Institute (TAQI) is another flagship service the education committee has been working on establishing under the leadership of the Imam. Serving the needs of children, youth and adults during the week evenings and weekends, TAQI has gained strong compliments. Dar Al-Taqwa has also provided other Quran programs in partnership with area Masjids such as Dar us-Salaam's Quran Institute.

Education does not stop at formal classroom learning experiences, but also through Halaqas and workshops by highly knowledgeable scholars and Imams. Over the past year we offered close to a dozen educational opportunities ranging from Fiqh topics such as Zakah, Hajj and Salah to Aqeedah and the Muslim identity.

With the mercy of Allah (SWT) Dar Al-Taqwa has a very comprehensive Zakah support system. We moved from an organic growth process to a full fledged system. The Zakah committee which consists of six community volunteers have developed a system that analyzes each case in a very objective manner, it also has strong measures to weed out illegitimate requests and ensure that deserving cases receive the support they are entitled to get. We understand at Dar Al-Taqwa that Zakah is not a favor we are doing the needy, but rather it is their right, that Allah (SWT) has entrusted us with fulfilling. Alhamdullilah with the grace of Allah (SWT) we have been supporting dozens of cases a year. Most cases are sisters with children who face eviction or have already been evicted from their homes and families who can not afford the cost of living due to an illness. As a general policy the Masjid does not ask the community to support needy cases, as the need is year round and consistent, instead Dar Al-Taqwa has established boxes specifically to aid the needy labeled "Zakat" at the entrances of the building". The zakat committee will be starting soon a campaign to allow families to donate $25 per month to support the cause of the needy and destitute.

Among the other Zakah services Dar Al-Taqwa provides are food distribution, career advice, job networking and referrals, transportation support, clothing distribution, support of area Muslim shelters, housing arrangements and limited employment opportunities. To avoid waste and chaos we do not accept donations of clothes and food items from community members without prior notification. Community members interested in donating items such as used clothes, food items, infant and child products or toys contact the Zakah committee with a list of these items. The committee then establishes a match with those who could benefit from the items and then informs the donor of a time to bring the items in. We usually do not keep items on the property for more than a few hours to ensure optimum benefit and reduce the burden on the Masjid's facilities and storage resources.

Brother Ayman also stated "We should not be too comfortable; we have a long way ahead of us. Our community is faced with a long list of challenges, and that is no surprise. This is the way Allah (SWT) has made things. We will be tested more and more as we progress and grow". We are already being tested in our youth. Many of our younger brothers and sisters are facing daily challenges identifying their Muslim character and preserving it in the midst of all the temptations and trials around them. We are seeing more youth involved in legal problems and some even becoming detained on drug and violence charges. Dar Al-Taqwa needs more work in that area. "I am not a pessimistic person, but rather a realistic person. Every community has challenges, and here in Howard County like other places some of the challenges and needs are full-time Islamic education programs, youth development, economic development and other long term projects" mentioned brother Ayman.

Dar Al-Taqwa is very serious and has always been very serious about its youth. The youth committee - mostly formed of college age community members and recently getting an influx of high school age brothers and sisters - has been providing great opportunities. Over the recent six months Dar Al-Taqwa has even expanded various youth programs through the introduction of trips, off-site visits to area attractions, visits to other Masjids, extra Halaqas, volunteer opportunities, and are still planning on much more. Again adult volunteer support is a key factor to success. "Our 22 year olds are busy securing a job and searching for a life-partner. We need to recognize that they also have needs and as a community we need to support them and be there for them. We can not always expect them to be able to lead youth programs, but there is no doubt they are an integral component of a successful youth program" said Brother Ayman. He also added, "Raising our youth is a collective effort of the whole community, men and women, elders and youngsters, and everyone needs to pitch in”.

With the grace of Allah Dar Al-Taqwa has started a youth mentoring and leadership program. It is an opportunity for the youth to develop skills and put their energy into something beneficial to themselves, the community and society at-large. So far we have more than five high-school students as part of this program and we hope to grow it even further. One major growth inhibitor is lack of mentors.

Alhamdullilah since January of this year we have been able to sustain a weekly Halaqah and get-together for three youth groups on Friday evenings. We have a sisters group for ages 8 -18 and two brothers' groups for ages 7 -11 and 12 -18. We look forward to splitting the sisters group into two and the older brothers into two. That means we will have soon Insha Allah five groups in parallel, hence five volunteers are needed. Initially there was some skepticism about our ability to offer weekly gatherings for our youth every Friday night. It is very hard to come up with programs and events on a weekly basis, especially when it involves young people. One volunteer involved in facilitating these weekly gatherings once mentioned, "I remember when I was 15, some 25 years ago I used to hangout every weekend with my friends. We can not settle for less than that, we as adults must be committed to provide our youth with what they deserve. There is no reason Masjid can not be safe haven for them to learn, play and grow as strong Muslims".

The road ahead of us is still long with needs for full-time educational programs, home schooling, elders' needs, quality activities, sister's programs, youth programs and much more we need to be stronger than ever. We received a $25,000 grant from the state of Maryland for security and are adding on more parking spaces. Dar Al-Taqwa shura has also been keen on renting the old property to a cause that will provide benefit to the community besides being a source of revenue. Al-Andalus Institute a full-time high school has been renting the property since the start of the current academic year. Al-Andalus is a great asset and resource in the region. The purchase of the new property next door at 10760 Route 108 brings modest revenue to the Masjid as some students are renting it. Some ideas for benefiting from the property in the long run are converting it to a full time school, a library for Muslims and non-Muslims, a Quran Institute extension, or a center for the youth. With the help of Allah (swt), we will be able to make what are now just ideas into reality and expand the Muslim community.

Somyah Eltoweissy resides in Howard County and is homeschooling, Ayman Nassar is on the shura of Dar Al-Taqwa. Comments on the article may be posted below.