Category Archives: Events

October 13, 2011   Arabic, Art, Books, Calligraphy, Culture, English, Events, Farsi, Festivals, Food and Recipes, History, Intercultural Communication, Language, Music, Poetry, Samaa/Qawwali, Stories, Uncategorized, Urdu, Virtues and Ethics   1 Comment

Book: The Culture of Islam

The Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center (IECRC) participated in the Annual Sacramento World Festival in Old Sacramento (California) on October 2, 2011. The IECRC booth represented artifacts, books, clothing, music, Islamic poetry and many other Islamic cultural items from the various cultures in the Muslim world including that of Pakistan, Morroco, Saudi Arabia (Mecca and Medina), Egypt, Syria, India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey among other countries. Among the highlights at booth included free henna cultural designs on the hands of women, Arabic writing of the audience’s names, and an interactive poster of the text of the Holy Qur’an on one page viewed only by microscope.

A publication by IECRC named “The Culture of Islam” was published and handed out to the audience. Below is a downloadable PDF of the book:

sacworldfest_singlepage_for_web

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October 13, 2011   Arabic, Art, Article, Calligraphy, Culture, Education, English, Events, Farsi, Festivals, Food and Recipes, History, Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Communication, Language, Language, Music, Poetry, Report, Sacramento, Samaa/Qawwali, Stories, Subcontinent, Urdu, Virtues and Ethics   1 Comment

IECRC Exhibits the Islamic Culture at the Sacramento World Festival

To understand another’s custom, one must look at it from the perspective of the person practicing the custom. One must place themselves or attempt to place themselves in the shoes of the other. Sort of, look through the eyes of that person to feel what she feels. That is where understanding occurs. And that is why events such as the Sacramento Cultural Festival are so important. They allow for diverse expression of cultural values which keep the tree of community alive and vibrant in the fruitful production of ideas and its flowering creates beauty and attraction for all to enjoy.

—The Culture of Islam by IECRC

October 2, 2011

The Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center (IECRC) participated in the Annual Sacramento World Festival in Old Sacramento (California) on October 2, 2011. The IECRC booth represented artifacts, books, clothing, music, Islamic poetry and many other Islamic cultural items from the various cultures in the Muslim world including that of Pakistan, Morroco, Saudi Arabia (Mecca and Medina), Egypt, Syria, India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey among other countries. Among the highlights at booth included free henna cultural designs on the hands of women, Arabic writing of the audience’s names, and an interactive poster of the text of the Holy Qur’an on one page viewed only by microscope.

[slideshow id=15]

 

The goal of this exhibition and performance was to introduce to the American public a view of Islam through its beautiful and colorful cultural expression. The performance included a recital (dhikr) in Arabic by Lua Hightower and the IECRC Naat Group of Sacramento about the meanings of Allahu Akbar (God is Greater) Islamic Tawhid (Oneness of God), and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Farhad Yaqubi presented his own composition in Farsi on the Compassionate and Merciful attributes of God and a beautiful performance on harmonium of the famous Nami Daanam che manzil bood shab jaey ke man boodam a piece written by Amir Khusro (may God have mercy on him) about the spiritual state of Union with the One. All performances were translated in English along with the Roman transliteration so that the audience could experience some of the depth of the spiritual works being presented. Meher Faiq of Fusion Catering and Shemeem Khan offered free samoosas and pakoras (traditional Muslim food from the Subcontinent) prepared at location while the audience enjoyed the presentation.

Sharaaz Khan Qadri, Director of the Sacramento Chapter of IECRC presented two traditional stories from Kaleela Dimnah and Maulana Rumi’s Mathnawi (may God have mercy on him) to an audience of children and parents in Old Sacramento’s famous Eagle Theater.

This all-day event ended in a success as the event offered itself as a great opportunity to network with other cultures in an exchange of religious and cultural viewpoints within a friendly, open, and non-dogmatic atmosphere. A publication by IECRC named “The Culture of Islam” was published and handed out to the audience.

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August 26, 2011   Advice, Article, Laylat ul-Qadr, Prayer, Professor Mohammed Ahmed Qadri, Ramadan, Sacred Nights   1 Comment

Prayers for the 27th Night of Ramadan

The Beloved Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) has said:

“Anyone, man or woman from my umma  (community) who want to benefit  from the light of my grave then he (or she) should perform worship with great intensity on each Laylat ul-Qadr (last 10 odd  nights) , so that Allah The Most Exalted may wipe the person’s sins away and replace them with good deeds.”

The  worship  on Laylat ul-Qadr  is  better and  more  powerful than worship of 70 (seventy) thousand nights.

The 3rd of Laylat ul-Qadri (27th Night):

The prayer can be done in one of sixways:

  1. Perform 12 cycles of prayer with 3 salam. In each cycle, after reading Surah Al-Fatiha,  read Surah Qadr 1 time  and Surah Ikhlas 15 times. After the salam, read Asthaghfar 70 times. Insha-Allah, by reading this prayer, a person will be rewarded with the prayers of the Prophets (peace be upon them all).
  2. Read 2 cycles  of  prayer.  After  reading Surah Al-Fatiha, read Surah Qadr 3 times and Surah Ikhlas 27 times. Then ask Allah Almighty for the forgiveness of sins. Insha Allah with the help of this prayer, Allah Almighty will forgive all sins, past, present, and future.
  3. Read 4 cycles of prayer with 2 salam. In each cycle, after reading Surah  Al-Fatiha,   read Surah  Takathur  (Al-Quran, chapter 102) 1 time and Surah Ikhlas 3 times. Insha Allah, the person who reads this prayer, Allah Almighty will make the difficulties of death easy on this person. In addition, the torments of the grave will be forgiven.
  4. Read 2 cycles of prayer. In each cycle, after reading Surah Al-Fatiha, read Surah Ikhlas 7 times. After  the salam, it is important  to read the following tasbih 70 times: Astaghfirullaahal-adheemuladhee laa  ilaaha illaa  huwal hayyul qayyumu wa atoobu ilayh. Insha Allah, by reading this prayer, before a person has even risen from his/her prayer mat (musallah), his own sins as well as the sins of his parents will be forgiven.  In addition, Allah  Almighty will order the angels to provide a path to heaven for this person. In fact, Allah has ordered that until the person does not have a vision of his path to Heaven, death will not take him/her. This prayer is very effective for forgiveness (maghfirat) of sins after death.
  5. Read 2 cycles  of  prayer.  After  reading Surah Al-Fatiha, read Surah Alam Nashrah (Al-Quran, chapter 94) 1 time  and Surah  Ikhlas  3 times.  After the  salam,  read Surah  Qadr  70 times.  Insha Allah, the person will earn many good deeds (sawab)  and it is  considered  to be equal  to numerous worships (ibadat).
  6. Read 4 cycles of prayer. In each cycle, after reading Surah Al-Fatiha, read Surah Qadr 3 times and Surah Ikhlas 50 times. After the salam, during prostration (sajda) read the following Kalam  1 time:  Subhaan Allahee  wal hamdu lillahee  wal laa ilaaha ill Allahu wa Allaahu akbar.  After  this,  whatever  desire or plea one may have should be made, whether it is for this world or the next. Insha Allah, in God’s Court, it will be answered.

Also  on this  night, read Surah Ha meem  (Al-Quran, chapter 41). By reading all 7 Ha meem’s, it saves one from the torment of the grave after death, and also  the life  after death. Also read Surah Mulk (Al-Quran, chapter 67) 7 times. This is very effective for the forgiveness of sins after death.

The preceding text is taken from the booklet of Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ahmed Qadri Ramadan: The Month of Patience, Empathy, and Self-Purification.

For the entire text, visit:
https://www.iecrcna.org/site/1115/ramadan-the-month-of-patience-empathy-and-self-purification/

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