Establishing a Place of Learning- Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Sadaqallahul Azeem, my dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, respected elders and young students, Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Allah through His Fadl and Karam has given us and granted us this sanctuary, this place, this house of Allah where we can come and recharge ourselves and strengthen our iman, rebuild our connection with Allah, learn the knowledge of deen, revive our iman and get ready to go out and face the challenges and the test of our faith outside in this dunya. And these are the purposes for which Allah has given us this masajid.

Rasulullah when he came to and he made hijra to Madina al Munawwara, even when he stopped for a short while at Quba, the first thing he did was build a house of Allah, build a masjid in Quba, مَسْجِدُ ٱلْقِبَاءِ ٱلَّذِي أُسِّسَ عَلَىٰ ٱلتَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ. Allah has praised that masjid and said that this is the house of Allah that was erected on the foundation of taqwa from the first day. Then when Rasulullah came to Madina al Munawwara, again Rasulullah, the first task he set about was building the masjid al Nabawi along with the companions and Rasulullah personally was involved in the construction effort of the house of Allah.

He would be carrying the bricks along with the other sahaba passing it along to erect the walls of masjid al Nabawi. What are the purposes for these masajid? Scholars have mentioned four. Number one is ibadah as Allah himself says:

These are houses that are erected for the worship of Allah in the mornings, evenings, throughout the hours of the day and the night. These are places where i'tikaf takes place in the month of Ramadan. And this is the place where we congregate for our weekly Jummah prayer.

So the ibadah of Allah takes place in these masajid. Number two is da'wah. These are places that become a focal point for others to learn about Islam.

Alhamdulillah this is something we observe all the time. We have people walking in from different faiths and different backgrounds passing by on North Avenue. They are attracted by the architecture of the building and they come in to learn about the deen of Allah.

We've had several open houses where we've invited the neighbors. We've had different special functions where we've invited government officials and we explained to them about the teachings of Islam to dispel the wrong information they might have and remove the misconceptions and give them the proper perspective on our deen. And this is what Rasulullah we learned provided this great service of da'wah and inviting people towards Islam in the Masjid al-Nabawi.

The different tribes would come from different places to come and find out about the deen of Islam and Rasulullah would himself instruct them or he would assign different sahabah to invite them towards Islam. Moving forward, the third purpose of the Masjid al-Nabawi is ta'leem wa ta'alam, learning and teaching. The Masjid al-Nabawi was not just a masjid only but along with it there was a suffah which was the madrasa of Rasulullah where full time dedicated students of knowledge would be engaged in learning the Quran, learning the hadith of Rasulullah, memorizing the words of Rasulullah.

These were dedicated full time students of knowledge. The most famous student amongst them being Abu Huraira. He was a graduate of the madrasa of Rasulullah.

Alhamdulillah following that pattern we are engaged in having madrasas here in Darus Salah where we have different programs, the Hizb program for the boys, the Hizb program for the girls. Beyond that, Alhamdulillah, the Alimah program is there now added this year just like we have the Alim program for the boys, the one year Islamic and Arabic and Islamic studies immersion program followed by the full seven year Alim program to create scholars, generate Imams, those who have an in-depth knowledge of the deen. Likewise there is the Alimah program for our sisters, to send the deen down for both men and women.

And if you want to ensure that the deen will be preserved in our families then we have to educate our women folk as well. And then the fourth purpose of the masajid is khidmah and social services. Khidmah, Rasulullah's time we find so many narrations where different people who are in need would come to the masjid and Rasulullah would do an active fundraiser and would say who is there, who is ready, raise your hand to support this cause and help out this needy brother, help out this needy tribe, help out this needy situation and we need funds for this project.

So there are examples in the seerah of Rasulullah, multitudes of examples where Rasulullah actively raised funds in the masjid to support these different causes. So Alhamdulillah we also have drives for the refugees and clothing drives, food drives, likewise the distribution of zakat to the needy. So this is one particular function that is continuing and is being operated here Alhamdulillah through your generous contributions.

The purpose today that I wanted to present to you is that Alhamdulillah just three years after opening with the fadl of Allah and with the hearts of his slaves that are coming towards this house of worship in such large numbers, we have found that we are now, if not in the masjid end, then most definitely on the academy end. We only have very few classes downstairs and right now we have three classes operating in the masjid as we speak throughout the day. All the classrooms downstairs are coming down and there is no space for a further expansion of the sister site.

So that is why after making masharra and looking at the growth and looking at the next few years how the girls classes will be increasing, we are starting the first year of the Alimah course this year for the women. The next year we will have two classes, first year and second year followed by that first, second and third year all the way to seven year Alimah program. So that is why there is really no other option for us but to expand.

This might seem as a surprise to people that this is just a new masjid, just recently built. Alhamdulillah with the favour of Allah and your generous donations, we just completed the expansion of the parking lot. This is something that you physically benefit from, not only the new available parking, instead of parking in the dirt and the dust and perhaps if it rains in the mud, now you can park on the pavement, but more importantly is the entrance and exit from swift road.

This is something we were talking about last year in Ramadan and requesting your support for and what happened is Alhamdulillah everyone came forward and Alhamdulillah the pledges were fulfilled, Allah made it possible that that project is complete, completely paid off for, there is nothing owing on that project and it is in full use and everyone is benefiting, all the brothers and sisters who come to the masjid, all the parents who drop off their children in the morning, all those who had difficulty making a left turn on to the north, wanted to get into the left lane on north avenue on the way out, now they can very safely exit from swift road. Alhamdulillah that project was completed. This happened only with the favour of Allah and with your generous support.

Now Alhamdulillah the time has come that we are going to unveil and present to you InshaAllah the expansion project for Darussalam. This is the current masjid that we have, Alhamdulillah we have seen these pictures of the masjid, we are sitting in the masjid, we don't have to show that, that is for other people from different places. Alhamdulillah these are the activities which are already taking place in the academy.

I just want to jump quickly through these slides, we don't have time and I am definitely going to start the Jummah on time, brothers have to go back to work, we do not want to take extra time but many of the brothers and sisters who come only for Jummah, perhaps they come and pray the Jummah and leave, they have no idea of the extent of the activities of the academy. Alhamdulillah there are classes that take place here 7 days a week, 7 days a week, this particular program is 5 days a week, the after school program, but there are different programs that take place on a daily basis so that the madrasa is active 7 days a week. The full time hizb is 6 days a week in which we have boys and girls both memorizing the Qur'an.

We have about 30 students who have finished memorizing the Qur'an and have become hafadha as of now. And after school this is those children who are going to school, they come and learn the Qur'an, how to read the Qur'an, nazara and maktab, there are boys and girls classes taking place on both sides in which they learn Islamic studies as well. Then we have summer programs, summer camps for children, summer Arabic intensive programs for brothers and sisters, this is a time when people take off, they are available, they are off from school and colleges, they come and immerse themselves and learn the Arabic language.

And then for the adults, the academy tries and strives to reach every single age group, every single demographic that we have programs even for adults, those who are working adults, professionals, businessmen and women, they come on Saturdays inshallah and Sundays from 10 o'clock to 1 o'clock, we have 3 hour classes for adults on the weekends. Along with the full-time alim program, there is a high school program for 9th grade to 12th grade. This year alhamdulillah our first batch graduated from 12th grade, will be graduating from 12th grade, alhamdulillah.

So there is a full-time high school running concurrently with the alim program and also along with the alim program for girls. So we have certified teachers we have hired who have degrees and are proficient and have experience in teaching and it is an accredited high school program that we are offering for the boys and girls along with the alim and alimah program. This is just the academy side, the mosque side, we have the annual 3 day retreat, we had about 2000 visitors in our last retreat, alhamdulillah, Allah ta'ala made it a very successful event.

We have visiting scholars, monthly seminars, youth qiyams, this month of Ramadan every single Saturday we have a youth qiyam. We had 75 to 100, before we had 150 youth coming here attending different sessions with scholars, having question and answer sessions, opening up and talking about their issues and their problems as well as having sport activities for them. We have weekly tafseer programs for sisters, community open house programs, all kinds of social services.

So these four purposes I talked about, ibadah and da'wah, ta'aleem, ta'alum, learning and teaching and khidmah. Alhamdulillah we are striving our best to fulfill all of these four purposes. So alhamdulillah what happened in 2016 all of these activities took place and where are we lacking is that we do not have enough space for the classes and we also are in dire need for gymnasium for our students.

Temporarily as you have seen and witnessed and I'm sure you tried to avoid the basketball hoops, that is not an ideal situation. That is there only for a few months and that is also in the summer months when many of the students are off. We only have the summer programs, the full time students are not here in the summer so they really cannot benefit from that throughout the fall, winter and the cold months.

So we are looking to build a gymnasium and for the classrooms. Alhamdulillah this year only we completed the parking lot as I mentioned. We have about 400 parking spots alhamdulillah ta'ala and expansion of the student reference library.

We sent a brother, we paid for his ticket, a maulana actually an alim to represent Darussalam and he attended the international book fair in Cairo and he purchased about $35,000 worth of books from Cairo and they were shipped. Alhamdulillah the shipment has come and they are in the shelves and the books are ready to be used by the students. What's the phase 2? This is the phase 2 that we require your support and this is what I wanted to present.

Alhamdulillah we are looking to construct a two story, two multi-story dedicated school buildings. So where is that going to be located? We had different plans but alhamdulillah what we finally concluded is that it will be the best served for us and it will be the most beneficial and convenient if they are attached to the masjid. If they are attached to the masjid so it will be easier for the traffic flow for the students to come to the masjid and the school to be connected to the masjid just like the madrasah suffah was connected to the masjid an-nabawi.

So we have two wings, the east wing and the west wing. On the sister side is the west wing. If you notice there is a huge grassy area where we had erected the tent if you recall during the retreat.

So that entire area was left purposely for expansion. So that will be the west wing. The expansion on the west wing will be connected to the women's entrance and it will be two stories above ground, one underground, a three story building erected on that side covering that entire grassy area.

It's about 10,000 square feet times three stories will be 30,000 square feet expansion just on the west wing alone. And then the east wing will be where the men's entrance is on this side expanding further. This will go into the parking lot a little bit and if we have less parking then the grassy area on the other side of the road that we have can also become future parking and expand the parking lot on that side.

As we go towards Swift Road we have this road that was, the brothers were driving so fast we had to put the speed bumps. The parking lot volunteers, they call it the highway, the Dar-ul-Salam highway. Now we have done the double parking, now we are parking the brothers on the highway.

When they say that, when they call it the highway, they are referring to that long road, three lane road that we have, everyone is aware of, on the way out to Swift Road. So on the other side of that road we can expand the parking. There is grassy area there.

Rather have parking farther than the building constructing it there. What will this building have? It will have separate boys and girls classrooms for seven year alim program and alima program. Downstairs you only have how many classrooms? All these programs but you have two classrooms, believe it or not.

Just two classrooms on the boys side, two classrooms on the girls side. That is the total number of classrooms downstairs. And it's not sufficient at all.

Currently it's not future growth but currently we are out of space right now. And then having schooling along with it, secular schooling, as well as we have a great difficulty with the women's prayer hall. Right now for example during the Itikaf time, all the sisters they pray in the basement.

And it is a big hassle for us. We have to push all the sisters out quickly, quickly after Taraweeh so the brothers can come down. Where do the brothers sleep? The brothers sleep in the entire multipurpose basement hall downstairs.

How many hundred and fifty people? Seventy-five brothers in complete ten day Sunnah Itikaf. Up to a hundred and fifty brothers, two hundred brothers in ten day weekends with a Sunnah Nafal Itikaf. But where do the sisters are going to pray? Are they going to pray in this small little hall here? There is not enough space.

So they are praying downstairs. So we want to build in this new expansion a large dedicated sisters prayer hall. Gymnasium, banquet hall, reference library, science labs, daycare for children, all of these.

So this is inshallah the two wings that are connected with a walkway. There will be a walkway inshallah where you see this colonnade with the columns and the domes connecting the two wings. This is the sisters wing, the west wing and this is the east wing for the brothers and this is the colonnade connecting underground inshallah.

There will also be a walkway from the sisters side to enter into the banquet hall and they will have their separate entrance and also the girls when they will have their hours in the gym to come play in the gym, they will be having a tunnel connecting them from the women's side to the men's side. So how will this project come into existence inshallah? For this we require your generous contributions. We do not hold any fundraising dinners throughout the year.

As you know all of the masajid, all the Islamic centers, they have a major portion of their funds are collected through fundraising dinners. But we do not have any fundraising dinner throughout the year. The last time we raised funds here at the Jummah time was last Ramadan and the fundraising was done for the expansion of the parking lot one time and also for the monthly expenses.

Two times we did the fundraising. Over here from this podium, in this minbar on the day of Jummah, the entire year no one asks anyone for funds. Whereas there are masajid alhamdulillah every single Friday they are asking for funds.

And that is not a bad thing. Actually that is a good thing. That is a form of ibadah.

It is a high form of ibadah and it is a sunnah of Rasulullah that Rasulullah stood on the minbar and asked for funds for various causes. So how are we going to fulfill this inshallah? In the month of Ramadan this is a time of blessings. This is a time of barakah.

This is a time where the rewards are multiplied. If there is any one brother mashallah ready to give his name inshallah and to start out by giving alhamdulillah $25,000 for this project. This project, the size of the project, based on that I am giving the starting figure.

It is still a very small figure. We can see that this will cost a lot of money to build this project. But inshallah Allah subhanallah has given us this masjid and this building we are in right now.

And we should have high hopes in Allah subhanallah. Allah subhanallah can make it possible. What is the projected date of starting this construction? It is next year.

Next year spring inshallah. We want to finish the architectural plans, get the permits and break ground in next spring. We have been talking about the parking lot.

You saw it under construction. You saw it completed. Now we are talking about this project inshallah likewise you are seeing the drawings and then you will see the construction starting and then you will see it completed inshallah and the students learning and benefiting.

But the question is will Allah subhanallah accept our funds for this or not? Whatever you spend in the path of Allah, Allah subhanallah will bring it back to you. If $25,000 sounds like a huge sum, I do not have so much petty cash lying around under my bed, under my mattress. I do not have any black money like that or white money or any sort of money.

Where are you going to come up with that? Then we can pledge a monthly amount during the course of the construction. During the course of the construction over 2 years from now if you plan to give $1,000 a month for 25 months, 24 months, 2 years a month then inshallah we can reach that number. So do we have inshallah anyone ready to fulfill this inshallah and pledge $25,000 over the course of 2 years for this project? Inshallah raise your hands.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward you. The volunteers are ready to take you and help you and get your information. If not possible inshallah you jump down to $15,000.

Is there anyone inshallah ready to give $15,000? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Allah will destroy your economy through Riba and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will multiply it through Sadaqah. Anyone for $15,000 or $10,000? $10,000 if you give $500 a month for 20 months. $500 a month for 20 months.

This is something very much affordable inshallah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept. What we are requesting is that we sign up.

We have another brother on the left in the black shirt. $500 a month inshallah. We are ruling now $500 a month for 2 years inshallah.

Just 2 years. If you put the end date of your pledge then inshallah not a single day after that will be charged. Very clearly and legibly when you write your end date there will be no charge after that.

Just for 20 months $500 a month inshallah. If there is anyone who wants to sign up for the monthly expenses of the masjid and for perpetual donation of $500 a month and they want to put an end date, that's fine as well. That is also accepted.

But those who want to put an end date, inshallah that will be honored. So is there anyone else? MashaAllah we have 2 brothers. We can have a number 3 inshallah.

MashaAllah number 3. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept. May Allah accept. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran whenever he speaks about sacrificing for his cause, he first always mentions with the wealth.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

And strive in the path of Allah with your wealth and with your life. MashaAllah we have 3 brothers. Do we have a 4th one inshallah? $500 a month, 4th brother inshallah.

Rasulullah said:

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 487)

The most beloved actions in the court of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are those that we are constant in, even if it's little. So even if it is a little amount, but if you are constantly giving $500 a month inshallah, this will go a great way in bringing this project to completion. All the children who become alama, all the girls who become alimat, all the students who gain knowledge of deen, then the various communities, mashaAllah we have a 4th one, 4th brother right here, all the communities they go and they serve in, all the people they guide, all the masayil they answer of the people, all the questions they answer, then what will happen? You will continue to receive the reward for that.

Rasulullah said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1631)

When the son of Adam dies, his book of deeds closes. Except for 3. One of them, this is a sadaqa jariya, continuous form of charity. Righteous children that will be raised here, that will make dua for you. And number 3 is knowledge from which people benefit.

So this will be a madrasa, mashallah, already in a current form. With how many classes I said on the boys side? Just 2 classes. We have students from Miami here, we have students from Orlando here, students from Tampa here, students from Virginia, students from San Francisco, from various states people are flocking here.

This is all happening under you right now. Under the basement here, these classrooms are there and Allah has put so much barakah. It's only because of extreme need, we are proposing this expansion project.

And inshallah, you will see the benefit. People are flocking, students are learning. Rasulullah said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 230)

You yourself become an alim, a scholar. If that is not possible, become a student of knowledge. If that is not possible, become a listener of knowledge. If that is not possible, then become a supporter and a lover of those of knowledge.

So let us become ulama ourselves, if not possible, at least support those who are studying the deen. Can we have a last fifth one, inshallah, for $500 a month? Last fifth one, inshallah, anywhere in the lobby. This is what, if you came late, in case you came late, this is the expansion project for the Dar-ul-Salam Academy, with the classrooms, and library, and the gymnasium, for the students of knowledge.

Who is ready, inshallah, to become a supporter of the students of knowledge. MashaAllah, we are looking for one last hand, inshallah, for $500 a month. MashaAllah, we are looking for fifth hand.

This is a time of confusion, lack of knowledge. Rasulullah has said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 100)

Allah will not take away the knowledge, snatch it from the hearts of the slaves. But Allah will take away the knowledge by taking away the scholars. Meaning Rasulullah has tied the existence of knowledge with the existence of scholars. Then Rasulullah said, when there will be no scholars left, then people will make ignorant people as their leaders in deen. They will be asked questions pertaining to deen. They will give answers without having knowledge. They themselves will be misguided, they will misguide others. That is why, alhamdulillah, we need scholars of knowledge.

And we need the ulema at this time of confusion. Those that are not imported from overseas and have different barriers, but those who grew up in this country, understand the demographics here, understand the society, know the language of the people, and are able to converse in that language, and are able to spread the deen and teach the deen in the correct manner. So alhamdulillah, it looks like we have number 5 and 6 came in.

So now moving down, inshaAllah for $5,000. $250 a month. MashaAllah, we have brothers here.

$250 a month for 2 years. Just $250 a month. Can we have a quick show of hands and we want to start the salah on time.

$250 a month inshaAllah for such a noble project. We are so honored that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us an opportunity to spend for this cause. Otherwise, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not need us.

If we are going to withhold, then we are withholding from ourselves.

You are invited to spend in the path of Allah. Whoever is withholding, who has the ability.

If you do not have the ability to pay $250 a month for 2 years, then that is fine. Your sabr and your dua, and your hope for the project is a great reward itself. But if you do have the ability for $250 a month for 2 years, and if you withhold:

You are withholding from your own self. And Allah says:

Allah is independent of His creation. You are the ones who are in need. We are in need. We are in need of the thawab.

O those who believe, do not invalidate your sadaqa by thinking you have done a great favor. مِنّ is to say, I did a great favor to Darussalam. You did not do a great favor to anyone. I did not do a great favor. If I'm standing here and leading your Jummah salah, I don't feel I've done a great favor to you.

You owe me. I led you in salah. No. Rather, I owe Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I should bow my head in gratitude to Allah. Allah accepted me and allowed me to stand here despite having absolutely no ability and not having any right, not having any istihqaq, not deserving. This is a great favor from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Those munafiqeen, they are thinking they have done a great favor. مِنّ means ihsan gatana. To say that I did a great thing, I did a great favor upon you by accepting Islam. Do not consider you have done a great favor upon Allah.

But rather Allah's favor upon you, He guided you towards iman.

So the time is now completed. Any last ones inshaAllah for $250 a month. Last 60 seconds, last minute.

We will start with sunnah and salah inshaAllah. Anyone $250 a month. Do we have any hands? $250 a month for such a noble project for this madrasa, for this institute of learning.

This place where scholars will be generated. InshaAllah. Last $100 a month for 2 years.

$100 a month. People are paying that much in cable TV for haram entertainment. MashaAllah, Suhaib Ismail is there.

We have $100 a month. Just $100 a month. People pay for all various entertainment purposes this much money.

And we are doing it for the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Any other brother inshallah, any sister inshallah, Rasulullah said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1844)

That give sadaqa, even if you don't have cash, give it from your jewelry. This is the words of Rasulullah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept. And I promise you, we will start on time, so inshaAllah I will conclude it here. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept all those brothers and all those sisters who donated, young and old.

And if you did not donate as well, this was the first time you were presented the project, now you see it, think about it, inshaAllah, make mashara and come back, and try to donate as much as you can for this project, so that inshaAllah, we have enough funds to start it, and we will continue to need funds throughout the construction period. As I mentioned, the plan is to break ground next year in spring. We need all of your duas.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect it from all fitan. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow this project to reach completion, and allow it to be successfully completed with His fadhal and protection and His bounty.

Let's perform sunnah. JazakAllah.