Masjid An Nur’s New Mission
In March of 2011 Masjid An Nur elected a new board of directors. When the new board came on board so did a new mission --- to have the masjid full of community members from the sunrise to the sunset with activities for the community that follow the Qur’an and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SWA).
How will Masjid An Nur accomplish this you ask. Activities, activities, and more activities.
Activities such as a school, lectures, sports, Islamic games, memorization of the Qur’an, Qur’an competitions, and much more.
“To have the people tied to the masjid as much as we can. That is the goal. We want to motivate the people with physical activities, that is the plan,” explains Waleed Dabbour, the new president of Masjid An Nur, in a FRM News interview. And they have not wasted anytime in moving on their mission. Just that Sunday while talking with Waleed there were two activities taking place. They were conducting a Qur’an competition for those 18 years and older on Surrah Al Kaf; and upstairs on the third floor there was a ping pong competition taking place.
Al Hamdu’illah, I witnessed a group of six come into the masjid, pray asr and proceed upstairs for the ping pong competition. Then downstairs I saw young men and adults completing in the Qur’an competition. The liveliness of the masjid truly warmed my heart, MashaAllah.
One of the most important programs started by An Nur is the Islamic and Arabic school for the youth ages 4 through 18 years. Speaking with Waleed it is clear that this program has taken a lot and thought, time and effort of the board.
“We consulted some professors [and] some teachers who have experience with schools to set the school system, “ says Waleed. As a result the Islamic and Arabic school --- rather than established like most community weekend schools on Saturdays and Sundays --- is operating on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Waleed explains the reasoning behind this choice.
“Saturday and Sunday is not a success because they [child] don’t remember what they took (learned) from Sunday to the next Saturday.” So the An Nur program keeps the material in the students minds by having only a three-day lapse from class rather than a full six days like most community Qur’an programs. They came up with this solution after studying the common structure in Muslim communities in the U.S. that typically have weekend only Qur’an/Islamic studies programs for the youth. From their research and studies An Nur believe that this approach will be more successful.
Another strategy that An Nur is implementing is predefined courses that will be designed with a specific workload. They observed from other typical weekend schools that programs tend to have no defined criteria, objectives, or an end goal.
“So you have to take so many courses to be a graduate of our school. We don’t have the school for infinity,” says Waleed. Once a student has graduated they can continue their Islamic studies at an Islamic University, perhaps online, or even private studies at home with a tutor or qualified parent. The main object is to establish a set of goals from the beginning for the students to achieve.
Before a student starts the Islamic and Arabic studies at An Nur they are required to take a placement test. Then after two months the students will be tested to make sure that their current placement is right for them. If they discover a student is not keeping up with the course, or it’s too advanced the student will be moved accordingly. They have expressed that only when a student passes a level do they move to the next level. “We don’t have any reason to let them [the children] pass without any success. We don’t have to cheat, we don’t have to let them pass just for passing. The parents won’t be happy [and] the children won’t be happy.”
Waleed tells me that top priority in the school curriculum is to teach the students to understand and speak Fusha Arabic language, and that it will be the main language of the school. “We don’t have Egyptian accent, we don’t have Libyan accent, we don’t have Morocco accent. We have the formal Arabic language that is our main language in the school. So students will have to talk to the teacher and each other in formal Fusha Arabic language.”
Waleed further explains that by teaching the children to understand the language, then they can pick up a Qur’an and begin reading and understanding. Also is the benefit of memorization. Their research shows that once a child understands what he/she is reading, when memorizing it they will retain it longer and be less likely to forget it.
One of the most interesting strategies I found in their curriculum is no homework! That is right, you read it correct, no homework. All of the student’s material for the classes will be provided at the school and stay at the school. “Like football … when you go home there is no field to practice on, ” Waleed gave an analogy. One reason for no homework is if the parents try and teach the children at home without the proper Arabic pronunciation and skills it can unteach the child what they learned in class ultimately hurting their progress and not helping it.
Since starting in March, along with the Islamic and Arabic school, the new board at Masjid An Nur has started:
… The Qur’an competition for adults 18 years and older where every other month the community holds a competition of a different surah
… Evening fun activities for the youth between maghrib and isha every Saturday and Sunday. The purpose of evening fun is to give the youth a place where they can enjoy themselves in an Islamic environment, along with a light lesson on Islamic principles and values.
The Islamic and Arabic courses started June 18th and Al Hamdu’lillah they currently already have 50 students. The tuition is $50 a month for Wednesday and Saturday classes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the summer. [When the public school year starts in August, the Wednesday class will change to 5 p.m.]
… To enroll your child in Islamic and Arabic studies or for more information, call (720) 288-0113.
… To keep up with Masjid An Nur activities, visit its website at www.DenverIslamicSociety.org , or visit the masjid at 2124 South Birch St., Denver, Co., 80222.
May Allah guide all those at Masjid An Nur and give them success and what is best for them in this world and the hereafter, Ameen.
Juraij (Greg) Horton is the Editor-in-Chief at FRM News. For more information you may contact him at:
editor@frmnews.net
