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East Cobb Islamic Center 1111 Braswell Rd. Marietta GA 30062
ec-ic.org
NEWSLETTER: February 2016 Assalamu Alaikum,
We hope and pray this newsletter finds you in the best of your conditions both physically and spiritually.
Here is an update on what has been happening at ECIC during this month.
What has been happening at ECIC in February? And what comes next?
Towards the end of January, ECIC invited its neighbors to an Open House. Positive feedback and
thank you letters from neighbors kept coming in the month of February. During this month, we turned our
attention to helping our neighbors in need by engaging in a series of charitable and community services
activities.
On the education front, we were fortunate to have had several knowledgeable speakers address
the community in Friday sermons and other lectures to enlighten us on some very important topics.
We have captured the gist of their messages in this newsletter.
Lastly, a lot has been happening in getting the cemetery project designed and permitted. Alham-
dulillah it has been a great month with a lot of progress. May Allah reward everyone who has con-
tributed to these efforts and may He guide us to do what pleases Him.
Participation in the Food Drive for The Atlanta
Community Food Bank to help the needy
ECIC Team is participating in Hunger Walk/
Run on March 13th and has been collecting
online donations to fight hunger
Made a commitment to increase the man-
power and financial contribution this year to
Habitat for Humanity to build a home for the
needy
Planning has begun to establish a Free Clinic
to serve the underserved: both Muslims and
non-Muslims.
ECIC served breakfast to the servicemen and women at Cobb
County Fire Station on Sewell Mill Rd to thank them for their ser-
vice to the community
Comments from our Visit a Mosque Attendees:
We received many thank you letters and notes from visitors, neighbors, and Muslims. We are sharing one
of these letters here:
New Donation Collection Kiosk
The new touch screen kiosk in the masjid lobby is oper-ational. Simply swipe your credit card and enter the do-nation amount.
The best donation is the one you give on a recurring ba-sis. You will have the option to select recurring monthly option.
Donation receipts for last year were sent out in January. If you have not received your donation receipt, please email [email protected].
ECIC has committed a larger financial contribu-
tion, as well as human resources this year to build
a Habitat for Humanity home.
Islamic School Program (ISP):
As spring semester continues, we have had many new
students join the ISP program. Alhamdulillah, we now
have about 70 students registered in this program.
We have also been fortunate to have several additional
community members who have stepped up to volun-
teer to teach at ISP.
We are pleased to participate in a joint effort
by many Muslim organizations in metro Atlanta
by contributing food donations to The Atlanta
Community Food Bank.
Help us in the fight against hunger by dropping
off non perishable food items in the drums at
the masjid by March 11th. You can also drop
off a check in the masjid sadaqa box with “food
drive” in the memo before March 5th and we
will purchase the items for you.
Thank you to the families who have already
donated.
ECIC’s team will also be participating in the
Hunger Walk / Run event on March 13th. The
money raised will be donated to helping our
neighbors in need. More than 1 in 4 Georgia
children now live in a home where hunger is a
regular worry.
Please join us in this charitable cause. If you
can’t join our team, donations on behalf of our
team are greatly appreciated. Hope to see you
there!
Showing
appreciation for Fire Station Service-
men and women
ECIC thanked the staff of the Cobb
County Fire Station (No. 20) for all their
hard work by serving them a warm
breakfast.
Keith Elrod, EMT, thanked ECIC for the
appreciation.
ECIC is evaluating the feasibility of starting a free clinic to serve the uninsured or under-
served Muslims and non-Muslims. The plan is to provide free laboratory work as well. We
are in the process of evaluating the space needs, equipment, medical records mainte-
nance, free professional liability insurance through Georgia Volunteer Health Care Program
of Department of Public Health, availability of medical professionals and volunteers to run
the clinic. If you are a healthcare professional and would like to volunteer, please contact
Br. Mugees Khan at [email protected] or Br. Maged Awad at [email protected]
Cemetery Update
Our engineers have been working hard to com-
plete the design and Alhamdulillah we are almost
there. We will be going through the permitting
process during the next few weeks and hope to
do the construction in the second quarter. In the
meantime, we are still collecting some of the
pledges. It is likely that the funds collected so far
will not be adequate to complete the construction.
Therefore we are seeking continued donations for
this cause.
Improving the business side of ECIC
Yes, the masjid also has a business side.
Collecting funds, paying bills, accounting, filing
taxes, renewing County and State licenses,
renewing insurance, managing vendors and
paid staff is all business. A lot of effort goes
into managing the business side behind the
scenes. We are working on making the busi-
ness side of masjid function more efficiently.
Programs in February
ECIC continued the Wednesday Qur’an halaqa in urdu by Dr. Anjum. Surah Hud was covered during most of the
weeks. Attention is devoted in this Surah to the history of the prophets, presenting their message as a continuous his-
torical process, and not as some isolated affair. It insists on the fact that the history of the prophets is governed by
laws, the study of which reveals the secrets of the rise and fall, the glorification and degradation of nations.
Also the weekly urdu halaqa on Thursday for sisters continued. They continued to study Surah Nisaa’.
Imam Sulaiman continued his daily hadith lesson after Fajr and Isha prayers.
Speakers and Messages:
Hafiz Mirza Krndic, from Islamic Center Nur, Lawrenceville, delivered the Friday Sermon on Feb 5th. His mes-
sage was to abstain from pride and arrogance. Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said: Never can the person who
possesses a speck of pride inside his heart enter Paradise
Hafiz Zakirullah’s sermon on Feb 12th included the importance of worship. He mentioned a prophetic hadith
which states that Dua’ (prayer) is the essence of worship. On the importance of being humble and patient, he
cited Surah Baqara (verses 45-46): And seek assistance through patience and prayer; and most surely it is a
hard thing, except for the humble ones , who know that they shall meet their Lord and that they shall
return to Him.
Get involved:
Please volunteer to help ECIC
to improve the programs we
offer and reap the rewards.
____________________
Contact Us
1111 Braswell Rd.
Marietta, GA 30062
(678)-528-1414
www.ec-ic.org
with your membership and monthly commitment. Forms are available on the website
Community News:
We’re excited to welcome Br. Amal Fawzi and his family to East Cobb. They have enrolled their children in ECIC
ISP program.
Also please join us in welcoming Br. Mohammed Alhajri and his family to East Cobb. He has moved from Dubai and
enrolled three of his children at ECIC ISP.
Alhamdulillah, our community is diverse and continues to grow.
Brother Shamikh Sahadat gave a relevant Khutbah on February 19th to
encourage us to to be obedient to Allah so that we may maintain the highest
status which Allah Has put us as humans. For if we do not obey Allah and
his Messenger (P.B.U.H), we will be worst than animals and will be cast into
the lowest level in the Hellfire. Allah the exalted said 'Verily We have creat-
ed man in the best form. Then We reduced him to the lowest of
low'(95:4-5), .
Imam Sulemana Alhassan's Friday sermon on Feb. 26th relayed a powerful
message to abstain from unfounded suspicion and give your brother/ sister
the benefit of the doubt. He reminded us of Allah's statement in the Holy
Quran: 'O those who believed, abstain from many of the suspicions. Some
suspicions are sins….’(49:12). We were also reminded of the Hadith in
Sahih Muslim where our beloved Prophet( P.B.U.H) said: "Beware of suspi-
cion, for suspicion is the falsest of speech....)”
Sr. Fatima Lette was invited to speak to our youth on Feb 13th. She spoke
about how young Muslims can maintain their Islamic values and identity
without compromising our religion while at the same time developing and
maintaining good relationships with friends.