Here is a little karkuzari (account) of our recent khuruj to Syracuse. I know there is nothing much to be told actually from just a weekend's outing. But since this is my last year here in the US, I thought it would be great to capture as much memories as I can for me to look back on in the future. We had a good number of brothers this time, mostly high school students. Alhamdulillah..the management and the community there are growing more and more supportive of this effort. In fact, the Imam himself was exclusively addressing the importance of da'wah in his lectures throughout our stay, as a sign of support to our coming I believe. In one of his lectures he mentioned that by striving in da'wah, Allah swt will give us the correct understanding of our 'ilm (knowledge) and that He will correct our 'amal. By calling people towards good and forbid them from evil, we are actually encouraging ourselves to practice on our knowledge of Deen. In da'wah, we benefit ourselves before we benefit others..and even if we don't benefit others, we'll still get the benefits for ourselves.
During jaulah (visitation) on Saturday, we went out in two groups to see the local brothers around the area. Br. Tabreez, Ahmed, and I went to a Bosnian community about five minutes drive from the masjid. The other group, led by 'amir sab (Br. Intikhab) visited a Somalian community also not far from there. Br. Tabreez is a Bangladeshi brother who just moved to Syracuse from Los Angeles due to a change in workplace. He can speak a little Malay and knows a lot of places in Malaysia. He used to live in Brunei for a long time, and once went for 40 days in Malaysia. He said that his daughter used to be very good in Malay, so much so that she was getting better grades in Bahasa Melayu than the Malay kids in her class. And the people could not even tell her apart from the other Malay kids because of her flawless Malay. Wow..that is really something, isn't it? But unfortunately, she has forgotten everything about Malay now. Too bad..I was just thinking if I could..oops, never mind. ^^ But seriously, what a waste, kan?
Okay..as we were talking about how we were going to find any Muslims in the area, a passer-by greeted, "Assalamu'alaikum." We looked at each other in surprise. Subhanallah, problem solved! So we talked to the brother for a few minutes, and then went over to a group of Bosnian kids who were playing soccer there. They stopped playing and listened to us attentively. They are good kids. May Allah give hidayah to them, their parents, and the entire community there..ameen. I remember coming here for the first time about one and a half years ago, that's when I saw a Muslim brother drinking alcohol right before my eyes, despite realizing that it's haram. I can still remember his words; "Sorry brother, it's not the right time..I'm drinking alcohol here." It really affected me back then to see such a condition with my own eyes. That was only one case that I got to see, there are definitely more other Muslims out there who are on the verge of losing their iman, and we are not even aware of it. Towards the end of our stay, 'Amir sab briefed some local youngsters on how to start ta'alim in the masjid, and told them how important it is to go meet the other Muslim brothers and invite them to the masjid.
Syish, a Bangladeshi student who also goes to RIT went with us this time. Now, there's something interesting about this guy. He used to live in Malaysia for more than 10 years, and went to school there. I believe his dad was teaching at some college at that time. It's kinda hard to believe that, throughout the 10 years, he did not learn any Malay at all, except for "Apa khabar," "Nasi Lemak," "Tom Yam," and a couple more words associated with food. It's because he actually went to an international school in which no Malay was spoken. Subhanallah..if he would've gone to a public school back then, I would be talking Malay with him right now. I told him how much I was disappointed with him. The next time you come to Malaysia, *perhaps for my wedding* I'm gonna make you learn Malay in 10 days. He was telling me his experience of travelling around Malaysia as a kid; now I was listening to his stories as though I was a foreign tourist who wanted to find out more about Malaysia. He actually knows more than I do, about my own country?! *oh, I so wanna go travel around Malaysia right now*
Alhamdulillah..we had a lot of fun, as we always do. The kids made intention to spend 10 days in this coming winter break. It is likely that we are going to Chicago again this time, considering that we received a special invitation from Br. Kamran. Mael and Wae have been to Chicago twice already..hoho..they must be looking forward to going somewhere else this time around. *Sorry guys, you'll have to go with what 'amir sab decides* The last thing..there is going to be a halaqah mesyuarah on this December 4th at Islamic Center of Rochester (ICR), from Zuhr till Isya', in which brothers from the different cities within Buffalo halaqah get together to present the karkuzaris of da'wah from their respective areas. This is the very first time that ICR is hosting the event; all this while it's always been done at Buffalo markaz (center) masjid. Hopefully everything will go in a smooth flow. And..Br. Irfan is back from India. We'll see him tonight insyaAllah. ^^
p/s: We RITans are on a one-week break now. Happy holidays people!
