Assalamu-Alaykum (Peace Be Upon You)
On behalf of Muslim Association of Puget Sound, I extend to all of you a very warm Eid Mubarak! TaqabaAllah Minna Wa Minkum. May Allah swt accept our fasting, prayers, charity, and duas from all of us!
I would like to address three significant topics: the Ramadan Fund-Raising Drive, 2024 Priorities, and Broader Community Engagement. Before delving into it, I encourage you to also take a moment to review our detailed 2023 report, available here, and to follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp) for the past events recap, latest updates, and announcements from MAPS.
Fund-Raising Drive
Alhamdulillah, with the Grace of Allah SWT, we are concluding a very successful fund-raising drive across our three campuses. Commencing with our annual banquet on March 2, 2024, in Redmond, followed by multiple events during Ramadan, I am thrilled to share that we have received pledges and donations totaling close to $2.2M over the past month. (MAPS Redmond: ~$1.56M, MAPS Seattle: ~$406K, and MAPS Snohomish County: ~ $179K). I request all of you to take part in building a community. If you have not yet had the opportunity to donate please do so here as much as you can afford, no matter how small. We have ambitious plans this year to meet the diverse needs of our growing community.
2024 Priorities
I have outlined the priorities MAPS will focus on in 2024 during various fund-raising events over the course of last month in all three campuses. I’d like to reiterate these priorities to ensure they remain at the forefront of our collective efforts:
1. Growth & Scale: Our aim is to expand our educational offerings, accommodate increased attendance, and diversify the range of programs we offer. Despite increasing the capacity of our Sunday School and youth seminary, we continue to experience high demand for our classes and religious services across all three campuses.
2. Youth & Young Professionals: With a renewed focus on serving the needs of our youth and young professionals, we have realigned our religious leadership in Redmond accordingly. Throughout the remainder of the year, we will concentrate on fostering a deeper understanding of Aqeedah, Quranic, and Hadith sciences to enhance the faith and spiritual connection of our younger members.
3. Institutionalization & Sustainability: This priority encompasses the ongoing process of institutionalizing MAPS across all aspects of our operations, along with investing in sustainability. We are reassessing our expenses in alignment with our priorities and exploring opportunities to bolster our Endowment program to secure the future of our community.
4. Facilities Modernization & Expansion: As evidenced by recent challenges with space constraints, we recognize the urgent need for modernization and expansion of our facilities. Neglecting investment now will only exacerbate the situation, particularly given the challenging real estate landscape in Redmond.
5. Community Culture & Excellence: With a community comprising over 7,000 families from 50+ countries, our focus is on fostering a vibrant community culture that celebrates diversity while upholding excellence and Islamic principles and discipline in all endeavors.
6. PNW Seminary: Our long-term goal is to establish an Islamic seminary for higher education for adults. We are developing a phased approach towards this goal, with concrete steps outlined in the education section below.
Community Engagement
The month of Ramadan was primarily a month reviving our connection with Allah swt first and then with our families and community. Fasting 30 days is a very personal affair between each soul and Allah swt. No one could tell or know if someone is fasting, only Allah swt knows and He alone rewards a fasting individual. Since, we have developed such a high sense of God consciousness after going through the entire month of ibada, we have to protect it and build upon it post-Ramadan. Secondly, we must build upon the friendship and people connection we revived in this holy month meeting every night.
What could be a better place to nurture both connections than our own masjid. I invite all of you to attend, engage, and take an active part in MAPS:
1. Religious: We are renewing our focus on increasing daily prayer attendance, daily Quranic reflections, and have rededicated our religious leadership to better serve our growing congregation. We are also continuing our monthly and quarterly national level guest speaker series. Additionally, MAPS Seattle is enhancing its offerings in Hifdh, Seerah, Tafsir, Fiqh workshops, convert care programs, and mentorship. MAPS Snohomish County is actively looking for an Imam and interviewing several candidate to help us lead all of our religious programs there.
2. Education: Our new head Imam Adam Jamal has provided areas of focus in the near term. In addition to all the ongoing classes, Precious Hearts School, Sunday School, sports classes, we are going to put more focus on the following in the short term:
- Quran program: Our Quran program is led by Qari Aslam, where students are learning and making great progress in Quran reading, understanding, and memorization. Some of the students have led Isha and Qiyam during Ramadan. They also recite each Thursday after Isha in the prayer hall. Enroll your kids and youth to benefit from Qari Aslam.
- Seminary: We are starting a pilot program this fall to offer quality Islamic education for adults and young adults on various topics by our Shyukh and also by visiting scholars. This pilot program will help lead our journey to establish our dream “Pacific Northwest Seminary” for higher Islamic studies in Redmond.
- Summer camps will be back this year with more offering and various programs. We hope to expand on the 17 camps that we offered last summer. This is a great opportunity for our kids to engage and form an attachment to the masjid, while building connections and learning skills.
- Pathway to Tech: We have secured a federal grant to sponsor 150 students to get retrain in IT and technology to help start their career journey in high tech. We are partnering with Skillspire, an organization committed to providing educational opportunities for underserved communities, where these 150 students will get trained free of charge. Please look for announcement on the application process.
3. Humanitarian Services: Our humanitarian services are led by MAPS-MCRC, where we continue to provide food and monetary assistance, housing support, medical/dental/legal clinics, seniors care, etc. MAPS-MCRC services are extended into the MAPS-Seattle campus with a special emphasis on providing financial and food services to people in need in the downtown area. This is another great way to engage with MAPS and help increase our impact by taking care of people in the broader community going through a tough phase in life.
4. Outreach: In the past few months, we had number of events including an Interfaith Iftaar inviting many elected officials, interfaith partners, school administrators, principals, and teachers. Furthermore, MAPS put an 8-foot-tall crescent in Kirkland and organized various activities with the libraries in multiple east side cities. We are looking for dedicated people to help push this outreach bigger for next year. We are already thinking about two public activities in downtown Kirkland that would require a lot of support. Reach out to us if this is something you are passionate about
5. Youth: This unstoppable engine has an extensive set of programs every quarter for the 13- to 18-year-olds in our community to help build their strong Muslim identity, addressing burning questions top of their minds, while nurturing social connections. Alhumdullillah, as you saw during taraweeh every night, our youths are very much present in the masjid and taking active part. I invite all of the parents to start bringing them to the masjid at an earlier age.
6. Social Events: We have been consistently having monthly potlucks, summer picnics, and even started a family camp last year to bring people together. We highly encourage you all to take part in these social events to help form new connections and enhance community bonding.
7. Small Business Network: We have an extensive small business owners’ network. Last year, over 500 small businesses/owners benefited from various events at MAPS, including networking, classes on taxes, IT, marketing, etc. If you’re a small business owner, do connect with our network to help grow your businesses.
8. Muhsen: MAPS has been working with the Muhsen organization to provide a range of programs and services to improve the experience within our facility and engender positive communities for those with disabilities and their caregivers.
In summary, call to action are as follows:
- Donate here, as much as you can afford – no matter how small, but be part of building and developing a community.
- Attend, engage, and help shape up activities, programs, and classes
- Volunteer in any area you’re passionate about, sign up here
We will Insha-Allah provide more updates on these programs via our newsletter and social media channels. Exciting times lie ahead for MAPS and our community, and I am grateful for your continued support as we work together to build a strong legacy. May Allah SWT bless us all abundantly. Additionally, let us not forget our brothers and sisters in Gaza, Palestine, Sudan, and around the world who are facing immense challenges. A heartbreaking genocide and ethnic cleansing are unfolding in Gaza with live streams on social media. May Allah swt alleviate their sufferings, prevent starvation and famine, and grant our leaders the moral courage to put an end to this humanitarian crisis.
Wassalam,
Mohammad Vakil
MAPS Board President