Islamic Center of the

Assalamu alaikum (peace be upon you)

Welcome

Welcome to the Islamic Center of the South Plains in Lubbock, Texas.

This website is to communicate to you the news relating to our Muslim community of Lubbock, and some useful information on Islamic faith and culture.

Our community is composed of few hundreds of Muslim professionals and students from the US and other countries around the world.  It is the kind of nice, harmonious and active community you would like to live  with and raise your children within.

Our website will, insha'Allah, provide you with information about the schedule of worship , education and social activities at the Islamic Center of South Plains, and other activities of the community groups, such as the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at Texas Tech University. We hope that you will find our website instructive and helpful.  

 

Preparing for the Month of Mercy

Maryam Amir-Ebrahimi

A lot of us yearn to prepare for Ramadan, but we have no idea how to start. Below are a few tips to insha'Allah (Allah willing) help prepare our minds and hearts for this upcoming Month of Mercy.

Make the Intention

Simple to do, with a powerful impact. Maybe you want to prepare for Ramadan, but between school, work, family, and your other activities, you just have no idea how to fit in 'prepare for Ramadan' time. Instead of separating 'prepare for Ramadan' from your daily activities, make your daily activities a MEANS of preparation for Ramadan. For example, perhaps your mom asked you to pick up your brother from school on the day you finally had time to read a few extra pages of Qur'an. Instead of feeling upset as if you have lost a great opportunity to prepare for Ramadan, make the intention that you are picking up your brother to please Allah and prepare for Ramadan by obeying your mother, helping your family members, building ties of kinship...and the list continues. The point is that preparing for Ramadan does not have to be some magnificent, enormous, extra-special thing that needs to be done at a certain time of the day. Many of your daily actions can be turned into Ramadan preparation actions with a sincere intention insha'Allah.

Do these Easy-to-Reap-Reward Actions

Ask Allah to forgive your brothers and sisters. "Whoever seeks forgiveness for believing men and believing women, Allah will write for him a good deed for each believing man and believing woman." [at-Tabarani, classed as hasan by al-Albani] It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah radi allahu `anhu (may Allah be pleased with him) said "The Messenger of Allah said: 'Whoever says subhan Allah wa bi hamdih (praise and glory be to Allah) 100 times, morning and evening, his sins will be erased even if they are like the foam on the sea." [Bukhari, Muslim] If a person says, "Subhan Allah (glory be to Allah)," 100 times, a thousand good deeds are recorded for him and a thousand bad deeds are wiped away. [Muslim 2073] Remember Allah when you go shopping. "Whoever enters a market and says: "Laa ilaha illallah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu yuhyi wa yumeetu wa huwa hayyun laa yamoot, bi yadihil khair, wa huwa 'ala kulli shayin qadeer." [There is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, alone without partner, to Him belongs dominion and praise; He causes life and death and He is the Living and does not die; in His Hand is all the good, and He is over all things competent] Allah will write for them a million good deeds and erase a million bad deeds and raise him a million levels."[at-Tirmidhi, classed as hasan by al-Albani]

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I'm Too Busy

A poem by Khalid Mahmood

Islamicity

Everyday as I wake up at dawn

My mind start working the moment I yawn

There were many things to do, o dear!

That's why I hastily did my Subuh prayer

I didn't have the time to sit longer to praise the Lord

To me rushing out after prayer is nothing odd...

Since school, I had been busy every minute

Completing my tutorials and handing it in

My ECAs took up most of my time always

No time did I have to Allah to pray

Too many things to do and zikir is rare

For Allah, I really had no time to spare..

When I grew up and started my career

Working all day to secure my future

When I reached home, I preferred to have fun

I chatted on the phone but I didn't read the Quran

I spent too much time surfing the Internet

Sad to say, my faith was falling flat...

The only time I have left is weekends

During which I prefer window shopping with friends

I couldn't spare time to go to the mosque

I'm too busy, that's the BIG EXCUSE...

I did my five prayers but did so quickly

After prayer, I didn't sit longer to reflect quietly

I didn't have time to help the needy ones

I was loaded with work as my precious time runs

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Pioneer Muslim Physicians

David W. Tschanz

Saudi Aramco World

In 1120, a Muslim doctor was on his way to see his patient, the Almoravid ruler of Seville. By the side of the road he saw an emaciated man holding a water jug. The man's belly was swollen, and he was in obvious distress. "Are you sick?" the doctor asked. The man nodded. "What have you been eating?" "Only a few crusts of bread and the water from this jug." "Bread won't hurt you," said the doctor. "It could be the water. Where are you getting it?" "From the well in town." The doctor pondered a moment. "The well is clean. It must be the jug. Break it and find a new one." "I can't," whined the man, "This is my only jug." "And that thing bulging out there," replied the doctor, pointing to the man's midsection, "is your only stomach. It is easier to find a new jug than a new stomach." The man continued to protest, but one of the doctor's servants picked up a stone and smashed the jug. A dead frog spilled out with the foul water. "My friend," the doctor said to the patient, "look what you have been drinking. That frog would have taken you with him. Here, take this coin and go buy a new jug." When the doctor passed by a few days later, he saw the same man sitting by the side of the road. His stomach had shrunk, he had gained weight, and his color was back. Seeing the doctor, the man heaped praise on him. (-attributed to Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, 13th century)

While this demonstration of clear reasoning was taking place in Muslim Spain, medical practice in Christian Europe, hobbled by a mindset that would have seen the doctor's work as a challenge to divine will, offered the sick little more than prayers and comfort, rather than medicine or treatments. In the East, the spread of Islam, beginning in the seventh century CE., sparked the assimilation of existing knowledge and its development in all branches of learning, including medicine.

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