Our New Beginnings - MECCA fundraising dinner

1 Bekeken· 22/12/03

MECCA Media
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Our New Beginnings - MECCA

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Transcript

[0:00]have a loud Muhammad Muhammad if we can please settle down we're

[0:14]going to start our program now second salawat For the Love of

[0:20]Muhammad and third salawat in your loudest voices for the love and

[0:35]the hastening of the reappearance of the Imam of our time Muhammad

[0:40][Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen friends and family respected Scholars and

[0:58]supporting businesses welcome to the first annual fundraising dinner of Muslim education

[1:09]Community Center of America my name is yusra Xiao I have the

[1:13]privilege of serving as the Director of city of knowledge weekend Islamic

[1:21]school at Mecca and it is my great honor to serve as

[1:23]the Master of Ceremonies tonight tonight is an evening of Celebration and

[1:30]vision celebrating what we have accomplished as a community and envisioning the

[1:41]future that we can create together it's been less than seven it's

[1:45]been less than one year since the Inception of Mecca and tonight

[1:49]by the grace of Allah we are gathered here in the fraternity

[1:52]of 700 supporting friends and Families and for your endless support we

[2:00]say thank you our special thanks to our platinum gold and silver

[2:06]sponsors and individuals who have supported tonight's event with buying a table

[2:12]their names are appearing on the screens of the PowerPoint and are

[2:15]also on your calendars at the table our Platinum sponsors are Hajj

[2:22]Khalil and Hajj musla facade of papaya fruit market the Saleh family

[2:27]of Albert's Home Furniture Dr Aziza Askari and her team from Dearborn

[2:32]Family Smiles Comfort Dental Spa and Livonia Family Smiles also thank you

[2:38]to all the local businesses who have supported Mecca and their religious

[2:43]and non-profit organizations who are here with us today please note their

[2:47]names on the screens and also on your calendars we have an

[2:52]exciting event planned for you tonight with special presentations raffle baskets and

[2:56]a live auction at the end of the dinner so without further

[3:02]Ado let us begin tonight's celebrations with the recitation of the Holy

[3:08]Quran for which I would like to invite upon stage and sister

[3:14]fatim Assad and your loudest of falawat okay I will let you

[3:43]in a shame born [Music] team um [Music] [Music] really really come

[4:29]and then you have Adventures and to have to happen along [Music]

[5:29][Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my name [Music] [Music] foreign

[7:00][Music] [Music] [Music] anyone ever [Music] lose [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music]

[8:33]foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] in the name of Allah the

[9:52]most gracious the most merciful the example of those who spend their

[9:55]wealth in the cause of Allah is that of a grain that

[10:00]Sprouts into seven ears each bearing 100 grains and Allah multiplies the

[10:04]reward even more to whoever he Wills for Allah is all Bountiful

[10:09]all-knowing those who spend their wealth in the cause of Allah and

[10:12]do not follow their charity with reminders of their generosity or hurtful

[10:17]words they will get their reward from their lord and there will

[10:20]be no fear for them nor will they grieve kind words and

[10:25]forgiveness are better than charity followed by an injury and Allah is

[10:30]self-sufficient most forbearing all believers do not waste your charity with reminders

[10:35]of your generosity or hurtful words like those who donate their wealth

[10:39]just to show off and do not believe in Allah or the

[10:43]last day their example is that of a hard Barren Rock covered

[10:46]with a thin layer of soil hit by a strong rain leaving

[10:49]it just the bare Stone such people are unable to preserve the

[10:54]reward of their charity Allah does not guide such disbelieving people an

[10:59]example of those who donate their wealth seeking Allah's pleasure and believing

[11:04]the reward is certain is that of a garden on a fertile

[11:09]Hill when heavy rain falls it yields up twice its normal produce

[11:11]if no heavy rain falls a drizzle is sufficient and Allah is

[11:17]all seeing of what you do Muhammad thank you Hajj Majid and

[11:40]sister Fatima for that beautiful recitation before we move further with tonight's

[11:44]event I would like to bring your attention to a few announcements

[11:50]first there is a raffle table in the back with beautiful baskets

[11:53]and the items in there are things like cosmetic and hijab kit

[11:56]studying kit for students at night Halal date night kit and so

[12:03]for that please participate in the raffle and all proceeds for that

[12:08]will go towards Mecca there will also be a live auction at

[12:14]the end of the dinner for two beautiful paintings or frames one

[12:21]is for ziara of sayada zainab on her auspicious occasion so please

[12:26]check them out once they display the frames and please be here

[12:30]for the live auction Insha'Allah and then lastly there are donation forms

[12:34]and envelopes on your tables so please fill them out generously throughout

[12:40]the night and hand them to John and Dr Wissam as you

[12:45]and they will be coming around to collect those next we have

[12:50]a very special presentation from the students of city of knowledge weekend

[12:55]Islamic school at Mecca right after the Inception of Mecca parents started

[13:03]pouring in requests to have a weekend school close and local to

[13:07]serve our children and youth within six weeks of preparation from our

[13:13]teachers and administration we were able to launch our own weekend school

[13:20]which currently serves 80 students encompassing a curriculum with Islamic Studies Quran

[13:26]history and Salah and so our next special presentation from our youth

[13:32]is called our 12 imams please welcome these students on stage in

[13:40]your loudest of salawat [Music] look at myself [Music] [Music] [Music] every

[14:56]time [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] I wanna get ready [Music] [Music]

[16:28][Music] his husband [Music] [Music] [Music] good healthy foreign [Music] [Music] [Music]

[17:38][Music] let's raise our hands Muhammad second for the reappearance of the

[18:13]Imam of our time [Music] when you're ready [Music] it has said

[19:04][Music] yes [Music] [Music] hello honey Muhammad let's put a round of

[20:08]applause for the encouragement of these beautiful young Souls party yeah our

[20:44]teachers students parents put tireless effort in preparing this presentation and we

[20:50]are very proud alhamdulillah that as a weekend school we are able

[20:54]to provide a thriving environment for them next I would like to

[21:01]welcome onstage Dr nawidraza to introduce Mecca board and to give a

[21:07]formal welcome Dr Raza serves as the chairman of Mecca he is

[21:11]an associate professor of otolaryngology focusing his practice in head and neck

[21:17]cancers at Karmanos Cancer Institute Wayne State University he is the former

[21:22]chair of Karmanos Cancer Center's Ethics Committee and current program director for

[21:27]head and neck surgery at Wayne State University Dr Raza is also

[21:32]the founding member of several Islamic organizations such as takalane Muslim Association

[21:37]the Muslim Medical Association of Canada and the itna ashari Heritage learning

[21:44]Institute so please welcome with a round of applause Dr noid Raza

[21:56]assalamualaikum what an honor and a blessing it is for me to

[22:03]be here in front of you all to welcome you to our

[22:09]first annual dinner and to this new beginning I've been blessed to

[22:14]be part of the board and to help chair this board and

[22:17]work with really talented individuals I'd like to introduce them to you

[22:25]and welcome you all on their behalf and I've asked for them

[22:27]to kind of identify themselves as I named them so that as

[22:33]you have questions or if you'd like to speak to them about

[22:35]any programs or anything that we're doing they would be the individuals

[22:39]to address first of course is our the spiritual leader of the

[22:45]Muslim educational Community Center of America we have brother Hassan baidoon whether

[22:57]Hassan right over there uh Dr Wissam hamud was Dr Wissam the

[23:06]brother masam somji right over here Dr Aziza Askari there she is

[23:17]and brother Tarak Bazi right here so it's been an honor to

[23:26]work with you all but outside of this board I mean just

[23:28]this dinner alone would not have been possible with countless people has

[23:32]put countless hours putting this together with an incredible team I'd like

[23:39]to personally thank you on behalf of the board and everyone at

[23:42]Makkah for everything you've done here um so can we please recite

[23:48]the loud salawat but most of all the person the those I'd

[23:57]like to thank the most are all of you because this would

[24:02]not be possible without all of your support and all of you

[24:05]coming out here to share in our happiness and in this new

[24:13]beginning you know we often refer to Mecca or I often refer

[24:15]to Mecca as a family it has a very family feel to

[24:20]it it's a Grassroots kind of organization and we started off really

[24:24]trying to build a community and this can only happen with community

[24:28]members such as yourselves in addition we have had the pleasure of

[24:40]Hosting not just many individuals in the community but many businesses and

[24:45]organizations be they charity organization's Islamic organizations and we consider you our

[24:55]extended family your success is our success inshallah we can share in

[25:00]our growth together towards a common vision and goal towards serving Allah

[25:05]and uh through the guidance of our holy prophet say um it's

[25:17]also no coincidence that Allah has brought us together so I'd like

[25:26]to share this with you and we have a small video to

[25:30]share with you to kind of share what our humble's beginning our

[25:34]humble beginnings were like insha Allah we can grow together so with

[25:39]that please turn to the screens and we can look at the

[25:43]videos salawat [Music] [Music] the story of Mecca began when several concerned

[26:09]parents reached out to me expressing the need for a community center

[26:14]for the followers of the albat in the Canton and surrounding areas

[26:22]so we called for a meeting Gathering several families in this area

[26:28]to see what are the potential prospects of having a community center

[26:31]here for me it started with a phone call from say it's

[26:36]Allah and you know the the ideas started to flow about what

[26:41]do you think of a an opportunity to to bring something to

[26:43]the Canton area I was just very excited about the opportunity it's

[26:46]been something that we've talked about at least in my family since

[26:52]1998 when we moved to Canton it's just you know we've been

[26:55]harping on hey we need something here for us we had a

[27:00]positive productive meeting and we discussed the needs and the concerns of

[27:03]the families and there was a lot of excitement and interest So

[27:07]based on the reaction that we saw we put our trust in

[27:11]God and we started Mecca Mecca means exactly what it stands for

[27:18]it's a Muslim educational Community Center it's a place where people of

[27:26]diversity queue up the video perhaps we can revisit it at the

[27:35]end of the event at this point I would like to invite

[27:39]upon stage the guest speaker for tonight attorney Abid ayyu serves as

[27:45]the national executive director of the American Arab anti-discrimination committee the country's

[27:52]largest Arab American civil rights organization under his leadership ADC has supported

[27:57]thousands of legal cases pro bono he is a graduate of the

[28:04]University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and has worked throughout his

[28:08]career focusing on issues affecting Muslims in the United States he is

[28:13]committed to ensuring access to social justice for all and is a

[28:19]regular media commentator advocating on behalf of his community Mecca would like

[28:23]to say a special thank you to Mr Abid Ayub for his

[28:29]time and expertise in developing Mecca's bylaws so please help me welcome

[28:34]on stage with a loud Round of Applause attorney Abid Ayub salaam

[28:46]alaikum can we get a silhouette please if the video comes back

[28:56]on just let me know I'll cut my remarks but I'll try

[29:00]to make up some time you're missing from it but thank you

[29:02]thank you for having me here with you thank you for uh

[29:06]thank you to the mecca team for all you're doing and putting

[29:08]this great event together in this great program together and thank you

[29:12]say it for the work you're doing as well uh without the

[29:17]team at Mecca without this great initiative that's a great program we

[29:20]wouldn't be gathered here uh this evening and it's always good uh

[29:28]it's always good for me to be home or at least close

[29:31]to home because home is Dearborn and this is a bit further

[29:34]uh than I like but we're we're okay with it um but

[29:38]no in all seriousness when I do travel to Michigan I bring

[29:41]my passport so when I have to visit my sister and her

[29:43]husband and my kids my nieces and nephews in Canton I'm able

[29:48]to get there so thank you for that I'm glad to be

[29:52]out here but look there is no doubt that our community is

[29:54]growing and expanding to uh New Frontiers and new areas and new

[30:01]cities we are leaving the uh areas we're used to and putting

[30:03]leaving our Mark uh in other cities and that's important that we

[30:08]are providing I think the video feed is we're good all right

[30:15]but you are providing an essential need an essential service to the

[30:20]community and the fact that the community in Canton is growing is

[30:24]a great thing and that's why this project and this program is

[30:29]important I was asked to focus tonight on my remarks uh and

[30:33]experiences in my journey of how I got to where I am

[30:36]I don't have enough time to talk about everything um some of

[30:41]the things that I could talk about will probably get me in

[30:45]trouble with my dad was at the table so we'll skip over

[30:47]all of that but what we're going to do is we're going

[30:49]to focus on a period of my life which we're very transformative

[30:54]and a period where it led me to who I am today

[30:56]helping my professional career and help me personally in that period of

[31:01]time or the years in the late 90s early 2000s that I

[31:03]spent with the yma or the young Muslim Association just by a

[31:08]lot clap your hands or raise your hands if you were part

[31:12]of the yma when you were younger just right I mean that

[31:16]was a that was kind of like the Golden Era of Muslim

[31:19]organizations in Dearborn and with something and it's something we have to

[31:22]carry uh forward with us but that period of time provided a

[31:27]unique opportunity to not only grow spiritually but also have to build

[31:31]relationships with many people and develop skills that helped me and carry

[31:35]myself professionally and personally we can't State enough how important that program

[31:40]was and how important a lot of these youth programs are and

[31:44]it's great to see many of these young Muslims in this room

[31:47]tonight as parents the ones that were at the yma now bringing

[31:49]their children here I think that's a great thing to say can

[31:53]we get a salawat please and can we do it one more

[32:02]time please I still hear a little little talking can we go

[32:11]one more time a little louder I promise I won't be boring

[32:21]and I won't be long and we'll be able to chat uh

[32:23]over dinner but we are here for a good cause and to

[32:26]do what we can to help this uh organization grow and flourish

[32:31]here's a reality here's a harsh reality I had a uh my

[32:36]speech scripted and things that I wanted to say about growing up

[32:39]about the journey and about spending time with folks in these youth

[32:43]groups right and that was a great time in the early 90s

[32:46]and 2000s but the harsh reality is this we're not in the

[32:48]late 90s and early 2000s anymore there's a lot of issues young

[32:54]Muslims particularly young Muslims in this room uh that are facing they're

[32:58]growing up in a country which doesn't favorably view them and that's

[33:02]a fact Muslims in this country are not favorably viewed this is

[33:04]the first generation where they're feeling the brunt of that and on

[33:09]top of growing up with the issues around religion and growing up

[33:12]as you know someone different or somebody that's maybe being bullied they're

[33:16]growing up on issues we didn't face when we were younger um

[33:19]drug abuse depression screen addiction other types of addiction the sexual things

[33:27]that are out there in the public and a whole different narrative

[33:31]in this country now which is compiling on top of the issues

[33:35]your children are facing so it is difficult and we do have

[33:39]these challenges but unfortunately what I've noticed through my work is and

[33:43]this is not unique to the Muslim Community this is unique to

[33:46]our religious communities a lot of religious centers a lot of Institutions

[33:50]have not adequately addressed the needs of Youth in the in the

[33:53]needs of different uh community members and this is what's leading into

[33:57]a lot of issues we're seeing but this is what's so unique

[34:00]about this program about Mecca and from what I've seen what Sayed

[34:02]is doing what the team is doing they're providing a service they're

[34:05]providing something that is that I have not seen in a long

[34:10]time and it's very important we support them and we bring them

[34:14]in I know maybe this can I get a salawat please I'm

[34:23]deaf in one ear so if I can't hear myself talk then

[34:27]it's a problem um look over the past few months in this

[34:31]election season there's been a lot of debate on different issues particularly

[34:34]around Dearborn around books um sex education curriculums what's being said in

[34:41]schools what's being taught in schools and I swear to the only

[34:43]thing I could think to myself when this debates were happening where

[34:48]our kids are our kids even going into these libraries are our

[34:50]kids even checking out books what are our children doing what are

[34:53]what are these young Muslims doing and how are we protecting them

[34:58]from what's out there and we don't as Muslims need to rely

[35:05]or depend on any public institution or any school or any government

[35:08]to raise our children or to put morals in our children and

[35:10]if you're depending on the government to raise your children put morals

[35:13]in your children keep them away from this material then you're going

[35:17]to have a problem when they're older we can guarantee that but

[35:19]it's up to you and it's up to centers like this it's

[35:23]up to this Mecca project to give you the tools you need

[35:25]and to provide the community a service that's needed you're not going

[35:27]to get this service in public schools and you're not going to

[35:31]get this service anywhere else and it's again it's very important that

[35:37]we do do donate and it's important that your children are brought

[35:40]up in a at a time and this what Mecca will provide

[35:44]is an opportunity to learn to critically think and then not to

[35:48]fall into the labels that are put out there as a progressive

[35:49]or conservative or get caught up in that debate it's time to

[35:53]just remind them that they're Muslims and teach them their religion and

[35:56]give them the tools they need to succeed uh in the real

[36:01]world but there is a lot more I could talk about and

[36:03]there's a lot that we're facing and a lot we're doing but

[36:06]again I want to encourage you all to please support the program

[36:10]there are these cards on your tables if everybody sees them can

[36:15]we get a salawat please another one and one more thank you

[36:37]there's these cars on on your table I was told nobody told

[36:42]me to do this I'm doing this on my own please through

[36:45]the evening if you can just pick them up donate write a

[36:48]check scan a little QR code in the corner and make a

[36:53]donation to this program I can assure you particularly for those that

[36:56]live in can or the Canton area this is a very important

[37:00]program the services it's going to offer are not going to be

[37:02]offered by again by any public institution any public school or anybody

[37:06]out there it's going to be on you to support these types

[37:09]of programs to support this community and establish something that is going

[37:13]to not just provide a service but it's going to invest in

[37:15]your kids future so this is an opportunity this is a great

[37:20]gathering tonight hopefully it's the first of many there are a lot

[37:23]of issues we're facing but I think together as a strong Community

[37:26]as one Community we can overcome these so with that I you

[37:31]know finished my remarks say thank you for all you're doing again

[37:36]everybody can we get one more silhouette before I go down and

[37:42]please pick up the the cards scan the QR codes and thank

[37:47]you so much thank you Mr you for all the work that

[37:58]you do for the community and for supporting Mecca I am told

[38:02]that the video is now ready to queue so if you all

[38:07]are ready to give it another shot can you get a can

[38:11]I get a loud round of flightawat please foreign [Music] the story

[38:25]of Mecca began when several concerned parents reached out to me expressing

[38:29]the need for a community center for the followers of the El

[38:32]debate in the Canton and surrounding areas so we called for a

[38:40]meeting Gathering several families in this area to see what are the

[38:45]potential prospects of having a community center here for me it started

[38:48]with a phone call from say it's Allah and you know the

[38:52]the ideas started to flow about what do you think of a

[38:56]an opportunity to to bring something to the Canton area I was

[38:59]just very excited about the opportunity it's been something that we've talked

[39:03]about our next speaker our next speaker is where is in need

[39:11]of no introduction is the founding spiritual leader of Mecca he attended

[39:17]the Islamic Seminary of khom received a bachelor's degree in sociology from

[39:23]University of Michigan and a master's degree in near Eastern studies from

[39:28]Wayne State University has spent the last 10 years serving the communities

[39:33]of Madison Heights and Toledo and also speaking internationally he is also

[39:39]an instructor at the al-hajja Islamic Seminary and is passionate about mentoring

[39:43]the youth and serving the community at large so please welcome on

[39:47]stage in your loudest of followers all right once again respected brothers

[40:39]and sisters Scholars guests community members thank you all for joining us

[40:46]and joining the first Mecca fundraising dinner I thank you all from

[40:54]the bottom of my heart for being here for showing your support

[40:57]for dealing with the tech issues that we're having and I was

[41:03]really hoping we could see this because there was a lot of

[41:07]work put into that and inshallah maybe it will work after anyways

[41:13]the most valuable thing that we all hold my dear brothers and

[41:20]sisters is not our wealth it's not the money it's not the

[41:26]cars it's not the houses the most valuable thing for every single

[41:30]individual is your faith and your values and a Hadith from Imam

[41:40]where in the tafsir of this verse on the day of judgment

[41:48]you're going to be asked about the blessings of Allah upon you

[41:54]some of the companions of Imam Assad that they said were going

[41:59]to be asked about the food that we're eating we're going to

[42:01]be asked about the house that we have we're going to be

[42:06]asked about the belongings that we own the Imam alaihissalam he replied

[42:11]he said Allah is much more generous to give a person food

[42:16]and then ask them for that food Allah has much more generous

[42:22]to give a person a home and then tell the person thank

[42:25]me for the home so they asked the Imam then what will

[42:28]Allah ask us about he says the Imam replied Allah will ask

[42:36]you about your faith Allah will ask you about the Quran Allah

[42:39]will ask you about rasulullah in his holy household how important how

[42:47]much priority did you give to your faith did you give to

[42:52]your religion this is what we will be asked about my dear

[42:55]brothers and sisters this is the most important investment in life this

[42:58]is the most important valuable thing that we will all be questioned

[43:03]about and as our dear attorney Abed Ayub who has worked so

[43:15]hard with us in establishing Makkah and helping set up the bylaws

[43:19]and doing all of the paperwork as he mentioned earlier the challenges

[43:24]that we are facing right now as a Muslim Community are very

[43:30]different from the challenges of before today we find an attack on

[43:38]religion today we find it very difficult to hold on to our

[43:42]values he says a time will come for people that the person

[43:56]who's holding on to their faith it will be as difficult as

[44:01]a person holding on to a burning charcoal and my dear brothers

[44:06]and sisters we feel that right now maybe I could practice my

[44:09]faith maybe I could pray I don't see a problem praying but

[44:14]can I guarantee future Generations can I guarantee that my children and

[44:19]my grandchildren will have this faith no my dear brothers and sisters

[44:26]this is why we should not take our religion we should not

[44:29]take our Islamic centers we should not take our values and teachings

[44:33]for granted there is no guarantee whatsoever that this same teachings that

[44:38]we have right now will be available the Next Generation and generation

[44:44]down the only thing is if we do something about it we

[44:50]have to sow the seed we have to plant the seeds my

[44:51]dear brothers and sisters here we are in the close proximity to

[44:56]the Dearborn community the roots of the Dearborn community did not start

[45:01]last year or 10 years ago they started a hundred years ago

[45:06]because of individuals because of people that prioritize their faith they came

[45:12]here and they laid down the foundations of Islamic community and this

[45:16]is why we are lucky this is why we are lucky to

[45:21]be able to practice our faith but there's no guarantee that this

[45:26]will last this there's no guarantee that this will continue the challenges

[45:30]that Muslims face today are very different the challenges that we're seeing

[45:35]today are much different from the challenges the Muslims saw 20 years

[45:40]ago and 30 years ago because the way they're coming at the

[45:45]children and the way they're coming at your faith they're being very

[45:52]creative and you have to be also very creative in Defending Your

[45:54]Faith and defending your values and my dear brothers and sisters when

[46:02]we started Mecca this is what we had in mind we wanted

[46:05]to be creative we wanted to do things differently we wanted to

[46:09]focus on the younger generation we wanted to focus on the american-born

[46:14]generation and give them a chance to learn about the religion of

[46:22]Islam and be comfortable as Muslims not just practicing not just praying

[46:29]learning about your faith and be comfortable when you go to the

[46:33]Masjid when you go to the community center let that be your

[46:35]safe space be comfortable be proud of who you are be proud

[46:42]of your religion and this is something that we need to pass

[46:46]on to the Future Generations my dear brothers and sisters when we

[46:50]started Makkah alhamdulillah we started it in a community that did not

[46:57]have a Islamic Center in Canton serving the community in Canton and

[47:03]Plymouth and Northville and the surrounding areas and what we saw is

[47:08]that we did not just create and help set up a mosque

[47:12]but we created a community we brought people together there were people

[47:17]that I did not know just one year ago one year ago

[47:22]we did not know people but we came together through these small

[47:25]programs through the dog command programs and then through the Ramadan and

[47:31]then Muharram and all of these small programs we brought people together

[47:36]and we saw that strangers would come in and they would leave

[47:40]as brothers and sisters in faith and this was something very beautiful

[47:44]to see there were people that were living next to each other

[47:50]they've been living two three minutes away from each other but they

[47:52]didn't know one another they come to the center and then they

[47:57]realized that they're living just across the street from one another and

[48:02]they leave as brothers and sisters in Iman so we were able

[48:05]to create a community and this is what Mecca is it's not

[48:11]just a mosque it's a community center that focuses on teaching the

[48:16]values of Islam and making whoever comes feel very comfortable with their

[48:23]religion so my dear brothers and sisters for that we are very

[48:27]thankful to Allah we have to thank Allah for all of the

[48:34]blessings that he has given us and within this last year within

[48:37]this last year we have seen so many blessings just one year

[48:43]ago there was no Mecca there was no Community Center there was

[48:46]no Gathering we didn't have anything set up and now alhamdulillah we

[48:52]have a hall filled with 700 people and this is all from

[48:56]the blessings of Allah upon us and this is why we have

[49:02]to say alhamdulillah the first thanks and blessings goes to Allah who

[49:14]brought us together who guided us who paved the path for us

[49:22]and we thank Allah for us for for this after Allah my

[49:25]dear brothers and sisters we have to thank the community we thank

[49:29]people for coming together we thank people who put countless hours we

[49:39]thank you all for coming on your Friday night and joining us

[49:42]and supporting us here we thank the board members who have put

[49:46]hours and hours in conversations and dialogues and running the programs we

[49:53]thank all of the volunteers who in all of the programs they

[49:59]have made our program successful we thank the youth the Youth of

[50:04]Mecca who are very integral in every program in every program the

[50:07]youth have a role they have a say and they are heard

[50:13]and they are given a platform to speak and voice their opinions

[50:19]and we also thank specific individuals one of the individuals that I

[50:26]would like to thank is not here right now and this is

[50:29]who helped us set the foundations of Mecca and the bylaws of

[50:36]Mecca and from the beginning she would put countless hours of her

[50:40]time in these Zoom meetings and in these sessions sitting and guiding

[50:44]us and being an advisor for us and she was supposed to

[50:50]be here today but her aunt had passed away and she left

[50:53]to be with the family and we recite Surah fatah for her

[51:00]aunt soul foreign [Music] for everything that he has done ever since

[51:22]the beginning of Mecca come here brother please he thought he was

[51:27]going to get away with it brother Hassan from the beginning he

[51:35]was the soldier of Mecca he's the guy that does everything he

[51:38]does the converse talking to people he's collecting the money he went

[51:43]and he found us the place and he's done so much and

[51:47]we can't thank him enough and his wife and his family of

[51:50]course we thank all of the members here brother Hassan has done

[51:55]so much and we wanted to give him this lack of appreciation

[52:01]thank you I appreciate it come say a few words and sisters

[52:23]I don't know if this video is going to work if it

[52:28]does then we're gonna watch it and if it doesn't then dinner

[52:30]is going to be served faster so it's a win-win situation inshallah

[52:33]my dear brothers and sisters I thank you all we're going to

[52:36]post it on YouTube because it really we put a lot of

[52:41]time in it and I it's it's about the story of Makkah

[52:48]and how it started and running the programs so inshallah you'll be

[52:51]able to watch it and if it doesn't we'll send it to

[52:55]you all watch it at home may Allah bless you alhamdulillah thank

[53:16]you Sayed for your leadership and for your vision of creating an

[53:19]all-encompassing and all-inclusive community our final presentation tonight is a special one

[53:27]by our very own youth named Mecca youth Mecca youth functions under

[53:32]the motto of for the Youth by the youth and this motto

[53:37]is The Guiding Light for all of their events including youth muhara

[53:41]majalis cookies and convos and brothers FIFA night so please welcome in

[53:47]a loud Round of Applause Mecca youth foreign I cannot believe this

[54:43]man be every single person at the FIFA brother's night hold the

[54:46]2v2 and the 1v1 the competition was out there crazy man yeah

[54:53]but I can't believe that we're able to host these non-traditional programs

[54:57]at our mosque in Canton would you say I'm mosque in Canton

[55:01]mosque in Canton yeah we said on mosque in Canton it's actually

[55:05]called the Muslim educational Community Center of America or mecca for short

[55:09]so you're telling me I don't have to drive 30 minutes anymore

[55:11]just to go to a mosque speaker to drive 30 minutes away

[55:15]it's the pirate next to the last right next door wait wait

[55:17]were you guys talking about FIFA game night yeah that's just one

[55:19]of our many non-traditional programs for the Youth by the youth speaking

[55:25]of which how old are you guys we're actually all in high

[55:28]school oh oh it's academic advisory Forum at our mosque in Canton

[55:40]that's lit especially since I China voting for sat myself I have

[55:43]tons of questions about colleges in school man but what about people

[55:47]like me who already done their SATs I mean it's okay you

[55:49]guys are all still young Muslim men growing up in a western

[55:53]Society I'm sure you guys all have a bunch of Islamic questions

[55:54]that you need answered yeah but I can just watch that kind

[55:58]of stuff on YouTube well that Mecca we're just a little bit

[55:59]different so we do a lot of interactive programs like use bonfires

[56:02]and use snacking chats basically what it entails is you get to

[56:06]come around you get to have some fun with your brothers in

[56:08]Islam build a bond over soccer and other activities and then like

[56:12]I said you guys obviously are going to still have Islamic questions

[56:14]so our beloved Scholars say it's Allah he's more than happy to

[56:17]answer them in a sit-down well next time I got to bring

[56:20]my questions and my soccer cleats you guys I still cannot believe

[56:22]this is all going on in Canton yeah but that's not all

[56:27]right it's so much fun especially the family kahoot you don't ever

[56:32]see Partners like that out there that sounds great but what if

[56:35]you don't know how to ice skate don't worry man our programs

[56:38]help us get out of our comfort zone help us learn new

[56:40]things we got you man oh guys regret we forgot the saloon

[57:02]okay programs can you can everyone hear me here nice all right

[57:13]this was a Skip by my brothers here at Mecca Youth and

[57:16]we just showcased some of the many programs that we did over

[57:18]this past year all for the Youth look at that at this

[57:28]time I would like to thank all of our youth volunteers over

[57:33]this past year thank you and for those like my brother Ali

[57:44]hamud here right there who are interested in joining Mecca youth see

[57:48]us so that we can navigate you to the QR codes to

[57:52]stay up to date with our ongoing events and to also participate

[57:54]in our programs if you want to plan a specific program see

[57:56]us for that this is our beginning this is my family this

[58:02]is Mecca youth thank you I will also be defending my FIFA

[58:09]Brothers night Championship next year so any newcomers please feel free to

[58:14]join all right alhamdulillah we are so proud to have such an

[58:39]active youth group and they have been integral in every single event

[58:43]that Mecca has put together so at this time ladies and gentlemen

[58:46]this was the final presentation however the night as has not yet

[58:51]ended and before we start dinner I would like to remind you

[58:54]one more time about the raffle baskets that are in the back

[58:58]so please take the time to go look at them what what

[59:00]is in the baskets and put your name in the winners will

[59:05]be announced at the end of the dinner and also here is

[59:07]setting up the picture frames the frames versus on her auspicious birth

[59:16]these will be how be going out for sale on with a

[59:21]live auction towards the end of the dinner so please think about

[59:23]what kind of bids you would like to put and know that

[59:28]all proceeds go towards finding a new and permanent home for Mecca

[59:31]at this time I would like to take the moment to once

[59:36]again thank our platinum gold and silver sponsors along with any families

[59:40]who bought a table and all of our supporting businesses and non-profit

[59:44]organizations please find their names on the PowerPoint and once again our

[59:48]Platinum sponsors are papaya fruit market Albert's home furniture and Dr Aziza

[59:53]and her team from Dearborn Family Smiles Comfort Dental Spa and Livonia

[59:57]Family Smiles also to thank Hajj Muhammad and Louie from La Roma

[60:06]Bank Banquet Hall who's hosting us today and to their team for

[60:09]serving us tonight's dinner and so with that inshallah dinner will be

[60:13]served please enjoy your time and you will see me again shortly

[60:17]on stage to announce the Raffle winners enjoy foreign [Music] began when

[60:48]several concerned parents reached out to me expressing the need for a

[60:52]community center for the followers of the bait in the Canton and

[60:56]surrounding areas so we called for a meeting Gathering several families in

[61:03]this area to see what are the potential prospects of having a

[61:07]community center here for me it started with a phone call from

[61:12]say itsada and you know the the ideas started to flow about

[61:15]what do you think of a an opportunity to to bring something

[61:18]to the Canton area I was just very excited about the opportunity

[61:23]it's been something that we've talked about at least in my family

[61:27]since 1998 when we moved to Canton it's just you know we've

[61:30]been harping on hey we need something here for us we had

[61:35]a positive productive meeting and we discussed the needs and the concerns

[61:38]of the families and there was a lot of excitement and interest

[61:42]So based on the reaction that we saw we put our trust

[61:47]in God and we started Mecca Mecca means exactly what it stands

[61:53]for it's a Muslim educational Community Center it's a place where people

[62:01]of diverse backgrounds can come together with a common vision and common

[62:05]goal to build a community it's a non-ethnocentric meaning a place that

[62:13]caters to the diverse cultural Mosaic of our community for people to

[62:19]come in together and practice their faith and build relationships so I

[62:24]think that's something that's special that's offered in the community it's Community

[62:29]centered it's family centered and it's youth centered and it's something that

[62:34]I feel very privileged and blessed to be a part of when

[62:37]I moved to Canton a few years ago I was worried that

[62:42]I won't have much access to an Islamic institution the way I

[62:46]did because maybe the Muslim or the Shia committee was small and

[62:50]I was concerned that my kids would not have that Islamic upbringing

[62:54]that I would like them to have so one day I heard

[63:00]of Mecca having a annual the first community of star dinner and

[63:03]it was during the night of power I attended my family and

[63:07]I met those beautiful diverse Muslim families we broke after together we

[63:12]prayed we did even Amel a little kadur and I was so

[63:18]like alhamdulillah God answer my prayer I've lived in Canton for about

[63:21]23 years and I've always wished to have a community center for

[63:24]my kids to go to here in Canton but now that I

[63:28]am part of Mecca this will be something for my kids to

[63:32]be a part of as well as having a home for my

[63:33]grandkids to be part of the ribbon cutting ceremony was very emotional

[63:39]for me this is something that I've been dreaming about having in

[63:43]Canton and being part of in Canton and when we finally cut

[63:46]that ribbon I feel like the accomplishment is there I became the

[63:49]part of Makkah family because the first program I attended here was

[63:55]the WakeMed and the healthy program was

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