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Services for the Community: (Note: unlike churches, Islamic mosques don’t have registered memberships) Five Daily prayers: AAIC is open for its congregation to perform all the five daily prayers; dawn prayer, noon prayer, afternoon prayer, sunset prayer, and evening prayer. Some AAIC personnel are always on site to open the building all these different times. Friday Prayer & Sermon: It is the weekly prayer which attracts the largest congregation (more than five hundred people). It happens around noon time each Friday, and the Imam of AAIC gives a sermon in Arabic, English, and Somali languages. Eid Prayers and Celebrations As all Muslims around the world perform, AAIC organizes two large Eid prayer events that attract more than 15000 a year from all across the metropolitan area of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The first one is Eid-al-fitr that marks the end of the Holy month of Ramadan. The second is Eid-al-adha which marks the end of “Hajj” the pilgrimage to Mecca that falls on the 10th month of the lunar calendar, dul-Hajj. In these two big events, Muslims across the twin cities and their surroundings gather in the Minneapolis Convention Center; the largest gathering place in the Midwest, to pray and listen to the sermon of the Imam. The community members celebrate and congratulate each other for the great acts of worship they are blessed to perform. Weekend Islamic School (known as DUGSI) AAIC provides a weekend Islamic school (Dugsi) for about 250 children from the age 6 up to 18 years. In this school, kids learn the Arabic alphabet, and then the Holy Qur’an in its original language of Arabic. In addition, they learn the basic Islamic tenets and manners such as the five pillars of Islam and six articles of faith. It also includes being truthful, honest, and obedient to parents and teachers, behaving well at all times, and becoming productive members of the society. Seminars and Workshops: The center, with collaborations of the other governmental and non-governmental organizations, holds various seminars and workshops that is geared towards the Muslim community to meet large spectrum of needs. These seminars and workshops are informational and educational and are essential for the community. Some of these seminars range from nutrition classes organized in collaboration with the University of Minnesota to social justice “victim’s rights” events organized with local social justice organizations. The Minneapolis Police department also holds workshops at Abubakar to reach out to the Somali community. Annual Conferences: These yearly conferences, which attract from 5 to 7 thousand people, are mostly held in the Minneapolis Convention Center. In these Islamic conferences, we invite Muslim scholars, community leaders, government officials, doctors, educators, and youth workers. The purpose of these conferences is to unite the community for the good common cause, and raise their awareness about any issue that affects their lives. Youth Programs: AAIC holds seasonal youth programs for middle school, high school, and college students. The purpose of these programs is to enhance the educational, behavioral, and spiritual well-being of the youngsters, and to keep them away from being involved in the youth-related problems such as drugs and gang violence. These programs take place in the winter and spring breaks as well as in the summer. The programs consist of two major parts: - Educational: students are taught the basic Islamic manners such as being truthful, honest, and obedient to parents and teachers, behaving good at all times, and becoming productive members of the society.
- Fitness: students participate in various sport activities such as basketball soccer, swimming, and skating. Students sometimes go to field trips to Valley Fair, Roller Skating, Science Museum, and State Capitol.
Hundreds of young boys and girls participate in these programs every year. Marriage Engagements & Ceremonies: AAIC is committed to the well-being of the Muslim family, and considers a successful marriage as the building block of a happy and prosperous family and subsequently a purposeful and vibrant Community. For this reason, we prepared a banquet hall in which marriage engagements and wedding ceremonies are conducted. Family Counseling & Conflict Resolutions: Many new immigrant families face various social and cultural challenges which sometimes lead to family disagreement and conflicts. A lot of people turn to the mosque for arbitration and advice. This role of mosque was well established throughout the Somali history whom constitute the largest population of our congregation. The Imam and other scholars at the mosque have always been successful in handing out resolutions that satisfy both sides of the conflict. The main factor of the high success of resolving family conflicts is that the Muslims have high levels of trust and respect for the religious leaders of the mosques. |