1. religion and spirituality
2. islam

2014
MUSLIM ASSOCIATION
OF PUGET SOUND (MAPS)
ANNUAL
REPORT
LEAD, SERVE AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
1
W W W.M A P S R E D M O N D.O R G
17550 NE 67th Court Redmond, WA 98052
MUSLIM ASSOCIATION
OF PUGET SOUND
MASJID AR-RAHMAH
17550 NE 67th Court
Redmond, WA 98052
www.mapsredmond.org
Tel: 425-861-9555
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (RA) reported that the Holy Prophet (SAW)
2
“The parts of the land liked most by
Allah (SWT), are its masjids.”
) said,
CONTENTS
WELCOME LETTER.............4
ABOUT US.............6
VISION STATEMENT.............7
RELIGIOUS REPORT.............8
LEAD, SERVE
AND MAKE A
DIFFERENCE
FACILITIES UPDATE............10
YOUTH REPORT.............11
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES.............16
INTERFAITH & OUTREACH.............18
WOMEN’S AFFAIRS............22
EDUCATION REPORT.............23
FINANCIAL REPORT.............28
OUR TEAM.............31
BOD VISION, MISSION & GOALS.............32
3
WELCOME LETTER
OUR JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE CONTINUES AS WE GROW TOGETHER
As Salamu Alaikum my dear Community Members,
T
he test of a great organization is whether it has the ability to constantly learn, adapt and scale to serve the
growing needs of its community while accommodating diverse views. By the grace of Allah (SWT) and
because of all your commitments and duas, Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) was able to pass
this test in 2013. It was no easy task. MAPS has grown tremendously since we moved into the new facility
– attendance has grown and our programs have expanded. At the same time, we have faced new challenges and
our expenses have gone up. It is a situation that we at MAPS embrace, because we recognize that there is always a
bigger picture, a longer time horizon and a broader world in which we operate. As we continue to grow, we need
to keep our focus on how we enable and empower the next generation to create long lasting, meaningful and
positive impacts on the community we live in - impacts which are rewarding today as well as in the Hereafter.
We need to stay grounded in our heritage and our values of Respect, Humility, Sincerity, Integrity, and Transparency while having the Courage and Wisdom to be forward looking. I pray to Allah (SWT) to guide us to adhere
to these values and to help us chart a bright future.
In 2013 we articulated a powerful vision for MAPS:
“To create a center that inspires and foster a community that impacts the quality of life and spirituality for the
individual, family and society guided by the teachings of Quran and Sunnah.”
I am excited to report that, Alhamdulillah, we have stayed true to this vision and values and delivered great results against all the goals we had established for ourselves.
Here are a few glimpses of our results:
• Religious and other programs: Well organized Friday prayers, daily prayers and halaqas attended by over
1800 people weekly, ~4700 attendees on Eid, ~2500 interfaith participants, ~619 students , ~230 weekly sports
participants and over ~31 programs in a given week.
• Youth Engagement: Increased level of Youth activities from Inner-city Basketball to Super bowl screening;
increased Youth involvement in the broad society led by a dedicated Youth Director, from visiting the Capitol
to feeding the hungry.
• Education: SAT, Coding, Robotics, Language, Leadership classes for our young boys and girls to develop
leaders of tomorrow, in addition to scores of religious and non-religious activities focused on spiritual and educational enhancement.
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• Social engagement: We are very active with inter-faith, intra-faith and social engagements. We conducted a
feeding-the-poor program with our neighboring church, hosted an all-Muslim leaders summit and provided
assistance to the Oso community for the landslide tragedy in our own backyard.
• Financial: In 2013, we managed our expenses within our budget - our income was $1.56M (Donations:
$1.26M, Education: $148K, Rent: $152K) and our expenses were $1.48M (Lease: $310k, Loans: $455k,
OpEX: $645K, Repairs: $73K)
We thank Allah (SWT) for what we have achieved so far but recognize that there is much work to be done
to meet the aggressive goals we’ve set for ourselves. MAPS has the ability, and the will, to lead, serve and
make the difference with unwavering support from all of you and with Allah’s blessing. We remain steadfastly dedicated to building a sustainable organization - one that is a good investment for our future generations, a good environment for our community and a welcoming place for all.
Lastly, I want to leave you with three important actions – (i) provide feedback so we can always improve, (ii)
leverage all the great programs that we have designed covering the full family spectrum and (iii) help financially with your donations so we can sustain our center. I am sure by the grace of Allah (SWT) and with
your help and duas we will together be successful in making MAPS a beacon of Islam in the Western world
which will Insha’Allah make each and every one proud to be a Muslim.
Jazakumullah
Mahmood Khadeer
President, MAPS
“We need to stay grounded in our heritage and our values of Respect,
Humility, Sincerity, Integrity, and Transparency while having the
Courage and Wisdom to be forward looking.” -Mahmood Khadeer, MAPS President
5
ABOUT US
M
us­lim Asso­ci­
a­
tion of Puget
Sound, MAPS,
is an Islamic orga­ni­za­tion
founded in 2006 with the intent of serving the Muslims
and the broader community
of Puget Sound. Its mis­sion
is to pro­
vide Islamic, edu­
ca­tional, social and cul­tural
services to the community
in the region and to pro­mote
the teach­
ings of Islam to
the inquir­
ing non-Muslims.
MAPS strives to build links
between Mus­lim fam­i­lies,
busi­nesses and orga­ni­za­tions,
pro­
vides year-round activ­
i­ties and reli­gious ser­vices
and is com­mit­ted to help­ing
the needy.
MISSION STATEMENT
• Establish Active Masjid - Adherence to Islamic Principles • Active and inviting engagement for all
• Comprehensive and high quality services
• Providing a platform for community ideas to flourish
6
VISION STATEMENT
To build a center which inspires and fosters a community that impacts
the quality of life and spirituality for the individual, family and society,
guided by the teachings of Quran and Sunnah.
7
RELIGIOUS REPORT
B
y the grace of Allah (SWT),
MAPS
religious
activities,
throughout the week, continue
to attract people from diverse backgrounds. Following sections highlight
our key religious events in the past year:
ANNUAL SEERAH
CONFERENCE
In September 2013, MAPS held its 7th
annual Seerah conference after a break
of one year. The theme of the conference was “The Prophetic Lifestyle – The
Balanced Middle-course”. We had following speakers, who provided intellectually stimulating and thought provoking insights covering the theme:
• Imam Mohammad Joban, MAPS
• Imam Mohammad AbdelAziz,
Islamic Center of Sacramento
• Imam Tahir Anwar, Bay Area
• Sh. Abdul Bary, AlMaghrib
Seattle
In addition to the main conference programs, we had following engaging activities on the same day for different age
groups and interest levels:
• Children’s Islamic Quiz
• Youth Conference Track by Mihraab
Foundation
• Muslims Got Talent – Nasheed,
Arts, Stand up, competition
• Grand Bazaar in the Tent
• Young Muslims’ Track
We hope to inshaAllah, continue this
annual event at MAPS, which allows us
to come together as a community while
learning from the Seerah of our beloved
Prophet SAW.
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FRIDAY FAMILY NIGHT
c. Academic teaching position in the
institutions of higher learning
d. Computer Science and Software
career guidance
4. Youth sisters Halaqa
5. Kids story time for 4 to 8 year olds
6. Converts Halaqa tailored to address
the educational needs of our new Muslim brothers and sisters
Friday family nights continue to see
increased attendance as families and
individuals look forward to start their
weekends by engaging in educational,
sports, and social programs. Over the
course of last year, we have enhanced
the set of programs to address each
member of the family and community.
Following programs are offered during Friday family nights also provide amFriday nights.
ple opportunities to socialize for each
1. Tajweed Halaqa – Sh Nabil, our member of the family, to build the
Qura’n teacher, offers his weekly bonds of brotherhood among the comQura’nic recitation class.
munity.
2. Educational programs for the adults
FRIDAY PRAYERS
focusing on Seerah of the Prophet, Stories of the Prophets, prayers, etc. and Friday prayers at MAPS remain the
other contemporary topics.
most attended event among all weekly
3. Educational programs for the programs, thus requiring us to focus on
youths, on Islamic History, Seerah of providing quality Friday Sermon expethe Prophet, Stories of the Sahaba, etc. riences. Our focus remains on providThis year, we’ve extended the topics to ing spiritually uplifting and relevant
include following areas, to name a few: to the current times Khutba topics.
a. Aerospace Engineering, what does We also do try to invite guest speakers
it mean to have a career in aero
from around the country. Among our
space
own local shuyukh and speakers, we
b. Medical profession – insights
have Sh. Joban, Br. Alaa Badr, Sh. Aband how to pursue medical career durrahman Hijazi,Br. Elyasse, etc.
we’ve also hosted following khateebs:
•
Dr. Hesham Abdullah
•
Dr. Parvez Ahmed
•
Dr. Mahan Mirza
•
Sh. Yasir Qadhi
•
Sh. Yasir Birjas
•
Sh. Saad Tasleem
•
Br. Mohammad Abdul Azeez
•
Br. Rodwan Saleh
•
Br. Munir Iqtish
•
Br. Abdurrauf Al Khwaldeh
•
Br. Naeem Baig
SUNDAY TAFSEER
Sh. Joban’s signature weekly tafseer
class has always been very popular and
people seem to make a long trip to
come and attend his classes. The focus
of the tafseer session is to help people
develop relationship with Qura’n and
to help everyone understand the message of the Qura’n.
• Sisters Quran’ic Halaqa in Arabic
• Sisters Quran’ic Halaqa in Urdu
Ramadan is the busiest month of the • Imam Mohammad Joban’s Arabic
year, when we hold daily Taraweeh and
language class
Qiyamul Lail program during the last • Dr. Mustafa AlBassiyouni’s class on
10 nights. We also had 20 to 30 people
Qura’nic Arabic
do itikaf during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
RAMADAN PROGRAMS
EID PROGRAMS
We had congregation of over 2000 people on each of the last couple of eids.
On Eid-ul-Fitr, we held 2 prayers and
on eid-ul-adha, we were able to hold
three Eid prayers.
WEEKLY HALAQAS
In addition to above programs, we also
have number of other halaqas held on
a weekly basis:
• Sh. Abdurrahman Hijazi – Weekly
Halaqa on Imam Bukhari’s Hadith
Collection
“By the grace of Allah (SWT), MAPS religious activities, throughout the
week, continues to attract people from diverse background.”
9
FACILITIES UPDATE
T
he Muslim Association of
Puget Sound occupies an
approximately 45,000 sq.
ft. building in the beautiful city of
Redmond next to one of the biggest
parks in an urban setting.
•
Safety and security improvements
through installing motion lights
and high quality surveillance cameras
•
Outside storage sheds
•
Landscaping
This facility houses:
•
Upgrading furnishing in the facility
•
A 600 seating capacity musalla
area that is easily expanded to a
1400 seating capacity for jumma and Eid Prayers
•
•
A basketball court
A fully functional women’s
gym
•
A banquet hall with over 750
person seating capacity
•
A fully operational commercial
kitchen to serve the local community
•
A conference room and a
multi-purpose room with advanced audio-visual capability
•
Multiple class rooms that house
two pre-schools, an elementary
school and a sunday school
• Commercial rental spaces.
A middle school will start operating out of MAPS’ facility in the upcoming year. MAPS also provides
complete funeral services. In the
past year with the help of your generous contri-bution the following
upgrades were put in place:
•
HVAC balancing and anchoring
10
In the near future we would like to implement following additions/improvements/changes:
•
A fully functional library for kids
and adults
•
Playground for pre and elementary school kids
•
Installing energy efficient fixtures
and implementing energy efficient
practices
•
Usage of environmentally friendly
(nontoxic) products throughout
the facility. Lastly, we would also
like to conclude some urgent repairs (e.g. roof leak) that we have
already undertaken.
Our goal is to maintain this facility
as a clean, comfortable and welcoming environment for all. At the same
time, we would like to have an energy
efficient and environmentally friendly
space for the whole community to call
their own. By the grace of Allah, we
have come a long way, but we have not
reached our destination! Please join us
in the journey to build an exemplary
masjid for the pleasure of Allah.
“Our goal is to
maintain this facility as a clean,
comfortable and
welcoming environment for all.”
YOUTH REPORT
YOUTH IN FOCUS
By Ahsen Nadeem, MAPS Youth
Director
A
common challenge facing
Muslim religious institutions
is a decline in youth (which I
define as above the age of 14) participation within day to day activities. This
poses an unsettling reality that if no intervention is taken place to change this
scenario, we will be left with near empty mosques in 20-30 years. As we focus
towards our own Mosque, it should be
clear that the work of countless individuals in establishing our Mosque and
community will be in jeopardy. This
grim but important reality check was
enough of a catalyst for the leaders of
MAPS to proactively address this challenge and create a youth group. I was
blessed with the opportunity to help
establish this program as the Youth
Director and though we are still in our
early stages of development (5 months
in), I believe the trajectory for greater
youth involvement and community
strength has and will improve
significantly inshAllah (God willing).
The vision for the youth group is to
create an inclusive environment for the
Muslim youth to develop spiritually,
socially and intellectually. We want to
foster the development of these bright
boys and girls so they can be leaders
at MAPS, the larger Muslim community and our nation as a whole. Understandably, we have to take a multistep approach in realizing this vision
into reality. We are blessed to have a
mosque that has always been receptive and open to youth participation so
for the past 5 months, we have worked
hard for the first stage in this process
by creating an inclusive environment
around MAPS where the youth can
relate to. Our monthly schedule has
evolved to having three events a
month; a discussion, a social event,
and a community event. By utilizing this three pronged approach, I’m
hoping that we can change the perception of MAPS in the eyes of these
youth from solely a place of worship,
primarily focused towards adults, to
a community center with greater relevancy for them. In doing so, I hope
they develop a feeling of ownership
for the mosque and continue to immerse themselves in this community
for years to come. As stated above, we
try to give a social, spiritual/intellectual and service dimensionality to our
monthly events.
“I’m hoping that we can change the perception of MAPS in the
eyes of these youth from solely a place of worship, primarily
focused towards adults, to a community center with greater relevancy for them.”
-Ahsen Nadeem, MAPS Youth Director
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YOUTH REPORT (CONT.)
Our social events have included ice
skating, field day trip to the University
of Washington and CAIR Capitol Day.
Our discussions have covered relevant
topics for the youth such as identity,
responding to criticism on our faith,
gender interactions, and dealing with
racisms within the Muslim community. For community service, we have
been very fortunate to work with the
Muslim Community Resource Center
for projects such as making and delivering 400+ sandwiches to North Seattle Helpline, packing 100 bags of food
for low income youth in the Bellevue
& Lake Washington school districts, as
well as gardening around MAPS.
12
We currently have a good core of
youth (10-15) that regularly attend
our events but we’d still like to boost
the numbers in the next few months
so we will continue with this phase.
After we have a committed core of 20
or more youth, we want to add more
deen (faith)-intensive workshops or
sessions with trained scholars across
our community as well as have larger
scale events in general, such as camping & spiritual retreats. During this
phase, we also want the youth to start
actively partaking in other MAPS activities and events so their voices can
be present and heard in all the programs that our dynamic Mosque has
“The vision for the
youth group is to
create an inclusive
environment for
the Muslim youth
to develop spiritually, socially and
intellectually. ”
to offer. Eventually, the final goal of the
group is to have developed youth that
will move on to colleges or their next
phases in life with a sense of activism, compassion for their community
(whether Muslim or non Muslim) and
have developed a strong enough sense
of ownership for our mosque and
community to continue to give back
once they reach adulthood.
We need the help of our community.
We need you all to help spread the
word about our organization, organize
some time to provide rides to your
children to MAPS for our events and
or course, keep us all in your sincerest prayers. We are taking a proactive
initiative to prepare not only for a
brighter future but a more successful
and productive present.
13
“Eventually, the final goal
“I believe the Mihraab
of the group is to have
Foundation is doing
developed youth that
an exceptional job
will move on to colleges
strengthening the
or their next phases in
community and
life with a sense of activuniting
the ummah.”
ism, compassion
for their
-Community”member
community...
-Community member
14
15
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
INSPIRING THROUGH SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
I
n December, we had an Ice Skating event at the Bellevue Ice Arena where youth skated with their friends, and parents
with their kids. Then in January and February, we had the Seahawks NFC game screening at the MAPS auditorium
followed up by the Seahawks Super Bowl game screening. Screening these football games took a lot of preparation for
MAPS to set up the HD telecast, broadcast the game live, cut out the ads but keep the audience entertained in that time
and pause the game for prayer. More than 350 people showed up with families and friends to cheer for Seahawks together.
The fans even established a new record “Loudest Muslims during a Superbowl” at 107dB by screaming upon Seahawks
touchdowns. In January and February, we also hosted a series of weekly Friday Family Game Nights for playing Islamic
Jeopardy games with kids and parents which were hugely popular. In February, we had a Sledding event at the Iron Horse
State Park. In March, we hosted weekly Friday basketball games with competing groups. In April, we had screenings for
the NCAA Basketball semi-final and final games at MAPS and we also had the Tulip Festival bus trip to Skagit Valley
where many people visited the gorgeous tulip fields for the first time. In May, we had a MAPS exclusive Roller Skating
event for families and friends at Bellevue SkateKing.
In June, we plan to hold a Bowling event as well as the Annual Summer Picnic at the Lake Sammamish State Park. In
August, we will host our annual Eid event at the Wild Waves Park. In September, we plan to start a screening of the Omar
TV series at MAPS.
We hope these exciting outdoors and indoors events will grow the community bonds stronger.
16
“We hope these exciting outdoors and
indoors events will
grow the community
bonds stronger.”
17
INTERFAITH & OUTREACH
T
he Interfaith and Outreach
Committee (IOC) at MAPS
was founded in 2007 to engage
in and promote interfaith and outreach activities.
and other faiths, engage in productive
dialogues and build alliances with other religious organizations. IOC hosted
and participated in several activities
such as:
IOC has many active committee
members and volunteers. Our events
have touched more than 1500 people
throughout the Puget Sound during
the last year. Movie nights featuring
movies such as Fordson and Out of
Cordoba
•
IOC’S MISSION
•
• Inform, educate and inspire our
greater community about the beauty
of Islam as a religion of mercy and
peace to the world
•
• Promote trust, confidence and respect for Muslims and their adherence
to the practices of Islam
• Remove misconceptions about Islam
and Muslims
• Engage in charitable and beneficial
work in the community and in productive dialogue with other interfaith
groups
• Invite people with sincere interest
in Islam to gain deeper knowledge
through discussions, reading suggestions, talks, and social activities.
The IOC activities have many lively
programs and activities including:
INTERFAITH PROGRAM
Regularly held activities to provide
education and knowledge about Islam
18
•
•
cused on the contribution of Muslim Scientists to modern civilization.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
PROGRAM
Ramadan Open House Iftar (400
people attended last Ramadan).
Provides food to those in poverty
Working with Unitarians and - through strong partnerships with
CAIR on advancing our Civil local businesses and homeless programs in the region. The program
Rights.
will feed more than 300 people in
Interfaith program with Seattle the first six month of 2013.
University
Interfaith activities with 3 Jewish GUIDED HEARTS PROGRAM
temples.
Guided Hearts provides educational
Numerous visits to MAPS from and social activities for new Musschools, churches, colleges, and lims. The program’s goal for this
temples.
year is to help 30-40 new Muslims
through classes, talks and social
MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL AND events.
COLLEGE OUTREACH
PRESENTATION AND COMMUPresentations and events held for NICATION TRAINING
students about Islam and Islamic history and to develop a positive im- IOC members are encouraged to atage of Muslims in the U.S. and in the tend training on improving public
world. The target for the upcoming speaking and presentation skills.
school year is to give presentations at Such training helps educate volun12 schools, reaching out to over 550+ teers to effectively present about
Islam, & communicate with nonstudents.
Muslims audience in a productive
MANY CULTURES ONE COMMU- way. This year, 7-10 IOC members
NITY PROGRAM (MCOC)
had presentation and debate training.
This program sheds light on various
aspects of Islamic culture pertaining to CIVIL RIGHTS SUBCOMMITTEE
arts and social life, among others. The
program targets people from different The Civil Rights Subcommittee of
cultures and backgrounds. The goal is IOC educates on civil rights related
issues and encourages civil engage
to have 4-5 annual events in 2013 fo
“Our events have touched more than 1500 people
throughout the Puget Sound during the last year.”
19
“IOC members are en“I believe the Mihraab
couraged to attend trainFoundation is doing
ing on improving public
an exceptional job
speaking and presentation
strengthening the
skills. Such training helps
community and
educate volunteers to effecuniting
the ummah.”
tively present
about Islam,
-Community member
& communicate
with nonMuslims audience in a productive way. ”
-Community member
Have questions or want to volunteer
with IOC? Please e-mail: outreach@
mapsredmond.org
20
ment to positively affect policies related
to our community. The Civil Rights Subcommittee collaborates and joins efforts
with faith and civic based groups that
share common values and goals. Several
successful workshops have taken place
at MAPS and at the Unitarian Universalists Church. For the coming year, we
hope to expand the subcommittee’s activities with more active participation
from MAPS members.
workshop at MAPS, Sat. June 7th,
10am-1pm
students and public, Advisory
Board)
JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZEN’S
LEAGUE (JACL) PROJECT
• Collaboration with Interfaith
Council at St Mark’s Cathedral
(Middle East & Environmental Issues)
MCRC provides a common platform
for Muslim community service engagement. MCRC partners with like-minded faith based organizations (Muslim &
non-Muslim), city & local services, to
serve community needs. It does this in
several ways, such as:
OTHER ON-GOING
ACTIVITIES
IOC is currently developing a program
in conjunction with the Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL) which will
bring together Japanese American and
Muslim high school students. JACL
is a national non-profit civil and human rights organization which seeks to
CURRENT IOC ACTIVITIES broaden perspectives on race, religion,
and community involvement. The goal
MUSLIM COMMUNITY RESOURCE of the program is to create awareness,
CENTER (MCRC, http://mcrcseattle. dialogue, and activism for students
org/)
through interactive workshops.
• Visiting Schools and hosting
students and faculty at MAPS
(providing Information about Islam)
• Yearly Interfaith Iftar
• Guided Hearts program for converts
(weekly halaqah, Wudu and prayer instruction)
• Sponsoring several on-going pro- • Muslim-Jewish Dialogue
grams to feed the homeless in Seattle
• Muslim Mormon Dialogue
and on the Eastside
• Connecting those in need with rel- • Reading Qur’an in English (completevant resources and service providers in ed 30 juz twice, plan to resume during
Ramadan, inshaa’Allah)
the community
• Collaborating with existing organiza- • Interfaith Scriptural Reflection (6
tions and sponsoring the creation of re- session series)
sources that do not currently exist
• Hosting numerous visitors to MAPS
MCRC invites everyone to join them for (providing information about Islam)
the:
• Collaboration with Catholic Archdiocese and Regional Multi-faith Task
1. Eastside CROP walk to eliminate Force for Eliminating Human Traffickhunger at 1pm on Sun. May 18th (Bel- ing
levue First United Methodist Church,
• Collaboration with SU’s School of
1934 108th Ave NE, Bellevue)
Theology & Ministry (Inter-Religious
2. Poverty Awareness and Immersion
Council, talks about Islam for faculty,
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WOMEN’S AFFAIRS
MISSION
STATEMENT
THIS PAST YEAR WE HAVE
PROVIDED:
TO CELEBRATE AND
ELEVATE OUR WOMEN’S
LIVES BY ENCOURAGING AND ENGAGING IN
A BROAD SPECTRUM OF
ACTIVITIES: RELIGIOUS,
MENTAL, EDUCATIONAL
AND PHYSICAL, WHILE
ALSO STRENGTHENING
THE BOND OF SISTERHOOD.
“
When women get together, we share won-
Women’s religious activities (in
conjunction with the religious
activities)
•
An Eastside masajids sisters collaboration event with a start of
Marriage and Family Counseling
Marathon program.
•
Professional marriage and premarital counseling for the community
•
Women’s Entrepreneur Workshop
(Coming soon)
•
Wellness /Fitness program
•
Celebration of culture and Food
Festival
•
Knitting club supporting Warm
for Winter Project
WHAT WE HOPE FOR:
derful ideas - from
there, it comes great ac-
“
tivities to children and
the family. It bonded
•
the whole community.
22
Participation, synergy, ideas, excitement, bonding that will empower us
to better ourselves as women and our
contribution to the community.
EDUCATION REPORT
VISION STATEMENT
ESTABLISH AN EFFICIENT HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT ENGAGES ALL
COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN BOTH RELIGION AND NON-RELIGIOUS PROGRAMS.
MISSION STATEMENT
ENHANCE THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE AT MAPS BY MEASURING AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF OUR CURRENT OFFERINGS AND CREATING NEW PROGRAMS
THAT APPEAL TO EVERY MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON
KIDS AND YOUTH.
PROGRAMS
MAPS Education is proud to present
a large spectrum of educational programs for different ages (ranging from
preschoolers to adults) and different
focuses (both religious and non-religious). In the past years, our programs
served over than 700 students for approximately 50,000 student hours. This
was made possible with the blessing of
Allah (SWT) and the help of over 70
teachers and volunteers who graciously
spent a significant amount of their time
serving in different programs.
MAPS Education programs pay special attention to Islamic Education for
kids and youth. We offer a large variety
of programs including Quran reading
and memorization, Islamic Studies,
Sunday school, and Health Education
with the objective of transferring Islamic knowledge and fostering love of
Islam.
We also realize that the role of the masjid in Islam extends to serve as an institution that plays a central role in the
religious, cultural and social life of all
Muslims. Hence, we offer many other
scientific and human development
programs including the youth leadership series where we address topics
like teamwork, time management, etc.,
the youth programming series where
we offer classes on visual programing,
robotics, and phone application development to kids as young as 7 years old,
and other classes on foreign languages,
photography, etc.
While we mainly focus on kids and
youth, we also offer many programs
for adults including Quran Tajweed
classes, Arabic classes and the intensive course series on the fundamentals
of Islamic knowledge. In the next subsections, we provide more information on some of our main programs.
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EDUCATION REPORT (CONT.)
AR-RAHMAH ACADEMY
Ar-Rahmah Academy aims to establish a
program that will nurture a strong connection with Quran and Islamic Knowledge in
an environment that keeps students engaged
and motivated to learn. Ar-Rahmah Academy
offers multiple classes on both Islamic Studies
and Quran.
The Islamic Studies Program offers classes to
kids and youth ages 4 – 14+ and covers a variety of branches of Islamic knowledge. It also
offers adult classes on Tafseer and Fiqh. The
program serves over 50 students in multiple
classes taught by our Imam Sh. Mohamed Joban.
Ar-Rahmah Acadmey also offers a Quran
Program that is now entering its sixth year
with over 120 students and 7 teachers led by
Sh. Nabil Sallam. Sh. Nabil has a certificate in
Quran memorization from Al-Azhar Institute
and holds Ijazahs in all the 10 grand recitations from renowned Quran scholars. All other teachers are experienced in teaching Arabic
and Quran and certified by Sh. Nabil.
Ar-Rahmah Academy Quran Program serves
students ages 4 – 14+. The programs cover
five different levels (preschool, levels 1-5).
Different levels focus on different skills ranging from introducing the alphabet for preschoolers, to tajweed rules and memorization
in higher levels. In addition to the afternoon
and weekend classes, Ar-Rahmah Academy
offers a 4-day a week Quran Hifz Program for
homeschooled students, a summer intensive
program and an Ijazah program for adults.
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In addition to Ar-Rahmah academy programs,
MAPS is also incubating a Friday Quran and Islamic studies program. This is a community driven program run by volunteers and serving over
70 students. The program has sixteen teachers
and helpers; seven of them are youth 14 years and
under. Teachers are led and certified by Sr. Dima
Al-Habaj who holds an ijazah in memorizing the
entire Quran.
By the grace of Allah, our Quran and Islamic
studies programs served over 250 students. Five
of our youth students have finished memorizing
the entire Quran in the past year. We have also
given 12 Ijazahs in the past year with three of the
students completing more than 4 Qira’at (different types of recitation). Our students in the ijazah
program are from all over the US including members of leading Muslim organizations and Imams
of various masjids. Many of these students are
now giving back to the community by serving as
Quran teachers.
PRECIOUS HEARTS CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Precious Hearts Childhood Education offers a
variety of programs with over 60 students and 10
full time and part time teachers.
“Five of our youth students have finished
memorizing the entire
Quran in the past year.”
-Ar-Rahmah Academy
“
With the help and
support of our community, we continue
to work toward helping students celebrate
Islamic manners and
Islamic way of life as
we foster love of Islam and encourage
integration with our
American society.
“
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EDUCATION REPORT (CONT.)
PRECIOUS HEARTS PRESCHOOL
The Precious Hearts Preschool program is designed to be an affordable alternative to preschools that are non-Muslim and/or churchbased. The program is designed for children
children aged 3-5. It combines learning and play
to foster social, emotional and academic development of the child. The program allows parents to
be a direct part of their child’s early learning experience. Every child is cherished as an individual and encouraged to exemplify the highest level
of Islamic manners and etiquette, while learning
through play and exploration.
The classroom is filled with nooks and crannies
that ignite the imagination and encourage creativity. Learning takes place in an environment
that is positive, enthusiastic and vibrant. Classroom activities and learning include Quran, arts
& crafts, education toys, nature awareness, Arabic and English alphabet, movement, story time,
kindergarten readiness skills, physical activities
and field trips. Activities are designed to focus
on improving fine and gross motor skills, selfexpression, communication, and socialization.
MOM AND TOTS
The Mom & Tot Program is designed to enhance
the total development of a toddler from the time
they begin to walk until their 27th month of life.
The program provides structured activities to
stimulate a toddler’s senses and teach them valuable skills – all while having fun. Children learn
and discover shapes, colors, numbers and animal
sounds – fundamental for stimulating a young
child’s senses and teaching them valuable skills.
“Learning takes place in an environment that is positive, enthusiastic
and vibrant.” -Mom & Tots Program
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HOMESCHOOL HAVEN ENRICHMENT PROGRAM:
The Homeschool Haven is an enrichment program for
the community homeschoolers to enhance their learning experience through science, arts & crafts, Islamic
morals, PE and Arabic language. Homeschool Haven:
3 teachers meet 2 times a week. Currently running as a
pilot program with six students.
NOOR ACADEMY
The mission of Noor Weekend Academy is to provide
a fun-filled and learning-focused Islamic environment
for our children to learn, plan, and interact with other
Muslim children. We teach students basics of the religion of Islam, guided by the Holy Quran and Sunnah
of our beloved Prophet Mohammad, in all its aspects of
beliefs and actions, building the character of the Muslim child who is living in a multi-cultural and multiethnic society around us.
Noor Academy strives to provide an engaging environment to students, parents, teachers and staff alike
to serve their needs and expectations as Muslims in
America. We aspire to create an inviting and engaging
environment for students through in-class instruction
and extra-curricular activities. We serve over 80 families with close to 140 students in 9 different classes. As
an indicator of our success, 5 of our teachers were our
own students just a few years ago and have returned to
teach at the school. 7 of our teachers are UW students
who have grown up in the Puget Sound area and able
to connect much more closely with our students and
teach them how to live in Islam and be a productive member of our society. With the help and
support of our community, we continue to work
towards helping students celebrate Islamic manners and Islamic way of life as we foster love of
Islam and encourage them to become contrubuting members of our American social fabric.
We are proud that most of MAPS Education
programs are volunteer based. In the past year,
we over 70 volunteers who graciously spent a
significant amount of their time throughout the
year serving as teachers and administrating staff
for our programs. We take pride in our youth
volunteers (middle and high school age youth)
who volunteer with us in different program (e.g.
Quran reading, computer programming, etc.).
We are constantly looking for more volunteers
and teachers. Please let us know how you can
help!
If you have any questions or comments,
please feel free to send an email to
[email protected].
“With the help and support of our community, we continue to work towards helping
students celebrate Islamic manners and Islamic way of life as we foster love of Islam and
encourage them to become contrubuting members of our American social fabric.”
- Noor Academy Program
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FINANCIAL REPORT
F
irst and foremost, we pray that
Allah (SWT) bless the community
for its generous contributions.
Eighty percent (80%) of our income
comes from kindhearted donations
from the broad community. MAPS as a
mosque, as a community center, as an
institution, as a social platform, and as a
beacon charting our path forward, exists
because of YOUR benevolent monetary
support! May Allah (SWT) reward you
many times over in this world and the
hereafter. Ameen!
The financial state of MAPS is sound –
in 2013 we managed to run the $1.5m
operations within budget, i.e., we met all
of our loan and lease obligations and paid
all of our expenses within the amount
of money raised. However, as we grow
and age, our repairs and expenses are
fast rising. We have a number of projects
competing for funds resulting in low
revolving cash reserves. To compound
our worries, in 2013 we saw a troubling
decline in donations and a 4% decline
in overall income compared to 2012.
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EXPENSES
In 2013, our expenses fell into 3 main
categories:
1. Loans [Builder and Construction]:
By the grace of Allah (SWT), in 2013
we paid the last installment of $130K
and paid off the Builder Loan due to
MARS. We have also been on track
paying the Construction Loan. At the
current rate, the Construction Loan
will be paid off by 2016 Insha-Allah.
2. Lease [Hilal Foundation]: We continue
to benefit from the generous donation
of $1M two years ago that reduced our
Lease payment from $310K to $110K
until and including 2016. However, the
Lease payment returns to $310K in 2017
and the payment schedule extends all
the way to 2027. Accelerating the Lease
pay off by paying, say $100K more per
year, will free up much needed cash for
other large projects.
3. Expenses [Repairs and Operations]:
As the MAPS building goes into its
3rd year and with growing attendance, repairs are rapidly increasing.
We expect to have to address certain
major repairs in 2014. The roof, for e.g.,
has started leaking due to heavy rain
this winter. Besides, various parts of
the building (walls, columns, parking
surfacing, fence retreatment, etc.) will
be needing repair. In addition, several
upgrades or additions to the building
are due. These include upgrading the
acoustics and audio systems (a major
source of complaints during khutbahs),
adding a walkway from Marymoor
Park to MAPS (requested by the City),
furnishing and launching a library,
finishing the external storage construction (and freeing up the Men’s Gym)
and adding a children’s playset on the
grounds outside (with Medina Academy
and Precious Hearts). With growing
attendance, Operational Expenses are
fast rising too. These expenses include
general and administrative expenses
(salaries, part-time employees, etc.),
occupancy expenses (utility, cleaning,
setups, etc.), non-personnel expenses
(supplies, telephone, web, print, etc.),
events expenses (Jumuah, Friday family
nights, picnics, Eids, annual banquet,
Seerah conference, etc.), programs/
services expenses (education, Sadaqah,
Zakaat) and insurance and property
taxes. To avoid degradation in the level
and quality of service, we have been
reluctant in aggressively cutting down
on Operational Expenses.
INCOME
In 2013, our income came from 3 sources:
1. Donations: 750 donors contributed
a non-cash (i.e., traceable) amount
to MAPS in 2013. These donations
include the Hilal Foundation donation
of $200K, one-time donations, recurring monthly donations, event-related
donations, corporate matches, etc. These
donations are used according to their
intended purposes (e.g., Zakat, Sadaqah,
non-religious activities, etc.). We also
collected between $4K to $5K in cash
(including collections after Jumuah)
per month. The Friday box collections
usually are just enough to cover Friday
expenses (security/police, setup/cleanup,
Marymoor parking, etc.).
2. Education: MAPS has grown the
number of classes offered to the community significantly in 2013 resulting in
a 34% increase in education income
despite offering many classes for free
or at nominal fees. Education income
includes return from Precious Hearts,
Noor Academy, Arabic classes, Coding
classes, etc. Several of these programs
carry their own expenses (for e.g., we
pay all of our Sunday School teachers)
but Alhumdullillah the brothers and
sisters managing these programs are
doing so within budget. Education
has a lot of room for growth; we invite
community members to donate their time
in 2014 by working with the Education
Committee, designing a class per their
area of expertise and teaching at MAPS.
“Eighty percent (80%) of
our income comes from
kindhearted donations from
the broad community.”
29
FINANCIAL REPORT (CONT.)
3. Rent: We have 7 tenants renting long-term spaces
at MAPS. We also rent the main hall and other rooms
for personal events on an hourly basis. Rental income
provides MAPS with a reliable monthly recurring
income. The demand for additional space is there –
community members have been approaching us to
rent rooms for small businesses and education classes.
But since leases lock spaces up for extended periods of
time and since MAPS activities and needs for spaces
are growing fast, we have been careful at planning the
best long term use of available spaces.
MAPS INVESTMENT GROUP
One of the foundational goals of MAPS is to enable a
platform to empower ideas and micro-projects from
the community. In this regards, we are piloting a
30
vehicle to foster and finance community curated and
socially responsible projects. Such projects could
range from a purely social initiative that creates parttime local jobs to a small start-up idea that intends
to return a profit. This vehicle, if successful, could
also act as an additional source of income for MAPS.
In summary, we are on track with our loan and lease
payments. Repairs and operating expenses are rising
because we are growing and the building is aging. We
continue to expand income from educational activities and we are managing spaces for rent carefully.
Above all, we are very thankful for your generous
contributions without which MAPS would not exist.
We pray that Allah (SWT) guide all of us and bless
us in all that we do. Ameen.
OUR TEAM
BOARD MEMBERS
Mahmood Khadeer
President
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dr. Wael Bahaa El Din
Alaa Badr
Moazzam Ahmed
Syed Hamid
Vice President
Hyder Ali
Riad Chummun
Treasurer
Mohammad Vakil
Religious Affairs
Irma Hanna
Women’s Affairs Secretary
Rafiq El Alami
General Secretary
Khadija Qader
Social Affairs
Ahmed Hassan Awadallah
Education Secretary
Masud Hasan
Facilities Secretary
OUR STAFF
Imam Mohamed Joban
Imam & Spiritual Advisor
[email protected]
Shaykh Nabil Salam
Resident Hafidh & Quran Teacher
Abduselam Ibrahim
Operation Manager
[email protected]
Ahsen Nadeem
Youth Director
Adnan Jaddi
Facility Manager
31
BOD VISION, MISSION & GOALS
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LEAD, SERVE AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
33
WORKING TO MAKE A CHANGE
Thank you for your continued support . We look forward
to working with you towards our common goal.
34
MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF PUGET SOUND
(MAPS)
17550 NE 67th Court, Redmond, WA 98052
www.mapsredmond.org