Assalamu-alaikum (peace be upon you) fellow readers,

The weather has been surprisingly mild around these parts the past few days. In shaa Allah we keep enjoying the spring-like breezes and warm temperatures (at least by February’s standards).

Last Friday evening, our youth filed into the ISGL/Masjid for Isha prayer competing to see who could earn the coveted position in the first prayer row. Though there was some minor jostling, alhamdulillah most of our youth managed to peacefully negotiate space in the first row. For those who strolled in late, they were stuck praying in the second row. After prayer was completed, we broke apart into two groups for our weekly youth discusion. Friday’s topic: “Comforting the Sick.” The discussion focused on one of the rights each Muslim has upon another Muslim – to be visited when sick. It seems rather trivial but we forget that a kind smile, small gift, or a few minutes of quality time spent with a friend or community member who is sick at home or in the hospital can do wonders to lift one’s emotional well-being.

Too often we focus on the pleasure we received when our mother would patiently stay up with us at night when we had a severe fever or when our father would drive in the middle of the night to a local pharmacy to purchase medication to make us feel better. How often do we think about and make an effort to be the one who cares for those in a less fortunate position battling illness? A few of our youth took a moment to shed light and offer their personal reflections on the ongoing daily tragedy facing civilians living in Syria and Palestine. We ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, to bestow His Mercy upon the innocent civilians who are suffering and to bring a peaceful end to the situation. Ameen.

The antsy anticipation of finding out which team you'll be selected to join. Please end the suspense ya Ihsan!

To help our youth develop a sense of compassion and put the concept of visiting those who are sick (to provide them a lift) into practice, we launched our community service project for this semester on Friday evening. For this service project, our project leader (Br. Ihsan) divided our young men into 5 different teams (each consisting of 3-4 members). Each team had an ameer (leader). Given $15 (some teams earned a few bucks more due to exemplary behavior) and 30 minutes at Walmart, our teams had to purchase the following items for children battling illness (or recovering from surgery) in the Pediatrics ward of a local hospital:

1.) Two teammates from each team selected a “Get well soon” card from the card aisle. Our youth would later take turns writing a nice heartfelt message in the card for the patient.

2.) The remaining two teammates from each team had to work to find a gift (or gifts depending on how well each team budgeted its expenses) for the patients. Gifts could consist of toys, books, or clothing items (ex. hats and scarves).

With a little dose of creativity, the shopping spree at Walmart began:

Hamza and Amine negotiate over a bear - final decision...the bear is too expensive. Time to move on.

Essa peruses the books in one aisle. "I wonder which book to get - they all look so good!"

Mujtaba looks overwhelmed; everywhere he turns all he sees is toys. Why won't they stop looking at me?!!!

Ahem...quality control testing folks. Amr wanted to make sure the ball had the correct "bouncy ratio" for the gift recipient.

Some teams struggled to decide on which toy(s) to purchase so they resorted to an unconventional method in reaching a final decision:

When you can't decide on a toy to buy, go back in time to the way disputes were settled in the past...rock, paper, scissors buddy! Amine won this round over Danyal.

Some teams, well, they just had a bit too much time on their hands:

Traffic jam in the toy aisle! Why is there a pink hula hoop next to Shujath and Mohamed?

Malik got done shopping early so he decided to test his hula hoop skills. I think we found out who the pink hula hoop belongs to.

After some arm-twisting, negotiating, and a few friendly games of rock, paper, scissors, our young men ended up with several well-thought out cards and gifts:

Bassim proudly displays the card his team selected for a local patient in the hospital. Great choice!

We have an Abe Lincoln sighting! Atta cooly displays his team's burgeoning collection of toys.

Assim and Murtaza appear good to go. "Wait, where is our cash?"

Once all the teams made their final card and gift selections, we marched towards the checkout aisle with items in hand (or in the shopping cart Salah was pushing around):

Muhammad, Assim, and Murtaza pay the cashier for their items. "$15, $16, $17... phew we just had enough money!"

Several of our young men showed great heart and generosity by donating their leftover change to Riley’s Children’s Hospital. They could have attempted to purchase a chocolate bar or a pack of gum, but they chose to support other young people in need:

Some of our youth ended up with spare change from their gift purchases. They continued the giving spirit by donating their change to Riley's Children's Hospital.

We’ll leave you with a close-up shot of one of the mentor’s favorite “get well soon” cards purchased by our youth. All cards purchased were outstanding ranging from classy to hilarious. This one tends to lean more towards the hilarious end of the card spectrum:

One of the cards our young men selected; I wonder what is inside the card...

Classic ending - ya gotta love the punchline!

Congratulations to our youth for their wonderful gift and card selections. In shaa Allah our young men will get the opportunity to drop-off these gift items and cards in two weeks.

Below is an updated table containing the total number of points each young man (age 8-18) has earned thus far in the Spring 2012 Program. Remember, youth ages 10 and above must earn at least 130 points to be eligible to join us for the Indianapolis Zoo Trip!!!  For youth ages 8 and 9 years old, we’ll award a special gift at the end of the semester for youth who earn at least 130 points.

How do you increase your point total? For every positive action our youth display, they earn 3 points. Positive acts include:

- Verbal praise or encouragement to a teammate during a group project or sporting activity

- Gently reminding others about not using foul language if someone messes up

- Showing up on time to an activity

- Answering questions during our weekly youth discussions

- Putting into practice a lesson learned during our youth discussion (for example showing good sportsmanship, listening to teammates in a group project, showing compassion to the sick, etc.)

However, youth can also lose 3 points for negative actions including:

- Verbal abuse, mocking someone, or use of curse words

- Physical abuse towards a volunteer or member of youth group

- Showing up late to an activity

- Horsing around or creating a disturbance during the youth discussion

Without further ado, the current point totals:

How have our youth been doing thus far in the spring semester? Look no further than the points table for your answer!

Well we knew the warm Spring-like weather couldn’t last forever in West Lafayette; alhamdulillah we were able to enjoy a few balmy days (temperatures were above 40 degrees Fahrenheit!) before snow returned in our forecast last Friday evening. Inside the warm confines of the ISGL, we held our second life skills workshop of the semester – The Egg Drop. Before the fun could begin, our youth responded to the call to prayer and prayed Isha prayer in congregation with the community.

After Isha prayer was completed, we broke up into two small groups for our weekly discussion. As Friday’s activity involved teamwork, we took a moment to discuss one of the most important keys to having a successful group project – communication between team members. Regardless if participating on a sports team, school club, working on a group project, or joining forces for a youth group event, communication is a critical element needed for success. When team members define roles, communicate issues, and listen to advice/suggestions from their teammates, a project can flow smoothly. When teammates fail to communicate with each other, the results can often be disastrous. As we concluded our short discussion, our mentors left our youth with a few recommendations to help them achieve success in future group projects.

As our youth gleefully ran downstairs to the multipurpose room (after our discussion), they were greeted by a transformed environment. No longer were they just young men; they were now dubbed secret agents by their team leader Br. Fahad. The group of secret agents was split-up into special operations groups before being handed their mission for the evening. Agent Humpty-Dumpty is injured and sitting atop the Burj Khalifah in Dubai. He requires urgent medical attention but the elevators are inoperable to get him to the ground floor. His only option – he must take the specially-designed carrier designed by our special operations teams and parachute to the ground safely. Mr. Humpty-Dumpty is fragile (he is an egg after all) so care must be taken to ensure the carrier is properly cushioned.

Folks, please meet Mr. Humpty-Dumpty, our secret super agent!

Commander Fahad debriefs the agents on their secret mission

Mohamed reads the details of the mission out loud. We love the intensity and focus on his face.

After debriefing our young agents on their mission and the materials available to construct their egg carriers, each team was given 30 minutes to design their model.

Tassawar and Sheriff think long and hard about the mission...wait did they just say there is an egg involved in this? Whose brilliant idea was this project again?

Omar draws his team's master design. Psssst Hamzeh, we agree with you; the design isn't going to work.

Once the agents received approval from Command and Control (a.k.a our mentors), they were given a goody bag with the following materials:

• 10 Popsicle sticks
• 8 straws
• 6 cotton balls
• 8 inches of Styrofoam
• 2 feet of tape
• 1 rubber band

And then things got crazy…

Command and Control Headquarters - we were going for a serious photo but Salah destroyed the mood. Good job Fahad - at least someone paid attention to directions.

Mujtaba and Murtaza discuss the properties of Styrofoam - it is quite fluffy yet durable...PERFECT for a box!

Ahmed, Shujath, and Raad discuss the finer points of mixing Styrofoam with straws

Ihsan lends some beneficial advice to the young lads

Mohamed, Muhammad, and Assim carefully begin taping their pieces together..."careful we only get two feet of tape!"

Wisdom on full display here folks - Tassawar couldn't find a pair of scissors to cut his Styrofoam. No problem, after all what else is a Popsicle stick good for?

Out of nowhere, Adil comes to save the day. With one minute to go Ahmed, Raad, and Shujath miraculously finish building their vehicle. This was their third model.

Salah didn't think it fair that the youth were having all the fun; after throwing a temper tantrum Fahad conceded and gave Salah a bag of supplies.

"DON'T BREAK IT," reacts the Muhammad/Mohamed tandem

After 45 minutes of hard work, there emerged the following creative masterpieces:

"Egg Protection Structure (E.P.S.)" by Mujtaba and Murtaza

"Scrambled Eggs" by Malik and Ali; sadly the name actually matches the vehicle's effectiveness.

"The Arachnid" by Omar and Hamzeh

"The Challenger" by Tassawar and Sheriff

"The Workers" by Assim, Mohamed, and Muhammad

Since our youth had designed such unique and…ahem…durable-looking structures, it was time for the big test. Which vehicle would safely transport Mr. Humpty-Dumpty down from the Burj Khalifa (basically 8 feet from the ground).

Fahad gets ready to drop the Mr. Humpty-Dumpty; is it just us or is that not a looooong way up? Acrophobia anyone?

Some of our youth were great sports even though their final products didn’t quite succeed in their mission.

Malik kisses his trophy, the failed "Scrambled Eggs." Meanwhile in the background Ali thinks, "Dude you're weird! It's just a box made of Styrofoam."

Though "The Arachnid" failed its mission, Omar found great joy in his team's final product

In the end only two egg carriers survived the initial drop – “The Minute,” by Ahmed, Raad, and Shujath and “Fort Knox,” created by our very own Salah Issa! Since we had some extra time left, we thought to ourselves, “I wonder if these two carriers can survive a two-story drop? Hey, let’s test them!” With this thought in mind, our youth grabbed their jackets and shoes and scrambled outside. From a window on the second floor of the ISGL, Fahad gingerly released both carriers. In the end, only one survived the mission.

Tonight's superstar = "Fort Knox," the indestructible eggmobile

Friday’s event was a great learning experience for our youth. We’ll conclude with a few parting photos. Enjoy!

Fahad checks Mr. Humpty-Dumpty for scratches and holes - and the result is..."HE'S SAFE!"

The painful remnants of Mr. Humpty-Dumpty. He was such a dependable fellow. Can we make some scrambled eggs yet?

We began with 12 eggs...sadly 6 didn't make it to the end

Today,our mini-men enjoyed their first life skill lesson for this semester – making cookies! We are pleased to report that all of our youth are big-time lovers of sugar and chocolate chip cookies. Sadly we must begin this post with a small confession – the title of this blog post would seem to suggest that our youth tried their hand at making homemade cookies. This would imply that our young brothers used a combination of flour, sugar, butter, milk, and miscellaneous ingredients to make their cookies…unfortunately we ended up using pre-made cookie dough from the store. Yeah we know, we know – this isn’t quite “homemade”; but imagine giving 5-7 year-old youth a giant mixing bowl and raw ingredients (milk, flour, sugar, butter, etc.). We think it is safe to say that at least 25% of those ingredients would have ended up somewhere else besides the mixing bowl (most likely in their mouth). Thus we went with pre-made sugar cookie dough instead.

After cutting the dough into 1/2 inch circles, our youth mentors taught our youth how to make beautiful thin circular cookies using the palm of their hands.

Abdelrahman, Hamza, and Hasan make nice circles from their cookie dough. Excuse us Hasan, can you please look at the camera?

Fahad shows the young lads how to make the perfect sugar cookie. Murtaza seems to be trying especially hard to make his cookie evenly shaped.

After gently shaping the cookie dough into nice round circles, our youth shouted “Jamba” as they tossed the cookie onto the baking sheet. Why did we shout “Jamba?” It sounded cool at the moment. After 20 “Jambas” the mentors began to feel the early symptoms of a headache emerging.

"Jamba" yells Abdelrahman after tossing a rather nice looking cookie onto the baking sheet.

Circle cookies are nice and all but the real fun comes when you use cookie cutters. Thus before we placed our baking sheets in the oven, we gave our mini-men the opportunity to make cool shaped sugar cookies using different cookie cutters. What emerged was…umm…interesting…

Hasan carefully presses down on the race car cookie cutter. More muscle young friend! Ooo look, it is a plane!

Mohammed decides to multitask - he cuts his cookie using the race car cookie cutter as he carefully observes something in the distance. Ahmed seems a little concerned about the cookies; don't worry Ahmed, the cookies will be fine in shaa Allah.

"This...is...hard!" Mohamed squishes both hands down on top of the cookie cutter. Behind him Salah looks on carefully.

Salah went a little crazy with the cookie cutters and decided to put them all on the cookie dough at once. Yep we agree with you Abdelrahman and Hasan...that is a LOT of cookie cutters!

After placing all of our raw cookies carefully on the baking sheets, we transferred the precious items to our oven to bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the battle of cookie cutter versus mini-men...the mini-men emerged victorious. Is it just us or are there more race car cookies than airplane cookies?

How many cookies can we fit in one oven? Apparently four trays worth!

As our youth patiently waited for their beloved sugar cookies to finish baking in the oven, we took a moment to learn a very valuable lesson. Before we begin almost any activity (making wudu, the daily prayer, before we eat or drink, etc.) our faith teaches us to say “Bismillah,” or “In the Name of Allah.” After completing an activity, we are encouraged to thank Allah, azza wa jal, be saying “Alhamdulillah,” or “All Praise Belongs to Allah.” To re-enforce this lesson, our mini-men took time to color-in a drawing with this message.

As our youth patiently wait for their cookies to finish baking, they take part in a nifty coloring lesson. Yes Murtaza you can borrow the yellow marker now.

A few of the umm finished products. We promise you we asked our mini-men to draw between the black lines...some of our youngins didn't quite get the message.

After a short wait, our cookies returned from their journey to the baking oven! Next, our youth took tubes of frosting and beautifully decorated their final products.

A few of the final baked products - it looks like the cookies expanded in the oven. Hey cookies, stop touching each other!

Hamza's pride and joy - the smiley face cookie! Umm...YUMMY!

Murtaza would like y'all to meet the cookie monster - no, not the one from Sesame Street!

Yes that is a blue hot dog made out of frosting sitting on top of a cookie...enough said. Onto the next photo!

Finally our youth got to complete the most important task of the afternoon – EATING! Though our mini-men claimed they could easily eat 5 or 10 cookies, most of them barely finished two cookies. The rest of the cookies were packaged and taken home as a gift for our youth group families.

Finally, we get to eat! Ahmed enjoys a BIG bite from his delicious sugar cookie.

It looks like the cookie and Hasan seem to be doing battle. Is it just us or is that not one GIANT cookie?

The mentors enjoyed spending quality time with our mini-men this afternoon. In shaa Allah we’ll meet again soon! Until then, enjoy the pictures which accompany this blog post.

Our younger youth enjoy a valuable lesson about choosing our words wisely with Ihsan. Look Nabeel has a question everyone!

Last night, our youth took part in an epic cooking session which would have made even the most revered chefs proud. Before our young men could roll up their sleeves and prepare their meals, the evening began by praying Isha prayer in congregation at the masjid. After Isha prayer was completed, we broke up into two groups for our weekly youth discussion. Last night’s topic was “My Tongue = My Ticket” and focused on gaining a deeper appreciation for the advice our Creator gave His creation in Surah Al-Isra (17), Verse 53 (close translation of the meaning):

“Say (Oh Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) to My servants that they should (only) say those things that are best; for Satan does plant seeds of dissension/anger/enmity (between people).”

Oftentimes we forget the impact our words can have on other people. Words of praise, thanks, and encouragement can help inspire or motivate a sibling, friend, or classmate to keep trying hard and push through an obstacle. Words of anger, spite, and pure nastiness can cause tremendous pain and sorrow. Therefore it it critical for us to choose our words wisely when we communicate with other people in our life. If we use the best (nice) words when talking to our family members, friends, and community members, these words will plant a seed of friendship and mercy in the heart of the person whom we are talking to. With every additional positive interaction with this individual, it is as if we are watering the seed and allowing it to grow in the person’s heart (and thus the concern and mercy in the person’s heart for us will continue to grow).

The reverse is true as well. When we get into an argument or discussion where hurtful and derogatory language is used, a seed of enmity and hurt gets planted in the hearts of the two people who are arguing. If forgiveness is not sought for the hurtful words exchanged between the two people arguing, this can lead to two friends becoming enemies. Thus it is important that in every conversation we take part in, we choose only the best words to avoid creating friction and enmity between ourselves and the people we are talking to.

The empty table awaits its much anticipated guests. Oh where art thou young men?

After the youth discussion was complete, our young men began the short jaunt downstairs to the multipurpose room for our main event – American Cooking Night. This event provided an opportunity for our mentors to educate our youth on the important life skill of cooking. Last night, our youth worked in small teams to prepare one item in our four-course dinner:

• Fried chicken
• Macaroni-and-cheese
• Mashed potatoes
• Salad

Remember when we used to pick players during recess for basketball - looks like recess is back in session for American Cooking Night!

It doesn’t get any more American than these four items. Below are the recipes we used for our meal along with a few pictures of our youth in action. Enjoy!

FRIED CHICKEN

Fried Chicken

Ingredients needed:

- Chicken drumsticks

- Cooking oil

- Shan Broast Mix (1 box)

- Water

Equipment needed:

- Cooking pot

- Deep fryer

- Fridge

- Mixing bowl

The recipe for fried chicken is as follows:

Step 1: Boil the drumsticks on low heat in the cooking pot for 10-15 minutes.
Step 2: Coat the boiled drumsticks with Shan Broast Mix in the mixing bowl.
Step 3: Let the coated drumsticks sit in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: Fry the drumsticks for 1-2 minutes in a deep fryer.

Hamzeh and Mujtaba gleefully coat the chicken drumsticks with batter.

Tassawar shows Malik the art of coating chicken with batter. Is it just us or could this picture have come from the Food Network - the lighting is perfect!

Our coated chicken chills in the fridge for 10 minutes. Please disregard the "Do Not Touch" sign.

Ihsan instructs Hamzeh on the skill of frying chicken; Mujtaba gives his team's chicken two thumbs-up. Our youth concur with Mujtaba's assessment.

MACARONI-AND-CHEESE

Macaroni-and-cheese

Ingredients needed:

- Butter

- Macaroni-and-cheese box (can purchase in a box at your local super market)

- Milk

- Sour cream

- Water

Equipment needed:

- Cooking pot

- Measuring cups

- Measuring spoons

- Stirring spoon

- Strainer

The recipe for macaroni-and-cheese is as follows:

Step 1: Fill a cooking pot halfway with water.
Step 2: Place cooking pot on low heat on oven. Add box(es) of macaroni-and-cheese to cooking pot. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender.
Step 3: Drain water from pasta using a strainer. Return drained pasta back into cooking pot and place on oven (on low heat).
Step 4: Mix cheese, 1-2 spoons of sour cream, and one cup of milk with pasta. Stir contents for 5-10 minutes before serving.

A pot, a gallon of milk, butter, a strainer, and lots and lots of boxes of macaroni-and-cheese. I wonder what our youth will turn these ingredients into.

Muhammad adds the cheese as Mohamed stirs. Yes you read correctly - there are two Muhammads in this photo. Guess which one is which.

"This is veeeeerrryyy cheesy" says Hamza. In the background Raad diligently mixes the macaroni-and-cheese product to a perfect consistency.

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh, mac and cheese is AWESOME! It looks like the bowl is so heavy Muhammad is about to fall over.

MASHED POTATOES

Some say "potayTOE," we say "poTAtoe." Raw ingredients await to be carefully churned into mashed potatoes. Has anyone seen our mashing tool?

Ingredients needed:

- 24 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

- 3 cups warm milk

- 1.5 cups butter or margarine

- 4.5 teaspoons salt

- Dash of black pepper

- Water

Items needed:

- Measuring cups

- Measuring spoon

- Potato peeler

- Saucepan or cooking pot

- Spoons (for mashing potatoes)

Our recipe for homemade mashed potatoes:

Step 1: Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil.

Step 2: Cook potatoes for 20-25 minutes or until very tender.

Step 3: Drain well.

Step 4: Add milk, butter, salt and pepper.

Step 5: Mash potatoes until light and fluffy.

Step 6: Serve to your guests!

How many potatoes can we fit in one pot? Apparently 20 according to Salah's team.

Nabeel, Ahmed, and Assim start smashing potatoes. Why are mashed potatoes called mashed potatoes and not smashed potatoes?

Amr seems to think we've reached the right consistency with our mashed potatoes...

Salah disagrees and steps in to finish the job.

Mashed potatoes success! Hazem looks excited for dinner - time to EAT! Wait, where is our salad?

ARABIC SALAD

His and Her Arabic Salad

Ingredients needed:

- Cucumbers

- Green peppers

- One head of organic lettuce

- One lemon

- Seasoning (salt and pepper)

- Tomatoes

Equipment needed:

- Cutting board

- Knife

- Large salad bowl

Below is the recipe we used for our salad:

Step 1:Wash all of the vegetables with warm water.

Step 2: Cut the tomatoes and green peppers in 1 inch square pieces.

Step 3: Slice the lettuce to 1 inch piece.

Step 4: Peel and slice the cucumbers into quarter-size pieces.

Step 5: Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and squeeze half a lemon on top.

Step 6: Add a dash of salt, mix, and serve!

Knives, cutting boards, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and bell peppers. What will end up in the salad bowl?

Murtaza educates us on a valuable step when preparing a salad - wash the ingredients first. Salmonella is not the most friendly bacterium to meet in your tummy.

Essa, Danyal, Amine, and Murtaza carefully slice tomatoes and cucumbers for our salad. We totally dig the safety gloves!

"It is a bell pepper man!" Meanwhile our salad bowl is starting to look very colorful.

Omar decided to take a break from cutting salad to pose for the camera...not quite sure what is going on here. Okay back to the salad!

Danyal uses his muscles to squeeze the juice out of the lemon - just one...more...drop...DONE! "Phew that was hard."

Ta da! Team Fahad looks quite proud of their salad product - looks delicious gentlemen.

After spending an hour cooking in the kitchen and multipurpose room, our youth and mentors were finally ready to sit down, say bismillah, and dig in for an enjoyable family-style meal.

Danyal chases Amine around the table as they graciously set up our tables for dinner.

Our young men finally get to sit down and enjoy the meal they cooked. Dig in friends!

We hope you enjoyed watching our youth sharpen their culinary skills. Until next week, enjoy the pictures!

Alhamdulillah last Friday night the weather was perfect for a youth group activity. Temperatures felt like they were in the low 40s with a slight breeze (direction unknown). Most importantly – there was no precipitation (for the most part). We began Friday evening by praying Isha prayer in congregation at the ISGL. It was really cool to see that our youth helped form almost two rows for prayer on Friday night. May Allah, azza wa jal, support our youth and families in becoming regular attendees of the masjid. Ameen.

After Isha prayer was finished, we broke up into two groups for our weekly youth group discussion. The youngins (roughly ages 8 to 11) chilled in the men’s small prayer hall while the older brothers (ages 12-18) enjoyed quality time in the main prayer hall with Br. Fahad. Friday’s discussion centered around the topic of “Sportsmanship & R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” In the world we live in today, it appears commonplace to see people publicly boast about their accomplishments and skills on and off the sports field. We see chest-pumping, eclectic touchdown dances, and trash-talking. Though these actions are often directed towards the opposition, we see instances where teammates call each other out, subject younger teammates to initiation rituals, insult their coaches/trainers, and show bad body language in the face of obstacles. These incidents are not reserved just to the sports field; they also apply when working on team projects for a class, taking part on a school/club team, and can even be observed between colleagues in the workforce. If we look at the example of Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, he would consistently advise his companions to guard their tongues and not use their words or limbs to cause undue harm to others.

To help instill the importance of respecting one’s teammates, opponents and coaches, Friday’s discussion included defining sportsmanship, discussing real-life examples of good and bad sportsmanship, and providing our youth with three tips to help them put the lesson of sportsmanship to good use in their daily life. One example of great sportsmanship which was discussed in our youth lecture was the story of Johntel Franklin and the Dekalb boys basketball team in February 2009. To read the full story, we encourage you to visit the link below:

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=914609

After the 40-minute discussion was finished (alhamdulillah our youth were really engaged in the discussion topic), we discussed the rules of flag football and began the short walk to the Purdue Recreational Sports Center. Flag football is similar in concept to the game of regular football except there is no tackling, blocking, or aggressive physical contact allowed (at least for our game). There are two teams – one team is on offense and other team plays defense. The offense tries to move the football the length of the field (or in our case a regulation-size basketball court) by passing the ball from the quarterback to a receiver. Once a receiver catches the football, the defensive players try to stop the receiver by pulling off a belt which contained colored flags on it. The offense was given 3 chances (or downs) to get from the starting line to half court (which we termed our first down marker). If the offense passed the first down marker, they were given three additional chances to try to put the football in the end zone and score a touchdown (a rectangular space  located at the end of the basketball court). If the offense scored a touchdown, their team earned 7 points. As much as both teams tried, only two touchdowns were scored the entire game. The first touchdown was a beautiful spiral throw to Malik for a 100-foot touchdown. The second touchdown was a nice twisting, turning run by Hamzeh. In the end the two teams tied 7-7; most importantly there were several acts of good sportsmanship displayed throughout the game.

Enough words already; let’s get to the pictures:

As we waited for the flags to make an appearance to the event, a friendly game of basketball began. Sadly nobody invited this basketball to come play. Guys we just talked about sportsmanship!!!

Fahad walks steadily towards the youth with the all important flags. In the background we see some unusual poses by our young men. Mujtaba seems pretty excited!

My ball! No it is my ball! Boys, boys - come on now, let's play nice here. Hey look it is Assim! Is it just us or do those blue flags not just add a sense of fashion to the shorts and t-shirt look?

For some reason Tim Tebow decided to make an appearance all the way from Denver. Meanwhile Mujtaba appears to be admiring Tassawar's giant biceps ma shaa Allah.

All eyes glance downwards at the spinning football. Is it laces or spaces? Who will win the all important ball toss?

Hey Fahad, please move out of the way; you're blocking an important action shot! Team Yellow huddles up and discusses strategy; Hamza seems to have a secret plan he wants to share with the rest of the group. "Guys I've been working on this plan for a week now; trust me it is not going to fail!"

Our elder statesman, Tassawar, with some words of inspiration for Team Blue. "Guys we have one mission and one mission alone for today - WIN! Oh and follow the whole sportsmanship thingy we just talked about too."

Fahad searches for an open teammate; look Ahmed is wide open in front of you! Wave Ahmed, Fahad can't see you!

Hamzeh comes charging down the field for...a two-foot gain. Way to go defense - nice job swarming to the football! Hey, at least Hamzeh has a smile on his face.

Malik just can't stop crying after scoring one of the games two touchdowns. Once again it appears Mr. Tebow has made yet another appearance at our youth group event. One word - "copycat."

Raad and Mujtaba would like to introduce you to their team's awesome quarterback - Omar A.

Ali chases Tassawar down the sideline; they are moving so fast the camera can't stay up with them. Two words: "Usain Bolt."

Hamzeh chases Ali down in the backfield. Whoops I think Ali may have stepped out of bounds. I think we need to to check instant replay for the last play. Does anyone have the 1-800 number for the instant replay official? We seem to have misplaced his phone number.

"Gotcha" - Omar grabs Hazem's flag as the rest of Team Yellow surrounds the young buck. Swarming defense...they're so fast Hazem got swallowed up in the pile. Meanwhile Shujath reaches out in search of the flag and finds...nothing. Good try brother but I think Omar beat you to the flag.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...a football! Concentrate Amine, concentrate! Remember the ball can't hurt you (well you could jam a few fingers but that is besides the point).

Muhammad finds a new use for his flags. We're getting tired just watching him run.

Well that is all we have for now. In shaa Allah this Friday evening our young men will get to learn a valuable life skill by preparing a family-style American meal. On Saturday, our mini-men return to action to try their hand at making some yummy cookies. Tune in next week to find out how our youth did in the kitchen.

Well after a long slumber through the month of December (wow that kind of rhymes!) our youth group awoke once again for another semester of exciting educational, sports, fun, community service, and life skills activities! We officially kicked-off the ISGL Youth Group Spring 2012 Program last Friday evening with a Parents and Mentors meeting at the Islamic Society of Greater Lafayette (ISGL). The event almost didn’t happen as our mentors spent the previous two days debating whether or not to postpone the kick-off event due to an impending winter storm. Unfortunately with Indiana weather, you can never really trust the forecast. After monitoring the weather throughout the day, it was decided to conduct our first event as normal.

The event began with a presentation by our four youth group mentors where we discussed the following topics:

• A Walk Down Memory Lane (the history behind the ISGL Youth Group)
• Intro to Our Youth Group Mentors (including the process used to select and train brothers to become part of our dynamic team)
• A Breakdown of the ISGL Youth (for ages 8-18)  & Junior Youth (for ages 5-7) Spring 2012 Program
• Shout-out to Our New Educational Curriculum
• Rules and Discipline System (yeah we know this is boring stuff but it is kind of important if you think about it for a minute)
• Providing An Opportunity for Our Families to Get Involved

We concluded the presentation by asking families to complete a survey to help the mentors assess positive aspects of our current youth program along with getting recommendations for improving youth activities and programs for the future. As Salah was concluding his sage words of wisdom to the crowd, the iqama (call to start the prayer) for Isha prayer was made so everyone ran upstairs (okay more like walked).

After Isha prayer was completed, we faced a conundrum. Before our meeting started, snow had begun to fall lightly outside. Our original plan was to watch the movie “Kung Fu Panda” at an outside location (near the masjid). However, when we looked outside the masjid windows, we were greeted with a scene similar to this:

Ummm how do I get to my car? Okay so our winter storm did not look as bad as this scene; but the storm was no cakewalk either.

After one of our families lent us a pair of terrific speakers, we decided to make a quick change of plans and watch the movie in the multipurpose room of the ISGL instead. Before we watched the movie, our older youth (or young men as we like to call them) took part in a brief history lesson. We discussed the story of Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and his difficult journey from the city of Mecca to the town of Ta’if. He, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, walked a length of 40 miles to this town seeking support and help for his followers. Instead he faced ridicule and physical abuse at the hands of the people of Ta’if. He left the city, sought refuge in a valley outside the town, and sat alone making du’aa to Allah (God), subhanahu wa ta’ala. In this moment of tremendous hardship, Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, could have chosen to give up or run away from his followers waiting for him back in Mecca. Instead Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, picked himself up, walked back to Mecca, and persevered for several years against some difficult trials. This was the lesson for our youth – the idea of not giving up (or persevering) through the difficulties we face in this journey of life. The obstacles we face can include struggling in school with a particular subject, being bullied or made fun of for some reason (i.e. because of your faith, your ethnicity, the way you look, your personality, etc.), struggling when it comes to sticking with rituals of our faith (such as prayer or fasting), and so forth. We concluded our discussion by providing a few helpful tips or pointers for our youth to keep in mind when facing obstacles or challenges in life.

While our young men took part in the discussion of perseverance, our mini-men learned a very basic, yet important, lesson. Before we eat or do most anything in life, we should start out by saying “Bismillah” (In the Name of Allah).” To emphasize this lesson, our youth were given a nifty picture to color-in. There were some wonderfully creative masterpieces. Unfortunately we can only reveal one for your viewing pleasure:

Before we eat we say what kiddos...BISMILLAH!

We collected all our youth down in the multipurpose room, handed out some healthy movie snacks (fat free popcorn, reduced salt roasted peanuts, low salt, fat free pretzels, and 100% apple juice [with no high fructose corn syrup!]), and strapped in to watch the award-winning movie “Kung Pu Panda.”

All eyes gaze intently at the big screen...what will happen next they all wonder?

We selected the movie because it is an epic journey of a panda bear’s struggle to leave behind his family’s noodle business to pursue his dream of learning Kung Fu. Along the way, he has to learn the lesson of perseverance in the face of many obstacles (his fellow mates don’t like him initially, people make fun of his weight, his teacher is hard on him, and so forth). He eventually pushes himself to become worthy of being called the Dragon Warrior and defending his turf against the unlikable (yet talented) Tai Lung. Tai Lung is basically one bad dude who took the lessons taught to him in Kung Fu and tried to use them in a not-so-good way.

Meet the characters of "Kung Fu Panda" - Po the panda bear, Tigress the tiger, Crane the crane, Money the monkey, and Master Shifu!

Alhamdulillah we ended up finishing the movie 30 minutes ahead of schedule which allowed plenty of time for clean-up and to allow our families to drive home safely through the snowstorm. Until we meet again, we will leav you with one final parting photo of our youth hard at work:

Sheriff and his friends lend a helping hand during clean-up. You absolutely must admire the clever design of stacking the folding chairs against the wall.

It has been a rather mild Winter season around the Lafayette-West Lafayette area thus far alhamdulillah. We hope our families have had enjoyable vacations as the local schools were out-of-session. As our youth have been away on vacation (or relaxing aimlessly on the couch channel-surfing), our mentors have been hard at work re-tooling the youth group blog and working on this semester’s activities. As students slowly get back to the usual grind of homework, exams, and projects, we thought it was a good time to finally unveil our Spring 2012 Program.

Our registration drive for the Spring 2012 semester has officially begun! What activities do we have planned for our young men and mini-men this semester? Please click the links below to find out:

For youth ages 5-7 years old, we are pleased to unveil – http://isglyouth.wordpress.com/spring-2012-program-5-7-years-old/

For youth ages 8-18, please feast your eyes on the following – http://isglyouth.wordpress.com/spring-2012-program-8-18-years-old/

The program looks awesome but how do I register my child(ren), you may be wondering? Please fill out the appropriate registration form below and submit it along with the registration fee (by January 20) to Br. Haroon Mohammad.

For youth ages 5-7, please fill out the following form: ISGL Junior Youth Group Registration Form_Spring 2012

For youth ages 8-18, please fill out the following form: ISGL Youth Group Registration Form_Spring 2012

Parents, please join us for a meeting with the ISGL Youth Group mentors on Friday, January 20, 2012 starting at 6:30 PM in the ISGL (masjid). We will be introducing our new youth mentors (Br. Ihsan Sarfraz and Br. Fahad Shahab), discuss the exciting activities planned for this semester for your children, explain our updated rules/discipline system, and answer questions you may have for us. After Isha prayer (7:30 PM), the youth will enjoy their first activity and youth group educational lesson of the semester.

Please take note that the registration deadline for the Spring 2012 Program is Friday, January 20, 2012.

If your family has any questions, please contact either Br. Salah Issa (salahfuadissa@gmail.com) or Br. Haroon Mohammad (htmohamm@gmail.com).

Alhamdulillah we were blessed by Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, to put together another productive and enjoyable program for the young men (ages 8-18) and mini-men (ages 4.5 – 7) in our community during the Fall 2011 semester. We would like to take a moment to thank all the families in the community who entrusted their children into our care and allowed us the privilege to work with your children. We would like to also thank the leaders in our community for their support and encouragement during the past semester. In shaa Allah during the next 3 weeks our youth mentors will be working diligently behind the scenes to organize another beneficial jam-packed semester of activities for our youth in the Spring 2012 semester. Salah, Ihsan, and Haroon dislike good-byes so we’ll leave you with pictures and re-caps from this past semester to hold you over until the ISGL Youth Group resumes in January 2012 in shaa Allah. Until then, we wish our youth a safe and enjoyable vacation from school!

Sadly it is too cold in Indiana to go fishing in December but hey one can try, no?