The First Lunar Solstice Eclipse in 456years Happens Tonight, Dec 20th-21st

Tonight is the first lunar solstice eclipse in 456years, maashaAllah. It's supposed to begin around 10:30pm PST and last about 3 hours inshaAllah. I wanted to share the following email I received on what we should be doing during this time:


 "As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

I'm sure nearly everyone has heard about tonight's eclipse. I just wanted to remind everyone that it is a strong sunnah (some say as strong as Jumu'ah prayer) to pray during an eclipse. The added benefit is that it is coming in Muharram, which is one of the sacred months (which multiplies good deeds), and also that the time of prayer will be coinciding with the time for Tahajjud. Since there is an hour every night that du'a is accepted, we can really load up on good deeds here and, insha Allah be praying and making du'a during the time that Allah will accept it from us.

For those who may not know, during the eclipse prayers there are 2 Ruku' (bowing) instead of the normal 1.

 So:
1. Recite Fatiha and another surah
2. Make Ruku as normal
3. Stand up and recite Fatihah and another surah
4. Make Ruku and then sujood as normal
5. Repeat for second Raka'ah and then complete the prayer as normal.

If you need further clarification, here is a link with an audio (albeit fuzzy) that explains the prayer.

http://islamizeme.com/MP3/English/Dr_Ahmad_Sakr/Variety_of_Salat/34_Salat_Al-Kusuf_wa_Al-Khusuf.mp3

For your reference, the beginning of the eclipse, according to NASA, is 1:33am, and the end approximately 5:01am. Totality should begin at 2:41 and last for 72 minutes.

May Allah accept and forgive us all. If someone finds some mistake in what I have said, please correct me.

Wassalaam"

My "Family Time Management" Seminar Review

My husband and I recently attended the Family Time Management Seminar held at Dar Us Salaam this past Saturday. It was taught by Dr. Husein Afeefy, who was very colorful and knowledgeable, and seemed to have great insight into the family unit, women (!), and marriage in general. Instead of a one-sided male point-of-view, he presented views that accurately reflected each party in a marriage and gave each family member, even children, their just due, Maasha'Allah. This is the way it should be! 

At home, we've already implemented some of his suggestions for maximizing our quality time spent together as a family without sacrificing much-needed individual time, and it's working beautifully. We both were really able to benefit from a lot of introspection, as Dr. Afeefy asked some thought-provoking questions and presented the material in a way that really made us both stop and consider what he was saying.

I can't wait for his next class insha'Allah and I'll definitely post an update on the schedule as soon as I hear something. I highly recommend that if you weren't able to attend that you go when it's offered again- he mentioned that possibility at the end of class. In case you missed my original post, I've included a description below. JazaakAllahu Khayran Dr. Afeefy for the knowledge and may Allah preserve you and your family, Ameen!

Family Time Management Seminar

Dec 11th - 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Location To Be Confirmed, but tentatively at Dar Us Salaam in College Park, MD

Taught by Dr Husein Afeefy

Do you want to enrich your family experience?

Do you want to spend more time with your family?

Happy and successful families don't happen over night!

Family time management can enhance the quality of your family time.

In our Family time management workshop we will discuss the basics and the skills of time management. Bring some of your concerns written so that we can try to address it.

Finally, do you know that if you take care of your family you are pleasing Allah?

Click here to Register!