Our Bring a Dish Iftaar Party on Saturday 26th May was wonderful. It was a combination of delicious food, brilliant company and a generous community spirit. The event brought together nearly 150 people from Colchester’s diverse Muslim community. This really showed in the wide selection of delicious food from the Subcontinent, Middle East, Africa and Europe.  MashaaAllah TabarakAllah.

At the event we launched CICC’s Ramadhan Challenge to help us raise funds towards our Property Appeal to help build a Mosque and Community Centre in Colchester.

Ramadhan is the most blessed time of year and the best time of year to generously donate to charity.

In the Holy Qur’an, Allah SWT says,

“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed which grows seven ears, in each ear is a hundred grains. Allah multiplies His reward for whom He wills, for Allah is vast and knowing.”

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:261

We  are delighted to announce that we raised £7,430.00 on the evening, kicking off our Ramadhan Challenge with some great momentum.

Allahu Akbar!

This was raised within a mere 5 mins. Imagine how much more we can raise in this blessed month of Ramadhan.

YOUR CHALLENGE

We want you to contact your family and friends and aim to raise £1000 amongst them. If we all did this we could get even closer to our £500,000 initial target.

May Allah SWT make us successful and put Barakah in it. Ameen.

Share and donate now.

A massive thank you to everyone who brought food, volunteered their time and made donations on the evening. These events aren’t possible without help and support from all the community.

By Safiyah, Aged 8

5th May 2018

The Ramadhan workshop is where you do lots of fun activities, for example, in the bog girls room there were bunting, pompoms decorations, Qur’an bookmarks, Tasbeeh [prayer beads], Ranadhan cards and Happy Ramadhan bunting.

The bunting and pompoms were the best but the hardest. We also played outside in the mini playground. At the end we all took a Ramadhan quiz and I got it all right, It felt good to meet so many Muslims because we don’t do this at school.

P.S. There were 18 kids in the big girls room and 55 kids altogether.

 

By Dr Mohammed Abid Yusuf

7th May 2018

With Ramadan fast approaching, the title of this talk was a fortuitous one: Nutrition, Lifestyle and Islam. Making the wrong culinary choice is commonplace in Muslim households during Ramadan and outside of it, so this talk covered the importance of certain foodstuffs and interventions, as advised by the Prophet (ﷺ), which provide added value to a person’s health and well-being, both preventing disease as well as treating it.

The speaker, Dr Muhammad Shareef, is a Consultant Neurologist at Colchester Hospital, and is well versed in Islamic Medicine as detailed in the Quran and Hadeeth.

He covered the need to lead a healthy existence, and the Prophetic advice of using only a third of one’s stomach for food and leaving the rest for water and air is a fundamental part of this. The Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said, ‘The worst container that a person can fill is his stomach.’

In terms of food that provides health benefits, he made mention of the pomegranate, and a narration advising that every pomegranate contains one seed from Jannah. Sayyidunaa Ali (رضي الله عنه) is reported to have ensured that no seed of the pomegranate went to waste in order to gain the blessing of this chosen seed. Research has shown the pomegranate to contain a number of constituents such as antioxidants which are beneficial for health.

Olives come from a blessed tree (‘shajarah mubaarakah’) and olive oil is mentioned in the verse of Surah Noor where Allah describes His Divine Light, where the oil is almost incandescent due to its properties. The various benefits of this oil were also mentioned.

There are three types of honey depending on where the bees have nested, as this will have a bearing on the nectar used in the honey making process. The aayah in Surah Nahl says, ‘And your Lord revealed to the honey bee to take homes in the mountains, the trees and on the ground’.

The next aayah advises, ‘It contains a cure for Mankind.’

As for the black seed, the Hadeeth states, ‘The black seed contains the cure for every ailment except death.’

Quince is a fruit that did not grow in the Arabian peninsula, but the Prophet (ﷺ) was familiar with its beneficial properties.

Dr Shareef advised that eating a slice of quince in the morning will keep a person satiated until lunch, and there are other benefits to this fruit.

A form of treatment used by the Prophet (ﷺ) was cupping (hijaamah). There are specific areas of the body where it can be particularly beneficial, such as the back of the head.

During the spirited Q&A session at the end, a question arrived about milk. Milk is mentioned in the Quran as palatable for the drinkers (لبناً سائغاً للشاربين). In his own experience, Dr Shareef has found that  many of those with a weak swallowing reflex due to a neurological defect or old age can still drink milk.

Dates were also mentioned; there is value in eating seven dates each morning, and عجوة (‘ajwah) holds particular virtue.

The session carried a great many lessons for all present, along with practical advice that we could all bring into our daily lives. May Allah reward Dr Shareef for delivering this illuminating talk and may He continue to benefit the Ummah with his knowledge. Ameen.

CICC was featured in the Colchester Daily Gazette on 11th March 2018.

Text from article by Katie Palmer below:

“HALF a tonne of food has been donated to help those in need – one of the largest donations yet.

Colchester Islamic Community Centre collected the supplies over a few weeks.

They include 447.6kg of tinned food, rice, jam, fruit juice, toiletries and crisps.

The donation was about three times bigger than the average supermarket donation.

Shoomi Chowdhury, from the Colchester Islamic Community Centre, said: “The community centre has the aim of making sure we help our local community and do as much as we can.

“This was a call to action for us to so something and everyone put in a lot of effort.

“Donations came in from all over Colchester and Ipswich, and that is how this amazing donation came together.”

Michael Beckett, Interim Manager of Colchester Foodbank, said the charity really appreciated the generosity.

He said: “It is a very large donation of almost half a tonne, which we gratefully received this week. As a small local charity we rely on donations from the public of food and indeed financial donations to help us, continue to provide emergency support for local people in crisis.”

Colchester Foodbank, which has branches at Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea, helps identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher.

This entitles individuals and families to receive an emergency foodbank parcel of three days’ nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food.

Mr Beckett added: “Volunteers provide a listening ear to clients over a warm drink, and signpost people to other charities and agencies who can help resolve the underlying cause of the crisis.

“Most clients are able to resolve their crisis with just one parcel of support, except in exceptional circumstances, we don’t normally supply any more than three parcels in any six months period to try to prevent dependency.””

By Zahid

 

29^th January 2018

CICC squash club has been very active since the inception of CICC in 2017.

We aim to encourage brother from the community to play a few games of squash a week. This is a chance for new comers and some seasoned players to enjoy the game, stay active and get to know one another.

Squash activity is open any day up to 10pm and is open to brothers only. Actual timings of the game depend upon the convenience of members. We have an active Whatsapp group to discuss and agree times, so it’s worth joining if you’d like to stay up to date.

Our weekly games usually take place at the Essex University Sports Centre.

There is no charge for joining our group but Essex University Sports Centre fees need to be paid. All we require you to bring are your own racket, balls and water. Any of us can book a court where needed. The telephone number for Essex University Sports Centre is 01206 873 250 or members can book online.

Days and timings are subject to change, depending upon the convenience of the participants.

Sisters Sports activities are organised by our sister volunteers. You can check out the Sports Activities to find out what they have planned for the sisters.

CICC Brothers’ Squash Club has recently visited the AJ BELL PSA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 Finals (Men & Women) and had a chance to meet some top international athletes.

At the moment there is a WhatsApp group that we use to communicate and organise the games. Those interested to join that particular group, should either contact Asif (07868 756808) or Zahid (077387 66687).