ICCI Youth Bid Farewell to Ramadan 2023
Boys Update:
This year’s Ramadan Program was yet another special one.
From the 23rd of March till the 21st of April 2023 the Youth Club of ICCI ran its Ramadan Program for boys 13-17years of age. Wednesday and Thursday from 4-6pm, and Friday and Saturday from 5-7pm for the entire month, with reminders, games, charity and quality time together. This year the Ramadan program was rich in different activities and the boys had a real chance to “Experience the Month of the Quran” with all the ingredients emphasised in this blessed month, like connecting to the Quran with knowledge and action, helping and sharing in a good cause with our own charity fundraiser for helping one family Syria by building one new house for them, strengthening friendships and having fun. The boys also had the opportunity to learn and explain surah “Al-Waqiah” from the Quran, benefiting from many reminders, having Iftars, snacks time and quick games together. The pizza iftar was back after long time, from before the COVID time and was really enjoyed. The mountain challenge for a noble cause was another highlight of this years Ramadan. Another one was their own “Fast and Fasting” driving experience of Go Karting. Again, at the end of the Ramadan we experienced mixed feelings of sadness and joy. Sadness because of the departing of this Blessed Month, and joy because of the great memories of the time we spent together and the coming of Eid.
We bid farewell to Ramadan however, even the Month of the Quran has left the Quran has stayed!!!
All that and more gave us a unique Ramadan experience this year, Alhamdulillah.
~Zahri ([email protected])
Girls Update:
You can click on our instagram page to keep up to date on what we've been up to.
During Ramadan we introduced an early morning session after fajr prayer for the teens, whereby we started the recitation of the first four pages of the juz' of the day to get people started and also took a few ayat of Surah Al Waqiah to reflect upon its meanings. We kept our Saturday sessions running. On one of these Saturdays thanks to Islamic Relief Ireland, we had the pleasure of Ustadh Shabbir Hassan taking us on a journey though Surah Yusuf: A Beautiful patience and the lessons we can learn from this beautiful story, the best of stories! Another week we had Sheikh Mustafa take us on a journey though Ibn Al Qayyim's 'The Disease and the Cure', which was another Iman boosting session for the girls alhamdulillah and invoked a lot of reflection. We posted an ayah a day on our Instagram page, so if you missed out on that you can catch up by clicking on the highlights.
The juniors were busy at the beginning of Ramadan making Cards for the elder members of our community who live alone. And at the end of Ramadan they wrapped presents that were collected for the Muslim Sisters of Eire (MSOE) toy drive for children in direct provision and homeless accommodation. Many of them also attended the women's iftaar with their mums that was organised by the ICCI for the women.
We collaborated with Select Aid and hosted a bake sale after Jummah prayer to raise money for the bakery that they are planning on building in Yemen. We raised over 500 euros, alhamdulillah!
The weekend after Eid Al Fitr we had our Eid parties. A pizza party for the juniors in the youth club room and the teens took the seminar room. Both parties were filled with fun and games and prizes.
A special thank you to my wonderful youth volunteers who make these activities possible. Say a special dua for them!
May Allah protect our children and grant them the best of this life and the next. Ameen.
~ Amilah ([email protected])
If anyone would like to volunteer with the youth, or has any ideas on activities/halaqa's, feel free to contact the youth leaders above via their emails provided.
