Opening Session

  • Recitation of the Holy Qur’an by a Tifl.
  • Translation of the Holy Qur’an by a Tifl.
  • Atfal Pledge, lead by Nazim Atfal or Qaid Majlis. (View Atfal Pledge)
  • Hadith by a Tifl.

Class Agendas

A reminder to please remember the following objectives before going into today’s lesson plan: Recitation of the Holy Qur’an and the Memorization of Salat.

Regarding the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, please encourage the Atfal to recite daily.

Regarding the memorization of salat, please ensure that each Tifl has a personalized weekly goal for how much to memorize. It is important to help keep each Tifl on track to reach the goal of memorizing the full salat. For Atfal younger than 10 years old the emphasis should be on memorizing salat fully in Arabic. For Atfal older than 10 years, emphasis should be put on memorizing the full salat in Arabic with the English translation. Please ensure that each tifl is keeping up with their goals in this area. Those Atfal who have already memorized salat along with the translation should set goals to memorize some portions of the Holy Qur’an along with the translation.

Please use the beginning of the class to check in on the Atfal and how their progress towards their goals is going.

After checking on the progress of Atfal towards their goals, please divide the class into Mayar e Saghir and Mayar e Kabir.

Class Agenda October 22nd

For Mayar e Saghir, please go through the following article from The Review of Religions and have a brief discussion with the Atfal (i.e. what things they are grateful to Allah for, how they can express gratitude to Allah, etc.)

A Glimpse into the Life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) – Various Aspects of His Gratefulness

Even after a meager meal, spontaneous expressions of gratitude would surge in his heart. He used to say, ‘God is happy and pleased with a person who eats a morsel and thanks God, drinks water and praises Allah for it.’ After finishing the meal, he would pray, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Who fed us, gave us water to drink and made us His obedient servants.’

God granted him such capacity of being grateful that he would thank God for it. Remembrance of Allah was an inseparable part of his being…At night on going to bed, he would offer gratitude for the favours received during the day in the words, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who blessed me with His favours and benevolence, He bestowed a great deal upon me. Praise and glorification is due to Him in all situations.’ 

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) said, ‘A person who says in the morning, “O Allah! every good thing that I have at this moment is solely from You and there is no partner for You”, has discharged his gratitude for the day and if he says these words at dusk, he discharges his gratitude for the night.’ 

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) would offer thanks on wearing new clothes. In summer when it rained after a long interval, his head would bow in gratitude. He would remove his headgear and let the rain fall on his head and say, ‘This is the most recent bounty from God.’ 

When his prayers were accepted or a good task was accomplished, he would not boast about it, instead he would praise Allah and say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Whose greatness and majesty accomplishes all good ventures.’ 

Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) went to see his Jewish servant, who was ill. Realising that he was near death, the Holy Prophet (sa) asked him to recite the kalimah [Islamic creed], when he recited it, spontaneous praise of Allah broke out from the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (sa) tongue, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who saved a soul from the fire.’

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For Mayar e Kabir please have them read and discuss the following excerpt from Introduction to the Study of the Holy Quran (pg. 297)

Principal Divine Attributes

The opening Chapter of the Quran (Surah al-Fatihah) illustrates the operation

of the attributes of God. It explains that the divine attributes, the operation of which

affects man in any manner, branch out from four principal attributes. Of these, the first is Rabbul-‘Alamin (); that is to say, God creates everything and then fosters everything gradually towards perfection.

Secondly, He is Rahman. This means that without any effort on the

part of His creatures He provides everything that is necessary for their development

and progress.

Thirdly, He is Rahim. This means that when those of His creatures that

are endowed with will and intelligence voluntarily choose to do good and to resist

evil, God bestows upon them the highest reward and that reward continues

indefinitely.

Fourthly, He is Maliki Yaum-id-Din. This means that the ultimate judgement concerning everything rests with Him. Everything owes its origin to Him and the end of everything is also in His hands. Man and other creatures may bring about temporary and ephemeral changes but have not the power to effect any permanent change in the universe. For instance, man has no power to create either matter or soul. He is equally without power to destroy either, though he may be able to effect temporary changes in matter and to give it different shapes. As the attribute of creation belongs to God alone the attribute of destruction also is peculiar to Him. Nothing can ultimately be destroyed till God decrees its destruction. This is an obvious truth and the Quran expresses it by stating that God is the Master of the time of judgement. That is to say, the final judgement regarding everything that is set in motion rests in His hands and these judgements are arrived at by Him in His capacity of Master of the universe and not merely as a judge who adjudicates upon the rights of the parties before him.

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In today’s class, Atfal will participate in a fun Writing challenge activity. Every Tifl that participates in this activity will receive a notebook and pen prize from the National Atfal team (It will be shipped). One Tifl’s submission will also be randomly selected for a Grand Prize!

 

These are the steps:

  1. Please have Atfal take out a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Please have them write their name at the top of the paper.

  1. Please ask Atfal to think of their all-time favorite Eid memory. Request a couple of Atfal to share their memories with the class (spend 3-5 minutes doing this).

  1. Have them write one paragraph (a couple of sentences is fine) or a short poem describing their favorite Eid Memory. Please give them 10 minutes to do this. 

Please make sure the Tifl writes his name at the top of the paper. After the 10 minutes, you may ask if any Tifl wishes to read their poem or paragraph with the class.

  1. Important Step: Please have the Atfal take a photo of the poem or paragraph they wrote and submit it to this Google form: https://forms.gle/fKucP5YnFtHrzRAQ6 

Some Atfal do not have phones. Nazim Atfal is kindly requested to submit it on behalf of the Tifl by taking a photo of their poem/paragraph and submitting it from his phone. 

 

Please have all Atfal submit the Google form in class. This will be their exit ticket! 


Important: Atfal can only receive a prize if they or their Nazim Atfal submit their poem/paragraph to the Google form. Otherwise, we will not know that they participated and therefore cannot send them a prize.

Class Agenda October 15th

For Mayar e Saghir, please go through the following portion of the summary of the Friday Sermon from September 22, 2023 and discuss what the Atfal learned from it:

Prophecy of the Victory of the Byzantines

 In 5 AH, Surah al-Rum was revealed, in which the victory of Rome was mentioned.

‘Alif Lam Mim.The Romans have been defeated. In the land nearby, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. In a few years (three to nine years)’ (The Holy Qur’an, 30:2-5)

His Holiness(aba) said that since the Makkans and Persians were both idolaters, the Makkans wished for the Persians to win. However since the Muslims and Romans were both people of the book, the Muslims wished for the Romans to be victorious. Hence, the Makkans set conditions with each other of what each would receive if their desired side was victorious, and they set the period of five years for this to happen. Ultimately, the Romans were victorious and it was on the day of the Battle of Badr that the Muslims learned of the Roman’s victory.

His Holiness(aba) quoted various historical references detailing the victory of the Romans, and how, despite seemingly being the weaker side, the Romans were victorious in light of the Qur’anic prophecy. His Holiness(aba) also quoted Edward Gibbon, a Roman historian who, upon detailing the Roman victory, expressed his astonishment and amazement at the amazing accuracy of the prophecy made in this regard by the Holy Qur’an.

His Holiness(aba) said that many youth write to him asking how they can know that Islam is the truth and the true religion as compared to others. The society around them has caused doubts to arise in their minds. However, they simply need to look back to history and such expressions of non-Muslims regarding these prophecies. Similarly, they need only to ponder over the prophecies which were made regarding our current times. Parents should also understand these prophecies so that they may be able to teach their children. These prophecies are proof for the truthfulness of Islam. Indeed there are thousands of proofs for the truthfulness of Islam. One need only increase their knowledge.

 

For Mayar e Kabir please have them read and discuss the following excerpt from Introduction to the Study of the Holy Quran (pg. 284-285)

Worship of God

The Quran deals in detail with the subject of the worship of God. It divides all

worship into four categories:

(1) Worship the object of which is to strengthen man’s relationship with God

and to increase his love for Him.


(2) Worship which is designed to improve man’s physical condition and to incite

him to make sacrifices for the sake of God.


(3) Worship which is prescribed for the purpose of promoting concord and

unity among men and to create attachment to a centre.


(4) Worship the object of which is to bring about equitable economic

adjustments within the community.


The Quran prescribes different kinds of worship under each of these categories.

It teaches that worship does not merely mean that man should concentrate upon and

offer homage to God but also consists in paying attention to one’s fellow-beings. It

further emphasises that worship is not merely individual but is also collective. A man’s

duty in respect of worship does not end with presenting himself before God; he must

also prepare his brethren to appear before God. For this reason all the ordinances of

the Quran relating to worship have a collective as well as an individual aspect.

Under the first category the Quran has prescribed the five daily services. The

Islamic prayer service is very different from those prescribed in other religions. It has

both an individual and a collective part and is entirely devoid of all show and

ceremonial. The Quran has dispensed with the necessity of consecrated buildings like

churches and temples and all formalities in the matter of the worship of God. It

teaches that every portion of the earth’s surface is fit to be used for the worship of

God. The Holy Prophet had this in mind when he said: “The whole earth has been

fashioned into a mosque for me.” This saying of his has multifarious significance,

one meaning being that a Muslim may say his prayers where he may happen to be

when the time of prayers arrives. It is not obligatory upon him to proceed to a church

or a temple nor is he dependent for the performance of his worship upon the

ministrations of a priest or a person in holy orders. Islam does not countenance an

ordained priesthood. It regards every good man as the vicegerent of God and

recognizes the competence of every such person to lead the prayers.

Class Agenda October 8th

Please present the Tarbiyyat presentation.
https://www.atfalusa.org/oct-2023-achieving-closeness-to-allah-through-salat/

Categories: Atfal Class