IFN COMMUNITY CHRONICLE
February 2020
IFN President's Message
Dear Community Members
As-salaam Alaikum,
As the coronavirus crisis unfolds and things are changing rapidly and daily new cases are rising exponentially, in order to prevent further spreading of this devastating virus, schools, restaurants, sports and many more events and programs have been closing.
Alhamdulillah, IFN community is blessed with medical experts and an Imam with Islamic knowledge and we have assembled a great team of IFN Covid -19 Task Force to deal effectively with this crisis.
For any muslim organization it will be the last thing on this earth to close and lockdown the masjid, but given the alarming situation all Islamic organizations are echoing the same message that as muslims it is incumbent upon us to take all steps necessary to safeguard ourselves and around us from this devastating disease and fulfilling the obligatory prayers at the majid becomes secondary ensuring the health of the community. In view of this crisis and to prevent further spreading of coroanavirus, IFN Coronavirus Task Force has unanimously agreed for a very difficult decision to suspend all the activities and programs including the 5 times salah and Juma congregation until further notice.
Please be patient, make dua and we will get through this crisis together inshaAllah. May Allah SWT protect our community and entire humanity for this terrible disease. Jazak Allah Khair for all your understanding and cooperation.
IFN Board Of Trustees (BOT) Quarter 4 Update
Dear Community Members,
Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatullah,
Below is a recap of all the Q4 activities of the BOT, including redacted meeting meetings, GBM presentation, and GBM Q&A. These are also available on our website at:
https://ifnonline.com/resources/Documents/BOT/2019-Quarter-4-BOT-Update.pdf
https://ifnonline.com/General-Body-Meetings/
https://ifnonline.com/meeting-minutes
Jazakum Allah Khair,
M. B. Diallo
BOT General Secretary
How to write a will seminar at IFN
Teacher at Darus Salam MI. Salman Khan and Zaki M. Anarwala, Esq. Principal Attorney spoke in the IFN banquet hall on February 28th from
6 PM to 8 PM. They spoke about the fundamentals of estate planning and islamic inheritance.
Islam has placed a great emphasis on both the laws of inheritance and making a will, thus every adult Muslim should have a will. Making your will need not be very difficult. All you really need is a commitment to do it, to contact the right people and draft it.
Watch this video to understand the importance of writing a will.
IFN Community Health Assessment
Become an IFN member or renew your membership
The IFN 2020 Membership Campaign has begun and is currently in-progress, and we urge all community members to actively acquire or renew their annual membership. The membership contributions directly support the expenses of our Masjid and is a Sadaqa Jariyah.
- The membership goal for 2020 is 525 Members.
- The strength of the membership will enhance the voice of IFN. It will bring the attention of local elected leaders and officials to support our community.
1)Membership can be renewed/obtained online by visiting IFN’s website at: http://ifnonline.com/membership
2) https://paypal.me/donateIFN?locale.x=en_US (Paypal Link)
3)QuickPay with Zelle : Now you can donate using QuickPay with Zelle by sending your donations to "donate@ifnonline.com". Please mention a memo for the purpose of the funds, examples: Donation, Zakat, Membership, School Fees, Sadaqah, Expansion Project etc.

IFN Community Potluck
IFN hosted its first Community Potluck of 2020 at the IFN Banquet Hall on Sunday, February 16th. The event started at 5:00 PM before the Maghreb Prayers which was followed by a short lecture , presentation by Sisters Stepping Up (SSU), social hour, games , Potluck Dinner and Isha. All members and non-members were encouraged to bring a dish of their choice to share with everyone.This event was organized by Mrs. Mona Manzoor ( IFN Social Director ), Mrs. Seema Jaseem, Mrs. Riffat Mehmood, Mrs. Shamim Choudhury and Mrs. Asma Aamir.
Artificial Intelligence & The 4th Industrial Revolution By Br. Vicar Sayeedi
On February 23rd at Noon, Br. Vicar Sayeedi talked about his book "Artificial Intelligence and the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Br. Vicar Sayeedi followed the "TED Talks” format: He spoke for twenty minutes and then yielded to the Moderator, Dr. Youssef who took questions from the audience.
Amazon link:

Weekly sirah program with the Imam
Imam Azfar will start the sirah class online from this week In Shaa Allah.The Online Sirah Class will be on Thursday March 19th, 2020 from 7:20 PM - 8:10 PM.
Topic: The Life of Zaid bin Haritha
Dr. Walid Khayr Tafseer Sessions at IFN written by Br. Shakeel Syed
Dr. Walid Khayr has been committed to teaching life lessons and wisdom from the Quran for the past 20 years to the IFN Community. He is a Hafiz-al-Quran and a Scholar He strongly believes in empowering the community and individuals to use the Quran as a guide, a relevant reference book, a letter to YOU from Allah - so that YOU can uncover the hidden treasures in each of the blessed verses of the Quran.
Recordings of past Khutbas and Tafseer Sessions by Dr. Walid Khayr can be viewed using the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/user/QuranicLectures

IFN Outreach Written by Sr. Helena Abushamaa
On February 18, IFN Outreach hosted staff from Oak Grove school (including the incoming superintendent) and Libertyville High School to discuss the needs of their Muslim students and to learn the basics about Islam. Insha' Allah, this initial meeting will lead to follow-up meetings with additional staff members at both schools.
On Feb 25 and 28, IFN hosted two Middle Eastern History classes from CLC. The students learned the basics of Islam and toured the musalla. One of the more interesting topics of discussion involved Islam's view on original sin and the students were surprised to learn that Muslims believe in "original goodness".
IFN health committee news written by Sr. Nancy Romanchek, mosque community nurse
Health & Faith
Introducing a new Mosque Community Nurse Role at IFN
On February 24th approvals were obtained from President Jaseem Anwar, a strong proponent of building a healthy and resilient Mosque community, to begin a long-awaited pilot position at IFN as a Mosque Community Nurse. Nancy Romanchek, will be piloting this part-position in collaboration with the Chicago Islamic Foundation of Greater Chicagoland (CIOGC). This project has been made possible in part by a grant from Advocate Aurora Health System. IFN members will benefit from no-cost services and programs that combine health and faith to build a healthy and resilient Mosque Community. Mosque Community Nurses are bound by patient privacy and professional conduct under the auspices of their RN licensure.
What Does a Mosque Community Nurse Do?
This position includes seven primary roles which integrate whole person care, and which have been consistently and transparently communicated to the IFN community upon each health and faith-based topic presented to the community over the last several years:
- Health Education
- Personal Health Counseling
- Health Advocacy
- Referrals
- Mobilization and Training of Volunteers
- Developing Support Groups
- Integrating Islamic Practices into Health Decision Making
The Mosque-Community based Nursing services as described above, are available to any IFN member in need, at no-cost. Sr. Nancy may be reached at 847-239-4077 by call or text.
Announcing the new IFN Health Committee
Steering Committee leads are Dr. Fehmida Khan and Sadia Thiryayi.
The Health committee Steering Team will work closely with Imam Afzar to align faith-based segments, and with President Jaseem Anwer, and the EC. Additional independent priority projects for the coming year will be based upon the IFN Community Health Assessment findings presented to the community in January and February of this year.
***Please refer to the Health Tab on the IFN Home Website for additional information.
Healthy Topics in the Classroom
Sr. Wardah's and Sr. Muizza's preschool/kindergarten class collaborated with the Mosque Community Nurse in February to reinforce some health-related lessons with experiential learning in one-hour sessions with the Mosque Community Nurse. This led to some fun hands-on projects in the classroom and also served to build rapport among the children with the Nurse as another trusted adult in the IFN community.
Topics included:
- Staying Healthy during Cold and Flu Season
- Basic Human Anatomy
- Heathy Nutrition
HYSC and Corona Discussion
On March 8th Samina Anwar invited the Mosque Community Nurse to speak to the HSYC. The students were joined by several members of the IFN community for an interactive presentation about Coronavirus.
The coronavirus discussion included conversation about zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 which are transmitted from animals to people, and the consequences of populations of people encroaching on lands where wild animals live. The group considered our responsibility as Muslims to be stewards of the planet and of the creatures Allah has created, as well as of human beings alone. They were presented with a challenge as the next generation of Muslims to work towards bringing the status of our global health to a greater state of balance.
All of the events and activities have been suspended until further notice !!!
Living Green Fair - Postponed

Glass Calligraphy By Artist Samra Masood- Postponed
Please join for an exciting workshop and hands - on experience on the art of glass calligraphy
by Sr. Samra Masood, a Chicago artist on March 20th at 6:00 PM in the IFN banquet hall.

IFN Table Tennis Tournament - Saturday March 21st and Sunday March 22nd - Postponed
The 2020 IFN Table Tennis (Ping Pong) Tournament will be hosted at the IFN Banquet Hall on March 21st and 22nd. The tournament starts at 3 pm on Saturday and will wrap up on Sunday with finals after Asr followed by small prize distribution ceremony and snacks.
Please register for Tournament using this link , so the tournament organizing team can plan and prepare accordingly: http://bit.ly/ifnTT2020
We encourage all IFN Members and Non-members to join the IFN Table Tennis (Ping Pong) Tournament .

Meet the Author - A Sisters Steppin Up ( SSU ) Event - Postponed
Please join in welcoming author Shaziya Barkat at the meet the author event on Friday, March 27th, after the second Jummah Salah. Shaziya is the author of the book knowing You, which is a collection of poetry and personal narratives tailored to the 99 names of Allah. This event is open to all and will include a writing workshop, a poetry reading from her book, a question and answer session, and a book signing.
