Best Regards

Photos & Video courtesy of Omar Benmoussa

YUSUF MOSQUE is honored to host the 2010 Qura’nic Arabic summer Program by the Fawakih institute. Fawakih is an Arabic and Islamic studies institute that aims to provide accessible and excellent outlets for study across America through the best teachers, so students may gain access to primary sources (Qu’ran, Hadith, etc.) through Arabic and develop a strong foundational understanding of Islam, without ever having to leave the U.S.

See below for more details on the complete one-month program.  Click here to Register!

Join us this Saturday for our weekly lectures. Our guest speaker is Imam Abdullah Faaruuq. He is currently the resident Imam of MasjidAl-Hamdu Lillah, aka Mosque for The Praising of Allah, one of the oldest mosques in Boston established in 1973. The mosque is located at 724 Shawmut Ave, Roxbury, MA 02119. He is one of the pioneering Muslims of Boston, a bridge builder,and an example of the caring American citizen and a defender of the rights of Muslims in America. He is a member of the Islamic Council of New England and the Center for Jewish-Muslim Relations, serves as the Muslim Chaplain of Northeastern University as well as in various interfaith and social associations.

Other Prayer Venues:
Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont Street, Boston. Across the street from the ISBCC.
Directions by public transport: Take the Orange Line T to the Roxbury Crossing stop. When you exit the station, you will see Reggie Lewis across the intersection.
After the prayer, there will be free breakfast snacks for the community, small gift bags for children, and a bazaar: all at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (across the street from the Prayer).

The Eve of the Feast of All Saints: the festival of

the return of the ghouls, our Ancient pagan Irish

Samhain (“Summer’s End”) was “baptized;” then,

on Hallowe’en, 1517, Martin Luther launched

the Reformation by nailing 95 Theses to the door of

All Saints Church; finally, after 1848, Irish immigrants

brought Hallowe’en to America — & the world!

Dear Abdullah,

At last, we may be able to reciprocate your hospitality at the Yūsuf Mosque!

As you may know, our graduate course, “Toward an Abrahamic Family Reunion,” is the first of its kind in America. And a visit to the Yūsuf Mosque or the Roxbury Mosque, or to Temple Beth Zion, or to St. Paul’s, should have a place of honor in the book that we are contemplating for the course.

Accordingly, I should like very much to invite you to join us on Sunday morning, the 22^nd of November, for the final class visit. That will be at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church — the flagship of the Archdiocese (we even have the Archdiocesan Boys Choir). As you may know, St. Paul’s is located at the corner of Bow Street and Arrow Street, just four blocks east of the traffic island at Harvard Square: from the International News Kiosk, just walk eastbound down Massachusetts Avenue, past Au Bon Pain and the Harvard Book Store until you come to Grafton Street Irish Pub & Restaurant, and look to your right: there, set in from Mass.Ave., is the tall, dark redbrick church.

As you may also know, we hope to be continuing the theme of the Sermon from the jumu’ah at the Roxbury Mosque on Fri., 13 Nov, namely, the Last Judgment, Time & Eternity. This is a natural theme for the 22^nd, for it is the final Feast of the Church Year: the Feast of Christus Rex: Christ the King, seated in glory at the Last Judgment. (For many Americans, esp. Irish Catholic Democrats, it is also a somber date: the 46^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — and our sense of how different American history could otherwise have been!)

Your friends, especially our conversation partners from that memorable Iftar at your Mosque, are definitely welcome!

Logistics for Christus Rex are very simple:

10:35   Parking in the Courtyard of St. Paul’s (if arranged by NLT Fri., 13 Nov)*

10:40   Seating up front in the Upper Church of St. Paul’s

11:00   Procession to start the Mass of the Feast

12:15   Recession marking the end of the Mass

12:20   Reception in the Harvard Catholic Student Center (next door on Arrow Street)

At the Reception, QUESTIONS ARE VERY MUCH ENCOURAGED! There will be plenty of coffee, tea, and desserts to fortify the discussion! “Everything you always wanted to know about Catholicism but were afraid to ask!”

One important detail. Please let me know, here, by NLT Fri., 13 Nov, if you plan to join us for the Mass & Reception. We’ll plan the church seating and the Reception goodies accordingly — even as I head back down to DC for the interim!

Hoping to host you and to field your questions right afterward,

Jerome