Sanad Preparatory Senior Class of 2019!

Sanad Preparatory First Graduating Class

Kareem Mirza, Hiba Kakli, and Nadeem Baksh will always hold the amazing distinction of being Sanad Preparatory Learning Center’s first graduating class.  They have been incredibly busy with their college applications, taking the SATs, and their rigorous coursework load of Advanced Placement and Honors classes.   Sanad Prep students are also required to take Sacred Sciences, which consists of Quran and Islamic Studies. We had a chance to sit down with the Senior Class of 2019 to discuss their experience at Sanad Prep.  

When did you start at Sanad Prep?

Kareem (K) – I started at Sanad Prep in the 7th grade, 5 years ago. Overall, my experience has been positive, I always got the support when I needed it.  My plans for the future is to go into a dentistry program. I want to become an orthodontist. I filed my college applications last week and got a lot of support…Inshallah everything will go well.

Nadeem (N) – I was in Sanad Prep when it first started in the 7th grade.  I took a hiatus, but I was with the Sanad Prep Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST) team in its second year.

Hiba (H) – This is my third year at Sanad Prep, I started in the 10th grade.  I chose to come to Sanad Prep after attending public and another Islamic school.  Before that, I was involved because I knew a lot of the teachers.

How do you think your experience here at Sanad Prep was different than attending a standard high school?

K – In a regular high school you rotate through periods, in Sanad Prep you have one to two main teachers, you get to talk to a lot through the day.  You get to know them and they get to know you. There is a stronger connection and more support.

N – I have enjoyed it all.  Here you are going to have stronger relationships with other students.  You are in a classroom with teachers and students all day. I feel you get to interact with the students and teachers.  You feel like there is a stronger relationship then you will get anywhere else.

H – Their (staff)  approach to learning is very different, they are very involved.  You do not have to look very far to get emotional support. To get the emotional support you basically do not have to do any work, they are looking for ways that they can help.  Also, as Kareem and Nadeem said, it is smaller, it is a more intimate setting. You feel bonded with the students and especially the teachers.

Can you talk about your Sacred Science (Islamic Studies) experience?

K – I think it was good. It was very involved with the learning coaches compared to weekend schools.  There you would get assigned work, but sometimes you get to talk about it sometimes not, and go into the next lesson.  Here there are more discussions and a more proactive approach.

N – Like Kareem said, I think that our sacred science studies are taught not just in a class, but throughout the day. I think that this is the best way to Islamic studies because you get not only textbook teachings, but practical as well.

H – There is definitely a difference in the Sacred Sciences, it is not just an Islamic studies course, they apply it throughout the day.

How do you feel about your standard sciences curriculum (high school coursework) and extracurricular activities?

N – In terms of extracurricular activities, I don’t think that being in Sanad Prep or having my classes online really affect them. I am still able to go out and play different sports and get involved in different programs. Sanad Prep also offers MIST. Even though I haven’t been part of it for long, I think that this is the best extracurricular activity that I could do.

K – My first year of high school I was a little concerned because I have always been active in sports so here there are no real sports teams. But with the addition of MIST, it balances out.  Our principal always said that if I really want something we can push for it and we can see what we can do. So he always gave me the opportunity to get my ideas out there.

H – The people may perceive that we missed [out].  We just had to do more work to look into the world.  It was not like an opportunity was taken away by going to Sanad Prep.  We just had to work more, the resources were there. But we also were introduced to a lot of new opportunities like MIST that we would not get at public school.  You have to take more responsibility, which in hindsight is good because you do it earlier in life. I think that in terms of my standard sciences here, I feel like the quality of education isn’t necessarily lower than at a public school; it may even be higher, because of the amount of support and resources that we have. I do recognize that it may not be for everyone, though, because there is a level of responsibility that is needed to manage your own studies.

Now that you are leaving Sanad Prep, do you feel like you are ready to go from a smaller environment into something bigger? Do you feel prepared?

H- Yes, I feel like this is what I have been mentally preparing for; leaving the “nest” that is Sanad Prep. I anticipate some separation anxiety, because of how comfortable I’ve been here for the past few years, and how much of my personal growth I credit to Sanad Prep and my learning coaches, but I think that change is necessary for me to grow even more.

K- I do, while I get support here, a lot of the work you do is independent.  Which in college is what is required for you to be successful. I feel like these skills are what I learned through my independent study.

N – I have been doing online study since sixth grade.  So I am really used to independent study. So honestly, for me college should not be too different. I have been in classroom environments, so for me it is not an issue.  I enjoy it. The college environment is really not going to be that much of a change. So I am ready.

Sanad Preparatory Learning Center is proud of these amazing students. We wish them well in all their future endeavors!  We know they will change the world and the people around them for the better!

In March 2018 Sanad Trust Foundation held our Sanad Parent Workshop. The workshop is mandatory for Sanad Prep families. At least one parent/guardian is expected to attend. The reason we have this expectation and other expectations of our SP families is that our hopes are high. We never wanted to Sanad Prep to be the same; we are actively trying to be different, better, and innovative. We want each of our students and their families to reach their fullest potential.

Sanad Trust Foundation is building the first-of-its-kind and one-of-a-kind family education center. Sanad Prep and the services Sanad offers are integrated and connected to one another. At SP, in particular, our work is guided by the proverb, It takes a village to raise a child. Sanad Prep is not for every child or family, but for the ones who want to work together to better their own and their child’s spiritual and cognitive life, then it’s a great place.

The workshop was themed, Keeping Children Safe and was conducted by Br. Rehan Mirza and Sr. Neelam Mahmoud. The content of technology and entertainment as well as social media, the internet, current events and more were among the topics covered. They were related to our children’s spiritual and emotional well-being. Also discussed was how Islam offers spiritual protection and coping mechanisms for our children and families.

2018 Sanad Prep Workshop: Keeping Children Safe

 

The most important thing we can do as a parent is to educate ourselves and support our children both in and out of school. Sanad MYNA, a youth club at Sanad Trust Foundation for children 12-18 yrs, helps us do just that! Our children, not only should be intellectual and knowledgeable but sociable and active as well.

We are fortunate at Sanad to offer Sanad MYNA, an official chapter of Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA), a national network of youth clubs throughout North America. MYNA is an organization dedicated to being for the youth, by the youth.

Last Saturday, February 10th, Sanad MYNA members organized an Ice Skating event. We are very proud of how the students worked as a team to plan this event, from beginning to end. The objective of having the students work on a social event is to give them the opportunity to learn the process of event planning and working together to reach a goal. They learn all this while having fun. We want to share with all our beloved parents the importance of these events organized by our students. They need your support, guidance, praise, and encouragement each step of the way. These events mean a lot to them since they have put in a lot of hard work and time to bring everyone together.

To learn more about Sanad Trust Foundation’s youth clubs, visit: https://old.sanadtrust.org/education/youthclubs

– Sr. Sadia Sohail

Sanad Prep Learning Coach, Sanad Prep Mom, Sanad MYNA Parent Mentor

Teenage Lessons from the Cave of Hira

Every morning at Sanad Prep we have a Student of Knowledge and staff assembly, that we affectionately call Sanad Morning Lights. These are reflective moments we have together and cherish. We want to do a better job of sharing these assemblies with other students and families. Please let us know if you find benefit, we pray that you do.

In this talk, we reflect on the extraordinary experience of the Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – in the Cave of Hira. For the teenage Muslim, there are so many profound, relate-able moments. We share a few. You can listen to the recording and find an outline of the talk below.

Keep us in your duas. Allah bless.

– Rehan

Outline

  • Prophet Muhammad –  peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – is the greatest example. His purpose in life was expansive. He was able to impact well beyond his death and beyond the scope of people he lived around. All of the things you need in life in terms of how to cope with things, we can find in his life.
  • All ages can benefit at any point in life from studying the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. In different ways, we all can relate to his seerah in any year of life. Make it a habit to review/read at least once a year!
  • It’s really important to understand the human experience of being a Prophet. When the Angel Jibreel embraced the Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – in the cave of Hira, it was anxiety provoking to say the least.
  • It was so firm that he was out of breath. Afterwards, when Prophet Muhammad –  peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – hurried home he asked to be covered with a blanket, not for comfort, but he was actually panicked by such an unexpected experience.
  • As young Muslims, you will experience things in your life which will be very difficult things, new experiences, new emotions, new thoughts, new growth in spirituality, happy/sad moments and traumatic point’s in life, from childhood to adulthood.
  • There will always be things you are dealing with.

How to React to Difficult Experiences or Moments in Life –

Lessons from the example of Prophet Muhammad –  peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:

  1. He always shared with someone he loved/trusted. One thing we learn from his example is that when you have something overwhelming, challenging going on and don’t know how to respond to it, you should express it to someone or few who you trust. You don’t need to express yourself to everybody, certainly not everyone on social media platforms. Rather, it may be better to consult with one or a few people you truly trust. This is really important. This is the example of the Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him. 
  2. How did the people he shared with respond? Khadijah – may Allah be pleased with her – his wife and best friend, calmed him first. Then she mentioned all his good qualities (e.g. taking care of orphans/widows, giving charity, etc). He was an amazing person doing wonderful things. So first and foremost we should try to relax and calm and reassure the person we are trying to help; make them feel good and comfortable about themselves and then talk about the issue.
  3. Get counsel from those with the wisdom and experience and knowledge. They later went to another relative, Waraqa. They talked to him and shared things with him. He also reassures the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – and his wife. Shares his specific knowledge about the issue.
  4. Be honest always!! Don’t lie to make anyone feel better. Waraqa tells them what he knows and he doesn’t lie in order to help. He tells the truth even though it may not be all be pleasant. He is gentle and wise, and also reassures that he will remain with the Prophet to support throughout as long as he is able. 

Look at every point in the Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’s life to learn how he dealt with difficult times, how he coped with his problems. He didn’t have complete meltdowns. He dealt with things which affected him without too much delay, he found solutions to his problems. From extraordinary divine events to day to day things: his sandals would break, clothes would tear, armies would be sent harm his community, death of loved ones, single father at one point, and many other things.

To the young the Muslims…look at the greatest examples to learn the greatest lessons. Keep your head up and keep moving forward. 

This is the dua of the Prophet (saw) in strong wind:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ خَيْرَهَا وَخَيرَ مَا فِيْهَا، وَخَيرَ مَا أُرْسِلَتْ بِهِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّهَا وَشرِّ مَا فِيْهَا وَشَرِّ مَا أُرْسِلَتْ بِهِ

O Allah, I ask You for its good, the good that is in it and the good that it brings, and I take refuge in You from its evil, the evil that is in it and the evil that it brings

 Earlier this week I spoke with our Sanad Prep students about the oncoming hurricane. Children often don’t know how to feel until they see their parents respond in these situations. As an educational organization, Sanad Trust has a magnificent responsibility to help guide young men and women to always seek to understand and appreciate Allah, by understanding and appreciating the world around them. In this short talk, we shared a few words of naseeha. In events like a hurricane and others, we should have a least a moment where we see Allah and help our children see the same. These are signs for us to remember Him and turn to Him.

Audio Recording:

For perspective, the “Great Red Spot” of Jupiter is an anticyclonic storm that is believed to have been in existence and in constant rotation for at least 350 years when first discovered. And this is only what Allah has allowed us to see and/or experience by His permission.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is 1.3 times as wide as Earth. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot)

May Allah protect us during these events, allow us to see the benefit in them, and come through closer to Him.

In this talk Sanad Trust Foundation executive director, Rehan Mirza, makes an appeal to the community to consider seriously Sanad Prep and the decision they make for the education of their children. Learn more at www.sanadtrust.org/education

On June 22, 2017, Sanad Summer Prep students visited The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU and it was an amazing experience, one that we will never forget. We were inspired by the amount of creativity and thought that goes into works of art. We saw different exhibitions including one that had Mexican-themed artwork called Possible Worlds. This exhibit displayed many different concepts that relate to life and situations in Mexico.  

Closely looking at the artwork really makes you think about the themes that influenced them and the deeper meanings behind them. At the museum, all the artworks presented different messages from different perspectives. Visiting an art museum was a nice change of pace for us and allowed us to experience creativity and cultures through various art pieces.

Many of the paintings that we saw had different meanings to people. According to one student, this piece of abstract art represents people in the world that are all different sizes and colors. The spacing between the metal plates represents how people tend to gather together in groups. This artwork can have a thousand different interpretations to a thousand different people.

This particular painting depends on what you interpret it. In this photograph a student interpreted it as a river with a couple who are dancing next to their home, however, someone else might see a bunch of random colors.

After visiting the museum, we took a tour around the campus to get a feel for college life. We visited the main library and the student center, which is a common area for students to gather. We also got a few tips for college from our learning coaches about admissions, MSAs and more. The campus tour was fun and informative, as we got to see how our student life would look like in a few years. At the end of the tour, we sat down and talked about our time there. Ustadh Rehan reminded the students how they needed to be mentally and spiritually prepared to enter college in order to stay grounded. The end of our trip, like most days at Sanad Prep, was concluded with the recitation of Surah Fatiha.

Written by: Sr. Raania Mohammad (Gr. 9) and Sr. Emaan Waqar (Gr. 9)

This Sunday, Sanad Trust Foundation has it’s most important event of the year – the Annual Benefit Dinner. After Allah’s permission, our work depends on the generosity of the community. We can not fully express how special Sanad Trust is. The services we offer are unique and needed, and will have long-lasting positive effects for our community and ummah insha’Allah. We think the best voices to express what Sanad Trust Foundation means for this community are some of the people we directly serve. Please take 5 mins to view this short film which shares the voices of our beautiful Sanad Prep students of knowledge. We are sure you will be moved to join us this Sunday, 5p at Long Nature Center or give your charitable sadaqa online (https://old.sanadtrust.org/donate) to support them.

In honor of all the moms out there, Sanad Trust Foundation says, Thank You.  Throughout this month we will be sharing stories from some of the amazing…Moms of Sanad Prep (MoSP)!

Meet our Moms at the Building Hearts Banquet

Sunday, May 21, 5PM at the Long Key Nature Center

Buy tickets now. Click the image link below.

https://old.sanadtrust.org/event/hearts

 

Often we get so caught up in life that we rarely notice the “extraordinary” in ordinary. In our center’s small kitchen, stands a little white water cooler. This ordinary item is one of the most used items among our students and staff members. During lunch, there is always someone by the cooler, bending down to fill up their water bottle, and especially after P.E, there is a line of thirsty students in front of it, waiting to quench their thirst. The water cooler has just been there, quietly serving its purpose, and perhaps like many other things in our lives, it goes unappreciated.

Every time someone goes to the water cooler with an empty cup, they expect clean, cool water to be filled in it;  however, a few weeks ago, the unexpected happened: our little water cooler broke down. The first couple of days were more challenging; most of us at the center kept forgetting that the water cooler is not working anymore. We would casually walk up to it with our cups and hit down on the faucet, only to return with the realization and disappointment that there is no drinking water.

People say, “you don’t know what you have got until it is gone,” but perhaps the truth is that we all do know what we have, we just never think we’ll ever lose it. That is when we truly felt a tiny fraction of empathy towards thousands of people who suffer from the lack of access to clean drinking water. Nearly 1 billion people still lack access to safe water worldwide. We did not want to miss out on this opportunity of teaching our students about using empathy as a fuel to taking positive action.

During one of the morning assembly sessions, we sat our students down and discussed the lessons from this experience. As a center, we decided we want to make an impact and raise money for a water well in an underdeveloped country. We made a simple donation container and left it in the prayer area. By the next day, I was delighted to see the container filling up, but I was pleasantly surprised once I started to count the money. In one day, our center raised $352!

Allhumdulilah, Br. Rehan was able to fix the water cooler, and we have clean, cool drinking water again, but for millions of people, the
water crisis is real. There are women and young girls in Africa who walk miles to get“dirty” water. This experience made us realize the blessing of clean water.  We hope that Allah accepts our effort and as I heard Sr. Attiqa say, “May Allah place barakah in this small intention and may we see the fruits of efforts like this on the day of judgement in each others company and the company of His Habib, peace be upon him, drinking from the River Kauthar. Ameen.”

At times we preoccupy ourselves with thoughts of things we don’t have and experiences we are missing out on, we need to just STOP, just stop for a minute and look around us. Are we not able to find endless things to be grateful for? According to Melody Beattie, a journalist,

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

So let us commit to take time out to reflect and pay attention to the extraordinary in the ordinary!

This morning we talked to our Sanad Prep students about the importance of making a personal and emotional connection to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, from their earliest years. We may wonder at times, how can this honestly be accomplished? We live so far from the times of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Our circumstances are different, aren’t they?

One of the easiest ways we recommend to our students, and in particular our male students, is to identify with the male figure in their life who is of the same age of the Prophet, peace be upon him during the period which they are studying. For example, our most recent lesson was with regards to revelation in the cave of Hira — an extraordinarily, momentous event, but one that was also quite traumatic, worrisome, and profound for the Prophet, peace be upon him, on a deeply spiritual, emotional, and psychological level. For many of our students their fathers happen to be close, if not the same age as the Prophet, peace be upon him, was during that eventful day. Many of students too are close in age to the children of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, during those days.

So how would it feel? How would it feel to see their fathers, and uncle, or a teacher that they care about and identify with in their life come home in crisis? How would it feel to see their mother comforting their father on the sofa after he’s expressed his fears? What faces would their siblings have? What would they say? What would we do in that feeling of helplessness?

It’s critically important on so many levels that we teach Prophetic history with empathy. For obvious reasons, teaching the life, example, and character of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in our institutions of education is fundamental. However, we do a great disservice to the cognitive and spiritual development of our students when we don’t enable or facilitate for them the opportunity to connect — heart to heart — to a Prophet who was sent for all of humanity, not just them. Our educational institutes no longer seem to have the time, the caring touch, or frankly basic human concern in some cases to realize that this is one of the most important lessons a Muslim student of knowledge can take away from their academic experience during their school age years — period

Being able to identify cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually with the Prophet Muhammad, an embodiment of their humanity, can positively affect their academic success, their professional careers, and their personal life. Knowing the expectations of their humanity and how to properly navigate crises and challenges can only come when we’re able to learn the best human response from the one who is described as having the Best of Character. One whose family adored him from beginning to end. And one whose enemies found it hard to find a disparaging thing to say about him.

Many of the challenges faced by our communities today, in particular, the low expectations and performance of Muslim men in our communities can be attributed, in my opinion, to the lack of effort made during the formative years to establish the empathetic connection to not only the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, but by extension to their purpose and function in relation to all of humanity. When we only teach them to identify with themselves and their own pursuits, then we fail to help them understand the most basic character quality in the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

We must have the capacity to think beyond ourselves, as did the Prophet peace be upon him. We must have the capacity to be in the service and betterment of humanity. Ultimately, we must be able to manage our lives, as did the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, well enough to make a material difference of good during our brief time. This is helped with the support of having a connection to an example greater than ourselves. One that can inspire and teach us that — we have the potential to change the world for the better.

May the peace and blessings of God be upon the Prophet Muhammad and all previous Prophets, peace be upon them all, on all of their heirs, and may our children and students be amongst them. Ameen.

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