It has been almost a year since the closure of Al-Ikhlas Centre previously at the rented unit off To Rakau Drive. Without an Imam to lead prayers and not being able to hire a venue we are not having any Al-Ikhlas Trust specific programme run for this coming Ramadhan. 

The earthquake swarm in Christchurch Friday was a gruesome reminder of how violent natural disasters can be.Words seem so inadequate to describe our feelings towards our fellow citizens in Christchurch. Our hearts go out to all the resilient Cantabrians who had to go through such a difficult time. Please remember that all New Zealanders are with you in your time of distress.

In a previous newsletter we mentioned that the sister's Saturday programme which became a monthly event will resume during the month of Ramadhan. There will be a session this coming Saturday, 13 August 2011 at 11am. Resumption of this programme after Ramadhan will be announced in another newsletter inshaa' Allah.

Further to our previous announcement, Al-Ikhlas Trust will hold a Hajj briefing lecture for men at 7:30 pm this coming Wednesday, 13 October 2010 at the Al-Ikhlas Centre, 19/325 TiRakau Drive. We invite all our respected brothers who intended performing Hajj to come along and share the evening with the rest exchanging information and find out answers to their queries inshaa' Allah.

Al-Ikhlas Trust is pleased to announce that the sister's Hajj briefing lecture will be at 7pm this coming Monday, 11 October 2010 at the Al-Ikhlas Centre, 19/325 TiRakau Drive. The lecture will be given in English for the benefit of the wider community. We invite all our respected sisters who intended performing Hajj to come along and share the evening with the rest exchanging information and find out answers to your queries inshaa' Allah

Beginning on Saturday 2 October 2010, Al-Ikhlas Trust initiated a fortnightly Islamic lecture series by a qualified sister for the sisters of our community to benefit and extend their Islamic knowledge. The lectures will be given in Arabic.

Alsalam Alaikum Warahmatullah

As of tomorrow (Saturday 28 August 2010), we will start our Tahajjud prayers after Taraweeh. Please try to be at the centre by or shortly after 7:30pm to pray Isha by 7:45 the latest and start Taraweeh. From Saturday, we will have half a chapter covered by the 8 Rak'aa Taraweeh, have a short break then start our 8 Rak'aa Tahajjud to cover the second half of the chapter. This way we won't keep people late

The application forms for the 2010 Hajj grant are now available at the centre and were also sent out with our newsletter. Community members meeting the requirements set by the donor can fill the forms and bring it back to us before 5 September 2010 for processing. There will be a thorough selection process and we might have to interview candidates to identify the winning application in time to enrol with a Hajj group

Alsalam Alaikum

Alhamdulillah we managed to rent a property to become our Al-Ikhlas Centre just in time to start our Ramadhan progreamme. The property is located at 19/325 TiRakau Drive, East Tamaki. At the time being we are setting up the place and will inshaa' Allah start our Ramadhan programme by Isha prayer time on Wednesday 11 August 2010.

The solar eclipse on Sunday, 11 July 2010 marked the completion of a lunar cycle and that marked the last hours of the month of Rajab 1431. At that time, when the new moon was not sighted, the completion of 30 days for the month of Rajab was followed and the month of Sha'ban began Tuesday 13 July 2010. This makes tomorrow Tuesday 10 August 2010 the 29th day of Sha'ban.