the community of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, I would like to thank the outgoing top administration officials at the White House to address the hate-filled and
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Message from the Chairman . 3 Executive Summary .. 4 Board of Directors & Executive Committee 6 Strategic Plan . 10 Financial Report .. 16 Outreach Department . 20 Weekend School . 29 Social Services 30 Educational Program 38 Imam’s Section .. 42 Youth Department . 44
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DARALHIJRAH.NET | 3MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMANAssalamuAlaykumwaRahamtu Allah ort to prepare ourselves for the new era facing Muslim Americans with all the foreseen mix of challenges and opportunities that will undoubtedly nurture our faith, unite our community, and increase our resilience, I would like to share with you this report that outline sour community achievements in 2016 and our aspirations for 2017. This past year marked the election of new board members for the term 2016-2020. On behalf of the board of directors and the community of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, I would like to thank the outgoing members Gordon Houtman, Mervais Khan, and Mohammed Rahman for their service and sacrifi ce to our center and our community, and we welcome the new members Dr. Esam Omeish, Dr. Essam Tellawi, and Kambiz Soltani. I would like to thank our executive team for their outstanding achievementsunder the leadership of Samir Abo-Issa and the administration; Amen Elhilo, the new operational manager, and Omar Sultan, the new c cer. I am proud of the tireless work of our Imam Shaker Elsayed and the educational committee led by Dr. Ahmed Hassan. Last year orts, spearheaded by Imam Johari Abdul Malik and his team, Colin Christopher and Fazia Dean, was an exceptional success in organizing and mobilizing our community Our youth programs are under goinga transformational change envisioned by our youth director Mohammed Kibriya and his volunteer team, and we welcome the new addition to this team: sister Ieasha Prime. Our social service department, led by Tahani Jabarin and her team, continues to be exemplary in serving the underprivileged in our society. I personally thank Sr. Asli Amin, the weekend school principal, and her team for their unconditional love and patience with thousands of our kids over the last several years. May Allah accept from them all and bless their families. Board members are working, hand in hand, with executive committee members to ensure an action plan and secure a budget that focuses on building bridges with a wider spectrum of interfaith and civic partners, encouraging our community to further engage in civil society, and strengthening our infrastructure by recruiting the best talents that take our community to the next level of service and leadership. We thank you all for your continued moral support, fi nancial contribution, and your engagement and participation in our interfaith and civic activities, and we ask the Merciful Creator to protect you and your loved ones. We aspire for Muslim Americans to stand for justice, freedom and equality and to deliver the true message of our faith with utmost clarity. Dr. Mohammed Helmi Chairman, Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center
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For over 33 years, Dar Al- Hijrah Islamic Center has been the leader in the Muslim Community in the Metropolitan area of Washington DC. It has proven beyond any doubt that when we work together, we continue to bring even greater accomplishments. It is our faith, our unity, and our determination that makes what seems impossible an easy and seamless task. The Center was founded through the deep faith and devotion of Muslims and has focused a great deal of resources since then on since then on serving to every member of our community. 4 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORISSA Beyond the challenges that we face, our community works together towards our shared goals. By the grace of Allah, we have improved and expanded in the following areas: 1. T : The administration has conducted multiple sessions to improve services: customer service training, management training, counseling training, and security training. 2. New Hiring: During the year 2016 to fi ll the empty positions: a. Operation Manager: Br. Amen Elhilo was promoted to fi ll out the operation manager position. Br. Amen has been working at Dar Al-Hijrah for the past 10 years. b. Communications Head: For the importance of communications, Dar Al-Hijrah hired Br. Omar Soltan to be the Head of the Communications Department. c. Girls Youth Coordinator: To increase female participation among our youth, participants Dar Al-Hijrah hired Sr Ieasha Prime to be the Girls Youth Coordinator. 3. Property Improvement: The maintenance Department has been working very hard to improve our facilities to accommodate an increase in the number of activities and participants: a. New HVAC: The Dar Al-Hijrah installed new A/C
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BOARD OF DIRECTORSDr. Mohamed Helmi ChairmanAlam Al-Alami Treasurer Kambiz Soltani MemberDr. Hossein Goal Vice ChairmanDr. Ahmed Hassan Mohamed Community Liason Dr. Esam Omeish MemberTammam Dandashi Secretary Dr. Akram Elzend Human Resources Dr. Essam Tellawi Member
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EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE Samir Abo-IssaExecutive Director Sh. Shaker Elsayed ImamDr. Ahmed Hassan Mohamed Education Director Tahani Jabarin Social Services Director Mohammed KibriyaYouth Director Asli Amin Weekend School Principal Imam Johari Abdul-MalikOutreach Director
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8 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OVERVIEW This past year marked the conclusion of the four-year term of the board of directors and the election of a new board. We thank all board members for their outstanding service, especially the outgoing Gordon Houtman, Mervais Ayubi, and Mohammed Rahman, and we welcome the new members Dr. Essam Tellawi, Dr. Esam Omeish, and Kambiz Soltani. May Allah accept from them and give them the strength to continue to serve. The new board started its activities with electing new leadership and renewing the commitment to achieve the objectives of our 2015-2019 strategic plan while adapting to current challenges facing our community. Board members are working with the ex ecutive committee hand in hand to ensure an action plan and secure an annual budget that will focus on building bridges with a wider spectrum of interfaith and civic community, encouraging our community to engage even more in civil society and political arena, and strengthening our infrastructure by recruiting the best talents that will take our community to the next level of service and leadership. OUR FACILITIES AND FINANCES Renewing the HVAC system, preparing the backspace as a wooden stage for various activities, and decorating our Masjidwere the whole marks of improving our facilityin 2016. The board continued to support and fund the administration in its continuous orts to make Dar Al-Hijrah operable with extended hours, from before Fajr to after Isha prayers, clean and air-conditioned, and safe and secure for our community to enjoy the worship services; fi ve daily prayers, three Friday congregations, and tens of community gatherings and activities every week. Our fi nances are stable and our revenues are in surplus compared to our expenses (a separate section on our fi nances is included later in this report). This was achieved through the rigor orts of our executive director Samir Abo-Issa to increase our revenues and reduce the cost of services and expenses. The Dar Al-Hijrah endowment, established in 2015, is growing slowly but steadily. The fi nancial audit we conduct annually by independent fi rms continues to be a proof of our fi nancial stability and transparency. GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES Several policies and resolutions were adopted to improve our institutional governance and performance including approving the 2017 budget, adjusting salaries, searching for new facilities to serve our community, and discuss community needs airs. The board approved hiring a full time operational manager, Amin Elhelo, a youth sisters’ coordinator, Ieasha Prime, and a communications cer, Omar Soltan. We are still recruiting for an assistant Imam, Muquimsha’er (prayers leader), and a director for our Quran Institute. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIVITIES
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 9OUR MUSLIM COMMUNITY The board continued to invest in our community’s education and skills enhancement by supporting and funding several workshops, seminars, and lectures focused on Islamic knowledge, life skills, and civic engagement conducted by our Educational Committee. We are examining ne liation plans for our Qubaa institute with a national Islamic University to gain formal accreditation. The board is in full support of our youth program and approved an extended budget to increase its personnel capacity and its outreach activities to Muslim Students Associations in our regional area. Dar Al-Hijrah continued to be a leader among northern Virginia Islamic Centers and engaged with several regional Muslim organizations including the Muslim Association of Virginia (Dar Al-Nour), ADAMS Center, and other Masajid to build an umbrella organization that will collectively represent and serve Muslims in northern VA. Moreover, we continued to engage with national Muslim organizations such as the Muslim American Society, the Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic Relief USA, the Council on American Islamic Relations, and United Muslim Reliefto better serve our community across the United States. OUR LARGER SOCIETY The board has continued to work with the executive committee to ensure our community participation in serving the larger society. The outreach team did an outstanding job during the past presidential elections to encourage Muslims to register to vote and to actually vote. Dar Al-Hijrah’s continued involvement with VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) to serve the needs four regional community. In addition, Dar Al-Hijrah is engaged in several projects with Fairfax county and other local organizations to improve the lives of our neighbors.
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