3rd Annual Award Ceremony of Sunday Islamic School, year-2017- 2018

Minhaj-ul-Quran Community Center Dallas

Islam lays great emphasis on promoting education. The original revelation commanded humanity to read, and numerous verses of the Quran encourage humanity to reflect, wonder and seek knowledge: not only sacred knowledge but to also discover the secrets of nature as well as the inner and outer dimensions of humanity. Our beloved Prophet’s ﷺ effort is to eradicate illiteracy and ignorance in society through the systemization of education, leading to a revolution in education and knowledge which is to change the course of history.

The Sunday Islamic School of Minhaj-ul-Quran Dallas is fortunate in its striving to spread the knowledge according to the Quran and Sunnah since 2015, with the bounties of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. Alhamdulillah, on May 20, 2018, the fourth day of Ramadan, was the 3rd annual award ceremony of Sunday Islamic School for the year 2018. All 44 students came with their parents to receive awards and certificates. Students who ranked first in the class received trophies. The program commenced by the administrator of Sunday School, Brother Iqbal Hasan, who gave the brief overview of the establishment and growth of Sunday school since 2015 from 20 students to 44 students in the year 2018. All the volunteers who were the previous Sunday School alumni were also recognized for their voluntary participation in assisting the management of Sunday School throughout this academic year.

Minhaj-ul-Quran Dallas President, Dr. Mansoor Mian, first congratulated all the parents for their children’s success in learning Islamic education in the USA. He thanked all the parents and students for their strenuous efforts in bringing their children on the mornings of Sundays to gain the knowledge of Din when most people sleep after their work days on weekends. Dr. Mansoor explained the significance of knowledge by reciting the first few verses of Surah al-Alaq. Furthermore, he gave several examples from Hadith regarding the importance of gaining knowledge and said that the Holy Prophet has stated that the biggest charity is the charity of spreading the knowledge of din.

The lecture clip from lecture 18 of Virtues and Proprieties of Spreading Knowledge of Majalis-ul-Ilm by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was also shown to all the attendees. Following that, awards and certificates were presented to all the students by the members of the community. Special awards were also given to the teachers for their devotion and care for the students. Students of KG and Level 1 were given special gifts for the month of Ramadan by their teachers. All the students also received goody bags and cupcakes to take home after the ceremony. In this way, this beautiful ceremony ended with lots of hugs, love, tears, and wishes for the next school year to all the students, their parents, and teachers.

Progression of Sunday Islamic School at Minhaj-ul-Quran Dallas Academia 2017-2018

Alhamdullilah, Minhaj-ul-Quran Dallas has been successfully operating Sunday Islamic schools since 2015 with impressive growth in the number of students. Through the blessings of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Sunday Islamic school in Dallas continues to achieve excellence in devotion and dedication in imparting education to the students. The most innovative style of teaching including audio-visual resources, a verbal style, regular quizzes, worksheets, workshops on wudu, salah, surah recitation, and a very nurturing, loving and caring environment, were considered priorities in delivering knowledge. Also, in this academic year, special arrangements of arts and activities sessions were also offered to the students of KG for their quick and effective learning. There were a total of 44 students of diverse ethnicity who completed different levels in Sunday school this year. The teachers who imparted knowledge had masters and Ph.D.s. Sunday School Alumni, students of the year 2015-2016, were also involved in offering their services as volunteers for Sunday school this year. Special attention was also paid on the physical and emotional health of students by advising parents on an as-needed basis. The students were also trained in different activities including Durood Shareef, Qaseedah Burdah Shareef, and nasheed recitation during the assembly and other programs at Minhaj-ul-Quran Dallas, including the youth programs, Mawlid al-Nabi, Lailat Isra Wal Me’raj and Lailat min Nisf Shabaan programs.

Furthermore, as a part of the curriculum, students, parents, and teachers also participated in celebrating the birthday of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri on February 2018. Birthdays of the students were also recognized and celebrated as a group on a monthly basis. The students also participated all year in the weekly speeches, Halqa-e-Dhikr, Durood Shareef recitation, Qirat, nasheed recitation, hadith recitation from al-Minhaj al-Sawi, and short speeches on different Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) prepared from the lectures of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.