Tuesday, January 10, 2006

6 activities you must not miss in Bryan/College Station

Posted by bcsmuslim at 12:22 AM

6. Newcomer's welcoming dinner
At the start of fall and spring semesters, ICBCS and the Texas A&M MSA invite the whole community to a welcoming dinner for all newcomers to the community. The dinner is hosted in the masjid (417 Stasney St) and the food is generally very good. MSA also presents some entertainment items during the event and the overall mood is very light and informal. If you are moving to Bryan/College Station, whether for business, work, or study – don't miss this event.

5. Community camps
Once in a while ICBCS arranges a community camp at one of the state parks in Texas. If this happens during your stay in College Station, you must not miss the opportunity. Everyone in the community is encouraged to go for a subsidized registration fee. The camp usually takes place over a weekend. ICBCS rents a few barracks at the park, so you won’t have to sleep out in the open. Brothers and sisters are assigned different barracks. Activities include all the fun stuff such as hiking, games and entertainment. In addition to that, ICBCS also invites a guest speaker to give two or three talks during the camp.

4. Eid picnics
Eid Picnics are always a blast in College Station. Nice barbeque, soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc. For the kids there is a lot more to do. Their activates usually include piñata, tug-of-war, three legged race, moonwalk floats, and we've even seen free cotton candy and snow cones.

3. Friday lessons and sisters' English and Arabic halaqaat
Usually there is an Islamic halaqa/lecture for the community every Friday night. In addition to the Friday lecture, there is a weekly lesson in Arabic and English for sisters only. These lessons are definitely something that you don't want to miss. In addition to increasing your Islamic knowledge and being in a gathering of remembrance of Allah, you'll also make a lot good friends.

2. Workshops and lectures with guest speakers
Every now and then ICBCS and/or the MSA organize a lecture or a weekend workshop given by nationally acclaimed speakers and scholars. The list includes Sheikh Mokhtar Maghraoui, Imam Siraj Wahaj, Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Sr. Amina Gandali, Dr. Jamal Badawi, Sheikh Yusuf Estes... and the list goes on. Since the community size is relatively small, these workshops/lectures are an excellent opportunity for you to have good one-to-one interaction with the invited scholars and speakers.

1. Ramadan
On top of the list is none other than our beloved Ramadan. No other event will make you feel the bond of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood more than Ramadan. There is a community iftar in the masjid every single day of the month. The food is sponsored by the community members and a large percentage of the community attends the iftar. In addition to that, there are traweeh prayers with a short talk (khatirah) in between. Ramadan climaxes with the arrival of the last ten days of the month. There is qiyaam-ul-lail (night prayers) in the masjid for the last ten nights and the masjid is open 24/7 for anyone who likes to make ittekaaf. During the last 10 nights, the masjid also hosts suhoor (sehri) for the people staying overnight for the qiyaam prayers. For most people, this is truly the best part of their stay in Bryan/College Station.

If you feel that there are other activities that have been missed, please do leave your comments. Please also leave comments if you would like to share your experience at some of the above mentioned activities.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the list is a good list.

5:57 PM  
Blogger Hasan the Not-So-Great said...

Inshalla I will have a chance to experience those.

5:46 PM  
Blogger bcsmuslim said...

Assalaamu alaikum Hassan,

Hope to see you here soon. Don't forget to email new@icbcs.org for finding apartment and/or roommates.

Wassalaamu alaikum.

6:54 PM  

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