Last night (Thursday, March 17, 2006) I went to the center of the Shia Association of Bay Area (SABA Mosque) with the expectation that there will be an English program, just as SABA had announced in its weekly newsletter and website. Unfortunately, there was no English Islamic Shia program and no one in the SABA management seemed to care about this problem and lack of programming integrity.
This organization, which is headed by Sajjad Mir, seems so eager and overly proud to offer multiple "PARALLEL" programs when in fact it cannot consistently deliver. And what makes matters worse is that other local Islamic Shia centers were indeed offering English speeches last night. Why did the SABA management fail to alert the English-speaking Mumins that they ought to go to the other Islamic Shia centers to attend English programs?
True that offering "PARALLEL" Islamic Shia programs in foreign languages such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu is important, but English remains the most important language for tabligh (spreading the message of Islam) because English is the national language of our country and the common denominator of all members of any Islamic Shia congregation.
Thumbs down for Shia Association of Bay Area which has proclaimed itself an Islamic guidance center but yet fails to maintain a good English program.
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