The Prayer Center is celebrating another milestone and blessing this month after purchasing our new Arbury Hills School in Mokena. After many months of remodeling our other new building adjacent to the masjid, we were finally able to get all the inspections passed from the village of Orland Park to open our new Wellness Center, located at 10481 W 164th St. The place is now ready to open to bring even more vital services to our beloved community, insha Allah.
It is among the main concepts of our faith to care for the wellbeing of the individual and family. The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Ask God for forgiveness and health, for after being granted certainty, one is given nothing better than health.”[1] Even in supplications and Dua, it was narrated by Al-Hassan son of Ali (RAA) that the prophet (ﷺ) taught him some words to say when standing in supplication during the Witr. They were, “O God, guide me among those Thou hast guided, grant me wellness among those You have granted wellness.”[2]
The Wellness Center is a place that will serve the community on multiple levels. It will be a place to train our teachers and mentors on mental health issues relevant to various areas of service to better equip them with the ability to recognize issues that need further attention of care and nurturing. It will also be a place where workshops will be offered for the community pertaining to general wellness like health fairs, support groups, educational seminars about caring for family, caring for elderly, individuals with special needs, and much more. The Wellness Center will also be a place that can be used for counseling in the future and will be a place for socializing and serving our community in spiritual, mental and physical health issues.
Although the building has limited space, we believe it will be the first step to producing quality, much needed services for our community in often overlooked issues. We have organized a dedicated group of volunteers led by a psychiatrist and licensed therapists who will oversee programs and workshops throughout the year. The center includes two soundproof rooms for private counseling, an open area for social programs, and a big hall to host events like workshops, seminars and even small conferences. We ask for your dua that these programs will have a positive impact for our community.
The Wellness/Social Department is led by our sister Aman Tineh, who is an Assistant Physician by profession. She will oversee programs at the Wellness Center.
We, at the Prayer Center, are always trying to grow in service to provide a wide range of productive activities that cater to the needs of everyone. We pray that through the help of Allah (ﷻ) and your support and dua, the Prayer Center will continue to be a beacon of Allah’s light for this beloved community He ﷻ has blessed us to serve.
By Imam Kifah Mustapha
[1] Tirmizi
[2] Tirmizi
