Archive for April, 2008
What Do You Choose?
So for my American People 1 class I got a pretty interesting assignment:
Organize the following in order from most important (top) to you to least important (bottom): strong friendship, good health, good looks, rewarding job, good car, good home, wealth, free time for relaxation and travel, happy family. Explain in writing why you choose your top three goals explaining what these goals indicate about what you value in life.
I thought it was an interesting assignment and don’t ask me how it relates to the class because even I don’t know, but it’s different and I like it. So what do you choose?
I chose:
- Good health
- Happy family
- Strong friendships
- Rewarding job
- Good home
- Good car
- Wealth
- Free time for relaxation and travel
- Good looks
But that’s juss me.
Take care inshaAllah.
-radf
3 comments April 29, 2008
Comic Relief
You know I’m not even sure how my brother came across this but ever since he did it has been playing continuously in my house. So for those of you who understand Arabic listen to it, for those of you [who like me] can’t understand a word of Arabic but can hear the ‘ayn’s and ha’s perfectly listen to it because it sounds so funny. Here’s the link : http://www.box.net/shared/67a5b2680o (Give it like a minute then you’ll hear it.)
Add comment April 26, 2008
US Soldiers Learn About Islam
I found this on MujahideenRyder’s blog. I thought it was very interesting and I think that this is a good idea. Watch the video here and judge for yourself. It would be really cool if we get something like this running here in New York as well. One of the people who commented on the post on MujahideenRyder’s blog that stood out to me was:
nattauhi
April 16th, 2008 at 3:58pm
It is said, that in Jennah the two brothers who will be closest to eachother is the Muslim that was killed a shaheed and the kafir that killed him, that later became a believer and accepted Islam.
That hadith juss made me smile, I think that it is juss such a beautiful concept, that anything is possible.
Add comment April 21, 2008
Ya Tayba
Its crazy how time goes by so fast.
I really would like to visit the land of the beloved.
Add comment April 14, 2008
“Being Contented With Allah’s Qadr”
I think that growing up in this society often times qadr and “luck” can be mixed up. I remember when I was little, like around first grade, in my elementary school we had this thing called “the school store,” which was really nothing more than juss a cart that would be out during lunch time that sold things like useless cheap toys or candy. I remember one day a class mate of mine bought something and I asked her what it was and she told me it was a rabbits foot and that it was “good luck” to have one. I thought to myself, “hm, good luck, I can sure go use some of that.” Shortly afterwards I too bought a rabbits foot. After buying it I was completely creeped out by it so i placed it in a bag because I felt so weird holding a “rabbits foot” in my hand. It took me quite some time to figure out that this rabbits foot really couldn’t bring me any luck, I mean if the rabbit got its own foot cut off how could it help me? I think it was around 5th grade when I learned Iman-e-Mufassal:
امنت با لله و ملءكته و كتبه و رسله واليوم الاخر والقدرخيره وشره منالله تعا لى والبعث بعدالموت
Ammantu billahi wa malikatihi was kutubihi wa rusulihi wal yawmil akhiri wal kadri khayrihi wa sharrihi minallah ta alaa wal bathi badil mawt
I believe in Allah, in His Angels, His Scriptures, His Prophets, the Day of Judgment, an din the fact that every thing good or bad (in the world) is pre-destined by Allah the Exalted, and in the resurrection after death.”
It took me quite some time to get through the fact that everything-both good and bad-is from Allah. I don’t know why but for some reason I had a hard time trying to accept that bad things come from Allah-whenever something bad would happen I would juss say I this is an “unlucky” day or I would be like this thing is “bad luck”. Last year when I thought things were going “terrible” in life my brother reminded me that Allah puts those who he loves through many hardships. That really made me feel better because then I began to think of all the stories of the prophets, subhanAllah the prophets have gone through so much and were such pious human beings, and if we look at the way they reacted and compare it to the way we react when something bad happens to us its juss sad-I mean when we are challenged with the smallest of things we can’t handle it.
Today was a very good example of me not being able to handle pressure. I was driving my brother to the eye doctor to get his glasses fixed, and as I was about to park my car my front bumper hit the back of the car next to me (in my defense the parking spots were all very tight there). I was in total shock and couldn’t believe what had just happened but as I heard my brother screamed I thought “CRAP!” We waited for the owner of the car to return, we notified her that we hit her car and hamdulillah she didn’t do anything about it and thanked us for waiting to tell her. After she left I looked at my car realized that I screwed up my bumper and began to cry. My brother kept on telling me that this is life, things happen that we can’t control, things happen that we don’t want to happen but this is life. At the moment I really didn’t listen to him, I kind of juss kept on crying because I didn’t know how I was going to tell my parents. The reason being is because my history with cars hasn’t been that great. I bought my first car, a 2000 Chevy Cavalier, and then that nearly killed my brother because as he was driving it one day the transmission juss fell out, and this all happened right before my first semester was about to start, so the timing was terrible as well. So my parents decided to buy me a new car so that they would feel comfortable with me driving a car that wont die halfway there or anything. I love my Sentra so much but you see this car has been quite the trooper. The day before Eid a couple of kids were driving around and shooting things with their BB Guns (yeah BB Guns I guess that made them feel tough or something) and they had metal pellets and they shot at my car so if you see my car you can see that the poor thing got shot at. A couple of months ago I was driving and this truck tried to cut me off and I somehow turned or swerved hit the curb and hamdulillah only the hubcap got messed up, and then today I messed up my bumper and all of this is on the left side of my car. So I thought of all these things that happened to my car and I kept on crying and then I got home and told my mom and started crying again, and I think after I dehydrated myself from all of this crying I had no choice but to stop-because there were no more tears left and then that was when I was able to reflect a bit. I realized that crying was pretty useless because as my mom always says, tears don’t cure anything, and then I remembered what my brother kept on saying, “that’s life.”
We can’t control life, things juss happen. Sometimes there are things that we are proud of or there are moments that we want to hold on to forever and then there are moments that we try to forget, but that’s life. Later on I went to my brother’s majlis and Shaykh Nuh’s talk also me feel better. He talked about how we need to be in Dhikr, because when we are in Dhikr there’s really no room for Shaytan to come in. Shaytan is so sneaky, I mean as I sat in my car waiting for my brother to come back all these horrible thoughts kept on coming into my head-and its really hard because its usually not until afterwards one realizes that all those thoughts were from Shaytan. It’ like what Saykh Faraz said, we need to always be thankful for what we have. If we are given something good subhanAllah go thank Allah, if we are given a messed up bumper hamdulillah we need to still thank Allah, as my parents and brother reminded me, it could always be worst. I think that we need to get more in the habit of always being in the remembrance of Allah, always thanking Allah. As Shaykh Faraz said, “Let your tongue be moist with the remembrance of Allah,” and this does help. Usually when I drive I say the du’a for traveling over and over again, today I was in such a rush that I forgot to say it. Everyday is a test for us, everyday we learn something new, I think the most important thing that we should keep in mind is “being content with Allah’s Qadr” (I can’t remember where I read that but it was in an article somewhere online.)
Take care inshaAllah, and don’t let the little things in life get you down-when you mistake or feel like things are going wrong juss get up, try again, make du’a and it’ll all get better inshaAllah 
-radf
Add comment April 13, 2008
MSA East Zone Conference ‘08: The Aftermath
I attended the East Zone conference for the first time this past weekend, and the whole thing was just a learning experience. I mean to be in such a depressing place like New Jersey and to have fun takes some skills so good job with that but it should come back to New York-everyone knows New York is better.
I had a great time hamdulillah, the organizers did a good job but I must say that they weren’t really all that organized-but in the end we have to remember that it’s a bunch of college kids who put this together and for them to make to put something this big together is pretty amazing. The theme was Faith, Family and Community which I think is something that the Ummah today needs to keep in mind- we spend so much time thinking about differences between each other instead of trying to look beyond our differences and realizing that we need to be there for each other because without unity there is no strength.
I took notes so below is some of my notes that I took while I was at the conference. (*Please note*If there are any mistakes in the notes below they are my own mistake and may Allah forgive me.) I hope that they will be of some use and help to you.
Friday:
So I got there late Friday night. We got there but forgot what the name of the hotel was, and then we couldn’t find the creepy parking lot that they placed us in and then when I finally got there they couldn’t find my name and then after all of that drama I was finally able to drop off my bags and made my way to the main ballroom where the last main session of the night was taking place, The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection: Following the Prophetic Model. I walked in towards the end and Imam Hisham Mahmoud was spaking, subhanAllah! This was my first time hearing him speak and was so happy that I got to hear him.
Imam Hisham Mahmoud: He talked about how it is easier to claim our piety on the outside than it is on the inside, meaning how it’s pretty easy to “play the part of a Muslim” on the outside like having a beard or whatever but the real challenges we face are having to change ourselves on the insides like our characteristics. He reminded us about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was- how Hazrat Ayesha said, “He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to be constantly in the service of his family.” He also made note of the problem that we have today is that when we hear things like this we go, “Oh mashaAllah,” and then that’s it, or we say “Oh but that was the Prophet (pace and blessing be upon him).” We need to get out of this mindset and start remembering what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I wasn’t sent for any other reason except for beautifying morals and character.” He advised us to go learn more about the Prophet (peace an blessings be upon him), because you can’t truly love someone that you don’t know. We need to learn how to forgive and forget, like during the Danish cartoon fiasco-we were claiming that we were “defending the Prophet” (peace and blessing be upon him) but we were acting in a matter that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would never approve of. He told us that the we should remember the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and how we shouldn’t say that he is in the past, he (peace and blessings be upon him) is with us, here, all the time. He advised us to embody the knowledge that you have already been taught. To study the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in full detail. To draw closer to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And to increase salawat (he said about 100x’s a day). While doing the salawat he advised us to sit down in a place of total silence, close your eyes and try to draw closer to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), be in silence and continue repeating salawat. He actually gave us a homework assignment which I thought was an amazing idea- he told us to write a letter to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The ulema usually write poetry, but we should write a letter- try to add to it each day- and perhaps this will be the first time that you truly look deep within yourself and reflect upon yourself.
Afterwards we had a sisters only entertainment session and that was well, sisters only.
Saturday:
I was really interested in attending the Project Downtown talk but missed it, but for more information about Project Downtown go here. I went to another session called “Pleain’ the 5th/ A Journey for Peace.”
Omar T. Mohammed: He was the first speaker for “Pleain’ the 5th/ A Journey for Peace.” I thought this was pretty informative, he talked about cases and gave us information about how we need to start standing up for our rights. Today our country makes it seem like you can either have security or freedom but we need to remember that we can have both. He reminded us about how we have a right to court, a right to justice, and in the end justice will win. We need to defend our rights and stand up as a group to defend justice. We need to make this a better place for our future generations, we should keep in mind that we are sacrificing for the generations to come.
Magdy Mahmoud: He talked to us about Imam Quatanni. The Imam came to the United States in 1996 and he devoted his whole life to make a difference and to help out this country. He is loved by many in the community and was one of the first Imaams to issue fatwah’s against terrorism. But the problem is that they are not granting him a visa or something like that and he might be deported. He is basically a prisoner here, he’s been trying to go to Hajj for numerous year but has been denied the right to go to Hajj. He had many family members who passed away and a family member that got married but he was still denied the right to go visit them. I had to go for a bit so when I returned I missed Imaam Quatanni’s address.
The next main session was “Creating Community: Unity Beyond the University.”
Khalid Latif: Khalid Latif told us about how we shouldn’t be pushing people away. He made note about how in MSA’s today we have groups, we shouldn’t have these little groups-we should accept and be welcoming to everyone. We need to embrace diversity within the Muslim community. He reminded us how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to bring in people that others (such as the society) would consider outcasts. He brought up such an amazing example, Hazrat Bilal (RA). Hazrat Bilal (RA) was looked down upon in society, he was a slave and he was looked down upon all because of the color of his skin. Islam looks beyond little things like skin color, and Hazrat Bilal (RA) went from being a man who was abused and neglected in society to a man who was elevated and has such a high status in Islam. He became the first Muadhin in Islam, he would pray behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he was given the news of paradise, and during the conquest of Makkah- he was literally elevated above everyone because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told him to go on top of Kabah and give Adhaan. We need to keep in mind that unity does not mean uniformity. We need to realize the strength in unity. If we look at our Ummah right now, we should be so ashamed- we don’t talk to one another over little things- how are others supposed to look at us when they see us act in such a behavior? If we imagine society where everyone’s the same-then we will not thrive. We have a religion where we can be ourselves as well as follow the truth.
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: I think from the moment that I found out that Shaykh Faraz was coming I was waiting to hear him speak. I took a class with Shaykh Faraz on Sunni Path called “Living Islam-Hanafi,” it was a really good class and Shaykh Faraz is an amazing teacher, so hearing him in person was such an amazing experience for me. Shakykh Faraz talked about mercy, how our actions are based on mercy and how we should be merciful to others so that Allah can be merciful to us and reminded us that our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “None of you believe until they like for others what they like for themselves.” [I always keep this in mind when I am buying a gift for someone, when I get them something that I truly want, then I know that I have done a good job.] We have to keep in mind that ultimately, in the end, it will just be you and Allah. We have to be very careful with our lives, it is really nothing more than just a series of breaths, and with each breath we’ve lost a moment that we can never get back. He reminded us about, Ad deen nun nasihah. He also made note about how if our community is lacking good then we will be lacking good as well. He gave us some advice like:
1. Don’t limit yourself with activism on campus-get involved with you communities as well. He told us that we can’t “divorce” or abandon our communities.
2. Seek the good in your community. Respond in a manner that you think is most beloved to Allah-try to block off your emotions , it’s not about how you feel but about what is the most pleasing to Allah. We should remember our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and look at all of the hardships he was faced with and how he reacted.
He ended by saying that before we do anything we must stop and think: “What is the most pleasing to Allah?” and “How would the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) act?”
Shaykh Yaasir Qadhi: He started off talking about how akhlaq (manners) is the first thing someone sees in you, and the only way to learn about the best akhlaq is to look at the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And as he talked about this I couldn’t help but to smile to myself because in the beginning of this semester (Spring) the President of my school (SUNY Old Westbury) was talking to the members of the Student Government. My friend is part of the Student Government and she told me how the President told the students that they could learn a thing or two from the Muslims on our campus, he told them to look at the way we interact with one another, how they are so nice, loving, helpful and caring to cone another, and he wants others to act like that as well. Hamdulillah, it shows that manners really are very important and truly do make an impact, and subhanAllah someone like the President of our school [who is also a reverend] to make note of that and to advice others to start behaving like the Muslims on campus is just amazing subhanAllah. Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) captured a chief who was pretty much an enemy of Islam. When the chief was capture the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him “What should I do with you?” He said if you kill me I have a nation behind me-meaning that he has followers that will come to seek revenge. If you ask for money I’ll give it to you, and if you forgive me you’ll be returned with kindness. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) tied him to the masjid, he was taken care of and such but he was tied to the masjid. The next day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked “What should I do with you?” and the man again answered with the same three answers and then after 3 days the man was cut loose. After he was cut free he left the masjid, took a bath, put on nice clean clothes and took shahadah-he became Muslim! Why? How? The man saw the characteristics, the akhlaq of the Muslims and how they interacted with each other. This should make us realize that we need to be mindful of our characteristics and our actions. When the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would give Dawah he would first go and introduce himself and learn about the people he was talking to, and then he would ask “May I speak to you?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was so humble, that the people would have to ask “Who amongst you is the Prophet?” because he would blend in. Think and compare this to any other ruler or famous person. The Ansaar said that when Abu Bakr and the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Madinah, they were trying to firgure out who was who and it wasn’t until Abu Bakr shielded the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the sun that they figured out which one was the Prophet. Having akhlaq brings someone to the level of someone who constantly prays and fasts. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No mu’min is deprived of Akhlaq,” he also said “Allah loves Muslims with good manners,” and that “Nothing is heavier on the scales on the Day of Judgment than good manners.” He told us about 3 types of Akhlaq:
1. Akhlaq of Allah-loving Allah.
2. Akhlaq with your fellow men.
3. Akhlaq with yourself-your body, your health, your looks, your appearance all has a right over you.
He ended by reminding us what the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I have only been sent as a prophet so that I perfect all noble akhlaq.“
There was a small session called Embracing Change: The Path to Improvement,” by:
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: I thought it was very beneficial. He talked about how the righteous concern themselves with not simply what they do but with the excellence in acting for the sake of Allah. He reminded us that the reward of your actions is to the extent of what you intended. He constantly reminded us that anything you do, your intention must be for the sake of Allah- you should always be seeking the protection and happiness of Allah. Anything you ever do, stop and make a proper niyyah primarily for Allah. Always begin with bismillah, pause for a second and consider why you are doing what your are doing. We had a discussion about struggling for Improvement and someone brought up how trying to change one’s habits is hard. We talked about how difficult this truly can be and how we must not rush into things but rather take it one step at a time-be gradual, take on only what you can. We discussed how when we try to change our habits, to prevent ourselves from going back to our old habits we begin dhikr and that usually helps us get back on track. Skaykh Faraz told us what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said which was, “Let your tongue be moist with the remembrance of Allah.” He also told us that we should try to remain with righteous company. He reminded us that our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A person is on the religion of their close friends.” [When I heard this chills went down my back because up until this year I have always been friends with Non Muslims, I went to a school where I was the only Muslim and I live in a town where there is absolutely no diversity and there is maybe a couple of other Muslims families but not much. When I started college I began to be acquainted with more Muslims hamdulillah but sometimes things get frustrating and I would say I never had this problems when I was friends with Non Muslims, khayr I got my answer in this conference-being with a Muslim community may be hard but we need to learn how to get along with each other.] The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “Don’t keep the company of anyone other than a true believer.” He told us that a friend should have two things, iman and taqwa. He also reminded us that the hadith is not only referring to people, we must have good company in everything such as: what you’re listening to, what you’re watching, what you do on the internet, what you read etc… we must be mindful of all these things. We talked about how we should get together to gain knowledge, and whatever we take in we must think-“How will this benefit me?” He advised us to be very good with our daily Salahs, he told us that we should prepare for it. He said that we need to consider this time so sacred because it is with Allah. We need to think of each Salah as an opportunity to communicate with Allah. As an opportunity to reflect on what it means to turn to Allah. To reflect on yourself, we don’t realize what a blessing it is that Allah has created us- we need to constantly be thanking Allah. He told us to think about what we owe Allah- just the very fact of our existence is something that we don’t think about but something that we need to be thankful for. Which brings us to how a true believer must never be depressed. When we are faced with difficulties we must remember all of the Prophets and all of the hardships that they went through. When we are faced with hardships we shouldn’t complain, whatever the problem may be it can always be worst and through it all we must still be thanking Allah.
I didn’t really go to the “Finding Mr. and Mrs. Right,” one and then after that there was the Entertainment session which was pretty good. Also there were many deaf Muslims that came to this conference, subhanAllah they all just amazed me, they asked us all to join a facebook group to help support them so if you have a facebook join this group, Global Deaf Muslim.
Sunday:
The first main session of the day was called, “Bringing it All Together: Holding Steadfast to the Rope of Allah.”
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: He talked about how this world is an interplay between darkness and light, and every time you turn away form the light-Allah- you will be restless, not at rest, not at ease… In order to find Allah in our lives we must seek him. One seeks Allah in life by turning to Allah, what is the key to this?- la illa ha illallah. It is not just saying these word but you must understand what it truly means- you msut accept it, you must follow it. If someone asks you why do you believe in God what will you say to them? You must explain to the them why you believe in Allah. We need to remember that Allah did not just create us but he also sustains us and everything at every moment. He talked about Ayat-ul-Kursi:
اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لاَ تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلاَ نَوْمٌ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَاءَ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَلاَ يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِي
Allahu la ilaha illa huwa, Al -Haiyul-Qaiyum La ta’khudhuhu sinatun wa la nawm lahu ma fi as-samawati wa ma fil-’ard Man dhal-ladhi yashfa’u ‘indahu illa bi-idhnihi Ya’lamu ma bayna aydihim wa ma khalfahum wa la yuhituna bi shai’in min ‘ilmihi illa bima sha’a Wasi’a kursiyuhus-samawati wal ard wa la ya’uduhu hifdhuhuma wa Hu wal ‘Aliyul-Adheem
“Allah! There is no god but He – the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As he permitteth? He knoweth What (appeareth to His creatures As) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of his knowledge Except as He willeth. His throne doth extend Over the heavens And on earth, and He feeleth No fatigue in guarding And preserving them, For He is the Most High. The Supreme (in glory).”
[Surah al-Baqarah 2: 255]
He talked about how Ayat-ul-Kursi is pretty much the greatest ayah in the Qur’an because Allah defines himself for us. He told us how when we read the Qur’an we should sit and ponder about it. He talked about how when seeking Allah is in a way like waking up to reality-how we need Allah for everything, and that need will be fulfilled as we continue to seek him and “Verily in the Remembrance of Allah Hearts Find Rest.” [When I heard this I thought of Talib al Habib's Songs of Innocence.] Allah is the most immediate reality, you must turn to Allah. Allah knows best where to put his message, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would reflect upon what was happening and that’s how he would make his choices. Continue to remember Allah, continue to seek knowledge and inshaAllah we will achieve the pleasure of Allah.
Imam Hisham Mahmoud: He started off telling us how Allah wants to be known to us as Ar-Rahman. Ar-rahman is for his essence and ar-rahim is for his action. He talked to us about how we are surrounded by mystery, how we are nothing but a walking figure that looks through two holes, listens through two ears, eats through a hole-and if we think about ourselves that way then we are really pretty funny creatures. The human being is so weak, we sit around and complain so much, what do we have to offer to the world? What do we have that makes us so special? We have the breath of Allah! If you think back to the story of Prophet Adam (A) and how we was created, Allah breathed into him, and that breathe is with us-thus we have possible potentiality-thus our mercy is possible. Humans must realize that there are signs within us. We need to be more awake. If you look at yourself there are signs of death all over us. Some people have grey hair, some people are losing hair, our skin begins to wrinkle, our nails get clipped and then they are nothing but a piece of dad shells etc… “We are alive and dead.” We must draw closer to Allah because time is slipping away. We can draw closer to Allah in so many ways, just by making du’a we are inviting Allah to come into our lives. He talked about how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Let none of you say that I’ve called upon Allah and I’ve called upon Allah and he did not answer me.” Our du’as can get answered in one of three different ways: 1. It gets answered the exact way we asked for it. 2. It gets answered better or 3. It gets altered in a way but protects you from something in the future. He told us to serve Allah as if you can see him and if you’re not able to maintain this state then remember that Allah is always watching you and he is always with us. He closed off by telling us to choose du’as that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say and we will immediately get closer to Allah. He also told us to pour your hearts out to Allah when making du’as to him, as if you are having a conversation with him, just tell him everything that is in you heart.
I had to leave early, so right after this session I left because my brother goes to a majlis every week and I was able to witness how important it is to be able to be involved with such a thing. It was so beautiful, they were all like one big family, the children were so well behaved mashaAllah and this one little girl knew all of the du’as subhaAllah she amazed me.
East Zone is different for everyone, as long as you go in with the right intentions and try to gain as much knowledge as you can then I think that it is a good conference to attend, but I can’t really say if I will be attending anymore East Zone conferences (unless if my brother is there again) I like to stick with my ICNA conventions, 3 days of thousands and thousands of Muslims everywhere [and you can also walk around outside for a bit even at night time and not be scared that you're gunna be shot-crazy Jersey.]
So I hope these notes helped you and if you went to East Zone I hope you had fun and took advantage of all the amazing speakers there.
Now finals are coming up and the semester is almost over! I can’t believe how fast time goes by and I truly need to stop procrastinating and get my work done.
Take care inshaAllah.
-radf
8 comments April 9, 2008
End War, We Are All Brothers!
I found this video today, I thought it was very well made-take some time out and watch it. (The background nasheed is Burda by Muhammad Al Husyan).
Muslims in Need:
Fearlessly facign the trials of this temporary world.
Breaking the shackles of dependency on men.
Having the unshakable faith in Allah and contentment of the heart.
Muslim Women:
Sincerely gaurding their piety, faith and beliefs.
Holding faith dearer than fashion.
Proudly wearing the Hijaab as a symbol of Honor and Modesty!
Raising their children as true Muslim Guardians of Faith.
Add comment April 2, 2008
What a Wonderful Way to Start
Ah Spring is here, on that note it means baseball season has arrived as well But have you noticed the weather lately? It’s beautiful, it’s the right mix not too warm but not too chilly either-I personally like winter, cold weather, but this weather is quite nice.
So baseball…. yes I love baseball but I have been a little less addicted to it as before which I think is a pretty good thing. So as you have see from my previous posts you can tell I’m a Yankees fan, it looks like it’s going to be a good season, read about them below:
Yanks prevail in final Cathedral openerWang solid as farewell tour begins with victory over JaysBy Bryan Hoch / MLB.comNEW YORK — Eighty-five years after Babe Ruth christened Yankee Stadium with a home run, the Yankees raised the curtain on the ballpark’s glorious sendoff season on Tuesday by posting a crisp 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays.
With red, white and blue bunting dangling from all decks of a facility once lauded as a towering, triple-tiered wonder of the sporting world, Melky Cabrera homered and made two outstanding catches to earn a curtain call — the Yankees’ first in a season that promises to be rife with celebratory ovations.
The game marked the beginning of a new period in franchise history, with Joe Girardi managing the Yankees to a win in his first game after assuming the position formerly held for 12 seasons by Joe Torre. The final out came on an infield grounder to second base, and closer Mariano Rivera did the honors of handing the ball to his new skipper for safe-keeping.
“You play Opening Day and you want to get a lot of the firsts out of the way — the first hit, the first win,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “You want to relax and move on. I know he wanted to win this game, and I’m happy for him. Everyone was aware of the fact that this was our last opener here.”
Girardi may have scribbled out the lineup card, but Cabrera — batting out of the No. 9 hole — took center stage as the game’s standout performer. In the sixth, facing Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay, Cabrera connected with a high, arcing shot toward the right-field corner, well ahead of Alex Rios’ leap and destined to hammer off the concrete walkway to tie the game.
Cabrera’s right arm shot out toward the outfield wall as he raced around the bases, and he was later summoned out of the dugout to again acknowledge the crowd, putting his own personal flair on the staple by contributing what Jason Giambi would call a “straight scissor kick.”
“Definitely the best curtain call I’ve seen in a long time,” Giambi said.
Cabrera had a long way to run in the third inning, dashing into the gap in right-center field to flag down Lyle Overbay’s deep drive before thudding against the wall with a leap. One batter later, Cabrera raced toward left-center field, stumbling ever so slightly before grabbing Aaron Hill’s low liner, completing his acrobatics with a flourishing headfirst skid across the wet outfield turf.
“We don’t look at him as a supplementary piece,” Girardi said. “We look at him as very important to our club. When you play center field, there’s a ton of responsibility. In a lot of lineups, Melky isn’t going to hit No. 9.”
The Yankees took the lead in the seventh against Halladay when, with the bases loaded, Hill couldn’t find a quick handle on Hideki Matsui’s hot ground ball to second base. Hill flipped the ball to shortstop David Eckstein’s bare hand to record a putout, but Alex Rodriguez crossed the plate with the go-ahead run on the fielder’s choice.
It’d be enough for sinkerballing starter Chien-Ming Wang, who splintered bats early and often with his expanding repertoire. Wang limited Toronto to two runs and six hits over seven innings — a Marco Scutaro run-scoring fielder’s choice in the second and Shannon Stewart’s RBI groundout — before yielding to phenom Joba Chamberlain for the eighth inning.
Thirteen of the outs Wang recorded came via ground ball, and Girardi raved that it was the best he had seen him this year following his troublesome Spring Training.
“It was very good, [Tuesday's] last Opening Day,” Wang said. “It was the best.”
Chamberlain allowed the tying run to get as close as second base before he recorded two strikeouts to end the frame, pumping his fist and screaming as 55,112 did the same. Rivera, as is his custom, retired the side in the ninth with decidedly less fanfare, recording the final out on a Scutaro groundout to second base.
It was a game that had trademarks of what one would want from the new Girardi era — well-pitched baseball at the beginning, timely hitting and aggressive baserunning, athletic and reliable defense, and lights-out from the back end of the bullpen.
If this isn’t Girardi’s blueprint, it should be.
“It’s going to be a little bit different with this team this year,” Giambi said. “Joe ran us a lot in Spring Training, and everyone’s in great shape. We had good defense because of it tonight. We’ve just got to keep everybody healthy.”
“If we keep it like that, I’m sure we’ll win a lot,” Jeter said.
Thirty years after the Yankees’ memorable 1978 world championship, the club’s most prolific player of that era buzzed a strike across home plate to begin the sendoff — and who better than Reggie Jackson, a man whose homer on Opening Day ‘78 prompted fans to shower the playing field with chocolate bars bearing his name?
There was sweetness for Rodriguez as well. In his first at-bat since signing a landmark contract that will keep him in New York for the next decade, the reigning American League MVP picked up right where he left off in 2007 by ripping a two-out double up the gap in right-center field, scoring Bobby Abreu.
“For me, I feel like it was game No. 163,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully I can just continue to play well.”
Yankee Stadium originally opened on April 18, 1923, as Ruth clubbed a home run to defeat the rival Red Sox, 4-1, earning the facility the nickname “The House that Ruth Built.” The stadium underwent dramatic reconstruction after the 1973 season and reopened on April 15, 1976, as the current facility, with the Yankees defeating the Twins, 11-4.
The game was originally scheduled to be played as an Opening Day, and there had never been a game played in the building’s confines during the month of March; Mother Nature’s heavy rains on Monday saw that tradition, so prominent in the facility’s history, would be upheld. The Yankees and Blue Jays played instead under the lights on Tuesday, an opening act to remember upon baseball’s grandest stage.
“The baseball gods wanted the game to last as long as possible,” Girardi said.
Source: New York Yankees
Add comment April 2, 2008
