Deuces Irene

Al-hamdulillah, Hurricane Irene is over! I haven’t had power for more than 24 hours now but hamdulillah my family and I are safe.

It’s amazing to see the whole process of this whole storm. It was nice to see how people listened to what was happening and honestly I do have to say everything was pretty organized. The panic that took over the people was expected and not that bad. The supermarkets were pretty chaotic; shelves were bare, no water left and the trucks kept on dropping off more and more cases of water and people kept on grabbing everything in sight. During the storm, everyone was in du’a-prayers. No matter what faith you are or don’t claim to be a part of, everyone was preparing for the worse and praying/hoping for the best. I think we were all united in that night and hoping for the best. Al hamdulillah it passed and wasn’t as bad as we all thought it was going to be. The morning after, trees and debris were all over the place, seriously all over the place, my car looked like a giant bush with all the twigs and leaves etc… all over it.

All of it was actually during an amazing time, the last nights of Ramadhaan, the nights that we are supposed to be in constant remembrance of Allah, time that we should be asking Allah for help, guidance, etc… In a way it shows us how Allah always opens up the doors for us, its humbling how Allah puts us in a position in which we are inclined to go to him, in a position in which we are forced to ask, make du’a and be in constant dhikr.

May Allah accept our ibadah for the month, may Allah help us keep whatever good habits we have formed in the month and continue with throughout the year. May Allah accept the du’as we have made and fulfill all the good that we desire in our hearts. May Allah increase all that is good for us and always surround us in good company. May Allah always and forever be present in our lives, help us in making the right decisions and act as a reminder that we are never alone;  he is the one that will always be there for us no matter what the situation may be! May Allah grant us all the highest ranks of jannah, reward our parents for all that they do for us. And may Allah help all those who are going through hardships throughout the world, reward them for all the suffering and oppression in places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria-anywhere in the world wherever that person may be, may Allah make it easy on him/her.

Please continue to keep me and my family in your du’as inshaAllah.

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

“…all of us Muslims were convicted of false crime.”

I thought this was made beautifully.

Day 13 of Ramadhaan, it’s going so rapidly subhanAllah. Please keep myself and my family in your du’as.

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

Search For Knowledge, Always

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

(Beast’s library from Beauty and the Beast)

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

Fordson Review

I’ve posted about this documentary before, Fordson: Faith, Fasting and Football. The movie will be playing twice in NY in July, once in the Long Island Film Festival and once in the Manhattan Film Festival, I’m hoping to be able to see it inshaAllah! This review is a little different and brings up some good points:

Movie Review: Fordson

[Ed. Note: I've never written a movie review. That's my cousin's territory. So bare with me as I review Fordson: Faith, Fasting and Football, a full-length feature documentary about the Fordson High School football team in Dearborn, Mich. Oh, and there's a lot of spoilers.]

As a fan of ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series and really of any sports documentary in general, I jumped at the chance to see Fordson: Faith, Fasting and Football. A superbly well made film, it tells the story of the Fordson (Dearborn, Mich.) High School football team, which has an overwhelming percentage of Arab-Americans on its roster.

The film documents the town, school and team as it prepares for its annual rivalry game against cross-town Dearborn High School while chronicling the prejudice they’ve faced since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. We’re shown the unique challenges they face as a predominantly Muslim school. For instance, the game against Dearborn comes toward the end of Ramadan, when most of the players had been fasting for nearly a month.

We’re also shown the impact football has on the town and its players, making it just like most every other school in America.

As is the case in a lot of these movies, I came away most intrigued by things that didn’t have much attention paid to them. First and foremost was Fordson’s rivals at Dearborn High School. Like the players at Fordson, many on the Dearborn team are also Muslim. They look just like their Fordson rivals and say the same prayer prior to their game.

You also don’t see what effect the kids at Fordson are having on how people view the Muslim community. We’re shown news stories from right after 9-11 about the ridicule and racism the town goes through and see the emails that have been sent to the school calling its acceptance of Muslim traditions into question.

But what progress (if any) has been made in the surrounding areas because of the Fordson kids? Have they helped change the perception of their school and their town? I think the only thing missing from the film was what outsiders thought of them and their team and if the football team had doe anything to change those thoughts in the time since 9-11.

While that answer may or may not have been clear to me, it was clear the impact the stereotypes and hatred has had on the Fordson kids. The prejudices combined with the somewhat insular environment of their community has really developed two mindsets that I saw come through in the film.

The first mindset was that of their star wide receiver who would go on to walk on at Michigan. He was the kind of player I tend to like. One that plays with a chip on his shoulder and a little bit of arrogance. It’s the reason I always rooted for Manny and Iverson and he played with the same bravado.

He also said he wanted to go off to college and change the public perception of Muslims from Dearborn. He wanted to show through his abilities on the field that they’re just like every other American by making a name for himself and living the American dream.

Then there were other kids on the team who felt a strong family connection to the team and their community and wanted to stay in Dearborn. How much of that was because of the potential backlash toward them because of their faith they might feel away from the city was never touched upon but you got the sense the familiarity and being around people who were like them played a part in it.

I think that’s what I’ll take away most the film. Prior to 9-11, Dearborn was just like any other town, but just so happened to have a large concentration of Muslims. It should have gone on being just like any other town, but 9-11 and the resulting backlash against Muslims changed that.

Now what we’re seeing is the first generation of kids come through Fordson High School who grew up with that backlash and it’s probably changed the way they view America. You now have kids coming from Dearborn who have a chip on their shoulder and are eager to prove themselves in the face of negative stereotypes and kids who are shrinking away from the challenges their parents took head-on: To go out on their own and make it in the world and live the American dream. Instead, they’re staying at home afraid of what awaits for them outside of Dearborn.

My fear is that the increased fear and hatred that they have been exposed to in the 10 years since 9-11 will have a negative impact on how they view America. The generation before them came to this country because they held the American ideal on high and viewed the country as the chance for a better life. If the way they are viewed and treated by most of America doesn’t change, then the view those who grow up in Dearborn have of America is bound to.

While one football team can’t heal all wounds and change all perceptions non Arab-Americans have of the Muslim world, it can certainly help. The point of this movie was to show that Dearborn and its residents are no different than any other town in America on Friday night. The coaching staff, players and parents have the same stereotypes you’ll see in Odessa, Texas, on a Friday in the fall. It just so happens the language and skin color are different.

Source: Gobbler Country

For those who haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it out below:

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

Remember

…although today is Father’s Day, be sure to appreciate your father [and mother] everyday! My father is truly an amazing man who has always put his kids first, may Allah reward him for all his efforts and reward him for every single thing he does and keep him healthy and strong, Ameen!

Happy Father’s Day everyone, go and hug your father!

“Let Allah be my witness; you fulfilled your duty

And let me beseech Him to forgive you any indiscretions

And grant you eternal peace and rest in Paradise”

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

How’s This For a Love Story?

I love this article, it’s simply beautiful mashaAllah:

Musa & Safurah: a Courtship, a Romance

by Hena Zuberi

I am from Generation X. Raised on ‘Pretty in Pink’ and Sweet Dreams romance novels, some of my friends read Mills and Boons, others raved about the unattainable love in the Thorn birds; but I preferred the grand passion of Wuthering Heights. That was my idea of a romance – filling each other completely, a religion of love.It also came from Indian movies; rich girl falls for poor guy, they dance around trees in the rain, then drama ensues from the family, enter Prem Chopra character, the guy runs off with girl, the end. Sometimes, he would dash in with a monologue and take her away while she was getting married to someone else. How many girls are still waiting for their Sir Salman/Saif/Shahrukh Khan to take them away on a white horse in a red lehnga?When in love, according to Freud, “against all the evidence of  her/his senses, a wo/man who is in love declares ‘I’ and ‘you’ are one, and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact.” This love is so destructive, so impossible; based on these notions, I have nursed many a heartbroken friend. I remember being in ER after she burnt herself with a cigarette because she wasn’t allowed to see him; another time helping to hide another’s bruises under makeup, where he punched her for talking to his buddy. My own quest was less for the pain, more for the eternal flutter in my heart. What were we thinking? Allah made us; He put these feelings in our heart, so why didn’t we ever think of turning to His book to see how ‘boy meets girl’ really works? It’s all in there.

I read of a great courtship, a love story that is so romantic it’s divine. The setting – Madyan, the land of frankincense, I can almost smell it lingering in the air. Historian Abdulla Al-Wohaibi writes that Madyan was “a flourishing ancient town with numerous wells and permanently flowing springs whose water had good taste. There were farms, gardens and groves of palm trees.”

Here we meet Safurah, the daughter of Shuyab `alayhi assalam (peace be upon him) at the side of a gushing spring, ‘keeping back, stopping her sheep from drinking with the sheep of the shepherds.’ And Musa (as), a fugitive on the run for eight days, crossing the burning desert sands from Egypt, feeding off nothing but tree leaves.

Their meeting is a beautiful example of chivalry; a perfect model of what it means to be a man and a woman. This was her daily routine and she waited out of her sense of modesty. She and her sister were strong women, after all herding their father’s flock wasn’t easy work. They were surrounded by rowdy men, reminding me of scenes from Liberty market in Lahore, Cairo’s Khan Khaleeli or the Westfield mall in Generic town, U.S.A. where rowdy boys hang out – men yelling, pushing, with little dignity or sense of composure. He, however, was a gentleman amongst the uncouth.

She didn’t need his help, she could have waited until all of the other men were done and then watered her flock, but that’s what makes it so special – that he still stood up to help her. Musa (as) was thirsty too but his sense of doing the right thing was stronger than his fatigue or his hunger. He was honorable – he could have ignored the sisters, could have said “I’m too tired, too important.” He had no relationship with these women. He didn’t know what family or religion they were from. All he saw was someone was being treated unfairly and for the sake of Allah, he was ready to help.

Sisters, a man like that will get you far in life. He will be just with your children, your parents and his parents. He will help you in your faith, your home and your life. As for the ones pushing each other to get the water from the well, they are the same brothers who will keep fighting for the dunya. They will keep working away for the next promotion and you will be left on the side like the two sisters from Madyan.

When Musa (as) approached the water, he saw that the shepherds had placed an immense rock, that could only be moved by ten men, over the mouth of the spring. ‘Musa embraced the rock and lifted it out of the spring’s mouth, the veins of his neck and hands standing out as he did so.’ He let their sheep drink and then put the rock back in its place.

After Musa (as) did this kind act, he went back in the shade of the tree and made du`a’. Unlike some MSA brothers who like to walk the sisters to their apartments and then ask them if they have food in the fridge, he didn’t ask the girls “Hey! I did you a favor, can you help me out now?”

No, he lies down on Allah’s green earth and makes this beautiful du`a’:

“So he watered (their flocks) for them, then he turned back to shade, and said: ‘My Lord! I am truly in need of whatever good that You bestow on me!’” (Qur’an, 28:24)

`Ata’ bin As-Sa’ib said in Tafsir ibn Kathir: “When Musa made that du`a’ the women heard him.”  What a beautiful du`a’ to make for all of us who are looking for a good partner or bliss in our married lives. This one du`a’ to Allah gave Musa (as) a job, a house and a family all at once. When you have nothing left except Allah, than you find that Allah is always enough for you.

The two sisters came home with the well-fed sheep, surprising their father Shuyab (as). He asked them what had happened and they told him what Musa (as) had done. So he sent one of them to call him to meet her father.

She said: “My father is inviting you so that he may reward you for watering our sheep.” In Tafsir ibn Kathir it states:
there came to him one of them, walking shyly, meaning she was walking like a free woman. Narrates `Umar ibn-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him: “She was covering herself from them (Musa) with the folds of her garment.”

Safurah is intelligent and intuitive. Abdullah bin Masud praised three people’s intuition: Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) about `Umar ibn-Khattab, Yousuf ‘s (as) companion, and Safurah’s when she asked her father to hire Musa (as). “Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy.” Her father said to her, ”What do you know about that?” She said to him, “He lifted a rock which could only be lifted by ten men, and when I came back with him, I walked ahead of him, but he said to me, walk behind me, and if I get confused about the route, throw a pebble so that I will know which way to go.”

He didn’t follow her, looking at her from behind – subhan’Allah. Imagine the scenario: he was a prince who must have had women throwing themselves at him but he ‘lowers his gaze’, which is the hukum for all Muslim men, but how many really adhere to that? Here Musa (as) is not Safurah’s husband yet, so he asks her to walk behind him, knowing very well that he doesn’t know the way but she does. It wasn’t a matter of ego or superiority; he was concerned about her honor as she was alone, without her sister; this way he was protecting her. Look at their society too – if all the men were such boors, could you put it past those people to gossip about her walking with him?

I often wonder how Musa (as) grew up to be this way? He came from such privilege, so much corruption existed in the court of Pharoah; he could have had any woman he wanted. But he learnt how to honor women from his pious foster mother, `Aasiya (ra); and continued this respect even hundreds of miles from his mother’s eyes. Mothers can be shields for their sons – even if the fathers are Pharoah.

Back to our courtship: Musa (as) takes Safurah’s ‘lead’ by making her throw stones to direct the route. Brothers, there’s a lesson for you here: it’s ok to ask for directions and consulting with a woman. Such a man’s bravado would be insulted today; he would be considered crazy or sexist for asking a woman to walk in his shadow and then make her do all the work! Armed with our liberal arts education, we often undervalue a man’s masculinity. Such hoopla is made over where the husband walks, in front, side by side, behind you. My husband is a foot and some taller than me, so big deal if he sometimes walks faster than me, he’s got longer legs. Other times he walks behind me especially in crowds and he is often there by my side. It doesn’t define us. Shouldn’t it matter more whether he is ahead, behind or by my side spiritually?

Safurah then hired Musa (as) and chooses to marry him under her father’s guidance. There was no long engagement and no endless conversations – no promises of unending love. How many times do we pass up great partners because we haven’t clicked? What did she like about him in those short meetings? First of all, she sees he is not a wimp, he stood up for her when they were strangers, imagine what he would do for her when she becomes his wife.

He complements her life; she needs a man in her household, to help her run her business (we see the same theme in the blessed union of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and our mother, Khadijah (ra). This story reinforces in me the reason why my husband is always going to be the leader of my family. He leads well so that I may willingly follow.

Musa (as) agrees to the terms Safurah’s family sets for their marriage. She admires his trust in Allah, his ability to problem solve, his strength and his manners. If women looked for his four characteristics in a man, instead of the countless other things we focus on, will we not find our own beautiful Musa?

Further, if we are consumed by the love we have for our spouse, will there be space in our hearts for Allah? Heathcliff and Catherine of Wuthering Heights had replaced God for each other. They needed to fuse their identities and thought they had attained heaven. Bronte’s mysticism notwithstanding, love like theirs is asocial, amoral and irresponsible. After reading Musa and Safurah’s love story though, I learned to love my husband for the right reasons: for his support, his strengths, and his sense of responsibility for the sake of Allah. After ten years, he still makes my heart flutter; but he doesn’t need to complete me. It’s enough that he complements me. And it is this evolving courtship that will inshaAllah knock the tunes out of every Indian movie.

Source: SuhaibWebb.com

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

So Silly

This video needs to be shared it’ll definitely put a smile on your face and its the perfect break if you’re overworking yourself.

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

MIST-NY 2011

Al-hamdulillah this year I was able to be part of MIST-NY (Muslim Interscholastic Tournament). Being a part of MIST is so humbling, hamdulillah. All the work, endless hours we had for preparation and when times get stressful and tiring you just remind yourself that it’s for the sake of Allah and subhanAllah when things are that stressful that’s the only thing that keeps you going on. These high schoolers are amazing mashaAllah; the amount of hard work that they put in, the work that they do, and all their creative and hard work shows at the tournament. When you’re at the actual tournament you’re running around all over the place, but when you see the high schoolers and their work, it juss pushes you to work harder! Check out our website: http://getmistified.com/newyork/

If you, or someone you know, can help in giving any donations please do so by clicking here We’re a non-profit organization and we run on donations, anything you can give will help us tremendously! (It’s also on the top right hand corner of the website.)

Here’s a slide show of this years tournament:

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

Class of 2O11!

Congratulations to the Class of 2O11 and special shot out to SUNY Old Westbury’s SeniOrs!
Al-hamdulillah, on Sunday I graduated and subhanAllah it was such an amazing moment and my parents’ faces made it the best! It’s also humbling to know that I have such amazing people in my life and so blessed to have encountered so many amazing people during my undergrad journey. InshaAllah I will continue to be successful as I continue on with life, du’as please!

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf

Perfection is Overrated

My brother found this photo and I love it.

We stress on perfection so much these days, we forget to just have fun and to be ourselves.

Take care, speak up and be safe.

☮radf