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June 01 Salams All,
I actually took this from some website but I'm posting it because I made it and it was really good. I changed the way the veggies were cooked in the beginning since I don't like to use pressure cooker so much. I avoid them as much as possible because I don't like the horror stories of them exploding. Enjoy!Shahin
Ingredients: Sufficient for four people - 2 Medium potato cut in cubes
- 2 Cup cauliflower
- 1 Potato
- 1 Cup green peas
- 1 Capsicum
- 3 Cups water
- 1 Cup carrot
- 1 Cup tomato paste
- 1 Big onion paste
- 1.5 Tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1.5 Tsp pav bhaji masala
- 1 Tsp coriander powder
- 1 Tsp red chili powder
- 1 Tsp butter
- 2 Green chillies finely chopped
- 2 Tsp lemon juice
- Oil for frying
- Salt as per taste
- Pav Buns
- Lemon cut into slices for garnishing
- Finely chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
Method:
In a pot put all vegetables (carrot,potato,capsicum,green peas and cauliflower) and a little water so they sink with enough salt and water and keep aside. boil until carrots are soft. Drain excess water out after this is done.
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and onion paste. Fry it for few min till it becomes brown in color. To this add red chili powder and tomato paste and fry for another two minutes or till the tomato paste start leaving oil in the pan.
Now add coriander powder, all boiled vegetables and pav bhaji masala. Cook this mixture for another 10 minutes on medium heat and mash the vegetables here n there. Add lemon juice and cook for another 2-3 minutes. In last add butter and stir for a while.
Have this hot bhaji with nicely roasted pav buns with onion rings and extra lemon slices :).
April 27 Salamulikum everyone. Yes once again I will be making a trip to Houston to the famous Ilm Summit 2009 among the country's brightest Al Maghrib students. As you already know I'm collecting money to pay for my tuition. I'll update this as fast as the donations come in :)The total price for a US student is $2297 $1436 collected$861 left to goPayPal Donation PageIlm Summit VideoJazaakallah hu khair to all the donors from last year and the coming! Your names will be in my special duaas those two weeks :) March 22 Whenever we make an organization somethings, somewhere, some ideas are always left behind. Of course everything cannot be implemented; that's just the way life goes. When we realize we want to change something, the rules have already been written, the constitutions already signed, the routines are already made, the employees already hired and the blind following already established. To bring change to this cult or should I say monster, the only thing we end up doing is calling the founder an IDIOT and making a whole other group of our own and causing schisms and fights. When really, the founder when he founded had never found your idea or understood your certain concept (no matter how wise or correct you were) because maybe it wasn't his time -- it wasn't his moment. So -- always write a disclaimer about change when you form an organization detailing the flaws of human beings and how we shouldn't be scolded for a lesson we have not learned by which only time could have taught us.
Salam,
I wrote the above not directed to any one organization but all of them. You name it! Al Maghrib, Al Bayyinah, Al Huda, MSA, MAS, ISNA, ICNA, all the way down to the really small halaqas that happen in your towns. Yes you! And you might be thinking, "What? Is she calling the founders an 'idiot'?" If so, you have misunderstood what I wrote. I highly respect all of my brothers and sisters who are trying to spread the message of Islam purely for the sake of Allah. May Allah accept all of their efforts and give them the highest Jannah.
This is for all the haters that never had anything good to say and want to find flaws in everything. This is for the family members who are breaking good relations with their families just because they are not organizing something "their way." This is to all the young people who are not old enough to understand the wisdom of their elders in the decisions they make in making their organization. This is to all the old people who have forgotten how confusing the age of youth can be. This is to all the old people to let their youth make mistakes when they make their own groups and organizations.
This is to all those who are too fast to judge the hearts of the brothers and sisters working so hard for their organizations no matter if they are doing the biggest or smallest things. A brother named AR taught me once to always give our brothers and sisters the benefit of the doubt, and I've never forgotten that lesson. Thanks AR.
There are a lot of judgments and statements I've made that have been harsh and ill thought out and I always blame it on how stupid and young I was. I guess I'm saying sorry for that too. Khair, I know nobody will really read this but I'm glad I wrote it down.
Shahin
March 14  I have noticed a trend that happens at every wedding I attend of the conversations that occur in the crowd. Of course there are the aunties talking about how much gold the bride received or uncles complying about how everyone gets the food from the same restaurant and they end up eating the same food every wedding they go to. And then there are the conversations that I normally get caught up in. "At my wedding its going to be like..." or "For my wedding, I'm going to do it this way..." Hey guess what? I'm shallow and selfish too! And if you have ever completed those sentences at a wedding, your in my club too, so haa! It really hit me this last wedding I went to and thought, "Oh my God, people are going to be doing the same thing at my wedding!" And of course if you put it that way, it all seemed so rude and selfish to m e so me and my sister decided to have an agreement that we will never talk about ourselves at other people's weddings and just try to appreciate the effort they have put into making the event beautiful.
However, there is major worry of mine that keeps coming up when I think of my own wedding day. How am I going to take care of my hijab that day? How have other hijab conscious brides taken care of this issue in the past? I
know there have been weddings where they have decided to completely separate
men and women which is great if you have the crowd to do that in.
 However, if the group of friends and family you are working in a
different mindset and there are different comfort zones involved--going
hijab bride is the way to go! But how do I do this so I don't look weird? I am not the fashion expert. So naturally, I turned to Shaykh Google and the answer was right there.
My heart and gang sign peace-outs go to the Malaysian girls. Ball-park 98% of pictures I found were of Malaysian brides covering all their hair, mashallah! I found only two Desi brides, as you can see from the pictures. May Allah bless all their efforts and give them much reward for the example they are setting for us newbies. After seeing these pictures, I have decided to follow suit. I feel this is the best way to go in my situation with my group of family and friends and most importantly I don't have to compromise my religion--which is so very common among most brides I've seen in my life time.
If anybody would like to contribute their pictures for this blog post, please send them to my email: iamshahin@hotmail.com; keep the su bject Hijabi Bride. I am especially looking for Desi Hijabi bride pictures.
Hijabi Bride Links and Albums
Desi Bride Albums
Bride 1 Album 1 & Album 2
Bride 2 Album
Desi Bride Pictures
Bride 1 Bride 2 Bride 3
Malaysian Bride Albums
Bride 1 Bride 2 Bride 3 Bride 4
Malaysian Bride Pictures
Bride 1 Bride 2 Bride 3 Bride 4
Or type "hijab bride" into www.flickr.com for lots more pictures. Download Cooliris for your browser for easy viewing options.
March 10 Happy Birthday
That's 4 for this blog 23 for me and 49 for Dad.
(I'll add the reflections later...right now I have to go buy myself a present :P)
March 07 
So you all know I have a thing for lemons right?
Also, being a Gujarati I love sweet and sour foods so here is a recipe
I'd like to share. The first time I tired these were at a Barns and
Noble / Starbucks. They were so good I had to find the recipe to share
with my friends and family. Enjoy!Lemon-Raspberry Squares
Source:Williams-Sonoma Outdoors Series, Picnics & TailgatesWeldon Owen Inc., 1998Servings : 24Ingredients:1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour1/3 cup PLUS all-purpose flour1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar1/2 teaspoon salt16 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter -- (2 sticks) cut intosmall pieces1 teaspoon ice water -- if needed1 cup jam -- such as raspberry,sour cherry or apricot2 cups granulated sugar2 teaspoons grated lemon zest4 eggs -- beaten3/4 cup lemon juicePreheat
an oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Place the 1 3/4
cups flour, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor
and pulse to blend. Add the butter and process until the dough begins
to form a ball, adding the ice water if necessary.
Press the
dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake until the
crust is lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool for at least 30
minutes, then evenly spread the jam over the crust.
In a bowl,
whisk together the granulated sugar, the remaining 1/3 cup flour and
the lemon zest. Place the eggs in a large bowl and slowly add the flour
mixture, beating with an electric mixer until well blended, 1 to 2
minutes. Add the lemon juice and mix to combine.
Pour the lemon
mixture carefully over the raspberry jam layer, making sure to keep
layers separate. Bake until the lemon topping is just set, 25 to 30
minutes. Let cool in the pan. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut
into squares with a serrated knife. Place in a covered container and
keep cool until ready to serve.
NOTES : These luscious squares
have a raspberry jam layer tucked between a crisp sugar-cookie crust
and a lemon topping. Be sure to provide forks, paper plates and plenty
of napkins for serving these old-fashioned favorites.
Recipe found here. There are variations of that recipe on that page but I liked this one the best since it was all from scratch.
March 01
Greetings,
A while back, a friend of mine asked me to make a widget for them. The kind that displayed random quotes when you clicked on it. I haven't made
it that far yet but I did get to making my very own RSS widget for my blog. Its the most generic thing you ever did see but I'm very thankful to Allah for giving me the perseverance to make it this far.
For those of you who do not know what an RSS widget does; basically it takes information from a website and displays it on your Dashboard or in Windows terms your Sidebar. Incidentally, a Mac Widget is a Windows Gadget.
As a way of documenting my process and a way to get feedback I'm releasing RORWidget version 1.0. Feel free to tell me what other bugs you found besides the ones I'm going to mention.
Release - 1.0OS: Mac OS X 10.4.3 or higherFunctions
- Refresh -- Click on the title "Room of Requirements" to update your widget window for new articles.
- Set Article Length -- Click the "i" symbol on the bottom right corner to use the slider to set how long the article length should be displayed.
Bugs
[1] When clicking a Windows Live link from the Widget, like the "RORWidget.zip" link above, the page opens within the widget instead of jumping to the browser. This is not the case with any other kinds of links, they open normally by opening in Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. I know this is a major bug but I don't think there is a way to fix it since its got more to do with how Windows structures their embedded links versus Dashcode programming. To temporarily overcome this problem just reload the widget from your "Manage Widgets..." menu. A reinstall is not necessary.
Salamualikum,
Its finally done! I
give you, the recitation of Juz Amma by Muhammad Alshareef. This link will take you to my SkyDrive where you can download each sura separately. I'm having trouble with the zip file so you can download the whole thing. Inshallah it will be up soon.
Download, recite and don't forget to keep me in your duas,
Shahin.
Background Information
These files were extracted and made from the Tafseer CD set "Touched by and Angel" from Eman Rush Productions. Although majority of the CD is the Tafseer, I stripped the recitation part to make it easily accessible. Originally I started this project for myself so I could memorize Juz Amma and today I'd like to share with everyone else. If I'm breaking any copy right rules let me know. Tips for Memorizing Quran
The Quran is an honorable book and if you do not give honor to the Quran, it will leave you. The Quran does not need you. You need the Quran. No. I'm not going to tell you to go somewhere quite and focus. That is self explanatory. If you are serious about memorizing you will already know. However, to make this memorizing process easier on you I am going to tell you to go and get QuickTime Pro. You will need the Pro version because the feature that will come in real handy is not on the standard version. Similar to the A-B function on a regular mp3 player, QuickTime has a trim section function allowing you to play only part of the track. With this, you can trim the file to the lines you want to memorize and put it on a loop so it keeps playing over and over again. Now, you maybe asking me, why not use the regular reciter websites out there that already do this for me? Well, those websites don't have the reciter I want. Also the clarity of the files and the ability to individually set my section to memorize is a plus.
February 27 Greetings ROR visitors,
So how cool is this? My blog was actually rated by these people! God knows who they are but I like them! Visit them to rate my blog. Be fair now!
Thanks for visiting!
--Shahin
February 11 Good lemons forgive all lemons.
Good lemons pray for other lemons.
Good lemons try their best not to taste too sour for the world.
Good lemons always compensate for their sourness by shining brightly.
Good lemons find other lemon friends but GREAT lemons team up with sugar.
If you find a lemon on the road in India, DON'T pick it up! Don't go near it! Its cursed!!
Good lemons forgive and forget the aftertaste of their own sourness.
Good lemons are always thankful to their creator for being just the way they are. Sour and shiny.
--Shahin
January 27 
O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah is Rich (Free of all wants and needs), Worthy of all praise. [Al-Fatir 35:15]
When the word "rich" or "wealth" is defined in this duniya, what comes
to mind? Cars, mansions, gold, jewels, endless resources, oil, fancy
carpets, shoes, fur coats, caviar, private jets... I only mentioned the
objects. I didn't even get to services...
Yet -- Look at how the Quran has defined "Rich" : To be free of all
wants and needs. If there is one being that has everything and deserves
everything, it is Allah but he does not need any of it which makes him
truly rich. In this duniya, a person is seemingly able to quench his
thirst by fulfilling his needs with 'stuff' but we all know that the
only thing that will quench the Son of Adam is the dust of his own
grave. I love this ayat because it does not talk about having
EVERYTHING... it talks about needing NOTHING.
I marveled at this concept and thought of all the needy wives who want
this and that and drive their husbands insane. Of course before
critiquing others I will look to myself. My need is in my husband to be
happy. Now if he is happy seeing me wear the same clothes everyday
then so be it. Hooray for me! No more spending hours deciding what to
wear and I can concentrate on more important things. ---Ok I know that
is a little extreme but you get my point?
Focus should be put on what matters and what is really needed. When
these needs are real needs matched by an Islamic understanding, you
will find that they are quenchable and you might just find yourself not
as thirsty.
Nifty aye?
There is not one of you but will pass over
it (Hell); this is with your Lord; a Decree which must be accomplished.
[Maryam 19:71]
Bismillah...
This ayah caught my attention because A) nobody has
ever told me this explicitly B) I thought if I was good enough I'd
never have to see the face of hell and C) the thought of seeing hell
did not chill me to my bones and make me shiver and start crying like
it should...so this annoyed me and caught my attention. I guess its the
mood I'm in. May Allah forgive me.
I've thought about hell many times, I mean really thought about it.
Once I tried to visualize the smells the screaming, the colors, the
faces, maybe the angels pushing me down...I thought of what my feelings
would be knowing I'd received hell for the reward of my life. I think
my heart started pounding and my eyes started watering and I stopped.
Sad thing these days, hell is thrown around so easily. Many times its
portrayed as cooler and its where the "bad/cool" people go. Its where
the demons and the vampires come from--and of course they are so cool!
Ask any teenager who has read the latest fantasy books or watched a
couple of movies and they will tell you what hell is. Even if they
don't believe in a God or follow a religion, they will know about hell
and demons and angels -- and if you ask them where this idea came from
of hell -- if you try to pass over the idea to them that MAYBE just
MAYBE its a real place and generations regardless of time and culture
and place have written about it ... they will laugh at you. So maybe
this is the reason I myself am not as annoyed enough about seeing Hell.
Or maybe I'm another stupid dazed human living it up in this duniya.
Either way it goes we will all be shown hell and maybe the wisdom behind that is so we can really appreciate Jannah.
A hadith in relation to this ayaah was put in a footnote of another
ayah (68:42). The hadith was Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol.9 Hadith No. 532B).
It was very long and detailed -- lots of visuals. I strongly advise you
read it!
October 15 Forgiveness
by Rhonda Langefeld
Marriage Essentials: Forgiveness
Understanding forgiveness is essential to building a strong marriage.
Forgiveness is at the heart of a good marriage. But forgiveness can be hard to understand and harder still to do.
One woman told me she didn't know what the big deal about forgiveness was. She had no trouble with forgiveness. If someone offended her, she just dropped it and forgot about it. I said, "You mean, you forget the offense? Or the person?" She thought a moment and said, "I guess I forget the person."
I thought I was a good forgiver. One day I realized I had been letting hurts stick to me instead. I discovered this ugly little collection of them in my soul that made the love I gave anemic.
A vibrant marriage cannot exist on anemic love. And, in a relationship that is designed to be life-long, you can't forget the other person whenever you are hurt, much as you might like to.
For the sake of our marriages, let's explore the meaning of forgiveness and look first at some things forgiveness is NOT.
- Forgiveness is not just forgetting something. Burying it. Smothering it. Pretending it didn't happen. If you cover the weeds in your garden, they are still there. Real forgiveness is tearing the weeds out by the roots, so the garden will flourish.
- Forgiveness is not excusing something, or saying it was okay. We forgive people of things that are not okay. Lewis Smedes, in his book Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve, says that when we excuse people, we don't need to forgive them. We excuse people when we understand that they weren't to blame. We have to forgive people when they are to blame.
- Forgiveness is not tolerance. The dictionary definitions of tolerance are all about enduring something hard or painful, or working up the strength to bear with something awful. The difference between forgiveness and tolerance can be seen in a society's attitude toward crime. We can forgive crime, but we will destroy ourselves if we tolerate it.
- Forgiveness is also not just a matter of course. Hurts and breaks in relationships don't just heal themselves. Healing takes purposeful, forgiveness-ful action.
- Forgiveness is not the same thing as trust. Forgiveness may mean giving someone the opportunity to rebuild trust., but we don't automatically trust everyone we forgive in this life.
What Forgiveness Means
Qualities of Forgiveness
Mrs. Billy Graham once said that a marriage is made up of two good forgivers. In order to get better at forgiving, we need to know what forgiveness means.
It pays to practice being a good forgiver in marriage, because somewhere along the way you're going to need your spouse to forgive you too. Check the qualities of forgiveness below. Do they describe what you understand about forgiveness in your marriage?
- Forgiveness is, first of all, a decision--a decision that we make in the middle of often turbulent feelings. And, it is a decision we may have to remake daily as our hurt feelings subside.
- Forgiveness is a tool for dealing with the pain in life--and with the natural disasters that happen when two faulty human beings live together for long periods of time.
- Forgiveness is aggressive--a powerful thing that keeps the incident from doing us further harm. People who will not forgive are enslaved to the incident that caused them hurt, enslaved for as long as they choose not to forgive.
- Forgiveness is grace, something not deserved, but needed. If I deserved forgiveness, then I wouldn't really need it. You could just excuse my actions and be done with it. Instead, you give me grace and cancel the emotional debt I owe you.
- Forgiveness is free. We don't make someone grovel for it. We don't use the incident for emotional blackmail. We don't hold the incident over our spouse's head anymore. ("Remember the last time you got distracted and wrecked the car?")
- Forgiveness is honest. No pretending here. And no pretending you, the forgiver, don't hurt either. Honesty strengthens a marriage because intimacy and understanding are the foundations of love. Without honesty, those foundations are compromised, weakened. A healthy marriage is honest in its hurt and honest in its healing.
- Forgiveness removes the blocks in a relationship and allows it to begin again. The giving and receiving of forgiveness is a way both spouses can say, "We believe in our relationship. We value our relationship. We want our relationship to keep on going."
If forgiveness has not taken place, certain symptoms will show up in a marriage. We'll look at those next time.
Needing to Forgive
The ABC Symptoms
Forgiveness is hard, but forgiveness is necessary for wholeness in ourselves, and for wholeness and happiness in our marriages.
A marriage that suffers from a lack of forgiveness may exhibit these ABC symptoms.
Anger. Unresolved issues often settle into a marriage as an undercurrent of anger. This can be the explosive type that lashes out at odd times, and seemingly for no logical reason. Or, anger can be acted out in quiet ways--like not setting a place for a spouse at dinner, purposely forgetting or ignoring things important to a spouse.
The warning sign of anger leads us to examine our marriages. Check for the root of it. When did the anger begin? Where did it come from? See if you can pinpoint the cause and apply forgiveness.
Bitterness. When anger goes on for too long, it calcifies into bitterness. Bitterness is the cold yuck in our soul when we think of the person who has wronged us. Bitterness makes us hard, callous, unable to be touched or moved. It breeds hatred and cynicism, a cynicism that spreads to our other relationships.
Stop and look at yourself. Do you want to be the kind of person that bitterness is turning you into? Forgiveness gives you the choice to go down a different path. A healthier path.
Criticism. Are you overly critical of your spouse? Are you the one at the dinner party that enjoys regaling your weary listeners with a list of your spouse's faults? You probably have not forgiven him or her for something.
That "something" may be a big thing, or just a group of little things that spring up when two faulty people share the same life. What do you always criticize your spouse for? Can you forgive them for it instead? Make a list of things that you can like or appreciate about your spouse to aid the work of forgiveness.
When anger, bitterness, and criticism fill our marriages, forgiveness is the powerful tool that can free us from resentment and bring us relief.
October 08 Why does that NIMROD
of a McCain think leaving Iraq means losing the war? What will have
happened when they think they have won? Is it when all the innocent
men, woman and children have died? Or when the future children of Iraq
are built up of really messed up children that have seen war their
whole lives? Are these the future people America expects to put the
responsibility of building a safe country with a Democracy and Freedom?
Isn't America just building the next generation of "terrorists?" Why
does America fail to understand that they are not the world's saviors
you bloody busy bodies!
McCain, mate, I think you are
blinded by the invisible honor you think you are going to die with. You
may be old but you don't have wisdom. You may have "experience" but its
not to lead America to be the true liberators as they say they are,
America will continue to be hated by the families that have been ruined
and the mother's who have lost children, by the people who's culture
you have stepped all over. Putting a McDonald's and Walmart in the
neighborhood is not freedom. Freedom to have the choice to put one
there is Freedom so let them sort out their own mess!
Please America, make the RIGHT CHOICE when you go to the polls this November 4th.
VOTE OBAMA
September 01 My list of Ramadan Annoyances 2008
It
has not been a whole day since Ramadan starts and already I start
seeing the trends and annoying things people do. Memphis, this is about
you, so PAY ATTENTION. Oh and by the way, these things happen outside
of Ramadan too. The only reason I'm calling this a Ramadan list is
you'd think they would take the care not to do these things in Ramadan-- --of course not!
Complaints in Tarawih
Woman/Girls
wearing clothes that don't fit them and they need "fixing" every three
seconds in prayer using both hands. This means wearing short T-Shirts
that slip up when going down in sujood only to reveal your underwear or
worse, your butt. By the way, using both hands in prayer breaks it. Wearing
a scarf/dupatta/hijab that slips off every rakaat and they need to be
fixed with both hands. Oh my God! If you are coming to pray tarawih for
twenty rakaat at least come in the attire and make sure you are
comfortable. In all this fixing there is so much moving
around that God knows where your concentration has gone and do you have
any idea what disturbance it causes the people around you? -- Hence the
reason why I'm even writing all this. - A net cloth that is
completely transparent does not constitute as a hijab. I can see your
ears, the kind of hair tie you are wearing, the color of your
hair--please don't be thick headed you get the point.
The
loud whisperers. You know who they are and they know themselves. Now
how exactly do I go about letting them know they do this? Actually I
have no idea because they don't read blogs or know how to use a
computer. Nail Polish. For goodness sake I can't believe
I'm mentioning this but its a thing every year. You make all this
effort to come pray twenty rakat tarawih and you can't even take off
your nail polish? Do I need to explain to you the fiqh of wudu? Ok
maybe you don't know. Let me make it clear and simple. This is the
opinion of all madhaabs shi'a/sunni/sufi...ect when you make wudu, all
parts of the feet MUST be washed. If you have applied nail polish and
then your wudu breaks in order to make new wudu you must take it off.
No excuses. - They put their phone facing up right in front
of them while praying in case they don't miss any calls or text
messages. Again you come all the way to the masjid to be one with Allah
and put a huge distraction right where you do sujood? People! We really
need to ask ourselves this very simple question "What is my intention
in doing such and such?"
Complaints of Masjid IftaarsYou know I'm impressed this year, I didn't see anything new that doesn't usually happen every year at these iftaars like: -
People eying food like they have never seen it.
-
People taking more food than they need and wasting it.
-
People dressed up like its a fashion show.
-
Seeing faces for the iftaar that don't normally turn up for prayer--ever.
-
People not having the decency to pick up their plates like some servant is going to do it.
-
People having the mentality "its the masjid so I can do whatever I want."
Complaints of General Etiquette
I'm sorry I'm going to do a little community leadership bashing here
but I've wanted to say this for a very long time since I moved to
Memphis. You may read this and say: "Well that's what you people do,
criticize and not do anything" but you don't understand that the
problem lies in the structure of how this community is built.
-
The over zealot aunties "sushing" everyone. I'm talking about
those times in the masjid when it gets to loud in the prayer room or
some idiot decides to take food when they are not suppose to. I
understand why they are getting upset but do they also know how bad
they look when they do it? Do they understand that everyone hates
them? By acting in such a way they are showing the weakness of their
leadership and hence the weakness of the community.
In this situation I always asked myself: "Would the prophet have
approved of my behavior?" I have seen how maintaining the masjid is
done with a smile on the face AND getting the people's love and
respect. I have no shame in writing this person's name because I wish
Memphis would take him as an example: Br Uthman--Jaza kallah hu khair!
May Allah trickle a piece of these manners into me.
-
If the core members of the masjid spent more time understanding
and less time fighting and hating, Memphis would not be fragments of
corrupted cultures.
- If the core members of the masjid actually used the skills of
their community and were willing to delegate tasks instead of keeping
the community intelligence and community labor up to one person or
family we might just get something done about the disorganization.
August 22 The Academics of Ilm Summit ‘08
Here I will share with you all of the classes that we took and some of the gems I picked up.
Adab Al-IlmThis class took place every morning at 8:45. Alternating between Sh Yasir Qadhi (YQ) and Yaser Birjas (YB) we were taught the tips and tricks of the best students of knowledge and their teachers. With stories, hadith and gems from the Ulemaa we learned about their study habits,manners, and how they kept themselves sincere to keep gaining more knowledge.“If you spend your knowledge, it will grow. If you keep it to yourself it will diminish”
“Knowledge is a blessing that has been loaned by Allah”
“If you study with a book you will gain knowledge, but if you study with a teacher, you will also learn his manners”
“Half a doctor will lead you to death. Half an Imaam will lead you to hell.”
“Don’t be ashamed to say ‘I don’t know’ or step away from an argument you know nothing about for the best argument to refute is silence”
Mukhtasar Al-BukhariThis class took place every morning after Adab Al-Ilm. Alternating between YQ and YB we took one book from the summarized version of Sahih Al-Bukhari (Translated and summarized by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan) and the teacher would narrate and explain the hadith to us. Like a tafsir class for the Quran, each group of hadith were explained in their entirety depending on the time permitted. Although many of the hadith are straight forward, the insight of the teacher into them was most rewarding to listen to.We covered:- The Book of Revelation
- The Book of Faith
- The Book of Ghusl
- The Book of Tahajjud
- The Book of Creation
- The Book of the Virtues of the Quran
- The Book of the Interpretation of Dreams
- The Book of Fitan
Tafsir- Tafsir Amma: Sh Isam Rajab
- Tafsir Abasa: Shaykh Waleed/Shaykh Zoubir
- Tafsir Fatiha: Shaykh Hassan Khalil
- Thematic Tafsir: YB
Comparative FiqhThis class was spit into many sub-sections taught by various teachers. This class’s main intention was to let us understand the process one must go through to reach a fiqh ruling. To give us a taste for this process we first studied the fiqh ruling on Taharaah for all four madhaabs. Then we took one issue, for example: wiping over the socks, and studied the hadiths the scholars used to come to their rulings. This way we were able to see the ambiguity of the hadith and understand why it was interpreted in more than one way to reach the conclusions of the four madhaabs.“Studying the differences only made me realize that we only differ by a few hairs”
Maqasid Al-Sharee’ahIn this class we learned the science of the purpose behind the sharee’ah. We categorized the different ways sharee’ah is looked at and the purpose of the laws at different levels. We learned the difference between fiqh, usool al-fiqh and maqasid. Quranic SciencesIn this class we talked about the miraculous nature of the Quran. We studied what a miracle was and understood that it cannot be defined. We talked about what past sects said about miracles in general and we learned the arguments against those who water down the miracles of the prophet to prove only the Quran is a miracle. We also talked about the challenge Allah has given to the world to produce something like it and the arguments that go along with this topic. Lastly we went over why the Quran is miraculous.
KalamIn this class we talked about the Fitrah and its relationship to the question “How do we know what we know?” We talked about the Fitrah in relation to the Meethaq and we studied the proofs to which came first. We learned the thinking of the early sects of Islam who rejected the Fitrah and we saw how their belief system became. We also deeply studied the relationship between aql(intellect) and naql(revelation).
AndalusHistory of Muslim Spain from its beginning to end.Orientalist HadithThis class was taught by a professor from an American university learned in the science of Hadith from a Orientalist perspective. We looked at the various techniques used to determine if a hadith was called authentic according to western sources.Usool Al-AqeedahIn this class we discussed who are Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah and what other names they went under. We learned why they were formed and what are the proofs and evidences in the quran of why we should follow the sunnah. We also learned about the groups who rejected the sunnah and we learned how to refute their arguments.BalaghaBr Nomaan Ali, founder of Bayyana Institute came to convince us why we need to learn arabic. With examples from the Quran of the eloquence, the imagery, tone, word choice, nuances and specific references to the actual arabic text, he showed us we are not doing any kind of justice by relying on our english translations to learn the Quran.Handout for reference:
Sister Break-Out Sessions- Fiqh of Menses -YB
- Fiqh of Hair -Sh. Waleed
- Women’s Role in an American Society -YQ
- Suraa Baqaraa -Sr Hanaa Jamaal
All I know about the brother’s sessions were they had one for effective speech writing and khutbaa giving and something about politics. I just know they had more fun then us :(Wild Card Sessions
- Black Magic -YQ
- Jinn Stories -YQ
- Marriage Advice from the Prophet -YB
- Death -Shaykh Hassan Khalil
- Why People Buy Things They Don’t Need -Isam Rajab
- Islam’s Impact on Medicine: A Western Perspective -Dr. Shakeel Shareef
- Media 101 - Mustafa Tameez
- Post Ilm Summit Syndrome - YQ, YB, Sh. Waleed
Jummu’a (Audio Available)Jummu’a 1 (YB)Jummu’a 2 (YQ) July 22 Salam everyone. As you already know I'm collecting money to pay for my Ilm Summit tuition. I'll update this as fast as the donations come in :)Donations acceptable until August 17th $655 collected
$1048 left to goIlm Summit VideoPayPal Donation PageJazaakallah Khair to all the donors!
Your names will be in my special duaas those two weeks :) July 03  "Crows are black, everywhere"
This is an old Gujarati saying. Something my family back home quotes to me a lot when I go back to to visit. They will most likely say it when I tell them about the American lifestyle and its people how they have the same habits or flaws as the ones living there. But the thought really is quite amazing. No matter where you go the human, even if they are surrounded by different skin and food and culture and religions, their core way of acting is the same. The universal themes of how we deal with everyday issues are extremely apparent to a person who has lived in so many places. I know that this observation of mine will get even stronger as I get older. I tend not to stick in one place too long.
When I was younger I always use to wonder why adults bicker and fight about such lame issues. For example, the best time for fights was a wedding. This is when all the honor craving bimboness would show up in everyone. "You didn't let me do your hair for your wedding! I'm your sister! I have more a right than your best friend!" "OMG why didn't you do that thing. We have been doing it since our great great great great great great great grandmother invented the tradition!" As you can see by these kinds of arguments, they all relate to a time spent and a common bond in one's memories . A loyalty issue. What does it matter if one clot of blood, guts and gastric juices does your hair versus another clot? As a child I would think ... "Who cares who does the job...its getting done isn't it and we all have fun at the end of the day."
Adulthood becomes confusing because you start remembering and collecting memories. You start keeping an account of time spent. To my observations, problems occur when you start wanting to get paid for spending time in places where money is not the means of payment. Things get even more confusing when people start paying for a favor that they don't even owe.
This is all logic and math to me. I go by my formulas and my heart. I go by what is true and at need and what is practical even if the truth hurts. My mom tells me I'm sinking too much into the reality of things when working out these issues. She says "Just go with the flow and don't care what is going on." She is a lady of experience who has fallen too many times in expecting too much. That is still a lesson I need to bring home. I understand greed and cajoling to a certain degree. What I guess I'm having a problem with is how people are defining what is theirs. If I think everything is mine, I'm going to want to get paid for all of it.
Islamically speaking, nothing is ours. Everything is given by the mercy of Allah and even while it is in our possession, it being taken away is still the Will of Allah.
I know I'm going around and around with this but there is no end to these thoughts. The themes of time injustice is a common theme. The theme of baggage and accumulation of memories and the torment that follows is a common theme. The parameters that govern us where it be the animal instincts of procreation and desire, to the need for a civil society and brotherhood, all these are the commonality that drive us to do the stupid everyday things that we do.
June 29 First I will say sorry if what I say will offend anyone. I
write from the heart and what I believe so don't take this personally.
I attended my best friend's
wedding this month. In between all the fights which all wedding have
due to emotions running high and my other personal issues I had with
pagan rituals, I got through it. I opposed a lot of little things not
wanting to take part in them which pissed my friend off a lot.
But...tears still come to my eyes thinking about her sometimes, because I miss her, and I'm
sure she feels the same way. My family and her family have become
closer in the sense that we have stepped up in the level of
friendship. I guess that's what making it through and still smiling
after problems and fights does.
There are a few things I'd like to mention about the rituals. I'm
from India so I've seen with my own eyes what some of these rituals
look like. I also watch on TV on the Hindi channels the weddings of Hindus and I
see a striking resemblance to the customs and rituals. When I tried
to explain to my friend that the rituals that were taking place at her
wedding had deep Hindu roots she waved me off by saying it happens at
all Pakistani weddings and that she doesn't really believe in that stuff
anyway. She just wanted to do it all because it was fun.
I just did some research googling right now and found this forum
HERE
taking about Hindu rituals that have been incorporated
into our Muslim weddings due to the mixing of cultures. The forums main
focus is Indian and Pakistani weddings with the influence of Hindu
culture.
Question: What is the meaning of the ritual where the girl puts a leaf on her hand and puts mehndi on it and yellow stuff
on her face?
Response: The leaf placed on the hand is because if you look at many of the hindu
statues the "wife" of their gods often will be seen with a lotus flower
or a "tulasi" leaf imprint on the hand, as they refer to the "lotus
feet" of god or the spiritual master,they beleive that gods "wife"
incarnated into a tulasi plant ( a type of basil) and every morning
they have a ceremony where they dance around the plant to worship it
and get its blessings... audu billah.so bascially it is considered a
type of blessing to imprint a leaf in henna on the hand to imitate
rahdarahnis love for her husband krishna audu billah.The yellow power
applied to the forehead, is tilak or sandal wood paste mixed with clay
from "auspicious" rivers such as the maimuna and the ganges, it symbolizes purity, and Hindus use this daily saying mantra while
applying it to their faces and especially at religious and wedding
ceremonies, so perhaps this is why they have adopted this practice as a
mark of a woman's "purity" Allahu alam.
Question: Whats the
significance behind the mehndi customs in the Hindu faith?
Response: As in Hinduism the wife is considered like a housekeeper
and the property of her husband, the mehndi put on her before the
wedding means that she doesn't have to take up her duties as the new
housekeeper for her husband, and the servant of his mother and father
until the mehndi has worn off her hands and feet so its a respite for a
new bride so she can be "available" to her husband soley, and not his
parents and family at the start of the marriage, once the mehndi has
worn off her skin then she has to resume the household duties.
For more perspective, the following file is a pamphlet dedicated to wedding rituals that focuses on the christian traditions like the wedding cake and wedding dress and the wedding ring.
There are A LOT more customs out there but I chose to note
these. Now, the mehdi thing is just an example of what kinds of symbols
the Hindus have used. There is much more like the red and green
bangles, the smearing yellow stuff, the cracking of the knuckles...its
a never ending list. I know there is no harm in putting Henna on your
wedding, or the fact the you choose to wear red on your wedding day but
I feel like we have a responsibility to find out why exactly we are doing such things when we know we live in such a messed up world where everybody thinks
they have the correct knowledge. As I mentioned in my last article
about Desi Islam, if you are one of those people who blindly follow what
your mom does without question, especially when it comes to crack pot
rituals like these, you really need to stop and ask yourself WHY? We beat to death questions like why we pray and why we fast and that whole doing your eyebrow deal but all of these other rituals are pawned of as just fun?
Sometimes in all this I feel I spend so much time resisting and
defending the unnecessary/evil/shirk/biddaa that I don't have time to
actually do something progressive. I've learned a lot of do's and
don'ts in this wedding. I hate it, absolutely
hate it, when I tell people about these matters and they say "Don't ask
too many questions and find meanings in things that have no meaning,
they are just for fun!" I guess when I have my wedding and I don't do
all these things, people will get bored. They may even call me extreme
but honestly I don't care. My happiness that day will be in the fact
that Allah blessed me with a life partner that is chosen for me by
Allah. The fact that I'm getting married will be enough because only Allah knows what I have been through and what my family has been through to get me there.
And by the way, that statement: "Don't ask
too many questions and find meanings in things that have no meaning,
they are just for fun!" is the same as those people who say "I don't read the Quran's meanings because if I read and understand them then I'll have to follow." Do I need to go on with the stupidity of these comments? The saddest part of that comment was its came from someone very close to me. I guess that's why it hurts more than usual.
People don't want to change because of their lack of faith, I say it differently. What is more important to you? What is fun or what is the truth? This world is built to the atom's level on the truth of God. He created this world with his laws and we all know THIS is all a test so why do so many get lost in the carnival? How is truth and Allah's mercy on the day of judgment not worth letting go of petty rituals which really are shirk in disguise? I'm blabbering to myself. No body as usual will read this. Fine world, be that way.
May 28 Salams everyone. This video has been around for a while but I'd like to post it anyway. Follow up articles on their way!!
May 21 I was born in India and raised in Australia and America. As I started to learn more about Islam with the help of Al-maghrib and special friends and just opening my eyes I began to see and question everything. Not that my parents didn't teach me well, they did their best of what they knew, but after the summer of 2005 I tried to find the correct explanation to everything I do. I asked about everything from the five daily prayers and the duaa's in between to the scarf on my head and my rights as a woman in Islam. I basically went through a reteaching of my religion because I had grow up with the Desi Islam. More than adding to my bag I ended up refining and polishing and cutting out what I already knew. Unlike a new Muslim who learns Islam from scratch through books and scholarly Imams I had been taught by parents whose teachings cames from the villages of India where Islam is dipped in Hinduism and folk lore.
Right now I live in a large community of Desis. There are Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis. A lot of them are very learned by the grace of Allah but some choose to stick to the ways of their ancestors. Some are partially learned where they do almost everything accordingly and then sometimes they surprise you by pulling an old Desi Islamic tradition out of the hat or they pull a really sympathetic face and say "My mother that I love so dearly who is about to die, yeah her, she does it and thats why I also do it."
There are lots of examples I can give but here is the most recent one I encountered at a friend's Bridal Shower (Topic of why I hate Bridal Showers and Baby Showers coming soon!). Being an all women's party I wasn't wearing a hijab so I noticed this phenomenon with greater realization along with my converted Muslim friend sitting next to me who joined Islam 5 or something years ago. So anyway, there was a women's lecture going on and everyone was suppose to sit there listening but nobody was really paying attention and when the du'aa started all the women started hushing the others and all of them got their scarfs and dupattas and put them on. My convert friend beside me looked confused and asked "Why are they putting on...My scarf is in my bag in the other room..." I just smiled at her and said not to worry about it and just sat there with my dupatta hanging on my shoulder. When this was over the music started blaring. Oh heavenly joy.
The second time something like this happened was at a wedding at this fancy Indian restaurant of a guy I didn't even know. Everyone had come in their fancy dresses and saris and I was in my full form that day of my hijab and all because it was a mixed gathering. Everyone who normally is wrapped tight in a scarf in the masjid were letting their hair loose here--hey! it was a wedding when else can you let down your hair? So anyway, after my dad requested the Muslim owner of the restaurant to turn down the blaring Indian music, someone gave the azan for maghrib. Instantly, all the women with their flowing hair groped at their scarfs and dupattas and pulled it over their heads. I was already wearing a hijab so I really couldn't protest like last time. I looked over at my two friends from across the table and said "You really don't have to do that you know," and of course I got the answer of her mom doing it and thats why she does it. Asked why does she do it, she said "For respect."
Ding!! Ding!! Ding!!
Respect? Respect?! A whole bunch of practices and rules that come out of Desi Islam are forms of respect. Now, I don't think I'm going to change the world from them not covering their head at azan time or when at an all womens halaqa doing a du'aa but I will change their definition of what the bloody hell a hijab is!! I did some research on this and I really didn't have to look much further for a voice that says my mind. Here is the response of a woman on a forum answering the question:
Is a woman supposed to cover her head during adhan? If so, is there supporting evidence in Quran or Hadith? Her response can be found HERE:
What is hijab meant for exactly?
I am asking because there are some of you who insist on wearing hijab when the Quran or the Athan is being recited.
If
this is the case, then doesn't that mean that you wearing hijab is much
more than covering in front of men (and everything else that may fall
under "because men.."?
For those of you who hold the
justification of hijab as an obligation, you all point to a verse in
the Quran that directs covering your bosoms. This verse is intended on
covering yourself in front of men who you can marry... there is nothing
directing you to cover yourself because of the Quran being recited, etc.
So
doesn't that mean that hijab is more than covering yourself in front of
men, and now it must mean covering yourself in front of God and
religion?
I am asking, because I had this discussion on this
site before, and there were some of you going on about how covering
your hair when the Quran is being recited is about showing "Respect" to
God. Another attribute of "hijab" that is never given in the Quran.
I
hate to sound intolerant but I find such an action foolish because it
is as if people are just adding more and more to the concept of Hijab
and when you are suppose to wear it, without any back up from the Quran.
Same
thing about going to the Masjid. I recall hearing someone say that they
don't care if a person wears it or not, but they should at least have
respect to wear it to the Masjid. But in the Masjid there is very
limited contact between men and women in the first place.
I mean
just try it, if you are separated from the men by a barrier, where no
man can see you... take off your hijab during Jummah and see how other
women may react and even more how you, yourself may feel. Remove your
jilbab and sport something nicer. I am talking about during Jummah....
not during a party at the Masjid (such as at Eid, etc). Uncover
yourself and see.
Of course I find the covering of your hair
during the recitation of the Quran as cultural, but why would such a
cultural act even start to show "respect" (as some say) to God?
The
hijab now is something that goes beyond avoiding the wrong attention
from men, but now it is something that directly plays in the
relationship between women and God.
As for the fatwa sites here is one that goes to the extent of saying we should cover 24/7 HERE:
...Although you should have your head covered
all the time, nevertheless if it does get uncovered, so long as there
is no visitor in your house, then that is fine. If the adhan sounds,
and you have nothing on your head, then it is good to cover your head.
There is no hard and fast rule for this issue.
In relation to
hearing the adhan when one is talking, then he should stop talking, and
listen and respond to the call for prayer. This also applies to
performing wudhu', reciting the Qur'an, and also delaying in performing
nafil salah. Again there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to
feeding children and cooking, although it would be a plus, if you did.
Here are two fatwas from the same site addressing the same issue HERE and HERE:
1) It is not compulsory for a woman to
cover her head when she is listening to the Azan. Some good ancestors
became humble and shed tears while listening to the Azan. When asked
about it they said: "When I hear Azan, I remember the people's standing
in front of Allah (The Day Judgment)".
Allah knows best.
2) If the questioner means is it
compulsory to cover the head if a woman who calls Azan for women only
or at the time of reciting the Qur'an? The answer is that it is not
compulsory but doing so is likable. If she is asking about covering
head when they hear Azan or recitation of the Qur'an, then the answer
is that doing so is not demanded. So, it is neither compulsory nor likable.
Allah knows best.
So there you have it. Lots of opinions. I advise you to use your sources like the Quran and learned Imams and most importantly your mind to pick the best opinion. There are so many other things like this that Desi Islam teaches the most top issue being praying to the saints but people here don't have any saints to worship so they have been forced out of that. But there still exists the "Quran Kaniis" (where non-Arabic speaking women get together and read the Arabic quran to its end and pass it on to the dead relative of the person who invited them because they recently died) and I don't know the name but they also sometimes get together to just do zikr of 100,000 odd times become of some contract the woman of the house has made with God.
I'm just going to take it one issue at a time :) Thanks for reading this far!
Peace Out!
--Shahin
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April 27
Night falls
I fall
And where were you?
And where were you?
Warm skin
Wolf grin
And where were you?
I fell into the moon
And it covered you in blue
I fell into the moon
Can I make it right?
Can I spend the night?
High tide
Inside
The air is dew
And where were you?
While I
I died
And where were you?
I crawled out of the world
And you said I shouldn't stay
I crawled out of the world
Can I make it right?
Can I spend the night
Alone?
March 10  Happy Birthday So this year its 3 for this blog 22 for me and 48 for my Papa
OK so I'm writing this way late (on May 1st) but writing realizations should take thought and deserve my time because I spent the time having them. Actually, I got busy with finals and graduation! Oh yeah baby!
This year was like any other year in which I grew older and found I don't know much. I learned that no matter how much I pictured myself winning that robot competition that I dreamed about, dreaming was just not enough. Obviously we didn't try hard enough. I did not try hard enough and so we didn't even compete. Yeah, its a loss. For the rest of my life I will live with the memory that we never made it. I never became the robot genius that I dreamed of. Instead I learned that losing teaches you more than winning. I learned that loyal friends are much more important that any robot. I knew that when we came back from that trip, things had changed. I saw them differently -- like the older brothers I never had. It was a wonderful feeling but now graduation is here and I have to leave them. All of them. I keep telling them that I'll be back, I'll come visit but thats what I said to my friends in Australia, and Denver. I'm sitting here writing this in the school lab trying to make this day longer and not leave until I really have to because you know what, this is it. I'm graduating May 3rd 2008 at 2:00 pm in the FedEx Forum and there is no turning back.
On another topic, I learned that no matter how many times you say no to some people they keep coming back. Then there are those that you never want them away from your site but they always leave. I guess thats how the idiots coming back feel -- they never want you out of their site?
I went to see Dr Jermann (my favorite engineering teacher) who had a stroke and is in the hospital. I saw him sitting there in his wheel chair not being able to talk properly and some part of me envied him. Of course there was a really big part of me that was scared but let me explain the envy. He is seventy something and from what I know about him, he as lived a really great life. He has been happily married, he has great kids and they are all still together. He has a great career and obviously has a great personality because he was able to win the hearts of all the students that went through his classes. He won as a person and soon he will be done with life and he will "graduate." I know I'm talking about graduation in my birthday speech but what the hay! Real graduation for me will be when I graduate from this world. When I've done what I have to and taken care of those that need me and as a Muslim I've fulfilled my requirements to be worthy of my Jannah. I envy the people who have got all this and are graduating this way. I envy them because they made it and they are done. I still have, God knows how long to go. How much more head banging?
My mom tells me these coming years are the one where my life really starts. The years spent were there to teach me about walking and talking and being able to take care of myself by others. Now I have to give it all back.
I've learned that I'm scared out of my mind about this thought of giving back. Everyone has their own way of giving back. I'm scared that I won't be able to use every part of my potential to do the great things that I had imagined. Just like my robot.
Momento Mori -- Carpe Diem
February 29 - Nation of Islam may of gotten their ideas from Islam but it is not Islam. One of the core beliefs of Islam is shattered when these people say that a man by the name of Wallace Fard Muhammad was God in human form. How different is that from the Christian belief of Jesus as God in human form? In addition, the leader after him Elijah Muhammad said he was a prophet when it clearly says in the Quran that Muhammud was the last messenger to mankind. Things get even or hairy when you read the beliefs of these people and how they center strongly around the black race. True Islam does not differentiate between race.
- In the democratic race where the candidates stand so close in the perspective of issues, the delimiting factor will be the power to inspire each individual to work hard and want to keep loyalty to the one that becomes President.
- Its really sad that they are saying race is driving this election. I'm a woman, who is a Muslim, born in India. I'm voting for Barak Obama not Hillary.
January 31 What does it mean to love for the sake of Allah?
This was one of the categories of love I could never explain before properly in my other article Mindful Babble: The Social Construct of Love. Its not that you love Allah for just the being and thats it, thats pointless but you love Allah for what he stands for and what rules he made for you. You might think I'm stupid for not understanding this before but I'm just growing up... I haven't had time to explicitly state everything. We know that our first and greatest love besides the sincere love for food is ourselves. As children we struggle with this kind of selfishness more-- "that mine!" Once, there was a companion of the Prophet who came up to him and said "Oh Prophet of Allah, I love you more than anything on this planet except myself." The Prophet told him to come back when he loved Allah and his messenger more than he loved himself.
Now some of us might read this and wrinkle our noses and say, "Well I still love myself you know." Truly there is a certain love for the self but when you do crazy things and go to lengths to please yourself, that love can get dangerous, even from just a secular/psychological point of view. In the world of Islam, Allah and his Messenger are meant to be our greatest love.
There are many things we want on this planet. Physicals things like food, water, shelter. We want shiny watches and fancy computers. Say we have all that then what? A sane person after getting every physical need fulfilled would want the truth, something solid. Philosophers wrote about this stuff! Truth, justice, and happiness. Of course you don't have to be in a fancy car and well fed to ask the questions of truth and purpose.
Love for the sake of Allah is when you strive for the truth and justice because truth and knowledge of everything lies with Allah. When you fulfill each other's rights you have fulfilled a part of nature like when a Hydrogen atom shares it's valence electron with an Oxygen atom to form the balanced compound water. Hydrogen is following its innate properties, as should we. A mother's love for her child would surpass the love for her creator when she does not teach him the proper etiquette and does not scold him when he does not pray. A wife's love for her husband would surpass the love for her creator when she goes against Allah's rules to make him happy. An example of this is not wearing hijab because he does not like it even though she has the wisdom and strength to wear one. Love for the sake of Allah in this case would be to teach the husband and tell him what is right even if it will cause him temporary pain. After all, Allah is the ones who gives us honor and respect. In any given situation, doing what is right is love for the sake of Allah.
The love for Allah translates to every time you hold yourself when your angry, or every time you suppress an illegal desire, or every time you hold your tongue in back bitting, in every sabr and every time you strive to follow a rule of Islam. The love for the prophet translates in the same way because he taught the truth. Allah made him what we ideally should be--and I'm talking about his character here which in so many places is said to be the Quran.
There are times when we want compensation from the other person. We are annoyed after everything we did for that person that we don't get something back. But when we love this person for the sake of Allah, we don't expect anything from them but from Allah. Again, after all He is the one you gives and takes.
Innaa Lillah Wa Inna Ilihi Raajioon
--To Allah We Belong and unto him is our return-- |  |
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