Reflections of a traveller

The joy of books :-)

2012-02-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

Good books are an amazing blessing of Allah subhana ta'ala. I love reading books and that can be any book , given there is a lot to learn from it :-) I am quite obsessed with buying books but still haven't finished reading them all. For this year's resolution I thought I will stop buying more books until I finish reading whatever I already have. Unfortunately it's not that easy changing old habits :-( so as usual I have already bought quite a lot through Amazon . Insha-Allah I will read all of them very soon and hope to do reviews Insha-Allah.

Beautiful snow arrives in London!

2012-02-05T03:59:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that it's snowing in London alhamdulillah. I love the amazing view! Everything seems so peaceful mashallah. The world seems all sugar-coated :-) This year it's extra special as we are blessed with three gorgeous children alhamdulillah. Imran (4) and Ayesha ( almost 3) are enjoying their time in the snow. Baby Yusuf ( 9 months) enjoys looking at his siblings and parents playing with snow. Insha-Allah hopefully next year he can join in the fun. As usual we made a snowman in the garden. Although our snowman is not really a very good-looking one, it is OUR handmade snowman alhamdulillah. Yobo is a Liverpool fan so I used his Liverpool scarf to give the snowman a funny look. Kids used their toy bucket and spade to make the snowman and some 'sand castle' with our help. Alhamdulillah we had a great time today. I am glad that we have just created some sweet memories to cherish Alhamdulillah.

Whenever it snows it reminds me of the song Let it snow, let it snow... Allah subhana ta'ala has blessed us with so much...Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalameen.

He Who Has No One Has Allah subhana ta'ala

2012-01-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

Mashallah a great talk by Sheikh Navaid Aziz! Please do listen to the talk, especially if you are going through a difficult time. May Allah subhana ta'ala forgive us and give us the ability to have sabr (patience) during trials and tribulation, Ameen!

Sheikh Navaid Aziz is one of the latest additions to AlMaghrib's instructor line-up. Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, he obtained a degree in Economics and Social Science. There after he went to the Islamic University of Madinah where he spent three years attaining an associates degree in Arabic before attaining his Bachelor's Degree in Shari'ah. Sh. Navaid serves the community as a marriage and youth counselor. His most recent project, can be found at http://www.myspiritualfix.com Also, connect with him on Facebook via http://www.facebook.com/navaidaziz

Great reminder!

2012-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

I really needed this one :-) There is always hope alhamdulillah! Be positive. Only Allah subhana ta'ala knows what is best for us. He is the best of planners. La hawla wa la quwwata illah billah!

First Ten Days of Dhul-Hijjah.. more blessed than last ten days of Ramadan!

2011-11-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Assalamu alaikum my dear readers and fellow bloggers,

I haven't been blogging for more than a month now. My son has started nursery so I am quite busy with all the school run alhamdulillah. I have to get three of them fed and ready by 12:30 and get there by 1. I walk there , carrying my baby in a sling and my daughter in the push chair and my big boy walks with me alhamdulillah. Sometimes he does get a bit tired but I just keep reminding him that he is a strong boy mashallah :-) I return home by 1:15 or 1:20 and again at 3:15 I leave for the school. By 4 or 4:15 we are home. So Monday to Friday this has become a routine for us. Sometimes it does feels like a mission impossible especially when the weather is not that walk-friendly but I just try to keep reminding myself that Insha-Allah I will be getting reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for every second of struggle I am going through to raise our children Insha-Allah! So as you can see this is my (not so valid) 'excuse' for not blogging for all this time :-] I hope to start blogging on a regular basis insha-Allah as I do miss blogging :-( For me blogging is very therapeutic alhamdulillah and it also gives me a great opportunity to do a journal of most of the sweet memories I am trying to create with my family and friends, alhamdulillah. I always remind myself that I am on a journey to my Lord and I won't be given this life again so I hope to do my best to lead a good life with lots and lots of wonderful memories INSHA-ALLAH.

Okay now to the main topic of this post Insha-Allah. The great days of Dhul Hijjah is here now. Actually today is the 5th day of Dhul Hijjah. Alhamdulillah I am so glad that I have been able to fast. Alhamdulillah thanks to British weather it is not that hard to keep fast :-) Maghrib is around 4:30 and we finish shehri by 5:10 and do our morning prayer. The days are so blessed that our scholars have recommended to fast and do lots of good deeds such as Hajj and Umrah, zikr (remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala), extra-prayers, animal sacrifice, charity, istigfar and so on. I was just listening to the talk by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi about the 10 days. It only takes 10 minutes to listen to the talk so please do tune in to know more about this blessed days insha-Allah. If you cannot fast all the 9 days then at least try to fast on the day of Arafa which is the 9th of Dhul hijjah. Here in the UK it's this Saturday 5th November insha-Allah. Please do try to do as much as possible. We don't know whether we will be given this chance again. Lots of my relatives and friends have left us this year. We just don't know when our time is going to come to go so we really need to wake up and do our best to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, insha-Allah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us and help us in using this days to our best of abilities to get closer to Him and gain His pleasure, ameen! Please keep us in your precious duas. Below I have added the talk by the shaykh and also some more useful talks by other shaykhs . May Allah subhanu wa ta'ala reward all of them for their efforts , mashallah, ameen.
First ten days of Dhul Hijjah by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

Another good talk by Shaykh Sajid Umar ( Al-Kauthar)

10 days of Dhul Hijjah by Sheikh Dr Haitham Al-Haddad

Ramadan is over, what now?

2011-09-14T03:32:00.000-07:00

Ramadan is over, have we got closer to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala? Have we returned back to our sins? Are we worst off than before Ramadan? Have we (especially brothers) stopped visiting the house of ALLAH (mosque)? Have we stopped reciting and studying the Qur'an? Have we stopped our nightly prayers (Qiyam)? Unfortunately most of us would say yes to all these questions! I feel sad that Ramadan has left us. Whenever we fast, we find it easier to perform the reccomended deeds such as reciting the Qur'an, doing nafl prayers. Alhamdulillah I am trying to fast for the six days of shawal. Alhamdulillah not many more days left now. Our beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihis salam told us to fast six days in the month of Shawal which comes just after the month of Ramadan. If we do so, it will be like as if we fasted the whole year! Subhanallah! How can we afford to miss this great opportunity to earn such a great amount of reward! May Allah swt give us all the ability to fast in Shawal, Ameen.

One of the way, we can guess whether our deeds in Ramadan has been accepted by Allah subhana wa ta'ala is to be able to repeat the deeds after Ramadan . I hope we can carry on doing whatever deeds we did during Ramadan. According to the sunnah of our beloved Prophet Sallallahu alaihis Salam, we should be more concerned about our deeds being accepted by Allah Subhana wa ta'ala. Just performing a deed is never enough. We should continuously ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to accept the humble deed from us. There is a beautiful dua in the Qur'an which we can do after every act of worship insha-Allah. The dua was done by a very close friend of Allah Subhana Wa ta'ala , Siyyidina Ibrahim A'laihis Salam. Rabbana taqabbal minna. Innaka antas Samiul Aleem. O Allah swt accept (this worship) from us; You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing (Qur'an 2:127).

I have been listening to some beautiful talks to boost my imaan insha-Allah. Alhamdulilah this great lecture below was given by Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman in August 2009 (post Ramadan 09) at Lakemba Mosque. May ALLAH (SWT) reward him for the excellent talk and also reward you all for watching. May Allay swt help us in implementing his suggestions, Ammen. May Allah swt grant us the ability to remain on the straight path ( siratul mustakim) and grant us istikama... steadfastness, ameen. May Allah swt accept all the worship we did during Ramadan and give us the ability to carry on doing more through out the year and give us the opportunity to witness more Ramadan in our life, Ameen!

Also, another 5 part talk given by Imam Rageah on post Ramadan activities. I love listening to his talk as he talks about practical issues we face on a regular basis. He was talking about Facebook and how we tend to replace the Qur'an, Allah's Book with the Facebook just right after Ramadan ! May Allah swt forgive me and give me the strength to avoid the FB Fitna Book :-) as much as possible.Insha-Allah I am trying to use the internet only for beneficial purpose. May Allah swt make it easy for me to read His Book on a regular basis, Ameen!

Was our Ramadan accepted...

Five years Alhamdulillah :-)

2011-09-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah five years ago, on this day I got married to my husband. It took me quite a long time to find him :-) I used to tell my friend at university and at work, that I may never get married and live for the rest of my life with 99 cats! I don't know where I got this idea from but I was indeed quite worried about my future. I have always been a big fan of children. For me the biggest fear was the prospect of being childless forever! I have seen quite a lot of brothers through family and friends. The more I was going through these meetings, I was getting frustrated thinking this is not really working for me and love is just a myth! Alhamdulillah going to hajj in 2006 has made me help put things into perspective. I started to think more seriously about the purpose of my life. I even wrote in my diary that marriage is not an ultimate goal for me anymore. Before that time, I used to think only through marriage I can become a better Muslimah as if no other option is left for me to serve my Creator. I came to know that marriage is a sunnah not a fard (obligatory). So I decided that I would just concentrate in getting closer to Allah swt.

Alhamdulillah going to hajj and staying there with my dad for a month has changed my life forever. Alhamdulillah it has been a great time for me to reflect and ponder about my future. I met some amazing people during that time. They all have inspired me and helped me to rethink about my life and all the expectations I had. When I came back, I was really missing my time in Makkah and Madinah. Life in London felt so spiritually bankrupt! I stopped working full time as a teacher and started part time work. I started seeking more knowledge of my faith through attending circles at my local mosque. I didn't actively look for a partner either. But through my dad I came to know about my husband. Alhamdulillah we have talked to each other at our place twice and we did do our istikhara ( prayer for guidance) couple of times. I wasn't really sure that this will work out for me so didn't really had that many hope. But alhamdulillah we both were okay with each other and decided to go forward! Alhamdulillah we are still very happy with each other.

Alhamdulillah we do treat each other as best friends. But I do believe that he is also my guardian . My faith has taught me that my husband is responsible for taking care of me and my responsibility towards him is to listen to him. Insha-Allah through loving him and listening to him ( apart from anything which goes against our faith), I hope to please Allah (SWT). Being married for five years, I have learnt a lot about life and most importantly about myself. Sometimes we tend to get too much carried away with the whole wedding stuff but marriage should be the priority for all of us especially the future husband and the wife! Now after five years of marriage I truly understand how difficult but at the same time how significant married life is! Now I can at least understand why marriage is regarded as the half of our faith (deen). Being a mother of three kids all under the age of 4 also taught me so much about myself. I do have my days where everything seems so hard . But also I have my days where I feel so delighted watching my children growing up alhamdulillah. Sometimes it just seems to be a dream to me. Allah swt has blessed me with so much! Alhamdulillah All Praise Belongs To Him and Only Him! I hope to be grateful to Him by spending every moment of my life thanking Him and obeying His commands, INSHA-ALLAH! May Allah swt keep us happy and blessed forever! Everything is from Allah swt . La hawla wa la quwwata illah billah... we cannot do anything good without His Help and we cannot save ourselves from anything bad without His Help. God is the Great Allahu Akbar!
"My Rabb! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favour which You have bestowed upon me and my parents and that I may do righteous good deeds such as please You and make my offspring good. Truly I have turned to You in repentance and truly I am one of the Muslims. " [Qur'an Al-Ahqah:15]

Last ten 10 days of Ramadan 2011

2011-08-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Please do watch the video below to keep yourself motivated to do as much as possible during the last ten days insha-Allah. Please keep me in your duas. May Allah swt grant us with the vision of Laylatul Qadr, the night of power and many more baraka-filled Ramadan in our life, ameen, ameen, ameen! It's so sad to see not that many days left till Ramadan leaves us :-(

We are just travellers, heading towards our grave...

2011-08-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

Mashallah what a beautiful nasheed by brother Junaid Jamshed. Every bit of the lyrics is so true subhanallah! We are indeed on a journey towards our Lord, whether we like it or not! May Allah swt help us in preparing for the great journey, Ameen. I have copied the lyrics in English for the people who may not understand urdu.

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave
This journey for which you are preparing,
Will last for only two days

Since the creation of this world,

Thousands and millions have arrived
No one is left,
They've been engulfed in soil

Do not forget this,
This will be everyone's final abode

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave

With your own eyes,
How many burials have you witnessed?

With your own hands,
How many of the dead have you buried?

Of your own consequences,
Why are you so unaware?

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave

Those who slept on velvet,
On soil they are sleeping

Kings and beggars alike,
Together they are sleeping

Both are the equal,
This is the effect of death

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave

These great mansions you have,
They are of no use

These tall and lofty buildings (that you have built),
They are of no use

Only two metres of this vast earth,
Will be your small home

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave

Effigy of soil, to you,
On soil, it is to immerse

One day you have arrived,
Another it is, you have to leave

You are not to stay in this world,
Your destination is to leave

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave

This journey for which you are preparing,
Will last for only two days

Oh travellers of this world,
Your destination is the grave

Ramadan journal

2011-08-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah Ramadan started on Monday 1st of August. Today is the 3rd day of fasting. Alhamdulillah it's going well. I was worried that I may find fasting very hard as I am also breastfeeding my three months old baby. Apart from feeling a bit exhausted and thirsty, I am doing fine alhamdulillah. It just reminds me that Allah swt makes everything easy for us . I am trying to read one juz of the Qur'an ( around 20 pages) every day. I did do this last Ramadan as well but this year I am planning to read the tafseer too, insha-Allah. I still do come online everyday due to my magazine work but don't spend a lot of time online anymore, especially on Facebook :-) Alhamdulillah. Yesterday I went to the local sisters' halaqa, alhamdulilah as usual the talk was full of wisdom. Insha-Allah will blog about it soon insha-Allah. I am listening to talks on-line and trying to learn more about the deen insha-Allah. Through the Ramadan journal I would love to share whatever I am learning, alhamdulillah.

I have been listening to basics of Fasting by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, mashallah. Alhamdulillah I always learn something new from his talk. 1. The crescent moon is not really an Islamic symbol. It was never used during prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihe wa sallam. Islam as a faith does not have a symbol. 2. Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihe wa sallam did get married in Ramadan. I haven't seen anyone getting married in Ramadan. 3. When someone is suffering from diseases like diabetes and are needed to have medication on a regular basis, they should not fast as our body has a right on us. Fasting may cause harm so for people in sickness fasting can be even haram (prohibited) subhanallah!

Excessive Love of Food and Drink - By Abdullah Hakim Quick
Mashallah some amazing facts about our body and the benefit of fasting.

May Allah swt help us to do our best in this precious month, ameen, ameen, ameen.

Only 2 more days Insha-Allah

2011-07-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Source

Subhanallah only 2 more days left until we witness the great month of Ramadan insha-Allah. Couple of my relatives, friends have already left us within the last year to meet Allah SWT. We are indeed the lucky one to Insha-Allah witness another Ramadan in our life. Allah SWT has blessed us with so much, alhamdulillah. I want to show my gratitude through doing a lot of good deeds in Ramadan Insha-Allah!

I have been quite busy with the magazine work but I am glad that finally we have managed to re-launch the magazine today, Alhamdulillah :-) May Allah SWT accept the magazine as a sadaqah Jaariyah (ongoing charity) from us, Ameen! Now I hope to have a long break from all the magazine stuff Insha-Allah. I hope to focus more on my relationship with my Rabb Allah SWT. Imam Ibn Qayim (RA) said , "The month of Ramadan to the other months is like Yusuf to his brothers. So, just like Yusuf was the most beloved son to Ya'qub, Ramadan is likewise the most beloved month to Allah." This is the month of Qur'an. Allah SWT reveealed the Qur'an in Ramadan. I hope to also focus on the Quran and study the meaning and the tafseer ( Explanation) Insha-Allah. As a mother of three young kids, praying twenty rakat of taraweeh can be quite difficlut, given I am already struggling with my night prayer :-( But I am thinking about the quality of my worship rather than the quantity Insha-Allah. I will try to do whatever I am capable of insha-Allah. One of my weaknesses is spending so much time on-line. Facebook and blogging are the main temptations for me :-( I hope to reduce my time online insha-Allah.

So in a nutshell, during Ramadan I will try to spend more time on my salah (prayer), reciting and studying the Qur'an, doing lots of zikr , attending sisters' halaqa ( gathering), spending more quality time with my 3 & a half years old son Imran, 2 years old Ayesha and my baby Yusuf and yobo :-) insha-Allah. Sometimes I feel guilty that I spend quite a lot of time working for the magazine and not spending quality time with my family. So I am hoping that this Ramadan I will try my best to be a better wife, a better mother for my children! I am also hoping to organise some iftar gathering for family and friends insha-Allah and I am also thinking of trying to finish some of the books I have been planning to read for ages! My sister TK was asking me whether I would like to compete with her to memorize the surah Yaseen during Ramadan. Sounds like a good idea mashallah. Insha-Allah I hope I can do that :-) I hope and make dua to Allah SWT that He makes everything easy for us and bless us with a very productive and unforgettable Ramadan , Ameen, Ameen, Ameen!

Al-Noor Summer event

2011-07-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah it was our 5th Al-Noor event. Mashallah once again they have done a great job. It was great to attend the event. There was a bit of shower but overall we really enjoyed our time alhmadulillah. Every year we as a family look forward to the event. May Allah swt reward the organisers, ameen.

Brothet Jawad was there mashallah. I'm so looking forward to his Ramdan tv programmes insha-Allah!

Yummy food court :-)

Towards an outstanding Ramadan Insha-Allah

2011-07-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Mashallah last year for the first time I saw this beautiful talk by Shaykh Muhammad Al-Shareef. He is truly an amazing life coach mashallah. Whenever I listen to his talk, I feel very motivated, alhamdulillah. May Allah swt reward him with the best, ameen ! I watched it today again to get me into Ramadan mode Insha-Allah. He gives some tips about how to make it an unforgettable Ramadan. He talks about having a good intention and making lots of duas. At the end he explains briefly an imam's daily routine in Ramadan. Most of the time he is busy reviewing the Qur'an as he needs to lead the taraweeh salah at night. You must watch the video insha-Allah. May Allah swt bless us all with an outstanding & forgettable Ramadan, Ameen!

Virtues of Ramadan

2011-07-19T05:08:00.000-07:00

Ramadan is approaching us very soon insha-Allah . Only 12/11 days left! Our prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him) has hardly cursed anyone as he was so merciful even towards the people who tried to harm him. However, he ( peace and blessing be upon him) did cursed the people who are fortunate enough to witness Ramadan in their life but don't make any effort to get their sins forgiven and gain closer to Allah swt!

May Allah swt save us from being among those people, ameen!

Allah swt made it easy for us to do good deed in this month by chaining the Satan and his workers for the whole month. So when we do sin in this month, we really can't blame him for our action. We will be accountable for our wrong action. May Allah swt save us from committing sins in this sacred month, ameen!

Fasting in Ramadan, solely to please Allah swt, is one of the greatest way to gain taqwa ( God consciousness) . This is also known as month of sabr (patience) as we try to refrain from eating, drinking, physical relation, backbiting and so on. This is also a great month to re-establish our relationship with the Book of Allah SWT, the Qur'an. Abdullah Ibn Amr (Radiallahu anhu) reported that the prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: " The fast and the Qur'an are two intercessors for the servant of Allah on the day of Resurrection. The fast will say: 'O Lord I prevented him from his food and desires during the day. Let me intercede for him.' The Qur'an will say ' I prevented him from sleeping at night. Let me intercede for him.' And their intercession will be accepted." (Ahmad)

Our duas ( supplication) are more likely to get accepted in this month. Abu Hurairah (Radiallahu anhu) reported that the prophet Muhammad ( Peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are three people whose supplications are not rejected: the fasting person when he breaks his/her fast, the just ruler and the supplication of the oppressed." (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah & Ibn Hibban) We can make a Dua list and jot down all the things we want to ask Allah swt for, insha-Allah.

There is a beautiful and very inspiring hadith regarding Ramadan which can motivate us again and again to do our best Insha-Allah. The prophet Muhammad ( Peace and blessings be upon him) said, " My Ummah has been given five things in regards to Ramadan which has not been given to any other Ummah before them.

One is that the odour of the mouth of the fasting person is more fragrant, to Allah swt, than mask (perfume).

The second is that the angels continuously seek forgiveness on their behalf until they end their fast.

The third is that Allah swt every day adorns His Heaven and then says (to it), 'The time is near when my pious servants shall be freed from difficulties and (meagre) provisions and they will come to You.'

The fourth is that the Shayateen will be shackled and refrained from performing the mischief that they can perform outside Ramadan.

The fifth is that they (the fasting) will be forgiven in the last night of Ramadan." (Ahmad)

To know more about the virtues of Ramadan , you can watch the video below. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi has very eloquently described the blessings of Ramadan. Mashallah his talks are always very inspiring. May Allah swt reward him for all the efforts, ameen! Please keep me in your duas insha-Allah and spread the message :-)

The greatest women of Islam

2011-07-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Today I was listening to a talk given by Shaykh Tawfique Choudhury. Mashallah the talk was so inspiring! He talked about the greatest women Maryam (AS), Aasia (AS), Khadija (RAW), Fatema (RAW). All of them are mentioned in a hadith as the women who completed their faith (Iman), mashallah! The more I am knowing about them, the more I feel inspired to be like them, insha-Allah. He also mentioned the story of Ar-Rumaysa , another great woman, subhanallah. Mothers of great men like Al-Bukhari, Salahuddeen are also mentioned. Please do watch the video given below and spread the knowledge, fisabilillah!

We are living in an age, where we are obsessed with 'pretty' celebrities, desperately trying to look and behave like them. If we truely understand the greatness of the women of Islam, we will never find the women of this age so 'attractive' and worth following. May Allah swt help us in knowing more about the pious women and help us in follwing their footstep, Insha-Allah. May Allah swt make us the best of daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, muslimah of the ummah, Ameen!

The night of 15th of Sha'ban

2011-07-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum my dear readers ,

Insha-Allah today by the grace of Allah SWT we will witness the blessed night of 15th of Sha'ban. Once upon a time, thanks to my 'super salafi mode' I ignored this great night :-( Alhamdulillah now gaining more knowledge of my beautiful faith, I am aware of the importance of this night. I used to believe it's a Bid'a i. e innovation to pray extra salah . May Allah swt forgive me.

Insha-Allah I would like to do more ibadah tonight given my children go to sleep on time insha-Allah :-) I feel my imaan is quite low. Unfortunately I am struggling with daily five salah, most of the time not being able to pray on time especially the Isha (night) and fazr (dawn) salah. I don't how I'm going to cope in Ramadan.

Insha-Allah tonight I would try my best to be awake and ask Allah swt help me in worshiping Him as much as possible. 15/14 more days to go till Ramadan insha-Allah! May Allah swt bless us with the great month and help us doing our best to gain taqwa, ameen.

Mashallah some of my beloved FB sisters have shared some great info regarding the 15th of Sha'ban. I am sharing it with you :-) Please spread the word. Wish you a very productive night today INSHA'ALLAH !

"It is reported from Sayyiduna `Ali (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: "Let all of you spend the night of mid-Sha`ban in worship (i.e. partly) and its day in fasting. Allah descends to the nearest heaven during this night, beginning with sunset, and says: Is there no one asking forgiveness that I may forgive them? Is there no one asking sustenance that I may grant them sustenance? Is there no one under trial that I may relieve them? Is there not such-and-such, is there not such-and-such, and so forth until until dawn rises. [Narrated by Ibn Majah with a weak chain.]"

"It is the night in which what Allah has decreed for His slaves for the ensuing year becomes manifest. Their provision is allotted and those who are destined to die are named. `Ata’ bin Yasar said that on this night the Angel of Death receives a scroll on which are the names of all those who are destined to die in the coming year. “A man may plant crops, get married and build buildings while his name has already been recorded amongst the dead. The Angel of Death is only waiting for the order to take his soul.” Thus many of the pious would ask Allah on this night to be recorded amongst the felicitous just as they would ask for plentiful provision."

"There is general consensus that weak hadiths may be acted upon for virtuous acts, such as voluntary fasting and prayer, as long as the hadith is not excessively weak, returns to a general basis in the Shariah, and one is not convinced that the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) specifically prescribed it. And Allah swt knows best!"

The fiqh of the night of the 15th of Sha'ban answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

"It is a sunna to worship Allah at every moment and with every breath. It is clearly stated in the fiqh works of the madhhabs that it is recommended to worship on this night. Even Ibn Taymiyya says this.

1. Imam Haskafi said in his Durr al-Mukhtar, one of the primary references in the Hanafi school:

"Among the recommended [prayers] are on. . . . the nights of the two Eids, the middle of Sha`ban, the last ten of Ramadan, and the first [ten] of Dhul-Hijjah."

2. Ibn Taymiyya was asked about the prayer of mid-Sha`ban [i.e. the night of].

He answered:

If a person prays that night alone, or in a select congregation, as many groups (tawaif) of the Early Muslims used to do, it is very good.

As for gathering in the mosque for a particular fixed prayer, such as gather for 100 rakats in which 1,000 QulhuwaAllahuAhad are read every time, this is a reprehensible innovation, which none of the imams have allowed. [Ibn Taymiyya, al-Fatawa al-Kubra, 2; 222-138]

3. This corresponds to what Imam Nawawi mentioned in his Majmu`, where he also quoted Imam al-Shafi`i from the latters al-Umm that it has reached him that there are 5 nights when dua is answered, one of them being the night of the 15th of Sha`ban.

Note, of course, that the night of the 15th is the night before it."

A beautiful dua by my sister in deen Eva :-)

" May Allah not deprive us of any of the gifts that are bestowed on this great night. May He give us the ability to seek His pleasure by praying to Him and seeking His forgiveness in this night and we ask that He decrees for us all that is good Allahumma amin."

Good old knitting :-)

2011-07-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

I love wearing my mum's knitted dresses. She loves knitting and enjoys knitting for us four sisters and now the grandchildren alhamdulillah. When I like something, I just tell my mum to knit it. Alhamdulillah I am a one lucky daughter! I feel bad that I can't knit :-( I tried when I was quite young but found it quite difficult. I just saw a very cute video and thought I have to share it with you :-) Insha-Allah I am going to post some of my mum's knitted scarves, jumpers and so on very soon.

7/7/2005

2011-07-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

That was my first day of work as a sociology teacher . I was really excited. The headteacher introduced me to a very lovely sister who helped me to familiarise myself with the school and the girls I was suppose to teach. Her name was Farzana. She was happily married and mother of three beautiful children. On that day when the bombing happened, all the buses were suspended. I was quite scared thinking how on earth I am gonna go home! As a hijabi I felt quite unsafe to step out of the school. People were already guessing the culprits must be Muslim but unfortunately they were not wrong :-( I still don't understand how those guys thought that they were going to do a great job by murdering innocent people. They believed that nobody is innocent. Apparently most of us voted for Tony Blair's government so we have to pay the price. What a ridiculous argument! When Muslims don't really study and understand their faith, this sort of disastrous concept can cloud their mind and as a result we end up with some messed up Muslims who through their stupid action do more harm than good for the ummah. That day no doubt was a sad day for all of us but for me that day will always bring some special memories of my friend and sister in deen Farzana. She showed me all the stuff I needed for teaching. She introduced all her colleagues and students to me. I thought she must be a popular teacher mashallah. During all the hustle and bustle she was feeding her 2 years old daughter. She was so nice to me that she dropped me near my house on that day. I felt really grateful to her for helping me so much given we just met on that day. Needless to say, our friendship was getting stronger day by day. We used to discuss about all sorts of issue affecting the Muslims. I enjoyed talking to her as unlike most of the girls, we didn't really talk about make up and dresses and so on.

Sadly she was diagnosed with cancer in Ramadan.We lost her in March of 2008. I still remember the last time I talked to her on phone. Her brother donated her bone marrow and we all thought she was recovering from the cancer. She sounded very fragile but she was as usual very strong. She told me she was all right. I felt very happy thinking she is healing but just after couple of days I received the news of her death. Inna lillahe wa inna ilaiher rajeuun ... Certainly we belong to our Lord Allah swt and we will return to Him!

Last Sunday I went to her grave in Garden of Peace. My 3 and a half years old son Imran was with me. He looked a bit confused. I told him my friend is sleeping here. I felt so sad thinking about her. She was only 35. Her children were all under 10 around that time. Her children must be missing her so much. I miss her. Looking at the graves there I was thinking I can end up here very soon. Have I prepared myself for this home? Soon or later I am going to my grave. I am so scared just thinking about it as I feel I am not ready yet. May Allah swt grant my dear sister jannatul ferdous. May Allah swt bless her children and make them the best of Muslims. May Allah swt forgive us and help us to become better Muslims, Ameen.

Some beautiful suggestions mashallah

2011-07-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Mashallah my beautiful sister-in-faith Eva Zaynab wrote some beautiful comments after reading my post on having the right intention I have benefited a lot from her beautiful advice that's why I would like to share her comments with you. Jazakllah khairan sis Eva :-)

She wrote: Your article mashAllah was beautifully written and you gave one of the most important reminders- always have an intention. In Hadith one of the famour 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi says:

‎" Actions are ( judged) by motives ( niyayah, so each man will have what he intended. Thus he , whose migration ( Hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, of for a wife he might marry, his migration is that for which he migrated." Al Bukhari and Muslim). when I was in Tarim, there was not a single time, where the word intention was not mentioned. Actions are indeed by intentions and the intention has to come from the heart. So a reminder to myself first, whateever we do, before we embark on any journey or any task have the right intention, always only for Allah swt and always , as you mentioned in your article with the " Bismillah".

Habib Umar bin Hafiz mentioned ones to the nearest meaning :" Any action that starts without the Bismillah is corrupt of blessings. A deed is not a deed unless there is a pious intention".Before every action, we must have a true sound will. and intention. May Allah swt give us all the ability to not be negligent in remembering intentions and honesty. I am sorry for the longish comments, but I wanted to say that I have truly enjoyed your last three articles. MashAllah, May Allah swt reward you, sis, for giving such reminders, for dedicating ur time and effort in writing them. Ameen

My little boy Muhammad Hamza is now 5 months old and exclusively breastfed. InshAllah I will do my best to fast, but if I see that my breastmilk is being affected or that my health deteriorates then I will stop. At the end of the way we need to remember that above all Allah subhana wa Ta Allah is Ar-Rahman and nursing mums and also people with health problems such as Type 2 Diabetes are excluded from fasting. And we should not feel in anyway that just because we do not fast, Allah swt is not going to shower his Mercy on us . We can do so much ibada during this month-Night vigils, reading Quaran and inshAllah finishing a Khatam, Dhikr, extra nafl prayers, getting up for Suhr and preparing the Iftar for ur spouses or our parents, giving sadaqa and so much more.Two years ago , as my daughter was born 10 days before Ramadhan, I really thought that I will not be able to make the most of that blessed month, as it can be quite tiring with a newborn and constantly breast-feeding . I had to remind myself that I have a limit in regards to what I can achieve and I should be realistic in my goals rather than having some very high expectations. so the end result- I didnt do a Khatam of the Holy Quran, but I made sure during the day , I read a few ayas. Some nights I was not able to do Qiyamat Layl but alhamdullilah i observed the blessed 27th of Ramadhan. But above all I made sure that I honoured the rights of my child and my husband , and no matter how tired I was, even if my husband insisted not, I would make sure I get up and prepare the suhur( which can be very hard when you lack sleep) and always did my best to cook our own iftar, At the end of the day instead of throwing a whole banquet of samosas, spring rolls, ahne, dali borah etc, we always had milk, dates, a rice dish and some fruits and my hubby alahmaudllilah loved it.

So a reminder to all the nursing mums or people with health problems, lets not forget that just because we dont fast, we cannot do other ibadah during this special month. Have the right intention and make the most of this scared month. Dont just let it pass and then feel guilty about it. As scholars have said : if we only knew the blessings of this month, we would want every month to be Ramadhan. May Allah swt give us all the tawfeeq to make the most of the coming Ramadhan and inshAllah to bring us close to the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and ultimately to Allah subhana Wa Ta Alla. Ameen.

And sorry just another thought about Tarawih prayers. For the last two years I never did my Tarawih prayers in the masjid and I often felt very lonely or as if I am missing something or not making the most of Ramadhan in that aspect. I shared this with my husband and he reminded me that my Salah at home is far superior than Salat in the Masjid. Narrated Umm Humaid As-Sa’diyah who once said to the Prophet (SAW): Messenger of Allah (SAW)! I love to pray with you (i.e. in the mosque)! Upon hearing this, Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said:

"I know that you love to say your prayer with me. However, the prayer you offer in your residence is more excellent than that you offer in your people’s mosque. And your prayer in your people’s mosque is better for you than you prayer in the (lager) congregational mosque." (Abu Dawud; Musnad of Imaam Ahmad; & At-Tabarani)

And to be honest I think I had the wrong intention as well, which was very sad, I used to think that if I go to the masjid with my baby, I can meet other women as well and have a chit chat after our Tarawih prayers. Masjid=barakah tots playgroup. Before having children , I used to see always mums with their newborns in their carseats or toddlers and you could see that some of them really came for the chit chat and it was quite disturbing. Some sisters used the opportunity to show off the latest designer abayas from Dubai , especially for Ramadhan. Some sisters were not even able to perform their Tarawih prayers because their babies were crying , some due to hunger, some due to the uncomfortable car seat ( believe me you may think it is comfortable, but come on, it is not the same as their comfy cot bed, or moses basket). So alhamdullilah the solution for me was- praying at home without a disturbed routine for my child, without dragging her out at 10 pm,when most babies are asleep and as for my chit chat or catch up with the sisters, I did it during the day.

It’s all about intention

2011-06-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

Preparation for Ramadan doesn’t mean that we have to do so much that it will exhaust us. As a mother of three I am already a bit worried but trying to keep my hopes high insha-Allah as things are made easy by Allah swt in this holy month. All the Satan are chained so the problem of waswasa (temptation from Satan) from them is not an issue, Alhamdulillah. We just need to control our own nafs insha-Allah. Some of my friends have tried fasting this month and they found it quite difficult. Actually they breastfeed as well so I can understand it must have been hard given the fast is quite a long one during this time. It’s almost 18-19 hours long! My third one is only two months old and totally breastfed. I was thinking of fasting during this month but now knowing the experience of my friends I am not sure whether I should fast. I am hoping when Ramadan comes it will definitely get easier insha-Allah. Allah swt never wants us to go through hardship for no reason. Nursing mothers can avoid fasting if it becomes very difficult for them and their babies. They can do the missed fasts later. But Insha-Allah my intention is to try fasting in Ramadan and see how it goes. May Allah swt make it easy for me and all the mothers out there to fast and get as much reward as possible insha-Allah.

Sometimes as mothers we tend to feel guilty that we are so busy looking after our family that we cannot do much spiritually during Ramadan. Acts like reciting the Qur’an, praying extra (nafl) salah, joining the taraweeh at the mosque become almost impossible. But we need to remember Allah swt has given us a great job of being a mother. It is indeed a very difficult and challenging task but the rewards are also enormous. Just seeing our children growing up gives us a great sense of achievement Alhamdulillah. As Muslims we are hoping that all the struggle and sacrifice we are making will eventually pay us in akhira, insha-Allah. Hopefully raising our children as good Muslims ‘khalifa of Allah swt’ will insha-Allah help us to please Allah swt and reach to jannah , our final destination! As parents if we make the intention to do every single task to please Allah swt then we will definitely get the reward for it insha-Allah! This is also worship. We as mothers are doing khidma (service) to our partners and children. Through serving them we are ultimately serving our Lord! Just remember to make the intention in your heart that you are doing everything just for Him, Allah swt and no one else. Allah swt doesn’t accept any deed which is done to please others or to show off others. Our intention needs to be very pure and sincere to be accepted by our Rabb , Allah swt. Insha-Allah every mundane action in Ramadan can become a great way to please Allah swt just by having the right intention.

That’s why I am hoping to say Bismillah before every action to remind me my intention. Moreover, saying Bismillah can help us gaining Baraka (blessing) in every act. May Allah swt purify our intention and help us in having the right intention for everything we do, ameen!

There is a beautiful nasheed done by Native Deen called 'Intentions'. This always reminds me about having the right niyyah, mashallah. May allah swt reward the brothers!
Are my Intentions alright?

Am I doing for Allah?

When I'm looking deep, deep down inside

Do I have the right niyyah?

Waking up in the morning, gotta make my prayer

Am I really gonna' make it, when there is no one there?

Taking trips to the masjid (mosque), even when it's tough

Am I going for the sake of Allah? Am I showing off?

Gonna' get me the knowledge, gonna study Islam

Am I going just to build my ego? so they call me “the Man”?

Does it matter if the people respect me, when its not for Allah?

When I know anytime He can take me, without one real du'a (prayer)

Does it matter if they say I'm a big shot?

when I get no reward for my deeds

And I'm dragged on the Day of Resurrection

Cause of the folks that I wanted to please

Plus I know that Allah has the power

To raise me up in their eyes if it need be

I should always make my intentions, for my Lord, Allah completely
[Chorous]

Are my Intentions alright?

Am I doing for Allah?

When I'm looking deep, deep down inside

Do I have the right niyyah?
Wearing thoubs with a kufi, kufi

Miswaks leather socks like the old days

Am I trying to follow the Prophet? or am I seeking praise?

Giving talks on Islam to people

I'd be quoting Hadith and Qur'an

Am I speaking so they like how I'm speaking? and they say I'm “the Bomb”

Donating to Islamic centers, giving money so the Deen can grow

Am I giving for the sake of Allah? or is it for show?

Many times I have found my intentions

Are not what I want them to be

I know I start on the right direction

But Shaitan starts talking to me

And I forget that without my niyyah, I'm just wasting my time

My intentions cannot bring the reward, when they're out of line

So I pray to Allah to help me, to do everything for Him only

Doesn't matter if the people despise me

Cause with Allah I can never be lonely

Yah Allah, accept this niyyah

Coming from young Muslims striving to be believers

So on the day, our deeds You'll measure. Know we only did this strictly for Your pleasure, Your pleasure

Your mercy, Your ajur (reward), Your Jannah (heaven), forever and ever and ever

And reward us for those who listen

Heeded to the message, changing their condition

And know that everything up until this point I've ever written

I submit as my repentance

And if its blessings You're sending my way

I beg You hold them to the judgement day

so maybe in Jannah you can look back and say...it was a lovely day, a lovely, a lovely day, yes a lovely day

Are my intentions, alright, am I doing for Allah

When I am looking deep deep down inside, do I have the right niyyah (intention)?
[Chorous]

Are my Intentions alright?

Am I doing for Allah?

When I'm looking deep, deep down inside

Do I have the right niyyah?

Modesty in Islam

2011-06-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

Modesty is one of the most important characteristics of Islam. In fact modesty has been defined as a core quality of a Muslim. One aspect of modesty is hijab. Most of the time when we think or talk about hijab, it unconsciously or subconsciously makes us think about womens' external hijab i.e. the dress. But hijab is more than a piece of cloth and it doesn't just deal with Muslim women but also it must be followed by Muslim men. Mashallah I have really loved the short talk given by sister Muslema. I can't agree more with what she said. May Allah swt help us in gaining modesty in front Him, ameen.

Ramadan preparation

2011-06-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmaneer Raheem

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu my dear sisters and brothers,

Insha-Allah very soon the great month of Ramadan is approaching us. How much we are preparing to welcome this sacred month? We are told by our beloved last prophet Muhammad saw to supplicate to our Creator on a regular basis throughout the two months Rajab and Sha’ban to say Allahumma baariklana fee sha’ban wa rajab wa ballighna Ramadan which means O Allah bless us in Rajab and Sha’ban and enable us to reach Ramadan! The scholars have told us that if we really knew the blessings of Ramadan we wouldn’t waste a second of it! The companions of our beloved prophet Muhammad saw used to start preparing for Ramadan at least six months ahead of it. Unfortunately some of us have already missed that opportunity as we got only a month to prepare insha-Allah. Let us do our best to use the remaining days insha-Allah.

As a mother of three kids (under 3 and a half years) it is going to be a difficult project for me but insha-Allah I hope to do as much as possible. To get myself motivated and note down all the things I will be doing, I have started this blog post called 'Ramadan preparation'. Mashallah there are so many books, articles, podcast and what not on internet to prepare for Ramadan. Alhamdulillah lot of programmes on TV are based on Ramadan too. I hope to soak up as much info as possible and share it with you all. Do join me on my journey to get well-prepared for the great month insha-Allah. I hope to hear from you and your suggestions insha-Allah. May Allah swt grant us all a very special Ramadan full of blessings, ameen!

As part of this project, today I have listened to a beautiful talk by Imam Shuhaib on Ramadan and changing oneself. He talked about purification of soul, the tajkiyatun nafs and the importance of having a good character/ akhlaq i.e. good adab. We are living in an age where only few people are blessed with a good akhlaq. Just having knowledge is not enough. Allah swt says in the Qur’an, the successful one is the one who purifies his/her soul. Nothing will benefit us on the day of judgement except a pure soul. The month of Ramadan should be used as a tool to purify our soul. They shaykh suggests that we should plan a daily routine to read, recite and study the Quran, the sunnah and do zikr of Allah swt. There is an amazing book written/translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf called ‘Purification of the heart’. I love reading this book. Insha-Allah I will share some thoughts from this book in my future posts.

Another good nasheed artist

2011-05-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Mashallah Ahmed Hussain's I turn to You is a beautiful nasheed. Sometimes I love listening to this nasheed. The lyrics are quite good mashallah. There is also a nasheed in urdu 'Aye Khuda' mashallah that's also quite good if you understand urdu :-)

'I Turn to You'

'Aye Khuda'

Wajid Akhtar feat Ahmad Hussain - I Need Your Help

Children of the world

Ahmad Hussain was born in November 1981. He is the founder and owner of Iqra Promotions. He started working in the mainstream industry at a very young age and had high ambitions to move forward in the music industry, until he was met with many challenges in his life.It was at this crucial stage in his career that Ahmad was met with a tragic death in his family. He lost his sister at the tender age of 28, who died suddenly while participating in a sporting activity. This prompted Ahmad to question his own life and he began searching for answers through the Deen of Islam. Alhamdulilah by the grace of the Almighty, Ahmad decided that he would no longer associate himself with the mainstream industry.He began looking into Islam more deeply and found the inner peace and tranquility he had been searching for in the material and false world of fame and fortune. Ahmad became very inspired by the first revelation which came down via angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), in the cave of Hira in Makkah. The message was clear “IQRA” (Read).In 2004 Ahmad began work to set up a chain of Islamic outlets to propagate Islam. He also set up Iqra Promotions, a medium by which he could promote Artists who share & express the same values. In 2006 He met with Kamal Uddin and produced Kamal Uddin’s album “Illallah, which has gained success and acclaim internationally. In 2008 he produced and featured on, Inspirational album “Show me the way” by Wajid Akhtar.Ahmad released his first single in 2009 entitled “Aye Khuda” . In July 2010 Ahmad released his Debut album “I Turn to You” along with the new video entitled 'Children of the World'.

Wisdom is the refinding of innocence

2011-05-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

Songs of innocence is a beautiful nasheed done by Talib Al-Habib. This one is one of my favourite nasheeds. Mashallah he has done a great job. It is essentially the dua of a parent sung for and to their children as they lie asleep, and incorporates nasiha (sincere counselling) such as, 'remember this: wisdom is the refinding of innocence.' The 'songs of innocence' refer to the dhikr, sung as a lullaby.

Songs of Innocence

chorus

Allahu Allahu La ilaha illa Hu

And I sing my songs of innocence

To you my precious child as you lay on your bed

With your sleepy eyes and your heavy head

Rest and dream in peace till morning comes again

I will sing my songs of innocence

I will sing my songs of innocence

And I sing my songs of innocence

As I watch you sleep, think what may lie ahead.

So many the roads that before you spread

Take the way, my child, to the Beloved Friend

Lead a life of truth and innocence

The way of sunnah, the path of the Prophet

Let your words be echoes of his sentences

Let your deeds be shadows of his radiance.

And though the world outside seems cold and hard

And you may feel like you are wandering alone

Do not fear, do not grieve, in Allah place your belief

In his remembrance your heart will find its peace

And I gaze at you in wonderment

How your heart is filled with innocence.

You'll never know the joy you bring to me

How your touch and smile dispel my every grief

May you never lose your innocence

With life's bittersweet experience

And when the time comes, remember this:

Wisdom is the refinding of innocence.

Now you're breathing easy, I must call an end

I have sung my song of innocence

And if our paths should never cross again

May God's peace and mercy upon you descend

We will meet at the gathering of innocence

At al-Kauthar, the fount of abundance

By the Prophet's hand may our thirst be quenched

We will be with him, and we will be content

Salallahu `alayhi wa alihi

Peace and blessings on him and his family

And all who follow in his blessed way

You and I, my child, may we among them be

You and I, my child, may we among them be

Will you help me learn of innocence?

Sing a song of love and innocence

Will you help me find my way back home?

Will you fill my heart with innocence?

May I come to you an innocent?

Let me sing my song of innocence.

Allah SWT is the best of planners!

2011-04-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

On Monday around midnight my contractions started. I got quite excited, and started noting down the time of each contraction. I did my Isha salah and felt like it might be my last one so did as much duas as possible. I started breathing deeply through each contraction. By 2 o'clock I was quite sure this is definitely contraction and told my husband to wake up. I was too excited getting all the towels, plastic sheet, baby clothes etc out. I called my friend to come over just in case we need to rush to the hospital. My children (3 & 2 years) were sleeping quite peacefully so we didn't want to disturb them. By fajr time I was still in pain but not sign of show or water breaking! I felt quite disappointed but kept using my birth ball and read duas and deep breathing. DH didn't want to go to work but I told him it may take some time before I am in established labour so there is no point missing work. I sent my friend back and told her I will call if I need her. Around 9 in the morning my mum called to tell me she is on her way to my place with my youngest sister. My dad dropped them off before going to work. I didn't want them to worry so I didn't tell them I was having contractions. But by 11 the pain was quite bad so I went to have a warm bath. It did relax me a lot alhamdulillah. However when the contractions were coming back every 10 minutes it was really painful, no matter how warm the water was, I was feeling every bit of it! I called my midwife and asked her whether I should go to the hospital. She said to come when the contractions are five minutes apart. It just sounded so stupid. She said not to come as my ones were 10 minutes apart! I went to the bath again just to ease my pain. At 11:30 my water broke! As soon as the water broke, I felt huge pressure around the cervix. I just couldn’t lie down anymore. I called the ambulance, alhamdulillah had my mobile with me :-) the 999 lady said not to cross my legs and move from the bath. I told my mum to put the plastic sheets and the towels on my bedroom floor and move my children downstairs and don't come to my room. The 999 lady was asking me to get somebody there to help me deliver the baby but I just didn't want my mum or my friend to be there seeing me delivering my baby! Alhamdulillah I managed to get dressed and run to the bedroom. Got my mobile on speaker and followed the instructions given by the 999 lady. Her name is Abbey. May Allah swt bless you Abbey! :-)

I felt the top of the head at 11:35 and tried to press softly upward to avoid tearing as it gives time for the cervix to stretch. My baby's head felt quite big that's why I didn't want to lie down. The lady was asking me to lie down on my back but I was confident that squatting is the best position for me to give birth. I saw my baby's head coming out in the cupboard mirror in front of me. That was the ‘transition’ moment for me! The pain was really excruciating, I screamed really loud as I felt like I am going to explode!!! Within seconds my baby's head and then body was out. Then I sat down and held him close to my chest, alhamdulillah the cord was not around the neck and I used the towels to clean him! The 999 lady said now I can just wait for the paramedics to arrive and do the rest. My baby cried as soon as he was out and that was a big relief. So at 11:40 my baby was born Alhamdulillah. I was shaking but I was feeling so relieved as well thinking it's over now! I had a real natural birth alhamdulillah. My prayers were answered! I delivered my placenta naturally as well as I declined having any injection to speed up the process. I cut the cord as well. The midwives arrived in half an hour to do the rest and alhamdulillah I was also able to start breastfeeding just right after birth. I still can't believe what a birth experience I had subhanallah! I have been reading a lot about natural birth, homebirth, unassisted birth, hypno-birth, birth within techniques, etc. I did believe lot of the concepts but wasn't sure whether I would be able to implement the lessons. I kept making dua to Allah swt as I really wanted a very natural birth. I hated my hospital birth and wanted to avoid it at any cost. The second birth was also at home but the paramedics delivered my daughter for me. It was exactly two years ago. Alhamdulillah this time Allah swt made it possible for me to deliver again at home quite safely. I am also very lucky to have a very supportive partner who trusts me and respects my wishes. I am so glad to have my baby at home. Homebirth is the best Alhamdulillah! I am truly a believer now! Insha-Allah I will do reviews of all the books I have been reading through out my pregnancy as well as all the great sites, blogs, youtube videos I have been watching to learn about natural birth. I also would like to thank all my readers and friends for their prayers and best wishes. I am very lucky to have wonderful people like you in my life alhamdulillah! Jazakallah khairan :-)

Mum & Muslim anniversary issue alhamdulillah!

2011-04-02T04:14:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah our M & M March/April issue is out now! I am so glad that we have managed to do 8 issues full of very informative articles, thanks to our precious writers and contributors. May Allah swt reward each and every person who directly and indirectly helped us so much! It is with great happiness that I can tell you that Mum and Muslim is one year old alhamdulillah! It seemed a long way away a year ago, but we are still going strong and getting more readers alhamdullilah! It is also thanks in a large part to you too, who have been avid readers and/or writers mashallah.

The new issue is out now with some very interesting articles. There is also a competition that we are running with a great charity, Algerian Action which I hope you can get your kids to enter.
Insha-Allah we hope to get bigger and better this year. We are working on getting a new look to the website and looking further ahead, we hope to have printed copies in the coming year inshallah. All this can only be achieved with the help of Allah (SWT) and you!

Please do keep us in your duas and spread the link! And also if you are on Facebook do join our group.

Mum And Muslim E-mag A better upbringing, A better life!

Children's book: Ten Friendly Fish

2011-03-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Debbie Tarbett
(Illustrator)
Hardcover: 24 pages
Publisher: Little Tiger Press (1 Mar 2008)
Language English

My children (3 and 2 years) love this book and it is often presented to me to read in the evenings. Because the fish are 3D, they can touch them and play with them while I read the story. It helps them learning to count as well as learning about different sea creatures. Insha-Allah, we are going to get a couple more of the Debbie Tarbett books for them. They had this book for about a year and still love it and keep coming back for more. All in all a very enjoyable and educational read for 2-3 year olds. The 10 fish are solid and raised and one disappears with each page turn. The only problem is the pop page at the end is not as sturdy as rest of the book and you have to be careful with it if you don’t want it to be torn after few uses. Our one is already damaged a bit. But overall it’s a good book to have.

Children's book: Toddle Waddle

2011-03-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Julia Donaldson (Author), Nick Sharratt (Illustrator)

Paperback: 32 pages

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books (1 Jan 2010)

Language English

There's a hullabaloo at the seaside when a toddler takes his friends on a stroll to the end of the pier.

With jaunty rhymes and bright, bold pictures even the youngest child will love this simple, playful story.

About the Author and illustrator:

Julia Donaldson is today's most popular picture book author and a multi award-winner. Her books include the modern classic THE GRUFFALO, THE PRINCESS AND THE

Nick Sharratt is the prize-winning illustrator of many books for children of all ages.

My children absolutely adore this book. I don’t know how many times I have read this book to them. Almost every night this is one of the books they bring to me to read for their bedtime. My son is 3 years old and my daughter is 2 years old. Both of them have already started guessing some words from the book even before I read it loud. They really love the bright and bold pictures. They enjoy spotting all the detail in the brightly coloured illustrations. In my opinion, this book is really good for children and great for helping their early phonic awareness of rhyme.

Working from home

2011-03-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

As a mother of two young children and expecting my third one quite soon insha-Allah, working from home is a good way of using my time more productively as well as spending quality time with my children, alhamdulillah. I guess it also helps me avoiding feeling guilty of not giving enough time to my children and my partner. Before marriage I was working full time as a primary and secondary teacher. Work was quite hectic. My morning used to start at 6:30 and I used to go to bed around 11:30 at night. Even weekends I was busy doing lesson plans and anything needed to be done for the week ahead. Though life as a teacher was quite a challenging one, I really enjoyed my job especially being with the children made me feel very satisfied and happy with my life. The joy I felt seeing how much children were learning and enjoying my lesson made me feel inspired to carry on alhamdulillah. However, after marriage my priorities changed. I was eagerly waiting to get pregnant. I was still working as a teacher but the stress was too much to bear.

The more I read about pregnancy and fertility, I came to realize I needed to chill out and have tawakkul ( reliance) on Allah (SWT). That’s when I decided to quit my work as a teacher. Alhamdulillah got pregnant straight away. For me it was a big sign to make myself feel that I was definitely doing the right thing alhamdulillah. Life just kept surprising me. Now after four years I am a happy mother of two children and expecting our third one next month Insha-Allah.

I always wanted to do a lot with my life. While at university I tried my best to get active as much as possible and I loved every moment of it, alhamdulillah. I never wanted to just be a stay-at-home mum who is totally occupied with household chores and looking after her husband and children and not really even having time for herself. I can understand how difficult and sometimes exhausting motherhood can become but I think for me I really want to live my life with lots of activities insha-Allah. I am hoping to create a life where I can say in eight to ten years time that alhamdulillah I have tried my best to achieve success and satisfaction from my life, insha-Allah. One day my children will leave one by one and will be busy with their life insha-Allah. At that moment I really don’t want to feel like ‘Okay now what!!! What do I do now with my time???’ I know that my life is to some extent centered around my husband and children but there are other things which are very important to me. My personal relationship with my Creator Allah (SWT), socialising with families and friends, writing and my job as a editor are very important for me. These different aspects of my life define who I am and what I want to become in future insha-Allah.

Given my goals and family situation, working from home has helped me a lot to get active and fulfill my dreams. Alhamdulillah thanks to Internet and social networks, lots of things can be done just from home. And many people find that working from home is a good balance and allows them to cope with things like all the appointments and being in to receive all that Internet shopping!

However, a common misconception among lots of people is that mums who work from home are sitting in a sunny garden teleworking on a laptop while their children play contentedly on a rug under the apple tree! Unfortunately that’s not really what we mothers who work from home experience all the time, I must confess. Sometimes it is very difficult to get them occupied. They do demand my total attention and want me to join in and play with them. When you work from home, you are more likely to work through out the day. With a 9 to 5 job, you can at least think about a proper break after work. But for me, I am most of the time in front of my laptop and find myself headhunting, contacting or replying all the emails.

I think if you work from home, you really need to be quite disciplined. You really need to be focused and get on with your work first. Ideally you need a proper space to work. It is quite easy to get distracted while working. That’s why it's a good idea to timetable your work - schedule breaks so you feel justified taking them. Breaking your day into chunks of work can also help. For example, tell yourself you'll work only for 20 minutes at a time, which is very manageable. Then you can take a break and start again after 20/30 minutes. I try to write down in my work diary all the things need to be done and keep ticking whatever is done. That way you can feel quite good at the end of day thinking you have manged to get your work done and alhamdulillah had a good, productive day. May Allah swt help us in getting more active and use our time more effectively, ameen. May He swt grant us baraka in our life, ameen.

We just lost another beautiful sister

2011-03-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Inna lillahe wa inna ilaiher rajeuun. Certainly we belong to Allah swt and we are going to return to Him. I am so sad to share this news. Today in the morning one of our beloved sister in deen Aasia passed away. She was suffering from cancer. She has left her husband and three young children. Couple of months ago, the sisters in Redbridge area had formed a group to cook food for her family on a weekly basis so that she can have some rest. I came to know about her through the weekly circle I used to attend. She was such a lovely sister. I still have her text saved and now feeling so sad reading it. The feelings are so sad as you know that the person who sent you this text has left this world forever to meet her Creator. Whenever I asked her how she is feeling, she always praised Allah swt and never complained mashallah. May Allah swt reward her with jannatul ferdous and grant lots of patience and strength to her family and friends to go through this difficult time. Insha-Allah tomorrow is her janaza ( funeral) then she will be buried in Garden of peace. My friend Ferzanah who also died couple of years ago due to leukemia is also buried there. May Allah swt reward them with the best, amen. We really need to wake up and stop taking our life for granted. We don't know when is our turn. May Allah swt forgive us and make us better muslims, ameen. Please do make lots of duas for her and family.

A Sociology Lesson From Surah Yusuf

2011-03-17T03:42:00.000-07:00

An extract from the AlKauthar Institute weekend seminar entitled "An Epic Journey" - Tafsir Surah Yusuf. In this video Sheikh Sajid Umar talks about the role of parents in light of the famous dream of Prophet Yusuf (AS) It's a short talk on parenting from a sociological perspective.

The promise of Allah swt: After hardship comes ease

2011-03-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillahi rabbil Aalameen all praise belongs to Allah swt my mum-in-law is recovering from the operation. The tumour has been successfully removed and alhamdulillah cancer hasn’t spread anywhere else. However, she needs to go through radiotherapy for three weeks insha-Allah and also have medication for five years. We were so scared for her and asked almost all the people we know to pray for her. We are so grateful to all our friends and families who prayed for us and came to visit her, alhamdulillah. The power of dua is so great mashallah! Nothing is impossible when we ask Allah swt sincerely to help us and remove any difficulties we are going through.

We also had hope that Allah swt will change our situation as He promised us in His Book that there is always ease after hardship. Some scholars even said that actually after every hardship there are two moments of ease, subhanallah!

Allah swt loves the action of visiting the sick and make sincere dua for them. Through His beloved prophet Muhammad saw He even taught us what duas we can recite and what sort of reward we will get if we care for our sick relatives and friends or anyone who is going through any sort of difficulties. It has been mentioned in the book of hadith (tradition of our beloved prophet saw) the one who visits the sick is in fact like one who is in the fruit garden of Paradise (until he returns). [Muslim]

I would like to share with you a beautiful dua (supplication) for cure: “Allahumma Rabba ‘n-nas(i), adhhibi ‘l-ba’sa wa ‘shfi Anta ‘sh-Shafi, laa shifaa’a illaa shifa’uk(a), shifaa’al laa yughaadiru saqaman.” Which means “O Allah, Lord of mankind, remove all harm and cure, as You are the One who cures. There is no cure but Your cure; a cure that leaves no illness. [Bukhari]

When we are visiting a person who is ill, we say: “Laa ba’sa tahurun insha-Allah(u).” which means “No need to worry. It [this illness] is purging [of sins], Allah willing.” [Bukhari]

Our faith has answer for every situation of our life. When we feel overwhelmed by difficult situation, it tells us how to cope and deal with the problem. Alhamdulillah we are so lucky and blessed to have Allah swt in our life. Sometimes I wonder how miserable my life would have been if Allah swt didn’t guide me to His beautiful faith. Seeing people who are not really aware of Allah’s blessings in their life and as a result not being able to deal with a difficult situation with tawakkul (reliance on Allah swt) and hope makes me sad and at the same time truly blessed to have faith in Allah swt. May Allah swt guide everyone to His straight path, ameen. May Allah swt help us in remembering Him and appreciating every single blessing He has bestowed on us, ameen.

Whenever we go through any hardship, we realise how much we are dependant on Allah swt. It just shows how powerless we are in front of Him! We need Him and He doesn’t need us but He created us with love and mercy. He loves us more than our parents and even ourselves, Subhanallah. How can we deny our Lord who does so much for us! He doesn’t need our worship at all but WE NEED HIM FOR OUR OWN SAKE, Subhanallah! May Allah swt make us realise our total dependency on Him (SWT) and help us in loving and pleasing Him, ameen.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart to all my relatives, friends and well-wishers who prayed for us and been very supportive alhamdulillah. Jazakallah khairan :-)

Trials in life

2011-02-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

Life sometimes gets quite hard. We cannot really afford to have a life with no worries. Recently my mum-in-law got diagnosed with cancer. Inna lillahe wa inna ilaiher rajeuun. It made me feel very sad and worried for her. For the first time, I feared loosing her Subhanallah. I met her for the first time in February of 2006 when she came to our place to meet us. I never thought I would feel so emotional for my mum-in-law. I guess life is full of surprises. I grew up in a culture where in-laws are always the ‘outsiders’ and hardly seen as well-wishers, unfortunately. It’s not just the society and people around us but also the media and popular culture who reinforces this sort of negative attitude towards in-laws. Life can get quite bitter if you are always paranoid and sceptical about how others behave with you. If you get a bit of negative attitude towards you, you end up blaming them for ‘judging’ you and not regarding you as their own. I have learnt from my experience that I need to trust people and stop judging according to my prejudices. Also thanks to my own too emotional state, I used to always tend to think in-laws just don’t like me.

But alhamdulillah there are so many things to learn from life. Insha-Allah it is going to be our fifth anniversary in September and life has changed a lot for us, alhamdulillah. I think I did suffer from mother-in-law phobia at the start of my marriage thanks to my own messed-up thinking process. This mother-in-law phobia is also known as ‘Pentheraphobia’ quite a scary word I must admit!

I guess for both of us the changes were overwhelming. She became a mother-in-law for the first time and for me being married I came across quite a lot of new faces who I was supposed to adjust with. First couple of years for a married couple can be quite daunting. So many things to think about Subhanallah ! Alhamdulillah my husband has been very supportive from the very beginning. The more I got to know my mum-in-law I felt I can relate to her. There was a time when I just chose to see only the negative sides of her totally ignoring all the nice things she has done for me. May Allah swt forgive me for all the shortcomings I have. Through spending more time with her I came to realize how wrong I was to judge her.

Alhamdulillah I am very lucky to have her in my life. She has done a lot for me. During both of my pregnancies, she has been very supportive alhamdulillah. I never thought a mother-in-law would do that much for the daughter-in-law. She is a lovely woman who has gone through a lot in life but hardly complains. There are so many things to learn from her.

This week she went through the operation and alhamdulillah the tumour has been removed but we need to wait till next Thursday to find our whether the cancer has spread anywhere else. Please do keep her in your duas. Allah swt is the Curer. May Allah swt cure her in a way that no traces of cancer is left, ameen.

Do we Muslims really need Valentine's Day to show our love?

2011-02-14T11:46:00.000-08:00

Subhanallah so many Muslims (?) are now celebrating the Valentine's Day. Seeing friends on FB sharing their ‘Valentine’ wishes makes me quite confused. What’s going on? Are we really allowed to celebrate this day? Why do we need this one day to show our love and affection to our loved one? Our beloved Messenger Muhammad (SAW) showed love and affection to his wives every single day of his life through his beautiful action. He (SAW) never treated them with harshness and always been very kind and gentle to the mothers of believers. Even the companions (RAW) were so good to their wives mashallah. Our faith teaches us to love and show respect to people who are very close to us every single day of our life, not just this one day! Life is just a moment for us so we are told to make it a moment of loving Allah swt and His beautiful creation insha-Allah.

If we know the origin of Valentine day, I don’t think as Muslims we would like to celebrate this day anymore. It’s due to utter ignorance that most of us are getting swept by the culture of the majority of people who love to celebrate this occasion. The origin of this day, known as ‘Valentine day’ or ‘Festival of love’ is based on festivals celebrated by pagan Romans, when paganism was the prevalent religion of the Romans more than seventeen centuries ago. For them it was an expression of spiritual love. The Romans used to celebrate this event in mid-February each year with a big festival. So what was the connection between Saint Valentine and this festival? Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient "martyrs" of the Christian Church.

When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of "spiritual love" to another concept known as the "martyrs of love", represented by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year.

The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contained love poems etc.

As regards the Islamic stance on this festival, Dr. Su`ad Ibrahim Salih, professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University, states the following:

“There are forms of expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It stands to reason that the love for Allah swt, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of love.

Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine’s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.

Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.”

There is a short talk done by Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick on the history of Valentine's day.

There is also quite an emotinal talk done by a shaykh in Middle East. May Allah swt reward these people who are trying to educate and enlighten Muslims , alhamdulillah.

Pregnancy updates: Insha-Allah 80 more days to go!

2011-02-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah not that many days left now. Had my Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) and once again the result was positive. Alhamdulillah in every situation insha-Allah. I did try to eat more fruits and vegetables and fish during this pregnancy but I guess it’s in my gene so couldn’t really avoid gestational diabetes. So got it for the third time now and the part I hate most is how now I’m no longer a low risk pregnant woman anymore for the health professionals! I have been summoned to go to see my special Diabetes Midwife as soon as possible and also from now on I have to have a regular appointment with the consultant. I am also expected to give birth at a special hospital where they apparently are more able to deal with high risk woman like moi! You get bombarded with all the stuff which 'can go wrong' from now on given you got GD such as the baby can be quite big so you may not be able to have a normal vaginal birth, baby may also develop diabetes, I may have diabetes too within five to ten years time and so many other things to consider! And also sometimes people think you get GD because you must be over weight or obese. I remember with my last pregnancy when I was diagnosed with GD I did ask my Diabetic midwife why it keeps happening to me when my BMI is quite good and I am no way an obese person alhamdulillah. She told me as my dad got type 2 diabetes, I am more likely to have diabetes too. With both pregnancies I was able to control my blood sugar just with diet alhamdulillah. This time I am hoping I will be okay insha-Allah. The more I am reading about pregnancy and natural birth, I am confident Insha-Allah it will be okay.

Sometimes, Gestational diabetes can lead to toxemia. Toxemia is pregnancy induced hypertension. Severe toxemia, however, can cause many health problems. Serious Toxemia may develop into something called pre-eclampsia, which can then lead to eclampsia, followed by a serious complication called the HELLP Syndrome. Toxemia starts to develop as the placenta begins to develop. Toxemia is most likely to occur during first-time pregnancy. I did develop Toxemia with my first pregnancy. I think just couple of weeks after I was diagnosed with GD I started to have very high blood pressure. The causes of Toxemia are not known. The symptoms of toxemia are elevated blood pressure, protein in the urine, and hyper-reflexia (extremely fast reflex responses.) Other symptoms may include bloating of the hands, feet and face due to fluid retention.

I believe with my first pregnancy, I was really very worried for the baby and there was obviously fear of birth too. I was told to take lots of rest but I felt too stressed to rest. I think having GD I felt like I was doomed. It almost felt like I got untreatable cancer or something really terrible ! For a long time I didn’t know how to explain what I was feeling like. But alhamdulillah recently reading quite a lot of books on natural birth and pregnancy, finally I am able to describe properly how I felt and what really went wrong in my case with my first pregnancy. Some medical experts believe that diagnosing GDM (Gestational Diabetes Mellitus) can lead to a strong nocebo effect. If a diagnosis of GDM causes high levels of stress and worry for the mother, her stress hormone levels can rise and be transmitted to her baby, increasing the risk of poor growth and premature birth. I strongly believe, I was feeling much stressed and as a consequence developed pre-eclamsia. Now I know it must have been the nocebo effect. At least I got a phrase to explain what I went through alhamdulillah! There was a research done by the U. S Preventive Services Task Force which reported, “In the first few weeks after screening, women who screened positive for gestational diabetes may report higher anxiety, more psychological distress and proper perceptions of their general health than women who screened negative.” This is exactly what I went through and ended up in the hospital and had to stay a whole week to get my blood pressure down but nothing really changed so they induced me at week 34 and my son was born six weeks early! For me, the hospital birth was horrible. I just didn't know what was going on as I was just getting bombarded with too much info and risks associated with all the procedures! I thought I am going to die! But Alhamdulillah he was all right and I was also doing fine so we came back home the next day. I must say we were extremely lucky ALHAMDULILLAH! I kept asking Allah swt for His Rahma (Mercy) and Help (Nasr) . Subhanallah you feel amazed how quickly your duas get accepted ! Allah swt is always very kind to me!

But with my second pregnancy when I was once again diagnosed with GD I decided not to worry and think too much about it. I was enjoying my time with my toddler son as much as possible and doing my diet and exercise. Alhamdulillah I didn’t develop pre-eclamsia and my daughter was born at 39 weeks. Alhamdulillah the labour was also spontaneous (not induced like my first one) and quick alhamdulillah. In fact it was so quick that cudn't get to the hospital on time and gave birth at my bedroom surronded my peramedics. Felt so relieved and great alhamdulillah! I felt like I was in total control , not treated like an object ( like at my first birth experiance at hospital !).

So this time I am not worried anymore alhamdulillah. Everything is in Allah swt’s control. He know what is best for us so no point getting stressed! Alhamdulillah doing my almost sugar-free diet, eating more fruits and veg and protein and trying to do some exercise too with my kids! There is this channel (SKY 275 Body in balance) I recently came to know through one of friend which shows quite a lot of yoga and belly dance stuff so trying to follow the exercise with my children! They love seeing their ‘eccentric’ mum doing all the crazy and funny moves so alhamdulillah having a quality time with my son and daughter. They find it quite amazing that their mum got a big tummy. They do try to communicate with the baby through the belly button as if that’s the window from which they can see the baby and baby can see them. I never felt that much strong movement with my other pregnancies. Mashallah the baby moves a lot especially when I go to bed at night. I feel so wonderful touching my tummy. I am so eagerly waiting for meeting my baby Insha-Allah! Please do keep us all in your duas my dearest blog readers :-)

The Egyptian revolution

2011-02-12T04:05:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah after more than two weeks of continuous protest the Egyptian people have managed to force Mubarak to leave. Subhanallah this is what people can achieve if they get united. This is the same country where centuries ago, the people of Moses (AS) with Allah SWT’s help stood up against the dictatorship of Pharaoh. I am so glad to witness this great historic event during my lifetime alhamdulillah as these sorts of events are very rare. The year I was born was also a very significant year as it was 1979 when the Iranian revolution took place. That was a huge blow to the Western powers especially America and some EU countries as they never thought general public will be able to topple the Shah who was strongly supported by the West and its allies. But Iran being a predominantly Shia country, the revolution didn’t really influence the Sunni world. Unfortunately Sunni world didn’t really get that much motivation to revolt against their dictators who are also heavily supported by the West. Most of the Muslims assumed that (Sunni) Islam doesn’t really encourage political activities as oppose to Shia Islam. The Sunni scholars rarely talked about politics and the importance of having Islamic state. There were groups like al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) who tried to enlighten people but they were treated very harshly by the authorities. People in Middle East were scared do to anything to displease the people in power. But alhamdulillah Muslims around the world are gradually going back to their faith and learning more about Islam as a way of life which includes the running of the state according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah (tradition) of our last prophet Muhammad (saw).

However, this is not the main reason that the people started to protest. There was this poor guy in Tunisia named Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old who triggered this revolution in his country as well as in Egypt. Like so many young Arabs, he was born poor and only dreamed of providing for his siblings and his mother. He had been to college, where he studied law, but had found no employment. So he chose to humble himself and find a halal means to generate some income. But he kept running into problems with the police and government inspectors until the fateful day in December when they confiscated his cart and his produce, saying he didn’t have a proper permit, and leaving him with an unpaid loan with which he’d bought the goods. At the station, upon attempting to reclaim his cart, he was slapped and humiliated publicly which is again quite a frequent treatment received by powerless public in Middle east and other third world countries. His already deferred dreams had clearly dried up. Bouazizi left an apologetic note for his mother and set himself on fire in front of the local government building. That just shows how miserable he felt and end his life in such a sad and horrific way! May Allah SWT show mercy on him and forgive his sins, ameen!

Four weeks later, the protests sparked by his death brought down the government of President Zine el Abdidine Ben Ali, who had ruled Tunisia with an iron hand for 23 years. Like Tunisia the people of Egypt were also suffering greatly financially , physically and emotionally as well as spiritually thanks to the dictator, the modern day Pharaoh – Mubarak. Just like in Tunisia, the sacrifice of poor guy Bouazizi encouraged the people of Egypt to initiate their long waiting revolution.

When it first started I was very worried thinking how brutally the government of Egypt might deal with it’s people. I remember reading Lady Zainab Al-Ghazali’s book Return of the Pharaoh (Memoir in Nasir’s prison) . So many times it brought tears in my eyes reading the utter inhuman torture and humiliation she and the pious people of Egypt had to go through as their only crime was they were working for bringing back true justice of our faith.

But alhamdulillah the situation must be lot better now given the awesome power of global media and Internet. Alhamdulillah to get the real news we are no longer restricted to western ( almost biased) news agents such as CNN, BBC, FOX or SKY news anymore. We have AlJazeera, Press TV and other sources such as You tube available to us free through the Internet. Even the social networks like Facebook, Twitter have made it very easy to unite and mobilize like minded people to work for a common cause. The governments cannot really hide their atrocities anymore. There is a limit and they all have crossed that limit ages ago. Now it’s time they face the consequence of what they have done. Remember what goes around comes around !

I am very glad for the people of Tunisia and Egypt but also worried for their future. The dictators have left but who is going to take charge to run the countries? It’s not like these dictators did commit all the atrocities on their own ; they had their Western allies and local supporters i.e the army, the police force to do their dirty job. Where are they now? Are they going to fill this power vacuum? If so, then I am afraid that’s not really a sign of a successful revolution. May Allah swt help us and save us from anything bad. I hope and pray that the outcome of this revolution will be a good and blessed one insha-Allah and also this will encourage the people in other countries to start their revolution against their corrupt leaders INSHA-ALLAH!

Let us all pray for good in Egypt, the land from which Hajar (AS) the wife of Ibrahim (AS) and mother of Isma'eel (AS) came from, where our Prophets Musa (AS) and Yusuf (AS) lived, where our beloved last messenger’s (SAW) companion 'Amr bin al Aas (RAW) built the first masjid in Africa, the land which was home to great scholars like Imam ash-Shafi'ee (RA) and Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani (RA). There are some beautiful dua (supplication) I read recently which I would like to share with you:

Allaahumma ‘innaa naj’aluka fee nuhoorihim wa na’oothu bika min shuroorihim.

O Allah, we ask You to restrain them by their necks and we seek refuge in You from their evil. (Abu Dawud)

Allahumma ‘Anta ‘adhudee, wa ‘Anta naseeree, bika ‘ajoolu, wa bika ‘asoolu , wa bika ‘uqaatilu.

O Allah, You are my strength and You are my sopprter. For Your sake I go forth and for Your sake I advance and for Your sake I fight. (Abu Dawud)

Hasbunallaahu wa ni’mal wakeel.

Allah is sufficient for us and the best of those on whom to depend. (Al-Bukhari)

May Allah swt help us to achieve successful revolution everywhere and bring back justice and peace insha-Allah :-)

Mum and Muslim January/February issue is out now alhamdulillah !

2011-02-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah I am so glad to let you know that the latest edition of Mum and Muslim magazine is now out. As always we have received some great articles alhamdulillah thanks to our wonderful sisters and brothers.

The latest bi-monthly edition of Mum and Muslim magazine features a variety of articles from absent fathers to dealing with infertility, and birth story to doulas. We also have an article from our youngest writer at the age of 12 . As our feature was youth and issues related to them we have received some good articles from our lovely sisters from Baligh project. Do have a look at their articles on friendship and our next generation. We also did an article on current hijab trends at our features section . Alhamdulillah as usual our column section got some very good and practical ideas and tips from our working mum Umm Salihah on how to cope with threat of redundancy, stay at home mum Aisha'tu Mohammad. on salah and practice. Our Muslimah Dilemma columnist Tasneem Nazeer did a great article on how to deal with losing a loved one and our expat mum Rayhaanah has shared some ideas for expat mothers to make the move a little easier, more pleasant & plenty of fun for their little ones insha-Allah.
Our GP sister Dr. Subohi has done a very helpful article on immunisation alhamdulillah. There is also a very handy recipe to deal with constipation in children.
We also have received some yummy recipes. Do try making these tasty recipes and let us know your feedback insha-Allah. There are lots of articles to talk about alhamdulillah so do have a look insha-Allah. You can also share the articles on various social networks such as Facebook, Twitter etc.

We are very glad to have Nafisa as the youngest writer on borad alhamdulilah. Insha-Allah we would love more young writers to write for us as we really need to understand their views about life. I personally believe there is no point just writing about youth issues when they are not given the chance to express their views in their own language and according to their understanding of life. We really need to know how they see life and what their dreams and aspirations are. As our magazine deals with parenting issues, we are keen to get everyone, mothers, fathers and children as well as the members of our community to get involve intellectually insha-Allah and create a successful platform for sincere and healthy, fruitful dialogue and discussion insha-Allah. If we want to raise a better ummah we all need to work together insha-Allah.

As always, we appreciate your comments and support alhamdulillah. Do feel free to contact us. Also, if you would like to write for us please get in touch inshallah. Furthermore, the next issue will inshallah mark our first anniversary which is testament to the help given to us by firstly Allah SWT, but also to you too. We hope to have a special issue, but let us know if there is anything in particular that you want us to feature, inshallah.

Alhamdulillah we have had fantastic feedback from readers both positive and constructive. I still cannot believe that our next issue which is due in April is going to be our anniversary issue Insha-Allah. We started planning this magazine at the end of year 2009 and alhamdulillah with the help of couple of very passionate sisters and brothers we published our first issue in April 2010. Alhamdulillah we have managed to publish seven issues up until now. Initially we started as a monthly magazine but as we all are quite busy mothers, it was getting quite hectic and we decided to make it a bimonthly. Alhamdulillah we are learning a lot every single day. I hope more people will come forward and help us in making this magazine a great success insha-Allah.

We would like the voices represented in the magazine to be as varied as possible. We want to embrace the full beauty and diversity of our beautiful Ummah and learn from as many people as possible and hopefully pass that wisdom on to others insha-Allah. We believe this can be a great sadaqa jaariyah for all of us Insha-Allah.

If you are interested in writing for us (fi’sabillah for the time being), please e-mail us at editor@mumandmuslim.com. We also welcome bloggers to send us material they have used before if they think it is particularly relevant and we will link back to your blogs insh’Allah.

Please do have a look around our website and get a feel of what we are aiming to do and take a look at the sections to see if there is knowledge, experience or wisdom that you have to offer. If you aren’t able to contribute at this time, please do have a browse and leave a comment. Your feedback is invaluable to us so that we can learn what is useful and interesting to readers and what is not. Also do spread the message. We at M & M are working hard to make this magazine a great success insha-Allah. May Allah swt accept our work and give us baraka in our efforts, ameen.

Jazakh’Allah-khairun for your support, ideas, constructive comments, and sincere duas alhamdulillah! Please do keep them coming insha-Allah!

100 more days to go Insha-Allah!

2011-01-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

According to my pregnancy countdown, only 100 more days left insha-Allah! I am very excited but also quite worried as well. I really don’t want to have gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia again. I hate thinking about getting induced especially before 38 weeks. This time alhamdulillah I am trying hard to avoid any sugary and carbohydrate-rich food as much as possible. Since last couple of weeks I have started my high protein diet. I know diet during pregnancy is not really recommended but I don’t think I am doing a proper high protein diet as my body does need a bit of carb as well. I am trying to eat as many veg and fruits as possible with a little bit of rice or wholemeal bread. Whenever I feel hungry, I am eating fruits, cheese string, cottage cheese or couple of nuts and drink lots of water ( no juice alhamdulillah) to fill myself up. I am also trying to have lots of fish through out the week thanks to my dear friend J as she occasionally sends me some yummy fish dish alhamdulillah. As a pregnant woman, I feel so lucky and blessed to have family and friends who cook for me. May Allah SWT reward them abundantly for all the efforts and love for me, ameen.

So far , I am feeling okay alhamdulillah. But I do suffer from occasional aches and pains and cramps. I got my exercise bike down ( thanks to yobo) but I haven't done that much exercise as I feel lazy. I am also thinking that taking care of my young chlidren should be enough exercise but I know deep down that this is not really a good excuse! Insha-Allah hope to start soon.

Going through pregnancy is not easy but hope we will get reward insha-Allah for every second of it. It is actually seen as a form of struggle ( jihad) in Islam. So we are mujahidas Insha-Allah and there is this tiny mujahid in my tummy who is dependant on me! Most of the time, the doctors and midwives give us this impression that we pregnant women are in great risk of health problem but we tend to forget that for the babies in our womb life is not that easy either. I was reading an article where it was mentioned that for babies to come out from their mothers’ womb is also a very difficult journey. The more we know about pregnancy and child birth we can end up feeling a bit scared but I just try to remind myself that everything is in Allah’s control. Insha-Allah things will be fine. He SWT is in full control and He SWT knows what is best for us so Insha-Allah no worries! La Hawla wa la quwwata illah billah. Allahmumma la sahla illa ma’ja’altahu sahlan, wa anta taj’alaul hajna idha shi’ta sahla. O Allah! There is nothing easy except what You make easy. And You make the difficult easy if its Your Will.

Are we wearing our hijab properly?

2011-01-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, we are witnessing a very disturbing trend in hijab style. Sisters are wearing hijab (?) but not really fulfilling the basic requirements of hijab. Thanks to most of the young hijabi sisters, it has become a norm to wear lots of make up, wearing very eye catchy and tight-fitting and see-through clothes. May be only one thing hasn’t changed that much and that is not to show the hair as if hijab is only to cover our hair and everything else can be on display! I feel very sad seeing the state of our hijab. What's the point of wearing hijab then? Where are we heading? I am not just witnessing this new trend in the West but almost every other parts of the world thanks to global media and culture. I wanted to write about this issue for a long time but felt it can be quite a sensitive issue to deal with. Seeing my own family and friends getting sucked into this silly trend made me feel determined to write about it. Allah (swt) knows my intention. This post is first and foremost for my own sake as I am also a hijabi person and want to follow the requirements of hijab properly just to please my Lord. I also thought that when as Muslim we see something is wrong we are told to voice our concern in a polite way to encouarge and help brothers and sisters to correct themselves. Moreover, I am a mother now so I have a huge responsibility to educate my children about the true values and norms of our faith insha-Allah. I hope this post will also help our sisters and brothers to understand the real hijab insha-Allah. Before dealing with the issue I would like to share some sample of so-called hijab we can witness around us so that you can get an idea of what I am referring to.

I think the rise of the new so-called ‘trendy’ hijab style is due to our sheer ignorance and lack of understanding about what hijab really means and what it actually requires. The word "hijab" or "ḥijāb" (Arabic: حجاب he-zjab) refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general. The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover (noun). Most Islamic legal systems define this type of modest dressing as covering everything except the face and hands in public. According to Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality. So it’s not just a piece of cloth but it is a symbol for us as Muslims to behave in a modest way and present ourselves as well-balanced Muslims. The Qur'an instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way.

The clearest verse on the requirement of the hijab (for men and women) is Surah Al-Nur (Light) 24:30–31 which says, “[Prophet], tell believing men to lower their eyes and guard their private parts: this is purer for them Allah is well aware of everything they do. And tell believing women that they should lower their eyes, guard their private parts and not display their charms beyond what [it is acceptable] to reveal; they should draw their coverings over their neckline and not reveal their charms except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their womenfolk, their slaves, such men who attend them who have no desire or children who are not aware of women’s nakedness; they should not stamp their feet so as to draw attention to any hidden charms. Believers, all of you, turn to Allah so that you may prosper.”

It has also mentioned in the Qur’an, “O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their body (when they are outside): That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed. [...] (Qur'an 33:58–59)

The four major Sunni schools of thought (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali) hold that entire body of the woman, except her face and hands must be covered during prayer and in public settings. There are those who allow the feet to be uncovered as well as the hands and face. However, some scholars encourage covering the face, while some follow the opinion that it is only not obligatory to cover the face and the hands but mustahab (Highly recommended). Some niqabi sisters follow this argument and that’s why they cover their face and hands too.

According to majority of Muslims scholars, it is recommended that women wear clothing that is not very fitting to the body: either modest forms of western clothing (long shirts and skirts), or the more traditional jilbāb, a high-necked, loose robe that covers the arms and legs. A khimār or shaylah, a scarf or cowl that covers all but the face, is also worn in many different styles. As a practical matter, however, the opinion that Muslim men must cover themselves between the navel and the knees is predominant, and most Muslims believe that a man who fails to observe this requirement during salah must perform the prayer again, properly covered, in order for it to be valid. Three of the four Sunni Madh'hab, or schools of law, require that the knees be covered; the Maliki school recommends but does not require knee covering. According to some hadith, Muslim men are asked not to wear gold jewellery, silk clothing, or other adornments that are considered feminine. Some scholars say that these prohibitions should be generalized to prohibit the lavish display of wealth on one's person.

If you read the tafseer ( explanation) of the Quranic verses on Hijab, you can easily notice the basic criteria of hijab. Hijab is meant to help us lead a simple and humble life. We are told to cover ourselves in a way so that we are not creating fitna by getting the wrong attention from the non mahrams. Allah (swt) also mentions very clearly in the Qur’an who are allowed to see us without hijab and when we are wearing our hijab, we are not suppose to beautify ourselves in such a way that creates attention.

Rules are there for a reason. Allah (swt) know what is good for us and what can cause us harm. Let us follow His Qur’an to save ourselves from any sort of harm. Come on sisters! Let us wear hijab properly and let us get our intention right. We are here to please Allah (swt) and no one else! Our ultimate success lies in getting closer to Him. Thanks to internet and all the social networks we are commiting more sins by publicising our beauty with hijab (?) and we are claming that we are proud Muslimahs! Are we really proud of our faith? If so, how come we are not following the basic rules of our faith? Do you think Allah (swt) is unawre of what we are doing?

I know it’s a big trial (fitna) for our young sisters and brothers living in a world where look, size matters more than intellect, moral values, skills etc. Even our faith acknowledges this fact and that’s why we will get more reward if we follow the faith wholeheartedly while young as it is really very hard given all the temptations around us. We need to seek knowledge and know what our faith is all about. Only through knowledge we can empower ourselves and create a strong Muslim identity insha-Allah so that all the secular and non-islamic norms and values will not seem so cool to us. I would like to finish this post with a beautiful supplication done by a group of practising youth who are mentioned in Surah Al-kahf. They wanted to follow the faith properly but the society they were living in was so anti-Islam that it was almost impossible for them to remain Allah-conscious people and that’s why they decided to hide in the cave. Allah (swt) was so impressed by their faith and action that He (swt) made them a symbol of a great miracle ‘The people of the cave’. They said, “ Our Lord, grant us Your Mercy and find us a good way out of our ordeal.” (Surah Al-Kahf:18:10)

May Allah (swt) forgive us, have mercy on us and guide us to the right path, ameen!

On a lighter note, Mashallah brother Baba Ali did a great video on hijab named ‘That’s not hijab’. Mashallah I think he did it really nicely.

There also a great video on hijab mashallah

The best dua for forgiveness (Istighfar)

2011-01-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah last year I came across this beautiful dua and I would like to share this dua with you. We all are sinners but we are told by our beloved prophet Muhammad (saw) that the best of the sinners are those who constantly repent and ask their Lord to forgive them. May Allah (swt) make us the best insha-Allah!

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ

Allahumma anta rabbi, la ilaaha illa anta khalaqtani wa ana 'ala 'ahdika wa wa'dika maa s'ta'tat, audhu bika min sharri maa sana't abbu laka bini'matika a'layya wa abu'u bidhanbi faaghfirli faa innahu laa yaghfiruj' junuba illa anta.

"O Allah, You are my Lord, there is none worthy of worship besides You, You have created me and I am Your servant, I am Your pact and promise, I seek refuge in You to the best of my ability from my evil sins. I testify to Your favours and to my sins, hence forgive me since there is no one else to forgive sins besides You".
The person who recites this dua sincerely in the course of the day and night and dies will be among the people of jannah insha-Allah. ( Bukhari)

Supplications to feel and get recession-proof Insha-Allah

2011-01-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

Since 2009 almost everyone of us are affected by recession. I know this is just part of life, a form of test from Allah swt as He mentioned in the Qur’an that He (swt) will definitely test us with loss of wealth, health, food etc to see how we deal with it and approach Him (swt). Admit it or not, we are here for a reason and that is to worship our Creator in every moment and state insha-Allah. Having said that, it can get pretty tough going through the hardship if we are not really accoustomed to loss of wealth, health and so on . There are beautiful supplications in our faith which can help us in feeling in control and optismistic insha-Allah. I have gathered some authentic dua's from the Sunnah (tradition) of our beloved prophet (saw). Do remember to recite them with the meaning as well as having firm faith that Insha-Allah through Allah swt’s mercy and generosity we will indeed get our supplications answered very soon INSHA-ALLAH!

It has been mentioned by Ali (raw) that the prophet (saw) taught him a dua by which our debt can be paid even if it be as great as a mountain. The dua is given below:

اللَّهُمَّ اكْفِنِي بِحَلَالِكَ عَنْ حَرَامِكَ وَأَغْنِنِي بِفَضْلِكَ

عَمَّنْ سِوَاكْ

ALLAAHUMMAK-FINEE BI-H'ALAALIKA A'N H'ARAAMIKA WA AGHNINEE BI-FAZ'LIKA A'MMAN SIWAAK.

“O Allah, make Your lawful bounties sufficient for me so as to save me from what is unlawful and from Your grace grant me sufficient abundance to make me free from the need of all except You.” (Reported by Tirmidhi, who considers it sound)

Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri (R.A.) reported, “One day the prophet (saw) entered the mosque. He saw there a man from the Ansar called Abu Umamah. He asked, ‘What is the matter with you that I see you sitting in the mosque when it is not the time of prayer.’ He replied, ‘I am very much worried and in great debt, O Messenger of Allah!’ The prophet (saw) said, ‘Let me teach you words to say so that Allah will remove your worries and settle your debt?’ He exclaimed, ‘Of course, O Messenger of Allah.’ The prophet (saw) said, ‘Say in morning and evening,

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْبُخْلِ وَالْجُبْنِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ

ALLAHUMMA ‘INNEE ‘A’UDHU BIKA MINALHAMMI WALHAZANI, WAL’AJZI WALKASALI, WALBUKHLI, WA DHALA’ID-DAYNI WA GHALABATIR RIJAALI.

"O Allah I seek refuge in You from all worry and grief. I seek refuge in You from incapacity and slackness. I seek refuge in You from miserliness and cowardice and I seek refuge in You from being overcome by debt and being subjected to men". The man said, ‘When I said that, Allah (swt) removed all my worries and settled my debt.’ ( Abu Daw’ud)

We are so lucky to have these supplications taught by our beloved prophet Muhammad (saw). Sadly, despite the abundance of so many great advice and supplications in our faith, most of the times we just feel depressed so easily and don’t really try to find out how to cope with difficulties. May Allah (swt) help us in understanding the beauty and comprehensiveness of our faith and also help us in implementing the teachings in our daily life, ameen!

Time flies …

2010-12-31T14:20:00.000-08:00

Subhanallah time does fly so fast. It feels like just the other day I was at university and planning for my future. Now I am married and mother of two alhamdulillah. Insha-Allah in couple of months we will be blessed with another precious baby :-)

Every year is different. There are so many things to learn. This year has been quite a difficult one but it also has taught me a lot about myself and the people around me. I feel sad that time is passing so rapidly. It just shows how quickly we are getting closer to our end. I am scared but also hopeful that Insha-Allah Allah (SWT) will have mercy on me and my families and relatives and friends. When I see people celebrating the coming of a new year, I do feel confused. How can we be so happy and celebrating while our time is getting shorter. Or may be most of us are totally unaware of our departure. May Allah (SWT) help us in understanding the truth about life and death and the eternal life !

I hope and pray that year 2011 will be a very blessed year for all of us, insha-Allah. I hope with Allah’s (SWT) help we will strive to be better Muslims and help everyone in every way possible Insha-Allah.

I have been thinking about my new year's resolution and not surprisingly thought of so many things to do next year insha-Allah. But I am not very sure that I will be able to acheive all the goals :-( But I am going to give it a try INSHA-ALLAH !

Insha-Allah 2011 resolutions....

1. Hope to be a better Muslimah by seeking knowledge of my deen and implement what I learn on a regular basis and spread the knowledge through my action and through writing at my blog and Facebook and Mum & Muslims e-magazine Insha-Allah.

2. Hope to be a better wife to my beloved husband, a better mother to my precious children , a better daughter to my beloved parents and a good daughter-in-law to my beloved mother-in-law, a better sister to my dearest siblings and brother-in-laws.

3. Hope to be a better relative and a better sister-in-deen for my precious friends Insha-Allah.

4. Enjoy life as much as possible and try to use my every minute in a more meaningful way insha-Allah.

5. Less complaining, moaning, nagging, arguing ...

6. Okay this one is very hard but I will try my best insha-Allah... NO BACKBITING! Need to remind myself that this is one of the major sins.

7. Eating healthy food and insha-Allah more exercise!

8. Hope to follow the sunnah of brushing my teeth with miswak, having one tea spoon of Black seed oil everyday.

9. Learning to drive INSHA-ALLAH :-)

10. Now comes the hardest one! TALKING LESS & LISTENING and READING and THINKING MORE !!!

I hope I will try my best Insha-Allah. Only with Allah's (SWT) help I can achieve my goals. O Allah (SWT)make this year a very prosperous one for all of us, AMEEN.

Christmas dilemma

2010-12-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

"Dear kids,

There is no Santa. Those presents are from your parents.
Love,
Wikileaks"

I spotted this status at one of my Facebook friend’s profle and it just made me smile. Because of Christmas , the children programmes on tv are predominantly geared around the Christmas themes i.e Father Christmass, Christmass tree, lights, garlands, holly etc. My children are very young and they may not really understand the programmes they are watching. But I do feel worried sometimes thinking what if these programmes leave a lasting impression on their mind. Insha-Allah I am waiting for them to grow a bit older so that I can start explainig to them what we as Muslims believe. I don’t really want them to stop watching tv as that will not really solve the problem. They are more likely to grow up in this society so eventually they will come across all the different norms and values. I believe whatever they are experiancing in their life is part of the learning process. I hope as parents we will be able to raise them as balanced human being who will understand the differences and insha-Allah will lead their lives as good Muslims.

Lady Maryam (AS) & her son Isa (AS)

2010-12-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

As Christmas is approaching, we as Muslim parents need to remind ourselves the true facts about Lady Maryam (AS) who is widely known as Mary in Western world and her son Isa (AS) who is known as Jesus in this part of the world. If we want our children to grow up as confident Muslims, we need to pass onto them the true message of our faith, otherwise they will end up being confused by the Christian version. Alhamdulillah we have the Book of Allah (SWT) to refer back to.

In the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) mentions with great admiration the family of Ibrahim (AS) and the family of Imran (AS). In Suran Al-Imran Allah (SWT) says, ‘Allah chose Adam, Noah, Abraham’s family and Imran’s family over all other people, in one line of descent – Allah hears and knows all.’ – (Quran Surah 3:33-34)

As you can see Lady Maryam (AS) is descended from a noble family, the family of Imran. Her birth story is also a very inspiring one. Her mother is a great example of a God-fearing woman. She dedicated her precious child to Allah (SWT)’s service even before her birth. ‘Imran’s wife said, “Lord, I have dedicated what is growing in my womb entirely to You; so accept this from me. You are the One who hears and knows all.”’ – (Quran Surah 3:35)

When she delivered her she said ‘My Lord! I have given birth to a girl’ – (Quran Surah 3:35). Allah (SWT) loves us all regardless for our gender differences and that’s why He (SWT) said, ‘Allah knew best what she had given birth to: the male is not like the female.’ – (Quran Surah 3:36)

Maryam’s mother said’ “I name her Maryam and I commend her and her offspring to Your protection from the rejected Satan.” – (Quran Surah 3:36). Once again we can learn so much from her beautiful action. We as parents should make supplication for our children from the very start of their life and also need to remember their offspring too, insha-Allah. 'Her Lord graciously accepted her and made her grow in goodness and entrusted her to the charge of Zachariah.’ – (Quran Surah 3:37) Because of her great supplication, she wasn't just rewarded with a saintly daughter like Lady Maryam (AS) but also with a great grandson Isa (AS)! Subhanallah ! This just shows how much our good intention and dua can help us in gaining countless rewards from Allah (SWT).

The Superiority of Lady Maryam (AS) over other women

In Surah Al-Imran Allah (SWT) mentions, “The angels said to Maryam: ‘Maryam, Allah has chosen you and made you pure. He has truly chosen you above all women. Maryam, be devout to your Lord; prostrate yourself in worship, bow down with those who pray.’” – (Quran Surah 3:43-44)

The utter innocence of lady Maryam (AS)

In the Quran it is mentioned how Maryam (AS) reacted to the news of conceiving her son isa (AS). ‘She said, “My Lord, how can I have a son when no man has touched me?” The angel says, “This is how Allah creates what He wills: when He has ordained something, He only says, “Be” and it is.” – (Quran Surah 3:47)

The miraculous birth of prophet Isa (AS)

Allah (SWT) also mentions in the Quran the true story of the birth of Isa (AS) so that we as Muslims should never have any doubts regarding this great incident. ‘The angel said, “ Maryam, Allah gives you news of a Word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Isa (Juesus), son of Maryam, who will be held in honour in this world and the next, who will be one of those brought near to Allah. He will speak to people in his infancy and in his adulthood. He will be one of the righteous.” – (Quran Surah 3:45-46)

‘He (Isa) will teach them the Sripture and wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel. He will send him as a messenger to the children of Israel.’ – (Quran Surah 3:48-49)

Miracles of Isa (AS)

Isa (AS) was given several miracles by Allah (SWT). “I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I will make the shape of a bird for you out of clay, then breathe into it and with Allah’s permission it will become a real bird; I will heal the blind and the leper and bring the dead back to life with Allah’s permission. I will tell you what you may eat and what you may store up in your houses. There is truly a sign for you in this, if you are believers. I have come to confirm the truth of the Torah which preceded me and to make some things lawful to you which used to be forbidden. I have come to you with a sign from you Lord. Be mindful of God, obey me: God is my Lord and your Lord, so serve Him- that is a straight path.” – (Quran Surah 3:49-51)

There are so many ayats in the Qur'an where we come across the story of our prophet Isa (AS). Insha-Allah I would like to write more about Isa (AS) in future posts insha-Allah.

For the rest of my life.....

2010-12-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

When I first heard this song, I felt so moved. I have totally fallen in love with the beautiful lyrics. Although this song is meant for a wife, I thought this is exactly what I feel like for my husband alhamdulillah. Once upon a time, I used to think love is just an illusion especially seeing the way love is depicted in the media. Seeing friends falling in love and act so crazily used to make me really annoyed. I even started to believe there is nothing called love; it's just lust but people are too embarrassed to use this term so they just call it 'love'. But I knew as Muslims we are supposed to wait till we get married then we will eventually find love but I wasn’t really sure about it. As I was single, I just thought that's just not going to happen. But Alhamdulillah marriage has completely changed my doubts about love. In Islam, love is very important and it is truly celebrated through marriage. A loveless marriage is not really a marriage.

When Allah SWT talks about this beautiful relationship , He says “And among His Signs is this that He created for you spouses of your own kind, that you may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy for one another: verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.” (Quran 30:21)
I didn't really appreciate this verse until I got married. Now whenever I come across this beautiful verse I know what it means to be married alhamdulillah. Love is not just some feelings that are merely based on lust. It is definitely way more than that. Alhamdulillah we are best friends of each other. Allah swt didn't just mention love but also mercy and kindness as main qualities for a couple to have. Love is like a seed and through care and giving lots of time and energy we can make love grow eternally. I hope and make dua to Allah swt to make us love each more and more and reunite us in jannah, Ameen. I am dedicating this song to you Yobo!

For the Rest of My Life Lyrics

I praise Allah for sending me you my love
You found me home and sail with me
And I`m here with you
Now let me let you know
You`ve opened my heart

I was always thinking that love was wrong
But everything was changed when you came along
OOOOO
And there’s a couple words I want to say

For the rest of my life
I`ll be with you
I`ll stay by your side honest and true
Till the end of my time
I`ll be loving you. loving you
For the rest of my life
Thru days and night

I`ll thank Allah for open my eyes
Now and forever I I`ll be there for you

I know that deep in my heart
I feel so blessed when I think of you
And I ask Allah to bless all we do

You`re my wife and my friend and my strength
And I pray we`re together eternally

Now I find myself so strong
Everything changed when you came along
OOOO

And theres a couple word I want to say
For the rest of my life
I`ll be with you
I`ll stay by your side honest and true
Till the end of my time
I`ll be loving you. loving you
For the rest of my life
Thru days and night
I`ll thank Allah for open my eyes
Now and forever I I`ll be there for you

I know that deep in my heart now that you`re here
Infront of me I strongly feel love
And I have no doubt
And I`m singing loud that I`ll love you eternally
For the rest of my life
I`ll be with you
I`ll stay by your side honest and true
Till the end of my time
I`ll be loving you.loving you

For the rest of my life
Thru days and night
I`ll thank Allah for open my eyes
Now and forever I I`ll be there for you
I know that deep in my heart

Artist: Maher Zain
Album: Thank You Allah
Copyright: Awakening Records 2009

Seen my baby today for the first time!

2010-12-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah I had my first scan today. This was the anomaly scan which is done usually around the 20 weeks of pregnancy. I was quite excited but also worried thinking what if the baby is not healthy. But alhamdulillah baby is alright. As soon as I saw the baby I felt so glad looking at its tiny body and hearing the heartbeat alhamdulillah. The scan lasted for 15 minutes. The sonographer asked me at the end whether I have any question. I was tempted to ask the sex of the baby but thought I am glad that the baby is healthy so what more to ask, alhamdulillah. Moreover, my husband doesn’t want to know so I thought I will respect his wishes. I thought of finding it for myself and keep it a secret but my problem is I cannot keep a secret for a long time :-)
Anyways, I bought the scan photo to keep it in my baby journal. I have kept all the scan photos, hospital tags, etc of my children. I have tried to write as much as possible in details about the whole experience and of course the labour as for me that’s the time I felt like I am on an emotional roller coaster and so many things were happening. During the last moment of labour, I feel how helpless I am and in need of help and mercy from Allah SWT!

For last couple of weeks I have feeling the movement of my baby. Mashallah it is a very wonderful feeling. Sometimes it feels so amazing that a tiny living being is floating in my tummy Subhanallah! Once upon a time nothing was there but through Allah SWT’s will this tiny being is growing inside me Subhanallah. It reminds me the verse in the Qur’an where Allah SWT says that once nobody knew about us and then through His will we came to existence and only through His mercy we have grown but unfortunately most of us feel that we are independent of Him and can do whatever we want without His help! May Allah SWT save us from being so arrogant to think like that and may Allah SWT help us to love Him more and get closer to Him, ameen!

Alhamdulillah I'm pregnant :-)

2010-12-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

I am so glad to let you know that Alhamdulillah I am pregnant with my third baby and hope to meet my newborn in April Insha-Allah. I am hoping to share my experience as a pregnant mother of two on a regular basis up to my due date insha-Allah. I hope my posts will help all the sisters out there who are interested to know more about this great journey Insha-Allah. Please share your views through the comments section insha-Allah.

Alhamdulillah Allah (SWT) has blessed us with two children. Our son is 3 years old and our daughter is 20 months old. I am in my 20th weeks of pregnancy. Alhamdulillah up until now I haven’t really suffered many problems. I did go through usual morning sickness during first trimester a little though. Morning sickness is definitely a misleading name for this unpleasant side-effect of pregnancy. Around 80% of pregnant women suffer from nausea and not just in the mornings! Many women feel waves of nausea throughout the day and some feel sick all the time. Research shows it seems to hit a peak at around 9 to 10 weeks and generally starts to improve after the 14 week mark. Nobody really knows what causes it but experts believe high levels of circulating hormones are to blame.

As I am in my second trimester, I am not feeling that sick anymore alhamdulillah. To avoid feeling sick, it is very important to eat on a regular basis but not eating too much as that will definitely make you feel sick. It is better to eat a little amount of food and wait till the food is digested properly. Make sure you are not starving yourself as that will trigger more sickness. Snacking on healthy starchy carbohydrates such as wholemeal toast and sandwiches, bananas etc keeps blood sugar topped up and ensures your stomach is never completely empty. Sipping water or any other juice throughout the day can prevent dehydration. You need to get used to frequent trips to the loo as this is very common at this stage of pregnancy. This is caused by uterus expanding and pressing down on bladder. But don’t cut back on liquids as this only makes the problem worse and can also put you at risk of dehydration. It is recommended to drink eight glasses of water a day and practise pulling up pelvic floor muscles to control bladder. During my first trimester I also had frequent headaches which are quite normal and are thought to be caused by fluctuating hormones. I did try to avoid taking paracetamol but when it was quite unbearable I took two paracetamols to get rid of the headache.

With my first two pregnancies, I did not really experience cramp during the first and second trimesters but with this one I get frequent cramps. These shooting pains in the calves tend to get more frequent and painful as pregnancy progresses. When it happens, straighten your leg and foot and pull your toes towards your body to ease cramp or try walking about in bare feet on a cold floor. For me massaging the affected area helps a lot.

I have been having my vitamin supplements from the very beginning as I was also breastfeeding my daughter. It is highly recommended to take folic acid which is an essential B vitamin that can reduce the risk of baby developing a neural tube defect such as spina bifida (where a gap develops in the spine and damage to the central nervous system occurs) by up to 75 per cent. Ideally we are advised to take a supplement in the first three months before conception and then during the first three months of pregnancy. You can also get folic acid by eating foods such as leafy green vegetables, yeast extract, fruits and wholemeal bread and cereals. I love eating lots of broccoli and feel good thinking I am having quite a lot of folic acid insha-Allah. However, it is hard to get enough from diet so it is recommended that pregnant mothers should take a 400mcg supplement everyday. I have been having Pregnacare tablets.

During the first trimester sometimes I did feel quite exhausted as I also need to look after my two babies :-) but alhamdulillah having a quick nap can really help in feeling better. I try to have nap when my chlidren are having their one. Otherwise it is not really possible to sleep as they are most of the time with me :-) . Anyways, I am looking forward to meet my baby insha-Allah ! Sometimes I do feel a bit scared thinking about the labour pains! But I have decided not to think too much and stress myself . I am always asking Allah (SWT) to make it easy and quick for me and bless us with a healthy and good Muslim baby. Please do keep me in your duas. Jazakallah khairan!

Muslim New Year 1432: Month of Muharram and Ashura

2010-12-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday is the Islamic New Year insha-Allah. It is the first day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar and the start of 1432 AH. The New Year date changes every year as the Islamic calendar is roughly 11 days shorter than the Gregorian (solar) calendar.

The Islamic or Hijrah calendar is lunar-based, consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar) and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals. The first year was the year the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his companions (RA) migrated from Makkah to Al-Madinah where He (SAW) set up the first Islamic state in 662 CE, known as the Hijra. Each numbered year is designated either H for Hijra or AH for the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).

Muslims in general don’t really celebrate the New Year but the 10th of Muharram (the day of Ashura) is very significant to us. Most probably it is going to be 15th or 16th December the day of Ashura, insha-Allah. We should fast this day as recommended by the Prophet (SAW):

'Ibn Abbas (RA) said "I never saw Allah's Messenger (SAW) so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other day than this day, the Day of Ashura and this month, meaning Ramadan" - (Bukhari, Hadith 1867)

According to one narration, Muharram is called the month of Allah (SWT). Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “The month for observing Saum (fasting) next after Ramadan is the month of Allah, the Muharram; and the best salat (prayer) next after the prescribed salat is salat at night (Tahajjud prayers) (Muslim).

Muharram is also one of the sacred months. The other three sacred months are Rajab, Dhul-Qadah and Dhul-Hijjah. It has been reported from Ibn Abbas (RA), the Messenger of Allah (SAW) observed fasting on the day of Ashura and commanded all the Muslims to fast on this day (Al-Bukhari & Muslim).

In another hadith, it is stated that when the Prophet (SAW) emigrated from Makkah to Al-Madinah, He (SAW) saw that the Jews were fasting on this day. He (SWT) asked them why they did this on that day and they told him that they did it for the reason that Allah (SWT) granted Prophet Musa (AS) emancipation from Pharaoh on this day and so they observed fasting as a token of their joy. On this, the Messenger (SAW) said that in this happiness of Prohet Musa (AS), Muslims have a greater right to observe this fast than the Jews. Consequently, He (SAW) also observed fast on 10th of Muharram. Then He (SAW) said that if he lived the following year, He (SAW) would fast on 9th of Muharram also so that they would make themselves different from the Jews. According to another Hadith, He (SAW) ordained Muslims to observe the fast of Ashura and in addition one more fast on 9th or 11th of Muharram in opposition to the Jews (Musnad Ahmed, Vol.4,p-21). That is why fasting two days either 9th and 10th or 10th and 11th of Muharram is a Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (SAW). We are also recommended to fast anytime during this month as it is one of the sacred months.

It is recommended to bring the night of Ashura to life with prayers, supplication and remembrance of Allah (SWT). It is also good to expand generosity upon children by giving them food they like and other gifts.

As today is probably the last day of Hijri year 1431, I would like to share with you a beautiful dua I have found in one of the Zaytuna journals, alhamdulillah. Now some people may question what the source of this is exactly. I must admit I don’t know but I believe my intention is pure and I want Allah (SWT) to forgive me insha-Allah. Just read the dua and you can decide yourself whether you would like to make this dua or otherwise. Allah (SWT) knows best.

It was mentioned in the book. The Treasure of Success and Felicity in the Supplements that expand the Chests (Kanzun-Najaah was-Surur), that if a person reads the following supplication three times at the end of the year, the Devil will say, “We tired ourselves with him/her all year and he/she ruined all that we have done in one moment.”

“In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful and Allah bless our teacher Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, whatever actions I have committed this past year which have not pleased You, which I may have forgotten though You do not forget, while You are forbearing with me though fully capable of punishing me, while You called me to relent and atone even after my audaciousness before You – O Allah, I surely seek Your forgiveness for that, so forgive me! O Allah, and as for my actions that have pleased You and for which recompense and forgiveness has been promised, please accept them from me. And do not dash my hopes in You, O Generous, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. And Allah, the Exalted, bless our Master Muhammad and his famly and companions and grant them peace. (Seasons: Journal of Zaytuna Institute Autumn – Winter Reflections 2003-2004).

May Allah SWT keep us blessed in the new year and help us to be better Muslims, ameen !

Book review: The excellence of knowledge

2010-12-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

The excellence of knowledge: The virtue of Salaf over the Khalaf
Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali
Daar us-Sunnah Publishers

Alhamdulillah I have loved reading this book. It is very important for us to know what sort of knowledge is beneficial for us as our life is too short to waste in gaining knowledge that is not going to benefit us in any way. What scares me more is the possibility that I may end up reading something which will affect my faith (creating doubts, confusion) and ruin my chance to gain closeness to Allah (SWT). There is a beautiful supplication at the start of the book which I hope can help us in gaining beneficial knowledge, insha-Allah.

The prophet (SAW) said, “Allah! Benefit me by what You have taught me, teach me what will be of benefit to me and increase me in knowledge.” [Tirmidhi # 3393 and Ibn Majah # 3833]

I just tried to quote from the book a bit so that you can have an idea about the book. It is a must have book for any library, mashallah. It’s not really a thick one so you may be able to finish reading it in one or two days, insha-Allah.

In the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) sometimes mentions knowledge in a praiseworthy way referring to beneficial knowledge and at other times in a blameworthy way referring to knowledge that is not beneficial at all. He (SWT) taught us a beautiful dua in the Qur’an. “And say: My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” (Surah TA Ha 20:114) It is also mentioned in the Qur’an that only learned amongst His servants do truly fear Allah (SWT).

According to Imam Ahmed (May Allah have mercy upon him), the foundation of knowledge is the fear of Allah (SWT). Therefore, the foundation of knowledge is that knowledge which leads to fearing Him, loving Him, drawing close to Him, taking comfort with Him and ardently desiring Him. Then this is followed by knowledge of the rulings of Allah (SWT), all that He loves and is pleased with. Whosoever realises these two types of knowledge, he has found beneficial knowledge, he has attained beneficial knowledge, a fearful heart, a content soul and supplications that are responded to.

Our beloved messenger Muhammad (SAW) has taught us a beautiful dua in this regard: “Allah! I take refuge with You from knowledge that does not benefit, from a heart that has no fear, from a soul that is never content and from an invocation that is not responded to.” (Muslim#2722)

The author argues that the beneficial knowledge is to strictly follow the text of the Book (the Qur’an) and the Sunnah, to understand their meaning and in order to do so, confine oneself to what has been reported from the companions, the successors and their successors in matters to do with the Qur’an, hadith, the lawful and the prohibited, asceticism, softening of the heart, gnosis and other things.

“Awza’i said, ‘Knowledge is that which the companions of Muhammad (SAW) conveyed, anything else is not to be considered knowledge’.” This is also stated by Imam Ahmed.

Our salafs used to be very careful with their dealing with people. They refrained from excessive argumentation and debating, they did not do so because of ignorance and inability, rather because of knowledge and the fear of Allah (SWT). Those who came after them, who did speak much and went to great lengths in widening issues, did not do so because they had knowledge that the salaf did not, rather due to love of speech and lack of scrupulousness (wara’).

Some of the Salaf said, “When Allah SWT desires good for His servant, He opens for him the door of action. When Allah SWT desires evil for His servant, He locks the door of action and opens instead the door of disputation.”

Ibn Mas’ud (RAW) said, “Sufficient knowledge is it that one fears Allah SWT and sufficient ignorance is it to be deceived of Allah SWT.” Others said, “Whoever fear Allah SWT is the scholar and whoever disobeys Allah Him is the ignoramus.”

Our beloved prophet (SAW) advised Ibn Abbas (RAW), “Be mindful of Allah SWT, He will be mindful of you. Be mindful of Allah SWT and you will find Him in front of you. Know Allah SWT in times of ease and He will know you in times of hardship.” (Tirmidhi)

The sign of knowledge that is not beneficial is pride, arrogance and conceit. Such a person seeks high position and ranking in this world and competes for it. He loves debating to show off his knowledge! It is reported from the prophet (SAW) that whoever seeks knowledge for this purpose, ‘for him is the Fire, the Fire!’(Ibn Majah)

In summary, the author concludes, in these corrupt times, it is very important for us to stick to the Salafs. Regardless of whether it be in the foundation of the faith or its subsidiary issues, the tafsir (Exegesis) of the Quran, the explanations of the hadith, asceticism, matters which softens the heart, points of benefit and wisdom, exhortations – whatever the Salaf spoke. And we should try to avoid excessive debating and argumentation.

I hope the review helps and it’s not too long!

You can also read the book online at http://www.kalamullah.com/excellence-of-knowledge.html

You can buy the book at Kitaabun.

The new issue of Mum & Muslim is out now!

2010-12-06T03:02:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah the December/January issue of Mum and Muslim is out now! Alhamdulillah thanks to all our writers, this issue is full of excellent articles. The sacred month of Dhul Hijjah is going and the Muslim New Year is almost here. It is also Christmas and we have produced some useful articles on the issues that Muslims in the West face at this time of year, insha-Allah. I am so glad that M & M is getting popular. This was just a dream once upon a time (in fact, not that long ago!) and now after almost one year, Allah (SWT) has blessed us with six issues full of very informative and inspirational articles alhamdulillah! All credit goes to Allah (SWT) and our dedicated writers!

In the beginning, it wasn’t that easy especially creating the site with all its categories and getting good contents. When you start something from nothing, it is quite challenging to feel motivated! Sometimes I did feel like quitting thinking this is a very difficult task given at the beginning not that many people were involved in the project. Alhamdulillah Allah (SWT) makes it easy when you are trying to do something which will definitely benefit the community. I started to contact some of my close friends to work together. Alhamdulillah they helped me a lot. Special thanks go to Umm Salihah and Aisha Sanusi. Emma has helped us a lot too but unfortunately due to other commitments she had to leave.

From the very beginning, my husband has been very helpful. It was him who did the website as I am not really that good with technical stuff. Whenever due to so many difficulties, I felt like stopping, he kept encouraging me to keep on going and trying my best. Alhamdulillah I am so blessed to have a partner like him. May Allah (SWT) reward him for being so supportive and extra-patient with me, ameen.

So far, this year has been quite a productive year for M & M e-mag. We are getting more writers as well as regular readers from all over the world alhamdulillah. We hope to carry on working hard and make this magazine a big brand not just in the UK but throughout the world, Insha-Allah! Please do keep us in your duas! And please do contact us if you would like to contribute. We are always actively looking for more writers and contributors.

The best 10 days are here !

2010-11-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ruqyah for children

2010-10-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Ruqyah consists of words said or written in the form of dua (supplication) or dhikr (remembrance of Allah SWT) for the purpose of protection and cure. It is sometimes accompanied with certain actions such as blowing or wiping over someone to whom it is applied. Our Prophet (SAW) warned against ruqyahs which involve shirk (associating partners with Allah SWT). There are some important conditions that must be satisfied for a ruqyah to be permissible. According to Ibn Hajar (RA), there is a consensus among the ‘ulama that a ruqyah is permissible when it satisfies three conditions:

1. It should be with Allah’s (SWT) words (the Qur’an) or using His names and attributes.

2. It should be in Arabic or of an intelligible meaning.

3. One must believe that it does not have an independent power by itself, but by Allah’s (SWT) will.

Ruqyah from the Qur’an

Surah Al-Fatihah - (Surah 1)

Ayat ul-Kursi – (Surah 2:255)

Surah Ikhlas – (Surah 112)

Surah Falaq – (Surah 113)

Suran Nas – (Surah 114)

The last three surahs of the Qur’an are called mu’awwithat (‘the protecting ones’)

The Prophet (SAW) said, “Say the mu’awwithat three times in the evening and in the morning. This will protect you from all (harmful) things.”

Aishah (RA) reported: “When Allah’s Messenger (SAW) went to bed, he would bring the palms of both hands together and blow into them while reciting ‘Qul huwa Llahu ahad’, ‘Qul a’uthu bi rabbi l-falaq’, and ‘Qul a’uthu bi rabb in’Naas’. He would then rub with them whatever he could reach of his body, starting with his head, face and the front of his body. He would do this three times. When he was too ill, he asked me to do this for him.” – (Bukhari and Muslim)

Abu Said al-Khudri (RA) reported: “Allah’s Messenger (SAW) used to seek Allah’s protection from jinns and evil eye with various supplications until the two mu’awwithat were revealed. After that he (SAW) adhered to them and left everything else.” – (At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)

Abu Said al-Khudri (RA) reported that Jibril (AS) visited the prophet (SAW) while sick and said to him, “O Muhammad, are you sick?” He replied, “Yes” Jibril (AS) said:

“Bismillahi arqik, min kullishay’in yu’thik, min sharri kulli nafsin aw ‘ayni haasid”

– “With Allah’s Name I shelter you, from all that ails you, from the evil of any soul and that of the envious eye. May Allah cure you; with Allah’s Name I shelter you.” – (Muslim)

‘Uthman Bin ‘Affan (RA) reported that Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “Nothing would harm a slave who says three times every morning and evening:

‘Bismillah il-lathi laa yadurru ma’ asmihi shay’un fil ardi wala fis-sama’I wahuw as-sami ul-alim’
– ‘I shelter myself with the name of Allah, the One with whose name nothing can cause harm or earth or in the heaven. He is the Healer, the Knower.’” – (Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi)

Prophet (SAW) has taught us how to avoid the evil eye. Children are especially vulnerable to the evil eye. The supplications we can do for our children are given below:

‘Abdullah Bin ‘Abbas (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAW) sought Allah’s protection for his grandchildren, al-Hasan (RA) and al-Husayn (RA), with the same supplication that Ibrahim (AS) said for his children Ismail (AS) and Ishaq (AS):

“U’ithukuma bikalimati illah it-taammah, min kulli shaytaanin wa-haammah, wa min kulli ‘aynin laammah”

- “I shelter both of you with Allah’s complete words from every devil and harmful creature, and from every envious eye.” - (Bukhari)

And Allah (SWT) tells us that upon delivering Maryam (AS), her mother sought Allah’s protection for her and her descendents from Satan:

“Allahumma inni u-idhuha [hu] bika wa dhurriyyataha [hu] mina’sha-shaytani’r-rajiim(i).”

- “O Allah, I put her [him], and her [his] progeny under Your protection from Satan, the accursed”

- (Qur’an Surah 3:36)

One of my favourite persian dessert

2010-10-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

In Iran , this dessert is made in every sort of occasion. I love this dessert. It brings back sweet memory of my childhood in Iran. I remember eating whole bowl at so many occasions. When we went back to our country of origin, I used to ask my mother to make it for me. Now being a adult myself I dodn't have any excuse of not making it myself :-) Hope you will enjoy making this beautiful dessert insha-Allah.

Saffron Rice Pudding or Shol-e Zard

Ingredients:
2 cups rice

6-8 cups water

4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon saffron

3 tablespoons hot water

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup rose water

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 cup almonds slivered

2 tablespoons pistachios, chopped or slivered

Method:

Rinse the rice well with cold water. Place it in a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Cook gently for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the rice is very tender, skim the surface occasionally. Add the sugar, and continue boiling gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, like a custard and you can no longer see whole grains of rice. Dissolve the saffron in hot water and add. Melt the butter and stir in. Stir in the rose water and the slivered almonds. Continue stirring over a medium or low heat until the mixture becomes quite thick.

Pour the mixture in a bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon, and pistachios on top of the mixture. You may even create designs using the cinnamon and powdered pistachios. Cool before serving.

Courtesy of:
http://www.internetserver.com/isc/cookbook/shole_zard.html

Pakistan: A country dear to my heart

2010-10-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

My parents are from Bangladesh but my father was studying for his Medical degree in Pakistan so I was born in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore is the capital of Pakistani province Punjab and it is also the second largest city after Karachi. The city lies along the Ravi River. It is called the Garden of Mughals due to it’s rich Moghul heritage.

It successively served as provincial capital of the empires of the Shahi kingdoms in the 11th century, the Ghaznavids in the 12th century, the Ghurid State in the 12th and 13th century, the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century, and it was the capital of the Punjab region under the British Raj in the mid 19th and early 20th century. Mughal structures such as the Badshahi Mosque, the Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and the mausolea of Moghul emperor Jehangir and his queen Nur Jehan are popular tourist attractions for the city. Lahore is also home to many British colonial structures built in the Mughal-Gothic style, such as the Lahore Museum and many older universities including the University of the Punjab. Lahore is often known as the cultural capital of Pakistan.

Lahore touched the zenith of its glory during the Mughal rule from 1524 to 1752. The Mughals, who were famous as builders, built some of its finest architectural monuments in Lahore . You can still visit these beautiful sites.

Lahore in photos

Badshahi mosque

The Lahore Fort: the hall of special audience

Moti masjid - the interior

Naulakha

Naulakha details

Shalamar garden : a Persian style garden

Shalamar garden

Tomb of Moghul emperor Jahangir

Tomb of Nurjahan

Lahore Museum

Lahore city

First tajweed lesson: 10 ways of recitation

2010-10-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

I remember once my teacher talked about the importance of reciting the Quran with proper tajweed. Knowing how to recite the Quran is a must for every one of us. It’s a fard al-‘ayn not fard al-kifaya which means we all individually need to learn the rules of recitation. She told us if we cannot then at least we should learn to recite the surah Al-Fatihah with tajweed. It made me think whether we really have any valid excuse not to learn the tajweed! Can we really afford to know only surah Fatihah with tajweed? Alhamdulillah most of us are university educated that’s why not knowing the basics of reading the Qur’an is really a big failure for us.

Moreover, now being a mother alhamdulillah I feel like I must prepare myself to learn the tajweed as this is my duty to teach my children the Words of Allah (SWT). Now days it has become a norm to send our kids to the mosque or some sort of supplementary places to teach them the Qur’an. Most of the parents feel that they have fulfilled their responsibility by sending their kids to learn the Qur’an. I really want to be in control of what my children are learning as I believe as parents we know what is best for our children. Being a teacher myself I know how hard it is to teach 20 to 30 children within couple of hours. No way, it is possible to give each one of them proper time and care. Not all of the students are of same abilities. Some are slow learners and some are quick learners but treating them all in a similar way is a recipe for disaster. Working in different sorts of educational institutes has made me rethink about education and how it’s need to be delivered to our children. I am still doing my research on various styles of education. I am hoping to write about my findings very soon insha-Allah.

Now back to the tajweed. Alhamdulillah I have just started my tajweed classes. I was a bit worried thinking since university I haven’t really done any long term course so I may be a bit slow in understanding new concepts. But alhamdulillah our tajweed teacher Umm Fatimah seems a very friendly sister and very approachable alhamdulillah. She has a good sense of humour. May Allah (SWT) reward her for teaching us this important science! She reminded us the reason why we are learning tajweed. Insha-Allah through learning the Quran with proper tajweed we are hoping to get closer to Allah (SWT). This should be our ultimate goal insha-Allah, not to feel ‘proud’ that we know the rules or brag about it! She talked about the history of the Qur’an and how it was compiled and why there are ten different ways of recitation. It was quite fascinating to know all the details alhamdulillah.

The Qur’an is the sacred Words of Allah (SWT) sent to prophet Muhammad (SAW) through angel Jibreel (AS). He (AS) recited the Qur’an to him (SAW) and our prophet (SAW) recited back to him to check that he (SAW) recited the verses correctly. According to a tradition (Hadith), our prophet (SAW) told us to learn the Qur’an from four companions. They are: Ali (Raw), Abdullah Ibn Masud (RAW), Abdullah Ibn Abbas (RAW) and Ubay Ibn Ka’b (RAW). Just to clarify this hadith doesn’t imply that all the other companions didn’t understand the Qur’an but it was the habit of our beloved prophet (SAW) to tell his companions about their individual talents and what they should do with that talent.

These great companions had lots of students who learnt from them about the Qur’an. One of the famous students of Ali (RAW) was Abu ‘Abdir Rahman As-Sulami (RA) and the famous student of Abdullah Ibn Masud was Dhir bin Habashi (RA). Imam Aasim (RA) from Kufa learnt the Qur’an from both of the imams; As-Sulami (RA) and Dhir bin Habashi (RA). Imam Aasim (RA) had two very prominent students: Hafs ibn Sulayman (RA) and Shu’bah (RA).

The ten recitors and imams :
There were five prominent provinces around the Islamic world where the great imams were very active in their effort to learn and teach the science of the Quran. These were: Makkah, Madinah, Sham, Kufa and Basra. Imam Ibn Katheer (RA) was based in Makkah, Imam Naafi’ (RA) and Imam Abu J’afar (RA) were based in Madinah, Imam Ibn ‘Amir (Ra) was based in Sham, there were three imams based in Kufa: Aasim (RA), Al-Kasaaie (RA) and Hamzah (RA). Imam Abu ‘Amr (RA) and Imam Y’aqub (RA) were based in Basra. So these are the nine imams whose recitation styles are well documented and followed by Muslims. There is one more imam called Khalaf Al-‘Aashar who was the student of imam Hamza (RA). He is the 10th imam and recitor of one style. All these great imams have similar rank and all of them have chains as a proof that their style was valid and followed by the companions. The great fact is all the different styles of recitation are well-documented through the hard work of imams and scholars of that time Subhanallah. Imam Ash-Shataby (RA) has explained the seven ways of recitation. He (RA) compiled a poem to make it easy to remember the various rules. The poem is called Ash-Shaatabiyyah. Imam Ibn Al-Jazaree (RA) explained the other three styles (Ad-Durrah). We cannot imagine how much hard work they had to do to write down all the intricate details of the rules of recitation Subhanallah! The differences are blessing to us. Because of their efforts, we don’t have doubts regarding the 10 different ways of recitation. We respect all of the imams and their work.

However, most of us recite according to Imam Hafs (from Imam Aasim RA upon the way of Ash-Shaatabiyyah). So now it makes us think how come this way of recitation is the most popular one. There was a king in Egypt called Farooq who ordered to make lots of copies according to Hafs style and distributed the copies through out the Islamic world. Thus this style has become a prominent one but that doesn’t imply that all the other styles are not valid. Lots of Muslims in Morocco recite according to Imam Naafi’ (RA).

I tried to note down some of the details about the ten different styles of recitation. Please forgive me as it is not really a comprehensive description to follow. This post is to remind myself and my blog readers a bit about how the different styles of recitation came to exist.

Now the fascination story of how the holy Qur’an was compiled in a book form! According to a hadith, prophet Muhammad (SAW) told us that the Qur’an will be in a book form. During his (SAW) time, companions used to memorize the Qur’an through his (SAW) recitation. Only some of the verses were written on leather, leaves etc. There were quite a lot of companions who memorized the whole Qur’an mashallah. Someone who memorizes the Qur’an is called a hafidh. During the era of Sayyidina Abu Bakr (RAW) due to wars, lots of hafidh companions were martyred. The situation made the remaining companions quite worried about the future of the Qur’an. The khalifa sayyidina Abu Bakr (RAW) asked the scribe of prophet Muhammad (SAW) Zayd ibn Thabit (RAW) to make a copy of the Qur’an. Zayd (RAW) used to write letters and some verses from the Quran for our beloved prophet (SAW) and that’s why he was called the scribe of him (SAW). However Zayd (RAW) wasn’t really willing to do the work as he was fearful of doing something which hasn’t been done during the prophet Muhammad (SAW)’s time. He kept making lots of prayers for guidance. Eventually Siyyidina Abu Bakr (RAW) and Umar (RAW) managed to convince him to embark upon this great project Alhamdulillah. Just imagine if they didn’t do this how on earth we would have been able to read the Qur’an! They have done so much for us! No way we can pay them back Subhanallah! May Allah (SWT) reward them with the best, Ameen!

Although Zayb Ibn Thabit (RAW) did agree to make a copy of the Qur’an, he placed a condition. For every verse of the Qur’an he demanded two very reliable witnesses. Alhamdulillah due to availability of great companions, he (RAW) was able to compile a copy. Thus all the verses of the Qur’an have two witnesses except the last two verses of Suran At-Tawba. Now get ready for another beautiful story! Abu Khuzaymah (RAW) was the witness for the last two verses of the suran At-Tawba. Once a Bedouin falsely accused prophet (SAW) of not giving him his stuff back and asked for a witness to prove otherwise although he knew there wasn’t a witness present when the transaction took place. Abu Khuzaymah (RAW) was just passing by and heard the accusation and asked the prophet (SAW) that he wants to be the witness. The prophet (SAW) was surprised and asked him why he wants to be the witness for him when he wasn’t even present there while the transaction occurred. Abu Khuzaymah said he firmly believes that prophet (SAW) has brought the truth from Allah SWT and everything he (SAW) says is the truth so he doesn’t have any doubt that prophet Muhammad (SAW) has given the stuff back to the bedouin. After this incident, the prophet (SAW) stated that the witness of Abu Khuzaymah equals to witness of two people. This took place years before the Quran was compiled and only Allah (SWT) knew that it is going to be Abu Khuzamah who is going to be given the task of being the witness to the last two ayats of suaran At-Tawbah Subhanallah!

So the Qur’an was compiled by Zayd Ibn Thabit (RAW) and was preserved by the khulafae Rashedoon (Era of Sayyidina Abu Bakr RAW and Umar RAW). After Uman (RAW)’s death it was looked after by Hafsa (RAW) wife of prophet Muhammad (SAW) and daughter of Umar (RAW). This one and only copy of the written Qur’an did not have the harakat (vowels i.e fatha, dhamma, kasra ) or the dots . In the beginning the Qur’an was only read by native Arabs so that wasn’t an issue for them. However, as the Islamic empire was expanding so rapidly and the message of Islam was reaching to non-Arabs, reading the Qur’an without the harakat got harder. This also created the possibility of not reciting the Qur’an properly. At the time of Sayyidina Uthman (RAW) Hudhayfah (RAW) came to voice his concern regarding this matter. As a result, they asked Zayd Ibn Thabit (RAW) and some other prominent companions to make some more copies with harakat to eliminate the possibility of not reading the Mushaaf correctly. They (RAW) used the main copy which was kept with Hafsa (RAW) as a guide and later gave the copy back to her. The copies with the harakat (vowels) were sent to different provinces of Islamic empire so that new Muslims can learn the Qur’an with the correct manner.
May Allah (SWT) give us the ability to learn the Qur’an with tajweed and help us to get closer to Him, ameen!

Mishary Rashid reciting Surah Ikhlaas in 10 styles

Tajweed lesson: Sounds of The Scripture

2010-10-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah I am really excited about tomorrow! Insha-Allah we are having our first tajweed lesson insha-Allah. The sister who is going to teach us the tajweed has studied in Egypt and memorized the ten different ways of recitation of the Qur'an in one year! Subhanallah! I am very excited to meet her isha-Allah. I really want to recite the Quran with the correct rulings. I have learnt a bit of the rulings while I was at university but I want to do it properly now. There are going to be twenty lessons which hopefully finish at the end of December insha-Allah. We have to attend the lesson every Mondays and Thursdays. I hope to learn a lot insha-Allah so that hopefully I can teach my children the art of reciting the Quran Insha-Allah and hopefully help others too. I don't really want to depend on somebody else to teach them the Qur'an. I strongly believe we as parents need to take full responsibility of teaching our children our beatiful faith. Insha-Allah hope to blog on a regular basis to share how much I am learning insha-Allah. Please do share your tips insha-Allah.

Useful education links

2010-10-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Resources on primary and secondary education:

•http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/

•http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/

•http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/

•http://www.unicef.org.uk/tz/resources/index.asp

•http://www.tes.co.uk/Home.aspx?navcode=486

•http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/index.htm

Islamic education:

•http://www.kinzaacademy.com/

•http://www.ukiew.org/

•http://www.islamfortoday.com/schools.htm

•http://www.islamicart.com/main/calligraphy/catalog/alphabet.html

•http://www.muslim-ed-trust.org.uk/index.php

Islamic Home-education resources:

•http://talibiddeenjr.amanahwebs.com/

•http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/

•http://www.muslimhomeschool.net/

•http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/religion/islamic.htm

•http://themuslimhomeschool.tripod.com/index/id4.html

•http://www.muslimhomeschool.net/forums/index.php

•http://ummihomeschoolsme.wordpress.com/

•http://yemenlinks.com/blog/

Ramadan is gone :-(

2010-09-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

I cannot beleive it! Just at the start fo Ramadan I was so excited about Ramadan and researching on how to get most out of this great month and now this beautiful month has already left us :-( In Ramadan everything becomes easier. I find it easy to concentrate on my prayers, supplications, recitation of the Quran, going through the meaning of the Qur'an etc. But as soon as the month is gone, life becomes hectic again. Trying to perform good deeds becomes a huge challange. I can feel the presence of Shayateen as well as the bad bits of my nafs. I miss Ramadan. O Allah please accept our humble deeds we tried to do just to please You, only You Insha-Allah. O Allah swt please grant us more and more blessed Ramadan insha-Allah. We all are sinful and without Your Grace and Mercy we will definitely be losers. Please help us to get closer to You insha-Allah and please grant us the oppurtunity to meet You at Jannatul Ferdous, Ameen!

Ramadan Kareem : 2010

2010-08-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah the blessed month of Ramadan is here. We are so lucky to witness this month. All praise is due to Allah swt! Today is the 3rd day of Ramadan. I was a bit worried at the start thinking it is going to be very hard to fast for 17 hours! But mashallah it’s been alright up until now. Last month (Sha’ban) I did couple of fasts which I believe helped me to get to Ramadan mode. The Sunnah of our beloved prophet saw was to fast in Sha’ban. Now I can see the wisdom behind it, alhamdulillah. As I have two young children, I follow a routine to do as much as possible. By 9:30/10 they go to sleep which makes it easier for me to concentrate on reciting the Quran with the meaning and the taraweeh prayer. I am finding it difficult to do twenty raka’at of taraweeh. The first day I was so tired that I don’t even remember what surahs I recited in my prayer. I felt sad thinking the quality of my prayers wasn’t really that good. So I have decided to do 8 raka’at of taraweeh. Now I have more energy and alhamdulillah trying to have more khushu (concentration) in my prayers. For me, it’s about quality not quantity. May Allah swt accept my efforts, ameen.

To get some energy, I am having atleast an hour nap after zuhr salah. I feel it is helping me to keep awake until midnight alhamdulillah. Apparently siesta is also a sunnah of our beloved prophet saw. One of my resolutions for Ramadan is to complete the recitation of the Qur’an insha-Allah. Alhamdulillah I have been reading one zuz every day. I hope insha-Allah I will be able to complete the recitation. I cannot attend the taraweeh prayer that’s why I feel I have to recite the Quran cover to cover at least once in this month insha-Allah. In terms of food, we have kept it very simple. We are not having any fried food. We break our fast with odd number of dates and water/milk then after Maghrib salah we eat a light dinner. I think it is helping us to concentrate more in our night prayers. I still remember how sick I used to feel after having all the samosas, pakoras, spring rolls etc. As we fast we think we will be very hungry and can eat a lot but honestly we don’t need to eat a lot to fill us up. Prophet Muhammad saw taught us to eat a few morsel. One of the medicines for a pure heart is to eat less. Eating less makes you sleep less as well which helps in getting some tahajjud prayers done mashallah!

Yesterday, I went to the sister’s halaqa at my local area. I am glad that the sister who runs the circle has decided to do the halaqas twice a week, alhamdulillah. She does the circle for free. May Allah swt reward her for her efforts, ameen. She was talking about the etiquette of reciting the Qur’an. We are not allowed to touch the Quran (mushaf) without wadu (Ablution). The mushaf is the Quran in Arabic which consist of all the surahs from Surah Al-Fatiha to Surah An-Nas. If the book has the translation and the tafseer , you don’t need wadu to touch it but out of respect it is preferable to have wadu. It is also very good practice to use miswak or brush your teeth before recitation. You can make intention of using a miswak while brushing with a toothbrush. The intention can also include following the Sunnah of our beloved prophet saw. She always reminds us that our mundane action can be turned into act of worship by having the right intention. When beginning to recite, we need to take refuge in Allah from the accursed Devil by saying Aaudhu billahi minasha shaitaneer rajeem and say the Basmala. We also need to wear clean clothes, sit straight not leaning, preferably facing the Ka’ba.

She also talked about reciting the Quran with proper tajweed. Knowing how to recite the Quran is a must for every one of us. It’s a fard al-‘ayn not fard al-kifaya. She told us if we cannot then at least we should learn to recite the surah Al-Fatihah with tajweed. It made me think whether we really have any valid excuse not to learn the tajweed! She also told us to read the translation if Arabic is not our native language as that will help us to increase our imaan (Allah consciousness) If the recitation of Quran doesn’t change our life then what is the point in reading the Quran? We need to remind ourselves that the Quran is not just a random book. It’s the Word of Allah swt. He swt wants us to read and reflect and follow the rulings in our daily life. Otherwise the Quran will be a witness against us on the day of judgement!

She also talked about trying to weep while reciting the Quran. If we cannot weep then we should pretend to weep as that will help to bring tears in our eyes. The companions used to cry so much reading the Quran. Some of them even had marks on their face reminding others how passionate they were about the Quran Subhanallah! Our eyes and hearts are so dry that the recitation of the Qur’an doesn’t make us cry! We should ask ourselves why we are so hard-hearted! This is the perfect month to approach our hearts and minds. May Allah swt make us better Muslims, ameen.

MeccaOne TV: The Fast of Ramadan & the Furious Shaitan

2010-07-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Na'ima B Robert: Boy Vs girl

2010-07-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

Boy vs girl is a story of a twin brother and sister, Faraz and Farhana written by a very talented sister Na'ima B. Robert. I was eager to get hold of the book as soon as possible and alhamdulillah I loved reading it. I think it's a must for every teenager and their parents and anybody who is interested in helping the young Muslims to be better in deen and dunya, insha-Allah. It can also be read in educational institutions and youth book clubs to discuss the issues it raises, in details. The author has mentioned briefly the common issues our youth have to face on a daily basis i.e. peer pressure, lack of communication and understanding between parents and teenagers, identity crisis, lack of Muslim role models, racism, prejudice, cultural baggage, ignorance of the faith etc. The close relationship between the brother and sister is really beautiful mashallah. Thinking about my own kids, I make dua to Allah swt to bless my children with that sort of a relationship insha-Allah. I lost my brother when he was three and a half and this story reminded me of my sweet brother who was always very close to me.

Farhana and Faraz want to be better Muslims. They want to implement the Islamic regulations in their day-to-day lives. However, due to the societal pressure around them, they are struggling to reach to their destination. Even families and relatives can be a big obstacle in getting closer to Allah swt. Needless to say, how damaging peer pressure can be!

One of the inspiring role models in the story is auntie Najma, a university educated, niqabi sister who is aware of her rights and responsibilities and trying to live her life according to Allah swt's guidance. She is very independent-minded but at the same time behaves wisely around the relatives who are following their age-old culture and deluded in thinking that this culture is based on Islam. I know how it feels to be in that sort of situation when you are trying to follow the Qur'an and the sunnah but most of the people in the community think that you are just a rebel and trying to deny your so called 'glorious heritage'. Auntie Naj is also aware of what the youth are going through on a day-to-day basis unlike the most Muslim adults. That’s why the kids felt that they can talk to their auntie without being judged or ridiculed. Unfortunately they couldn’t do the same with their parents which again is a very common scenario in our community.

Na'ima has also mentioned the hypocrisy among the community. Unfortunately lots of Muslim youths are engaged in drugs, gangs and girls/boys and so forth and in most cases, the families do not even have a clue of what their children are up to. We need to understand that for the youth it's not easy either living in a society where some values and norms are very contradictory to our faith. And to make the matter worse, most of the Muslim parents are leading a life based on their respective cultures and traditions, and not the real Islam. This leaves the youth confused and creates an identity crisis. As the young generation of Muslims in the West, how do we define ourselves? Are we Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Somalis or just British? Or are we just Muslims who are happen to be here? These are not easy questions to answer. Our youth desperately need our understanding and support. As parents we need to be aware of all the problems they are going through and help them without the judgemental attitude we seem to have. Lots of adults also show rather an apologetic attitude thinking if they say too many (!) positive things about their faith they may get chucked out from this country. It just proves that deep down we are still a community of economic migrants and unfortunately we still haven’t moved on.

The other characters in the story are quite interesting too. These characters are quite common in our societies. For example, Shazia comes from a religious family and is expected to wear hijab but she lacks the conviction. Although she knows that her dad is right, she is not that convinced that she needs to wear it as she thinks she is ugly! Once again it reminds me of the lack of confidence and self-esteem among young girls. Even lots of hijabi girls suffer from low confidence in their appearance and hence, we see so many of them wearing so much make-up and jewellery with their eye-catching, figure-hugging hijab to compensate! Sometimes I feel so annoyed looking at these girls, thinking what’s the point of wearing hijab, when everything else that they are wearing is in contradiction to the cloth on their head??? Being super skinny or leading a lifestyle to reach size zero is another scary trend on increase even in Muslim community! Let’s admit it; we are part of this society and the changes in this society will affect us too. We are not living in a cocoon, which some of our parents can afford to live in but we cannot.

Guys like Skrooz (whose real name is Khalid) is another interesting character which I bet can be found quite a lot in our society. They enjoy bullying and terrorising people and that’s how they find satisfaction and a sense of achievement?! He shows resentment towards the bad things in the society but at the same time he does not show any remorse committing crimes. He spends time with 'gora' (white) girls but makes sure his sister doesn’t get involved in any relationship as he believes that will damage the ‘honour’ of his family! He even dreams of marrying a decent girl to start a family! There are so many poor girls from the Indian sub-continent who unfortunately get married to this sort of messed up boys with the ‘blessing’ of their parents and lead a life of hell for the rest of their lives! I can’t help but blame the parents who are stupid enough to think that a girl from another society (who is completely unaware of this future husband’s past) can change the life of their bad son when they couldn’t do it themselves!

Ahmed Ali is another good role model mentioned in the story who is a Muslim graffiti artist. I think I know where the author got the inspiration from :-) I love the work of Mohammad Ali as it’s really fascinating mashallah, and he can be a great role model for the youth Insha-Allah. You can find out more about him on his website http://www.aerosolarabic.com/v2/index.php

Overall, this is a very good book to read. I am sure you will enjoy reading this book, insha-Allah. I hope Na’ima writes more books insha-Allah. We really need writers like her to help the community to raise a good generation of Muslims, insha-Allah.

You can find out more about the author at http://www.naimabrobert.co.uk/
I am a big fan of her magazine ‘SISTERS’ mashallah.

Her book ‘From my sister’s lips’ is another great book mashallah which I loved reading. Hopefully I would like to do a review of the book in future insha-Allah.

Na’ima is also doing quite a lot for the youth mashallah. Have a look at her recent blog http://muslimteenauthor.blogspot.com/

A good day with a good lesson alhamdulillah!

2010-07-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

We went to visit one of my very close friend who recently had a baby girl. Mashallah she looks very beautiful. My friend is still feeling very weak but alhamdulillah gradually getting better . Once upon a time, I was very worried for her. She is a very devout Muslimah. She tries to study the deen and try to implement the lessons in her daily life mashallah. I always wished and made dua that she gets married to a good guy who is based here in the UK. That's why when she told me couple of years ago, that her dad is taking her back home to get married, I couldn't feel comfortable and was worried for her future. She is a graduate who had a good job mashallah. If I was in her situation, I thought I would have run away before getting married to somebody who would be a complete stranger brought up in a different society. But I was really amazed by her faith in her dad. She was alright with it and gone through the marriage. When she came back, she was happy and worked really hard to get her husband here. Alhamdulillah finally she was able to reunite with her husband . The more I have met her husband, I felt guilty for my thoughts. Alhamdulillah they are really happy with each other. Both of them are devout Muslims and try to help each other to be better as Muslims. Allah swt has blessed them with two beautiful and healthy children. Their life once again taught me a very important lesson. Only Allah (swt) knows what is best for us. He (swt) is the Best of planners. When I went to see her baby daughter, I met her brother-in-law who came from Wales to help them with taking care of their 18 months old son and help with household chores which is not that usual of a Bengali guy. He cooked a lovely lunch for us including yummy biryani. He is a chef by profession. So I tried to get as much suggestion as possible about the recipes. His biryani wasn't greasy at all and very lightly spiced. Just before we were leaving their house, I told my friend how happy and satisfied I feel about her life. Mashallah through her actions she tried to be an obedient daughter and Allah swt rewarded her with so much blessing, alhamdulillah. May Allah swt keep her happy and blessed forever, ameen. As it's Friday today, Jumuah Mubarak to everyone ! May Allah swt bless us all with good life full of happiness and shukr, insha-Allah. We are too blessed to be stressed Alhamdulillah !

My life as a mother

2010-07-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I cannot believe that I am a mother. It feels like just the other day I was single, busy with my university assignments and presentations. I was also working as a mentor and alhamdulillah actively involved in the student societies. After graduation I worked as a full time teacher at a private school. My day used to start at 6:30 and end at 11:30 or 12 at night. Even the weekends were packed with preparing lesson plans and marking endless homework and exam papers :-( but I enjoyed it a lot alhamdulillah. It gave me satisfaction. I always loved teaching . It is like a passion to me. Watching my cute little students enjoying my lessons made me feel very happy with my life. Teaching is a stressful job but it also can be quite rewarding when you see the positive changes you can make through teaching.

When I got married I moved to another borough so it was too much for me to commute from my place to work. However, my priorities have changed as well. I was eagerly waiting to be a mother soon. Alhamdulillah Allah swt blessed me with a quick conception. My son was born just 3 months after our first anniversary. From that day onward my life changed forever and I hope its for good insha-Allah. I was so glad to hold my baby boy for the first time. I couldn't believe that he came from me! Subhanallah! The joy of motherhood cannot be described in words. It's just an amazing feeling. Then again just after one and half year, I was blessed with a baby girl, alhamdulillah. Once again the feeling was amazing. Our children are growing very quickly. I try to capture the sweet memories we are creating through photos and videos but still it seems not enough. Even looking at their baby photos, I feel I could have hold them more or kiss them more ! I feel so happy and satisfied when I see my two children playing with each other. They love and adore each other mashallah. Being close in age, I thought they will be quite jealous of each other. But alhamdulillah at least up until now, they have proved me wrong. I hope and pray that Allah swt keeps them close to each other especially when we will be gone. This world is going to get worse and I am very concerned about my children's future. I hope they will be good Muslims. I want them to be leaders of the Ummah insha-Allah. Being a mother myself, now I can understand how parents feel . It is not an easy job. It requires quite a lot of dedication and sacrifice. Mothers are the first school for their children. Once again, I have the oppurtunity to become a teacher :-) but sometimes I doubt about my abilities as a mother as well as a teacher ; whether I will be able to bring up my children as good Muslims. I have learnt from my own experience that it is very easy to criticize other's parenting technique but as a parent I can understand how hard this job can be! I hope to prepare myself to be a good mother insha-Allah. I hope to do more research on what values a good mother should have and how she should bring up the children insha-Allah. May Allah swt make it easy for us and help us to be better mothers insha-Allah!

Wayfarers to God

2010-06-17T04:18:00.000-07:00

Written by Habib ‘Ali Zain Al ‘Abideen Al Jifri

Translated by Shaykh Mohamed Mlamli Adam

Published by Guidance media

ISBN 0-9550891-1-5

‘Wayfarers to God’ (Ma’alim as-Suluk) is a translation of a series of Arabic lectures given at Al Zayed University for Women in the United Arab Emirates. Equally relevant to men and women, these lectures are full of wisdom to learn and practise insha-Allah. The shaykh shades light on how to approach Allah SWT, the importance of adhering to the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW, impediments to wayfaring and so on. It also discusses about the principal diseases of the heart and most importantly their cures. This book has taught me a lot about self-accounting and how to perceive and deal with our ephemeral world, Alhamdulillah.

While reading this book, there came some moments where I felt very emotional and moved by the way the author talked about certain realities of life. But there also occurred some moments where I was feeling optimistic too, by the grace of Almighty. It puts your entire life into a proper perspective and teaches you how to deal with your short but very crucial time on this earth. As the author says, “Whoever knows that this (death) is the end of his world, know that the most that one will gain from this world is camphor and a funeral shroud with a little perfume that is folded in his shroud, that he will be placed in the dust in a hole. What is this intelligence that he has? Is he pleased that his aspirations, his mind, his consciousness, his thoughts, his lifespan, his time and his effort have come to an end, but that they do not go with him to the grave and no one will accompany him? This is what is incumbent upon man to be alive to, to wake up to. He wakes up to the fact that his connection with this dunya ( world), deceitful and scheming as it is, quick to flee and abandon its companions, treacherous to them, that his only worthwhile connection to it is as a means to attain Allah’s presence, nothing else. Intrinsically, this world is cheap, but can be priceless if it becomes a ladder for one to scale to Allah’s presence as one plans for the Next World.”

The author also talked about Rizq but not as financial provision but as ‘spiritual’ (non-physical) Rizq which has motivated me a lot Alhamdulillah. According to him, the spiritual rizq is the real rizq that is incumbent upon a Muslim to seek from Allah SWT. This rizq has been defines as the light of faith, reliance upon Allah SWT, being pleased with Allah SWT, fear and awe (before Allah), humility and renouncing (this world), hope, unveiling, beneficial knowledge, actions on the basis of beneficial knowledge, sincerity to Allah, teaching people, serving this religion and praiseworthy character. These are all forms of Rizq that Allah SWT bestows upon those He honours! This book is full of wisdom and not easy to grasp in one go. But Insha-Allah you won’t regret reading this book, I can assure you.

A Muslim girl's guide to life's big changes

2010-06-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Author: Rayhana Khan

Ta Ha Publishers Ltd

Written from a ‘big sister’ perspective, this book explains briefly all the issues young Muslim women may face in their life. The author encourages the young girls to remember her advice as an older sister who has been through what they are about to experience: ‘Stop, think and question all that you do in your life.’ She talks about school life, basic knowledge of Islam, hijab, behaviour, socialisation and the physical changes girls will experience from the age of nine onwards. There is a small quiz section to test how safe our Muslim identity is. She also explains in details how to take care of our bodies as women.

An excerpt from the book:

“The most simple but most effective thing you can do at any time is to pray to Allah (SWT). Be proud to be Muslim and stand up for your beliefs. Remember your aim is to please Allah (SWT) not your friends. Islam is about respect, kindness and decency. You should keep clean, dress decently, keep good company and speak good language. This is what makes you beautiful - the kind of person you are and how you treat people - not the way you dress and your accessories. You should try to learn what is in the Qur’an and the hadith and follow it.”

The book is quite easy to read and you will be able to finish reading in an hour or less. Mothers should try to go through the book as well as it can give them some idea of what young girls may be going through and they can discuss issues with their daughters. As the author has just touched upon very briefly about the issues faced by Muslim girls, it is important for parents to elaborate on the issues and try to help daughters to make the right choice during their transition from childhood to adulthood.

You can be the happiest woman in the world

2010-06-17T04:11:00.000-07:00

Written by Dr. A’id al-Qarni

Published by International Islamic Publishing House

ISBN 9960-850-89-7

Well, the title says it all, doesn’t it? But still I would like to say something about this great book. Whenever I feel a bit sad or bored with my life, I turn to this book as it helps me to go on, Alhamdulillah. According to the translator, this book is for busy women, regardless of their role in life, whether they are wives, mothers or working women (or all three), containing short, snappy passages that lead to greater truths. I would like to quote some extracts from the book to enable you to get an idea about the book, Insha-Allah: "It is sufficient honour for you that you are a Muslim. If a woman obey her Lord, offers her five daily prayers and preserves her honour, she will enter Paradise of her Lord." “Wherever you go and find darkness in your life; what you have to do is to light the lamp within yourself.” And finally I love to read the passage below and hope you will love it too, insha-Allah. To be the most beautiful woman in the world! “With your beauty, you are better than the sun; with your morals you are more sublime than musk; with your modesty you are nobler than the full moon; with your compassion you are more beneficial than rain. So preserve your beauty with faith, your tranquillity with contentment, your chastity with hijab. Remember that your adornment is not gold, silver or diamonds, rather, it is two rak’ahs at Fajr, going thirsty when you fast for Allah, concealed charity which no one knows except Him, hot tears that wash away sin, a lengthy prostration born of utter submission to Allah, shyness before Allah when the inclination to do evil overwhelms you. Clothe yourself with the garments of taqwa (piety) for you are the most beautiful woman in the world, even if your clothes are shabby. Clothe yourself with the cloak of modesty, for you are the most beautiful woman in the world even if you are barefooted. Beware of the life of bewitching immoral disbelieving women, for they are the fuel of the fire of hell.” Need I say more!

The Ideal Muslimah

2010-06-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

Written by Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi

Published by: International Islamic Publishing House

ISBN 9960-850-39-0

I came across this book for the first time in Saudi Arabia during the hajj season 2006. This book is very special to me as my father bought this book for me. I am very thankful to him, Alhamdulillah. It is a very useful book for sisters who are interested to mould their personality according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW. It deals with every aspect of a woman’s life such as her relation with her Lord Allah SWT, her own self, relation with her parents, husband, children, in-laws, relatives, neighbours, friends and sisters in Islam, her community and so on. I must say, it is quite a comprehensive book on ideal characteristics of a Muslim woman. It’s almost a 550 page book to read and grasp the wisdom! But it really deserves to be read thoroughly. Every woman should have this book and try to practise the teaching Insha-Allah to their best ability, that’s certainly includes me too. Some extracts from the book: “The blessing of Islam did not stop at raising women from humiliation and backwardness to a level of progress, honour, security and protection. Islam is also concerned with the formation and development of every aspect of her personality, whether it affects her alone or her relationship with her family and society, so that she may become refined and highly developed, worthy of her role as Allah’s vicegerent ( khaleefah) on earth.” “When it comes to Islamic duties, the Muslim woman is just like a man; she has a mission in life, and so she is required to be as effective, active and social as her particular circumstances and capabilities allow, mixing with other woman as much as she can and dealing with them in accordance with the worthy Islamic attitudes and behaviour that distinguish her from other women. Wherever the Muslim woman is found, she becomes a beacon of guidance and a positive source of correction and education through both her words and her deeds.” Without any doubt I can say, this book is bound to boost your belief in Allah SWT and make you completely satisfied with Allah as your Lord, Islam as your faith and Muhammad SAW as your beloved prophet.

The Alchemist

2010-06-17T04:05:00.000-07:00

Written by Paulo Coelho

HarperCollins publishers

ISBN 0-7225-3293-8

This book was given to us (me and my significant other) as a wedding gift and we managed to finish it quite soon as we really enjoyed the story. This is a fiction story which is about an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams of travelling the world in search of a treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the exotic markets of Tangiers and then into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him. It’s a fascinating story which gives us the essential wisdom of listening to our heart and above all, following our dreams! Although I am not really fond of fiction that much, I have really enjoyed reading this one. The author here talked about ‘personal calling’ by which he meant God’s blessing. It meant the path that God chose for us on Earth. He talked about the obstacles that we may encounter while trying to fulfil our dreams. The story has taught me something very important about life. I believe that the life of every one of us is unique and special and it’s a journey towards Allah SWT and through the journey we gain wisdom.

Reflections of Pearls

2010-06-17T04:02:00.000-07:00

Written by Inam Uddin & Abdur-Rahman Ibn Yusuf

Published by: White Thread Press

ISBN 0-9728958-5-7
Mashallah this book is very helpful as it has lots of supplication (dua) we need on a day to day basis. This book not only deals with the supplication itself but also talks about the significance and etiquette of supplication. The authors have also mentioned the places and the time where our prayers are more likely to be accepted by Allah SWT. One thing I really love about this book is the citation of prayers from the Qur’an and the Sunnah (tradition) of our beloved prophet Mohammad SAW. The 99 beautiful names of Allah SWT with its meaning and English transliteration (which really comes handy if you cannot read Arabic properly) are mentioned. Beside, a short description of how to pray some of the well recommended ( by our prophet SAW ) supererogatory prayers such as Sunrise prayer, prayer of the pious, prayer for repentance, prayer for decision making, prayer for need and so on are given by the authors.I would like to suggest my brothers and sisters to read this book as it has helped me a lot to connect to Allah SWT on a daily basis, Alhamdulillah

Ruqyah for children

2010-06-07T03:47:00.000-07:00

Recently I did a research on Ruqyah and alhamdulillah found a lot of useful information. Alhamdulillah Allah swt has blessed us with beautiful, healthy children. Sometimes I do feel worried for them . Insha-Allah as our beloved prophet Mohammad saw has recommended, I will try to do as much dua as possible for their well-being and good Islamic upbringing.

Ruqyah consists of words said or written in the form of dua (supplication) or dhikr (remembrance of Allah SWT) for the purpose of protection and cure. It is sometimes accompanied with certain actions such as blowing or wiping over someone to whom it is applied. Our Prophet (SAW) warned against ruqyahs which involve shirk (associating partners with Allah SWT). There are some important conditions that must be satisfied for a ruqyah to be permissible. According to Ibn Hajar (RA), there is a consensus among the ‘ulama that a ruqyah is permissible when it satisfies three conditions:

1. It should be with Allah’s (SWT) words (the Qur’an) or using His names and attributes.
2. It should be in Arabic or of an intelligible meaning.
3. One must believe that it does not have an independent power by itself, but by Allah’s (SWT) will.
Ruqyah from the Qur’an

Surah Al-Fatihah - (Surah 1)
Ayat ul-Kursi – (Surah 2:255)
Surah Ikhlas – (Surah 112)
Surah Falaq – (Surah 113)
Suran Nas – (Surah 114)

The last three surahs of the Qur’an are called mu’awwithat (‘the protecting ones’)

The Prophet (SAW) said, “Say the mu’awwithat three times in the evening and in the morning. This will protect you from all (harmful) things.”

Aishah (RA) reported: “When Allah’s Messenger (SAW) went to bed, he would bring the palms of both hands together and blow into them while reciting ‘Qul huwa Llahu ahad’, ‘Qul a’uthu bi rabbi l-falaq’, and ‘Qul a’uthu bi rabb in’Naas’. He would then rub with them whatever he could reach of his body, starting with his head, face and the front of his body. He would do this three times. When he was too ill, he asked me to do this for him.” – (Bukhari and Muslim)

Abu Said al-Khudri (RA) reported: “Allah’s Messenger (SAW) used to seek Allah’s protection from jinns and evil eye with various supplications until the two mu’awwithat were revealed. After that he (SAW) adhered to them and left everything else.” – (At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)

Abu Said al-Khudri (RA) reported that Jibril (AS) visited the prophet (SAW) while sick and said to him, “O Muhammad, are you sick?” He replied, “Yes” Jibril (AS) said:
“Bismillahi arqik, min kullishay’in yu’thik, min sharri kulli nafsin aw ‘ayni haasid”

– “With Allah’s Name I shelter you, from all that ails you, from the evil of any soul and that of the envious eye. May Allah cure you; with Allah’s Name I shelter you.” – (Muslim)

‘Uthman Bin ‘Affan (RA) reported that Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “Nothing would harm a slave who says three times every morning and evening:
‘Bismillah il-lathi laa yadurru ma’ asmihi shay’un fil ardi wala fis-sama’I wahuw as-sami ul-alim’

– ‘I shelter myself with the name of Allah, the One with whose name nothing can cause harm or earth or in the heaven. He is the Healer, the Knower.’” – (Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi)

Prophet (SAW) has taught us how to avoid the evil eye. Children are especially vulnerable to the evil eye. The supplications we can do for our children are given below:

‘Abdullah Bin ‘Abbas (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAW) sought Allah’s protection for his grandchildren, al-Hasan (RA) and al-Husayn (RA), with the same supplication that Ibrahim (AS) said for his children Ismail (AS) and Ishaq (AS):
“U’ithukuma bikalimati illah it-taammah, min kulli shaytaanin wa-haammah, wa min kulli ‘aynin laammah”

- “I shelter both of you with Allah’s complete words from every devil and harmful creature, and from every envious eye.” - (Bukhari)
And Allah (SWT) tells us that upon delivering Maryam (AS), her mother sought Allah’s protection for her and her descendents from Satan:

“Allahumma inni u-idhuha [hu] bika wa dhurriyyataha [hu] mina’sha-shaytani’r-rajiim(i).”

- “O Allah, I put her [him], and her [his] progeny under Your protection from Satan, the accursed”

- (Qur’an Surah 3:36)

The tale of an unplanned homebirth

2010-06-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

This time last year, I was counting down my days until I could see my baby for the first time. My daughter was due on 11th April and on 9th, I was busy shopping and gardening the whole day. The day I go shopping, I really try to avoid cooking and prefer to eat out, but on that day, eating out seemed impossible and that made me very annoyed. I just realised how dependant I was on eating out! Anyway, like any other pregnant woman I was very hungry by the time I reached home and decided to cook a proper three course meal as if to prove that I can do better than the restaurants that I would have gone to! I cooked quite a lot which was going to last at least couple of days. At that time, I didn’t have a clue that my baby was going to arrive on the same day! Allah (SWT) makes things happen for a reason, Subhanallah.

By the time I went to bed which was around 11, I was having quite a lot of pain and was going to the toilet a lot and that is why I thought it was just tummy ache for some unknown reason. When the pain started to increase, then I thought maybe this is it but just started to use the breathing techniques I had learned watching endless pregnancy and birth programmes on TV. It was going quite smoothly and I thought I was in control. But by 12, I was pretty sure that it was labour pains and not indigestion. I woke my hubby up and sent him to get his mother as we had to leave our 16 month old son with her at home. I thought I had at least 6-7 hours in hand, as my previous pregnancy had been induced and was over in 3 hours. I thought that as this would be a ‘normal birth’ this time, I would have as long as most other people have. However, by 1 am, I started bleeding and my waters broke! I was in severe pain and I was feeling a tremendous pressure at the lower end as if the baby was almost ready to come out. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t stand or sit; I just lied down on my bedroom floor and started groaning. I wonder what the neighbours were thinking! My poor son was watching me from his cot and must have felt quite shocked seeing me behaving so unusual. Luckily I had my mobile with me so I called 999. This was the first time I had ever had to dial 999 in my life. I was really in shock thinking, is this really happening to me or is it just a nightmare!

Alhamdulillah my husband arrived with my mum-in-law just before the paramedics came. We were told that there wasn’t that much time left as they were able to see baby’s head so I stared pushing in accordance with the contractions. I was asking for gas and air. I was very scared thinking about the possibility of going through labour without gas and air! Alhamdulillah they were able to provide that for me. By 1:10 AM I was fully dilated and alhamdulillah our beautiful baby girl was born by 1:30. My husband told me later that she was all blue when she came out as the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. The paramedics remained calm though and massaged her chest a bit and alhamdulillah within a couple of seconds she started crying. It was such a relief Subhanallah! I still cannot believe it. With my first labour I had a bad experience with stitches. That’s why this time I strongly refused to have any stitches. Alhamdulillah I was healed very quickly. The trick is you have to keep the place clean and dry and try to have warm bath with a little bit of salt on a regular basis.

The whole process, from the first stage of labour to the third stage, lasted only two and a half hours! I felt like the luckiest mum in the world, alhamdulillah! I still think it was a miracle. I always thought this can only happen in movies. By 3:30, I had my bath and was enjoying my time with my newborn baby. Having an induced labour at hospital with my first baby, I was able to compare the two birth experiences. As it was such an unplanned sort of homebirth, I felt very scared as everything was happening so quickly. But when I compare this one with my induced one I think this one was far better alhamdulillah.

Watching programmes on homebirths and reading about homebirths, I was thinking about homebirth at the beginning of my second pregnancy. However, as midwives suggested not trying homebirth given my previous history of gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, I had to change my mind. But now, alhamdulillah going through this accidentally I think it was the best way to have my baby. I felt comfortable being at home. Some medical experts do believe that giving birth in familiar surroundings can raise your confidence during labour, make us feel more in control, if all is proceeding well and make us feel less inhibited: all of which can help ease labour. Moreover, there's a far lower incidence of medical intervention in homebirths, whether that’s having our waters broken (with my first one I had it done), electronic foetal monitoring (I hated it), medication or episiotomies. In terms of privacy, homebirth can be really good. I was surrounded by ladies, which created a ‘sisterly’ environment mashallah. All the paramedics who came were women, as were the two midwives who came later to check everything was alright with me and my daughter. I was lucky that this happened as this probably would not have been the case if this was planned. A significant advantage of a home birth is that you can start your recovery process in the comfort of your own home straight away. After the hard work of delivery, it can make all the difference to be settled into your own bed and sheets, alhamdulillah. I was also very lucky to have my mum and mum-in-law cooking and helping me in almost everything.

My husband was there throughout the labour which I really appreciate. I strongly believe husbands should be birth partners as this can help them appreciate what their mothers and wives and hopefully one day, their precious daughters will go through. It also helps guys to create a better bond as fathers with their newborn. I was very lucky to have my families around. I didn’t need to go to the hospital and my daughter was doing very well too. I am very grateful to Allah (SWT) for making things so easy for me, alhamdulillah. Homebirth is on rise through out the world as more and more women want to have the birth as naturally as possible. But this is not an option for everyone as some women can have complications during their pregnancy and hospital is the best place for them. However, I am trying to learn more about homebirth, as I hope and pray that I can have planned homebirth in future INSHA-ALLAH.

Chicken Biriyani

2010-06-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Chicken biryani is my all time favourite. I love making this recipe whenever I get chance especially for guests. You can even make it one day early to save you from hassle and it actually tastes better the next day. You can serve this biryani with mint yoghurt and a salad of cucumber, tomatoes and red onion chopped very finely.
Ingredients
1 chicken (cut into 8 pieces)
1 medium onion
1 cup (250ml) thick yoghurt
1 teaspoon (5ml) chilli powder
1 teaspoon (5ml) garam masala
2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon (15ml) garlic paste
1 teaspoon (5ml) turmeric
3 tablespoons (60ml) vegetable oil (or butter)
6 cups basmati rice
2 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon roughly chopped mint
1 tablespoon black peppercorn
2 cinamon sticks
4 cardamom pods
a pinch of saffron
3 tablespoon fried onion for garnising
some roasted chashew nuts
Fried onion for garnishing
Water according to need

Method
- Cut the chicken into 8 pieces
- Cut the onion into small pieces.
- Mix the yoghurt, chilli powder, turmeric powder , garam masala, half the ginger, half the garlic to make a paste in a bowl.
- Make some cuts in the chicken pieces and rub the paste that you just made over the pieces.
- Let the paste soak into the chicken for 30 minutes. Sometimes I keep it in the fridge for a day.
- Heat half of the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and lightly brown the onion. Add the rest of the ginger, garlic and some cinamon sticks and cardamom pods.
- Stir-fry for just for couple of minutes until you can smell the spices and then add the chicken pieces and cook until it’s tender.
- In another pan, boil some water (2 litres) with 1 teaspoon salt, some black pepper corn. Add the washed basmati and cook till it’s a bit firm then drain the rice.
- Now to assemble the chicken biryani, get some herbs such as coriander, mint chopped and some ginger root grated and fried onion. You can also add some saffron mixed with warm milk to add a beautiful golden orange colour to the dish. In a large, thick bottom pan, make a layer of rice topped with the chicken cooked previously, then sprinkle the chopped herbs, ginger, fried onion and saffron, then cover it with some more rice and sprinkle the rest of the saffron milk.
- Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover the pan with foil and its lid and leave it to cook very slowly for one hour. You can cook it in the oven at gas mark 5.
- Just before serving, mix the biryani lightly with a wooden spoon and spread the biryani in a wide dish, topped with fried onion, roasted cashew nuts (optional) and chopped corainder.
- Serve hot. I like to serve my biryani with yughurt and mint sauce . Enjoy :-)

Easy chocolate cake with caramel cream

2010-06-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

This a very easy recipe which can be quite a popular cake for any gathering. My mum-in-law makes yummy cakes and I have learned quite a lot from her recipes. This one is inspired by one of her cakes which I thoroughly enjoyed eating every bit of it as it had caramel in it ! From my experience, chocolate cakes are liked by almost everyone. So do enjoy making and serving this delicious cake insha-Allah. This one can serve up to 12 people.

Ingredients
6 oz self-raising flour
2 oz unsweetened cocoa powder
8 oz caster sugar
8 oz butter
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
4 eggs
A good quality chocolate bar
7- 8 tablespoons of coke
Roasted almond flakes

Ingredients for caramel cream
600 ml double cream
198 gm caramel (half of a regular tin)

Method

- Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
- Grease a 9 inch (23 cm) cake tin.
- Mix everything together until smooth, either by hand or by using an electric mixer at slow speed.
- Transfer to bake tin and bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean, after approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the caramel cream by whipping the double cream with caramel. You can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence in the cream.
- After the cake has cooled, cut the cake into two layers, add some coke to make it a bit moist .
- Use one 1/3 of the caramel cream between the two layers, 1/3 on top, and the rest around the cake.
- Sprink roasted almond flakes all over the cake.
- Using a grater, you can make some tiny chocolate pieces and sprinkle on top of the cake.
- Keep the cake in the fridge and take it out just before serveing. Enjoy !

Joys and sorrows(!?) of having children close to each other in age :-)

2010-05-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

When I discovered that I was pregnant with my second child while my first one was 8 months old, I was full of mixed feelings. I was feeling very excited thinking about having another little angel but at the same time I was worried. How on earth I was going to cope with two babies! What was I thinking!? The reactions I received from people around me were not that positive either. Some argued it would be a very difficult task to look after two and some even thought it must have been unplanned! It did annoy me hearing these negative comments but overall Alhamdulillah, I was coping well with the news as I always believe Allah (SWT) does not burden any soul with more than they can cope with.

I am the eldest among my five siblings and so I was already quite experienced in looking after babies. On top of that, I was already in ‘new mother mode’ with my first child under 1 year old, so having another one would simply mean doing everything twice. Alhamdulillah I was also very lucky to have a very supportive husband. He did most of the chores and looked after our eldest one during the pregnancy. I was also helped by family and very good friends.

In the beginning, I did have moments where I doubted my ability to handle two very young children. During the first couple of days after birth of my second baby, I used to feel very sorry for my eldest one. Looking into his teary eyes, I felt I was a bad mother and neglecting him as he was very attached to me. He had no competition for my (and everyone else’s for that matter) attention prior to the birth and it was a big change for him. As I was also breastfeeding my second one, I couldn’t give that much time to my son for first couple of days, and so it must have appeared to him that I had forgotten him. I was also feeling very exhausted being a new mum again. A positive consequence of the second child was that my son’s relationship with his dad grew stronger and he became less dependent on me, to the extent that he is now strongly attached to him! This meant that there was less pressure on me than I had originally expected.

Alhamdulillah things were not that bad, thanks to family and friends. I am lucky to have both of my families quite nearby. My mother-in-law stayed with us for the first couple of days and helped out. My mother cooked yummy food for us. Alhamdulillah we are very lucky to have them. For us, our son being in the company of his grandparents was a great sense of relief. Through this experience, I have learnt a lot Alhamdulillah.
Eventually, I was able to balance my time and share time with both of my kids. It was also quite good for my son too. He has learnt to be more independent and considerate of others’ need. He tries to share his toys and food with his sister.

My son is now 27 months and my daughter is almost 12 months, Alhamdulillah. Being so close in age has also helped my daughter in learning new skills as she is always following her brother in almost everything! She has already started walking mashallah while my son learnt to walk around 13 months. She is also trying her best to climb up the stairs, chasing after her brother. To sum it up, she is desperately trying to be like her brother which means it is hopefully going to be less hassle for me as my children will grow up quickly Insha-Allah. We are enjoying our life a lot as we are always busy with our children. Alhamdulillah they are the biggest joy in our life.

Having a good birth partner

2010-05-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

Giving birth can be a very difficult experience for a woman and is often quite painful. You may feel scared and stressed due to fear of unknown especially if you are a first time mother. That’s why it is very important to have a supportive birth partner who understands the difficulties of labour and the actual birth process. Having a good partner makes a huge difference during labour, from the first stage of contractions to the moment you get to see your baby for the first time Alhamdulillah!

I have been blessed with two children Alhamdulillah. My husband was there for me during the two births. My first one was quite scary as I didn’t know what to expect. Although I tried to research what to expect, my birth experience wasn’t that common. I was admitted to the hospital when I was 34 weeks pregnant due to high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia). The consultant suggested that I should have an induced labour. I wasn’t very happy with this, as I thought there were still four more weeks to go and I wanted things to take their natural course. However we didn’t have any choice left. I was feeling quite upset and scared. My husband was there throughout that time which meant a lot to me. I think during these sorts of moments, I feel closer to Allah (SWT) than normally. There is no one who can help us when we go through such a hard time and I am grateful to Allah (SWT) for his help and mercy. In the case of my first child, the whole process from first contractions to birth was four hours, which I learned later is significantly shorter than most people. In the case of my second child, it was even shorter… For this, I thank Allah for easing my pain.

I also thank Allah (SWT) for having blessed me with a supportive husband to act as my birth partner. I felt comfortable having him beside me to support me and I think it also helped him to understand more how much pain and suffering a mother needs to go through during labour. I know sisters who would prefer their mother or sister, or even their best friend to be there for them during delivery, but I think I would feel uncomfortable anyone else being there, as I think only my husband can see me in such an awkward state.

Having said that, it is someone’s choice who she would prefer to be with her during labour, as this is probably the most stressful time that any woman will probably face in their life and she needs to feel comfortable and that there is someone there to provide her with the support that she needs. Whatever you may prefer, it is best to decide who the birth partner will be early on in the pregnancy, so that you can inform the person in advance and plan everything accordingly. They can ensure that the bag is packed and ready in the last few weeks of pregnancy, ready for the big day!

My precious sisters

2010-04-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today one of my sisters in deen called me to see how I am doing. Talking to her I felt very good. Yesterday I was feeling really sad and today her call felt like my Lord (swt) has inspired her to call me, alhamdulillah! She has given me some very good naseeha and told me to be patient and keep making dua to Allah (swt). It reminded me the chapter in the Qur'an Al-Asr where Allah swt tells us to have sabr(patience) and keep reminding each other to keep up the good work and believe in Him(swt).

Alhamdulillah I am so lucky to have such wonderful sisters in deen. Whenever I have any problem in my life, they are always there for me, alhamdulillah. May Allah (swt) reward them for being so nice to me despite all of my shortcomings! Having good company is very important. My precious sisters, through their behaviour and action remind me again and again how important it is to have a good opinion of Allah (swt) and try to be a better muslimah. I hope INSHA-ALLAH we will be sisters forever and will meet in jannah, our ultimate destination!

The first issue of Mum and Muslim Magazine

2010-04-05T04:12:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah the first issue of Mum and Muslim magazine is launched. I am so delighted to see the magazine on line alhamdulillah. I am very grateful to all the sisters and brothers who worked very hard for the magazine. May Allah swt reward all! We have received very positive feedback alhamdulillah. Now the goal is to maintain the quality insha-Allah. I hope we will be able to deliver more through the next issue. There are so many things to learn. May Allah swt make it easy for us.
We already got a facebook group. Feel free to join and share your suggestion. We are looking for contributors including writers, photographers. Please do get in touch by emailing me at editor@mumandmuslim.com.

Our website also offers a forum for parents. Do join us there too. It is just the start. Insha-Allah we are working hard to improve the quality of the magazine. Our aim is to publish the magazine on the 1st Friday of every month insha-Allah. Keep us in your duas everyone!

Mum and Muslim e-magazine

2010-03-19T04:46:00.000-07:00

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu brothers and sisters,

Alhamdulillah I have been blogging quite irregularly :-( since 2006. Up until now, I haven’t said that much about myself so today I would like to say it bit about me and my work Insha-Allah. I was born in Pakistan, spent most of my childhood in various countries and finally settled (at least up until now) in the UK. I have done my graduation in Sociology which I enjoyed a lot alhamdulillah. I have been involved in Islamic society at university. Mashallah the sisterhood and brotherhood I have witnessed at university was really wonderful. I really miss my beautiful time at university :-( After graduation I have worked as a teacher at a private school. I had to teach Science and Maths at primary level, Physics at secondary level and Sociology at AS level which once again I thoroughly enjoyed alhamdulillah. I went to hajj in 2006 , for me that's the best thing I have ever done in my life Alhamdulilllah. It was a wonderful experiance I must say :-) I wish I can go again insha-Allah but hopefully with my whole family.

Alhamdulillah I am happily married since 2006, mother of two very young children. My son is 2 years old and my daughter is 11 months old. My husband is my best friend alhamdulillah .

While going through the difficult phase of pregnancy, I was very keen to gain as much knowledge as possible from the Qur’an and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad (saw) about pregnancy and motherhood and any topic related to parenting. Some of the books I bought during that time proved really handy alhamdulillah. Hope to do reviews of them soon insha-Allah, so that other sisters and brothers can benefit too. Like lot of women, I am a big fan of magazines. During that time, all the magazines I came across did not offer any information based on our faith. I did find some of the Muslim magazines quite useful but I felt I needed something more and a Muslim parenting magazine is what I wanted most. Alhamdulillah last year I met a like minded sister who is also very passionate about starting a parenting magazine for Muslims insha-Allah. Alhamdulillah we also live quite close to each other. Is that a coincidence? Subhanallah! Allah swt always makes things easier for us :-) Insha-Allah we are hoping to launch our e-magazine by the end of this month. There are so many things to do before the launch. My home is our office for the time being. Mashallah several sisters have shown interest to help us. We all are very excited and looking forward to work together Insha-Allah! There are so many topics to write for. The categories are as follows:

Getting pregnant; Pregnancy & Birth; Baby; Toddlers +

Kids; Teenagers; Young adults;
Lifestyle: which includes Health; Beauty; Fashion; Recipes; Hobbies;
News and events;
Education
Mummy diaries
Reviews: (Books, Products, TV programmes, Films, Restaurants etc)
Resources: The Quran; Sunnah; Duas; Baby names
Dads’ issues; Mums’ issues
Useful links
There are so many other issues to include insha-Allah. Feel free to share your suggestion insha-Allah.

Our community is growing mashallah and hopefully by 2020 most of it will consist of young Muslims. If we want to succeed in this life and in hereafter we need to bring up our children according to Allah’s way. To do that, we must educate ourselves with the proper knowledge and understanding of what Islam tells us about parenting. I hope through this magazine, we will be able to help each other to raise our children as better Muslims insha-Allah. We have also created a facebook group call Mum and Muslim Magazine. We hope that through the group we will be able to unite all the Muslims male and female, to work together for this noble cause. Do feel free to share your ideas and suggestions on this matter.

Mum and Muslim Magazine : Raising more than children, raising our Ummah !

May Allah (swt) help us to create a better Ummah who will be able to bring back the golden era of Islam on this earth and ultimately earn Allah (swt)’s pleasure.
Our Lord! Grant that our spouses and our offspring be a comfort to our eyes, and give us the grace to lead those who are conscious of You, ameen.
Wassalam, Umm Imran.

The new Hijri year 1431

2009-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

All praise to Allah swt, tomorrow is going to be the start of new Hijri year 1431 Insha-Allah. Most times due to ignorance, we Muslims tend to miss the start of the Islamic New Year and are unfortunately more aware of 31st December and tend to celebrate this ‘happy new year’ more seriously. Alhamdulillah our new generation of Muslims are trying to learn more about Islam and Insha-Allah very soon, we Muslims will be able to celebrate the new Hijri year with the proper understanding. We need to remind each other of the significance of Islamic year Insha-Allah.

The other day, I found a very beautiful supplication in Zaytuna Institute journal ‘Seasons’. This is a very beautiful dua which someone can do at the end of the Hijri year.

It was mentioned in the book, The Treasure of Success and Felicity in the Supplications that expand the chests (Kanzun-Najah was-Surur), that if a person reads the following supplication three times at the end of the year, the Devil will say, “ We tired ourselves with him all year, and he ruined all that we have done in one moment.”

“ In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful and Allah swt bless our teacher Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah , whatever actions I have committed this past year which have not pleased You, which I may have forgotten though You do not forget, while You are forbearing with me , though fully capable of punishing me, while You called me to relent and atone even after my audaciousness before You – O Allah, I surely seek Your forgiveness for that, so forgive me ! O Allah, as for my actions that have pleased You and for which recompense and forgiveness has been promised, please accept them from me. And do not dash my hopes in You, O Generous, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. And Allah, the Exalted, bless our Master Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace.” ( 3 times)

May Allah swt grant us a very blessed new Hijri year, ameen. May the next year be the year of seeking more knowledge of our beautiful faith and actions inspired by the knowledge acquired! May Allah swt accept our deeds and grant us Jannahtul Ferdous, ameen.

In loving memory of sis Umm Zakaria

2009-12-08T03:24:00.000-08:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

“I guess in all actuality it should be a reminder for me to take each day, minute, prayer as if it may be my last. We have to take the most out of our time, Allah has already written how much time we have left, and there is nothing we can do to change that. I am at complete peace with that.....”
This was the last post written by sis umm Zakaria before her death. Inna lillahe wwa inna ilaiher rajeuun. Yesterday for the first time, I came to know about her blog http://pinkhijab.blogspot.com/She started blogging to share her experiences with breast cancer from an Islamic perspective. When I started reading her blog, I couldn’t stop going through all the post she has written. Today I tried to finish the rest of the post without even realizing that this sister has already left us last month! I was shocked and felt so moved by her story. Although I have never met her, my eyes were full of tears. I couldn’t stop crying for this wonderful sister. How much strength and faith this sister had to face such a difficult situation with so much patience! Subhanallah !

Sis, you will always have a very special place in my heart. I know it’s too late to personally thank you for what you have done for all of us by sharing your experience with us but I make dua to Allah swt that may Allah swt reward you with the best, the jannatul ferdous. May Allah swt keep your children safe and happy and make them best of the Muslims, ameen. May Allah swt give your beloved family lots of strength and patience to endure your great loss. May Allah swt give us all the ability to act upon your beautiful advice. I am amazed by your end bit of the last post. Subhanallah! Sis you are a true muslimah!

The best days of the year

2009-11-17T04:35:00.000-08:00

By the grace of Allah SWT, the great month of Dhul hijjah is going to approach us very soon. This is the last month of the Islamic year and the well-known month of pilgrimage to Makkah. In 2006 I was given the wonderful opportunity to perform my hajj Alhamdulillah. I was very moved by the whole experience. Never before in my life I have felt so moved and shaken and felt the amazing sweetness of Iman (the feeling of closeness and firm belief in Allah SWT) Subhanallah! Whenever I used to come across this term ‘sweetness of Imaan’ I could not really understand what that really meant. Going to hajj and being so close to my Lord I was able to experience that wonderful feeling so deeply in my heart for the first time. I felt I was full of energy to worship Allah more eagerly and in various ways but unfortunately within the couple of months after returning from hajj my motivation become weaker and weaker, eventually making me feel empty and disenchanted with my life. I have heard from other hajjis that they also went through the same phase after their return from hajj.

Our society and its busy pace delude us into believing that we have too many things to do and worry about. Life becomes so busy that we tend to forget that as a spiritual being apart from food and drink we also need spiritual nourishment to preserve the integrity and peace of our soul and body.

Allah SWT as our creator knows what we need to feel the peace in our heart. We need to get closer to Him through His worship. So we are getting a great chance to renew and boost our faith as the holy month of Dhul Hijja is going to approach us very soon. Let us do our best to reap as much benefit as possible from this great month.

Usually we as Muslims tend to regard the month of Dhul Hijja as a month exclusively significant for pilgrims as they have to embark upon a great journey to Makkah and perform all the rituals recommended during hajj i.e. staying in Mina, ‘Arafah, Mujdalifa , stoning , sacrificing an animal, doing tawaf and sa’y bewen Safa and Marwa and so on. Although the remaining Muslims around the world celebrate the Eid ul Adha and sacrifice animal, most of the times these are the only action done with lots of enthusiasm.

We tend to forget that this great month has been blessed tremendously by Allah SWT. The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah are regarded as the best days of the year. Allah SWT says in the Qur'ân:

"By the dawn and by the ten nights … " [Al-Qur'ân 89:1-2]

Ibn Kathîr said that "the ten nights" referred to here are the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, and this opinion was also held by Ibn Abbâs, Ibn az-Zubair, Mujâhid and others.

Moreover, Allah says:
" … and remember the name of Allah in the appointed days." [Al-Qur'ân 2:203]

Ibn Abbâs and Ibn Kathîr said this means in the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah.

If we ponder upon the Sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW we can get more evidence on the superiority of the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah.
Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” The people asked, “Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah?” He said, “Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah, except in the case of a man who went out, giving himself and his wealth up for the cause (of Allah), and came back with nothing.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)

`Abdullah ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There are no days greater in the sight of Allah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of tahlil [saying: 'there is no god but Allah'], takbir [saying 'God is great'] and tahmid [praising God].” (Reported by Ahmad)

This holy month gives us a great opportunity to strengthen our faith and become better Muslims. Let us prepare ourselves with best of plan to welcome this month with lots of enthusiasm Insha-Allah. Allah SWT is so merciful to us that He SWT through His messenger SAW has also shown us the best of the ways we can worship Him. Therefore let us learn and practice those golden ways to please Allah SWT.

Actions we can perform and hopefully gain Allah SWT’s pleasure Insha-Allah:

Although Hajj and Umrah are the best deeds performed in Dhul-Hijjah here I would like to concentrate on Muslims who are not going for hajj and umrah.

1. Fasting the First Nine Days, Especially the Day of `Arafah (9th of Dhul Hijjah)

It is recommended to fast during the first nine days of Dhu’l Hijja. The tenth day is the day of Eid, and is prohibitively disliked and sinful to fast this day. However, if someone is not able to do the entire nine days of fasting then they should at least try to fast on the day of ‘Arafah which is the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah as it is a sunnah of our beloved prophet SAW.

The Day of `Arafah is regarded as the best day of the whole year.

It has been narrated by Abu Qatada (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and companions) said, “Fasting the Day of `Arafah [9th of Dhu’l Hijjah ] expiates the [minor] sins of two years: a past one and a coming one.” [Reported by Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah]

Allah chose fasting for Himself from all the good deeds, as is stated in the Hadeeth Qudsee: “All the deeds of the son of Adam are for him, except for fasting, which is for Me and I am the One Who will reward him for it.” [Saheeh al-Bukharee (1085)]

2. Saying the Takbir as much as possible Insha-Allah:

It is Sunnah to say takbir, tahmid, tahlil, and tasbih during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, and to say it loudly in the mosque, the home, the street and every place where it is permitted to remember Allah SWT and mention His name out loud, as an act of worship and as a proclamation of the greatness of Allah, may He be exalted. Men should recite these phrases out loud, and women should recite them quietly. Allah says: (That they might witness things that are of benefit to them (i.e., reward of Hajj in the Hereafter, and also some worldly gain from trade, etc.), and mention the name of Allah on appointed days, over the beast of cattle that He has provided for them (for sacrifice)... ) (Al-Hajj 22: 28) The majority of scholars agree that the "appointed days" are the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, because of the words of ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father): "The ‘appointed days’ are the first ten days (of Dhul-Hijj ah)."

The takbir should be pronounced loudly by men, in order to revive the Sunnah and as a reminder to the negligent. There is sound evidence that ibn `Umar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to go out in the marketplace during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, reciting takbir, and the people would recite it after him. The idea behind reminding the people to recite this is that each one should recite it individually, not in unison, as there is no basis in Shari`ah for doing this.

The transmitted wording of takbir is: “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, la Ilaha illa Allah; Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, walillah al-hamd” (Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah; Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, and all praise is due to Allah).

According to Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, there are two types of takbir in Dhul-Hijjah: unrestricted takbir and restricted takbir. Unrestricted takbir is applicable at any time or place, from the first of Dhul-Hijjah until the days of `Eid. Hence, a man can make takbir in the roads, markets, in Mina, and also when people meet each other. All these are occasions for unrestricted takbir.

Restricted takbir, on the other hand, is restricted to the time following every obligatory prayer, especially if it is offered in congregation, as most scholars restrict it. This type of takbir also includes takbir in the place of `Eid Prayer, on the way to it and while one is sitting around waiting for the `Eid prayer

3. Offering a Sacrifice:

One of the good deeds that will bring a person closer to Allah SWT during these ten days is offering a sacrifice. According to Sheikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Muslim lecturer and author, the one who wants to offer a sacrifice must stop cutting his hair and nails and removing anything from his skin, from the beginning of the ten days until after he has offered his sacrifice, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you see the new moon of Dhul-Hijjah, if any one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should stop cutting his hair and nails until he has offered his sacrifice."

However, if a person does any of these things deliberately, he must seek Allah’s forgiveness but is not required to offer (an extra) sacrifice in expiation. Whoever needs to remove some hair, nails, etc., because it harms him, such as having a broken nail or a wound in a site where there is hair, should do so and there is nothing wrong with that.

4. Studying the Qur’an with meaning and tafseer (explanation):

Through studying the Quran we can seek true knowledge of our faith and strengthen our belief with conviction. Sadly we tend to miss this great chance to educate ourselves with proper knowledge of Islam through mere recitation and not really giving importance to the meaning of this divine book. If we really like to change our poor condition and become better Muslims then only through learning Allah’s message explained in the Qur’an we can achieve our destination. Allah SWT loves the learned Muslims and makes their path to learning easy and blessed. According to sunnah, if Allah SWT wants to do good to a person, He makes him or her comprehend the religion (the understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of our beloved prophet SAW) It has been said that the best among Muslims is the one who learns the Qur’an and teaches it to others.

5. Recitation and memorization of the Qur’an:

We should also try to recite the Quran and try to memorize it to the best of our abilities Insha-Allah. According to the sunnah, every letter of the Quran brings us reward so we should try our best to make the reading as well as following the instructions of this holy book a daily habit Insha-Allah. We can start through the ten days of Dhul Hijjah Insha-Allah.

Narrated by Abu Musa RAW, the prophet SAW said, “The example of a believer who recites the Qur’an and acts on it, is like a citron which tastes nice and smells nice. And the example of a believer who does not recite the Qur’an but acts on it is like a date which tastes good but has no smell. And the example of a hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like a Raihana (sweet basil) which smells good but tastes bitter. And the example of a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur’an is like a colocynth which tastes bitter and has a bad smell.” [6:579- O.B Al-Bukhari]

6. Being kind and dutiful to our parents and relatives:

Allah SWT has ordered us to be good to our parents and do our best to please them as long as they do not tell us to be disobedient to Allah SWT. Our parent’s satisfaction in us is very crucial for us as without their blessing we cannot achieve closeness of Allah SWT in our life. Moreover, being nice to our relatives and helping them whenever they need us are also recommended by Allah SWT quite strongly. So let us be nice and helpful to our parents and relatives and in return earn the blessings of Allah SWT, insha-Allah.

7. Performing plenty of voluntary prayers during the days and nights of Dhul Hijjah:

In addition to the five daily prayers, there are different types of voluntary prayers. Voluntary prayers are recommended by our beloved prophet SAW as these sorts of prayers bring us closer to Allah SWT. We can pray the Salatut Tawbah, Salatut Tasbeeh, Salat al-Israq, Salat at-Duha, Salat al-Awwabin , Salat at-Tahajjud and so on.

8. Making lots of tawbah (repentance):

We should make sincere tawbah (Repentance) to Allah SWT as repentance means coming back to Allah SWT. When a Muslim combines repentance with good deeds during the most virtuous days, this is a sign of his success. Allah says: “But as for him who repented, believed and did righteous deeds, then he will be among those who are successful.” [Soorah al-Qasas (28): 67]

I would like to share with you a wonderful dua for repentance. Narrated by Shaddad Bin Aus RAW, the prophet SAW said, “The most superior way of asking for forgiveness from Allah SWT is:

Allahumma anta Rabbi , la ilaaha illa anta. Anta khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduka , wa ana ’ala ‘ahdikaa wa wa’dika mastata’tu. A’udhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu, abuu laka bini’matika ‘alaiya, wa abuu laka bidhanbi faghfirli fa innahu la yaghfiru adhdhunuba illa Anta.” which means
“O Allah, You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me and I am Your slave and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise (to You) as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins except You.”

The prophet SAW added: “If somebody recites it during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Jannah; and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning, he will be from the people of jannah.” ( Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol.8 hadith no.318)

9. Giving Charity (Sadaqah):

Charity is central to a Muslim's life. Allah SWT loves the act of charity. Even smiling to our fellow Muslims is regarded as a charity. Helping the needy and poor people around the world can strengthen our faith and Insha-Allah will make us better Muslims. The Qur'an encourages the Muslim to donate their money: “The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah, is as the likeness of a grain that sprouts seven spikes. In every spike there are hundred grains, and Allah multiplies for whom He will' (2:261). Giving charity is thereby not seen as detracting from income, but rather as a multiplication in terms of spiritual observance. It is like one who sows a good grain of wheat in the field from which grows a plant on which sprout seven ears and each ear yields hundred grains. As a result, one grain was worth a total yield of 700 grains. When one spends in the way of Allah, he or she receives in return (reward in the Hereafter) on the scale of one to seven hundred. Subahanallah!

10. Attending the Salaat al-Eid and the Khutbah:

The tenth of Dhul-Hijjah is `Eid Al-Adha or the day of An-Nahr (slaughtering). It marks the conclusion of the major rites of Hajj, and commemorates Allah’s bounty on His Messenger Ibrahim AS when He gave him a ram to sacrifice as ransom for his son Isma`il, peace and blessing be upon him.

"The day of Al-Fitr [i.e. `Eid Al-Fitr], the day of An-Nahr, and the days of Tashriq are `Eid days for us Muslims. They are days of eating and drinking." [Ahmad, An-Nasa’i, Sahih Al-Jami` #8192]

The three days following `Eid Al-Adha, while the pilgrims complete their rites, Muslims continue with their `Eid celebrations, and are prohibited to fast. "The days of Tashriq are days of eating, drinking and mentioning Allah." [Muslim]

Attending the Salaat al-Eid and the Khutbah are recommended not just for men. The Muslim women should try to perform the prayer too as it has been stressed by our beloved prophet SAW. For the sake of unity and celebrating this great day, He SAW even asked the menstruating women to come to the mosque but of course keep a distance from the actual prayer area.

Therefore, we can perform lots of righteous deed during the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. It is better to write our plan in a diary and try to get enough preparation in order to welcome the great month of Dhul Hijjah and get the blessings of Allah SWT. Our ultimate goal is to please our Lord Allah SWT. May Allah give us success in these blessed days and nights, and in every moment of our lives, to follow the path of the Prophet (Allah SWT bless him & give him peace), and may He make us of those whom He loves and who love Him.