Taaruf with Our New BFFLH!

Bismillah..

Assalamu'alaykum!

I've shared a post here last time on few ideas how to be close to Al-Quran.

Have just created a Hifdh Chart which seems to be more suitable to sisters than to brothers so i'm sharing it with you in this blog.

Click here for the BFFLH Chart.

Best viewed with Microsoft Words-the pdf format changed lots of my format :(

Sorry that it may not be pretty enough for you. This is the best i could do. Made it for myself but simply sharing with you as all i want is the 'ajr(reward) from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if it benefits you in any way! (hope so it will... InshaAllah...)

Always remember me in your du'a..

Wassalam~

Bible in ARABIC?

Bismillah..

ASsalamu'alaykum..

Miracles do happen as nothing could stop Allah in making them happen..

Read a story from FB, it made me questioned my sincerety in this path of learning Islam, improving myself to a better muslima today than days before-what have i done so far?

Hm.. Good question to ponder upon.

Allahu yahdina

...................................................................................

The following incident has been narrated by Colonel Amir Uddin who originally heard it from his wife. Colonel Amir Uddin is a well known caller to Islam through whose effort over 6,000 people have accepted Islam all over the world. He is 86 years old and have been to over 56 countries to call people towards Allah.

During one such journeys to invite people to Islam, his wife met a woman who was a new Muslim. While travelling, they came to know how she became a Muslim. The woman said that she was originally a Christian but her husband was a Muslim. Her husband used to tell her about the oneness of God everyday. One day while she was in the Church, she asked the Priest whether the Muslims' cocept of oneness of God was correct or the Christians' concept of Trinity was correct. The Priest told her that the Muslims are correct and he also advised her to keep this matter secret. She became very confused after hearing this. At night when she went home, she prayed to God to show her which path was the truth. She started reading the Bible thoroughly to search for answers. One night after she prayed to God to show her the truth, she opened the Bible and to her amazement, the entire Bible appeared to her as Arabic text! She mentioned this to an Imam who told her that this was a sign from Allah to accept the Quran as her guidance instead of the Bible. She became Muslim there and then.

Dear readers, such incidents are nothing new. These incidents happen on a daily basis to those who are searching for the truth. We did not come to this world with our own will. We will not leave this world with our own will. Then why live this life according to our own will? A Muslim is that person who submits to the will of Allah. Let us all submit to Allah, Who is the Lord of

everything in and out of this universe.

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." (Al Quran, 3:85)

When I Told You Not To..

source: click here

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

I wasn't trying to prove

that i'm way better than you.

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

I understood how you felt,it has never been easy,

to hold on to your believe,

just as how you wanted to.

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

i wasn't ignoring you,

and all the trials HE has put you thru'..

How could you take off you hijab,

it's HIS order to obey and you need to,

when all that He wanted,

was just the best for you?

You're beatiful, i know..

And do you really need people to tell you so?

You think HE's cruel and injustice, to give you this precious gift

then not letting you to show?

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

i was just reminding you of HIM,

of our loving LORD,Who creates you beautifully,

and Who just want to preserve your beauty.

You know it's hijab to secure your beauty,I know you feel guilty

so why would you want to take it off, honey?

You'll never win this game,

which you called "please-people' you're playing..

It's Allah ALONE you're pleasing..

So care not what they say,

no worries, let them walk away.

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

i was just being concern,

wanting the best for you,

because i do care and i do love you..

Source: click here

A Step Towards Tolerance Documentary

Bismillah..

Assalamu'alaykum!

I found this video while reading a website. It's very interesting! MashaAllah..

MUST WATCH! Beautiful documentary. A non-muslim woman experienced herself how it felt like wearing head-cover (hijab) in west.

There were parents who even looked 'ready to FIGHT' with her when she waived at their kids while SMILING-That's all she did, no offense :(

A Social Experiment

by ~asmilingmalice

I wrote this on January 22, 2011. At first I wanted to keep this story between me and a few close friends, but in light of what has just recently happened at the Islamic Center of America, I feel that I have to share this story. This is no longer an issue on religion. This is outright discrimination and intolerance. If my story can inspire others, or at least affect someone on a personal level, then I've done all that I can do.


A Social Experiment

Yesterday, I went to the Islamic Center of America. I felt incredibly out of place, being a non-Muslim who wasn't wearing a hijab, and I was very nervous when stepping into the office. Out of respect, I did the best I could to hide my hair by pulling up my coat's hood. I went to the lady at the desk, greeted her with "assalamu alaikum," and she was very happy to answer my questions about the mosque and where to buy a hijab, among other things. She told me that I could observe the prayers, gave me an e-mail to a man who could give me a tour of the center, and told me how to properly wear the hijab. It was a surprisingly warm welcome and I felt pretty at ease.

After observing the service, I noticed a man was selling something in one of the hallways. I walked over there and saw a collection of jewelry and hijabs. I decided that if I were to come back, I should have more than just my coat's big hood. So I bought a pretty green hijab, then stepped into the lady's room to try it on. It's there I met Sona. She was 27-years-old and had converted to Islam a year ago. She helped me with the hijab, we exchanged numbers, and she told me that she would answer any questions I had about the religion, the culture, among other things.

After we parted ways, an idea occurred to me when I was driving home from the mosque. Back in high school, I wanted to do a social experiment for my Sociology class. My sister gave me the idea to wear a hijab out in public to see how people treated me. Back then, I didn't know where to find a hijab. Now that I had one, I thought I would give that experiment another shot. So I put on my new hijab and set out to three public places: a bookstore, the mall, and a restaurant.

The bookstore wasn't entirely unpleasant. There weren't too many people there to begin with, and because the ones there were absorbed in books, it explained why they didn't pay all that much attention to me. One of the ladies who worked there asked me if I needed any help and showed me where the bookstore kept the Qur'an. Overall it was pretty nice.

The mall and the restaurant were quite different.

I wrote this in my status on Facebook: Muslims put up with some of the worst customer service. I am not exaggerating when I say this.

When I stepped into that mall, I realized just how different this particular outing was going to be from others I've had in the past. The first store I walked into was Best Buy, but I visited every store in the mall at least once. No sooner did I step into Best Buy, I noticed how different things were. First of all, the person at the door didn't greet me like he did to other customers entering the store. I didn't think nothing of it at first, and instead I went over to look at the CDs and DVDs in the store. Usually when a customer is browsing the store, one of the employees will approach them and ask if they need any help finding something. This didn't happen once, not even when I made direct eye contact with an employee whom I went to school with. She didn't recognize me. I can't blame her for it, since my long hair was covered up, but I couldn't help but feel that all she saw was my hijab and not me, let alone a customer.

The salespeople at the mall were pretty much the same. There were only a select few who actually said more than one word to me. The employees would not welcome me into their stores. They wouldn't ask if I needed help. They wouldn't ask if I wanted to try on an outfit, even when I was holding it in my hands. They never said "We hope to see you again!" or "Have a nice day," when I left the store. Judging by this consistent reaction from salesperson to salesperson, I couldn't help but feel that they were glad to be rid of me and most definitely didn't hope to see me again. To make matters uncomfortably worse, in every store I went into, I noticed that the same security guard was there. From Spencer's to Borders, this security guard wasn't making it a secret that he was following me everywhere I went.

I want it noted that when I stepped into the mall, I was not wearing a burqa (Muslim clothing that covers all of the body and the face), a chador (Iranian clothing that covers the entire body) or a niqab (a veil that covers the hair and face which reveals only the eyes). In post-September 11th America, the clothing listed would understandably be considered suspicious in case of a burglary or a bomb threat. The clothing makes it difficult, if not impossible, to make a clear identification in case of those threats. Had I been wearing those, I would understand the neglectful salespeople and the security guard trailing me, but all I wore was a hijab. All I was covering was my hair.

I also want it noted that when I entered the mall, I was all smiles: I looked people in the eye and smiled at them. I waved to children. I was just as happy and as approachable as I would have been without the hijab. If I were to smile at someone's child without covering my hair, parents wouldn't get defensive over it and give me dirty looks. They would have smiled back at me. If I wasn't wearing my hijab and smiled at a person who was walking my way, they wouldn't turn their head away from me or refuse to make eye-contact. They would have smiled back. If I had walked into a JC Penny's, a Macy's, a Hot Topic, a Spencer's, or a Forever 21 without my hijab on, people wouldn't have ignored me and avoided me. They would have greeted me and jumped to assist me. If I wasn't wearing my hijab and walked around the mall, I wouldn't have a security guard following me into every store, because they probably would be hounding some other Muslim woman.

All I did was cover my hair. I didn't insult these people. I never did anything to these people. I didn't get into an argument with them, or threaten them, or cause any sort of trouble that would warrant this cold behavior, let alone the attention of a security guard. All I did was cover my hair.

However, I feel that the greatest display of outright discrimination took place at the restaurant. This was my former workplace and many of my ex-coworkers were still working there. None of them recognized me, and as soon as I walked into the restaurant, the hostess (a former co-worker who was looking me right in the face) looked positively stunned that a Muslim woman walked into the place. She didn't recognize me, but led me to a table. I took my seat and opened up the menu, but at the same time my eyes were scanning the area. This table was assigned to a waittress, but a waittress never came to me. Usually, after a person is seated, the waittress comes to the table immediately and asks you if you want a drink. I had to wait for at least five to ten minutes before the hostess returned and asked me if I wanted anything to drink.

None of the waittresses ever came to my table to take my order. None of them asked me if I wanted a refill for my water. None of them asked if I was doing alright or if I needed anything else. To make matters worse, it is expected of the waittresses to ask the customers these questions even if they are not waiting on them. Not one of these waittresses wanted to make eye contact with me, nor did they want to come by me.

It wasn't until I waved at one of my former managers that he even recognized me. It was then that my hostess recognized me. After I told her about everything that happened today, she looked positively shocked. I would hope that she recognized the same discrimination being carried out in this establishment as it did in the previous ones. If this is how the waittresses would treat a girl with just her hair covered, they would definitely treat an actual Muslim woman in this way.

When I was younger, I would hear how people truly felt about Native Americans. Since I look more like my mother and less like my father, these people would be more open about their opinions around me than they would have if my hair was black and my skin was darker. I still get defensive when something like this happens and I've always felt that it was discrimination. However, this was the very first time in my life that I have truly felt discriminated against. When people were talking about Native Americans, they weren't thinking of the white, blond haired woman with 1/4 Ojibwa in her. But when people were ignoring me, glaring at me, following me, denying me service, and weren't welcoming me into their stores or their restaurants, they did it to me. In their eyes, they knew exactly what I was and they didn't want anything to do with me. Even though I did nothing to them but smile.

If this is how we treat Muslims in this country, there will never be peace. There will never be an understanding between religions and cultures. If we shun them, ignore them, and make it blatantly obvious that we don't want them here, we are going against everything that this country is supposed to stand for. And if we carry this ideology that "we don't want them here," "we don't want you to come back here," and "it would be better if you just weren't here at all," how does that make us different from Al Queda, the Nazis, the Westboro Baptist Church, the Ku Klux Klan, or the many other various hate groups in the world? It is this ignorance and this thought process that leads to holocausts.

Look beyond the veil.

______________________________________

"A week after visiting the Islamic Center of America, a man was arrested for attempting to bomb it.

Only a few days ago, Florida Pastor Terry Jones traveled all the way to Dearborn, Michigan to burn a Qur'an infront of the Islamic Center of America.

This is the same pastor who wanted to burn hundreds of Qur'ans on September 11th.

I wanted to keep this story private. But I can't anymore. This is me. This is my experience. And I feel now, more than ever, that it's important to share this with all of you.."

*asmilingmalice

Marriage- a MEANS not an END

Assalamu'alaykum..

I read an article and it's very interesting.

It really is something that people can't stop talking about, eventhough you really don't want to.

Good points shared here, so have a good time reading it!

____________________________________________

MARRIAGE DELAYED

(copied from here)

Bismillah.

Marriage, seems to be the topic people are tired of hearing about, yet want to continue talking about. I think this topic rose to fame and has remained a favorite in the westernMuslim community because of how difficult it has become; getting married (the halal) at this time is difficult, while temptation (and haram) by its very essence is easy. Many youth feel that they are ready to get married, but face a number of obstacles (all of which I could not enumerate or recognize as every sister’s circumstance is different, but I would guess family is one of the more common issues faced).

To digress for a moment here, I remember many years back, my friend and I had gone to the video store with her little sister and nanny. My friend’s sister ended up wanting a toy which the nanny said she couldn’t have, and so she was crying about the toy all the way home. The same happens with chocolate – we might tell ourselves "no more chocolate for this week," and then end up thinking about chocolate more than we do in the first place.This is essentially what happens when you want something which you are told you can’t have until a later date ,you think about it. By the same token this happens with the issue of marriage. Some youth are interested and can’t go ahead with it and then have it on their mind constantly trying to drive the thoughts away. So, what can youth in this situation do?

Firstly, it’s a good time to remember that marriage is a means, and not an end. Think about it, is your purpose in life to get married? Will you be 100% happy and trouble-free when you get married? The answer to both questions is no. We all know our purpose is to worship Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. And, it’s not like after you get married, you and your husband will joyfully skip into the sunset and it’s happily ever after. Pure happiness, peace, and tranquillity can only be found in Jannah. Which brings me to my next point – let us not forget about what we really should have on our mind and be striving for, Jannah.

I began to reflect on some lines of a poem:

O single Muslim!
How intelligent are you!
While some make marriage their ultimate goal,
You know it's only a means,
To reach the final abode!

Questions started popping into my mind: why did I want to get married? What is marriage a means for? What is the end?

Why do people want to get married?

Many reasons, and again I could not list them all here. The main ones, are as follows:

• To please and increase in the worship and obedience of Allah AzzawaJall, and to follow the sunnah of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)

• To protect themselves from falling into zina and haram, and a halal way to satisfy their desires

• They don’t have a good family life or have problems at home which they want to escape from

• They like the idea of being loved, having a family, etc.

source: click here

The first point should be the primary reason we want to get married, while if there are any other factors they should be secondary to that main one.

What is marriage a means for?

In relation to the previous question, once you set your main intention in order, you realize marriage is a means to complete half your deen. It is a tool for raising a family upon the religion in obedience Allah Azzawa Jall. And increase and better yourselves together. Ultimately all this is to please Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and gain Jannah bi’ithnillah.

What is the end?

Thus, we now see that the main goal in our lives shouldn’t be to get married, but to live life in such a way that we can insha’Allah have the Mercy of Allah Azzawa Jall reach us. The end we want is Jannah (Jannatul Firdaus, insha’Allah)!

So we’ve got all that sorted but you still can’t get married…what do you do?

If it’s really not possible for you to get married at the moment, for whatever reason, then there is no point in obsessing over it and thinking about it every moment. If we consider the current situation rationally, we need to ask ourselves: is thinking about it going to change the circumstances? Nope. Accept the reality and stop ‘scouting’ out prospects X years in advance. Put your head down, and occupy your time with good deeds and activities that will please Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. I’m not saying that you won’t think of marriage for the next X years, you will naturally think about it occasionally, but insha’Allah it won’t be on your mind 24/7. Busy yourself with ibadaat, learn more about your deen (there are so many books that one can read insha Allah wa mash’Allah), memorize Qur’an and understand tafsir, volunteer, get involved in projects serving the deen (online or in person), hold fundraisers, etc. And finally, work on yourself, for the sake of Allah AzzawaJall and your akhirah.

Our love for Allah AzzawaJall, and then the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and Jannah should be greater than our love for other humans in this dunya. Make the deen your life and focus. You may still get whispers from Shaytan telling you to impress that brother, but fight away those thoughts and keep on marching forward insha Allah. On the Day of Judgment, you will stand alone with your character and deeds, so don’t lose sight of death and the akhirah.

I would like to briefly address the sisters who believe that they are ready for marriage and can eventually convince their parents (gently and respectfully) or overcome the hurdle that is stopping them. My advice would be to go for it! Marrying young is the sunnah, and if you can marry, then why not? Start researching, learning, and reading books about marriage in Islam, its obligations and sunnah, evaluate yourself and what you realistically want in a spouse. And of course do istikhareh prayer before you make any big decisions.

_________________________________________

Istikharah (Seeking Allah's Counsel)

"Oo Allah, I seek the counsel of Your Knowledge, and I seek the help of Your Omnipotence, and I beseech You for Your Magnificent Grace. Surely, You are Capable and I am not. You know and I know not, and You are the Knower of the unseen.

Oo Allah, if You know that this matter (then mention the thing to be decided) is good for me in my religion and in my life and for my welfare in the life to come, then ordain it for me and make it easy for me, then bless me in it.

And if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion and in my life and the afterlife, then distance me from it, and ordain for me what is good wherever it may be, and help me to be content with it.."

Al-Bukhari 7/162

(as taken from 'Fortress of The Muslim-invocations from The Quran and Sunnah' book compiled by Sa'id bin Wahf Al-Qahtani)

For Future Moms~ (and Dads)

Bismillah..

Assalamu'alaykum!

Wana share this good video here:

You gotta watch this video for all beautiful stories Sheikh Syed Rageah shared!

It's important. To have righteous kids, we gotta be righteous too. So let's start becoming one, NOW.

Hope it benefits ya!

..................................................................................................

Few IMPORTANT points i'd like to highlight here (and i believe it's crucial for us

all to know, inshaAllah):

1. Problems (Identify, minimize, avoid!)~

• Parents too busy to educate Islam to their children
• Bad examples of mothers (na'udzhubillah)-they add confusion to their daughters.

Well, you know, the 'HIJAB' concept. Putting it on only when they're in mosque and once they step out of the mosque, their hijab just disappeared-gone! Or shall i

say, flew away? :(

• Temptations around (Watch the vid to know the list :)
• Not having the right model to follow.
• Bad environment (Gives great influence to the kids since they learn most through observations-through their cute lil' eyes that act more like 2 sets of non-stoppable+non-filterable video recording! Parents, you'd better watch out!)

2. Since Islam's teachings are all meant to provide us BEST CURE, which is PREVENTION, Sheikh had shared with us some 'sweets yet hard to chew' tips:

• Set Prophet Muhammad salallahu 'alayhi waslm (s.a.w), habeebuna, as our BEST ROLE MODEL-uswatul hasanah

Why i wrote 'our best role model', not 'their'(the kids)? Because to teach these kids to take Prophet Muhammad (saw) as their BEST ROLE MODEL and to implement the sunnan of habeebuna (s.a.w) in everything they do, we have to do them FIRST. Remember the famous quote, "WALK THE TALK"? Uhuh. YOU-WALK THE TALK FIRST before the others :)

• Parents, as your kids ROLE MODELS, should always behave in good manners. Should (or MUST) practise praised characters as taught by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw)..

source:click here

MUST never lie to your kids. MUST go to the mosque oftenly, pray jama'ah prayers (to

dads, note this!), be righteous in speeches and deeds, LIVE ISLAMICALLY...MUST DO everything by YOURSELF first, if you want your kids to do the same. Remember i told you they are the 'recorder'?.....

May Allah put ease in all of our affairs as to our sincere intentions and deeds! Aaamin!

source: click here

• To have intelligent, righteous, pious kids like Imam Syafi'e (may Allah have mercy upon him)-start before your delivery to your baby!

So, dads musn't bring any haraam food/stuff into the house. Have your house near the mosque so that your kids (boys especially) could walk there themselves to perform jam'ah prayers when dads get busy and not around... And moms should live islamically also; read+understand al-quran and act upon its teachings, live the sunnah, conduct good attitudes, etc.. (watch the vid to know more)

• If you want your kids to be PERFECT muslims, AIM HIGH.

And then from there, you have to always try to raise them (like sheikh said, 'mold them') so that later on, when they reach age of 15+ (Being teenagers, ya know how hard it is for them to deal with so many LURING yet DESTRUCTIVE temptations), they are easier for you to handle as they would be more obedient to you in righteousness as compared to others of their age that aren't raised islamically. May Allah make our children among the righteous and have taqwa! Aaamin.

So, as future mothers, we really have to prepare ourselves with 'ilm and good akhlaq!

source: click here

• TVs-put on good shows to watch with the kids, put away all the bad and harmful shows away from the kids. (Personally, i'd rather not to have TV at home..)

Well, the sheikh somehow suggested to us to have a more productive time spent with the family-having a visit during the weekend to good+righteous families or any outdoor activities where all of your family members could participate in a healthy-islamic environment. (volunteering in charity work will also do! :)

• Kids are amanah (a trust) from Allah.

So we have to fear Allah! It's a GREAT deal!

When a sister lends you her fave book, what will you do? Surely you wouldn't wana betray her trust to you, right? So you would wana take very good care of it and handle the book carefully-you wouldn't wana lose her trust to you. If that's the case of her trust (the book), what about HIS trust to you(the kids)? Will really have to provide these kids their rights (the utmost priority!): to educate them Islam..

You wouldn't want them to stand infront of Allah and complain, "Oo Allah, my mom (or

dad) didn't teach me how to pray. They didn't teach me how to read the Quran. They didn't teach me..(you can name all the pillars of Islam/Iman if you want).."

Instead of having your kids as a key to jannah, things are happening just the opposite. Na'udzhubillah.. :(

.............................................................................

• For new muslims and new-practising muslims :)

CHANGE ENVIRONMENT!

Uhuh, you read me. If you want to change to a better muslima, want to practise Islam as what you've learnt but the environment just not that friendly to your changes, guess what? You REALLY GOTTA CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT :)

How?

Sheikh's suggestions:

a. Change friends. Have them who are:

-righteous. (they love spending time in mosque/muslims' organized events)

-remind you to fear Allah (in everything you do)

-correct you when you do wrong things

b. New muslims: don't try to go back (to your former friends-life before you learn enough of your deen.

- How can you dive to save your friend if you don't know how to swim? So stay dry, till you learn to swim. :)

.........................................................................................

BOYFRIEND-GIRLFRIEND RELATIONSHIP.

How to stay steadfast in avoiding this forbidden relationship?

a. Sincere du'a..

"Oo Allah, You know who i am and who i used to be. Please guide me to remain on this path (steadfastness in obeying/pleasing Allah)" or something alike. :)

b. Avoid being in places of fitan (plural for fitna)-disco, pubs, places where intermingles (and other poisons to our iman) are unavoidable.

c. Fast as much as you can

d. Spend most of your time in mosque..

*Tips above are written to remind the imperfect+forgetful-me, before reminding the others :)

..................................................................................................................

"Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the Muttaqun"

(Al-Furqan:74)

.

Which One Do You Prefer?

Assalamu'alaykum!

Read this BRUTALLY honest article! (well, at least this is how the writer described it herself ;)

Debunking The "Pretty Woman" Myth: How Romance Novels and Films Delude Youth

........................................................................................................

"..So which one is it going to be, ladies?

Do you want the delusive, fair-seeming mirage, or the sweet-tasting but down-played reality?

Do you want the euphoric but temporary pleasure of lust and amore, or the more subtle but permanent love and companionship that is independent of youth and physical attributes, yet spans decades?

Do you want the kind of guy who will give you the giddy but short-lived haramrelationship, or the one who will give you the most phenomenally rewarding and long-term, halal one?

Wake up, girl! Do you really want to be the hottie that catches the eye of guys driving by in Lotus Esprits, or do you want to be the preserved gem – whose earnest prayers can change the decree of your Benevolent Creator – to find you the man who will treat you with the romantic love, kindness and respect that you deserve?

O wannabe “Vivienne”, you deserve much more than $100 dollars a night in a fancy hotel penthouse! اَعُوذُ بِاللّه

Strive to become the jewel that will make you deserve a palace of pearls in the middle of Al-Firdaus - the best place to dwell in, with the man who loves you unconditionally, under the shade of the throne of the One Who loves you both, for eternity.."

*Read the article to know more:

Exhibit A?

Exhibit B?

Which one do you prefer? :)

............................................................................................................

"O Ever Living One.. O Eternal One, by Your mercy i call on You to set right all my affairs.. Do not place me in charge of my soul even for the blinking of an eye (a moment).."

Sound hadeeth: Al-Hakim (Fortress of The Muslim)