| Officially taken |
[Aug. 30th, 2005|02:03 pm] |
Wow, salaam people of the world, join hands
i'm finally engaged. No more feeling lonely anymore. As Michael Jackson once said, "my lonely days are gone!"
Can you believe it?!?!
I'm engaged to Sadaf jan, the luv of my life :)
I miss her already, can't stop these tears from flowing :(
Anyways:
My blogs are so boring, check out maniacmuslim.com i think he has a blog now, that guy has been cracking me up for the past couple of months.
I wouldn't consider this(my entries) a blog actually, more like LJs
ughh, blogspot is so pretty looking and all my friends have it. Who cares, maybe I'll switch over if Sadaf janem gets it :)
notice a smile is followed by her name, whenever i mention it?
lol. |
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| Friday the 13th Khutbah |
[May. 13th, 2005|03:36 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
Here is this Friday's khutbah... got this one from the khutbah bank and changed it around to fit our format. enjoy =)
Today’s khutbah is about Allah’s mercy. Of all the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah, it is Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim that we use, most frequently, in our prayers and dua’s. There is hardly any important thing that a Muslim does, without first invoking these names of Allah’s, in saying, Bismillahirrahmanir Raheem. Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim , are both derived from the same Arabic root word, Rahma, meaning mercy, compassion.
Marmaduke Pickthall translates Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim , as, the Beneficient, the Merciful, and Yusuf Ali translates it as, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Most of us, unfortunately, take Allah’s mercy and compassion for granted. But if we stop for a moment, and just reflect on the depth and extent of Allah’s mercy, we will be astonished beyond words.
"See they not how little of the sky and the earth is open to them, and how much is hidden? If We wished We could cause the earth to swallow them up or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them. Verily in this is a Sign for every servant that turns to Allah (in repentance)."
Sura Fatir v41 "It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth lest they cease (to function): and if they should fail there is none not one can sustain them thereafter: verily He is Most Forbearing Oft-Forgiving"
and further in the same sura: verses 44 and 45:
44 "Do they not travel through the earth and see what was the end of those before them though they were superior to them in strength? Nor is Allah to be frustrated by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth: for He is All-Knowing All-Powerful.
If Allah were to punish men according to what they deserve He would not leave on the back of the (earth) a single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated Term: when their Term expires verily Allah has in his sight all His servants."
Brothers and Sisters, next time we look up to the starry skies, let us think about those powerful forces that surround us. Forces that keep our very existence poised on a knife-edge, and let us thank Allah’s subhanAllah wata-‘ala for His Grace and Mercy.
Akulli Qowli haatha wastagfurullah lee wala koom fastagfiru
How do we become worthy of Allah’s Mercy? We become worthy of His Mercy, when we begin that long journey from doing what pleases us, to doing what pleases Allah. To someone who is not in the habit of doing good deeds, someone who instinctively does anything and everything that pleases his own selfish ego, it is very difficult to start doing things that please Allah’s.
This comes only by conscious effort. But remember, when you do just one good action, you can repeat it, and it can become a good habit. Like a farmer with his seed, when you sow an action, you reap a habit. When you sow a habit, you reap a character. When you sow a character, you reap a destiny. And the good destiny we all seek is to enter the Garden that Allah’s has prepared for His most beloved Servants.
We should also remember, that part of Allah’s mercy, is that he is very patient with our shortcomings. We all have many faults, but Allah’s anger does not just descend on us like a bolt of lightning, as soon as we step out of line. He always gives us time, lots of time, to recognize the error of our ways, and to put things right, to ask for mercy.
In the same way, we must not be impatient with others. We must also show mercy, wherever we have power and authority. This is especially towards our wives and our children. We must not project our fears and anxieties on them. We should never insult, embarrass or humiliate them. Taking an aggressive attitude usually does more harm than good. It is much better, to teach and to encourage, using kindness and a setting a good personal example, without arrogance or self-righteousness.
We expect Allah’s mercy and patience for ourselves. Why then, should we not show mercy and patience for others, especially our women and children? The first Hadith Qudsi reminds us:
"When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my anger."
This Hadith confirms that Mercy is more powerful than anger. It is one of the noblest qualities. When Nabi Muhammad entered Makka with an army of 10,000 soldiers, he could have severely punished the Quraish, for the cruelty and suffering they inflicted in the early years of Islam. Except for 4 individuals, he showed them all Mercy. The conquest of Makka was almost bloodless. Nearly everyone was forgiven. Look throughout the pages of history. You will not find anywhere, a better example of Mercy shown by a victorious conqueror. No wonder, Nabi Muhammad’s kindness and mercy touched them so deeply, that virtually all of Makka accepted Islam.
subhaana rabbika rabbil 'izzati 'amma yasifoon, wa salaamun 'alaalmursaleena walhamdulillahi rabbil 'aalameen-- birahmatika ya arhamurraahimeen... |
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| crazy week |
[May. 11th, 2005|10:41 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  apathetic | ] |
Salaam peoples
Alot of events just happened one after the other, I prolly won't be able to recall all of them or get into detail for each, but man oh man, it's just been super crazy. I guess i'm just setting you all up to read the rest of my post with all this hype and all, but for real, I don't know where to begin. I'll guess I'll just start now. My old boss from my first year at Stony Brook stopped by and said hi to everyone, she had left 3 years ago to cali and got a job there to take care of her ailing sister who had breast cancer. Her sister is well now, alhumdulilah, but this this boss i was really able to relate to when i first got the job. She's iranian, but you wouldn't believe this but she looks like this famous iranian singer, googoosh. She even sounds like her when she talks, but i'd doubt she sings like her but then again i never asked her to sing. Anyways, she commented on the way I looked and changed, even though everyone else loooked the same, hehe. She even asked about my brother, even though he worked for her only for a few months, lol. I was kinda embarassed cause i had this cold sore on top of my lip, but she still smiled and spoke to me like her own son :). She was the only one here at the HSC who could actually pronounce my name right heheh. But anyways, It wasn't that big of a deal, I guess i'm just tryin to make my life exciting even though it's boring as hell right now at this very moment. maybe the next few moments or year it'll get exciting.
I get this daily newsletter from Matt Furey, author of Combat conditiong. I'm sick of his crap and all the ways he tries to get people to buy his products through his somewhat convincing testimonials and personal stories. I hate it, because it's slowly but surely will get me to buy one of his products because he's marketing ploys are working so damn well. Yes i can cancel his damn newsletter, but i friggin love readin the motivating things he says. What a friggin loser, i just wanna meet him, shake his damn hand for his stupid letters and get on with my friggin life. How pathetic is it that i'm just another statistic or model of a typical consumer that's described in those marketing text books. Man, i fell for it haha.
anyways, to get my brain juices moving again, I started to finally get moving into the 3 digit marks into the book i'm reading, called east of NY west of kabul by Tamim Ansary, It's a very interesting lil book. I wish i could finish it so i can comment how stupid and how wonderful some parts of the book are, and how dumb and ignorant some of his comments are on islam. He claims to be a mutazilite. these people in the 9th century tortured our traditional scholars. These scholars carried and shaped our schools of thought for what it is today. Well anyways, just like any afghan, they think they know about islam more than anyone else because they're "afghan" and they can write and sway public opinion about islam to whoever wants to read their books. I don't fall for that and I'll write a rebuttal to his book one day if i feel the need to. But since nobody cares or reads about his book anymore, I won't feel the need to. It's a waste of time learning islam from this guy, but i liked the historical events he described in the book about afghanistan and the russians and what transpired to the war and etc. He also described life in afghanistan and the compounds the families or "clans" use to live in. A very private and comfortable life that the govt wanted to get rid of all together for the sake of westernization. anyways, it was very akin to the stories i heard from my family so Big ups to Mr Ansary for his description, he's somewhat of an ignorant dude but very wise at the same time, person. Besides the content, he has a wonderful way of writing, very articulate and descriptive at times. He's very funny too, but not like haha funny like he'll get fallin off the seat, but passive humour, the one where if you're like talkin to someone online, you can just type "lol" instead of hahhah, because you're not really laughing, but just acknowleding that whatever that person said was somewhat funny, but not super hilarious. He's not JRR tolkien, but no retarded LJ writer either. I hate Matt Furey.
I had a terrible dream the other night, i'll describe it in another post if i feel like it. Thanks for reading. Salaam
P.S. you're right, it wasn't that exciting of a week, but it got you reading didn't it? HAH! you've become another statistic just like me! |
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| The Quran rocks, no doubt about it! |
[May. 6th, 2005|12:39 pm] |
A very striking example of forgiveness we find in the Qur'an in reference to the most unfortunate event of “Slander of Sayyidah A'isha(Prophet's(SAW) wife).” Some hypocrites of Madinah accused her. They tried to put dirt on her noble character. One of the slanderers turned out to be Mistah, the cousin of ‘Aisha’s father Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr -may Allah be pleased with him- used to give financial help to this young man. After he slandered his daughter, Abu Bakr vowed not to help him any more. But God reminded Abu Bakr and through him all the Believers, “Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want and those who migrated in the path of God. Let them forgive and overlook. Do you not wish that God should also forgive you? Indeed God is oft-Forgiving, most Merciful.” (Al-Nur 24:22) Abu Bakr -may God be pleased with him- came out of his home and said, “Yes, indeed, I do want God’s forgiveness. He did not only continue to help him but he increased his allowance.
Islam emphasizes justice and punishment of the wrong doers, but it equally strongly emphasizes mercy, kindness and love. Justice, law and order are necessary for the maintenance of a social order, but there is also a need for forgiveness to heal the wounds and to restore good relations between the people. We must keep in mind that as much as we need God's forgiveness for our own sins and mistakes, we must also practice forgiveness towards those who do wrong to us. |
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| Longing for the divine |
[Apr. 19th, 2005|10:45 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  rejected | ] |
Assalamu Alaikoom
I recieved an email from astrolabe that said in the subject title, "Is the Quran a part of your life?".
Then without even giving thought, i said whispered under my breath... "I wish". I guess i couldn't lie to myself and said I had, but you know what? a brother once said to this other brother (yep, its haroon and haseeb), "You can fool me, you can fool yourself, but you can't never fool God" Meaning, though you can BS your way thru anything, your intentions don't mean jack unless you're sincere about them and keep true to yourself and God. Well atleast thats how i interpreted it.
Speaking of sincerity, here's the latest khutbah from last week... enjoy =)
Side note: our beloved brother Atiyat is leavin for Penn state to earn his PhD in statistics! Make dua for him, inshaAllah! :`-)
Oh you who believe fear Allah the way he should be feared and do not die except under the state of Islam. (3:102)
On many occasions, the khutbahs tend to get recycled, they have the same themes and end result morals… But we can’t depend on the past khutbahs and be content that we heard it once, and that we should be good to go. We can’t be living in the past and depend on our experiences. It makes us lazy. Same thing with school, yes I went to 4 years of so and so college, do I remember everything? No, I need to review every now and then.
That’s why it’s good to always get reminded of these past themes and morals so we get back on track. Not only is it a reminder for everyone here, but it’s also a reminder for myself since I’m not perfect either.
Today we’ll go over Sincerity again, Sincerity in Arabic is Ikhlaas. We are sincere when we don't just say something, but everything about us and around us reflects those feelings.
for example... there is a surah in the qur'an called sincerity, surah
ikhlaas. Most muslims know this:
qul huwa Allahu ahad
Allahu as-samad
lam yalid wa lam yoolad
wa lam yakullahu kufuwan ahad.
Say He is Allah, the one
The eternal/absolute
He does not beget nor is he begotten
And there is none like unto him
This surah is titled ikhlaas because it is the center of our religion.
ikhlaas.
When the prophet peace be upon him was asked to describe his
religion on one occasion he recited this surah. The basis of Islam is our
sincerity in tawhid... in believing in the oneness of Allah ta'aala.
All our actions should follow this.
Moreover, it is not just sincerity in this instance. Sincerity follows
Everything.
We also have to have sincerity in our belief in the prophet (saw).
Also we must forever be sincere to our parents and our family/friends.
This sincerity is something that keeps our hearts true. We don't say one
thing and do another. We don't make promises and break them 5 minutes
later.
And when you see someone be sincere to you, be sincere back to them. If they make a mistake in front of you, make 80 excuses for them. This was the way of our prophet(saw) not just some naïve contrived idea.
So often in our community and our society do we see the faults in other people when we can’t even see the faults in ourselves. So quick are we to point out their faults and accuse them of being this and that when we ourselves have a lot to fix and rectify in our ownselves.
People are people, they are not perfect.
Otherwise if we were so perfect, we’d be in paradise right now instead of on this earth being tested day in and day out. And so often do people forget that they’re
actually being tested by Allah, not by Allah’s creation. So people spend their lives pleasing other people instead of pleasing Allah(swt). If you want to strive to be perfect, then follow the best example and the best of creation, the perfect person, Prophet(Saw).
When people are sincere to you, take it as is, don’t think they’re trying to take favors from you or trying to get on your good side so you may have to do something for them in return. Maybe they’re doing it for the sake of Allah(swt) so they may be saved on the day of judgement for their good character and manners and at the same time, setting a good example for others to follow.
We are Muslims, we are supposed to set a good example for the rest of humanity. Instead we’ve become people who just complain day in and day out about our lives, when we are in fact already in the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. Just because we have money in the bank, in our wallets, and spare change in a dish, we are considered in the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. Imagine that.
On top of that, we were saved from the worst natural disaster of this decade. On top of being sincere, we should be thankful… Alhumdulilah.
We are Muslims and sincerity is one of the keys to being Muslim.
Akulli Qowli haatha wastagfurullah lee wala koom fastagfiru
Small Dua.
Alhamdulillah wasSalaatu wasSalaam ‘alaa Rasullullah
So how we do become sincere muslims? The first hadith that’s mentioned in Imam Nawawi’s forty hadith is, and I’ll just give part of the hadith.
Inna mal ammalu bin niyaat, “ Verily actions are according to intentions, and every man has what he has intended.
Meaning, you will be not be judged according to your action, but the intention behind the action.
This is considered to be one of the greatest hadiths in islam. Imam As Shafi said. “This hadith is one third of the knowledge of Islam; related to about 70 topics of Fiqh”
So when you want to rectify yourself. Do things for the sake of Allah. Do your prayers for the sake of Allah. Do don’t do it for the sake of the looking good in front of others. Do it for the sake of Allah. This also goes for the other 4 pillars of Islam. Only then will your actions will be worth the time you live on this earth. Life is short, 70-80 years on this earth if we’re lucky, is nothing compared to the eternity you’ll spend in paradise.
Ways to obtain ikhlaas:
• Do righteous deeds - the more good deeds we do and hence get closer to Allah, the more sincere we will be.
• Before we do any deed we should firstly seek knowledge (ilm) - our actions/deeds should be guided by knowledge so that we do them in accordance to the Shariah.
• Do not give false impressions - do not make others believe that an action we did was good when it was not.
• Al-Imam Ahmad said: Before you do anything, check your intention (niyyah) - ask yourself before performing an action: "Is it for the sake of Allah?"
And I’ll end with a short story from Imam al-Ghazali (rah.) related in the 'Ihya',
A certain man in the middle of his worshipping heard of a people who worshipped a tree. He went out of his house to cut it down.
Iblis said to him: "If you cut it down they will worship another; so return to your worship."
But he replied: "It certainly must be cut down."
Iblis opposed him, so the man wrestled him down. Iblis said: "You are a poor man: return to your worship and I shall place two dinars under your head every night, and God willing I shall send someone else to cut down that tree. What do you care as long as you yourself don't worship it?"
The poor man agreed and returned home. The next morning he found two dinars under his head and so on the second day. But on the third day he found nothing. When he saw this he went out again to cut down the tree.
Iblis confronted him and this time it was he who wrestled the poor man down. The poor man asked: "How did I manage to overcome you the first time while you overcame me the second?"
Iblis replied: "Because the first time your anger was for God's sake, whereas the second time it was for the sake of two dinars."
And by this, we end up with these duas that Allah
Make us people of who do sincere worship towards you. Make us people of pure intentions.
Duas…
With that, lets begin our salaat… DUAS….AQEEMASSALAAH |
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| In the footsteps of my brother |
[Apr. 13th, 2005|12:17 pm] |
I checked out my brother's post as well as Steve's
I was wondering howd i score on this quiz.
Looks like I scored a 100 on islam, alhumdulilah.
But i'm borderline to being a jew or buddhist... how funny =)
-khaLed
 | You scored as Islam. Your beliefs are most similar to those of Islam. Do more research on Islam and possibly consider taking the shahadah and officially becoming a Muslim, if you aren't already.
Despite the actions of some - who go against the teachings of Islam - Islam is a religion of peace; the word "islam" means "peace through submission to God." "Muslim" means "one who submits to God." Islam is the third of the three Abrahamic faiths, and it shares much with Judaism in Christianity; its differences are the acceptance of Muhammad as the last and final prophet, and the oneness of God - in other words, that Jesus, though he was a revered prophet, was not in fact God, and only one God exists. Apparently the Taliban could not read (though their name means "students"), because the Qur'an states that men and women are equal as believers, and that all believers should be educated and seek knowledge. Modesty in dress and behavior is required in Islam for both men and women to preserve the values of society and move the emphasis from superificial appearance to intelligence, knowledge, and God.
Islam | | 100% | Judaism | | 58% | Buddhism | | 58% | Hinduism | | 33% | Christianity | | 29% | Paganism | | 29% | agnosticism | | 17% | Satanism | | 0% | atheism | | 0% | </td>
Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com |
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| day after tommorow |
[Mar. 24th, 2005|10:04 pm] |
Assalamu alaikoom
Alhumdulilah for everything
I'm dead tired. I have nothing worthwhile to say. Trying to selling my old sable to one of my friends. Hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as i did... oh the memories :(
A statement on MSN news struck me about that native american boy that shot up his schooL. The native americans talked about how the kids aren't really heard out or have any voice in the community. They're just a face that just needs to be shown every now and then. I feel the Afghan community is the same way, old afghan traditions but new pressures are put into place in this foreign land. Well to them (the older generation) its foreign, trying to westernize as fast as possible, sorta like a catchup game. I grew up here, i don't feel the need to play catchup or feel the need to live up to the standards of others but thats how its got to be. There's no room for feelings of the need of being a humanitarian in this small tight bubble of a world we call afghanworld where no one is happy, and everybody is miserable. The world revolves ourselves, not others who need more help. I hope as muslims (as afghans) we can break ourselves outta this mold and move the community into a higher level of consciousness and conscience.
Now I must rest my eyes.
salaam |
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| Yeppp |
[Mar. 23rd, 2005|12:01 am] |
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Happy Birthday :) |
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| Khutbah update Feb 18th |
[Feb. 23rd, 2005|10:42 am] |
Assalamu Aalaikoom people of this dunya
Haseeb made a guest appearance last friday at the delivery of my khutbah. Afterwards we talked about his departure from LJing to blogging and how his mistake hasn't really dented our friendship but really strengthened it since we needed our space, digitally. hahah... okay anyways we really didn't talk bout that but I don't really remember our conversation except for that fact that it was fun that he came down and we both agreed that it shouldn't happen again, lol j/k... but yeh it was bonding day between Haseeb and me. He also came down yesterday but i was off, but he left a small note on my monitor telling me how much he missed me and all, nah he didn't but he left a salaamz ;)
So anyways, this khutbah was pretty short and I finished it under 10 min. I didn't really have much to say. it's a topic that everyone should know and I don't know if i delivered it with any impact. I didn't really practise the khutbah but just read from the paper and put some emphasis on tone and atleast make it somewhat interesting because this topic is something that most people aren't aware about and lose hope everyday because of their doubts in life and in God.
Alhumdulilah nahmadahu wa nusalli ‘alaa rasulihil kareem
Wa nash hadu Allah ilah ha ilallah wa nashahadu ana Muhummadan Abduhu wa rasulu
Rabbi Shahrli (finish reciting dua)…
Amma ba’d
Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ittaqoo Allaha haqqa taqatihi wala tamatunna illa wa antum muslimoon
Oh you who believe fear Allah the way he should be feared and do not die except under the state of Islam. (3:102)
Today we’re gonna talk about forgiveness and istighfar.
In order to make sense of things, we have to think about what it means to forgive someone. For example, what’s the worst possible thing that person could do to you to deserve your silent treatment? Will you ever forgive that person? It takes a lot of guts and putting aside your ego to do such a thoughtful thing. You might even relieve that person from that stress or that burden of remorse.
Let’s parallel that to committing a sin. Shaykh Ibn Yusuf mentions in his book Prayers for forgiveness, “The act of seeking forgiveness is what gives us the opening we need after feeling overwhelmed by the burden of sin. Forgiveness means a way out, a second chance, a feeling of hope with which to turn a new page in life. It is through forgiveness that we begin to understand that there is no reason whatsoever to despair of the mercy of Allah. Islam encourages us not to run away in fear of Allah but rather to turn toward Allah the same way a baby would run into its mother’s lap. So lovingly does Allah, Most High address his sinful servants: “Say (to Humanity, Oh Muhammad)(saw): O My servants—those of you who committed (sins in great) excess against their own souls –never despair of the mercy of Allah! For, indeed, Allah forgives sins, one and all. Indeed, it is He who is the All-Forgiving, the Mercy-Giving. So turn in penitence to your Lord. And Submit yourselves to Him.”
When a sin is committed, one has wronged himself…. In other words, you have made a mistake. Similarly when you wrong one of your friends or family members, you have made a mistake and you wish to seek forgiveness from them to relieve you from the burden of guilt. But lets turn the tables on that scenario, what happens if someone has wronged you? They didn’t make a small mistake, but a huge mistake… They have totally wronged you and your entire family. Not only your family, but also your ancestors and your future offsprings. Lets expand that even further and say they wronged your entire tribe and even your religion. Will you ever forgive that person? Well Allah(swt), the merciful of all merciful’s can. Though, he has no family, does not need of your worship, and in fact does not need you at all. But all he wants is that you acknowledge him at least 5 times a day, He’ll forgive even if you have wronged him on a daily basis. How generous of a lord do we have, yet we continue to wrong him because of our own weakness. But if it comes down to us when forgiving someone, we tend to pause and be very stubborn about it… Do we think we’re better than God that we can’t even forgive another fellow human being?
Akulli Qowli haatha wastagfurullah lee wala koom fastagfiru
Small Dua.
Alhamdulillah wasSalaatu wasSalaam ‘alaa Rasullullah
Shaykh Hussain Abdul Sattar in his speeches often says “Casting aside the issue of whether our deeds are worthy of presentation before our Creator, the reality is that each of us carries a load of sin and disobedience upon our shoulders. By design we are imperfect creatures prone to making mistakes. The Prophet(saw) said, “Every descendent of Adam is a sinner, and the best of the sinners are those who repent.” Which means, its better to atleast acknowledge and reflect on what you did and turn back to your Lord than not do anything at all.
And he goes on further and says, “The mercy of Allah is so greatly infinite and his position so grand, that rather than immediately punishing us, He has granted us a grace period in which to seek forgiveness for our sins. This is called making istighfar.”
And now back to us human beings. We’re not perfect… we’re prone to make mistakes. If a brother makes a mistake, make some excuses for him… hide his mistakes so Allah hides your mistake on the day of reckoning. Forgive him, so Allah forgives you on the day of reckoning… If you can’t forgive him at all, then at least forgive him for the sake of Allah.
But this doesn’t mean that oh now that I’m free to make mistakes, I can do whatever I want, and that brother or Allah will forgive me no matter what. You have to remember that you’re responsible for the things you do in this life and the people around you. So don’t be lazy, when u make an appointment with somebody, be punctual, be on time. Similarly, do your prayers on time. Set yourself as an example for others to follow, because Muslims are supposed to be the best examples for the rest of humanity.
Duas…
… DUAS….AQEEMASSALAAH |
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| Eid Mubarak |
[Jan. 21st, 2005|03:03 pm] |
ASsalamu Alaikoom Warahmatullah
dear friends:
I miss you all, I wish you all Eid Mubarak. From me to you, and to all the Muslims in the world.
Allah(swt) is the most merciful, most gracious with our current living conditions. We owe him everything yet he doesn't need us as support. All we have to do to make up for all these blessings is just to acknowledge them... How hard is that to just say Alhumdulilah?
Closed Hearts, closed minds. Open Minds, closed hearts. open hearts, open minds. open hearts,closed minds. Which category do you fall under?
Shaykh Hamza once said if you wish to cause another person to lose his/her blessing, this is called envy. Yet another disease of the heart.
Random thoughts going thru my head... just trying to make sense of things. I want a sense of closure, a sense of soundness inside me. Something is missing, what is it? I lost track of my prayers, I missed one or two, i slept without doing my isha. I have so many of them to make up. I'm so frustrated with that. I have yet to memorize these two surahs that i've been struggling with so long. I know its my fault for not putting my time into it. I just wanna be put back on track before i die. I just wanna see my parents smile atleast once before i pass away, its so hard to communicate with them with such bad grammar and poor vocab. How often is that your parents are alive but you can't communicate a word or two to them, yet with people who don't have their parents would give their left arm just to talk to them again. I'm such an ungrateful person. Tambal.
Alhumdulilah, I got a new car. there are no more fumes to make my passengers sick anymore! I'm so happy. I'm gettin customized plates for it. It should be pretty cute.
my brother shahrokh got engaged, he wants me to go to dubai on the 16th to his engagement party in the grand hall of some dubai hotel. That week i have to go to Washington DC to a conference for a presentation. I'm totally conflicted on this issue. I wanna build up my experience and present to thousands of people, but at the same time... I can't miss his engagement. He doesn't want me to miss it, he says its more important to him than me going to DC.
If you're gonna make dua tonight, please add me to the bottom of the list. There are far more other people in the world (who are suffering) who need more help than me. I am not deserving of anything... but all i'm asking for is just a sound heart.
salaam |
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| Finals Week suck |
[Dec. 13th, 2004|12:18 pm] |
Assalamu alaikoom
Its around this time that people start losing their minds. I have already lost mine and finals didn't even start yet.
I'm really hungry now... hmm
But Alhumdulilah for everything else, I can't really discuss anything else at this moment... =)
I have to prepare for a khutbah for this Friday but I can't really think of anything that can effectively affect the hearts of these busy residents and students. I realized that when you're outta school and out of the campus life and just really focused on work and other things, deen becomes starts to play such a minor role in life. From what i experienced from the sittings @ the chapel jummah, people are more concerned with whats going on in their beepers and getting up in the middle of the khutbah and answering them rather than paying attention. After the khutbah is over, they're focused with doing the best they can all day at work. After that, they go home and focus on their family until the next day work pops up again. It becomes such a mundane life. The only thing that shifts these schedules are the ramadhan and the eids that come up. It's a horrible thing. Do the friday prayers become the only prayers we do? I don't know, i hope not. Maybe I'm assuming too much. There are too many distractions in life from your deen. Incorporate the distractions into your deen, so in a way, the distractions don't become distractions but become part of your deen. I'm not sayin to put innovations or make bidah in your deen, but if you're watching alot of TV filled with useless garbage, maybe you can substitute it with Bridges TV, hehe... aright its a cheesy example but make small changes in your life so you don't lose sight of the real goal in life. Make small baby steps in changing yourself, after a while you'll see that you walked a mile and made progress =)
We're depending heavily on eachother than depending alone on Allah(swt). I can continue, but Haroon put it nicely in his journal about patience. It's all we have that keeps us tolerant towards one another and dependent on Allah(swt). In fact, i think i'll use your journal entry for the khutbah =)
aright salaamz |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 25th, 2004|12:17 am] |
Waheed and Sadiya hitting up NY =)
can't wait to see u guys
salaam =) |
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| 11-12-04 Khutbah |
[Nov. 16th, 2004|11:13 am] |
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Assalamu alaikoom warahmatullah
Long time no see, eh? Actually its the second time i'm typing this out. I already written half this stuff out before i hit the rich text mode when everything disappeared, lol. anyways, i'm writing this out again. I just told Mujeeb what just happened and this what he said from his wisdom:
M**WHOis*****: lol
M**WHOis*****: the world of LJ
M**WHOis*****: it really makes you think about what you're saying and then rethink about it and then you get to post because that's how many times it messes up
btw, the asterixes are there to hide his online identity :)
Eid Mubarak to all. I wish I could see you guys in person and personally spread my Eid mubaraks =)
Well its been a really busy Eid... I spent nearly the entire day at my aunt's house after the Eid prayer at Abu bakr Masjid. She got me a really nice mark & spencer shirt from Dubai. They're very nice comfortable and expensive shirts that aren't sold in the US. It's apparently sold overseas. Check it out here on the men's section. besyar feshanee asta, neh? (very stylish no?)
Anyways, the khutbah last friday was about the importance of the masjid and how imperative it was to keep attending it even after Ramadhan had ended. excerpts were heavily referenced from here .
InshaAllah i gotta get a new car asap, the fumes from the car have been making the people in the passenger seat sick. I'm really worried bout that, the car could prolly run for another year or whatever, but i don't want to risk anyone's health. That car has been thru alot , though, from having chicken makni stains in the back of the car to driving Imam Zaid Shakir =)
Also, there was an Eid Banquet on Sunday and I met alot of nice people there =)
Please make dua for Saleem and Farooq because they're really really struggling in their first year of Med and Dental school, respectively.
For work, they've asked Erhan and I along with this other IT dude to present at this Computer and Technical services division (CATS) program on "Library Technology Solutions Developed In-House" Check it out here
and then again inshaAllah in Washington DC. It sounds pretty exciting i guess.
salaamz for now</p> |
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| Tired |
[Oct. 31st, 2004|11:47 am] |
Alhumdulilah...
It's sunday and I don't want to be bothered...I'm beyond exhaustion, i just want to do nothing but catch up on akhira stuff and not worry bout this life for the moment. I've already caught up with sleep so i don't have to worry about passing out. Though there is a halaqah today for the afghans at al-baqi and an iftar tonight at my cousins. I started doing my laundry and realized that i forgot the fabric softener ;)
I need to clean up my room as well as my computer desktop, both daunting tasks...
Shaykh Hamza, i wonder how he's spending his Sunday?
salaamz |
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| 2nd khutbah... Topic: Importance of Salaat |
[Oct. 29th, 2004|02:31 pm] |
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Alhumdulilah, it's over again... I finished this khutbah this time without losing my mind... I was a bit nervous when i got up to start and tried to overcome my nervousness with other worries in my mind. But for some reason, those worries didn't seem to overcome this nervousness, lol. I was trying to think of worst case scenarios and etc, but they just seemed too farfetched. But what did happen was the that all worries and nervousness I had were neutralized at that moment where i had to come thru for Allah, Alhumdulilah.
The khutbah is totally written by Muhammad Shareef from the Al-maghrib Institute, I had added some of my own thoughts and comments throughout the lecture, but I don't remember what they were.
Mujeeb suggested last night that i'd go thru the khutbah.com website and use it to come up with material for Ramdhan. This stuff was too good to pass up. Plus the topic was something on my mind for the past couple of days... :-/. Here's the full text from Muhammad Shareef. I'll paste whatever i added or subtracted from below, inshaAllah:
Alhumdulilah nahmadahu wa nusalli ‘alaa rasulihil kareem
Wa nash hadu Allah ilah ha ilallah wa nashahadu ana Muhummadan Abduhu wa rasulu
Rabbi Shrahli (finish reciting dua)…
Amma ba’d
Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ittaqoo Allaha haqqa taqatihi wala tamatunna illa wa antum muslimoon
Oh you who believe fear Allah the way he should be feared and do not die except under the state of Islam. (3:102)
Since we’re well into the Month of ramadhan, this khutbah will focus on the most important devotional act in our islam. This will be the salaat. It’s a very good time now that we should know the importance and the necessity of salaat and really work on it this month…
A story shall be related…
During the night, Abu Lu’lu’ Al Majoosi hid in the shadows in preparation for the Fajr Salah where he would execute his satanic mission: to Murder the Ameer of the Believers: Umar ibn Al-Khattab - Radi Allahu Anhu. Umar would lead the Fajr with a long surah, giving time for the community to join the congregation. As he led that Salah, Abu Lu’lu advanced from a dim pillar, a poisoned dagger hidden in his sleeve. He jumped in front of Umar Radi Allahu Anhu and tore open his stomach with the dagger. Abu Lu’lu’ then attempted an escape through the congregation, slashing left and right, murdering in his path many others. One Companion threw a cloth over and – realizing that he was caught – Abu Lu’lu’ killed himself. Umar completed the Fajr Salah and passed away later in his bed Radi Allahu Anhu.
The importance of the prayer in Islam cannot be understated. It is the first pillar of Islam that the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned after mentioning the testimony of faith, by which one becomes a Muslim. It was made obligatory upon all the prophets and for all peoples. Allah declared its obligatory status under majestic circumstances. For example, when Allah spoke directly to Moses, He said,
"And I have chosen you, so listen to that which is inspired to you. Verily, I am Allah! There is none worthy of worship but I, so worship Me and offer prayer perfectly for My remembrance." [Taha 13-14]
...Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do Hearts find rest. (Ar Ra'd, 28)
The importance of prayer is demonstrated in many of the Prophet’s statements. For example, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will be bad."
In reality, when the prayer is performed properly – with true remembrance of Allah and turning to Him for forgiveness – it will have a lasting effect on the person. After he finishes the prayer, his heart will be filled with the remembrance of Allah. He will be fearful as well as hopeful of Allah. After that experience, he will not want to move from that lofty position to one wherein he disobeys Allah. Allah mentioned this aspect of the prayer,
"Verily, the prayer keeps one from the great sins and evil deeds" (al-Ankaboot 45).
However amongst our community of Musalleen (those who perform Salah) we find some hazy actions that need to be brought back into focus.
· Some do not concentrate on what they are saying.
· Some speed when they pray
· Some wander with their gaze during Salah,
· The number of raka’aat performed is constantly forgotten.
· For some, the Dunya hugs their hearts during Salah and clouds their minds.
· Sometimes, before the Imam says Allahu Akbar, some in the congregation are already in the next prostration.
AND THEN dramatic pause
· Why do we come to the Masjid, why do we perform Salah? We do it in application of the command of our Creater Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala. Why should we then lose the blessing and reward because of a wandering heart and an itchy hand? Concentration is the soul of our Salah. Concentration is the fruit of our Eeman. Yet regardless of this understanding, people still leave their Salah and only a small portion of it is written for them because of their imperfection of it.
The Prophet - Sal Allaahu alayhi wa Sallam - said, “Verily, a man will leave from (his Salah) and only a tenth of his Salah is written for him, a ninth, an eighth, a seventh, a sixth, a fifth, a forth, a third, half.” – Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi.
· Someone who short changes his Salah is a thief. The Prophet - Sal Allaahu alayhi wa Sallam - said, “The evilest thief is he who steals from his Salah.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how does he steal from his Salah?” He - Sal Allaahu alayhi wa Sallam - said, “He does not perfect it’s ruku’ and Sujood.” – authentic
Because of the speed some apply to their Salah, it is as if they are pecking up and down like a bird. Narrated Ahmad, Abu Dawood and others, the Prophet - Sal Allaahu alayhi wa Sallam - forbade that someone should peck (in Salah) like a crow…”
Umar - Radi Allahu Anhu - once stood on the pulpit and addressed the community with a loud powerful voice, “A man may grow old in Islam and never have completed to Allah a single Salah!” They said, “How is this?” He said, “He does not perfect his concentration, nor his humbleness, nor his focus on Allah - Azza wa Jall.”
Akulli Qowli haatha wastagfurullah lee wala koom fastagfiru
Small Dua.
Alhamdulillah wasSalaatu wasSalaam ‘alaa Rasullullah
How do we concentrate in Salah? From the Sunnah, the Prophet (saw)– taught the following:
1. Come early for Salah and prepare yourself to concentrate. Repeat the Adhan to yourself with the Mu’adhdhin, and - after the adhan - say the prescribed supplication. Between the Adhan and Iqamah make dua’. Do Wudu properly, cleanse your mouth, and wear your finest clothes. (own comment: It’s disturbing that when people come to fajr salaat at the masjid, they’ll come in their nightgowns or their sweats. When they go to their business meetings to meet their boss, they’re in their business suit, looking their best, but when they’re ready to face Allah in prayer, they look like slobs. They tend to look better in front of Allah’s creation rather than in front of their own creator)
2. Aim to get the entire reward of your Salah.
Think about the meanings of the verses that you are reciting. Isn’t is disheartening that someone may perform Salah for decades, day after day, and he/she still does not know what they are saying?
The Qur’aan was revealed to be pondered over! Allaah revealed: “(This is) a Book (the Qur’aan) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.” [Saad 38:29].
3. Pray in congregation.
4. Pray as if you were told that after Salah you would be going back to Allah.
Abu Bakr Al-Muzanee said, “If you want your Salah to benefit you, then say, ‘I shall die after this Salah!’”
With that, lets begin our salaat… DUAS….AQEEMASSALAAH
On a side note: Alhumdulilah for Allah's infinite mercy and for teaching me patience. The other night, i had some worries that I couldn't shake off and I was just losing my nerves. But then that very night, this lunar eclipse happened. And I came to the realization that because it's so easy for Allah to place a shadow on the moon, causing a red hue to appear upon it by using the earth to create that shadow... so then how easy could it be for him to care for his servant, when his servant needs him the most at his hour of need? Something to think about...
salaamz |
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| To the request of ... |
[Oct. 24th, 2004|04:29 pm] |
Assalamu Alaikoom
Bismillah
Somebody mentioned that I update my LJ, although they rarely do theres... thanks alot =)
Aright, so anyways... make dua for me these days, especially in the month of Ramadhan, cause i'm headin into some hard times. I got an extreme headache from all this, but alhumdulilah, its all good cause it could be a blessing in disguise.
Masood and I were discussin that we should restart that sbmsa choir so we could sing some of the portions of the burda. He ordered the Salawat CD "produced by Sami Yusuf". The tracks contain the burda, tala'al badru alayna, and one song featuring Sami Yusuf.
Btw, the ad does not mention that the majority (actually the whole thing) of the songs are sung by Mesut Kurtis, a relatively unknown entering the nasheed business, but marketing heavily on the fact that Sami Yusuf produced the CD. I find that hilarious. The version of the burda that we're crazy into is this version from Haroon's website that he actually turned into an MP3 of the real audio file type that somebody sent me a while back. Here it is in this MP3 page. Just download the first link... I have no idea who sung it, but its simply amazing.
The sbmsa choir actually started back at asif and asim's walima and it quickly died out after that night. But Asim was pretty pleased with it and dubbed us the stony brook msa choir =).
Yesterday, it was my turn to babysit Muheb. Under my watch, he spilt powerade all over my keyboard and released all the CDs in the spindle on the floor. Wow i suck, lol. He managed to learn some new words from Dawud wharnsby's Sing children of the World and likes to sing along to bismillahir rahmanirahim, alhumdulilahir rabil 3lamin. :)
On that note, Waheed called me up Saturday morning and we both watched the new batman cartoon together (with my nephew of course) even though he was all the way in Michigan... i thought that was sweet of him, lol...If only we could've done a 3-way call with Mujeeb that would've been hot, hehe
The long awaited fastathon is tommorow, I got a majority of my co-workers to sign up. One actually knew about the fastathon because they watched the Muslim Neighbors show on telecare and heard Saleem talking about it and his experiences from last year year's fastathon. Subhanallah =). Cheers to haroon for bein the head of it, and inshaAllah make dua to make this one a bigger success than last years and that it be a venue to opening the hearts for not only non-muslims but muslims as well...
On other matters, i feel that i've been spreading myself out too thin in work/school/msa stuff (msa stuff should slow down dramatically as soon as the fastathon is over) and not getting time for myself on this month of Ramadhan. Here's an important excerpt I read from the Purification of the heart on Envy.
"God is all-wise in what he gives to people. If one questions the blessing a person has received, then he or she is actually questioning the Giver. This makes envy reprehensible and forbidden."
"God is all-wise in what he gives to people. If one questions the blessing a person has received, then he or she is actually questioning the Giver. This makes envy reprehensible and forbidden."
"God is all-wise in what he gives to people. If one questions the blessing a person has received, then he or she is actually questioning the Giver. This makes envy reprehensible and forbidden."
I wrote it 3 times to really stress the importance of this statement. Envy is defined in this book as "to describe your desire that someone lose a blessing that he or she has.
Also another good chapter to read up on Displeasure with the Divine Decree. Read it several times, inshaAllah. I'd like to comment on it, inshaAllah, in another post.
On a severe tangent, Nazim looks really good in Mujeeb's shirt, heh ;)
salaams for now. |
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| Khutbah Post |
[Oct. 17th, 2004|11:40 pm] |
Assaalamu Alaikoom warahamtullah
It's about time I keep my word and post this speech up.
On a side note: Before I began the english part, I apologized to them for having a short khutbah because of the nature of Ramadhan falling on a Friday. Reason was, like i explained in the previous post, I had the impression that Ramadhan would fall on a Saturday, so therefore much of the khutbah was cutdown because it wouldn't make much sense since Ramadhan already had come in. I had asked Mujeeb for a shorter intro because I couldn't memorize the longer version at first, but next time... i'll be set with the longer one, inshaAllah.
Alhamdulillah nahmadahu wa nusalli 'alaa rasulihil kareem
Wa Nash hadu Allah ilah ha ililah wa nashahudanah Muhummadan Abduhu wa rasulu Rabbi Shrahli Sadri wa yasirlee amree, wahlul uqdatan min lisanee yafqahu Qawlee
amma ba’d
Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ittaqoo Allaha haqqa tuqatihi wala tamootunna illa waantum muslimoon Oh you who believe fear Allah the way He should be feared and do not die except under the state of islam. (3:102)
Ramadan is a very special month… A Shaykh that visited our masjid last week stated, Ramadan compared to the other 11 months is like Yusuf (as) compared to his 11 brothers. When the Prophet (saw) went up for Al-Miraj and saw Yusuf (as), he stated that Allah had given Yusuf (as) 50 parts of his beauty while he gave the rest of his creation the other 50 parts (much like how we notice the beauty of the flowers in the spring, and the amazing foliage of the leaves in the fall). Similarly just like how Allah has reserved 99 parts of his mercy for himself on the day of ressurection, he has given that 1 percent to the rest of his creation, IE how the mother shows affection for her child and the mare lifts its hoof away from its baby child as to no trample upon it.
So Think about it… women used to cut their hands when they saw his (Yusuf (as)) beauty. Having said that, now think about how that shaykh made the likeness of Ramadan to Yusuf (as)! There's no other month like Ramadan. Later on i'll explain the merits of Ramadhan, inshaAllah.
For the past couple of days, my friends and family kept remarking to me of how they were so excited that Ramadan was coming up… Why was that? The only explanation that I could come up with was that whenever Ramadan was coming up, they felt a sense of comfort… security… and mercy. And I said.. yeah the Ramadan is like that blanket of security or mercy that Allah sheds upon once a year. Prophet (Saw) said "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained." narrated Abu Huraira (Al-Bukhari Vol. 3:
No.123)… What more can we ask for? Deeds that you do this month are worth more… how do we prepare, how do we make the most out of this month? We only have like after this Jummah to prepare and set our schedule because this month only occurs once a year… after that… who knows when you’ll live til the next Ramadan... make the most out of your Ramadan now so even if God forbid something happens, you had atleast prepared yourself to meet your Lord…
InshaAllah, I’ll mention what we can do in the 2nd half of the khutbah. But before we go into the 2nd half... Here are some of finer points of Ramadan… - The first revelation of the Qur'an as guidance for humanity was given to our beloved Prophet (saw) during this month.
- Ramadan contains Laylatul-Qadr, which is better than a thousand months.
- The great battle of Badr between the Muslims and the unbelievers took place during Ramadan in the second year of the Hijrah.
- The Muslims re-entered Makkah victorious during Ramadan in the eighth year of the Hijrah. After this conquest people began to enter the fold of Islam in multitudes, and Makkah became free of polytheism and evil.
- The sunnah of performing the tarawih prayer is observed during this month.
- The Prophet(saw) said "He who fasts Ramadhaan out of Imaan (Belief in Allah and His promises) and ihtisab (Expectancy of Allah's reward), all his past sins will be forgiven" So Allah(swt) had set two conditions for your sins to be forgiven, 1) fast out of Iman, and 2nd expecting the rewarding of the fast...Thats all!
Akulli Qowli haatha wastagfurullah lee wala koom fastagfiru (short break)
Alhamdulillah wasSalaatu wasSalaam ‘alaa Rasullullah
(Begin 2nd part)
Prepare and to think about what you can do during Ramadan Make up prayers that you might have missed. Praying 5 times a day in Jumuat. Setting aside time to Read the Quran (Mention the hadith about the reciting one letter of hte Quran is worth 10 x the reward and that alim lam meem are 3 letters not one...)But because its Ramadhan, these acts are multiplied to the nth degree! Setting aside time to memorize new duas. Inviting eachother for iftaar, feeding another in iftaar.
(Conclude with dua)
Allaahumma antassalaam wa minkassalaam. Tabaarakta yaa dhal-jalaali wal-ikraam Rabbana innana amanna fa-ghfir lana dhunubana wa qina adhaban nar Rabbanaa Dhalamnaa anfusanaa. Wa illam taghfirlanaa wa tar7amnaa. La nakoonanna minal-khaasireen. Raabenna Atina Fidunya Hasenata…. AqeemasSalah
Alright so anyways, the Khutbah was short, i hit many straight forward points because I thought i knew my audience. The audience were mainly health science students (ie med students), doctors/surgeons, ER folk and people who work near the HSC. I don't think they wanted a long khutbah and an elaborate explanation. Like i said before, 1/4 of the people came when the prayer started, then all rushed to get out after the prayer ended. Everyone's in a hurry in the hospital, i don't blame them. One guy actually got up durin the khutbah when his beeper when off, but atleast made it back for the prayer, alhumdulilah. May Allah accept whatever was put forth :-/
salaam
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| Ramadhan Mubarak, everyone |
[Oct. 15th, 2004|02:06 pm] |
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| | Hungry | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Al-Muallim, Sami Yusuf | ] |
Bismillahir Rahmannir Rahim
Assaalamu Aalaikoom Warahmatullah
I didn't expect the first day of Ramadhan to start on a friday, like others, i was especting it to fall on Saturday according to Zaytuna. But Alhumdulilah, two brothers from Austin Texas cited the moon so behold, Ramadhan started Today =).
Which kinda threw me off, because when i was preparing for my first ever khutbah for the HSC chapel Jummah Crew, I was preparin for something simple and wasn't expecting much of a turnout... For starters, the Jummah here ain't no sold out shea stadium crowd, it's more like 6-8 people, but Since Ramadhan fell on a friday, the turnout was pretty impressive, which resulted in twice the amount of the usual crowd. Like I'm not much of an orator, but I didn't do as well as I should have. My head was buzzed from the hunger and my throat was dry from the thirst (I wasn't expecting this factors though a couple of days ago when I thought I knew Ramadhan would fall on a Saturday so the pressure of presenting was much more and the reward even greater because it was the first Jummah Khutbah of Ramadhan!), So I couldn't think straight ... I'm afraid the message wasn't conveyed as well I wanted to, so I feel its my fault in whatever information they could've picked up, was lost in my poor presentation. Yes, I'm doing this for the sake of Allah, but I don't understand what went wrong? Did I need more prep time? (Continuing this issue later on)
Anyways, 1/4 of the people showed up after the khutbah ended, so they got some barakah and reward from the prayer, inshaAllah. I hope they weren't upset that the khutbah was so quick, I had to cut it somewhat because of the start date of Ramadhan, it just really threw me off in what i really wanted to discuss.
I'll post here tonight of the contents of the khutbah, I hope inshaAllah that some of you might benefit from it, if others today did not. :(
Although, I know I am doin this for the sake of Allah, there are physical and psychological factors within me that are holding me down. Only thru my sincerity and practise can i really overcome my fears of messing up. There's no other reason i'm doing this except for His sake, but I can't figure out what these external factors are that are possessing me to mess up?
So inshaAllah, I'm going make it my business to overcome this personal speed-bump I have with-in myself. If i don't, then i'm quite useless to Allah, then again... he doesn't need me. I need him. But the only way I can attain his pleasure is by overcomin these stupid factors within me that hold me back from his pleasure. I hope its not one of those Catch 22 things :-/
So anyways, Ashfaq asked me to do the Khutbah, and he's like one of those most genuine brothers around that I know, Alhumdulilah... Since the head guy (Hassan) who used to do the khutbahs every friday left, Ashfaq took over the job. So Ashfaq had to give the khutbahs almost every week, sometimes interchanging with Anas. But since the fall semester began, Anas started attending the Friday sermons (khutbahs) west campus, so it was only Ashfaq. Mujeeb helped me prepared as usual... he never lets me down, alhumdulilah... Even if he ever does, it'll never affect our friendship one bit because first of all, this friendship was forged by Waheed :) and 2nd he has already done so much so for us that I'd have to be a real arrogant d00d to hold any grudges against him. Jazakamullah khair br0. Also Nazim gave me a prep talk before I went to go to give the khutbah which was pretty good too =). Jazaks for that ;)
Alright... stay tuned next post for the Khutbah, inshaAllah and please make dua that I didn't drive anyone away and they come back next week for the next khutbah :)
salaam |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 3rd, 2004|08:41 pm] |
Bismillah
Asslamau Alaikoom
I figured that I should just start up another entry as opposed to continuing the last post... Yeah waheed you were right... i went past 2+ days... heheh.
I spent Saturday night watching the play, Pirates of Penzance... MashaAllah, Steve and Pete did a great job, (amazingly!) with their routines and keepin themselves in character the entire time. I was like... holy snap... if i was doin that, i'd prolly be the guy in the back holding up the flag the entire time and staring at the ceiling, but Alhumdulilah, even the guy in holding up the flag in the background was keeping himself in character, lol... therefore i would've done a terrible job in that. :-/...
After the play, i met Pete's family and interestingly at that moment I found out that Pete (who was in 4th grade at the time) actually came to my play in bethpage high school when we did our rendition of West Side Story. If Mujeeb and Sadiya weren't aware of this , I played Lt. Shrank. He was the cop that nobody respected :p... Alhumdulilah I didn't have to do any dance routines, but I had 3 big scenes where i yelled my friggin head off in my fake brooklyn accent, lol
Anyways, I guess I was always a loner in that respect, doin my own thing...
I had rented these 3 movies from blockbuster online and now i'll have to return them this monday... I cancelled the offer in order to remove myself from their accounts and take advantage of the 2 week trial period. 13 going onto 30 was hilarious and somewhat tear jerking at the end, a movie recommended by Waheed and Sadiya, Passion was very disturbing but it didnt hit a chord in me or caused any emotions to stir up... Though, there was a tear jerker moment when Mary, mother of Jesus, had a flashback of her 5 year old son tripping and fallin and she had to run over to save and comfort him, paralleled the moment when he presently (accordin to the bible) was carryin the cross and fell over because of his previous wounds and from the weight of the cross, but she couldn't save him at that present moment, unfortunately... There was alot of crazy symbolism in there that I didn't understand. Surprisingly, they had jinns in there but I didn't know the Christians believed in them... It prolly represented demons or something. BTW, there was an article i just read online that Mel Gibson's inspiration for these last 24 hours of torture and pain was actually influenced by a nun's dream of how she saw Jesus of Nazareth getting his beating in the last 24 hours. These accounts are based in memoirs she remembered from her dreams. Well whatever it is, take any Christianity course in Stony Brook, and all they'll do is bash the hell out of the historical innaccuricies of the bible, and whatever other documentation you can come up with. Take any Islamic course in Stony Brook and they have nothing, but positive things to say about our Islamic legacy. After 1400 years, we still have such a strong basis in our religion in the way we kept our teachings through sound transmission as well as record keeping and books through our complex sciences and tradition. Nobody in the world can doubt that our Prophet(saw) is the most documentated man in history. He cannot not exist! Our Quran was memorized since the time of its inception and has no blemishes in its accuracy of it ever being changed. Which leaves us no doubt of La illah ha ilallah, Muhammadur RasullAllah... Thats such a simple way of putting it, i'm sure there are more people out there who could put it in a more articulate manner and not offend anyone :-/, If i have offended anybody, i apologize from the bottom of my heart.
Which brings me to the next movie, I saw... Princess Mononoke. I mean... yeah the cartoon was great, but like it was mad retarded. They had a god in there who was gettin killed, getting its head chopped, and gettin the crap kicked out of him by other people... I mean, this is mad stupid and this movie didn't strike me in any fashion... I guess its just the fact that I know Allah is one, like nothing else, and because these movies portrayin God as semi earthly just pisses me off.
I enjoyed 13 going onto 30 more than these two highly acclaimed movies, go figure...
I just read Nazim's LJ post... he writes like a sentence and leaves a lot of room for interpretation of whats going on in his life...lol
I got my butt kicked really bad in handball this weekend :-/
I wrote too much in these session, I'll continue my lesson myself on the purification of the heart in the next LJ post, inshaAllah...
Yes I know, these last 3 movies seriously left a huge spiritual void in my heart. =(
salaamz |
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dust_everlastin's journal