Gems Swapping

I participated in a swap on Sketched Soul's blog that she offered. I was paired with a woman who likes to knit, so I sent her wool and patterns for baby items as she is pregnant and also sent her an Islamic tape. We were only allowed to spend up to $10 and we could make a gift or send something that could be made into something. I didn't take a picture of what I sent though but I hope my partner did or will. She sent me material to make a shalwar kameez. I can't really sew though so I will have to get someone else to do it for me. Alternatively I could use the material to make a baju kurung if there is enough. Dh can take care of that insha Allah when he goes home.

New Etsy Islamic Finds

Every now and again I like to check Etsy to see if they have any new islamic items. I get email from Etsy everyday but they never seem to send anything islamic except one time they sent daughter's item; the hajj journey board game. So I have to go digging myself. Check these out! Arabic Alphabet Button Fridge Magnets.
Sari style hijab. 
Purple flower head band. (its sold though!) One Piece prayer outfit.

Have you ever bought anything from Etsy? So far I've only bought from my daughter. But I do have a wish list :)

Spring Book of the Month Club picks - a reminder

So for this month it was Jihad of the Soul. For April it will be From Behind the Veil and for May, Islam and the Discovery of Freedom.

Summer Book of the Month picks

For June we already have Of Hockey and Hijab.

For July I am choosing  Just Five Minutes Nine Years in the Prisons of Syria. This book was given to me from a  mosque librarian.

And finally for August which will be Ramadan, I'm going to go with a reader's choice, Marvels of the Heart.

Jihad of the Soul - Review

I finished this book yesterday. Its based on a research paper Zarinah El-Amin Naeem did while doing her Masters. This is a book about Muslim youth (under the age of 40) who are searching for their spouses and the struggles they face in doing so. Although I was aware of many things she wrote about, the thing that stood out for me was how much trouble people were having across the board in finding a spouse. I thought that it would be mostly converts and their families like my situation since we have no networks like the immigrant muslims do (ie Pakistani). For converts there is no way we would ever marry our cousin who of course wouldn't even be muslim to begin with or have our kids do something like that and there is no one in our family to turn to since they are all non-muslim so no chance to find a "hook-up Aunty". But she shows in this book how everyone is finding it hard for many reasons including the separation of men and women in the mosque. I wonder why though she never mentions that kids growing up in the mosque weren't always separated from each other and not at school either so they could have gotten to know each other then but maybe they would have been too immature. I don't know. I didn't grow up muslim. The thing about it that stands out to me is that she says muslims are not talking to Muhammad at the mosque because of the separation but John at school. Same thing for the men. She also mentions solutions ie there needs to be more interaction between the genders for the purpose of finding a spouse like more matrimonial events put on by ISNA etc and social events at the mosque.  There is a lot more to be learned in this book and a lot of discussion points. Here are some of my questions.  What are the ways your mosque or community facilitates introductions? Was it a struggle for you to meet your spouse? How do you feel the community, mosque, organizations, family etc can change to help make things easier?

I would suggest that anyone with teens or older read this book to get an idea of what they are facing in our society and in our own communities.

My Very Own Commercial

Finally someone made a commercial just for me (jk). Enjoy!!!! .Old woman in a shoe.

Perfect Jumaah

On March break Jumaah I decided to take the kids to the mosque in the next city. After the prayers I picked up some pizza and then brought them to the park they love near the lake that we went to last year. First we had our picnic and then we played. Dd5 loved playing with her new ball. The weather wasn't as good as last year and I missed dd2 being there as she is off at university but it was still a great day and no one wanted to leave.

Final Cake - Flowers and Cake Design

Thursday night was my final cake decorating class for my final course. I now have all 3 certificates! Alhumdullilah. What can I say about this course. Well I didn't like the icing since it was a different recipe from the one I learned in the first course which was actually not the real Wilton recipe but I liked it better because it had butter in it and not just vegetable shortening so it was easier to work with and it tastes better too. I didn't have good luck with making the royal icing either..it kept coming out too stiff. I followed the recipe exactly and the only mistake I made was using regular spoons instead of measuring spoons. Like the last course you need a lot of time to practice your flowers which I don't have much of. I found most of the flowers hard to make as well. The wilton rose was not too bad because I did it in the first beginners course but now they have changed the curriculum and only do a ribbon rose for that course. The part that I really loved was learning how to do the basketweave design. I decided to be different and make my cake into a hat shape. So basically its supposed to be a straw hat with flowers. Perfect for spring right? The pink band and leaves are made from fondant.

Curry Puff Daddy Strikes again!

This year for Multicultural Awareness night at my son's school dh made curry puffs again. My daughter who usually has the booth is now in University so she missed out this year. My son is in grade 9 so it now falls to him to keep the tradition going. I wasn't able to make it this year either as I had my last day of cake decorating class. Jemput-jemput (banana puffs) and fried rice were also available this year. I didn't have time to make pandan cake sadly. The other Malaysian booth that was there last year didn't show up this time. Ds3 had to babysit so he wasn't too happy about missing the night either. Insha Allah next year things will go at little differently.

Top Ten Tips of a Productive Muslim

Do you want to be a more productive muslim? Here are the top ten tips from the Productive Muslim website. What are you going to do today?

Friday Nasihah -The Flight of Time-Good Deeds- Roadblocks

Living The Quran The Flight of Time Al-Asr (The Flight of Time) - Chapter 103: Verses 1-3 "By the flight of time, man is in total loss. Except for those who have faith and do good works; who exhort each other to uphold the truth and to perseverance." This brief surah summarizes the essence and outcome of all human activity for all time. Time goes on, and people live and die, generation after generation, and era after era. People of the same generation may live under similar circumstances and traditions, but their destinies may go in totally different directions, depending on their moral and religious beliefs. The moral quality of human life is far more important, and the truth is no less honourable or illustrious if it is recognized by a minority. Those who deny the sovereignty and power of God shall end up as fuel of hell in the hereafter, whereas the believers who, despite the odds, persevere in upholding the truth shall be the real and final winners in the ordeal of life. True believers are few and in some generations of human history may even seem odd, but they are promised great rewards. This surah became a motto, a pledge of loyalty and brotherhood, among the Companions of the Prophet. It was traditional, according to reports, for Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) Companions to recite this surah together before they shook hands and departed. To persevere for the sake of the truth could expose one to persecution and hardship, and therefore to uphold the true faith and triumph with it requires persistence, tenacity, and a strong will. Compiled From: "A Thematic Commentary on the Quran" - Muhammad Al-Ghazali, pp. 751, 752

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Understanding the Prophet's Life Good Deeds The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Make the orphan come close to you, and be nice to him, and wipe his head, and feed him from your food. That will cause your heart to be soft, and your needs to be fulfilled." [al-Tabarani] Once Anas ibn Malik was asked by someone to make dua (prayer) for him. He replied, "Verily, dua is raised up to Allah by good deeds", indicating that the questioner should strive to do good deeds if he wants his dua to be answered. And Wahb ibn Munabbih said: "The example of the one who makes dua without doing any deeds is like the one who tries to shoot arrows without a bow." So the person who wishes to have his dua responded to by Allah should increase the quantity and quality of the good deeds that he does. Compiled From: "Dua: The Weapon of the Believer"- Yasir Qadhi, pp. 151, 152

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Blindspot! Roadblocks to Celebrating Differences Although there are many, three of the largest roadblocks to celebrating differences are ignorance, cliques, and prejudice. Ignorance. Ignorance means you're clueless. You don't know what other people believe, how they feel, or what they've been through. Cliques. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be with those you're comfortable with; it becomes a problem only when your group of friends becomes so exclusive that they begin to reject everyone who isn't just like them. It's kind of hard to value differences in a close-knit clique. Those on the outside feel like second-class citizens, and those on the inside often suffer from superiority complexes. Prejudice. Have you ever felt stereotyped, labelled, or pre-judged by someone because your skin's the wrong colour, your accent's too heavy, or you live on the wrong side of the tracks? Haven't we all, and isn't it a sick feeling? Although we are all created equally, unfortunately, we are not all treated equally. It's a sad fact that minorities of all types often have additional hurdles to leap in life because of prejudices held by so many. Racism is one of the world's oldest problems. We aren't born with prejudice. They're learned. Compiled From: "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" - Sean Covey, pp. 190-192

Morality Books

Lately I've been thinking about morality books, you know where at the end they say "and the moral of the story is,,,".  When I was a kid these books were always being read to me by either my mother or the teachers at school. Of course at Sunday school we learned about the Prophets but this was above and beyond. I think parents and teachers should go back to these stories to teach kids important lessons. Here are some of my favourites.