October Book Club Pick

October's book club pick will be insha Allah The Size of  a Mustard Seed.

September Book Club Pick -change

Whoops I just noticed that Love in a Headscarf is not available until Oct 12th! So the new choice will be The Butterfly Mosque. Love in a Headscarf will be the new NOVEMBER pick.

Toronto Muslim Homeschooling First Conference

On August 8th there will be the First Toronto Muslim Homeschooling Conference. Masha Allah the GTA is very blessed to have so many muslim homeschoolers to be so active and proactive. Insha Allah some of my readers will be able to attend.With interesting speakers like Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick its an event not to be missed! Remember to RSVP!

Friday Nasihah

Every Friday I recieve an email from Friday Nasihah. I thought I'd share todays as it hits home with me.

Living The Quran
Repel the Evil with Good
Al-Rad (Thunder) Chapter 13: Verse 22 (Partial)

"... and (those who) repel the evil with good."
This phrase has several meanings:

• Whatever evil people have done, or whatever sin they have committed, they repel (its effect) immediately by repentance.
• Whatever evil they have done, they immediately do a good deed in atonement for it.
• They repel the evil done to them by doing good to those who did evil to them.
• "When they are deprived (of anything), they give; and when they are wronged, they forgive."

Fethullah Gulen writes about this matter:
The most distinctive feature of a soul overflowing with faith is to love all types of love that are expressed in deeds, and to feel enmity for all deeds in which enmity is expressed. To hate everything is a sign of insanity or of infatuation with Satan.
Accept how God treats you. Make it the measure by which you treat others, so that you may represent the truth among them, and be free from the fear of loneliness in either world.
Compiled From:
"The Quran: Annotated Interpretation in Modern English" - Ali Unal, p. 50

Ayat Al-Kursi learning

Last night my friend kindly helped me to learn to read Ayat Al Kursi. I've been keeping away from my quran reading these last few months after my intense study with Sunnipath. I was happy to see I still knew how to read pretty well masha Allah (but still confusing khaf with jeem;the dots are opposite to english). She has challenged me to learn it by Ramadan, Yikes! Insha Allah. For those who don't know it, learn it here with me.

September Book Club Pick

Insha Allah you are all reading July's book club pick;10 Things I Hate About Me and have ordered next month's choice; Ameena's Ramadan Diary. For Eid in September why not ask for September's Book Club choice which will be Love In A Headscarf. I can't wait to read it; I've been having a hard time getting my hands on one as they were only available as an ebook for awhile.

Purple Prayer Outfit

Wow! Masha Allah. I just got an email from shukr uk with this lovely prayer garment featured.(also available in the US and Canada). They say its long to go over the feet but if it wasn't I would wear it as a jilbab. Its perfect since even the hijab is attatched and it also has a zip front opening which is good for nursing. This would also be great for those times you have to quickly open the door and need to throw something on fast before they leave ie the postman. What do you think? Would you wear it out if it weren't so long? I'm just worried about the tripping factor.

Thought Provoking Documentaries

One of my favourite types of films are documentaries. Lately I've watched The End of Poverty? Think Again and the Future of Food. These two films are tied together in a way because you can see what the North is doing to the South in this world to cause unfairness in the world and what Monsanto is doing in the world to destroy farmers especially the poor farmers in the South. By North I mean those that live in the Northern Hemisphere and not the delianation between states. I've also watched Why We Fight and War Made Easy and you can find them here at this free documentary site. I think its important for everyone to be cognizant of what is going on this world and to make a difference if possible. That is part of our viceregency. Get informed, get involved! And I remind myself first.

Men and boys in capris.

In the last couple of days I've seen two men and one boy (ds4) wearing capris. My dh bought the capris for my son and I was kind of shocked; never saw men wear such things. Then I saw two men right after that wearing them. Of course they are loose not tight like women's capris but never the less I wonder how long this style will last. I can see how men would like them as shorts are forbidden to them at work yet women can wear shorts and mini skirts (double standard). Also muslim men especially those who follow the sunnah of no pants below the ankles must be heaven with this new mode. Have you seen guys wearing these? What is your take?

Ameena's Ramadan Diary

Has anyone ordered this book for August yet? Insha Allah I will be doing that very soon. Some other good choices for Ramadan (not part of the book club though) are Life is an Open Secret: Ramadan and Boy Vs Girl. These are books you can read on your days off from the Quran. Quran is number one of course in the month of Ramadan.

10 Things I Hate About Me

Has anyone read this book yet? I finished it weeks ago along with my daughter. In fact my daughter (dd2) read it first and kept nudging me to read it so she could discuss it with me.

Masjid BBQ

On the weekend we went to our masjid's bbq (out of town for us). We were asked to bring either a salad or a dessert so of course I chose dessert ( I have been known to bring a potato salad though once before). At the other nearby town's muslim bbq last month a lady brought a scrumptious cake that I promptly got the recipe for or at least tried; took about a month for her to get back to me. Dd3 decided to make Mrs. Fields cookies as well. Good thing because there wasn't much dessert. As for the bbq itself, well it was really hot that day and I was melting especially in my jilbab but I kept to the shade. I didn't get to shmooze too much as I was watching the kids all the time but at the end I gave them to dh and went around and made my salaams. There were lots of new people especially newlyweds and a new baby too. One woman said she'd made a jilbab out of the same material that mine was made out of. I told her its a good thing then that you didn't wear it today. She said the material is too hot. She's right. I seriously need to get cooler jilbabs. Her daughter was so cute with her little squeaky shoes which she bought her to encourage her to walk. She said they worked because after a couple of days she was walking. Apparently that's what they do in her country to get slow learners to finally get on their feet.