Make Every Second Count

Good message for homeschoolers at the end.

Surfer saves drowning woman.

Every year I say it, please learn how to swim. Yet again, here is another muslim woman who didn't know how to swim. You never know when you'll need to know how to swim. Take lessons today!

Here is the article.

Malaysian Baba Ali - 70 Excuses

Ha, so this guy is all over Facebook and apparently he's a Malaysian student studying in Toronto. See what he has to say about making 70 excuses for your muslim brother/sister.

Voting: Damage Control or Morality?

The other weekend we were graced by a politician at the mosque. We were not forewarned but had this sprung on us; we only came to eat, people! Once again muslims are saying vote Liberal. I'm sick of being told who to vote for. Why we should vote for a party now comes down to who is the nicest to muslims. I'm all for a party that doesn't want to ruin the lives of muslims but whatever happened to good old-fashioned morality? Aren't muslims supposed to enjoin the good and forbid the evil and not just look out for number one? Huh? Anyone? The Conservatives don't even want to talk about what they stand for on moral issues and you wonder if they have any morals at all. There was a day when the Conservatives could be looked at as  a party that stood up for something. Now they are only known for keeping the status quo plus bombing the heck out of muslims. Liberals well I don't see them as being any better plus the money they stole and now apparently their leader is some kind of clone of Harper. Anyone else miss Trudeau? I was too young to vote then but the country seemed to be doing well then. Then there is the NDP. Oh yes they are very kind to muslims, think Maher Arar, but they were the first party to ditch morality. As for the other parties I haven't seen anything better but of course the green party are being good stewards of the earth. I would be happy to vote for a party that even followed the 10 commandments as that would make them pretty islamic. But everyone is secular these days as most Christians are only token ones and 16% of the population are atheists. On top of all this what are the platforms? I would like to see politicians talking about ditching school fees. In other countries, especially muslim ones, post-secondary education is free! Then immigrants come here debt-free and have an easy life. Canadians end up in debt and its worse if you can't get a job to pay back your loan. As for muslims OSAP is forbidden although I would say 99% are using them. My kids didn't alhumdullilah. They have to work and go to school. Its hard but no one cares not even muslims who keep telling me to be involved in riba. Why should a rich country like Canada charge for education anyway? All the money goes to research anyway and the teachers barely teach according to my daughter and tell you to basically learn on your own? Why spend all that money then? But no one is talking about this issue. How about getting more doctors into rural communities? What, you don't want to force them? Hey I'm sure if you let all those taxi driving doctors in Toronto into the hospital they would be glad to work anywhere you put them!!!! But nobody wants to talk about that either!   In the end I have no idea who to vote for. Actually I pick none of them based on moral issues so I'm left with damage control. If a party is nice to muslims that's great but what about all the other issues? Who's going to help me pay back my student loan that I could never pay because I converted to Islam after college and couldn't get a job because of discrimination? I don't think there is anyone who frankly gives a ####!  I'm fed up with politics. Hard to believe I was once going to become a politician.

Friday Nasihah - Path of Moderation

Living The Quran Path of Moderation Al-Baqara (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 143 (partial) "Thus We have made of you a community justly balanced that you might be witnesses over other nations and the Messenger a witness over yourselves." The renowned Quran commentator, Ibn Kathir wrote concerning this verse that the Muslim community (ummah) qualifies as a witness because of its commitment to moderation (wasatiyyah) and truth. The renowned Tunisian scholar, Muhammad Tahir ibn Ashur, went on record that 'in moderation lies the essence of all virtues and it is a great protector against indulgence in corruption and caprice.' Yusuf al-Qaradawi has similarly observed that moderation is the correct path that leads the Muslim community to its ideals of attaining material and spiritual success: 'It is the divinely ordained moral and humanitarian mission of the Muslim community to pursue all its goals through moderation. Deviation from the path of moderation brings nothing but destruction and loss.' Moderation is manifested, according to Wahbah al-Zuhaili, in the balanced attention one pays to one's rights over, and one's obligations towards, others, to the material world and the spiritual world; it also means a balance between forgiveness and resistance, between extravagance and niggardliness, and a resolute aversion to extremism and terrorism in all their manifestations. Zuhaili added that Islam advocates these values, not only among Muslims themselves, but also in their relations with other communities and nations. One ought to acknowledge, perhaps, in the same spirit of moderation, that something has gone wrong with the substantive equilibrium of Islamic legal thought concerning the treatment of women. To refer once again to Yusuf Al-Qaradawi's insightful remarks: 'It is an obligation of the ummah to protect the women from the excesses of the Muslim juristic legacy of the past, and those of the Modern West, both of which strip women of their essential humanity.' Both need to be corrected through search for balanced and moderate solutions. Lastly, is it a coincidence, one might ask, to note that this verse of moderation occurs in the exact middle of the longest chapter (al-Baqarah) of the Quran, which consists of 286 verses. Compiled From: "Shariah Law - An Introduction" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp.288-296

Understanding the Prophet's Life Organic Body Ummatic unity is organic, that is to say, the ummah is like an organic body whose parts are mutually and severally interdependent with one another and with the whole. For the part to work for itself is for itself to work for each of the other parts as well as for the whole to work for itself, is for itself to work for each of the parts. The Prophet, peace be upon him, hit the nail on the head when he described the ummah as a body "which reacts in total with discomfort and fever whenever a part of it is hurt." [Muslim, Bukhari] Comparing the ummah to an organic body, is perhaps the most apt description of Islamic society. The organic body is alive, and its very life is its organicness, i.e., the interdependence of its various parts to the end sustaining the whole, and their continuous sustenance by that whole. Organicness is not only a quality of life; it is life. For the ummah to be otherwise is for it to lapse into the pre-Islamic tribalism of the desert. Even that order, however, is built upon the assumed organicness of the tribe without which it could not exist. The ummah merely widened the tribe to include humanity. To deny the need of the ummah, is to assume as good the detached existence of individuals isolated from one another in a way which not only makes Islam impossible but equally makes civilization - indeed human life itself - impossible and unthinkable. Interdependence can be exaggerated; for it can be intensified to the point of rendering the human person a mere clog in a larger body or machine, impervious to the cog's own advancement, self-fulfillment and happiness. The evils of regimentation and collectivism have always weighed heavily in man's consciousness, whether in the age of the tribe, the city, the nation, or the universal community. Here Islam has declared its purpose to be the achievement of felicity of the person as well as that of the group. Compiled From: "Tawhid: Its Implications for Thought and Life" - Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi, pp. 124, 125

Blindspot! First Step to Repentance The soul wrongs and harms itself. One can imagine someone, for example, wronging someone else for the sake of some worldly benefit - this is imaginable and witnessed, although it is obviously not proper. However, it does not make any sense for a person to harm and wrong his own soul. This means that he is working against his own good; he is doing something that is of direct harm and no true benefit to his soul. This is what happens over and over again to the majority of mankind. This demonstrates the depths of misguidance that mankind can reach. The main way a person harms his own soul is by disobeying Allah, His creator, who, out of His mercy, sent him guidance to lead him to the path of true bliss and happiness. In reality, a human has no right to wrong himself. Hence, one of the first steps along the road to repentance and purifying one's soul is the recognition that one has done wrong to his soul. He must repent to Allah for the wrong that he has done to his own self as it is only Allah who can forgive him for what he has done. Compiled From: "Purification of the Soul: Concept, Process and Means" - Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo, pp. 63-65

Vault into Spring with Veilkini

Spring is in the air! Whether you are going on spring break or gearing up for summer, order your Al-Sharifa Veilkini suit now!!! Use code shoe10 to get 10% off !

Read the original post here.

Super Berry Crepes

Yesterday dh made these for me, masha Allah. I should have taken a pic but I expected the link to have one. These are so yummy. You'll want to have them again and again. Fresh berries are best. We didn't try blackberries but maybe next time or maybe even raspberries. I sprinkled the whole thing with icing sugar. Looks so nice and tastes so good. Here is the recipe.

Small Town Quebec wants muslims!

Shocking as it may sound a small town in Quebec has a mayor who wants muslims to move to town. He wants French speaking Arabs. He's willing to build a mosque, a halal meat store and have a space for a muslim cemetary. Big question though is 'are there any jobs?' Would you move there? We can speak french (well me and the kids) but if there are no jobs then what is the point. Imagine if my town offered to do all these things!
Read the article here

I think I'm alone now.

Yesterday I got a sad call. My only muslim neighbour, the only other muslim in this town said she will be moving away next month. Not just down the street but to another city. I mentioned her before in my Ramadan posts. She was always sending me food for iftar. Alhumdullilah. The only other muslim before that left in 2009. Now we will be the only musim family in town. I doubt anyone else will move here because there are no jobs unless a muslim doctor would move here which we really need. Doctor shortages are extreme in little towns. So this news just makes me want to leave even more. Sadly my quran teacher will be leaving for 3 months in the summer which will also make things worse. Life is a test. When we are alone we still have Allah.

Friday Nasihah

Living The Quran Certainty of Faith Al-Baqara (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 4 (partial) "And in the Hereafter they have certainty of faith." The word translated as "certainty of faith" is yaqin. It means having no doubt about the truth of a matter and arriving at accurate doubt-free knowledge. This knowledge can come from either Revelation, or study and verification. Yaqin has three degrees: first, that which comes from knowledge (ilm al-yaqin); second that which depends on seeing and observation (ayn al-yaqin); and third, that which comes from direct experience (haqq al-yaqin). For example, rising smoke is the sign of fire and gives us some certainty about the existence of a fire where it is rising. This certainty is that which is based on knowledge. When we go to where the smoke is rising and see the fire with our own eyes, our certainty of the fire's existence is the kind coming from direct observation. If we put our hand into the fire and feel its burning quality, then we obtain experienced certainty about the existence and quality of fire. One may acquire certainty about or certain faith in the Hereafter through Revelation or discovery; or through the seeing of the "heart" (the spiritual intellect); through intellectual deduction or reasoning; or through some sort of contact with the spirits of the dead (provided that this last is done through authentic ways); through true dreams; or through scientific studies. In all these cases, it will be certainty based on knowledge that is certainty of the first degree. Compiled From: "The Quran: Annotated Interpretation in Modern English" - Ali Unal, p. 12

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Understanding the Prophet's Life Strength Remembrance gives to the one who practices invocation such strength that he is able to do what he does not have the strength to do without it. When Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, came to ask the Prophet, peace be upon him, for a servant, and complained to him about the difficulty she suffered in grinding flour, running errands, and doing other chores, he taught her and [his son-in-law] Ali, may Allah be please with them, to recite the formula of glorification thirty three times (Subhan Allah), that of praise thirty-three times (Alhamdulillah) and that of edification (Allahu Akbar) thirty-four times - every night upon going to bed. He said, 'This will be better for you both than a servant.' It is said that anyone who is constant in this practice will find such strength in his body that he will have no need for a servant. The first thing that Almighty God had created, when His Throne was upon the waters, was the bearers of the Throne. They said, "Our Lord, wherefore have You created us?" God answered, "To bear My Throne." "Our Lord, who is strong enough to bear Your Throne, when upon it lay Your greatness, might and honour?" He said, "For that I have created." And they repeated this several times, until He told them, "Say: There is neither strength nor power save in God." (lâ hawla wa lâ quwwata illâ bi Allâh) And they bore the Throne. These words - 'There is neither strength nor power save in God' - have the striking effect of helping one to accomplish difficult work, bear fatigue, and endure fear or dreadful experience. For according to a hadith related by Ibn Abil-Dunya, the Messenger of God said, 'For whoever says, "There is neither strength nor power save in God" one hundred times, no day shall be afflicted by poverty." Compiled From: "The Invocation of God" - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, pp. 99-100

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Blindspot! Declaration of Faith Did you know that there is one phrase said at least 17 billion times a day? It is called the Shahadah, or Declaration of Faith. It is said a minimum of 17 times each day within the daily prayers of each of the 1 billion Muslims on Earth. Anyone who says that people don't praise God enough obviously hasn't met a Muslim! In Arabic, the most basic Shahadah formula is said this way: Ashahadu an la ilaha ill Allah, wa ashahadu anna Muhammadar Rasulullah. The English translation is: "I declare that there is no god except God, and I declare that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." This phrase includes the two founding principles of Islam and is sometimes called the Muslim Creed. It is a very strong ideological statement in that it lays out the Muslim frontline position: There is Only One God, and Muhammad is his last Prophet. What are the benefits of reciting the Shahadah so many times each day? Think about it: All Muslims have the chance to remind themselves about the reality of God in their lives. Whereas the hustle and bustle of the daily grind may cause us to forget that we are living through a big test and will have to face God one day, the Shahadah and its recitation focuses our hearts and minds on our ultimate purpose. We are here to surrender our wills to God and lead virtuous lives. Compiled From: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam, 2nd Edition" - Yahiya Emerick, pp. 125-126

An Apple a Day

When I was in college I used to watch the other students in the caf. Maybe it was wrong, but I was curious. I soon started to notice a trend. All the slim people brought their own lunch and what did they always have in their lunch? An apple! All of the overweight people always ordered from the caf and mostly chose fries. I don't really like apples that much myself but these studies show that they low cholesterol. The best apples are those that are freshly picked yourself. I know this first hand. My kids had a blast picking them at an orchard nearby and ate them like crazy even though they lasted for months!  What's your favourite apple?

Beautiful Scarves

If you are looking for some great future eid gifts or want to treat yourself then check out this etsy shop with its handpainted scarves. So many gorgeous choices. You won't be able to stop at just one!