Monthly Archive

Via Deenport

BBC Radio interview here, starts at 18:01, transcript here.  Check out his pictures here.

It’s that time of month, ehm, and I’ve got this weird feeling.  Drum roll please…

…I actually miss salat!  It’s like OMGosh, it’s time for asr, I gotta pray…oh no wait, dang, I can’t.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt this before.  It’s an odd feeling, and I would say I like it, except it makes me sad that I can’t pray.

ok now, inshaAllah ta’ala I can keep this feeling and start praying again once ttom is gone.

Via Seeker’s Digest:

 How spiffy is this?   Definately something that would be more worthwhile than television, don’t ya think?  Islam related courses include:

• Anthropology of the Middle East
• The Architecture of Cairo
• Religious Architecture and Islamic Culture
• A Passage to India: Introduction to Modern Indian Culture and Society
• Topics in South Asian Literature and Culture
• The Making of Modern South Aisa
• Islam, the Middle East, and the West
• The Middle East in the 20th Century
• Politics and Religion
• Issues in Foreign Policy since 911
• Islam, Global Politics and US Foreign Policy
• Democracy and Global Islam
• Kashmir and Afghanistan: Religion, Ethnicity and the Strategic Balance in South Asia
• Tariq Ali: War, Empire, and Resistance
• Conversations with Berkeley Faculty: Ira Lapidus

I watch too much TV.  It’s all TNT’s fault, with their Law & Order marathons and whatnot.  The husband and I have fallen into a mind numbing routine.  I come home from work, he’s on the computer, I turn on TV and watch a rerun of Law & Order for the 13th time.  Eventually, I’ll reheat leftovers for dinner, and then return to the Law & Order, or, if it’s Monday, turn on Heroes.  How much of my life has been spent on Law & Order?

Today marks the start of the first official no TV week in our household.  The only TV I’m allowing myself is the morning news to see the weather and road conditions, which is kind of a necessity (I’m telling myself), as we’re in the midst of a week long snow storm here in Minne-snow-da.  It’s going to be hard.  There are 12 step programs for alcoholics, gamblers, smokers, etc.  Where’s the program for the TVaholic?  Ah, here’s one.  Here’s my islamicized version of the plan:

1. Give your extra TVs to charity.  – ok we only have one tv, so no problem there

2. Only turn on the TV to watch a particular show. – the only show I’ll allow is the morning news, channel 24.  No flipping around if it’s on commercial.  No flipping to TNT to watch a rerun of Angel for the nth time.

3. Then, when you sit down to watch a particular show, set a timer - ok, so no timer for the morning news, but only one round of the weather/road reports.  After that, the TV gets turned off.

4. Throw out the remote control – I can’t quite do that, although I’ll have my husband hide them.

5. Rearrange the furniture – good idea.  I’ll have to brainstorm with the husband to see how we can do this

6. Hide the television – Can’t quite afford to get a TV cabinet, but I do have a bunch of islamic art that I don’t have hung up yet.  inshaAllah I’ll stick some on the TV

7. Eat meals, especially dinner, with the television OFF. – ah yes, this would help me with my (failing) diet as well.  Unfortunately our kitchen table is taken up with a computer, so we naturally gravitate towards the table in the living room (near the tv).  inshaAllah we can sit there, with the TV off, and listen to lectures or something instead.  Or maybe, *gasp* we could just talk.  Now that’s scary.

8. Set a rule that you can’t watch TV if the sun is shining. – That really doesn’t work well when you live freakin up north and the sun is only shining when you’re at work.  It will be good in the summer though.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve put off going for a run because there was a rerun of Law & Order on that I had only seen like 3 times.

9. Make a TV-watching plan each week. – I don’t think I’m quite ready to go completely no tv, so this will work once Heroes comes back on.  Heroes on Monday, House on Tuesday, and then that’s it.

10. Set a rule that you must read 30 pages of a book or magazine before you can turn on the TV – excellent idea.  I pulled an old college textbook off the shelf yesterday – A History of Islamic Societies – a mamoth 1000 page tome that I only had to read half of in my Islamic History class, and even then, I kinda skimmed it.  Well now I can buckle down and read it.  I was trying to reduce my TV time over the long break, and read On the Side of my People: A religious history of Malcolm X, and it was quite good.  Just think of all the books out there I could get through.

11. Create a list of one-hour evening projects. – Maybe a half an hour instead.  30 minutes of reading Qur’an every night at 9.  30 minutes of listening to a set of Islamic lectures together.  30 minutes of reading a book related to Islam.  30 minutes of dhikr.  Yeah, I could get into that.

12. Switch to games. – We do have a bunch of games sitting and gathering dust.  I think too, saying that we’ll go for a walk each night would be a good bit of physical activity we both need.

13. Develop a fast-moving news routine. – meh, don’t really need to worry about this.  I do all my news via NPR podcasts and reading the BBC.  However, I should limit the time I spend surfing news websites.  Will definately have to set a time limit there, maybe turn on the timer.

14. Say no to Jaws for the 15th time. – ah the rerun, my nemisis.  I’m just saying la to you.  I’m sorry Jack, sorry Lenny, sniff, it was nice seeing you again and again and again…

15. Get outdoors every night. – yes to 30 minute walks, unless it’s below zero.  I’m resolved, but I’m not crazy.

16. Change your TV-viewing chairs.  – will pull the kitchen chairs out into the living room if we do want to watch tv.  Good idea.

17. Say no to… – Crime shows.  I watch too many of them.  One Law & Order per week, max.

Books to get and read, recommended by Sh. Nuh and Sh. Hamza:

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television

Amusing Ourselves to Death

The Plug in – Television, Computers and Family Life

I have a huge stack of documents sitting on my living room floor that I brought home to do over the long weekend, so of course, I decided to go through the Shadhili wiki article and click on all the links instead.  Ah, procrastination at it’s finest.

 In the course of my clicking, I happened upon the article of one Ivan Aguéli, a swedish convert to Islam, sufi and impressionist/symbolist painter.  How cool is that?

Playing follow the links, I then stumbled upon an early 20th century french movement called Traditionalism.   

“The remembrance of God contains the whole Law and it is the reason for the existence of the whole Law”
Frithjof Schuon

 …with bean pie.  There’s been some talk in the islamo-blogosphere as of late about this tasty treat that peaked my interest.  Low and behold, today after jummah, some sisters were selling fresh bean pie.  I got myself a piece, still slightly warm from the oven, and OMGosh.  It’s like pumpkin pie, only better. 

My mission this weekend:  make some bean pie.  (Tongue in cheek), is it haram to make bean pie from a NOI recipe?   This recipe looks a bit healthier.  I wonder if I can make it with egg beaters and evaporated skim milk, or would that be haram too?

Pilgrims celebrated Eid al-Adha on Wednesday, the feast of the sacrifice. Mecca combines tradition with modernity. Here pilgrims are having dinner at a fast food restaurant in Mecca.

Not that I’m in any position to turn my nose up in disgust.  While in Cairo, I’ve sampled the delicacies at the local McDonalds, KFC, Hardees, Pizza Hut, TGIFs and Hard Rock Cafe.  I tell myself that next time I’m there, I’m sticking to tamiyya, shawerma and koshari, but I know in the back of my mind the craving for home food will be impossible to ignore.

 

i.  suck.  at.  praying.  on.  time.

Dudes, seriously, the 40 grand is kicking my butt.  It’s goin good, I’m cruisin along, and them bam, I become complacent and miss a prayer.   It probably doesn’t help that I have the attention span of a nat with ADD either.  At this rate, it will take me until the 2009 subha to finish this thing.

Oh well, tomorrow is a new day.  And Eid is as good as any day to start over again, right?

Muslim pilgrims climb Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. More than two million Muslims from across the globe have gathered around Mount Arafat near the Mecca birthplace of Islam for the zenith of their annual pilgrimage.(AFP/Roslan Rahmann)

Muslim pilgrims recite the surah on Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. More than two million Muslims from across the globe have gathered around Mount Arafat near the Mecca birthplace of Islam for the zenith of their annual pilgrimage.(AFP/Roslan Rahmann)

Surrounded by Iranian officials and security guards, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, makes his way, as he attends the hajj pilgrimage in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007. King Abdullah has invited 1,000 guests to this year’s hajj, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.(AP Photo/Iranian Presidency/ho)

Muslim pilgrims pose for a snapshot in Arafat near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007. This year’s hajj, which officially began Sunday, takes place amid increasing worries across the Islamic world, over the bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan and recent terror attacks by al-Qaida-linked groups including last week’s twin suicide bombings in Algeria that killed at least 37 people.(AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

I feel a happy dance coming on…tomorrow is Eid, which means it’s almost time for the eid takbir! 

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/k29OkOdSOJw" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The Prophet (saws) said: The best invocation is that of the Day of Arafat, and the best that anyone can say is what I and the Prophets before me have said:

237. Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer.

None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He is Able to do all things.

Reference: At-Tirmithi. Al-Albani graded it good in Sahih At-Tirmithi 3/184, and also Silsilatul-’Ahadith As-Sahihah 4/6.

  Via Deenport:

 When I was little, my sister was the queen of sticker collecting.  She had thousands of stickers that she and her friends would spend hours arranging in little books and trading.  I had a sticker collection as well, although I wasn’t as hardcore.  I didn’t really like to trade, so they just sat in their special little sticker books.  I still have all those sticker books, and even now, I’m reluctant to use them.

So the sticker hording child in my delighted when I came across this new Muslim Sticker website this morning.  It’s aimed at parents and teachers, to encourage and teach Islamic behavior, but I’m seriously considering getting some things.  Check out this salat chart.  I already made a chart to track my 40 grand (which is not going so hot, although I think I’m on a roll now inshaAllah), but maybe the little stickers could motivate me more, lol.  Heck, while I’m at it, maybe I should get the Juz al Amma tree to motivate myself to get going on my memorization. 

Alas, I think that in the end, my nafs, my lazy, procrastinating nature will win over my good intentions and I’ll fall into a slump again.  ya Allah, give me the strength and motivation to do what it is that I have to do.

No doubt, we all need some warm fuzzies right now.  Here they are:

 

 

From the New York Times:

Dr. Morgan, who tested the method in research studies, said he was inspired by a story, reported by an anthropologist that, he suspects, is apocryphal. It involves Tibetan monks who reportedly ran 300 miles in 30 hours, an average pace of six minutes a mile. Their mental trick was to fixate on a distant object, like a mountain peak, and put their breathing in synchrony with their locomotion. Every time a foot hit the ground they would also repeat a mantra.

So Dr. Morgan and his colleagues instructed runners to say “down” to themselves every time a foot went down. They were also to choose an object and stare at it while running on a treadmill and to breathe in sync with their steps. The result, Dr. Morgan said, was that the runners using the monks’ strategy had a statistically significant increase in endurance, doing much better than members of a control group who ran in their usual way.

la…ilaha…il…Allah…la…ilaha…il…Allah…

Sub…han..Al..lah…Sub…han..Al..lah…

“Do you really believe that God expects you to show Him your respect by repeated bowing and kneeling and prostration?  Might it not be better only to look into oneself and to pray to Him in the stillness of one’s heart?  Why all these movements of your body?”

As soon as I had uttered these words I felt remorse, for I had not intended to injure the old man’s religious feelings.  But the hajji did not appear in the least offended.  He smiled with his toothless mouth and replied:“How else then should we worship God?  Did he not create both, soul and body, together?  And this being so, should man not pray with his body as well as with his soul?  Listen, I will tell you why we Muslims pray as we pray.  We turn toward the kaaba, God’s holy temple in Mecca, knowing that the faces of all Muslims, wherever they may be, are turned to it in prayer, and that we are like one body, with Him as the centre of our thoughts.  First we stand upright and recite from the Holy Koran, remembering that it is His Word, given to man that he may be upright and steadfast in life.  Then we say, “God is the Greatest,” reminding ourselves that no one deserves to be worshipped but Him; and bow down deep because we honour Him above all, and praise His power and glory.  Thereafter we prostrate ourselves on our foreheads because we feel that we are but dust and nothingness before Him, and that He is our Creator and Sustainer on high.  Then we lift our faces from the ground and remain sitting, praying that He forgive us our sins and bestow His grace upon us, and guide us aright, and give us health and sustenance.  Then we again prostrate ourselves on the ground and touch the dust with our foreheads before the might and the glory of the One.  After that, we remain sitting and pray that He bless the Prophet Muhammad who brought His message to us, just as He blessed the earlier Prophets; and that He bless us as well, and all those who follow the right guidance; we ask Him to give us of the good of this world and of the good of the world to come.  In the end we turn our heads to the right and to the left, saying, “Peace and grace of God be upon you” – and thus greet all who are righteous, wherever they may be.

‘It was thus that our Prophet used to pray and taught his followers to pray for all times, so that they might willingly surrender themselves to God – which is what Islam means – and so be at peace with Him and with their own destiny.”

~From The Road toMecca, by Muhammad Asad

I’m not a niqabi, and I don’t have any plans to don a face veil in my everyday life here in the US (if I ever become a mureed of Sheikh Nuh, or perhaps when traveling in Mecca and Medina, it’s possible, but not here).

Howeva, this Huffington Post series almost drives me to the point where I want to rummage around in my drawer for the baby blue niqab I purchased once on a whim and go out to show America (well, this blogger anyway) that women in niqab are not synonymous with the KKK, with forced marriage, and no education.  In fact, I have this strange urge to purchase a bunch of niqabs in hot pink, hunter orange, lime green, etc etc etc, just to p*ss people like this off

 Sr. Danya tells it like it is:

Wearing niqab does not prevent me from going places, doing my errands, going shopping, having a good time, learning, or any other day-to-day activity. Listen, if my niqab bothers you, that’s your problem.  It really is.  If you can’t handle the fact that you can’t see my face (ie, not being able to have access to something), that really is just too bad and you probably want to find some way to deal with it.

Al-Wasatiyyah: The Lost Middle Path

Bearing in mind this concept of the whole totality of a Muslim character, we can realize that a true Muslim is not rigid nor too progressive, not a rejectionist nor an extremist. Rather, he is the middle in between these because he treads in the middle path for which he is created and to which he is supposed to stick in order to realize the commands of Allah and fulfill his mission as a vicegerent on earth.

I’m torn.  On one hand, I love the fact that Shukr is producing new styles more often.  On the other hand, I can’t keep up with all the stuff I love.  Seriously, aren’t those sleeves gorgeous?

 

SubhanAllah, may Allah (swt) help me to attain this attentiveness to prayer.

My father-in-law spent his last few weeks in this life asking every few minutes if it was time to pray. Much of the speech he was capable of in the days after his stroke in September was used to invoke the name of God and thank him for everything in his life that he could remember through his delirium. May Allah have mercy on him, forgive him of his sins and accept him into the highest levels of heaven. He passed away last night, Allah yarhamma.

His alarm went off at 3:30 this morning.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon

…to go hajj-ing, fa la la la la, la la la la!

•  As always, Sister almiskeenah provides a fascinating glimpse into life in Mecca and Medina.  Her posts on hajj are accompanied (like all her posts) by unique photographs and insider insights.
• Br. Khalil has begun a monthly series translating the words of Habib Umar bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz, Director of Dar al-Mustafa for the Islamic Sciences.  This month’s selection is entitled Hajj and the Imperative of Unity.
• If you haven’t read it yet, do your best to get your hands on One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Writings about the Muslim Pilgrimage.   As one of my favorite books, I revist it often, especially around hajj season.  I *heart* history, and this book is chock full of first hand accounts of hajj throughout the ages.
• I’ve been paroosing flickr, looking for photos of Mecca and Hajj.   Check this flickr set of Hajj 1426, especially these funky pink ladies. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7695971@N06/449269344/

May Allah (swt) grant us the honor and the privilege of making hajj in our lifetimes, ameen.