Interactive Tajwedi Qur’an Reader

Hmmm, looks promising. InshaAllah going to test it out over the weekend.

http://itajweed.org/

My very own quran for taraweeh

Alhamdulilah, the long copy and paste nightmare is over! Courtesy of transliteration.org, I now have a word document that consists just of the Qur’an as translated by Yusuf Ali and a transliteration of the arabic into roman letters.

A common site at taraweeh prayers (at least at the masjids I go to) is for the congregants to hold little booklets containing one juz (1/30th) of the Qur’an, so that they may follow along with the imam during the prayer. Unfortunately, all the ones I’ve come across are simply in arabic, and since my arabic reading and comprehension skills are sorely lacking (one day inshaAllah!), I decided to make my own quran for taraweeh this year.

I copied and pasted the transliteration and translation from the website listed above into a word document. I plan to print it out, 3 hole punch and put it all in a large binder. Then, each night during Ramadan, I can take out one juz, stick it in a smaller binder and read from that during taraweeh. I think if I stick my backpack in front of me, during sujood I can stick the book on it so that the quran is not on the floor.

If anyone would like a copy, please leave me your email address, and I’ll email you a copy inshaAllah. It’s kind of long at 600+ pages, and not very pretty format wise, but it’s functional.

Alhamdulilah, only a month until Ramadan!

ps - It’s valid to read from a quran in the shafi’i school, so long as you don’t fidget with it too much I believe. inshaAllah will look in my fiqh books when i get home to post the specifics

Tajweed podcasts

This tajweed podcast looks interesting, and hopefully, promising. I did tell the husband recently that I’d like to learn at least the basics of tajweed, so inshaAllah with his help and with this podcast, I’ll be on my way.

From his blog, here’s some info about the creator of the podcast:

khaled Bouchafaa
has been teaching Quran and Tajweed for the last 20 years in various Islamic colleges and masjids. He has been authorised by the Qurra to teach this sacred knowledge of tajweed and Quran. He began his studies of Qiraat in Algeria (from Sheikh Sharati rhm who was the student of the famous Sheikh Abdul-Aziz abul Uyun as Sud and from Sheikh Ahmed Ma’but who was the student of Bakri at Tarabishi) and acquired further knowledge from eminent Scholars of Qiraat in Damascus (Sheikh Abu Sulayman az Zabibi, Sheikh Abdur Razaq al Halabi and the Imam of Jamia al Qitat Sheikh Abu Usamah Basha). In addition, he has studied with Egyptian qarris (Sheikh Hassan Marzug al Jizzi). Sheikh Khaled recites Quran with riwayat Hafs by the Shatibiyah tariq and riwayat Warsh by the Al-Azraq tariq. Currently, he is a teacher of Quran in the largest Islamic School of Australia, is a volunteer Imam and provides tajweed lessons in English and Arabic in his local area.

These are some other tajweed related sites I’m planning on looking into when I have more time:

• About Tajweed
• Tajweed.com

most wonderful time of the year!

*skips along singing* …it’s the most wonderful time of the year…it’s the hap -happiest season of all…with those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings…when friends come to call It’s the hap - happiest season of all!

Yup, the most wonderful time of year is coming in 2 months, and I’ve already got the fever. No, not santa claus time, silly, it’s Ramadan, baby, yeah! Gotta get my goals sorted out and my stuff in order so I can make the best of the month inshaAllah.

Before Ramadan:

1. Pray all 5 fard with at least 5 minutes of dua and dhikr after.

2. Read through the Qur’an. I have an excellent arabic/english quran podcast on my ipod. The translation is the saheeh international version, which just so happens to be the same translation as my little travel zippy quran (which they apparently don’t sell anymore, much to my dismay after I’ve recommended it to several people who’ve been unable to find it). So, I can sit on the bus, listen to the arabic, and then read along with the english translation. inshaAllah my goal is to get through the end of the podcast, which is now at surah 66.

During Ramadan:

1. Pray witr every day.

2. Pray at least one taraweeh at the masjid a week. This is something I loved to do in college, but have slacked on since graduating and getting married. The husband holds the opinion that praying taraweeh at home is better than at the masjid, so he hasn’t been too enthusiastic about going. But, inshaAllah this year I’m going to make the effort to go, even if it is on my own.

3. Go to the iftar potlucks. So far, I’ve only been a moocher at the community iftars, coming on Saturday and Sunday when people volunteer to make food. But inshaAllah this year I’m going to go to the potlucks that are on Friday night. I’ve been cooking more, and I think I have a few recipes that will satisfy the diverse community at the masjid.

4. Read the entire Qur’an in arabic and english. Since my ability to read the arabic script still sucks, I will rely on my most excellent Muhammad Asad translation, that has the arabic script, roman transliteration, english translation and extensive footnotes. I figure I’ll pick out a recitation I really like, recite along with it for a page (using the transliteration), then go back, read the english translation and go over the footnotes. I figure this will take up a huge chunk of time, so I’ll have to set aside blocks and commit to it. Unfortunately, the book is too large to take on the bus, but maybe I can find just a smaller transliteration, and do the arabic listening/reciting quietly on my hour long commutes to and from work.

I’ve always had reading the entire quran as a goal, but after an initial burst of energy, I peter off. Anyone want to be my quran reading buddy? We can hold each other accountable. Since my available time varies day to day, I thought rather than say a juz a day, the goal could be 7 juz in a week, so that it would be possible to catch up/work ahead on the weekends when there is more time available.

*note, all pictures in this post are from deviantart. Click on the pics to find more from these talented artists*

The quest to get a grasp on arabic

Last night, I began, once again, my attempts to learn arabic. I’ve had several fits of starting and stopping over the years, starting with a semester of independent study at college, all of which I have forgotten. More recently, I went on a spree and labeled everything in our apartment in arabic. Well, it’s been a year, and I still don’t know the word for cupboard.

Free books

fisabilillah.org has a number of free books that are available to read online. And, if you right click, copy and paste each page image into a word document, the books become portable. Imagine that, knowledge you can take with you anywhere ;-) There is no copy right to any of the material in the books, so copy and paste away.

Free lessons on Sunnipath

Via Seeker’s Digest

On occasion, Sunnipath will hold free live sessions for all to attend. These sessions have covered a wide range of topics, from the Qur’an to extremism in our community. Now, some of these courses (and a mawlid event) have been recorded and are available to view anytime on their website. Definately check them out when you have a chance! I hope they put some of their earlier ones online as well.

Mawlid - with Shaykh Anas Khalifah
Pride & Humility - by Shaykh Abdul-Kareem Yahya
Reality of the Spiritual Path - by Shaykh Nuh Keller
The Opening: An Explanation of Surat al-Fatiha - by Shaykh Sohail Hanif

Sacred: Discover what we share

Via Visual Dhikr:

The British Library’s online gallery of their sacred texts exhibit.

The Ma’il Qur’an is one of the very earliest Qur’ans in the world, dating back to the eighth century. Not only that, but it also probably hails from the Hijaz region of Arabia - a region which contains the holy places of Mecca and Medina, homes of the Prophet Muhammad.

Qur’an, Mecca or Medina, eighth century.

Chapter 26, al-Shu‘ara’ (The Poets), verse 183 to Chapter 27, al-Naml (The Ant), verse 3

BL Or. MS 2165, ff. 76v–77

Copyright © The British Library Board

This very rare early Hebrew Bible shows the influence of Islamic art in its decorative elements. It is named after a previous owner, Dr Moses Gaster (1856-1939), a scholar and spiritual leader of Sephardic Jews in London.

First Gaster Bible, perhaps Egypt, ninth or 10th century. Psalm 64
BL Or. MS 9879, f. 14v
Copyright © The British Library Board

for the Love of God

The husband and I had a long and winding conversation yesterday that eventually led us to these verses in the Qur’an:

And they feed, for the love of God, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,
(Saying),”We feed you for the sake of God alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks.
We only fear a Day of distressful Wrath from the side of our Lord.”
But God will deliver them from the evil of that Day, and will shed over them a Light of Beauty and (blissful) Joy.

76:8-11

If we really loved God like we are suppose to, and we followed the letter and spirit of this verse, if we sought to help each other, as a means to express our LOVE for God, imagine the good we could do.

Surah Al Ikhlas recited by Mishary Rashid Al Afasy

Surah Al Ikhlas recited 10 different ways. The last few recitations are ones I don’t know if I’ve heard before. Absolutely beautiful.

Whoever recites Surah al Ikhlas 10 times, Allah (swt) will build for him (or her) a palace in paradise (Ahmed)