Sex and the City?
Ive been noticing a lot of muslim sisters talking about how they want to go see
Sex and the City in theaters, and so I went on my trusty
www.kidsinmind.com website to see some details of what the movie's haram content was. Anyone who feels that it isnt "that bad" or that its "just a movie", I challenge you to read the following out loud to your parents, your siblings, or even your practicing muslim friends without blushing.
CAUTION: EXTREEEMLY GRAPHIC MATERIAL IN LINK.
http://www.kids-in-mind.com/s/sexandthecity.htmWatching images like this is what desensitizes individuals into feeling like casual sex, homosexuality and other haram behavior isnt "that bad". Wheres the hayaa? Of course the movie was tops in the box office this weekend too! Naudhubillah! A muslim shouldnt be caught DEAD watching something like this, let alone talking about how great it is on facebook!
May Allah swt protect us and keep us far away from disgusting things like this...ameen
The Butterfly Effect...
I graduate tomorrow inshallah...
With today being Eid, my hijri birthday, and the eve of my graduation naturally I feel as though there is no better time than now to reflect on my life thus far, what I hope God accepts as good from me, what I hope God forgives of my shortcomings, and what parts of my personality I still need to rectify if I wish to obtain God's Mercy.
I remember when I was in the local community college I had finally figured out what I wanted to do, I was acing all of my classes, and I was confident that I was on the right track in life. I was introduced to this guy who had been going to the community college for nearly 5 years and still wasnt too sure what he wanted to major in and anyone who knows me could probably guess that I gave the guy a hard time.
"Are you serious? You've been in school how long? At a COMMUNITY COLLEGE?"
After I left the guy I had this weird feeling inside me that made me feel real uncomfortable about what I had done. Though I didnt embarrass the guy in front of people and my conversation with him was private, I truly think that I made him feel really terrible. A short time after that I myself began to doubt what I was doing in school and so began my grueling 7 year career in college where I went through 5 majors and tons of money.
I look back at that day I made that guy feel bad about his time in school and I have to ask myself "did my arrogance with that guy cause me to have such a tough time in college or was it some kind of self fulfilled prophecy?"
Theres to ways that I can look at this incident: The first way is the way that Rabiah al Basriyyah ra, the great Zahida from the early muslimeen, looked at a hardship she went through. Once she tripped and fell and injured herself and when people went to see if she was ok they found her getting up laughing. The people around her asked her if she was crazy and she replied that when she felt the pain of the fall it reminded her of the promise of Allah that he will remove the sins from the believer when they go through any injury.
The second way to look at the incident is through the incident of the people of the Garden from Surah Qalam. Those people had a garden which they would cultivate and they loved and they
decided that they would gather their fruit in the morning, but they didnt want to give the fruit to any needy person. They came upon their garden and they found that Allah swt had destroyed their garden and they realized that they had indeed done wrong and transgressed. They then asked ALlah swt for forgiveness and then Allah swt says "Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew!"
Was it a purification of my sins? A punishment for my evil actions? Or Both?
Now I look at the past few months and I see that my relationship with Allah swt has definitely been on the decline. I have not been consistent nor have I met the level of iman that I was at no less than a year ago. Of course faith is not a static thing and it goes up and down, but lately my downs have gone down lower than I have ever been and I havent been as urgent in trying to get my iman back up. I look at how Allah swt has responded to me and I see that plans which I made which I feel were great plans have disintegrated. I was certain that something was good for me and my deen and my istikhara had yielded a really positive response yet Allah swt took me away from something which I felt was beneficial and took it away from me in the most abrupt and confusing fashion.
What this again a purification for my soul? Was Allah swt punishing me for my inconsistency?
I have concluded that my inconsistency and lack of desire to develop a stronger relationship with my Creator has led to certain totally confusing things taking place within the last month and I am determined to change myself. Of course that is why you ask Allah for guidance and I have trust in Him that if I strive to please Him he will grant me the best in this life and the next, but I am not totally sold that my istikhara is the reason why I am left without getting what I thought was best for me, I think it might be a punishment for the injustices which I committed against myself and did not seriously try to seek expiation from.
May Allah swt forgive me and make easy for me my ascension to maqaamaat closer to Him. May Allah swt grant me that which is best for me and my deen and bring it close to me, and keep far away from me that which takes me away from Him. May Allah swt grant barakah in my life and make me among those whom He loves...ameen
Final Destination...
From God we come and to Him we shall return...
http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_138150629.htmlIn the summer of 2000 I had just graduated High School and me and my homies from school used to hang out real hard having some good old times just kickin it and enjoyin life. Then I went to visit my brother who was living in Houston at the time, and while I was there the homies I would hang out with got in a car accident with the driver dying instantly, and the rest of the dudes in the car having serious injuries...except for Reese. He actually walked out of the car on his own.
A year after the accident, Wali -may Allah have mercy on his soul- , who was riding in the passenger seat of the car, passed away from complications of a follow up surgery on his eye. Now, 7 years later, Reese Johnson is gunned down in a senseless act of violence, now leaving only two survivors of the car crash alive.
This reminded me of the movie final destination, when the characters "escape" death, only to be caught one by one. This is the reality that each and every one of us is living. We narrowly "escape" death every day because these close calls are just reminds that we gotta get on our Ps and Qs and take this life seriously and find our purpose. We have no guarantees as to when we will die and we cant be acting like we are going to live till we're 70 because its not guaranteed and we could be standing outside OUR doorstep and get shot down and murdered in a split second when we least expect it just like Reese.
Its sad to see that this society is so selfish and so cold that they wouldnt think twice before taking a man's life for a few dollars without thinking about the man's family, the man's mother wife or children. Senseless acts of violence like these are what really burn me up inside because the motive for ending a man's existence in this world was material gain of only a few dollars? Its ridiculous to think that now his children will be orphans and his mother will have to mourn her son's passing for something as stupid as a few dollars that Reese would probably have given the robber if he would have had the chance.
I pray that we take advantage of our life before we die as we never guaranteed even a second on this planet.
This is my newest desktop picture, and I have no idea what it says. If any of you can read it and tell me what it says then you are wicious!!!
Mufti Taqi Uthmani has NOT endorsed the Amman Message...
Taken from
www.askimam.org| Fatwa # 15064 from South Africa | Date: Tuesday, April 17th 2007 |
|
|---|
| Category |
| Miscellaneous |
| Title |
| Please comment on the endorsement of Mufti Taqi Uthmani Saheb of the Amman Message wherein all Shias are endorsed as muslims and there being no possibility of Takfir against them. |
|
| Question |
| Please comment on the endorsement of Mufti Taqi Uthmani Saheb of the Amman Message wherein all Shias are endorsed as muslims and there being no possibility of Takfir against them.
|
|
| Answer |
| Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Recently we have received a couple of queries regarding the views of Respected Hazrat Mufti Taqi Uthmani Saheb daamat barakatuhum about “Amman Message”. It states: “Whosoever is an adherent to one of the four Sunni schools (Mathahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i and Hanbali), the two Shi’i schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Ja`fari and Zaydi), the Ibadi school of Islamic jurisprudence and the Thahiri school of Islamic jurisprudence, is a Muslim. Declaring that person an apostate is impossible and impermissible” The website promotes that more than 500 reputable authorities have endorsed this declaration. Many laymen have accepted it as a unanimous consensus of the Ulama. (Ijmaa). We wish to say that this is indeed not the case and even Mufti Taqi Uthmani’s endorsement is not in its totality of this “Amman Message”. The same website which has posted the endorsement of Hazrat Mufti Taqi Saheb has also posted his seven page fatwa in this regard. We are surprised as to why has this fatwa not been translated into English for the common readers. This Fatwa shows the accurate stance of Mufti Saheb. On page 3 of this fatwa Hazrat Mufti Saheb categorizes those Madhahîb who claim to be Muslim into 3 distinct groups. In the first of these three groups Hazrat Mufti Saheb says, 
“First type: Are those who claim to be Muslim, but reject something which has been necessarily known to be from the religion. They hold firmly, for example, that the Prophethood is continued after Nabi Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and they believe in the prophethood of one of the Dajjals who has claimed prophethood after our Noble Prophet, seal of the prophethood sallallahu alayhi wasallam, like the Qadîyânîs; or they hold firmly that the Noble Quran which we have today is changed, Al’Iyaazubillah. And that our Quraan is not the real on, like what some of the extremists among the Shîas say; or they hold firmly (in the aqeeda of ) Aloohiya or some of the specific attributes of it being in one of the humans, like what is attributed to Alawiyeen(Alawis) and others besides them. Then these all are not Muslims and it is necessary to make Takfir of them. From the above we understand adequately that Mufti Saheb has not endorsed the Amman Message in its totality, though he has elaborated the Sharii stance of Takfeer. This first category includes those upon whom takfeer can be made, rather it is necessary. To this category Hazrat Mufti Saheb makes one more addition. On page 5 of his fatwa Hazrat Mufti Taqi Saheb says that those self claimed Sufîs, who negate any of the important Aqaîd or reject the commands of Sharia and concoct baseless ruling with no grounds in Quran and Sunnah, are also added to the first category. That is to say, takfir will be necessary upon them as well. 
Computer Dept.
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah Inaamiyyah |
Marriage Season...
Subhan Allah...
This year is the first year where my closest friends are getting married in droves, and not only are my friends getting married but some of my favorite people in the entire world are now engaged and getting married. I cant even begin to explain how happy I am for these people and I pray that Allah swt blesses the couples with ease in this stressful time of wedding planning, blesses them with ease on their respective weddings, and ease and barakah in their married life to come. I just hope that I can come to all of your weddings!!!
Those of you who are in my close circle of favorite people and are not yet hitched, and you know who you are, I am making dua for you!!! And no...im not just praying for you so that angels make the same dua for me too.
Congrats again my peoples!!!
MIST 07 reflections...
So its been a week since MIST has ended, and subhan Allah all week I have been thinking about the tournament and how amazing the weekend was.
As I sat there on the day of the awards banquet, listening to the chatter and anticipation of all the children and seeing the sheer joy on their faces, i couldnt help but choke back tears, as I have done every year, just from the thought of this being the next generations of muslimeen in America ready to carry the banner of Islam. I see children who are no doubt better than me, children who are more skilled than me in writing, more knowledgeable than me in deen, and more ready to do islamic work than i will ever be. Every year at the end of MIST on the day of the awards banquet I sit there and look around at the children and choke back tears and I remember the fact that I am behind, I am wasting time, and I am getting older by the day and Allah swt has an entire generation of children just waiting for their chance to change the world, children ready to lap me on their way to Jannah while i sit idle doing nothing to change the world.
To me, this is why MIST is the most important organization and tournament that exists in the US, as I have been quoted as saying
here in the muslim link. When I came out of high school i had no idea what Islam was, I had no experience with how organized Islamic work worked, and I didnt even know what the purpose of an MSA was. All of these children participating in MIST are exposed to all of these things, gaining an advantage over their predecessors as they come into the college MSA scene running instead of crawling like us.
Usually, my team (Team
Taqwa) does very well placing in the top 3 for all but one year since the tournament began (if my memory serves me correctly) but unfortunately this was not our year. But regardless of the outcome, I looked at the faces of my kids and subhan Allah, I remembered what it was like to actually be around a large group of muslims from your generation for the first time and it gave me goosebumps. The majority of these kids struggle with their Muslim identity in public school settings and for one weekend they are in an environment where its all Muslim all day, and like the hadith of our beloved Prophet Muhammed PBUH states and I will futilely attempt to paraphrase, if you are in the blacksmiths place of work, you will come out of it with soot and smell upon you no matter how involved you are with the blacksmith work. And this one weekend their imam increased from being around their brothers and sisters, from intending to benefit their iman, and for competing and striving against each other in pleasing Allah swt.
Anyone who is around those who organize MIST, or is involved in MIST in any level be it organizational or otherwise, has to testify to the fact that these children show great promise for our Ummah. Its not just that they are practicing Islam and implementing it in their lives as early as middle school, but those that have never been exposed to Islam seriously are being exposed to it in a great environment of competition and gaining a great love for the deen. I was a panelist at a session about majors and this one kid asks me how he can become an Islamic Scholar. Subhan Allah I almost teared up at the sheer notion that this kid at an early age was interested in the sciences of Islam and how to be proficient in them to a level where he wanted to not only be a scholar of deen but a Doctor as well so that he could benefit the people greatly. I looked into that youth's face and I saw a great want and desire to benefit those around him and I pray that Allah swt grant him the best in this world and the next.
In conclusion, MIST is that fire that is lit up under me every year. People say ISNA motivates them to do good works and of course Ramadan does for me and everyone else, but MIST has its place in what motivates me to do better and strive harder in everything im doing for the reason that there are little kids fast approaching at my heels ready to pass me and grab the torch of Islam, and if I want to keep up im gonna have to work harder.
May Allah swt bless all those who organized MIST!
May Allah swt bless all the coaches, judges, speakers, and volunteers!
May Allah swt bless all the participants in MIST, make all the good that they heard this weekend be a means by which they shall enter paradise!
Ameen
