The week in rewind...
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
one of the most....draining/amazing/frustrating weeks everrr....
read below:
Prayer and Protest
By Sarah Brummett
Contributing Writer
March 30, 2006
More than 40 students from the NYU’s Islamic Center gathered in the Kimmel Center’s lobby yesterday for a teach-in to discuss their reactions to the controversial Danish cartoons that were supposed to be displayed at a panel discussion held inside the building.
The students originally planned to protest the presentation of the cartoons, but the event’s sponsor, the Objectivist Club, decided to only display blank panels after NYU demanded that it close the event off to the public if it chose to display the cartoons.
For several days before the event, the Islamic Center was in contact with NYU officials requesting that the cartoons not be displayed because members believe the images were racist, promoted religious intolerance and perpetuated hatred, Islamic Center president Maheen Farooqi said.
One of the goals of NYU’s Objectivist Club is “to provide a receptive atmosphere for individuals interested in learning about Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism,” according its website, nyu.objectivismonline.net. Since the eruption of the Danish Cartoon controversy, the Ayn Rand Institute has begun a “Free Speech Campaign” of panel discussions at universities, like this one hosted by the Objectivist Club.
“You don’t have to have images like these to talk about [freedom of speech],” Farooqi said.
She added that Muslim students were also concerned that the display of the images at the public event would possibly incite violence against members of NYU’s Muslim community. Prior to the event, Islamic Center students bought hundreds of tickets to the event to restrict outside attendance, but when the Objectivists pulled the cartoon’s presentation, they agreed to give back all the tickets so that they could be sold to members outside of the NYU community, Farooqi said.
“We don’t support these images, but we do support the dialogue,” Farooqi said. “We do want to talk about it — we don’t want to just leave ourselves out of it.”
Muslim students were joined in their protests by students from NYU’s Antiwar Network and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life.
“These racist stereotypes of Muslims are being used to justify violence,” Antiwar Network member Elizabeth Wrigley-Field said.
Figures from other groups on campus shared solidarity with the Jewish and Muslim students, including Rabbi Yehudah Sarna of the Bronfman Center, who spoke to the group and said that “the freedom of speech comes with the responsibility to listen.”
Group members said they supported the Islamic Center’s efforts based on their own experience with religious intolerance, hatred and violence.
“This is an emotional moment for me, too — as a Jew, as someone who understands where you’re coming from,” Sarna said.
The teach-in ended with Sarna reciting evening prayers alongside Muslim students outside Kimmel within the protection of police barricades.
After the prayers ended, many of the Muslim students attended the panel discussion.
CAS junior Muniba Hassan said the panel discussion turned out to be worse than she and other protesters suspected it would be.
“We didn’t think they were going to make these generalizations and broad comments on Islam,” Hassan said. “This was very unfair to Muslims.”
People are afraid to address the cartoons, and we shouldn’t have to worry about skirting sensitive issues, said panelist Jonathan Leaf, the resigned editor of the New York Press.
“We lose ability to talk to Muslims and express to them that people around the world are afraid of Islamic violence,” Leaf said.
CAS junior James Ferguson said that many of his worst fears about the event had been confirmed.
“I feel tricked into coming,” Ferguson said. “The flyer said it was about free speech, and a third of the time they talked about Islam and didn’t have any Muslims to give their side.”
Ferguson said one man even asked him if Osama Bin Laden was his hero.
“I was shocked,” Ferguson said. “I didn’t think stereotypes would get that far out of hand. I lost family members in 9/11 — I was very offended by the question. It was living proof that this lecture had everyone hating Muslims.”
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Cartoon choice backfires
by WSN Staff
March 30, 2006
If you’re really that curious, it’s not too difficult to do a Google search to find the Danish cartoons that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad that have caused so much uproar in the past few months. Not content with that, the NYU Objectivist Club, during a panel discussion on the cartoons last night, planned on having the 12 cartoons on display.
While news of this understandably upset Muslim groups on campus, with some level of compromise, the event could have been an enlightening and helpful discussion on the cartoons and the root of the initial controversy. Instead, after an entire day of negotiations with NYU’s administration, the group decided not to show them at all. In lieu of an educational and informative panel discussion, it turned into a tense and hostile airing of the speakers’ indignation that ultimately contributed nothing.
Freedom of speech — as has been pointed out ad infinitum since the controversy began — extends to the freedom to insult and offend. At an Objectivists’ event, they had the right to display whatever they want without bending to opponents.
The Islamic Center, however, offered a number of alternatives to simply not showing the cartoons, and it would have easily been possible to arrange to show them for a short time, so those who would be offended wouldn’t have to look at them. Displaying the cartoons all night would have completely driven devout Muslims from the event, which would have narrowed the scope of the debate even further. And although, as one panelist mentioned, hate speech is certainly protected by the First Amendment, the hostility it engenders is anathema to a constructive discussion on the issue. Some of the panelists’ more outrageous and offensive statements about Islam is testament to such a statement.
It seems unfortunate that, even with assistance from a third party, they were still unable to work out a mutually beneficial agreement that would have allowed for a more balanced debate. As a result, everyone lost out. It ended up dealing less with the actual issue at hand and more with the panelists’ anger at having their toy taken away.
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I will post my comments later... (maybe)
Word Cloud
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
here is something interesting i found off of snapshirts.com.
The site basically compiles the most common words in your blog and makes a snapshot of them into a 'word cloud'...
Intereseting stuff :)
Time...
assalamualiakum wa rahmatullah,
echoing the last post i found this on hahmed.com/blog :
Imam al-Ghazali on Time
March 20th, 2006
Source: Sunnipath
“You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how to bring out the spiritual blessing (baraka) in each period.But if you leave yourself adrift, aimlessly wandering as cattle do, not knowing how to occupy yourself at every moment, your time will be lost. It is nothing other than your life, and your life is the capital that you make use of to reach perpetual felicity in the proximity of God the Exalted.
Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like that deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens.
What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, wealth, children and friends stay behind.”
Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah have mercy on him) wrote this in his book: ‘The Beginning of Guidance’
Now, how do you spend your time? (rhetorical question)
almost time to say goodbye...
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
So the time is finally approaching, I have been avoiding writing about this for a while now because I don't quite know how to express my feelings on it. Within the past couple of weeks I have realized that I am afraid of change. I am not necessarily afraid of what is to come, but I am more afraid to let go of what I already have. Alhamdulilah the past four years of my life have been so so amazing...
When I first walked into the city I did not know what to expect. What I saw was a group of Muslims, very different from any group of Muslims I had met before. However I was still very reluctant and did not know if I had made the best decision by attending NYU. But here I am now, almost four years later, unable to let go and imagine life without the Muslims I have encountered. SubhanAllah...this kind of goes hand in hand with my last post. I spoke about blessings that somehow have been slipping away from my life, and sometimes I wonder if the Islamic Center will also be one of those blessings that will just slip through my hands.
I have also been told that this is not a denial of a blessing, rather it is simply change. However I can't just imagine this period of my life simply as a couple of years that will transition me into a new portion of my life. How can I? I met the most amazing Muslims, learned so much about my deen, about my Creator, and about my Rasool salalahualayhi wa salam through these individuals, how then can my heart not be attached to them?
Its amazing the advice that has been bestowed on us from our predecessors lasts and lasts. How many times have we been told to not take a single moment for granted, how many times have we been told that we will look back to these days with tears in our eyes. I look back at these days, and alhamdulilah I was bestowed with numerous opportunities to do good, to help others, and to sit with those who possess knowledge, and though I may have taken advantage of some of these opportunities, now I wonder how many of these opportunities I let fly by. This reminds me of the hadith that says to value five things: "Youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before preoccupation, and life before death." These four years of my undergraduate career were perhaps the prime of my youth, and the time when I would have the most amount of free time. Looking back, I really do wonder how wisely this time was spent, and if looking back on the Day of Judgement I will look back to these days with a smile on my face, or a tear stricken face...inshaAllah i do pray it is the former. and not the latter.
"There are seven people for whom Allah will provide His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His shade: 1. A just ruler. 2. A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah. 3. A man whose heart is attached to the mosque. 4. Two men who love each other for Allah's sake; they meet for the sake of Allah and part company for His sake. 5. A man who is invited by a woman of beauty and position [to sin], but he refuses saying: 'I fear Allah.' 6. A man who gives in charity secretly such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives. 7. A man whose eyes shed tears as he remembers Allah in private." [Bukhari, Muslim].
Reading this hadith I think about my time at the IC, and think about how many opportunities were given to us as youth to aid one another in the worship of Allah subhana wa ta ala. Here we had a community based up of this single perogative. That is simply what we are, a group of youth dedicated to obeying Allah subhana wa ta ala, everything else is secondary. I think about the days that we would sit in the musallah waiting for Maghrib to roll in so that we could pray together (number 3), and perhaps one of the most closest points to my heart, number 4, two individuals who love each other for the sake of Allah subhana wa ta ala, they meet for his sake, and part of His sake. I think about the times I would just walk into the islamic center and would be greeted by salaams and smiles from sisters (and sometimes brothers) that I never met before, here we'd sit for His, subhana wa ta ala's sake, and in His name would we depart. I wonder, after I graduate how many more times I will be granted these same opportunities.
It has been said that you never know how valuable or great something is, until its gone. And here I am each witnessing each second slip from beneath me, knowing that in a matter of weeks I will no longer be part of this blessed community. I pray that Allah subhana wa ta ala continues to bless this group of youth, as well as the Islamic Center and allows it to flourish under the banner of Islam. I pray that those of us that now have to leave the Islamic Center (and NYU) have greater blessings in store for us, and that we too remain loyal first and foremost to Him and only Him.
Ameen.
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah.
I have written this post like 6 times but each time it has not come out right.
So inshaAllah instead I shall leave you in the dark and await another day... :)
until then...
beace in the middle east..
where the blessings at?
Assalamualiakum wa rahmatullah.................
The other day I had a conversation with someone whom I consider to be very wise...this person is only a few years older than me, but in wisdom probably surpasses me by decades. The topic came to blessings, and how alhamdulilah we are witnessing many individuals around us getting married, engaged, having children, etc. These blessings seem to be falling like rain alhamdulilah.
So then, what is the problem?
Perhaps this may not be the right way to look at things, but sometimes when you see blessings all around you, yet your life bereft of them, you begin to ask some important and poignant questions. Namely, where are my blessings?
I don't mean this in an envious way whatsoever, but one does begin to question what the cause of this absense may be...
and in the case of blessings you can't really look to anyone other than Allah subhana wa ta ala.
So, the question remains. Why may someone be enjoying loads and loads of blessings, while another sits waiting for this rahma (mercy) to descend upon him.
We came upon two possibilities.
The first being, the self. The reason that you may be missing out on a certain blessing (marriage) may be because of something that you may have done to earn the wrath or punishment of Allah subhana wa ta ala.
SubhanAllah... can there be a thought as scary as this? Like seriously... if the one desire we have is to have Allah subhana wa ta ala pleased with us, than the most horrendous thing in our eyes would be to gain the exact opposite, and thus be denied His love. Certain things have transpired within the past couple of months, and it makes me think and question what the reason may be. Ofcourse we can not put a reason or question on the Qadr of Allah subhana wa ta ala, but we can look to ourselve and examine our state and see if somehow we may have slipped along the way. I can think of a couple of blessings that have been taken away from me in this time frame, and it really makes me wonder if somewhere along the way I may have done something to earn this punishment.
However, there then lies another possibility. Is the lack of barakah, or blessing in my life a test for me? Is Allah subhana wa ta ala simply testing my patience, and my imaan. If so, what has made me worthy of this test?
So then, how does one decide what course of action to take from here....
another beloved friend of mine suggested this : take a close look at yourself, and see, what am I doing in my life that would cause Allah subhana wa ta ala to be upset with me, and how can I rectify it? She subhanAllah, has transformed herself to making sure that even the littlest of her actions are in accordance with His pleasure. She eats food from her house, so that she is not denied the barakah of it, she excerises regularly so that her body may be more ready for ibaadah.
This goes hand in hand with what I learned last weekend at the Minarah program. The agenda to change our condition is often times in our hands. We have done certain actions that have caused us to transgress from what Allah subhana wa ta ala has prescribed for us. In essence we have rebelled against Allah subhana wa ta ala in many realms of life, and thus caused the barakah from our lives to be lifted... how can we begin to complain of problems our ummah is facing today externally, when we are the cause of our internal problems? Brotherhood (and sisterhood) in itself is a blessing, and if we deny it, then how do we expect Allah subhana wa ta ala to bestow blessing upon our ummah?
So has not the time come for us to sit and reflect on our situation... are we going to have to wait until each and everyone of the blessings of the world has dissipated before we begin to rectify our condition...
The easiest way to start is to simply look inward. Yep, I am talking about that little piece of flesh that if it is sound the rest of the body will be sound, right there on the middle left side of your body, your heart.
May Allah subhana wa ta ala guide and protect us all...
ameen..
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
chillin
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah :)
i just came back to the city today after a week...
subhanallah its crazy in the most liveliest and craziest places on earth you find the most relaxation.. I am currently lying on my bed, and my roommate is squished next to me with her head so lovinglly on my shoulder :)
on the other bed lies miss dora lee, and mugga is sleeping on the floor somewhere else...
and its Jummah...
subhanAllah.
you reeeeeeeeeally realize how the little things in life really do make the biggest of differances...
This past week has been crazy..i was in MD, PA, LI, and tomorrow i'll be going to jersey for the minarah program as well. You realize how different each place is, and how different each Muslim community is. When i was in MD, i was amazed at how amazing the muslim community down there is, everyone knows everyone, thier mom, their families, everything! they have such a beautiful community mashaallah...meanwhile in NYC there could be muslims living two blocks from you and you would never know....each city has its charm...each community its strengths. Every time i travel somewhere and am greeted and hosted by other groups of muslims i always think of the Muhajiroon and the Ansar...most of the time when you travel anywhere (in this case EZ), you will see a group of dedicated young Muslims offer you everything that is theirs so that you may feel more comfortable..aand subhanAllah its one of the most beautiful things ever....and why shouldn't it be, its the sunnah of our beloved Messenger, Muhammad salalahualyahiwalsam...
but i think its times like these that we get a taste of true brotherhood...like sometimes i really think if i went up to a sister i met and complimented something shes wearing she'd just take it off and give it to me..subhanAllah thats what this deen is about...and it never fails to amaze me..
anyway shout out to everyone who hosted this years EZ...and inshaAllah may Allah subhana wa ta ala present us an opportunity to be as kind of hosts as they were to us..
ameeeeen.
wsalamualiakumwarahmatullah
beace in the middle east..
Shaadi post #2352346
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
so my 13 year old cousin emailed me again in regards to my marriage prospects, and i was literally laughing at loud...keep in mind shes 13!
Asalaam Alykum,
.............(family stuff ill leave out)..............
Hafiz Ali is SINGLE!!! can u believe it....OMG, u dont know him, but OOOO r u into something good!!!! (LOL JK). SEND ur pic they asked for it a LONG time ago, but no one had ur recent pics. expcept ur baby pics which my mom wuz considering sending. "oh yea they can really tell how u look like now" JK lol. So send me some really STUNNING pictures ~which wont be hard 2 take ;) hehe. n INSHALLAH if things go well who knows maybe you'll get married dis summer IN HOUSTON....just da thought of it is getting me all excited.
A little of Info about him that i know of:
he's single (no duh, just needed 2 fill in da space)
HAFIZ
24-25 years old
is da son of a guy who owns like 2 halal restaurants (KFC :)
DRIVES a BEAMER lol <---4rm fahad
TALLER than U which should automatically make u say yes Just Kidding! like 6 feet
VERY RELIGIOUS background
has a goatee, squarish head lol, & nice hair <---Khasim Bhai would fall in luv w/him
****send some pics k?*****
w/lots of luv,
amerah
P.S.- im not trying 2 pressure u or anything, but think about!
lolllllllllllll...subhaaaaaaaaaaaaan'Allah ...
beace fil middle east ;)
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
EZ
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah...
So i think i may have attended my last MSA conference ever...
Here are some things I have learned over this weekend:
1) I am OLD
2) I don't know how to drive without power steering
3) NYU brothers are the best...hands down mashaAllah...
4) I miss Maulana Kamal B I G T I M E ...
5) I am not as social as i thought i was
6) I have mad regional (state) pride
7) I am pickier than i thought i was (in regards to food)
8) Mubeen Husain is on crack and i love her for it--i knew this before but ...to what extent i just figured out :)
9) I love Philly/Jersey girls
10) ummm.....i love nasheeds..
So yea...how would i label the east zone conference? I don't know...either i am changing or the conferences are changing...maybe a combination of the two. I understand its super hard to organize these conferences, and its really really draining as most organizers go on absolutely no sleep. But some things i think are essential to any conference to keep the masses happy: 1- good food, 2- happy people, 3- lots of signs. I never realized how much logistics could really make or break a conference...but boy oh boy can it...
Also as much as I enjoyed hearing Brother Noman Ali khan ... i think there was a desperate need for more scholars...
Anyway inshaAllah im going to be going to the minarah program this weekend so inshaAllah ill have lots and lots of notes from that.
and no for everyone that is asking i did not find my husband at east zone.
beace in the middle east..
wassalamualaikumwarahmatullah
my mugga...
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah...
On Friday i took my baby...mugalicious (maghrib) to the vet to get "fixed" (spayed). This was her first big operation type of thing, and i've been told its just one of those things you have to do.
So we brought maghrib home and unfortunately she has to wear one of those cone things on her head so she can't do any of the things she loves doing ie cleaning herself and running around and going psycho...
For most of the weekend i was in my apartment just sititng with her, and subhanAllah for perhaps the first time in my life i felt like .00000001 of what a mother probably feels. First and foremost its very obvious that my cats in pain...and wallahi when i looked at her like tears came in my eyes. First because I knew i was the cause of this pain, and second, as dumb as this sounds, she is my baby. Those of you guys that don't have pets may not understand. But i have this affection for her that i don't have for other people. Maybe, because like babies, cats are so dependent on their owners for love and affection and everything, and ofcourse cats like people can not speak, but she would just look at me and i kneeeeeeeew the pain she was in. So, subhanAllah i cant explain the feeling, but its a completely selfless, you just want to absorb the pain of the other being (in this case the cat) and take it upon yourself. I see my mom and whenever I have the slightest of pain, even if i just did something d umb like bang into the table, or fall down the stairs (yes i do that often) she would come and just sit with me and massage the area and get this look in her eyes. When im hurt she hurts.
So yes....please make dua for my cat :( she can't walk straight, she falls cuz that stupid cone messes up her balance, shes got pain...
take care..
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
