My Sabbath
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
SubhanAllah it's just one of those days...
like once in a while, you just look around at every single moment and thing that surrounds you and you realize how perfect and beautiful Allah subhana wa ta ala in His Might and Glory is...
I don't even know where to begin, i woke up this morning and was walking to jummah and i just looked up at the sky, and the color of the sky was like amazing, and the way that my hijab felt on my neck was amazing, and the breeze that went through the park was amazing...
later at about 9:30 pm i was invited to the Broffman Center for Jewish Life at NYU, and upon entering i had no idea what to expect. I got there and stood up in front of about 100 jewish students and just told them about what its like to be muslim on a daily basis. What we go through, how our days are. And subhanAllah the responded in such a positive way, and after the Q&A session and after my talk, a handful of students stuck around till midnight and just sat and talked to us about, faith, about Allah, and about our deen. and you realize, that subhanAllah at the end of the day, though we have Islam and we have Allah, there are those out there that also have a love for Allah subhana wa ta ala, and though there may be things that seperate us from them, there is that common bond between us, and that love is something that surpasses anything. How can a heart not love another heart who loves his Beloved? I looked at these people with a newfound respect, I wanted to know more about them, and subhanAllah some of them are soooo close to Islam.
Yet as I walked away from there I realized that there is nothing in the world more beautiful then Islam. Because our deen subhanAllah has something so absoulely beautiful that their deen can not compare. And that is Muhammad salalalhualayhi wa salam. Honestly as I sat there and talked to them so many times the Rasools name came to my lips, and the reference that came to their lips were the works of many scholars, which subhanAllah is amazing, but they lacked this integral part of their deen, the walking Quran, the humanistic side of all deen. I still remember one thing that one of the guys said, he was trying to explain to me a concept of their deen and was stating how certain things in their deen are haraam, and so what the rabbis have done is that they take whatever is haraam and take it a step up, and make things that are not haraam haraam so as to avoid the initial haraam. So i was sitting there, and i was like subhaaaaaaaan'Allah, this is why our deen is the middle path. The Jews have made their deen difficult upon themselves and have taken that which Allah has made lawful upon them and made it unlawful...and it can be argued that the Christians have done the opposite and taken what Allah has made unlawful and made it lawful. This is why our deen is perfection, alhamdulilah....
I know these concepts may seem simple, but I just saw them in practice tonight and it was an enlightening experience.
May Allah subhana wa ta ala open our hearts to His light.
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah.
The Pre-Reqs
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
a conversation i had with someone today:
X: this brother asked me if u wanted to get married
Me: yep
Me: i do
X: to him?
Me: lol
Me: i dont know who it is
X: this brother
he takes almaghrib classes
but hes pretty open minded
Me: hes into tasawwuf?
X: he doesnt really know anything bout t
i told him he should read up on it
Me: cool
you are a smart man
X: but all his aqeedah
is from almaghrib
i dunno if that works for u or not
Me: hes like hardcore into maghrib?
al*
X: he took the minara program too
Me: does he believe in madhabs
and following one
X: i think i know you
Me: u think i dont follow a madhab?
X: better then i know most people
X: no
but i told him that i knew what the first few questions would be that u'd ask me
Me: did i ask them?
X: yea more or less
Am i predictable or what...
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah.
Do not abandon your search...
Whether you are fast or slow, eventually you will find what you are seeking. Always devote yourself wholeheartedly to your search. Even though you may limp or be bent double, do not abandon your search, but drag yourself ever toward Him.
-Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (rahmatullahi 'alayhi)
the weekend
:)
assalamualiakum wa rahmatullah!
Where to begin........
ummmmmmmmmm how about..........friday :)
On Friday I went to the Strawberryfest as a stinky old senior, and the islamic center was representin with a booth in which we did free arabic 'calligraphy' and gave out fast-a-thon shirts for free. Alhamdulilah i must say that we were one of the most popular tables there. Tons of people came up to us and wanted to get their name written in Arabic, while they waited we chit-chatted about Islam and Arabic. While i was on line purchasing my NYU Seniors sweatshirt i saw this girl like staring at me...naturally i assumed she was attracted to my radiant face (lol jk), but then i realized that this has never happend in the past and thus is not the case, not trying to dwell on the situation i looked her way and flashed a million dollar smile, and she, alhamdulilah, returned it. So she came closer and was like "do you remember me" and i ofcourse did my :) uhhhhhh face..where im thinking of all the possible place i could have seen this gori (white) girl...so she put me out of my misery and was like remember you came to the senior class meeting to talk about the fast-a-thon earlier in the year, and i was like oooooh yeeeeaaaaa, i remember you and so she's like
"i saw you a couple of weeks ago at the protest/teach-in, i sat and listened to your talk, and i was brought to tears, and began to cry, what you said about your Prophet and your religion was beautiful, i told everyone in my masters' program and they were all sorry they missed it" , so at this point, im like wait what...but she basically said thanks, and i think read the confusion on my face and jetted. Anyway after the many hate emails it was a breath of fresh air to hear positive feedback from a non-muslim :)
After the strawberry-fest i did NOT attend my first islamic center meeting...sad face...but alhamdulialh its a great eboard and i wish them allllllll the best :)
Now i will proceed to the Sadia's Bridal shower part of the post. After Jummah, after the strawberryfest, and after lunch, dora and i headed down to canal street to pick up sadia's bridal shower cake. Along the way i stopped off and spent a lot of money on a lot of unnecessary clothes that don't fit me that i have decided to "gift" to other people...but alhamdulialh its all good...we finally made it down to canal street 2 hours later (not good considering its like a 15 minute walk), and go to the chinese bakery where we ordered the cake from. To our surprise they didn't "get" our order but promised us the 6-pound cake would be done in........30 minutes....30 minutes! I can't even boil water in 30 minutes..but sure enough they did make the cake in 30 minutes. After this dora struggled with the 6 lb cake and i ran outside to find a cab......while i was doing this many individuals on the street proceeded to laugh at us, ask both dora and i if we were muslim, and many other random things. Finally the cab driver pulled over, and when we got in he was laughing and asked "are u going to a birday", and we responded in the negative. We finally reached back to our building to realize that the elevator is broken, so we had to take the service elevator up...after we got back to our apartment we all started packing our things for our mini-vacation to Jamaica (queens :)). I was very impressed at our light packing, we all (nadia dora maghrib and myself) managed to get our things in one pullmen, however we also had maghrib (the cat), the 6 lb cake, the wedding favors, and many other good things. We finally after many dramatic instances on the street, including one broken car window, dora's skirt flying up up up, almost getting stuck in the turnstile and muggy's constant crying and whining made it onto the subway. Maghrib then proceeded to cry the whole one hour to sadia's house.
The rest of the weekend is extremely girly so i will leave it out, however i will mention some points.
1- on friday night maghrib greeted us at 3 in the morning with a 'gift' in her mouth, looking at her the roomates and i couldn't really decipher what this gift was, and thought maybe she found a dustball or a toy, however we saw this 'gift' move and realized....it was a mouse...so we all screamed very very loud which made maghrib and the mouse excited which made muggy drop the mouse, which made us scream more...and yes...it was all very exciting..after this i had a huge jihad un nafs because i had to pray isha and i was really really scared hte mouse would dance on my head when i made sujood, but i won the jihad and did pray !
2- sadia kalam is the cutest bride in the whole entire world. MashaAllah mashaAllah mashaAllah :)
3- bridal shower games are mad fun
4- the cake was soooooooooooooo good
5- someone who i had met for the first time came up to me and told me i was a really loud/aggressive/good leader type of person, and the two girls that were next to her were liek yeaaaaa she was our president at the msa so she has practice..the girl laughed and was like ohhhhhhhh thats why everyone listens to you...i didn't realize this was true until we were all sitting around doing nothing, and everyone was trying to get the other to dance, at which point i looked at one of the girls and was like "so and so, DANCE" so she got up and danced..lol ...at this point one of the girls was like whoa how'd ud o that..and the girl was like dude when maheen tells u to do something u do it... :)
6- weddings and all related activities are extremelyyyy sentimental; you should always carry a pack of tissues :)
7- once again im making a list :)
8- the highlight of the night was after maghrib when we sat down, recited some quran, read a dua, and sang some nasheeds... :)
9- Muslim girls are the bestttttt :) (and dora :))
So this was the first of the wedding summer '06 season, but inshaAllah there will be much much more to come (11 weddings i've counted)! May Allah subhana wa ta ala bless the brides, the grooms, their families, their guests, and you, and me :)
ameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen....
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
beace in the middle east!
Copying and pasting fi'sabililah
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
all taken from http://copynpastefisabilillah.blogspot.com:
My Greatest Need is You
Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure
Your Name on my tongue is the sweetest word
My choicest hours
Are the hours I spend with You --
O Allah, I can't live in this world
Without remembering You--
How can I endure the next world
Without seeing Your face?
I am a stranger in Your country
And lonely among Your worshippers:
This is the substance of my complaint.
~Rabia al 'Adawiyya Rahimahullah
It is reported by Mu'adh Radhi'Allahuanhu that The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said: "Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) said: 'Those who love one another for My glory, will have minbars of light, and the Prophets and martyrs will wish that they had the same."
~Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who said it is a hasan sahih hadith
Tidbits of advice from beautiful shuyukh......
"How many times should you forgive someone?"
- "As many as times as you wish for Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive you."
~from a program with Shaykh Ibrahim Memon damat barakatuhu
"You have to strive ******, you have to strive. This is life, and isn't that what life is, striving? You have to strive because this is life ******, and life is striving."
~Maulana Kamal, may Allah increase him insha'Allah
*name starred out for privacy of person.
:( :( :( :) :) :) <-- weird emotions...
"For everything that you part from, there is a replacement,
But if you disassociate from Allah, there is no replacement for Him."
~ Shaykh Zulfiqar, may Allah increase him
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah....
duaaaas
tourny
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah..
I guess I'll update now .... :)
i just got back from philly and have had a very loooooong day....
to start with... if one were to examine my forearms, which many would not be able to, due to layers and layers of clothing i decide to wear every single day..but if they WERE it would seem as if I was an abused child :( bruises everywhere, popped blood vessals.....yep you know the deal...before you go and call the cops on my parents/roommate/cat/mubeen i'll have you know that i participated in the islam-i-delphia volleyball tournanment today...and after likeeee two years finally touched a volleyball again....
the first volleyballs they brought out like literally abused me...and i know i haven't played in a looong time but they really aren't supposed to be so hard that you have to grab your arms in pain, so mubeen, nidz and myself picked up some from old navy ($5!!!)...and so the games began...
if any of you really know me, you know im psycho....and super super super competative...i don't like to lose, i trash talk, i push, all of that fun stuff...but alhamdulilah i was able to control myself today..lol and i was on a team with 3 other psychos who are just as crazy as myself, but alhamdulilah we pulled through anddddd wooonnnnnnnnn....yaaaaaaaaaaayyyy...
lol i guess you had to be there?
me mubeen and aunty also went to edison to look for jewelry for the beautiful bride to beeeee :) :) :) (mashaAllah inshaAllah alhamdulilah!) but we didn't find anything :( sad face...the girls beautiful though mashaAllah she could be wearing like gaudy artificial gold and still look like a gem mashaAllah :), i don't make friends with ugly people so you know this is truee ;)
this is a mad lame post...i apologize..
oh yeaaaaa alhamdulilah i also got into a masters' program at NYU so im not going anywhere..alhamdulilah! so no more crying at graduation/senior picnic :)
anything else....
hmmmmmmmmm......
nope.
beace..
duas pleeeeeease..
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
ps--i had some nasheeds on and the cat was chillin on the ground, and then it switched over to a surah, and she jumped on the bed right next to the computer
and sat on my lap...alhamdulilah..animals love to hear quran, try it out one day :)
things i like lots
assalamualiakum wa rahmatullah,
so instead of writing a post about something fairly important about life and transitions and such i shall focus on the finer points in life...
this is absolutely pointless to read..so just save yourself some time and go browse some other blogs..this is done simply for me to get my mind off of things ..
things i like lots.. (NYU RELATED)
1. Ice....you can just eat it...and it is great.
2. Talking using no contractions..try it one day
3. Talking with fake accents...ghetto..british...hispanic...u name it i do it..
4. Aqsa (shes not a thing) but i love her ...if i don't see her one day i feel sooooo incomplete...
5. Mehak ...she cries with me over absolutely nothing..gotta love it..
6. Chipotle
7. IC baby bros... they're too cute mashaAllah
8. Mr Softee
9. Ice cream
10. um..i would say my cat, but she doesn't sit for one second :(
11. sunlight
12. Grass
13. Trees
14. Chappals
15. making lists
16. babies
17. tallking about eating non-edible things...(babies, cats, etc)
18. lucy ;)
19. strangers that smile and say good morning/night/afternoon
20. holding open elevator doors
21. Random salaams from strangers - minus shady men
22. away messages
23. my sister
24. coming home to a full apt
25. dora ...everything
26. sadia's smile when she talks about her fiance..plus the little dimples that show up..priceless
27. Mugga sitting on nadia's head when she's sleeping
28. Laughing about Kassab's story bout eating raw meat (mehak and aqsa)
29. the dhaf
30. Safeya playing and singing with the dhaf
31. emails.......:)
32. Sadia's Fajr alarm
33. Deeps and Lina...parts of my soul
34. Chaplain saab
35. my parents
36. my parents
37. my parents
38. cafetasia
39. naseeha
40. Sitting in the park (washington square)
41. flowers
:)
and ofcourse sooooo much more...
:)
do not hesitate to add to the list..
Danish Cartoon Event @ NYU Law School
THE DANISH CARTOONS:
RECONCILING LAW, POLITICS & PASSION
Tuesday, April 11th, 5.00pm-7.30 pm
Tishman Auditorium
New York University School of Law
Law Students for Human Rights and the Islamic Law Students Association at NYU Law have invited a distinguished panel of eminent scholars, including Prof. Noah Feldman (NYU), Prof. Philip Alston (NYU) and Prof. Ervand Abrahamian (CUNY), to engage in a constructive discussion on the Danish cartoons controversy.
Our panelists will discuss the issues arising out of the controversy in their legal, political and religious contexts. Meaningful participation by members of the audience will be encouraged.
The discussion hopes to answer questions at the heart of the controversy: Why are the cartoons offensive to Muslims? To what extent is there a right to respect for one's religious beliefs? What limitations and responsibilities attach to the exercise of freedom of expression? What is the broader political context in which the controversy has emerged? Did the ensuing violence have any implications for the debate? Is there a framework within which respect for religious beliefs and freedom of expression can be reconciled?
Venue: Tishman Auditorium, New York University School of Law, 40 Washington Square South (use MacDougal St. entrance), New York, NY , 10012
Date & Time: 5.00 pm to 7.30 pm.
Important instructions:
Doors open at 5.00 pm. Please arrive at 5.00 pm to allow sufficient time for security procedures.
Guests must enter at the MacDougal Street entrance to the law school.
Please bring photo IDs.
Avoid bringing bags.
We urge our guests not to display the cartoons in any manner. We hope to create a safe and respectful environment for the discussion, and we request your cooperation in this respect.
No cameras or tape recorders.
Student Teaching --Islam
Assalamualiakum wa rahmatullah,
So for the past.....8 years or so I have been going into my old High scchool and student teaching the Global History classes about Islam. I basically tell them the fundamental beliefs and what its like to be a Muslim. A lot of times I get some really funny questions, but generally the kids are fascinated and ask a lot of questions out of a sincere intention. Thats why i love kids, its not like those weirdos that approach you on the street, fire 50 questions at you, and then leave before you even have a chance to smile at them...
SubhanAllah.
I recently decided that i do want to go into teaching...secondary education in social studies to be exact, so inshaAllah i hopeeee this will be right up my alley.
Anywho I have been asked to student teach at a school here in Manhattan for one day. I have never gone to this school so I don't really know what to expect. Here is the email that the Student teacher wrote to me:
Hi Maheen,
We're still on for this Friday, but I just wanted to keep you updated as
to what my kids are doing...
we started the "Growth of Islam" Unit today, and I began by asking them
to write down things they "knew about Muslims." Here is the compiled
list of what each class gave me:
Period 4: mostly polytheistic, Allah = supreme god, very spiritual,
don't eat pork, females must cover top to bottom, pray five times a day,
wear clothes different from us (no jeans), own or attend mosques, sounds
like they sing when they talk, believe pork is damned, Friday nights are
holy, they don't go to the dentist, some men have several wives, they
wash their feet before bed, they fast, they say "Allah-u-akbar" and
"Selaam-a-Lakum."
Period 5: they have their own type of religion, women are different
from men, women cover themselves--depending on their husband, pray 5
times a day, women wear scarves, dont' eat pork, fast for one month,
meditate, they love peace, they believe in one god (Allah), their men
are strong, they believe in life after death, have strong cultural beliefs.
I wrote down everything anyone volunteered, regardless of accuracy...I
told them they'd learn some of their ideas were wrong today, which they
did as we discussed Muhammad, Allah, and the Five Pillars of Islam, and
then some I'm hoping you can address on Friday.
Tomorrow we're reviewing the Five Pillars, and then getting into more
history with the Umayyid dynasty and the Abbasid Empire; I'll also have
them come up with questions they'd like to ask you. I'll send you
another email tomorrow evening to let you know how it goes.
-------
So some of these preconceived notions I have heard before, however some of them are new :)
I was wondering what kind of things I could talk to them about, since he left it pretty much open to me. So i would appreciate lots and lots of comments on ideas of what i can do. As for 'props' I usually bring in a Quran, a janemaaz..and thats about it. I usually do a short intro and encourage the kids to ask me questions. I also noticed a lot of questions about dress, and the funniest thing is almost every time i go into teach at my old highschool i show up in 100 percent black...haha...this year i remembered that every year the kids ask me if i *have* to wear black, so i made an effort to wear some color, and the kids didn't ask the black question :) So i willll make an effort to NOT wear black...maybe a nice shade of pink ;) hah..jk. I was thinking something that doesn't look too 'foreign' since that was also one of the things mentioned above....so we shall seeeeeee.
anyway its 2 in the am and im sitting and drinking OJ..so i should most probably sleeb.
pleeeeeease keep me in your duas,
as all of you (or most of you that I know that are reading this) are in mine :)
And ofcourse....Allah subhana wa ta ala knows best...always :)
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah.
ps --random side not that should probably be a post on its own...but have you noticed how DIFFERENT guys' blogs are...girls subhanAllah talk about all these feelings and what they go through on a daily basis, and guys, for the most part post on random other things..
weird..
The Rasool's Ummah...My ummah
assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah...
i've said this many a times...but sometimes it feels like im dying.
Sometimes a series of events seem so great, and fall so nicely into place that it seems the end is inevetibly here...
this past year seems like just that.
I would go into detail, but subhanAllah even if i attempted to do so i feel like this feeling is so intrinsic that i would just not make any sense whatsoever...
what i mean to say i guess...is that we know everything happens for a reason. Allah subhana wa ta ala grants us people and things, and through time we begin to love these items so much, and they become so close to us, and we only realize their importance when they are defamed in front of our face, or are taken away from us.
This past week a group on campus tried to defame the individual whom no words can do justice to, the individual, salalahualayhi wa salam, whose name brings tears to the eyes of millions of individuals, the individual who is the beloved of the Most Beloved.
I had wrote a post about the danish cartoon some months ago, but this time my love and my words were tested. How would i react? Events like this call for a lot of hikma, and trust me I have none, so then how can i possibly show the university at large what the Rasool salalhualayhi wa salam means to us? For three days and nights, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't think, i couldn't do anything. Hours of meeting with unversity officials seemed hopeless...yet those around me refused to give up hope. We plotted, and we planned, yet everything seemed against us.
Nights were spent when many of the Muslims on campus shed tears on their janemaazs, and when their tongues were softened by salawat upon the Prophet salalahualayhi wa salam. I saw examples of what it means to be a true Muslim. In the day we used all means necessary to prevent this event from occurring, and at night we beseeched the All mighty, knowing that without him all of our actions would be pointless...
Even when everyone told us it would be virtually impossible to carry out the task we had set out to do, we remained steadfast.
Alhamdulilah in the end, who came out victorious? the cartoons were not shown, not because the club decided to have mercy fill their hearts, rather they knew with the circumstance they would be unable to do the task they set out to accomplish.
whats the moral of this story? for the past couple of months i have been unaware of my purpose here at nyu, and for some reason i didn't want it to end. now however, i feel like this event closed a chapter of my life. this event took place in the last week of my 'presidancy' and forced me to stand up in front of students, faculty, and staff and profess my love for the Rasool salalahualayhi wa salam, it forced me to act.
it also makes me think, that though this is the most noble of causes one has to stand for, it made me realize what it means to really really be a Muslim. It made me stand up and tell people who i am, and what that entails. it made me realize, if only for an instance, what it means to be part of this ummah. On so many levels i realized how great it is to be part of the Rasool salalhualayhi wa salam's ummah. An ummah unlike any other ummah...individuals were ready to sacrifice everything in their being to make sure that this man's image was not tarnished in any way shape or form. now you tell me, has their ever been any man to walk this earth to attain this status? It made me realize the torment that the sahabah lived in when, on a daily basis they would see people mock the Prophet...it made me realize what the sahabah felt when they waited in the Madinah sun hoping to catch an image of the Rasool walking into Yathrib..it made me realize why the ummah went into havoc when they heard of the death of rasool salalhualayhi wa salam...it made me realize why he, and only he will be able to give intercession for us on the day of judgement..
i know i can never do this topic any justice...however that does not mean that i will stop at any lengths trying...
May Allah subhana wa ta ala send peace and blessings upon His beloved rasool...
May Allah subhana wa ta ala make us amongst the ummah of Rasoolallah..
I recieved a lot of hate mail and phone calls this week, however i also recieved so many words of love and encouragement, may Allah subhana wa ta ala have mercy upon these individuals and provide ease for them now, and in the hearafter as they had provided ease for me..
and i'd like to leave you all with an image painted by one of those emails :
"Have tawakkul, make dua, be strong, stay composed, remember the ones before you who went through something greater than this great task, and imagine the person of the Rasul PBUH on the day of judgement when he recognizes you as the one who stood up for him that day when others rediculed him, and he gives you to drink from his hand insha Allah."
"Putting everything aside, we're muslim and alhamdillah, thats the most beautiful gift ever. I've kinda had a rough few days, just very emotional about personal stuff and just seeing what you did was so inspiring and great. So.....I LOVE YOU. I really do, don't ever think Allah is somehow punishing you or mad at you cuz of everything He's just using you for now to gather His muslims and do something amazing "
i love this ummah ...
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullah
