«أتعهد» Campaign

The campaign began in October and participating people pledge to drive carefully and stop doing things like texting while driving.  Texting messages while driving is a bad habit that people developed with the increasing importance of smartphones in their lives, leading them the blackberry or any other Qwerty phone because they require two hands to use.

Sometimes you might see a person drive safely when he has his kids in the car, but when he’s alone, he might drive like a maniac. The question is, don’t people like this think that the other people on the road are husbands, brothers, and children of people who want them home safely as much as he wants his own children home safely? A car license is a privilege and with privileges come responsibility, responsibility to yourself and responsibility to the other people sharing the road with you.

So next time you think of speeding or texting or getting distracted on the road, think about your family and friends, and imagine that one of them is in the next car, because you never know, they might be.

P.S. I know I’m talking about this campaign a bit too late since it started in October but I thought it was something worth mentioning.

Christmas in Abu Dhabi Mall

Yesterday I was in Abu Dhabi Mall to visit a friend and I was surprised to see this huge christmas tree standing in the middle, spanning the whole height of the mall. People were happily taking pictures under it. Most of the stores had christmas decorations too. So during maghrib prayers I went to pray in the prayer room, and the imam selected ayas relating to Issa 3aleihi alsalaam. It was a nice move so I thought I should write about it. And for all of those who claim that wishing people Merry Christmas builds Muslim-Christian relationships, this is your reply,

Keeping Your Cool – Part 2

Sometimes when you start stressing out over a looming deadline, just close your eyes and picture the kid wearing ragged clothes with his house in rubbles behind him, and his siblings nowhere to be found because an Israeli tanker had come to demolish his house. Think of the tears that flow down his dusty cheeks, and think of the gaping hole in his heart. Think of the mother in Somalia who has to make a choice between her two sons, because she can feed only one. Think of her frail state and the sad face that’s just too tired to frown. Think of the mother in Afghanistan who kisses her child goodbye, not knowing if he will reach school or will be killed in a suicide attack on the way. Think of the constant nightmares attacking her mind. Think about the time you might be wasting your time idly surfing the internet, and how a cancer patient somewhere wishes he had more time so he can spend with his family.

Now look at your clothes that cost enough to put an African child in school for a year, and look at your car that cost enough to put a ceiling over a homeless guy…and then ask yourself, how petty are your worries?

Keeping Your Cool

It’s that time of the semester when people are losing their heads because there’s so much to do and so little time to do it in. So here’s how to keep your cool during this time. Remember that life in this Dunya is not an ends in itself but a means to an end. So while other people can’t get enough of the Dunya, be one of those people who set their priorities straight and have religious obligations and family obligations above getting more money, status and power.

One day from now, what you’re worrying about will not matter much. Do you remember how much you got in your first calculus midterm? Not really, because that was too long ago. Besides, our rizq is set by Allah subhaanahu wa ta3ala, and though you have to take belasbaab, there’s a limit to how much you can do because in the end, you are only human.

Ask yourself, what’s the worse that could happen? If the answer is pretty bad, then tell yourself that you’ll cross that bridge when you reach it – if you reach it – because maybe nothing bad will happen. Maybe it’s just your overactive imagination setting negative scenarios for you. Maybe you’re just worrying over nothing. There’s a quote that says, “Worry is like a rocking chair – it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

In the case that you’re so overly pessimistic about the “worse that could happen,” then prepare yourself for it. If you think that you might lose your job soon, then start saving. And remind yourself that maybe there’s a better opportunity out there for you, and that your current lifestyle is stopping you from pursuing it. If the “worse thing that could happen” happens, then don’t spend so much time staring at a door that is closed, but instead search for opening doors. There’s a quote by Helen Keller that says, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

Finally, keep “La3alahu kheir” your motto all the time. Your thesis is running but going nowhere? La3alahu kheir. Your exam went bad? La3alahu kheir. Your project file got corrupted three days before the deadline? La3alahu kheir.

That’s it for today.

A Different Type of Revolution

So 2011 was the year of Arab revolutions. From Tunisia, through Egypt to Libya, countries began to see the dawn of a new tomorrow. Today’s note is on a different type of revolution; a more personal one against our own nafs.

A lot of people might be waiting for the new year to form new resolutions, so what about preponing the resolution to form a personal revolution and finishing the year with a bang

I got a list as  a blackberry broadcast, and these are some of the points;

1) Pray all the prayers on time
2) Fast Mondays and Thursdays
3) Read at least five pages of the Quraan daily
4) Say the morning and evening athkar daily
5) Read three ahadeeth daily
6) Gain Islamic knowledge by listening to a lecture per day. You can get a lot of material on islamway.com. For those who can sit one and a half hours watching football teams following a ball, this shouldn’t be too hard
And if you can’t do most of these, the least you can do is share.
Remember that tomorrow is Ashoura for those who’d like to fast.

يتأكد صيام يوم عاشوراء ؛ لحديث ابن عباس – رضي الله عنهما- قال: ( ما رأيت رسول الله –صلى الله عليه وسلم- يتحرى صيام يوم فضَّله على غيره إلا هذا اليوم يوم عاشوراء، وهذا الشهر يعني شهر رمضان ) رواه البخاري(2006)، ومسلم(1132).

copied off http://www.saaid.net/Doat/naif/11.htm

Chaotic Order

Do neat freaks reflect an inner state of massive disorder? What about messy people? Are they at peace with themselves? Think about it. When you try to hide a letter for instance, do you hide it awkwardly, or do you conceal it in under a neat pile of freshly pressed clothes? Throwing it in the middle of a mess of papers might scare you because it is easier to be found if someone tries to rattle that mess. Also as the searching person, you’re more likely to search in closed drawers than in a place that’s obviously messy. Take another example. Let’s say that you open the freezer and see a lot of things neatly stacked in one corner. Chances are there’s a large container of ice cream behind that stack that your parents don’t want you to discover.

In life, a lot of times we find people who seem to live super-perfect lives, and then we discover that everything we used to see was just superficial coating, and underneath the flaking paint, there’s rusting iron. Also, a lot of times we find people who seem to be super-messed up, and later on we discover that these strange people have good things working for them. So in short, never judge a person until you properly know them. And even then, judge them carefully.

Today’s question is, are you the tidy person with so much to hide, or are you the messy person with nothing to hide or are you the neat person with nothing to hide?

Daily Prompt: Odd Couple