Back to School

Some people joke around that…

Ok I figured that the image isn’t exactly scary especially the Scary Movie face with the double o’s as eyes but I couldn’t resist the idea of putting my handwriting on my blog. Anyhow, since Eid holiday is over, it’s “back to school” season and the stores are competing to finish whatever that is left of parents’ salaries.
Back in the old days -OMG! I can’t believe I’m saying that – we used to prepare for school by buying new books and notebooks. And who remembers how we used to cover the books in those brown paper covers just to see them disintegrate a few weeks later? Nowadays kids are preparing for school by buying tablets such as iPads. Back in the days we used to write notes to each other during classes whenever we got bored. And we became sad when our friends were forced to sit far away from us because some classes would get so boring they would inspire us to say, “alhamd leAllah allathi a7yana ba3da ma amatana…” Nowadays, we contact our friends during boring classes using bbm and whatsapp even if they were half way across the world. Time zones become the main limiting factor for such conversations as some people could be asleep at the time of the sent message (maybe in their version of a boring class).
Then of course there are those who spend half the class pretending to type class notes on their tablets when in reality they are on Twitter. It’s like when a teacher asks, “What’s your favorite book?” And the student answers, “Facebook.”
Technology has changed a lot over the years, yet there are still some teachers happy to scribble on a blackboard with chalk, arguing that at least chalks can be used to throw at students who are not paying attention. As it was mentioned in Al Fateh episode of Khawater 8, children are used to smartphones and tabs at home, then when they see the outdated instruments used at school, they could develop schizophrenia.
Thee way schools are preparing children for the real world is like preparing people for war by teaching them how to fight with straws. I’m hoping to dedicate the month of September to post a series on “education” however that would take some time considering how much research the work would probably entail. So if you’re not interested, see you in October in’shAllah.
I’m leaving you with Khawater 8 Al Fateh episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na0BZlqNyv8&sns=em

Eid Mubarak from Mawaqef

You know the eid holiday is over when mawaqef starts giving out parking tickets as though they were Eidiya. Today when I went downstairs I noticed that the parking lot was nearly empty. As I approached my car, I started to see why. It was stuck just underneath the wiper…a parking ticket.
Eid Mubarak to you too mawaqef dude.
So I have to admit that going to Kenya and seeing lorry garages occupying the place where people normally park their cars made me appreciate mawaqef, just a bit. After all, they do bring order in the city. The crisis is still there, but a lot of cars seem to have vaporized in the city. Check this out.

I guess when it comes to enforcing the rules mawaqef believes in using the stick only because car owners are seriously behaving thanks to those tickets. Guess that’s all for today. Wishing you all a belated eid Mubarak.

Multiply Your Rewards

If someone told you that tomorrow you would be given the opportunity to double your salary, but you have to stay awake tonight to know how, would you even blink tonight? Even if you start feeling sleepy you’d iv the strongest coffee into your blood system, get yourself an energy drink, swallow energy bars, and maybe even keep your eyes open with clothes pegs.

Now where is this enthusiasm when you’re told to seek a night that is better than a thousand months; Laylat-ul-Qadar.

the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever spends the night of Laylat al-Qadr in prayer out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1901; Muslim, 760).

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: مَنْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ

So when is Lailat-ul-Qadr?

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Seek it (Lailat-ul-Qadr) in the last ten (nights). If one of you shows slackness in the earlier part of Ramadan, let it not be weak to observe the last seven.”

“التمسوها في العشر الأواخر، فإن ضعف أحدكم أوعجز فلا يغلبن على السبع البواقي”. [Bukhari 2015, Muslim 1165]

So what do you do during the last ten nights?

The nights are long so don’t shorten them with excessive sleep. Fill your time with doing all sorts of good deeds;

1) The five obligatory prayers

2) Qiyyam ul-leil (or livening your nights with prayers).

3) Du’aa, especially saying;   اللهم إنك عفو تحب العفو فاعف عني

Allahumma innaka ‘affuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni’ “

Meaning of the duaa is; O Allah You are The One Who pardons greatly, and loves to pardon, so pardon me.

Hadeeth where this duaa is mentioned;

Aisha radhiya Allahu `anha, that she said: “O Messenger of Allah! What if I knew which night Lailatul-Qadr was, then what should I say in it?” He said.- “Say.- (Allahumma innaka ‘affuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee.)

فعن عائشة رضي الله عنها أنها قالت للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: “أرأيتَ إن وفقت ليلة القدر، ما أقول فيها؟ قال: قولي: اللهم إنك عفو تحب العفو فاعف عني

“

4) Performing I’tikaf; that means to seclude yourself in the masjid and put all your worldly matters aside. Check a proper source for how to do i’tikaf

5) Give out charity, and help in feeding other fasting Muslims to multiply your ajr insha’Allah. Just make sure you purify your intentions and make it for Allah’s sake.

Keep me in your duaas.

And since this blog is mostly read by females; a common question asked by women only – and its answer  – can be found here; http://islamqa.com/en/ref/26753/laylat%20qadr

and for the first point mentioned in the link, question 2564 (seems to be broken when I try to open it), but this is it; http://islamqa.com/en/ref/2564

Take a few minutes to check out this interesting video; How Merciful is Allah (SWT)

Attitude of Gratitude

Blink.
The first ten nights sprinted by.
Blink.
The next ten zoomed by.
And before we know it, the last ten days would have flown by in’shAllah.
Time is traveling so fast nowadays. The mid-ten days of Ramadan saw people relax a bit since the enthusiasm at the beginning of Ramadan began to burn out. But I hope any relaxation is only to recharge for the last ten nights.

I’ll probably post another note on Laylat-Ul-Qadr, but today I want to highlight an important thing; developing an attitude of gratitude in our lives. Think about it, we complain a lot in life. We complain about the weather and the traffic. We complain about the people in our lives. If there ever was a Barometer to measure the number of complaints in the atmosphere, it would probably blow up because of the collective complaining that we do as a society.

So it’s essential to develop an attitude of gratitude and make it our default state; during Ramadan and after Ramadan. It would work as a fortress against the Complaints pollution that we are surrounded by.

A few tips are as follows;

1) Start a gratitude journal – you can call it the “Alhamdullilah” journal. The concept has been around for quite some time, but it’s worth spreading. Your journal can be a physical notebook or virtual (the Evernote application on a smartphone), but the idea is to spend as little as five minutes a day recording the things that you appreciate in your life. Trust me, there are a lot of things that you should be grateful for.

2) Spread the gratitude attitude. Whenever somebody complains around you, don’t go with the normal, “I know. It’s sooo annoying.” Instead, respond with, “But look at the bright side. It’s better than…” Let them call you the “But Look at the Bright Side” person. It’s a label worth having.

3) Keep your tongue in a state of dhikr, continuously stating, “الحمد لله” when something good happens or “الحمد لله على كل حال” otherwise. Also remember (اللهم ما أصبح بي من نعمة أو بأحد من خلقك، فمنك وحدك لا شريك لك ، فلك الحمد والشكر), and, (اللهم إني أعوذ بك من زوال نعمتك ، وتحول عافيتك ، وفجأة نقمتك ، وجميع سخطك)

And the best thing is once you start working consciously on developing such an attitude, it becomes second-nature very quickly because there are just so much that we should be grateful for.

Hadeeth of the Day

عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: (كان النبي صلى الله علية وسلم يقوم من الليل حتى تتفطر قدماه فقلت له : لم تصنع هذا يا رسول الله وقد غفر لك ما تقدم من ذنبك وما تأخر ؟ قال : أفلا أكون عبداً شكوراً؟) متفق عليه

The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray so much that his feet used to become edematous or swollen, and when he was asked as to why he prays so much, he would say, “Shall I not be a thankful slave (to Allah)?”

[Bukhari, Book 8, Volume 76, Hadith 478]

All images from various Facebook groups

Read In…Khawater 8

So in the 15th episode of Khawater 8, Ahmad Alshugeiri showed us a very interesting idea that was implemented by three teams in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt; establish a library in a mall. The idea came from South Korea where they have a small bookcase in public places such as parks and bus stations where people are encouraged to not only borrow books but also to donate books. Written at the top of the bookcase is a phrase meaning, “Don’t let your books sleep at home.” An example of the bookcase is shown in the image below.

Al Shugairi showing a picture of a bookcase in a public place in South Korea

Now we are used to seeing outdated magazines in the waiting rooms of hospitals and dentists. But it’s quite interesting for a library to be implemented in a public place such a local park or a mall. The inherent message is, “If you’re not going to go to a library to pick up a book then we will bring the book to you.”

I would personally love to see something similar in our parks and malls. It will cut the time – and money- spent in restaurants, coffee shops and frozen yogurt places. It’s interesting because you’d notice that most book stores don’t even have a lot of seats for customers to ‘go through’ books before they purchase lest they end up reading the whole book without buying it. Personally at least in the UAE, it’s better in some bookstores in Kenya where they wrap the book altogether to make sure you don’t even know what typeface is used in the book.

Talking about Kenya, someone joked that if such an idea was implemented in Kenya, not only would the books be stolen but they would probably be stolen AND sold to the public.

Anyhow, kudos to Khawater for spreading such great ideas!

In The Blink of an Eye

Change. It’s inevitable. As an engineer, I always say that one of the main k’s in life is delta *

Yesterday I was watching Khawater 8 and Ahmad AlShugairi was demonstrating the challenges of the wheelchair bound. He recorded the episode from a sort of training center that teaches wheelchair-bound people to manage their lives independently in the face of common challenges; i.e. how to go up the stairs, and how to move onto the pavement when it is not inclined, how to take things from a high place. His message; integrate a similar training program into all hospitals and make it a standard so that wheelchair-bound patients don’t leave the hospital unless they’ve undergone this training.

Such an episode makes one reflect on how suddenly life can change by the will of Allah (SWT). It’s like that Arabic saying says;

مابين غمضة عين وانتباهتها .. يغير الله من حال إلى حـال

Only a few days back in my post “Importance of Du3aa” we spoke about how a prisoner in Egypt became president and how a president became a prisoner. When we hear that a person next door was faced with hardships, we fall into the false thinking that we are somehow safe from it. So when we are faced with such challenges, they tend to take us by surprise, sometimes knocking the breath out of us. Yet we are taught in Islam to view difficulties and hardships under a different light. Hardships occur to test our patience and expiate some of our sins.

Abu Sa`id and Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No fatigue, nor disease, nor anxiety, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

قال رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم-: (ما أصاب المؤمن من هم ولا غم ولا حزن؛ حتى الشوكة يشاكها إلا كفر الله من خطاياه)

In another Hadeeth, the the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever is pleased that Allah answers his prayers during hardships and difficulties let him make much supplication during times of ease.” – (at‐Tirmidhi)

وقال : ( من سره أن يستجيب الله له عند الشدائد والكُرَب فليكثر الدعاء في الرخاء ) رواه الترمذي 

 So when things change in the blink of an eye, remember that it is a test for patience, and also remember to add “Make duaa a daily habit” to your In-sha’Allah list. Finally, don’t forget me in your duaa’s!

 

 

*(for non-engineers, k is a common notation for “constant:, and delta is a common one to mean “Change”).