Chill Yo Islam Yo

Sorry for not posting this whole month, I’ve been busy recently since I went to California to give Dawah to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Just playing, I was there chilling with family under palm trees and getting some work done.

Anyways, I wanted to write about an idea which I realized is coming into the minds of some Muslims.

So the issue is some brothers and sisters who have gone through a transition of not practicing to practicing Muslims have developed a mentality of rejecting “Marriage” in Islam, they have this black and white view of opposite genders because of their past experiences.

Now past experiences can obviously effect a persons psychology, but that doesn’t give you the right to say things like “all men or women are evil”, because that’s obviously not the case. When you make a statement like that, I take it as you dissing yourself  and your own parents. We should be real careful how we use our rhetoric and separate the actions of some people from a group of people.

See let me break it down like tetris, just because you had a relationship with someone and things went wrong for whatever reason, it doesn’t give you the right to use that experience and reject marriage, which is so sacred in Islam.

Most of the time, the relationships that went wrong just had wrong objectives and people didn’t have sincere intentions and a proper approach in the first place. I don’t need to go into details, but I think you all know what I mean.

This brings me to another point, sometimes I hear young Muslims say statements like “oh right now I’m going to chill and mess around, we’ll worry about marriage later when we get older”.

Well guess what, your not guaranteed another breath of your life. So your gamble isn’t justifiable in any way, but I guess if Allah swt allows you to live after you entered into this state, then you have begun to take his mercy for granted.

Back to the issue, we have no right to make a final judgment on any person , this can only be done by Allah swt alone. A lot of brothers and sisters have messed up and are trying to come closer to Allah swt, this is very common in the society we live in. Let’s stop acting like we’re all perfect and we haven’t messed up either, only through the mercy of Allah swt have our hearts opened up again and we should look at everyone with the same potential rather than being arrogant.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was how some people show off about how they have dated or had a relationship with such and such person in the past, they bring this up although that person they dated when through a transformation and have mash’Allah begun practicing Islam.

This annoys me the most, we should be happy when we see a brother praying who didn’t pray before start praying or a sister start dressing modestly. If you keep bringing up the past, then your just playing devil’s advocate. This topic is very deep and I can’t sum it up in a couple of paragraphs but I wanted to just bring awareness so we can speak out about it once we see it.

Anyways, let’s keep everyone in our dua’s.

Some tips to remind ourselves with:

1. Stop bragging about your sins, start asking for forgiveness. Our beloved Prophet said: “No one with the slightest particle of arrogance in his heart will enter paradise.”
2. Don’t say no to Marriage! If you don’t get married then what are you going to do? Exactly, everyone gets lonely eventually, after all Allah swt created Eve for our beloved Prophet Adam.
3. Not everyone is evil, don’t judge the whole world off experiences with certain people, that’s not fair.
4. Don’t backbite about the sins people have committed in the past, that person might have repented and yea you never know!
5. Look in the mirror everyday and thank Allah swt for the progress you have made as a Muslim, we are all struggling and some of us are at different stages than others, be patient with people.

Sorry for the crusty post, haha. Insh’Allah this coming month I’ll try to deliver better.

May Allah (swt) help us take constructive criticism, give us understanding of the deen and dunya! Ameen.

Salam,

I came across a shirt that said “Your breath would make an onion cry”, and it reminded me of an important hadith.

Alot of brothers from time to time come to the masjid with their breaths kicking like soccer.

All of you know what I’m taking about, onions! Maybe garlic also, hehe.

Just in case your Muslim and you don’t already, Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:

He who eats of this plant (garlic) should not approach our mosque and should not harm us with the odour of garlic.

In another hadith, it was said by Jabir (R):

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) forbade eating of onions and leek. When we were overpowered by a desire (to eat) we ate them. Upon this the (the Holy Prophet) said: He who eats of this offensive plant must not approach our mosque, for the angels are harmed by the same things as men.

Being clean is half the deen, not only purifying our inner selves but besides doing wudu and taking showers, we should all be on top of other aspects such as having a clean breath. Something so fundamental in Islam is often left aside when we are trying to be a practicing Muslims.

Nowadays Alhumduililah we have alot of options. This includes Alcholol free mouthwash, miswaks, oral b sonic toothbrushes with herbal mint ADA (American Dental Association) approved toothpastes and I forgot the 10,000 options we have for different gums when we enter the grocery aisle.

So the resources are here, we just need to utilize them. At the end of the day, we are all representatives of Islam and we should do our best to present this religion in a beautiful manner to Non Muslims. This begins with our character leading to other aspects such as how we dress, talk, pray, remember Allah swt and help those who are in need.

Don’t take this personally, we are all victims of this. I just find it interesting how some of the most impressive Muslims who stay on top of everything else can’t have a clean breath.

Anyways it’s all good when your fasting though. =)

Here are some quick tips on how to avoid having a bad breath:

1. Do wudu
2. Keep remembering your walking Daw’ah, this will encourage you to keep yourself fresh.
3. Brush your teeth or use mouthwash right after you eat
4.  Use the miswak after you pray
5. Carry some halal gum or mints at all times
6. Don’t go to the Masjid right after you eat onions or garlic unless you kill the odor. After all we wouldn’t go to a job interview in that condition.
7. As stated above, our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) said the Angels are harmed by them! See this website for more details.

I’m sure there are other ways to get rid of bad breath, share your ideas or tips!

Here is another article I wrote a while back called - Miswak or Toothpaste…just clean your teeth please.

Oh and this article is meant for brothers and sisters, May Allah swt guide us all on the straight path, Ameen.

Since everyone likes to talk about time management these days, I decided to take it back to some wisdom from one of our beloved Sahabah’s.

A few days ago I came across a quote by Hazrat Umar (R) which was very powerful, he said “Do not put off today’s work for tomorrow.”

If your balancing a life mixed with work, family, college and helping out the community then advice like this is very beneficial.

As you live life, simple tasks/errands which pile up can cause a lot of mental cluttering. Personally for college, I used to save assignments till the very last minute, this past semester I learned to be ahead of the game and handle my business earlier.

That way your not procrastinating and stressing about work which you could have completed earlier, after all it was in your control. Rushing will also cause the quality of your work to be less. All the top companies in the Business world plan ahead, this allows them to take advantage of market opportunities when they come that will pay handsome dividends later.

One thing we will never get back in life is time, your not guaranteed another minute and like the scholar told me “the only thing guaranteed in life is death”. So while your here, why not maximize your potential before it’s too late?.

If we continue to avoid being efficient and don’t increase our productivity although we have the time and resources, then our progress will be delayed as Muslims.  As we transition to professional work environments or even through different stages in our academic career, we will be challenged with our time, however we need to tie our camels and trust in Allah (swt).

There are many Hadiths and ayahs from the Qur’an that remind us of the importance of time, I’ll quickly quote two.

1. Abdullah bin Abbas (R) reports that Rasulullah said (صلى الله عليه وسلم) “There are two bounties of Allah wherein most people are deceived, health and free time”. 
2. Secondly, one of the most important Surah’s in the Qur’an, Surah Al-Asr (the declining day).
   
3.  Allah swt says: By the ‘Asr (passage of time),
   Indeed all of mankind is in a state of loss,
   Except those who have emaan (faith),
   Conduct righteous actions,
   Call each other to the truth,
   And call each other to having patience.”

Here are some quick tips on how to maximize your time, a lot of it is common sense:

1. Don’t save little tasks for later when dealing with people, this will just cause more problems and disrupt communication. If you need to respond to an email, don’t tell yourself “Oh, I’ll do it later”. Next thing you know days have passed and a task which could have been completed in literally 5 minutes is now a problem because you left it.
2. Prioritize all your work and give each of your tasks weight.
3. Don’t call it a night unless you sincerely feel like you had a productive day, however you define productive is up to you.
4. Plan your day around the 5 daily prayers, Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad said “A busy life makes prayer harder, but prayer makes a busy life easier”.
5. Keep your commitments real, if you can’t do someone a favor in an expected time frame, let them know in advance. Don’t set their expectations and not deliver, better to be on the safe side.

There you have it, a quick reminder on the importance of time. Now watch yourself, literally!

May Allah swt shower his blessings in the time he has given us and allow us to be productive Muslims, Ameen.

I came across these pictures on facebook and thought they were pretty funny.

May Allah swt perserve Shaykh Bin Bayyah, Ameen!

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful,

Praise be to God and blessings and peace be upon our master, the Messenger of God

On both religious and humanistic grounds, we are grieved by the decision of the Swiss people to prohibit the construction of minarets for mosques in the independent nation of Switzerland.

We perceive in this decision a new obstruction on the road to coexistence and integration between the various ethnic and religious segments in this country, which is, in the minds and hearts of many Muslims and others, an exemplary model of harmonious coexistence that transcends the stereotypes that some people hold of others.

We also perceive a failed hope—in the most progressive of democracies which is studied in universities and seen as the best practitioner of democracy in the world in the area of constitutional practices—for such a democracy to issue an undemocratic and unconstitutional decision.

We say undemocratic because democracy represents a system of equal opportunity and equality for all, and [this decision represents] the devaluation of ethnicity, color, and religion in its interaction with its citizens. And it is unconstitutional because the constitution supports these concepts—and makes them a standard for cooperation.

Switzerland used to represent all of that. And perhaps, it still does. That is, at least, our hope and desire.

In light of that, we will address messages to four constituencies:

* One is to the Swiss people, the owners of the deep-rooted history in resolving ethnic and linguistic disputes. Our hope is that they will commit to introspection. For a wise man once said, “Turning back to truth is better than continuing one’s march into falsehood.” Similarly, we hope they will make a different decision that ennobles and increases the nation’s human capital in the future and not plunge them into backwardness; a decision that appropriately mirrors their history and serves their true interests, not one that is born of emotion and racism.

* The second message is for the Swiss government. We offer gratitude for its notable stance in expressing its opposition to the extremist points of view and for inviting us to utilize the appropriate constitutional and legal means to appeal this decision.

* Our third message is directed to Europe. Thanks to all of those who continue to cling to the principles of morality and humanity and those who defend human rights in the simplest of its expressions, and especially the European Union, the Vatican, and other commissions. And special thanks go to the Swiss clergy.

We call on those organizations and peoples to challenge the views that have begun to surface in Europe from fanatical right-wing parties that are striving to ignite violent conflict and popularize historical resentment; [to challenge] things that do not support the success of dialogue and the dousing of the fires of tension in the world, a world that has no need for more fires.

And we call on those of goodwill to create a space for tolerance, accord, and coexistence. Construction is not happening only in Europe; it is happening throughout the globe. We are calling on all people of sound minds and wisdom to not content themselves with timid calls [to right action]. They should, instead, be more active and engaged.

* The fourth message is to the Muslims of Switzerland especially, and to those of Europe in general. We offer our blessing in observing your maturity, wakefulness, and prudence. And we invite you to represent the values of your great religion: perseverance, tolerance, and forgiveness. “Yet if anyone is patient and forgives, that is determination that will resolve affairs.” [Qur’an, 42:43]

Therefore, alerting one’s brothers and sisters to [the following] principles appears to be a necessity in both particular and general circumstances:

1. There should be a rational and wise increase in public relations activities which support humanistic principles and the rights of citizenship.

Continue Reading…

So you all remember when the convenience store of Mohammad Sohail was robbed right?

Well the robber who is still unidentified became Muslim after the incident and recently he sent a thank you letter to the store owner (Mohammad) enclosed with a $50 bill.

Here is the letter:

Thanks CNN for sharing the video.

May Allah swt reward brother Mohammad Sohail for his great character and showing mercy, Ameen.

Reminds me of the hadith when our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:Have mercy to those who are on earth and the one in the heavens will have mercy on you.” (Tirmidhi)

LOL! What’s so oppressing about dressing modestly?

Perhaps this is another breakthrough in mainstream brands marketing to Muslims. Mattel did it on their 50th anniversary.

Britain’s biggest Barbie fan Angela Ellis said of the show: “Bring it on Burka Barbie, I think this is a great idea.”

The 35 year old from Cheshire who has a collection of more than 250 dolls — added: “I think this is really important for girls, wherever they are from they should have the opportunity to play with a Barbie that they feel represents them.”

Brigitte Gabriel, you just officially won “hater of the year award”.

Source

Salam!

I was searching through twitter to see what people are tweeting about for Eid Al Adha and it was very interesting. I’d thought I share it with all of you to see what your reactions are.

I didn’t put the users names to protect their privacy. If you have something you would like to share, just let me know and I’ll put it up.

Random Eid Tweets

1. Just bought my outfit for Eid damn Ima be looking fresh. Question is why am I in such a rush to wear it lol
2. Eid, don’t miss Eid prayer, the joy starts from there :-)
3. Enjoy the day, and our Muslim Holiday on Nov ‘09. Eid Mubarak! same date on Thanksgiving day Gobble2… Thanksgiving!
4. Eid Al-Adha to everyone, don’t forget the poor, they’re the most important reason of this Eid. 
5. it smells like Eid.
6. Just walked in the door, Turkey Day & Eid Mubarak to all that celebrate. I’ll be the one with the huge friggin’ belly in the corner.
7. Eid al-Adha highlights a Gaza family’s struggle to survive - Rami Almeghari writing from the occupied Gaza Strip,…
8. Eid Mubarak to everyone! It is amazing to be fasting on a day when most are over indulging because Hallmark & the poultry industry
9. Eid Mubarak to every Muslim person on my Twitter. Big up Flow Dan and Breeze. Original Akhees
10. Yay! We’re having turkey for Eid tomorrow!! So it kinda feels like thanksgiving!
11. EID Mubarak everyone May Allah accept the hajj of those that are there Ameen!

Follow me on twitter - SaadYo

It’s about time!

Best Buy became the first retailer to nationally invite consumers to celebrate Thanksgiving and Eid Al Adha (it was seen on Techcrunch first, thanks Techcrunch)

See Below

This is big news for the American Muslim market in particular and for some extreme Christians that are hating.I don’t see why? I mean all these years retailers have recognized other religious holidays for sales and now it’s our time and all of a sudden it’s a big deal.

Muslims have never shown hate for other religious consumer groups and brands/stores recognizing them, people need to really fall back and take it easy.

Everyone has a right to be market to.American Muslims have significant purchasing power and it’s in the best interest of businesses to take advantage of this opportunity, so leave it peoples.Thank you Best Buy! Don’t worry your going to be getting that Eiddy…hehe.

Send some love to Best Buy for reaching out to Muslims

Customer Service, Web Site, Store and General/Corporate Inquiries
Best Buy Corporate Customer Care
P.O. Box 9312
Minneapolis , MN 55440
1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289)

Media Inquiries
Best Buy Public Relations Department
Email: NewsCenter@bestbuy.com
Phone: 612-292-NEWS (6397)
After Hours Pager: 612-618-6703