Benefits of a emotionally stable Begum

A guy at my masjid usually tells me "No wife, no life".I guess it is sort of scientifically proven now!

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Whether a man is recovering from cancer or helping his spouse to deal with cancer, how his wife is coping emotionally will play a key role in his physical health, a new American Cancer Society (ACS)-funded study shows.

"Regardless of your status as a caregiver or a cancer patient, gender matters," the study's first author, Dr. Youngmee Kim of the ACS's Behavioral Research Center in Atlanta, told Reuters Health.......................

.............................................Women tend to have friends beyond their husband, whom they can rely on for emotional help, but a man's spouse may be his sole emotional resource. "If their wives are psychologically distressed, that means their wives are not emotionally available," she added.

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Organically Halal in Mississauga

A local brother ( BlossomPure) sells halal organic meat in Mississauga. He actually has contacts with local farms where one of his workers goes and slaughters the animals himself.

I bought the meat couple of months ago and found the brother to be very helpful. The meat quality/cutting and packaging were also well done. The taste of pure organic meat is memorbale and delicious. I highly reccomend the shop and it's products. Some articles on Organic/Halal food:

10 Reasons to go Organic - by Ysanne Spevack.

Excerpts from the Islamic Teachings on Animal Welfare - a PDF file written by Al Hafiz B. A. Masri.

Fatwa on Stunning Animals - a range of fatwa from scholars on the topic of stunning animals before slaughter.

Five Reasons to Buy Organic Food - by Stephen White.

Hamza Yusuf: Consumption of Meat - quotes from Sheikh Hamza's talk "The Science of Shariah".

Organic Food - by Marius Bezuidenhout.

Stunning Animals: Halal or Haram? - a logical and legal enquiry into the issue of stunning animals.

The Conditions and Actions of Halal Slaughter - what makes meat halal?

The Demand for Organic Milk - by Kiran Patil.

The Forgotten Sunnah: Compassion to Animals - hadith from the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) on showing kindness to animals.

The Increase in Online Organic Food Services - by Mark Marris.

Why is Organic so Expensive? - understanding the time and effort that goes into quality animals.

Why I Stopped Eating Halal Meat - by Muhammad Ridha Payne

Why go Organic? - the health benefits of eating organic meat, fruit and vegetables.

Consider an Organic Lifestyle - what is involved in an organic lifestyle?

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New Sh Faraz videos on Radical Middle Way Website

Click here to watch

The value of...

I have been thinking about how we value different things. How we prioritize these things, determines how we act towards the object/person we value.

The value of your gaze is reduced when you use it for something that it should not be used for. The value of your job should ideally be less than the value of your relationships with your family. The value of people from whom you gain beneficial knowledge should be higher then others. The value of acting on the knowledge you gain should be higher then the knowledge itself. The value of giving something should be higher then gaining something because in the end giving will result in more gaining ( even if we don't know it). The value of your friends should not be based on what they have but rathar on what they are (internally). The value of something good is lost if it is not used in a good way (i.e. with proper adab). The value of a a car is not how it looks but on where it is going (masjid?). The value of your marriage is higher when you use it as a means rather then as an end. The value of what you preach is higher, when you say what you mean, and mean what you say-when you do what you say. The value of a smile is the happiness it brings to another's heart. The value of our deeds is only as good as what we intend. The value of intellect is reduced if we use it on useless things.

The value of what we should value is determined by knowledge. The most valuable of knowledge is knowledge of deen (our beliefs, sunnah, etc).

And why should we value everything we value? For the pleasure of Allah.

Salikah: Branch 6 - Belief in the Last Day & the Hereafter

Salikah on the 77 branches event last weekend.

Bismillah. AsSalamu'alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,Alhamdulillah, The Razi Institute's 77 Branches of Faith program held this past weekend at the University of Toronto was wonderful -- insha'Allah, some of you also attended. The Shuyukh all compliment each other very well -- Sh. Talal, Sh. Ramzy, Sh. Faraz, Sh. Jamal, Shaykh Zahir and his wife, Ustadha Saima...the dynamic between them all was one of wonderful reverence and utmost love for one another, with a shared concern for the ummah. READ ON

Mulla Nasirudin joke: The pot

A funny joke with a message.

The Pot

Nasrudin borrowed a pot from his friend. The next day, he gave the pot back to the friend, and also gave him another smaller pot. The friend looked at the small pot, and said, “What is that?”

“Your pot gave birth while I had it,” Nasrudin replied, “so I am giving you its child.”

The friend was glad to receive the bonus, and didn’t ask any more questions.

A week later, Nasrudin borrowed the original pot from the friend. After a week passed, the friend asked Nasrudin to return it.

“I cannot,” Nasrudin said.

“Why not?” the friend replied.

“Well,” Nasrudin answered, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news…but your pot has died.”

“What?” the friend asked with skepticism. “A pot cannot die!”

“You believed it gave birth,” Nasrudin said, “so is why is it that you cannot believe it has died.”

i.e. we are happy to "gain" benefit from others without thinking about it, but think a lot more when we "give".

14 to 16 March: Living the 77 Branches of Faith

Upcoming Weekend Event

Dish washing and the heart

You would think there is no connection between dish washing and the heart but I think there is.

Most people do wash dishes at home. You know that the longer you leave the dishes in the sink the harder the stains are to remove. And if you leave them even longer they may become permanent. We need to wash these dishes soon after they become dirty, otherwise it has bad affect on the dish. If you really care about the dish and it is precious to you then you should wash it soon

In the same way, we need to reflect regularly ( every night?) and try to forgive anybody who (we think) has wronged us.

As the hadith goes:

The Messenger a of Allah was seated in a gathering with the Sahabah when he looked towards the entrance and said, “A man of Paradise is coming.” At that instance someone who seemed to be very ordinary entered the mosque where they were seated. A Sahabi was curious as to why the Prophet said this, so he followed the man to his house. This Sahabi told the man that he was a traveler and stayed as a guest. For three days the Sahabi saw nothing unusual, so he finally told the man what the Prophet had said and asked him what was so special. The man thought for a long time and said, “There might be one thing – before going to sleep every night I forgive everyone and sleep with a clean heart.”

Abdul Hakim Murad: Qualities in prospective spouse

Sh Abdul Hakim Murad in his CD set "Remembrance of the Hereafter and the Afterlife" was asked about what qualities one should seek in a prospective spouse:

"I think to some extent that depends on the individual. Different people need different kinds of spouses. In terms of generalization, one should look for someone who expects to be judged on the basis of what they mean, rather then what they do. That is to say somebody for whom the outward practices are present and adhered to punctiliously. But for whom religion is really a matter of becoming better.

For many of us now these days, we are so much occupied with being right that we don't have time for God any longer, thats typical of the kind of decadent inversion that I have been describing. If religion in internalized and becomes a matter of the heart, we are going to possessed of those virtues that are going to make a successful marriage and will turn someone into a delightful partner because in marriage you need sabar, you need rida, you need Ithaar ( that is to say putting some body else before yourself)-you need all of the quranic virtues. And those only come naturally (and hence will be present at times of crisis and difficulty rathar than at times of ease and convenience), if one has made substantial progress in the process if tazkiya.

So one should be looking for a spiritual person as well as the more obvious things---somebody who is attractive. if its a husband, somebody who has good prospects-somebody who ideally shares one's native language because nowadays there are so many pressures on relationships that the added complication of subtle misunderstandings due to not having the same native language is something one has to be very wary of. The parents should ideally be keen on the match as well. Its a very regrettable sort of marriage that can only take place when one implictly burdens oneself with the sin of disobeying one's parents."

All Things Pakistani: The menace of dowry

A good exposition on the cultural practice of dowry in Pakistan. Reminds me of a contention by Sh. Abdul Hakim Murad: "Marriage: pay and display? Or the primacy of privacy?".

I wonder what the historic roots of dowry in India are? Anyways do read this article:

Among the many things that need to be revamped in the mainstream Pakistani society dowry would probably be one of the major ones. Sure no harm in giving the bride gifts on her wedding for her home and personal use but with the growing number of girls start staying unmarried simply because the parents don’t have the money to meet the ‘demands’ of the groom’s family, then it is a quandary that needs to be looked into. READ ON

the best job

...the best job is one you enjoy doing while your at work, but forget about when your at home...

Stepping into the next row

Many of us ( muslims) have expirience of praying in congrogation. When everyone stands up (during iqamah) and space comes available in the next row, what do you do?I look left and right for 2 seconds and step right in. Why?

Well Why should I be shy? There is more reward ( Inshahallah) in standing in the first most rows then in the back rows. I remember respected Egyptian bhai in school telling us the same thing. When space becomes available in the row in front of you, why do you ask others to to step in, step in yourself.

And that I think is life. When a way or space becomes available in front of you, you step right into it. You should be aware of anybody else stepping in at the same time and you stepping on their toes. That doesnt mean you ask them to do it. You " do it", you dont just "watch" and hope or ask to see if someone else will "do it".

Abdul Hakim Murad illustrates this in one of his "contentions"

"Your career should be like prayer in congregation: if a space opens before you, step into it."

This goes beyond career ( in my opinion). Whenever Allah provides you a halal opening, you should walk right into it inshahallah ( while making dua and doing it with right goals/intentions and doing it in the right way).

I will end with the beautiful words of the Prophet ( peace and blessigs upon him-read durood sharif):

Be avid for that which benefits you. Rely on Allah and do not deem yourself incapable…”[Muslim 4816, Ibn Majah 76, Ahmad 8436]

Sh Faraz in Islamica: The Loss of Mercy — And Where To Find It

A must read ( short) article on mercy by Sh Faraz published in Islamica:

Through the Prophet's character and behavior
true gentleness and mercy can be seen manifest in action

by FARAZ RABBANI

Sectarian bloodbaths in Iraq ... suicide bombers blowing themselves up in parking lots of hotels, taking innocent lives...female madrassah students in Islamabad waving cane sticks at shopkeepers and vendors ... people being turned away from Islam from the harshness of many of those deemed "religious" ...

There is a loss of mercy and gentleness around. Yet we see anger and harshness abound, and one wonders what has gone wrong.

In reality, Divine guidance and Prophetic teachings are nothing but a manifestation of mercy-and any understanding of religion lacking in mercy is lacking in true understanding.

Our problem is that we fail to act on the implications of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) having been, "sent only as a mercy to all creation." [Qur'an, 21.107] The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself emphasized that, "I was only sent as a gift of Mercy." [Bazzar and Tabarani, from Abu Hurayra; sound] READ ON!

For the South Asian food eaters

The Toronto Star has an interesting series on "south asian" (aka desi) food. It talks about the nuritional value and so on. I think nutrition-wise our south asian communities ( muslims and non muslims) are very uneducated:

Paresh Patel never thought about the food he was eating until he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes this summer.

Since then, Patel (not his real name) and his family have made big changes in their diet - cutting back on sweets, eating less rice, choosing whole-grain options - while still enjoying their favourite desi food.

"South Asians are very fond of sweets and fried foods," says Patel, 42, whose name has been changed because his family wants to protect their privacy over his diagnosis. (READ ON]

Some more articles in the Toronto Star as well:

Strategies to cut diabetes risk

Revising the classics

Advice to take to heart

Northern Food Guide (PDF)

Southern Food Guide (PDF)