Oyee Motay...Obesity

Wow....Hai Allah!

"For the first time in human history, the number of overweight people rivals the number of underweight people.… While the world's underfed population has declined slightly since 1980 to 1.1 billion, the number of overweight people has surged to 1.1 billion...."

Read on: Anup Shah, Obesity, GlobalIssues.org

...the weather today is

How we view the weather can tell us something about ourselves....

Different weather conditions favor and harm different people. When we come across any kind of weather condition, is our first thought "how it will affect us?" and not " "how it will help or benefit someone else?". Of course, one does need to take the means of dressing/driving ( and etc.) appropriately when facing different kinds of weather. However that is different then labeling certain kinds of weather categorically good or bad just because one will experience benefit or harm through the weather condition at hand on a personal level.

One should appreciate most weather conditions as they are a blessing of Allah SWT ( most kinds of weather do have some positive to them barring storms and the like, from which one should seek Protection from Allah). Despite it being a good "conversation starter", complaining about different weather conditions will not really change anything.

Lets work on the internal weather of our heart.....and nurture it in a good climate....

Shaykh Ramzy: Wudu and his teacher

Yesterday, Shaykh Ramzy mentioned that his teacher Shaykh Abdullah al-Haddad will be in town for approximately a month starting Tuesday, alhamdaulillah.

Hence, Shaykh Ramzy said--- that he cant do the halaqa next week ( since his Shaykh will be here). He said one cannot make Tayamum when there is water to do wudu with. Subhanallah.

After hearing that, we were all in awe of the adab that Shaykh Ramzy has towards his teacher. May Allah grant us with better adab towards our teachers.

Shaykh Ramzy: On knowing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

A couple of weeks ago our teacher Shaykh Ramzy gave an introduction to a talk by Shaykh Talal on Shamail at a local Mawlid which was organized by a brother who was getting married that weekend. Shaykh Ramzy said many things but the following three things stuck with us:

1. He said that the more you hear about the Prophet ( Peace and Blessings be upon him), the more you love him and the more you love him the more you want to hear about him.
2. He told us that the Shamail is an an important text because its a means for us to know the Prophet ( peace and blessings be upon him). He said that if you are passionate about cars, then you will know all the details about cars--whats a good car-how should a good car run..how fast..etc. (Din was thinking about his love of Rotee at this point!). In the same way, we should strive to learn more about the Prophet ( peace and blesisngs be upon him), if we really love him. i.e. the way he was, the way he ate, the way he looked and the list is endless. Subhanallah.
   
3. He looked at Brother "brother" who was getting married and said: " You cannot be too extreme in loving the Prophet ( peace and blessings be upon him), however, you can be extreme in loving your spouse.."
   

May Allah SWT preserve our Shuyukh.

..thoughts on poverty...

Its been more than 7 years since I moved back to Canada. As some of you know I spent most of my childhood in Pakistan. Growing up in a third world country meant that one could see poverty all around one, even in an insulated place like the capital city-Islamabad. However, growing up in a place like that also desensitizes one to poverty.

Like most upper middle class families in Pakistan, we used to have maids come to our house to clean up. A lot of these maids would have 5 to 10 children and barely enough money to get by for the next few days. Most of the time, they would be forced to make their children work as well which would mean that the children would not be educated-hence continuing the cycle of poverty. However, having said that, its not a given that education does lead to employment in Pakistan. Who a person know can not only help one get a job, it can also help one keep one's job even while underperforming, Further, the quality of education that most poor people can afford is not enough for them to come out with skills to earn an employment which would help them move up the economic ladder. So while poverty makes it difficult for children to get education, the attainment of education doesn't guarantee freedom from poverty either.Its a vicious cycle to be stuck in. I would say that developed countries offer better opportunities to move up the economic ladder-however, no place is perfect.

Part of the problem with poverty is that it is only a symptom of other root systemic problems i.e. corruption, famine, drought, natural disasters, war, economic colonialism, etc. These issues are too complex to come up with a "one solution for all." An African person I know told me recently that the problem with a lot of foreign aid is that the people giving the aid do not understand the local conditions and do not understand that these conditions can vary even within a few hundred kilometres in the same country.

Another interesting spin on poverty is that it is actually something we constantly ask Allah to save us from. Why? Well if you have no money to sustain yourself, it really becomes hard not to focus on the worldly pursuits. Your entire focus becomes your livelihood on a day to day basis and that can potentially be very (spiritually) harmful. Muslims are obligated to give 2.5 % of our savings to poor Muslims on a annual basis.

Further we are constantly encouraged to spend on those less fortunate then us. In spending on these people, we don't only help them in this world , we also help ourselves focus on what really matters ( i.e. the reality after death). Further, Muslims are also encouraged to look at people who have less then us when it comes to wealth in this world and not look at people who have more. We thank Allah for not having put us in a smilar situation and part of that thankfulness is that we give to the poor, make dua for them and also find other ways to help them because there are many ( some are listed by Sister Aminah on her web page).

...on gratitude...

Note: This has been written for the Gratitude blog festival.

Alhamdaulillah, we have just finished another month of Ramadan in our lives. During a Khatam on the 29th night at our local masjid, the imam mentioned how we should be thankful that we still have the blessing of being alive whereas we all know people who were with us last year but were not here with us.

Since Ramadan finished we found out that someone we knew had been diagnosed with a life threatening brain tumor in her brain. Another person we know had her first baby recently and yesterday we learnt that while on maternity she lost her husband to cancer. And here we were getting caught up, worked up abot the real small every day issues that were really insignificant when compared to the challenges other people were facing. There is a lot to be thankful for.

Alhamdulillah, it only takes a small tummy ache or cold to make one feel terrible. Alhamdulillah, that most of us (reading this) feel well most of the time and have no major health issues.

One can be thankful for the fact that one is free to move about and free to say the truth. There are many places in the world where people are not free to move ( i.e. in jail), and, the reason is that they spoke the truth!

There are several people who die from hunger every day or have to walk miles to fetch water. It is a blessing to be able to afford to eat, which also relates to being thankful that we have the money to buy the food. Alhamdulillah for the halal rizq.

There are people who lose their parents and loved ones at a young age due to disease, war or other conditions. Alhamdaulillah that most of us have our loved ones to lean on.

It is a blessing to be able to communicate in the language of one's land and community.

We all know people who cant speak at all or cant speak well enough to communicate what they feel.

Alhamdaulillah, there are many people who are not thankful for what they have. They look at the glass with water and see the part that is empty. As Muslims we should believe that the glass is always full and when the water in the glass decreases the glass size also decreases i.e. the glass is always full ( and that will ultimately increase the glass size). One of the leading scholars of our time says that the best way to increase our rizq is to be thankful.

Who do we thank? The expression of thankfulness is to people around us. As the hadith goes "Whoever does not thank people does not thank Allah". However, the ultimate thankfulness should be expressed to Allah and the best way to express that thankfulness is to use Allah's gifts as he desires them.. Alhamdulillah...

Seekers Guidance: Shaykh Faraz

Shaykh Faraz has been a blessing for many of us in our lives. Alhmaddulillah, he is one of those teachers who can take a complicated concept and deliver in a way that it becomes a easy action item. Moreover he delivers the material with humor and good examples which solidify one's understanding. Shaykh Faraz is currently teaching at Seeker's Guidance which has programs on the ground and also online. Some details are listed below:

Online:

SeekersGuidance (www.SeekersGuidance.com), the Online Islamic Educational Portal of Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, has just launched its fall courses in:

1. Islamic Law (Fiqh)

2. Beliefs & Understanding (Aqida)

3. Prophetic Guidance

4. Qur'anic Studies

Course Format: Conveniently downloadable lessons.

Course Texts: Text translations, lesson handouts, review questions, and other related readings will be provided upon course opening.

Registration is now open!

First 10 registrants in each course get an early bird 20% discount
First 5 registrants in each course also get
a free copy of "The Branches of Faith: Bringing Faith to Life" (a 4-lesson set)
Returning students registering in any course get
a free copy of Imam Ghazali on "Organizing Your Religious Routines"
Courses to commence from Friday, Oct 17th 2008

REGISTER TODAY!

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www.SeekersGuidance.com

Relevant Courses | Clear Answers | Inspiring Media

For further information, please email us at

info@seekersguidance.com

__________________________________________

On the Ground:

SeekersGuidance Halaqa in Mississauga, Ontario

with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Wednesday Nights | Oct 8th to Dec 31st | 6pm to 9:15pm

Shalimar Community Centre

3024 Cedarglen Gate, Mississauga

@ Mavis & Dundas

Covering:

• Understanding Halal & Haram
• Imam Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin
• Absolute Essentials of Islam

Contact:

Umm Umar (Shireen Ahmed)
SeekersGuidance Administration
shireenfatima@seekersguidance.com

Abdul Hakim Murad:Contentions 13

Mashahallah. Just awed at Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad's depth, eloquence and wisdom. May Allah preserve him. Contentions 13 are out!

Here are my favorites ( from the small number I understand):

5. You cannot grow out of your culture, but you can help it to grow.


44. Show yourself yourself; then He will show Himself Himself.

70. Pay attention, and trust in God.


71. Know that your plans are written on water.

78. The world is the way it is because you are the way you are.

81. 'Fear of God is knowledge enough. To be pleased with one's knowledge is ignorance enough.' (Bint Umm Hassan)

91. Respect the insights that can only be expressed by humour.

92. Pride is the crown of the ignorant.

93. Traditional Islam is not the replication of the positions of the ancients; it is to seek what they sought.

94. Look within, and what is outside you will become clear. Look around you, and you will understand yourself.

99. A little worship with sincerity is all of religion; abundant worship for the sake of one's image of oneself is nothing at all.

100. Modernity finds it hard to distinguish between rest and idleness.