Muslim American Goat Farmer!

An interesting story:

Mukit Hossain, who was a senior executive and civil rights activist in Northern Virginia, has given it all up to raise halal goats — goats raised and slaughtered by Islamic rites......

..........Some folks think I have completely lost it,” he said. “A friend said, ‘Why would you get a degree from Duke if you were going to become a farmer?’ ” Even his wife, Sabrina, an accounting student raised in Kuwait and Canada, wondered whether it was a good idea. (There was some precedent for Hossain’s decision: His grandfather, a prominent lawyer in Bangladesh, had at the height of his career given it all up to become a farmer. Everyone thought he had lost it, too.)..............

“I think that here, there’s not as much sense of keeping up with the Joneses,” Sabrina Hossain said. “I think this is the healthiest decision we’ve made.”

.READ ON

Marriage Advice 2: A Wife-Shaykh Abdullah Adhami

"By getting married you are not just getting a wife, you are getting your whole world. From now until the rest of your days your wife will be your partner, your companion, and your best friend.

She will share your moments, your days, and your years. She will share your joys and sorrows, your successes and failures, your dreams and your fears. When you are ill, she will take the best care of you; when you need help, she will do all she can for you;" READ ON

Sacred Knowledge is like food...

We love to compare food with Sacred Knowledge and see how we can understand the intake of Sacred Knowledge better:

Food has to be taken in the right proportions from the hands of the right people (cooks).
Sacred Knowledge has to be taken in the right proportions from the hands of the right people (scholars).

Overeating of food can harm one if one does not have the capacity at the time one eats it.
Over-intake of Sacred Knowledge can harm one if one does not have the capacity at the time one learns it.

The best food is the healthy food which your body can use in the most useful way.
The most suitable Sacred Knowledge is that which you can use in the most useful way (i..e. apply it).

Different methods of cooking foods may have the same base ingredients but the skill of the teacher is in combining these sources in a way that it becomes easy to eat.
Different methods of teaching Islamic Sciences may have the same base sources but the skill of the teacher is in combining these sources in a way that it becomes easy to learn.


If you were eating food, you need to know what you are eating to know the the real blessing it is.
If you were learning Sacred Knowledge, you need to know (the value of) what you are learning to know the the real blessing it is.

There is a right time for everything. Desert always comes after the main dish.
There is a right time for everything. Complicated sciences are learnt after one's foundations


Best food is that which you can actually digest not one that you just stare at.
Best Sacred Knowledge is that which you can apply not one that you just "awe" at.

Food needs enzymes.
Sacred Knowledge needs Scholars.

Some food can harm you if you don't eat it properly
Some Sacred Knowledge can harm you if you don't learn it properly.

Parents worry about your food.
Teachers ( your spiritual parents) worry about your Sacred Knowledge.

Put your money where your mouth is. You have to make spend to get good food.
Put your heart where your akhira is. You have to expend yourself to learn Sacred Knowledge.

You have too love and revere the cooks who cook for you.
You have to love and revere the teachers who teach you.

Be thankful to Allah for access to food. There are many who don't have it.
Be thankful to Allah for access to Sacred Knowledge. There are many who don't have it.

Actions are by their intentions. Intend highly when you eat ( i.e. for the sake of Allah).
Actions are by their intentions. Intend highly when you learn (i.e. for the sake of Allah).

(Roti)

Punjabi Wise Says 8: Teeth and Grain

Jeney Dand ditey neyn
oh chaban laee danay vee deysi

He who has given us teeth
will also give us grain to eat

This saying tells us about the unmeasurable power of our Creator and our need of reliance on Him. Our job is to try (i.e. take the means) and have hope up in him ( not have hope in ourself). We should not think that He has lack of anything that we need. He knows our needs and knows how/when/where to fulfill them.

"..Hasbi Allaah wa ni 'am al-wakeel"
"For us Allah sufficeth, and He is the best disposer of affairs." (Quran 3:173)

Seekers Guidance-Shaykh Faraz

Alhamdulillah, Seekers' Guidance courses go live today. I dont know of a better teacher than Shaykh Faraz.

Given my love of food, I look at him as a enzyme on sacred knowledge who breaks it down into digestable chunks which one can then digest and use to one's benefit inshahallah.

Check out his online courses here. A flyer is attached below:

A Cup of Cofee

A nice article found on SunniPath:

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and talk her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled 3 pots with water. In the 1st, she placed carrots, in the 2nd she placed eggs and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

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)

PIctures in my cubicle.....

Web MD: Food that curb hunger

Pehraps these foods are good while fasting as well...

Anyone who has ever been on a diet is familiar with the gnawing feeling of hunger that occurs when you cut way back on calories. And after a few days of feeling deprived, most dieters throw in the towel. But what if you could cut calories, yet still eat plenty of food, and not be plagued with constant hunger? Experts say that if you choose foods that help curb hunger, as well as become more mindful of your eating behaviors, you can actually eat more and still lose weight.READ ON

Food that traves well

Food That Travels Well - New York Times

It all depends on how you wield the carbon calculator. Instead of measuring a product’s carbon footprint through food miles alone, the Lincoln University scientists expanded their equations to include other energy-consuming aspects of production — what economists call “factor inputs and externalities” — like water use, harvesting techniques, fertilizer outlays, renewable energy applications, means of transportation (and the kind of fuel used), the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during photosynthesis, disposal of packaging, storage procedures and dozens of other cultivation inputs.

Incorporating these measurements into their assessments, scientists reached surprising conclusions. Most notably, they found that lamb raised on New Zealand’s clover-choked pastures and shipped 11,000 miles by boat to Britain produced 1,520 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per ton while British lamb produced 6,280 pounds of carbon dioxide per ton, in part because poorer British pastures force farmers to use feed. In other words, it is four times more energy-efficient for Londoners to buy lamb imported from the other side of the world than to buy it from a producer in their backyard. Similar figures were found for dairy products and fruit

. READ ON

Masjids and Halal Restaraunts

If you travel a lot for work like myself you need to know where the local halal restaraunts are and the mosques/masjids:

For masjids my favourite site is:

www.salatomatic.com

For halal restaraunts:

www.zabihah.com

The south asian cooking book......

This website is great....

Please refer to this whenever you ( the reader) invites me over...:D...just make sure yor serve it with roti!

Okay I will refer to it too if I invite you! ( the reader)....

http://www.punjabian.com/cooking_book/default.php

Choosing a Watermelon!

Some of you might remember my Water Melon story posted last year.

Web MD has some useful information on Water Melons ("WM") that all WM lovers might find useful...The advice on how to pick is quoted below...I wish picking a spouse was as simple! ( maybe it is?):

Choose firm, symmetrical, fruit free of cracks, bruises, soft spots or mold. Ripe watermelon will have a healthy sheen, a dull rind, dried stem, and a buttery yellow underside where it touched the ground. There should be a melon like smell or fragrance. Thump if you must, sound should be dull and hollow. Lift them, weight should be heavy for size.

READ ON

South Asian Cooking

The Desi cookbook.

Found off DP.

A website with a variety of recipes of South Asian foods including rotee!!

Web MD: 22 Healthy Munchies ( does not include laddus!)

My biggest weekness in terms of eating habts is snacking. When I see a choclate bar or something similar my inclination is to have it in full, I cant have small bits..... Besides that, if I open a bag of brownies I usually finish those within two days! So some damage control is definately needed. Anyways read this link below to find out more about the small healthy snacks you should/could enjoy. And perhaps when you get married you can have high fibre healthy snacks given after the snacks. I am sure the uncles and auntees will love you for that and that your ( future) sopuse wont get freaked out! After all Laddus have no fibre in them or....................ummm.... do they?

Dietitians agree that the best snacks satisfy hunger while helping meet our daily dietary needs, especially for fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy.

"Look for snacks that contain protein with healthy carbohydrates and fats, and eat your snacks slowly so they fill you up," says Weems. Read on