.:Bullet Proof Read:.

Just another dark moment…

Let the star shoot itself
Across my sky of loneliness
That bright light is myself
Flailing before your indifferent holiness

Let the river overrun its course
Through my hopeless valley
That strong flow has me as its source
Throwing red herrings where you hurry

Let the clouds cast its long shadow
On my gloomy garden
The grey skies represent my low
Seeking desperately your appeasement

Let the dry breeze blow gently
Upon the brown leaves crumbling
That mute wind signals my failure
As I watch till invisible, you fading

Let the whole of me talk to you still
For perhaps the very last time
Your death has had me killed
But you continue to live on, while I pay for your crime.

Lisa Ahé.

One day, a $1 note and a $50 note sat together in a wallet…

$1: Hey, good to see you, where’d you go yesterday?
$50: Oh, you know, the usual. I went to some club, the shopping mall, a fancy restaurant, the works. <pause> $1, you look kinda sad, what’s wrong?
$1: Oh, I was just thinking about what an exciting time you had. Lucky you.
$50: Hmm. Where’d you go then?
$1: The usual too for me. The masajid, some charity event, an orphanage, etc.

I just had to return with a bang of a joke! Funny, eh? And therein lies a good lesson too…

O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein. And know that Allah is Rich (Free of all wants), and Worthy of all praise.
[al-Qur'an 2:267]

By no means shall you attain Al-Birr, unless you spend of that which you love.
[al-Qur'an 3:92]

Vat is in your bag, yaar?
Originally uploaded by ummpaper

I first came across the Flickr pool “What’s in your bag?” through Sunni Sister’s post and loved the idea (and her photo too!). So two months later and armed with my first digicam, I present to you the things I drag around pretty much everyday. [Click on the photo itself or this link for detailed descriptions of the items.]

Enjoy!

Example is not the main thing in influencing others,
it is the only thing.
Albert Schweitzer

I love powerful quotes like that. Sure, they can be overly cheesy to the extent of annoyance when pushed in your face ad nauseam. Or when the generally cute ones are picked out and decorated with sickly outdated flower .gif’s and added with some obnoxiously stupid perky note to forward it around to show that aww, you freakin’ really care about the hundreds of nameless emails on your contact list - half of which you don’t even know work anymore.

Hmm. Ok, so you get how much I hate chain mail no matter how dang “sweet” you think it is. Moving along…

I thrive on self-help books and articles (when I actually want to read them). Started on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (recommended by the dearest of friends) one day, and subsequently gained interest to explore a variety of materials all with the same aim - to help you improve in certain aspects of your life, or life in general. And they can be truly helpful when you place them alongside the advice of the deen you read and receive. Bi idhnillah.

I could elaborate but those who know will simply nod in agreement while the cynical ones will continue to contest. Take my view or leave it eh. Let me just recommend a website for starters, one that I discovered through Seeker’s Digest, lifehack.org. Try and see it for yourself. Or read Why Pursue Personal Development. Seriously, this stuff resonates well with anyone with a real goal in life. These are a few of the good things left in this world that I believe beautifully benefits one’s Islamic lifestyle. Just as a cooking class or a doctor’s degree would in their very own ways.

So lead by example. Help yourself before you help others… and before you expect others to help themselves and each other. :-)

My lovely gift bracelet atop my lovely first moleskine. Legen… wait for it… dary.

Abu GG.
And what shall I tell you about Abu GG?
Nothing really.
So gowan and visit his blog then!

My Choice Picks:
The Equilibrium
The Bandwagon

Proper stuff, mate.

I’d wanted to comment on Fiqh & King-Kong (a must-read) by Shaykh Tawfique Chowdhury but eh, since it came up to a novel-ish entry, I shall post my own thoughts here…

Great article. Precisely pinpoints the problem. A brother once aptly put it as that we’ve become “victims of specialisation”. Where we not only ridiculously separate the “deeni” from the “worldly” studies and pursue only one or the other, but even when we do choose, we confine our scope to such a small area that we hardly function to society’s true benefit. For example, a brother returns from one of the renown Islamic centres having “majored” in Hadith sciences, “specialising” in sanad. Kudos and hats off, masha Allah, but when we look up to such brothers and sisters for inspiration, we see a pending specification beyond our own reach.

This condition isn’t limited to our section of society, in fact the secular academic institutions are perhaps the major perpetrators (get it?). Instead of a quick fix “let’s encourage people to add variety to their education”, there of course needs to be further research into what’s already been tried and tested. The Islamic schools here, for example, try to include and emphasise “secular” subjects in their curricula. But word on the ground is always that it’s such a burden upon the students, with many struggling to cope.

So uhh, do we revamp the whole education system then? Again, you’d find education agencies across the globe have brought up the issue in similar form before. Locally, it’s been generally to inculcate a sense of sports and a love for the arts in children - to help develop such talents beyond pure academics. It’s always a matter of the extent of such policies actually being implemented, and how successful they are in today’s context. My point though is that, let’s not fancy ourselves overnight heroes to bring about change with just simple discussion. In the end, an effective solution still has to come at some sort of authoritative level and definitely with hard teamwork.

Unity in diversity. I think that was the other issue I saw in Shaykh Tawfique’s article. Of course the brother in example was doing his own dissertation and therefore work for the most part, alone. But generally speaking, instead of having to individually delve into different fields ourselves, how about bringing our expertise together? After all, we do often boast about having too many doctors and engineers and such. Rather than simply interviewing them for expert opinion, engage them to actively partake in Islamic research too. Such collaborations have been done before, for sure… But is it an exploited enough method?

Educate thyself. Other than that, on an individual level, as I inferred from the original article, we can of course take it upon ourselves to study further. I know what I just said in the last para, but this is if you’re able, have the means to and care enough (for the living, make it a better place for you and for me. muahaha.).

No excuses eh. Mind over (muslim)matter. The only barrier is your own self. Check out this lovely list 7 Deadly Mindsets that Hold You Back From Learning Effectively which includes the lame excuse of “I’m too old to learn”. Learning stops at the grave innit.

Help others in the quest. In the least, encourage those whom you know can. More than words, financing helps a great deal. Unfortunately, the eighth deadly mindset amongst us is often “I can’t afford this”, when true rizq comes from Allah. Perhaps taking a break from stable income is understandably too risky at this moment, what with responsibilities of a new family and all. BUT you can still spare some for someone else in a better position to take on the “academic challenge”. I’m sure many already sponsor studies for orphans and needy children, but how about our own scholars? Facilitating the path itself would be just as rewarding, insha Allah.

For the mama and papa bears. And finally, as parents, ourselves educators, we could always set our children on that path to being the gloriously multifaceted minds of the future. No simple feat either, but may Allah give us strength. Certainly, we could do better than recheck the classical works and instead reexamine the way of the classical scholars themselves, whose erudition went far beyond religious sciences.

“Even *I* can blog!” said Moose.

You must’ve read blog posts where a fellow brother/sister complains of or advises against the notion that just about anyone and everyone can talk/write about Islam as they so please. Brother Ali illustrates this problem well in his latest video The Haram Police. I especially love how he points out (around 2:10) that copy-pasting an English translation of a ‘hadith’ found on some obscure website cannot pass off as a ruling. But as much as we laugh along at how well we can relate to such encounters, it is a serious issue - that of qualification.

What I’d like to emphasise here is the oft undermined basic requisite of knowing Arabic. Does this then mean that any Tahir, Dawud and Harith of Arab descent is qualified simply because they know the language of the Qur’an and the Sunnah? Of course not, the true mark of a scholar goes far beyond that.

What we do often find though, is the average layman when he delves into studies of the Arabic language - that is, learning, understanding and appreciating its very linguistics - his nature in approaching any matter or argument becomes refined. His perception is sharpened because now he comprehends the mechanics (if you will) of the revealed Message. And as he marvels in the beauty of it all, everything else is placed in the right perspective - the important are prioritised, and the petty, left behind.

So yes, knowledge in this core Islamic field itself makes a whole lot of difference. A mere introduction to Arabic can blow you away. What more, if we were to properly educate ourselves of it.

“Whoever recites Qur’an, his value is amplified. Whoever records hadith, his proof is strengthened. Whoever learns jurisprudence, his status is ennobled. Whoever learns Arabic, his disposition becomes gentle. Whoever learns mathematics, his opinion will be copious. And whoever fails to defend his honor will not benefit from his knowledge.”
Imam al-Shafi’i*

Spoken like a true master of knowledge, and specifically, the language. Therefore, we should strive to acquire this path to a gentle disposition. If anything, take it upon ourselves as a crucially important step towards reviving the spirit of this ummah. Bi idhnillah…

* quoted in The Heirs of the Prophets.

Bookworm: This cutie was caught reading Pride and Prejudice. Such class!

My name is Lisa al-Ehe and I’m a readaholic. Not really, I suck at reading… Maybe more of an upcoming bibliophile, in that I just love to buy every book I’m interested in but I may not necessarily read them immediately… or ever :-/. Sigh. I’m always mediocre in everything. Jack of all trades, master of none (except maybe Literati where I really kick a$$ - *nudge* if you wanna play).

Anyway, the point is I joined Good Reads after reading Sunni Sister. And I love it! So please join, add me (username in previous para), and let’s book brag! Leave a comment here so I’ll know to approve your add.

Something else I wanted to mention. If you read the comment I made on Sunni Sister’s post, turns out Akismet has been devouring my comments in more places than I thought. So I’d like to officially thank brother Abu Ilyas for his effort in clearing muslimpad.com from Akismet’s hitlist. I believe it’d affected those of you on MuslimPad too. So on behalf of fellow MP-ers, jazakallahu khair, Abu Ilyas. *hāt (ōn vōwÄ“l) típ*

[voted post with most clichés]

I love this nasheed.

Watch the video.

Allah Knows
by Zain Bhikha

When you feel all alone in this world
And there’s nobody to count your tears
Just remember, no matter where you are
Allah knows
Allah knows

When you carrying a monster load
And you wonder how far you can go
With every step on that road that you take
Allah knows
Allah knows

CHORUS
No matter what, inside or out
There’s one thing of which there’s no doubt
Allah knows
Allah knows
And whatever lies in the heavens and the earth
Every star in this whole universe
Allah knows
Allah knows

When you find that special someone
Feel your whole life has barely begun
You can walk on the moon, shout it to everyone
Allah knows
Allah knows

When you gaze with love in your eyes
Catch a glimpse of paradise
And you see your child take the first breath of life
Allah knows
Allah knows

CHORUS

When you lose someone close to your heart
See your whole world fall apart
And you try to go on but it seems so hard
Allah knows
Allah knows

You see we all have a path to choose
Through the valleys and hills we go
With the ups and the downs, never fret never frown
Allah knows
Allah knows

CHORUS (x2)

BRIDGE:
Every grain of sand,
In every desert land, He knows.
Every shade of palm,
Every closed hand, He knows.
Every sparkling tear,
On every eyelash, He knows.
Every thought I have,
And every word I share, He knows.
Allah knows.