08.31.08
Ramadan in the U.S.–and Saudi Arabia!
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
***Information in this post can be wrong, may Allah forgive me, but I had a lot of confirmation about this information from at least more 3 sources or more.***
“Please note that on August 31 evening it is IMPOSSIBLE to sight the Hilal [moon] in Saudi Arabia. May Allaah SWT guide all Ummah to Haq with Khayr. Aameen.”
(Courtesy of http://www.hilalsighting.org/)
I have also spoken *personally* to some scholars (and so have my parents) and there have been no legitimate sightings anywhere across the U.S. Anyone following ISNA should know that they are following Saudi Arabia, which according to various sights and scholars, they have pre-planned their date at least one week ahead of the potential beginning of Ramadan, meaning, THEY DID NOT EVEN CHECK ON THE 31st.
And for people who try to justify fasting tomorrow because they are following their community they should know that according to the Hannafi and Shafi madhab, you follow your community, but if you find out from other means that your community is definitely doing something wrong, you are permitted not to follow them (as with anything else).
And for people who justify Ramadan (or Eid) by saying that if it is Ramadan (or Eid) on the other side of the world, it applies to their side too. Ramadan (or Eid) are the same for everyone. That can be countered easily with logic–if it is day in Saudi Arabia, is it day in the U.S? No. So Ramadan (or Eid) cannot be on the same day or time, because if we followed that logic all the way through, why don’t you break your fast at the time of iftar in Saudi Arabia? If you are folowing the moon there, you should also follow the sun there too and do your fast according to their celestial schedule, so to speak.
I am not forcing anyone to fast on a certain day (i.e. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or even Wednesday) but I am trying to point out the fallacies going around the world.
Some also asked me why Saudi Arabia would do that (i.e. plan Ramadan ahead of time) and it could be for political, domestic or social reasons, but it helps a lot of last minute problems if you know when Ramadan is starting ahead of time. And the government isn’t even Islamic–it is a monarchy for God’s sakes and monarchies are forbidden in Islam and yet it is the country that holds Islam’s most holy cities.
I mean no offense to anyone and if for some reason, world Islamic leaders are reading this, I hope Allah guides us all.
Anyway, Ramadan Mubarak and may Allah help us all and give goodness to everyone. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ramadan List!
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
Sorry for not posting this and other stuff earlier. I have literally 15 drafts in my account and I have been really really busy. Anyway, I made a Ramadan goal list and though some thigns are vague, others are concrete. Hope it helps and pray I fulfill all my objectives for the sake of Allah!
- Ask forgiveness from Allah swt, anyone I have wronged and prevention from doing evil in the future (after fajr and maghrib)
- Do Muraqabah or meditation, contemplation, etc. for one hour of Allah, my relationship with Him, or how to better myself everyday.
- Give charity everyday, if I cannot make it to the masjid, then I keep a box in my room and even if my wallet is empty (which often happens in college) I give even a penny, but something.
- Be SUPERLY EXTRA 1326876352xs more kinder and more respectful to my parents (and other people too =) )
- Do 2 rakah saltul tasbeeh everyday
- Tahajud 5/7 days a week for a minimum one hour
- 1-1.3 parahs of reading Quran everyday.
- Help do one iftar at IFS (next insha Allah once a week)
- do saltul taubah every other day
- 10,000 times shahadah (350 per day-ish) and 6,000 salawaat, 6,000 astaghfar (200 per day-ish) *this may be hard, but I plan on having a tasbeeh in Chemistry and Philosophy of Religion. lol.
- Read my Global Prayer (with intention) everyday (check out the link on the right column on the blog)
- PRAY I GET CLOSER TO ALLAH SWT AND BE ONE OF HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
- Try to make every taraweeh-allowed to miss 5 this year in case of class projects, cant get aride, etc. etc.
- Help my mom make iftar.
- Make sure to set the dates and glasses of water at iftar everyday.
- And most importantly, it is ALL for ALLAH swt.
Not a great list, but a workable one. I think it might be near to impossible with 300 pages of reading of homework this week and the upcoming weeks, but I will try my hardest!
And even though as of the time I am posting this it has not been confirmed, but RAMADAN MUBARAK for everyone!!!!
08.25.08
Bill Maher on Education
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
(I am writing a post on Bill Maher and I wrote a religious greeting. Pretty Ironic.)
Anyway, he was on Larry King (Yeah!) last night and I did not have an opportunity to watch the whole interview, but from what I caught when I was watching the interview, he is an agnostic (pretty sure not atheist.)
Anyway, I was interested in who he was because he posed a question that *I WROTE FOR A CHARACTER IN MY BOOK TO SAY TWO HOURS BEFORE WATCHING IT.* His views are slightly interesting, and I respect his opinions (some of them, anyway.) So I looked him up and I came across this quote that has food for thought for both students, teachers, and anyone in America–
“NEW RULE: ‘Kidiots’ Leave the children behind. At least until they learn something. A new study has shown that half of American high schools agree that newspapers should only be able to publish government-approved material. Almost one out of five said people should not be allowed to voice unpopular opinions..This is the first generation after September 11th, who discovered news during a ‘watch what you say’ administration…George W. Bush once asked, ‘is our children learning.’ No, they isn’t. A better question would be, ‘is our teacher’s teaching?’”
Think about it.
08.22.08
Spiritual Energy?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I heard a really deep conversation today and I was arguing about it in my head. I do not know if I completely agree with what I heard, but I will try to sum up what I heard between two people (I am not either of them, by the way and do not ask who they were) I do not think they were Muslims because they would call God the One and just how they acted did not suggest they were Muslim, but I wondered if they were talking about an Islamic concept. I just thought about it now, and I think I will try to put it in semi-dialog format: Read the rest of this entry »
08.17.08
Tentative: Locke and Key quote
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
“True bravery is not fighting for what you believe in despite of what others think of you; it is fighting for what is right, despite of what you think is better.”
-Locke Rayne
08.16.08
Today’s Words of Wisdon 2
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I have spoken to someone who I believe is an aarif and she told me something I believe in, but she stated it openly to me.
When a person thinks of someone (in a good way) then it reaches that person. The person may not recognize you are thinking of him/her, but the thought takes form of some other kind of goodness/kindness.
So thoughts do somehow influence what is around us. Think good things.
08.13.08
Today’s Words of Wisdom 1
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I spoke to a Shaykh recently. He told me once some believers went to the Prophet (sas) and asked if a believer can be a thief, prostitute, etc etc. and the Prophet said yes.
But then someone asked if a believer can be a liar–and the Prophet said:
No.
08.09.08
Dr. Zakir Naik on Christianity
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
Here are some clips of one of my favorite scholars and to me, a spiritual friend (because he is so kind hearted, intelligent I I think he is close to Allah swt). I would have friends who asked me my opinion of Christianity, but I never wanted to insult them or hurt their feelings because I really, honestly think that Christians really have not studied their own scriptures. Anyway, if you follow the Christian tradition, please take that in no offense, but do consider viewing these clips and here what a scholar has to say about Christianity WITH quotes from the Bible. Read the rest of this entry »
08.07.08
George Orwell Quotes
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I am in a writer’s crisis, so I was thinking about talking to some of my favorite Islamic scholars and literary authors. My Imam Al Ghazali quote post is taking foever, so I thought I’ll start with George Orwell, the author of one of my favorite books, 1984. I also love Animal Farm, but 1984 just calls to my heart. Especially the last third of the book. Anyway, some quotes by George Orwell (some from books, some he actually said):
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.“
“Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper.“
“Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.”
“The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun.“
“Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.”
“Sanity is not statistical.” -1984
(I’ll do a 1984 section later. Lol)
THIS IS MY 101st POST! OMG! Reference to room 101 in 1984. LOL
08.02.08
My Epiphanies (X)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
This is my 100th post. Wow.
Anyway, it didn’t take me long, but I decided to put up the epiphany I had *before* I heard the Shaykh Hamza lecture on Youtube.
Life lately has been rather ‘gray.’ Taking a class on Christianity made me feel sorry for Christians. I do not mean that in a patronizing way, but I feel like their understanding of God hurts them. Although they claim Him being that of Love, which is great, but they also claim He can make mistakes (wa iyathubilah), He can be in human form (meaning, he can use the bathroom and get sick [no offense to Isa as]), and that He is ultimately, imperfect. (super wa iyathubilah)
Plus, I think by Divine providence, I won’t be united with an old friend just yet. (In case you don’t know, the poem I wrote–The Start, was for her.)
Anyway, enough ranting, I decided to sit. I crossed my legs and folded my hands in my lap. After being silent for a long time, I heard my heart beat in my head. I know it sounds cheesy, but I was trying to figure out what it was saying. And soon enough, I started to literally hear, “Allah, Allah, Allah….” Read the rest of this entry »
