January 18, 2010
Beautiful Words II
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I heard this and I sat for an hour contemplating. Whoever said this, may you be blessed:
“If you think your mom or dad loves you; if you think your friends, your beloved loves you; if you think there are people who love you so much that they would be willing to die for you, can you even imagine how much God, the Most Loving, cares and loves you?”
September 22, 2009
Purification of the Heart, by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
EDIT: This is a super old post in my draft box and I am too lazy to finish it. I am still procrastinating my overdue history homework–
While I am still on my Shaykh Hamza note taking rampage, why don’t I include his book, Purification of the Heart?
I am just basically listing each illness and its cure, so they are not very good notes and I would recommend that everyone should read this book. Again, this is just to summarize or list the core principles. You should read the book.
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Purification of the Heart
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Miserliness: (stingy/hoarding money) The treatment is to realize those who achieve great wealth normally do so after wasting his/her whole life. And life goes by and soon it is over. So through contemplation can you get over this disease. Read the rest of this entry »
September 19, 2009
My Epiphanies (XIV)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
(These Roman Numerals are starting to get more complicated.)
The last two days have been nuts and today will probably be nuts as it is potentially the last day of Ramadan. But I am not sad. I am not planning to leave Allah swt’s presence after Ramadan. In fact, Ramadan is here just to give us a gentle nudge or ‘recharge’ or another way to remember to constantly turn back to Allah.
With that said, don’t be disheartened that Ramadan is ending. Allah’s love will be with you. He is the Most Loving.
Anyway, the topic(s) of today’s epiphany(s) deal with yesterday (Friday). Thursday deserves its own post, but because yesterday is still fresh in my mind, I better write it now:
I went to a different Masjid to attend the ending of the recitation of the Quran and the ‘khatm’ duaa afterwards. I don’t like to use the term ‘khatm’ as it suggests that the Imam ‘ended’ the Quran. He actually finished it in the 19th rakah, and in the 20th, he started again with surah Baqarah. The reason for this is so people don’t think you simply ‘end’ at the closing of Ramadan. Islam is this constantly cycle of renewing ourselves and going back to Allah. It kind of reminds me of the Expanding and Contracting cycle–>we keep going in and out, but we must always keep coming back.
So after the 20th rakah, we all sat and the duaa began. The first half of the duaa was in Arabic and I understood a good portion of it because some of the duaas the Imam were making were duaas I have learned. Some of them were beautifully spoken (in terms of language) and some I simply didn’t know. I obviously broke a few tears and prayed for everyone’s forgiveness, spiritual state, relationship with Allah swt, etc. etc. until the Imam started to speak in English. Read the rest of this entry »
September 13, 2009
A Question: What is Grace?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I was reading about questions that make you think (which half the questions are loaded or can be answered with Islam–I should get my money back) and I came across one question that captivated my interest:
What is Grace? Read the rest of this entry »
January 6, 2009
Chemistry in the REAL world (V)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
Here are some new ones I kind of got inspired to write:
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Equilibrium: A+B<=>C+D
In an equilibrium reaction, the forward rate of reaction and the reverse rate of reaction are equal. That doesn’t mean nothing is happening, it is just both reactions are happening at the exact same rate and continually reacting, but there is not apparent change because the changes keep canceling each other out. In equilibrium, reactions will keep happening until it reaches this equilibrium point. Similar to the real world, when people spend too much money or live extravagant lives, there are those who are poor or generous to ‘equate’ or ‘reverse’ the ‘reaction.’ It will keep going back and forth until there will soon be a balance (where no one is too poor or too rich.) Or war–there will be those for it and against it, people who believe in religious conservatism and being extremely liberal. The reactions will keep going until there is an equilibrium or balance between the two ends. (Or we are screwed for eternity.)
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Equilibrium– aA+bB<=>cC+dD –> Q= ([C]^c[D]^d)/([A]^a[B]^b) Read the rest of this entry »
January 3, 2009
Chemistry in the REAL world (IV)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
(I seriously need to stop using the roman numerals. 4 and 6, 9 and 11 always confuse me….)
Anyway, let us start this post–
Thermodynamics–Entropy:
Anyone who took sophomore chemistry would remember one of the biggest rules of Chemistry–the law of entropy: disorder creates more disorder. This is very applicable to our world today. The U.S. economy is one, war and destruction, environmental natural disasters and instability, capitalism (requires more buy and spending to work–it cannot by its very nature by stable), and even friendships. If some friendships go wrong, it may keep getting worse and worse without outside intervention (random variables) but if things keep going the way they are without human beings changing, it will lead to more and more disorder. So people, for the sake of the WORLD, be better people!
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Chemical Bonding–Electrostatic Bonding: Read the rest of this entry »
January 2, 2009
A Question–Religious Impulse?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I had a discussion with a non Muslim friend of mine on a rather interesting quetion:
Is there an intrinsic human impulse to believe in a religion or God?
She argued that in times of desperation, it is a natural human quality to turn to something for comfort (family, God, money, etc.). There is also the universal need of security and intimacy (which can be found in religion, people, oneself, an object, etc.) and that above all, human beings have the impulse of the nature to want everything to be explained why existence came to be, which religion and the existence of God can explain. (Sounds a bit God-of-the-gapsish, no?) Read the rest of this entry »
January 1, 2009
Chemistry in the REAL world (III)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
C1V1=C2V2
(C=concentration, V=volume)
This formula represents the inverse relationship of concentration and volume. When volume goes up, concentration goes down and vice versa. As dorky as it sounds, the first example I thought of when I heard about this formula is about fair trade vs. crazy abuse of many workers with jobs that pay little to work insanely hard. If you force people to work long hours, their quality or concentration of work goes down. But with fair trade, it is supposed to stabilize work hours and pay, so by giving less time (not too little though) more work and concentration can be done.
Some Hikams of Ibn Ata’allah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum!
Here are a list of some of the Hikams of Ibn Ata’allah that strike a chord with me. Some of them are repeats from my Sufi Quotes post (from his book–Ibn Ata’allah/Intimate Conversations):
- One of the signs of relying on one’s own deeds is the loss of hope when a downfall occurs.
- If, in spite of intense supplication, there is a delay in the time of the Gift, let that not be the cause for your despairing. For He has guaranteed you a response in what He chooses for you, not in what you choose for yourself, and at the time He desires, not the time you desire.
- Actions differ because the inspirations of the states of being differ. Read the rest of this entry »
December 31, 2008
Chemistry in the REAL world (II)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
(I need a better series title)
This post will be a bit for history orientated and story learners. (Hey, I want to appeal to different crowds.)
How Chemistry affected the world socially and politically:
Marie Curie was of Polish descent and a French citizen. Women’s rights at her time were very minimal and she was not accepted into a university. She taught at an illegal one and fought to do research in chemistry and physics, even though she was a woman. She discovered polonium and information of radioactivity, she not only helped broaden the vast plethora of scientific knowledge, but she added to the crack in the glass ceiling of women’s rights in Europe and helped change the political context of her time. Women soon were allowed in universities and be scholars and part of it was in thanks to Marie Curie’s discovery for chemistry.
Chemistry affecting social and economical problems while being an issue of ethics that human beings face: Read the rest of this entry »
