Egyptian Gumbo

Have you ever read Quran very closely? I’m not talking physically. Rather, I’m talking in terms of grammatical structure, why Allah ‘az wa jal uses one word over another in certain ayat, etc.?

Well, Br. Nouman Ali Khan taught me to do just that in his intensive Arabic classes. MashaAllah, ever since I’ve taken two of his courses, I’ve never looked at the Quran the same again. If you guys really want to be enlightened, I would HIGHLY recommend you attend one of his seminars given through his institute, Bayyinah.

Sometimes I see something in the Quran that puzzles me. My mistake is thinking that my question would probably make no sense, and I’ll sound weird even asking it. But me being a weird person in general take those chances with the hope that I’ll get an answer that will suffice my curiosity.

If you’re confused as to what I’m talking about, I’ll give you some examples of questions I’ve posed to Br. Nouman, that he very kindly explained in detail to me. Yesterday, I emailed him with a question from Surat Al-Ankaboot, and I thought It’d be nice to share the answer with you all. In fact, I’ll go back and post some of my previous questions I’ve asked him in the past for you all to benefit inshaAllah.

May Allah reward him with Jannat Al-firdous for putting the deep love of Allah’s book in our hearts and may Allah bless his family as well, ameen.

Example #1- Surat Maryam– Laghw

My Question: I came across this verse in surat Maryam- (it’s in other sowar as well) however I was wondering if you can give me the different connotations of Laghw.

“la yasma3oona feeha laghwan illa salama” (ayah 62)

I thought laghw referred to vain talk and things of that nature. But what I was wondering was the (illa) part because it denotes exclusion. So why would salama be inclusive with laghw?

Brother Nouman’s Explaination:
In Arabic, ILLA serves the purpose of except and in some cases ‘instead’ or ‘rather’. So here we have LAA YASMA’OONA FEEHA LAGHWAN

ILLA (WALAKINNAUM YASMA’OONA) SALAAMA (meaning rather they will hear Salaama)

(The arabic above is from another source)

Which basically says that the word “hayywan” refers to continuous motion. We go to sleep in this dunya and therefore become motionless even when alive. This won’t be the case in Jannah. He further said, that by comparison it is truly being alive. Also, Al-Muheet offers the definition of “Al Hayyawan “Al Hayyah Haqqan” (actual life) meaning this life pales by comparison.

Bismillah,

If I met ‘Isa Ibnu Maryam (alayhis sallam) what would I say? What would he think after coming back thousands of years later? Would he be amazed that the world has changed so drastically technology and science wise?

Imagine you are in the company of ‘Isa ibnu Maryam. It’s like he is your closest companion, what would you show him if you were his guide? What would you ask him?

I’d ask him about Jannah and to describe its beauty. I’d ask him about the conversation of the angels and about the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

I’d show him the planets through a telescope and tell him that the planets make me know the greatness of Allah, and how it’s the closest thing I have to seeing the heavens.

I’d want to hide the shameful things our society has transformed into. And ask him what I should do in order to, inshaAllah, be with his mother in Jannah, Alayhas-sallam.

I’d want to pray behind him and be amazed that even he, alayhis sallam, is a follower of Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

I’d ask him about those who wanted to kill him and about those who were his companions on this earth.

As I sat there thinking about what it would be like to meet Isa ‘alayhis salam, the verses from surat al Ma’eda were being recited to me. And then I realized whether I’m still alive when Allah ‘az wa jal sends him back down before the Day of Judgment or not, Allah ‘az wa jal has already given me everything I need to know.

Most of the questions I would ask him, the answers were being recited to me the whole time. The description of Jannah, the story of those who wanted to kill him and about the hawariyoon. The supplications of the angles. Allah ‘az wa jal was describing what a believer needed to do to attain His mercy and ultimately His jannah.

After seeing Jannah, it would be hard for me to believe that ‘Isa Alayhis sallam would be impressed by our society. Wallahu alem. So now I will not say “If I met ‘Isa ibnu Maryam…” I instead want to say “InshaAllah WHEN I meet ‘Isa ibnu Maryam…” for I ask Allah ‘az wa jal, to let us be with the prophets in jannah, bi’ithnillahi ta’ala.

The Quran is so amazing, Subhanallah. Ponder deeply. And put yourself in its verses.

The last 10 nights of Ramadan are here, subhanallah. If you wasted 2/3rds of Ramadan, it’s not too late to make the best out of the blessed month.

What would you ask ‘Isa Alayhis-salam?
Wallahu ta’ala alem.

Read. Ponder. Implement.
From Surat An-Nur Salmaan Al-’Utaybi:

As *Eman Hamadah was growing up, she was blindly unaware of the severe abuse her father inflicting upon her. To her it was just a normal part of her life.

As she grew older and older, the abuse got worse. It use to be something that happened maybe once a week but soon turned into every day. And only when she became older and aware of what was really happening, she soon realized how painful her life had just become.

One day, Eman approached her father about the abuse he was inflicting on her and the family. She sat down in front of him and boldly said,

“Ya Abi, you’ve abandoned your prayer and the pain it has caused me is too much. I love you very much and am scared for you; I’m scared that you might die in this state and meet Allah this way.”

Her father replied, “I get it, I’m a kaafir… you happy? Yes I’m bad, I’m going to hell, now leave me alone. ”

Eman still has sleepless nights sometimes, worrying about her father.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Not praying to Allah is perhaps the most selfish action a person can do.

Allah ‘az wa jal created a Mankind and Jinn so that we can worship Him. As Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Quran 51:56]

But subhanallah, it’s even much much deeper than that; our lack of praying to Allah affects everyone around us as well.

We hear the reminders all the time, “We could die tomorrow.” But very few of us stop to think about what that could mean for us. One of the worst pains someone can inflict on another person is to stop the worship of Allah, know you are wrong, but not doing anything about it until it’s too late. Sure, Allah is the one who guides the hearts and similarly, whoever dies a disbeliever in Allah it is by Allah’s will. But there is no one to blame but oneself in the end.

So I’d like you to put yourself in this scenario, May Allah forbid:

Imagine you are with your mother, the woman who would give anything, even her own life if she had to, in order to see you live a healthy life. She is the one who is the most empathetic with you when you are sad, the one who stays by your side when you are sick, the one who no matter how bad you messed up at the end of the day will tell you she loves you, and the one who strokes your head until you fall asleep. Now imagine… her dying upon kufr.

Wallahi, this is the reality of many of us today. And it’s one of the scariest realities some of us will have to face in our lives. But what if it’s not someone we love who is inflicting this pain upon us, but it is us unknowingly inflicting pain on someone else? Subhanallah, how could we be so selfish. How could we completely be so ungrateful to our creator? And at the same time how can we knowingly inflict pain on the most beloved people to us?

It’s not too late to change and in fact NOW is the BEST time for change. The gates of hellfire are closed. When a believer, a sinner calls upon his lord and says “Ya Rabbi!”  Allah replies, “Labbaik ya Abdi! (I am here O my slave)”

This is a month full of forgiveness, mercy and blessings from Allah. If we aren’t practicing now is the best and easiest time to start worshiping Allah the way He deserves to be worshiped. If we are sinning constantly, now is the easiest time to rid of the weight of these sins.

Every soul will stand in front of Allah alone. But we don’t have to be alone in Jannah.

Wallahu ta’ala alem. Food for thought during your fast.

_______

*Real name not used.

You’re probably reading this wondering why someone would write a whole article about a giant bubble. “Surely I have better things to do with my time than read about a bubble,” you say to yourself. Well, while a bubble did appear in Louisiana — It’s wasn’t exactly made of soap.

If I had titled this article, “Ramadan reflections from Hurricane Gustav” You wouldn’t have been very interested and you instead, would have probably already made your way to YouTube to watch videos of skateboarding dogs.

The bubble I’m referring to is both a blessing and a hardship from Allah. Having no electricity could have been one of the best blessings Allah had given the Muslims here in Louisiana, but was also a huge test.

Last week, starting exactly with the first day of Ramadan, 1.4 million people were without power, and many still are.

In the beginning of this whole ordeal, I knew this was a test from Allah. “I’m going to sooo pass this test, inshaAllah,” I told myself. And as the first two days went by, I smiled unaware of what It would be like for the rest of the week.

Now, I don’t know how many of you know what it’s like to go without electricity for that long, but let me set the scene for you:

1. No light
2. No air conditioning in hot/humid weather
3. Everything in the refrigerator has about 2-3 days before it’s thrown out
4. Most, if not all the stores are not open, including grocery stores
5. Few gas stations were open and running on generators which caused people to wait in a half mile long line to fill their tanks
6. There were no cell phone signals for a few days
7. No internet
8. No TV to watch the news and know what’s going on in the outside world
9. No cooking anything but barbeque

Now, so far I’ve listed things that all seem negative in their nature. And although they are definite hardships, wallahi there is another side that very few people tend see or talk about in this situation.

This is the reality of what Ramadan is like for Muslims living in Louisiana so far:

First, we have plenty of time to read Quran. No one has work or school due to the downed trees all over the city and the lack of electricity.

The avenues that were use to distract us from the worship of Allah have now been taken away from us. We can no longer spend hours on the computer, talking on the phone or watching TV.

Muslims and even non-Muslims are starting to appreciate the blessings of Allah so much more. Allah ‘az wa jal says in surat Ibrahim “Wa in ta3ddu na3mit Allahi la tuhsuha, innal insaana la thalummun kaffar.”

There was never a time I loved electricity and yearned for it like I did in those days. I loved it more than a fat kid loved his cake — and even more, walhamdulillah.

And I, like a lot of you, was waiting for the iman bubble of going to the masjid everyday for taraweeh to help my iman grow from the low that it was in. I was just waiting for something new to happen so that I can start anew. But Allah ‘az wa jal had something else written. Taraweeh was done in our homes. One of our masajid had been damaged by the storm. Both of our main masajid did not have electricity. Therefore, I was told brothers were praying in the dark, and the sisters were asked not to come. I still, to this day, have not gone to one iftaar or one taraweeh prayer in the masjid this Ramadan. Wallahul musta’an.

I could be telling you this to babble, but since I’ve gotten my electricity back, Alhamdulillah after a week, I decided to try to continue using my time for the worship of Allah.

I kind of actually miss how it was. Every day that passes the more I get distracted with my school work among other things.

So what’s my point?

You’ve waited for Ramadan to become a better Muslim and to raise your iman. But what if may Allah forbid, Allah sent a “Gustav” to you? And remember, you don’t have the internet to listen to your lectures; all you have is to read Quran by candle light in the middle of the night. You shouldn’t depend on anything other than yourself and Allah to become a better Muslim. Acknowledge tests as they come to you, and be determined to pass them no matter what Allah puts in your path to test your truthfulness and iman.

As I was going through the tests Allah has put in our path, I knew I had a story — but didn’t know how to tell it. I mean, let’s face it — many people don’t care what happens in another part of the world so long as they are not directly affected.

Allah gave us here in Louisiana a chance to remember what our brothers and sisters in Iraq and other parts of the world are going through. While non-muslims complained about not having electricity. We shed tears remembering our brothers and sisters we’ve forgotten.

This is your chance not to forget.

I’d like to request that you help the relief process here in Louisiana by donating through ICNA relief. http://www.icnarelief.org/

Many people already knows that work in public relations, but subhanallah, I neither work with ICNA relief nor do they know of me writing this article. I know personally many of those who work with ICNA relief here in Louisiana, some of them are even in the photos ICNA put on their website, They were in the front lines during hurricane Katrina, and I can testify to the amazing job they did and are still doing. And now, subhanallah they are asking for more donations.

Barak Allahu feekom. Any may Allah shower you all with his blessings and mercy, ameeen. And May Allah protect our brothers and sisters in Texas with the coming of Ike.

I often complain about living in Louisiana, after all there are only a few avenues to seek knowledge. But wallahi brothers and sisters one blessing Allah ‘az wa jal has given the Muslims here In Louisiana is the chance to become the Ansaar of Allah.

One week after coming back from Egypt, I’m welcomed by Hurricane Gustav. (Ahh, the genius behind the name “Egyptian Gumbo.”)

The shelves in the grocery stores are empty, people lining up to fill up their gas tanks, and the interstate starting to crowd with cars coming from New Orleans in hope to get out before the storm comes. Stores are even starting to put away the jewelry in a safe place in case of looting.

Every year I’ve been a student at LSU, we’ve always gotten days off the second week of school due to a hurricane — whether it struck or not.

I received calls yesterday asking me if I could help accommodate the sisters that will be coming to our masajid for due to mandatory evacuation in New Orleans. During Katrina, we had over 100 families stay in our small campus masjid.

A solider of Allah is coming, and we ask Allah ‘az wa jal to protect us from his wrath.

It’s truly a humbling experience to be able to help shelter people and tend to their needs. And I’d very much like to share it with the world. So if happens and the hurricane does come to Louisiana, I will try to document the efforts and the needs of the victims so that inshaAllah people will know exactly what is needed in order to help them. And perhaps i’ll try to get people’s personal stories. I can’t promise anything, because 1. We are unsure what the conditions will be like and 2. My priority will inshaAllah be helping people, not filming them — but if I have the opportunity and feel it will be beneficial, inshaAllah I will. — This is, if Allah protects us and averts any destruction from coming our way.

You don’t need a hurricane to help your fellow Muslims and non-Muslims. Ramadan is here, feed those who need food. Become an Ansaari.

May Allah protect us all, and bless us in Ramadan with His mercy and forgiveness. Ameen. Keep us in your dua, inshaAllah.

Sun, Moon, stars — all ayat of Allah; all prove his existence.  However, very seldom do we look toward the other ayat of Allah for lessons in our deen. And for the Muslim youth out there, inshaAllah I hope this post will be a profound reminder.

The first time I saw this clip I was in awe, because it immediately reminded me of a hadith of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam which teaches the insaan an important life lesson and advice to staying on the correct path.

First, I want you to watch the clip. Then, I want you to reflect for a moment and try to see what hadith I could possibly be referring to.

Allah ‘az wa jal shows us through nature sometimes lessons to be learned and adopted by humans.

After all, look at the story of the two sons of Adam, Qabil (Cain) and Habil (Abel), in the Quran. When Qabil killed his brother Allah ‘az wa jal sent a crow/raven before him who dug up the earth to show him how to cover the body of his dead brother.

Perhaps there are quite a few lessons one might have derived from the above clip, but the ahadith that clearly came to my mind when I first watched this, were the ahadith about friends.

In one hadith the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

“The example of a good companion and a bad companion is like that of the seller of musk, and the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows. So as for the seller of musk then either he will grant you some, or you buy some from him, or at least you enjoy a pleasant smell from him. As for the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows then either he will burn your clothes or you will get an offensive smell from him.”

In another hadith, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

“A person is likely to follow the faith of his friend, so look at whom you befriend.”

The ant in the above clip was inflicted with a deadly disease. Any ant nearby that saw the deranged ant would move it far away from the rest of the colony as to not infect and ruin the other ants.

Subhanallah, Allah ‘az wa jal showed us sacrifice, hardship, straying from the correct path and saving those around you all in this short nature scene.

If you want to become closer to Allah, you have to look at those around you to get a better outlook on your own state. If you see that the company you have isn’t the type to remind you of Allah, the type that gossips or constantly gets in trouble or arguments with others, than take that as a sign to start finding a new group of people to keep you company.

There is always a certain point someone can look back and say, “This is when I started to change and started to become more religious.”

I find a common thread between everyone who’s said this statement. These three things are what lead people to change into a better slave of Allah:

1. Changing friends/ environment

3. Going to the Masjid more/ seeking more knowledge

Today, I want all of us to focus on the first one. Deep down we know the type of people we should keep as company.

Just like the ant in the video, we know sometimes it requires a greater sacrifice.

In the video you saw that as cruel as it was for the other aunt to leave it to die far away and alone, sometimes this is what is needed to save the rest of those around you. When sin becomes well known others will begin to follow in it’s footstep (which is why it’s best that we not reveal our sins.) Sure, we will lose people we may care about greatly, but the greater sacrifice is for Allah; seeking His face. When you take away the root of the problem, you will see that everything else inshaAllah will fall into place and your environment will be much safer from diseases of the heart– not only for you but for those around you as well.

One ant sacrificed leaving one deviant ant to tend to itself, so that it could save not only himself but those around him.

It truly is amazing to see the profoundness of the creation of Allah and His Ayat.

wallahu alem.

Bismillah,

His eyes had mischief in them. He looked like he was on the beach all day long. I was with my cousin and her friend getting gelato ice cream from this famous place in Alexandria that sits right across the street from the ocean. It’s the type of shop where you just park and have waiters come to your car and you sit in your car and eat. With sand covering his feet he walked toward my rolled down window.

I was getting ready to pay so I had my wallet in my lap. I see he has some beach items in his hands. He came up to me and asked if I wanted to buy them from him. We all declined. He was selling toys for kids. He insisted, but he kept looking into my eyes. My cousin Asmaa replies, “As you can see, we don’t have kids. What would we do with them?”

View of Mediterranean Sea with an umbrella blowing in the wind from Le Prince, a restaurant I went to today in Alexandria.

I looked down at my lap and realized why this 7-year-old boy was mischievously smiling at me. I had my wallet in my lap with some American dollars showing. I couldn’t help but laugh. The kid was mashaAllah adorable. His face, the way he tried to persuade us was just too cute to let go. So I told him to wait while I gave him some money. I pulled out two Egyptian pounds. He takes them, puts them in his pocket, pauses and then says, “No I want one of THOSE.”

“What? You want WHAT exactly? A Dollar?” I asked. “Yes.” He replied. So I agree, give him a dollar and tell him it’s worth about 5 Egyptian pounds. Next thing I know he yelled, “MUHAMMAD!” And goes running to tell his little friends to tell them what had just happened. Right then is when I realized we were about to get mobbed by a bunch of kids — so we jetted off.

MashaAllah, I don’t think I’ll ever forget his smile. Poverty here really gets to you. It was funny because my cousin was telling me how one of her professors at AUC (American University of Cairo) when he has to turn in something if for any reason and it’s past deadline he always jokes and says he could always use the “Third-World Excuse.” You know the excuse where you say since you live in a third-world country, everything always “comes late” and communication is “not that great.”

Then it hit me, “We’re in a third-world country…” The images here are enough to make you cry. An ayah from Surat Ya-Sin came to me:

“And when it is said to them: ‘Spend of that with which Allah has provided you,’ those who disbelieve say to those who believe: ‘Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed? You are only in a plain error.’”

Allah ‘az wa jal could have indeed made everyone rich in this world. But there is hikmah (wisdom) that only Allah knows why such things are done. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t have felt so humbled and grateful to Allah if I never saw these images or interacted with the people.

My cousin was also telling me how one time she went to this bakery and wanted a piece of cheesecake she saw on display. She ordered it and the woman behind the counter told her it was sold out. My cousin asked her about the one that was in the display, and the woman told her that wasn’t for sale, that it’s “just for display.” My cousin ordered something else but was very bothered and asked the woman what she would do with it to which she simply shrugged and told her “throw it away.”

Wallahul musta’an.

Assalamu alaikum,

Please forgive me for my lack of posting this past week and a few days. I’ve been EXTREMELY busy, and as I speak I’m in Amsterdam for another 4 hours before I head to Cairo inshaAllah.

Airports always amaze me.. It really makes the world seem microscopic. Every gate is filled with people from a different country. I love it.

I brought my video camera along with me for the trip and i’ll be shooting mini videos (not showing myself of course) of my trip and the different adventures I come across. Every year I come to Masr and every year I regret not bring my camera along with me everywhere. Egyptians are spontaneous and there is ALWAYS something weird going on.

So before you guys freak out, I’ll be posting soon inshaAllah just as soon as I get settled. Look forward to these posts, I have a feeling they’ll be pretty interesting.

Anyone waiting for me to email them back, contact them, etc. Please be patient. I’ll get to that as soon as I can and I apologize for the delay.

Shirien

Bismillah,

I put this together in like 20 min or less (Windows Movie Maker is great when you’re on the run.) This recitation is beautiful. If you like it pass it on, stumble, etc. so others will have their iman risen as well, inshaAllah.

This is from Surat Al-Ahzaab by Sheikh Salman Al-Utaybi. I included the interpretation of the meaning (translation) after surat Al-Fatiha. May Allah accept this for His sake.

Keep me in your dua, inshaAllah:

If you read past the headline, congratulations, you are one of the few individuals who care. I wanted to write about this since I saw the video on Mujahideen Ryder’s blog. These past couple of days, I kept opening WordPress wondering if I should just write about something else — something more people would enjoy reading. I even made a whole other post ready to publish, but something stopped me.

I don’t want to be one of those people who just write for entertainment purposes. I will never write something just to cause controversy. I guess you can say I’m the black sheep of the journalism industry. While everyone else writes what will get more readers and more subscriptions, I’ll write what needs to be said no matter the reaction from the audience or even if there is no audience at all.

I guess you can say I’m a little disgusted with those methods, since I worked at a paper that used them — but then again, which newspaper doesn’t?

The reality is, the media dictates what we should think is important in the world and what we shouldn’t care too much about. You have media gatekeepers, people you don’t know anything about, saying, ‘This is what society should be talking about and this is something that is not really important or interesting to anyone.’

According to gatekeepers, people should care about Donald Trump’s hair or Barack Obama wearing Kenyan clothing.

One of those topics gatekeepers are telling us is not important is Iraq. Iraq won’t bring readers anymore. Iraq is something so, so far away; old news.

As you know, the video I’m posting is not pleasant in nature. It will cause emotional distress for those of you with a heart. And while I’m telling you this, perhaps half of you have already closed the window or have navigated away from this site. For those of you who haven’t, take a look at the video:

I don’t want to be another one of the ones who just turns away from the remembrance, just because it’s not pleasant to think about. I’ve done it before and I’m sure you have too. You see something depressing, you get sad for a couple of moments then block it out as something far and away; something you have very little to do with.

Reading this post is painful and uncomfortable for you. Because you know it’s exactly what you’ve done in the past and you don’t know how to stop from doing it again, today.

For one, we need to make dua for our brothers and sisters in Iraq and ask Allah to ease their hardship soon.

And lastly, for those of you with blogs, in journalism, or those of you who give lectures frequently don’t write with your viewers in mind, but write with your viewers in mind. Don’t write because you know it’s what they want to hear and will bring more fans your way, write because it’s what they need to hear. And leave the rest for Allah.

In a way I guess I, too, am a gatekeeper now. And Iraq, and the state of Muslims around the world is what I think is important and it’s something we should never forget. May Allah ease their hardship and strengthen the Muslimeen. ameen.

wallahu ta’ala alem.