Us and Them

This year on 9th and 10th Muharram...we ate chocolate fudge and basbousa soaked in syrup, dumplings and chutney, bananas and french fries...and drank a jug of orange juice between the 3 of us at iftaar


...elsewhere, people ate matzos and herbs...to mark the day Banee Israaeel became free.

Rasha-Rida asked me: Why are we fasting today?
I replied: Because...

What Really Happened...

...on 10 Muharram, 61 A.H

At night, Obaidullah bin Zeyad's [the governor of Kufa] order reached that if the fight had not started as yet, the water resources must be captured and prohibited for Husain bin 'Ali and his companions…Amr bin Sa'ad immediately after receiving the order, assigned 500 horsemen to Amr bin al-Hajjaj and stationed him near the Euphrates. Imam Husain's companions had not brought and stored water for themselves that day and all their containers were empty. When they went to fill them up with water, they realized the enemy had occupied the territory by the river.

…the next morning Shimr and Amr bin Sa'ad came onto the field after marshalling the troops in battle array...Imam Hussain also issued instructions to his companions and assigned them their positions. According to some traditions, 72 people were present on the side of Imam Hussain. Yet other traditions fix them at 140, 240…even then imam Hussain's companions were only a handful compared to the opposite army..

Imam Husain set his companions in their proper positions and mounted a camel and went to the troops of Kufa alone and addressed them loudly:

"O people of Kufa!...let it be known to you who know me and also to those of you who do not know me that I am the grandson of the Prophet and the son of Ali bin Abi Talib and Fatima bint Muhammad sall Allaahu 'alayhi wassallam was my mother and Ja'far bin Abi Talib was my uncle….the Prophet called me the chief of the youths of Paradise..I never broke a promise, I never missed a salaat, I never killed a Muslim nor did I harm anyone …Tell me how have you concluded shedding my blood to be lawful?"….

…Shimr said to Amr bin Sa'ad, "Why do you delay now? The latter at once put an arrow into his bow and shot it towards Imam Husain's troops and said: "Bear witness that I have shot the first arrow."

…Then two Kufan soldiers moved forward for single combat..in this way the combat continued until one by one Imam Hussain's companions came forwards and were killed...Muslim bin Aquil, Imam Husain's sons Ali Akbar and Muhammad Qasim , his brothers Obaidullaah, Ja'far, Uthman and Muhammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib were among the many who were killed..
Besides the women the only one left in the tent was Zain al Abedeen, who was only a child at that time. Obaidullah bin Zeyad sent orders that Imam hussain's head be chopped off and his body be trampled by horses until all his limbs were broken..

..None of his enemies wanted to kill him with his own hands..at last Shimr [a commander] took six soldiers and attacked him. As a consequence,Imam Husain's left hand was chopped off and fell to the ground... Sanan bin Anas Nakhi speared him from behind and it passed through his abdomen...
Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilayhe raajioon.

[Source: History of Islam]

You know you're doing something right when...

...your kids are asked to make an anti-terrorism poster in school and they make a picture of Masjid Al Aqsa..inscribed with the words:
Allaahummaa anta assalaam
Wa minka assalaam
Hayyinaa rabbana bis salaam
Wa adkhilna addaar as salaam..

O Allaah! You are Peace
And from You is Peace
Our Lord, Grant that we live in peace
And Enter us in the House of Peace.
Aameen.

Even though the teacher refused to accept the entry on the grounds that this isn't relevant to terrorism [I was like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??!!], I've never been prouder Rasha-Rida...waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to go.. MaashaAllaah TabaarakAllaah!!

PS. Does anyone know how to paste pictures/photos on a blog? This is one picture I'd love to post up here inshaa Allaah

For Security Reasons

When Umar bin Abdul Aziz, the Muslim caliph, [rahimahullaah] died, the inheritance he left came to a sum of 21 dinars. Some of it was spent on his burial and the rest was distributed among his sons and daughters.

Abdur Rahmaan bin Qaasim bin Mohammad bin Abu Bakr says that Umar bin Abdul Aziz had 11 sons and Hisham bin Abdul Malik [the son of his uncle, and the caliph preceding him] had 11 sons. Umar's sons received one dinar each in inheritance while Hisham's sons inherited from their father a sum of one million dirhams reach.

Later, the narrator saw one of Umar bin Abdul Aziz's sons giving away 100 horses in Allaah's cause, and one of Hisham's sons was found taking charity from the people.

Ed: Gives new meaning to the words:hasbunAllaahu wa ne'mal wakeel...ne'mal maulaa wa ne'man naseer [I trust in Allaah..and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs...the Best Protector and Best Helper]

[source: History of Islam]

Shot Dead In School

Israeli Troops 'Shot 10-Year-Old Girl In Face'
By Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
The Guardian - UK
2-1-5

The killing of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl, shot dead in the playground of her school in southern Gaza yesterday, threatened to undermine a tentative truce after Hamas blamed the Israeli army and retaliated by firing mortars into a Jewish settlement.

Noran Iyad Deeb was shot in the face as she lined up for assembly at the UN-run school in Rafah refugee camp. A second girl was hit in the hand.
Palestinian officials blamed Israeli troops. The UN said it could not identify the source of the gunfire for certain but that shooting was heard from the direction of Israeli posts in the militarised border area. Noran is the fourth child in two years to have been killed inside UN schools in Gaza refugee camps.

Innaa lillaahe wa innaa ilayhe raaje'oon

Let them eat bread

Ed: Fresh from spending an hour [and a half!! I know, I know...amateur] I realize how much "time-saving appliances" and life choices have robbed us of..
...the smell of freshly baked bread, soft with a mother's exertions, flavoured with the gold from her bangles, enriched with the duaas she hummed while waiting for it to be browned just so..
..I'm working on a theory that the family...and by extension..the world would be a better place if only mothers spent some time making home-made bread instead of relying on a cold, yesterday's assembly-line version of the real thing...

...most interesting... The History of Bread

Hot bread

Since a circular-chapati-square-paratha-making bahu is a must have in desi households, [are you listening Anu?] I decided to do my motherly duty and initiate R-R into the art of rolling rotis. We had the most fun we've had in a loooooooooooong time...alhamdulillaah.
the best part came at the end of it: smeared with sticky dough and smelling of aslee ghee, we ate crisp [albeit shapeless] parathas and meethee rotee with chai... everyone should make hot bread at home... and eat it:)