فى صلاة الكسوف

pic courtesy: BBC Science

Khutbah: Prayer at the time of the solar eclipse
By Sh. Muhammad Al 'Uthaymeen, may Allaah have mercy upon him

"O Muslims! The Prophet’s terror at the incidence of eclipse, in addition to other events stated in the above hadith and his commandment to his Ummah to rush to Prayer, remembrance of Allaah, supplication, asking Allaah’s forgiveness, takbir, charity, and manumission of slaves, all indicate the seriousness of the incidence of an eclipse, and that the Prayer of eclipse is very stressed. Some scholars even claim that it is obligatory, and that one who does not perform it will incur sin.

O Muslims, men and women! Follow the example of your Prophet by observing the eclipse prayer in two Rak’ah, as described before. If one misses the congregation, he may perform the prayer individually in the same manner. If one joins the congregation before the first bowing, it will absolve him. If he misses the first bowing, he should make up for one Rak’ah, since the second bowing does not absolve him.

May Allaah guide me and you to glorify Him, fear from Him and benefit with His signs, for He is the Bounteous and the Most Generous.
I say this and ask Allaah’s forgiveness for me and you"

mirror, mirror on the wall

(Ed: something I read recently)

Tabloid reporter to famous dimpled 40-something Bollywood superstar: "What sort of a father are you?"
"In about 20 years, my kids will let the world know..."

(Ed: also read this week, from the Guardian's top news stories):

An exasperated father has discovered to his cost that cyberspace is not the ideal arena for family feuds. Two weeks ago Steve Williams became so fed up with his daughter's messy bedroom that he built a website featuring pictures of his slothful offspring's lair in an attempt to shame her into action.
But the public humiliation proved a short-lived victory. While it did spur his daughter, Claire, into tidying up her room, it also whet her appetite for revenge. With the help of her father's friends, the 20-year-old business student has now set up a rival website that displays photos of him in a variety of compromising situations...

Ed: were it not for the fact that this is exam week here, there's a potentially long, analytical post on how parents and children see themselves and how they are seen by each other can be completely different ..it's in there between the lines somewhere..

It's Official: The Family Dinner Table is Dead

21 March 2006
DEATH OF THE FAMILY DINNER TABLE

Poll of Brits' new tastes
By Ruki Sayid, Consumer Editor ...mailto:...ruki.sayid@mirror.co.uk

SLIPPERS are out for the first time since 1947 and it's the end of the dining table, a survey reveals.
And MP3 music players have ousted CD players in the "shopping basket" used by the Government to measure inflation and people's changing tastes. Also ditched from the Office for National Statistics 650-strong list are chocolate biscuits, muesli and frozen gateau.
And the dining table has been dumped as families spend more time eating in front of the TV.
Instead, 30 new items have joined the list. These show Britons now spend more on hi-tech gadgets such as flat screen TVs, digital camcorders and music downloads. ****** ****, a desk for the home office and nanny fees are also included.
And as working parents struggle to pick their children up from school, the after-school club joins the list. But thankfully flea drops are dropped.

WHAT'S OUT
Small brown sliced loaf
Muesli
Chocolate biscuits
Frozen cake and gateau
UK minced lamb
Frozen roasting chicken
Frozen boneless chicken thighs
Flavoured milk
Coleslaw
Hot milk drink
Multipack of pure orange juice
Long/short sleeved men's casual shirt
Men's three-quarter length coat
Women's overcoat
Girl's dress
Baseball cap
Adult's slippers
Child's sandals
Bedside cabinet
Dining room table
Dishcloths
Grass strimmer
Contact lens solution
Personal CD player
Flea drops
Television licence fee
Child's car seat

WHAT'S IN
Frozen chicken breasts
Chicken Kiev
Men's three-quarter length casual coat
Women's three-quarter length casual coat
Girl's trousers
Woodscrews
Home office desk
Nanny fees
Cold/flu drinking powder
Exhaust and brake fitting
Personal MP3 player
Flat screen TV
Digital camcorder
Water sports equipment
Child's swing
Child's trike (under fives)
Music downloads
In-store cafe meal
Liquid foundation
After school club charges
Money transfer fees

Ed note: This list has been censored slightly to make it sharee'ah compliant and child friendly.

not even enough bread and water ..

"I often get stomach ache. I throw up. It's the same for all the children here," said nine-year-old Fatima from the small town of Attil while looking feverishly at her mother Awa.
At least a third of the local drinking water is contaminated by sewage and pesticides, according to AFP.

Doctor Hossam Madi said diarrhea, gastroenteritis, fever, kidney failure, infection and dermatological problems blight most Palestinian children and persist into adulthood because of poor water supplies.CARE's Sime agreed."The quality of water is getting worse and worse."A high proportion of new-born babies die of water-borne infections. In the long run, Israelis will be affected by the pollution of water in the Palestinian territories."

In villages such as Jalbun, household, agricultural and industrial waste from Israeli settlements speed up the process of water pollution.

Catastrophe
In another development, the United Nations warned Sunday that the Gaza Strip was dangerously facing a looming humanitarian crisis over continued Israeli closures.
"Every day is taking us closer to a humanitarian crisis," said John Ging, the Gaza director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

He said that the Israeli closure of Gaza's Karni commercial crossing caused his agency to run out of food supplies to distribute to the most impoverished families.
"Flour and wheat are not the only products in short supply. There is a shortage of sugar, oil and many of the other basic commodities.
"If the borders remain closed then everything will begin to become a crisis in itself."
Hundreds of Palestinians lined up outside bakeries in Gaza on Friday, March 17, to buy bread as shop owners complained they were running out of flour because of Israel's closure of the commercial crossing into the impoverished strip.
Israel has closed Karni for much of the year, citing security concerns. It was last closed on March 13 and Israel says it has no immediate plans to reopen it.
Ging said it was essential to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
"I am calling on everybody who can assist to solve the situation where the borders are closed and the result is that people here in Gaza do not have enough bread, the very basics that are needed to sustain our lives."

from: islam-online.net

innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raaji'oon

An AP story in Arab News reports:"Eight-year-old Akbar Zayed was on her way to have stitches removed from her chin when a barrage of Israeli Army bullets killed her on the spot, her family said yesterday."

The story reports that Akbar's father, Abdel, had asked her uncle, Kamal, to take her to the clinic to get stitches removed from her chin.Kamal Zayed said that three men ran toward his car and that he was fired upon before he could turn off the engine.“'I saw them behind the fence. There were more than 30 soldiers. The first bullet hit my niece. She got a bullet in the head from the very beginning,' Kamal recalled from his hospital bed, where he was being treated yesterday for gunshot wounds in his arm and leg.

When the gunfire erupted, Kamal had just arrived at the clinic where his niece was to have her stitches removed.“'I started to yell ... opened the door and started taking her out of the car to get her into the clinic. They (the soldiers) yelled at me to put her on the ground, started shooting in the air. I don’t know what they shot at.' Kamal said. "Later, Kamal said he was pulled out of the ambulance by soldiers and interrogated for more than two hours before being allowed to receive medical treatment."

via umkahlil's blog

I'm *so* proud of..

...*myself*..
(pats ego on the back) ..alhamdulillaah..laa quwwata illaa billaah..

Reason: I actually managed to make muttabaq for Friday morning breakfast, which is a snack everyone in the family loves.

All the people who've eaten at our place can attest that I'm a serendipitous cook at best...who masks ineptitude by variety -- in other words, I try out strange, new recipes so often that I *always* have an excuse if the food doesn't turn out right (see, this was only the first time I made it, it'll turn out all right the next time in shaa Allaah...)

I have absolutely no pretensions to Cordon Bleu cooking, so I was as surprised as the rest of the clan when the muttabaq came out crisp on the outside, crunchy soft on the inside..and I even remembered to put in the salt!!

For me it's a big enough achievement to warrant a blog post and recipe courtesy Frances Meade, the writer of Honey and Onions, an excellent memoir of Saudi Arabia in the Sixties..which can be read online here

On cool evenings, we headed east out the Dhahran Road to a garden coffee house where we could watch the muttabaq being made. The cook would throw a small ball of dough on a marble slab until it was tissue thin, place a thin rectangle of bread in the center and pile on ground meat, chopped greens, spices and finally a raw egg to bind it all together. After folding the thin dough over the filling, he would toss it onto a hot oiled grill where it would immediately puff up and brown. Turned once, it was then cut into six pieces with a flourish of what appeared to be a pair of putty knives.
A sweet version, made with bananas and sugar and egg was a perfect dessert and we would order batches of both. We took them away heaped on a huge enamel tray, garnished with whole lemons and tomatoes, and carefully covered with newspaper for insulation, the tray to be returned on the way back into town later in the evening. It is my personal recommendation for a perfect impromptu picnic

The cleverest boy in the world?

16 March 2006
SURGEON AGED 7
Akrit speaks four languages and is trying to find a cure for cancer in his spare time (but he does quite like Spiderman)
By Antonia Hoyle
HIS mates may be preoccupied with their PlayStations and their favourite sport but 12-year-old Akrit Jaswal has more pressing concerns...
He's studying for a bachelor of science degree, speaks four languages and has already performed a surgical operation.
His bedroom is filled with medical books, not model planes, and he's better at discussing politics than most men three times his age.
A typical day for the pint-sized pre-teen involves meeting politicians, working on cures for Aids and cancer, and treating the hundreds of ailing people who see him as nothing short of a modern-day saint.
With an IQ higher than Albert Einstein's, Akrit has been declared the cleverest boy in the world - and he is determined to make the most of his gift.
"I feel I've a duty to stop all the suffering in the world," he says. "It would be a waste of my natural talent not to use it wisely.
"I might not be the average scientist but I reckon I have a good chance of coming up with the breakthrough technology to treat ill people."
Akrit certainly isn't short of confidence and, as he discusses his superior knowledge, he comes across as more than slightly smug.
But, thankfully, the youngster does retain some childish qualities. He's at pains to point out that, despite being a child prodigy and household name in his native India, he's an ordinary boy at heart.
"My hero is Spiderman and I love going to the cinema with my friends," he explains. "My favourite film is probably Titanic. I also enjoy a good game of cricket and I'm pleased India are beating England in the Test series. If anything, being born so clever makes me determined to enjoy life even more."
An only child, Akrit's parents realised that he was different when he started talking and walking at just 10 months old.
By the time he was five, he was reading Shakespearean plays in English and begging to sit in at his local doctor's surgery so he could learn how to operate. "My parents explained that I was very clever," he recalls. "But I never felt out of the ordinary."

when maths meets art..

What are fractals?


They're everywhere, those bright, weird, beautiful shapes called fractals. But what are they, really?

Fractals are geometric figures, just like rectangles, circles and squares, but fractals have special properties that those figures do not have.

There's lots of information on the Web about fractals, but most of it is either just pretty pictures or very high-level mathematics. So this fractals site is for kids, to help them understand what the weird pictures are all about - that it's math - and that it's fun!

what did one maths book say to another?

Maths teacher mum talking to her son:"…if I've told you n times I've told you n+1 times"

What insect is good at maths - An accountAnt

Why is 6 afraid of 7? - Because 789

Son: "Dad, will you do maths homework for me tonight?" Father: "No son, it wouldn't be right"
Son: "Well you can try" :)

What do you call a crushed angle? A rectangle.

What do you call an angle which is adorable? Acute angle.

What did one maths book say to the other maths book?
"I have a lot of problems..." ::)

you know when..

you know your kids have been OD-ing on Alice in Wonderland when...you tell your 3-year-old to run along and play and they say: "Yes, your Majesty"

(just-occurred-troubling-afterthought: alternatively, it could also mean that you've been acting too much like the Queen of Hearts lately...)

Must-See: 1000 & 1 inventions

Discover what the inventors of the camera, car, fountain pen and a 7th century fashion designer have in common..*must see*..The "1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" exhibition, which opened in London on Wednesday, March 8, and runs through June, uncovers the Islamic civilization's overlooked contribution to Science, Technology and Art during the Dark Ages in European history.

The Guardian says: "It [the Islamic civilization] is the thread that links cars, carpets and cameras and is also responsible for three-course meals, bookshops and modern medicine."
The fair, supported by the Home Office and the Department for Trade and Industry, lifts the veil on hundreds of innovations - from kiosks and chess through to windmills and cryptography - that are often popularly associated with the western world but originate from Muslim scholarship and science.

Top 10 Homegrown Exam Tips

Before

1. Make the right niyyah (intention)

Make the intention to excel in your studies because Allaah loves and blesses everything that is done with ihsaan. Muslims shouldn't aim for mediocrity or second place...make a firm decision that nothing but the best will do. Make the intention that you are studying to be a useful, contributing member of the Ummah one day, in shaa Allaah.

2. Be Regular
It's not a good idea to cram facts just a couple of weeks or a month or two before an exam...you might OD or get indigestion :)

There is a reason why 'Slow and Steady wins the Race' and you'll see this for yourself during exams. Students who put in regular effort all year long retain what they learn better and are waaaaaay less confused and more confident than students who rely on last minute swotting.

3. Read, Read, Read
The more you go over your study material, the more familiar it becomes, until you can virtually recite it in your sleep, complete with page numbers...:)
It's a good idea to replace all extra curricular reads (over dinner, at bedtime etc) and TV (if you watch it) with your textbooks and notes just about a month before exams.. you'll be glad you did!

4. Review
Make fact sheets for each section of the book...write down the main learning objectives so that you save time when you revise. If you remember all the points from the fact sheet, without looking at the notes/textbook, in shaa Allaah, you're good!!

5. Organise
Annotate your textbooks, make lots of notes in neat legible handwriting, file all the extra study material (mock question papers, diagrams) by section, so that it's easier to access than a pile of mussed up papers.

A night before the exam, get your exam card, clothes (including shoes/socks/scrunches) pencil box and other equipment ready so that you're not rushing about a la The White Rabbit.."I'm late..I'm late..I'm Late I'm Late I'm Late..."

6. Rest, Relax, Reach Early!
Don't press the panic button if you don't remember something or stay up all night reviewing the entire book a night before the exam.

Eat something light and have a restful night's sleep to be in good shape on the morning of the exam. The bleary eyed, zapped zombie look won't score bonus marks..quite the opposite, in fact.

Get up for Qiyaam and ask Allaah for tawfeeq, for excellence, for ihsaan.

Pray Fajr and don't forget to feed the butterflies in your stomach a light breakfast , so that they don't go into overdrive :)

Reach the exam venue early, so that you're not scrabbling about for your seat while everyone else is settled in.

During

7. Clear your mind
Focus on the questions and forget about everything else...(including your mum's dire threats of how looong you'll be grounded if you don't come "first in class" )

Read the questions at least thrice so that you know exactly what is being asked.

Formulate the sequence of the answer in your mind before you start writing, if it's an essay type question.

In MCQs (multiple choice questions) check carefully for trick questions where all the answers might seem correct or all wrong...if you don't know the answer outright, try choosing an answer by elimination (rule out all the answers that cannot possibly be correct, until you come to the right one).

8. Keep an eye on the time, save the worst for the last

It's a good idea to do the easy questions that you're 100 % sure of first, and then come back to the not-so-easy/I-have-no-clue-what-this-is ones later..that way you save time. Next, tackle the not-so-easy ones , circle the ones you have absolutely no clue about and save them for the last.

9. Check your paper

If you finish the paper and still have time, re-read your answers as if you were the teacher who's eventually going to check your paper..check for spelling mistakes, missing words, incomplete answers, questions you may have marked incorrectly or left out inadvertently...ask yourself: "where can I cut marks here??" *evil grin*:)

All Along

10. Launch a Duaa Drive

Enlist as many people as possible to make lots of Duaa for you..don't believe the kids and grown ups (Allaahu Musta'an) who say there are certain duaas for exams.. (especially popular when I was in med school was "Summun bukmun 'umyyun" recited under one's breath and surreptitiously "blown" in the general direction of the viva-voce examiner..that supposedly rendered them deaf and blind (to one's blunders) and speechless.. as in unable to point out one's glaring howlers)

Pray hard, work hard, and do your best for the sake of Allaah.

Fatah'Allaahu 'alaykum...wa laa hawlaa wa laa quwwata illaa billaah..

PS: Pls pray for R-R...they have an important exam coming up in 2 weeks..

Exams can be fun!!

50 Fun Things to Do During An Exam

Disclaimer: You should not attempt these things during an actual exam. The following is meant for entertainment purposes only.

the things parents do..

It was Friday night, post 'Ishaa, by the time we finally collected all the stuff that was supposed to help us make a solar cooker -- Rasha's science project for school.



We had black construction paper, thick plastic laminate, aluminium foil and a couple of cardboard boxes (culled from the local supermarket dump on our way home from the stationery store).

We had everything..except the meticulous pair of hands and the *common sense* that could transform this rag-tag collection of things into the real thing.

This was because it was past the bedtime of the sole adult in our house who has exclusive franchise for these invaluable traits -- abu r-r, who turns in right after 'ishaa, and if he can't for some reason, turns into ..let's just say, not his normal self.

So R-R and I sat in the study staring at the stuff..and I confidently traced an opening for the laminate on the cardboard (that later turned out to be too large) ..while three pairs of beseeching eyes looked at abu r-r as he prepared to leave the room..
until..
he ended up doing everything..while we provided gracious assistance by cutting the tape and holding the scissors/glue stick by turns.

By the time it was complete, it was past midnight.

As I sat there, watching him cover the cardboard with adhesive paper..I remembered my father.
He had the hands that could transform the most mundane things into works of art.
I remember , just as if it happened yesterday, waiting for him to come home to cover my value education book with green crackly paper to make it look nice..there was going to be a grade for that.

For some reason he was late..(and tired).. when he came home and I insisted that he cover the book right *now*..and he asked me to put it away and he'd get it done by morning.

I remember that book as if it were right here in front of me, now. He covered it, and fixed a postcard of the Ka'abah and had written his favourite verse on the first page-- he has *the*most beautiful handwriting I've ever seen...
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْراً يَرَهُ
وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرّاً يَرَهُ

and the one who does a speck of good will see it/
and the one who does a speck of evil shall see it

i thought..there is a reason why the Qur'aan says:
أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ

Be grateful to me and to your parents..and to Me is the return...

Like Allaah's favours, the things our parents have done for us, are too numerous to recount..too many to adequately express thanks for..

postcards to god

...from Sunday schoolers..

includes: "Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother."

Muslim, 10

"My birthparents did not want me to come back to live with them ever. They only remembered me the way I was when they sent me away. I really didn’t want to go back to live the way I had before or live with them with the drinking, drugs, fighting, and chaos either. They had not sent any money to take care of me the whole first year I lived with Jumaana and Waseem.

Waseem was ready to retire but he kept on working just to take care of me, and Jumaana had given up her writing to teach me at home. They had done these things because they cared about what happened to me. I really didn’t want to ever leave them. So, after I lived with them for a year, the courts granted me a legal adoption. It would be the only way they could have the right to make decisions about my schooling and other legal issues that they couldn’t do, because they were not considered my parents.

Because my birthparents hadn’t had contact with me and never sent any support for the whole year, the court could make me go into a home or foster care, if they wanted to. I was so afraid that if my birthparents all of a sudden wanted to take me back because I was so much better, that they would do the same things to me they had before and I also knew they would never let me stay a Muslim.

I prayed so hard every day, five times a day and more, asking Allah to help me. Adoption in this country is the only way to assure legal rights and I wanted Waseem and Jumaana to adopt me more than anything. I was so happy when the courts felt it was the best thing for me too. The papers were filed and my birthparents were notified that adoption requests were filed. They didn’t even bother to contact the courts to contest it, in fact they quickly signed the papers to give me up. Actually I was happy about that.

Then on the day of the adoption, the judge even told me I could change my name. I chose Waa’il because it meant ‘one who returns for shelter’ and I felt like I went to Jumaana’s and Waseem’s for shelter. Also I felt like I had returned to ‘Islam’ so that was a shelter for me inside. It was the best thing in my whole life that ever happened to me. Because of the delays in removing the parental rights of my birthparents, the date for my adoption was changed, making it fall on the first day of Ramadhan in 2001. It was like Allah was blessing me over and over again.

..the inspirational story of how a 10-year-old boy found shelter and a new way of life with a Muslim family, here