feed your brain...

here are a few riddles...

What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?
A towel
You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?
I ate a chicken
What goes up and down the stairs without moving?
A rug
What can you catch but not throw?
A cold
What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
A stamp
I have holes in my top and bottom, my left and right, and in the middle. But I still hold water. What am I?
a sponge
Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?
Fire

Want more brain food?

cross posts: The clever bird

Rida has a cute post on Sisters-in-Faith and Rasha recounts a Fiqh lesson on the different kinds of water which can be used for wudhu, for which we had to create a whole new category of posts: ewww inducing.

Can you figure out this one?! I got it out of my Qira'ah book...
A hunter went out to the forest to hunt a bird, he caught a small one and when it was in his hands it asked him: "What d'you want to do to me?"
He said:" I want to eat you!!!"
The bird said: "I'm so small you won't even become full with me! But I'll give you three pieces of advice which will be better than eating me.
One I'll give when I'm in your hand, the second when I'm on the tree, and the third when I'm on the mountain!!!"
The hunter agreed.

The bird told him the first one:"Do not regret what you've lost."
The hunter freed her and said:"give me the second."

The bird stood on the tree and said:"Do not believe the impossible"
The hunter said:"and now give me the third?"
Then the bird suddenly had an idea and said: "You're so stupid! if you hadn't let me free you would have got out of me two precious diamonds each weighing twenty pounds!!!"

The hunter bit his lip with remorse and said:"Give me the third?"
The bird:"How can I?!You have forgotten two so how can I give you the third?Hadn't I told you not to regret what has passed and not to believe the impossible? Do you really think that I have two precious diamonds each weighing twenty pounds inside me?!"
And she flew off!!!

This story is a bit complicated to narrate, but it's got a really nice lesson, sah?

13 tips to memorise the Qur'aan for kids

cross-post from Sisters-in-Faith


طريقة لحفظ القران
لقد رغََّبنا رسولنا محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم بحفظ القران الكريم، وبين لنا الأجرالعظيم الذي أعده الله لمن خصص من وقته في حفظ كتاب الله وتلاوته، فعن عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه قال:قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (خيركم من تعلم القران وعلمه)رواه البخاريوعن سهل بن معاذ عن أبيه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:(من قرأالقران وعمل بما فيه ألبس والداه تاجاََ يوم القيامة ضوؤه أحسن من ضوء الشمس في بيوت الدنيالو كانت فيكم فما ظنكم بالذي عمل به)رواه أبو داودولكن قد تسائلين كيف أحفظ القران؟إن الحفظ في مثل عمرك هو الأفضل نظرا ًلصغر سنك وقلة نسيانك وقوة ذاكرتك...فإذابدأت الحفظ فاتبعي الاّتيإختاري المكان المناسب، وحبذا لو ذهبت إلى دار لتحفيظ القرانالكريم قريبة من منزلكم فإنه أثبت للحفظ.إختاري الوقت الذي تكونين فيه نشيطة وينصح إجتناب هذه
وقت الاستيقاظ من النوم، وقت الحاجةللنوم، وقت الحاجة للطعام، وقت الحاجة للَعب
أن يقرأ لك الاّيات الجديدة من هو أكبر منك سناً ممن يجيد القراءة، وانتبهي إلى فمهحتى تري كيفية النطق بالحرف.كرري الاّية بعده عدة مرات.كرري الاّية مع من تقرئين معه في الوقت نفسهعدة مرات.كرري الاّية بمفردك.لا تنتقلي إلى الاّية التاية حتى تحفظي الاّيةحفظاً صحيحاًانتقلي إلى الاّية التالية بالطريقة نفسها.اربطي بين الاّيات السابقة واللاحقة إقرئيها متتالية
كرري الاّيات عدة مرات حتى تصلي إلى الحفظ الجيد.إستمعي إلى شريط قراّني حتى يثبت الحفظ.اهتمي بتجويد القراّن ومراعاة أحكامه، وانتبهي إلىمعلمتك كيف تقرأ فأنت في هذه المرحلة تقرئين كما تقرأ وتقلدينها في كل ما تعلمه لك.إذا أحسست بالملل أو الضجر بعد مرور الوقت فانتقليإلى شىء اّخر مثل اللعب ثم عاودي الحفظ في وقتٍ اّخر.
taken from lateefa@basim.com
***
13 Tips for Memorising the Qur'aan

Our Prophet Muhammadصلىالله عليه وسلم wanted Muslims to be interested in learning the Qur'aan, and described the enormous 'ajr (reward) that Allaah has kept for the one who reserves/keeps their time specially for memorising and reading the Qur'aan.

It is narrated from 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaan, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophetصلىالله عليه وسلمsaid: "The best among you is the one who learns the Qur'aan and teaches it." [Al-Bukhaari]

And Sahl bin Mu'aath, may Allaah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophetصلىالله عليه وسلمsaid: "The one who reads the Qur'aan and acts upon what is in it, his parents will be given a crown to wear on the Day of Qiyaamah, its brilliance/shine will be better than the brilliance of the sun in the houses of this world ...if it was (actually) among you, what would you think of the one who acted upon it and acquired it." [Abu Daawood]

But you might ask: How do I memorise the Qur'aan?

Indeed, Hifth (memorising) at your age (when one is young) is the best.
This is because of your young age and less forgetfulness and strength of memory.
So, if you begin memorising the Qur'aan, take care to follow these tips:

1. Choose a suitable place for memorising the Qur'aan and it is best to go to a (Halaqah) for it is specially a place to memorise the Qur'aan.
2. Choose the time which you will be active in, and it's better to avoid times when you are involved in other activities: eg. after waking up from sleep, when wanting to sleep, when wanting to eat, when wanting to play etc.
3. Make sure that someone older than you reads the new aayaat which you are memorising.
4. Repeat the aayah' after them several times.
5. Repeat the aayah' with the person you are reading several times.
6. Repeat the aayah' yourself.
7. Don't move to the next aayah' until you've correctly memorised the first one.
8. Move to the next aayah' using the same tips.
9. Read the aayat' attached together
10. Repeat the aayaat' several times until memorised correctly.
11. Lisen to a Qur'aan cassette several times
12. Take care of Tajweed and its Ahkaam while reading.
13. If you feel bored after a little time, do something else and finish memorising some other time.

(translated by Rida)

saturday morning cheer

Assalamu'alaykum wa rahmatullah..

(Here) I've got some jokes, I wanted to tell my friends who are reading this blog...


Umma : If u hit your sister you will not have any dinner!!!
Rasha : K! I will hit her after Dinner!..

أما: إذا ضربت أختك، فسأحرمك من الغداء

رشا: حسناً، سأضربها بعد الغداء

In the middle of the night, Rida woke Rasha up...
Rida : There is a mouse in our bedroom!
Rasha : Well... do you think I'm a cat?

في منتصف الليل

رضا : يوجد فأر في غرفة النوم

رشا : إذاً؟هل تظنين أنني قطة؟

A sample of *sense*:P

Umma to Rasha : get me three or four chillies.
Rasha brought seven!Why? Because Three + Four = Seven!!

Friday reminder

صلوا وسلموا على من دلكم على الله فعرفتموه

Salloo wa sallimoo 'ala man dallakum 'alaAllaah fa'raftumoohu

صلوا وسلموا على من دلكم على المسجد بيت الله فدخلتموه

Salloo wa sallimoo 'ala man dallakum 'ala almasjidi baytillaahi fadakhaltumoohu

صلوا وسلموا على من دلكم على الصراط المستقيم فسلكتموه

Salloo wa sallimoo 'ala man dallakum 'ala ass'iraat almustaqeem fasalaktumoohu

من صلى عليه صلاة واحدة صلى الله عليه بها عشرا، ومن صلى عليه عشراصلى الله عليه بهامئة

man salla 'alayhi salaatan waahida

sallaAllaah 'alayi biha 'ashara

wa man salla 'alayhi 'ashara

sallaAllaah 'alayhi biha mi'ah

ومن صلى عليه مئة صلى الله عليه بها ألفا، ومن زاد زاده الله من فضله

wa man salla 'alayhi mi'ah,

sallaAllaah 'alayhi biha alfa

wa man zaada,

zaadahullaahu min fadhlih

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيماً

"Indeed Allaah and His Angels send salutations upon the Prophet...

O you who believe, send blessings and salutations of peace upon him."

اللهم صل وسلم على نبيناوحبيبنا وقدوتناوصل على بشيرٍنذير وسراجً منير

Allaahummaa salli wa sallim 'ala nabiyyina wa habeebina wa qudwatina,

wa salli 'ala basheerin natheer

wa siraajim muneer

وأعرض عليه صلاتنا وسلامنا وتحيتنا، يا من جل وعلا يا قدوس يا سلام

wa 'aridh 'alayhi salaatana wa salaamana wa tahaiyyatana

yaa man jall wa 'ala

yaa Quddoos, yaa Salaam

----------------------------------------

This is the way the Shaykh begins the Friday khutbah, by sending salutations (salah and salaam) upon the Prophet, صلىالله عليه وسلم

the meaning of this is:

Send salutations (salah and salaam) upon the one who guided you towards Allaah, so that you came to know Him;

Send salutations (salah and salaam) upon the one who guided you to the masjid, the house of Allaah, so that you entered it;

Send salutations (salah and salaam) upon the one who guided you to the Straight Path, so that you followed it

Whoever sends salutations upon him (the Prophet, صلىالله عليه وسلم) once;

Allaah sends salutations upon him ten times

Whoever sends salutations upon him ten times,

Allaah sends salutations upon him a hundred times

Whoever sends salutations upon him hundred times,

Allaah sends salutations upon him a thousand times

And whoever exceeds that

Allaah increases him in His favour

Our Allaah! Send salutations of peace on our Prophet and our Beloved and our Leader,

and send salutations upon the Bearer of Good News and the Warner,

and the Source of Light, the Radiant One

and show him our salutations (salah and salaam) and our greetings

O Majestic, Exalted One

O Holy One, The Source of Peace

5 things we're planning to do in Ramadhaan (in shaa Allaah)

1. Fast
Narrated Abu Hurayrah: Allaah's Apostle صلىالله عليه وسلم said: "Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadhaan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allaah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven." (Book #2, Hadith #37)


2. Pray at night
Narrated Abu Hurayrah: Allaah's Apostle صلىالله عليه وسلم said: "Whoever establishes prayers during the nights of Ramadhaan faithfully out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allaah's rewards (not for showing off), all his past sins will be forgiven." (Book #2, Hadith #36)

3. Give sadaqah
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: Allaah's Apostle صلىالله عليه وسلم was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadhaan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night of Ramadhaan to teach him the Qur'an. Allah's Apostle صلىالله عليه وسلم was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds). (Book #1, Hadith #5)

4. Go for Umrah
Narrated Ata: I heard Ibn 'Abbas saying, "Allah's Apostle صلىالله عليه وسلم asked an Ansari woman (Ibn 'Abbas named her but 'Ata' forgot her name), 'What prevented you from performing Hajj with us?' She replied, 'We have a camel and the father of so-and-so and his son (i.e. her husband and her son) rode it and left one camel for us to use for irrigation.' He said (to her), 'Perform 'Umrah when Ramadhaan comes, for 'Umrah in Ramadhaan is equal to Hajj (in reward),' or said something similar." (Book #27, Hadith #10)


5. Give sadaqat al-Fitr
Narrated Nafi': Ibn 'Umar said, "The Prophet صلىالله عليه وسلم made incumbent on every male or female, free man or slave, the payment of one Sa' of dates or barley as Sadaqat-ul-Fitr (or said Sadaqa-ramadan)." The people then substituted half Sa' of wheat for that. Ibn 'Umar used to give dates (as Sadaqat-ulFitr). Once there was scarcity of dates in Madeenah and Ibn 'Umar gave barley. 'And Ibn 'Umar used to give Sadaqat-ul-Fitr for every young and old person. He even used to give on behalf of my children. Ibn 'Umar used to give Sadaqatul-Fitr to those who had been officially appointed for its collection. People used to give Sadaqat-ul-Fitr (even) a day or two before the 'Id. (Book #25, Hadith #587

may Allaah accept!

*Rida*

awesome tajweed fact@Rida

الفرق بين التجويدالعملي والتجويد النظري
The difference between Tajweed al ‘Amalee and Tajweed an-Nazaree
التجويد العملي وهو تلاوة القرآن الكريم كماأنزله الله على رسول
الله محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم
Tajweed al ‘Amalee is the recitation of the Qur’aan in the manner it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam
ومما يدل على أهمية التجويد لقوله تعالى :
( والذين ءاتيناهم الكتاب يتلونه حق تلاوته)
وقوله تعالى : (ورتل القران ترتيلا)
And the evidence of the importance of this knowledge is the saying of Allaah...which means: "And the ones whom We have granted the Book, read it as it ought to be read (doing justice to the Book" and "And read the Qur'aan in Tarteel (pleasant, measured recitation)"

وهو معرفة قواعد التجويد واحكامه

Tajweed an Nazaree is to be aware of/learn the rules and regulations of Tajweed (with a view to teach it to others)

==============

the bottomline: One doesn't have to know all the Tajweed rules to read the Qur'aan correctly, one can simply follow a teacher word for word (alhamdulillaah, these days there are cassettes in the recitation of Sh. Muhammad Siddeeq alMinshaawi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, where one only has to read after him to get the correct pronunciation)

Yesterday I heard a teacher, Shaykh Isaam Qadhaah, say something that really made me think. He said the hadeeth says: the best among you are the ones who *learn* the Qur'aan and teach it..the word *learn* implies to put personal effort in the recitation to make it as correct as possible, as close to the words that proceeded from the mouth of the Prophet, صلىالله عليه وسلم, as possible...

it just made me think of how much effort we put into acquiring the right accent, the right pronunciation where the language benefits us materially...we take such pains to introduce our kids to nursery rhymes, sung in the right tune, with appropriate gestures...yet, when it comes to learning correct tajweed to read the Book that Allaah has chosen to give us over all the other nations, we go...oh..that's wayyyy too difficult..

PS: if this post sounds patronising, it wasn't meant to be..Allaah knows what is in our hearts..and I'm the weakest link in our house when it comes to reading correctly...the only point I'm trying to get across is that it's worth taking the trouble to teach our kids correct tajweed, because

(a) they learn faster, and retain longer than grownups

(b) they can be the voicelinks from the past to the future, they can carry this knowledge forward.

that's it. end of story.

...and Rida

الله لطيف بعباده

ذهب مجموعة من البحارة الى البحر, يريدون اصطياد السمك, ومكثوا ثلاثة أيام بلياليهن لم يحصلوا على سمكة واحدة, وكانوا يصلو ن الصلوات الخمس, وبجانبهم مجموعة أخرى لا تسجد لله سجدة, ولا تصلي صلاةً,وإذا هم يصيدون ويحصلون على طلبهم من هذا البحر, فقال بعض هؤلاء المجموعة: سبحان الله ‍ محم مصلي لله عز وجل كل صلاة, وما حصلنا على شىءٍ من الصيد , وهؤلاء لا يسجدون لله سجدة واحدة وها هو صيدهم ‍‍ فوسوس لهم الشيطان بترك الصلاة, فتركوا صلة الفجر,ثم صلاة الظهر, ثم صلاة العصر,وبعد العصرأتوا إلى البحر فصادوا سمكةً,فأخرجوها وبقروا بطنها فوجدوا فيها لؤلؤً ثمنية ً فأخذها أحدهم بيده,وقلبها ونظر إليها,وقال: سبحان الله لما أطعنا الله ما حصلنا عليها إن هذا الرزق فيه نظر. ثن أخذه ورمي بها في البحر, وقال:يعوضنا الله, والله لا اخذها وقد حصلت لنا بعد أن تركنا الصلاة,هيا ارتحلوا بنا من هذا المكان الذي عصينا الله فيه , فارتحلوا ما يقارب ثلاثة أميال, ونزلوا هناك في خيمتهم , ثم اقتربوا من البحر ثانية, فصادوا سمكة الكنعد ,فبقروا بطنها فوجدوا اللؤلؤة في بطن تلك السمكة , وقالو ا الحمد لله الذي رزقنا رزقاً طيباً. بعدأن بدؤوا يصلون ويذكرون الله ويستغفرونه , فأخذوااللؤلؤة.

Allaah is Subtle, All-Aware of His slaves

A group of fishermen went to sea to fish, and although they stayed at sea for 3 days and nights, they didn't get even one fish. They prayed every salaah at its proper time, but they had no luck.

There was another group of fishermen who did not prostrate to Allaaheven once, but they got lots of fish everyday.

Then the Muslims said: "Subhaanallaah! These people did not prostrate to Allaah even once, but they are getting what they need from the sea!"

Satan whispered to them to leave the salaah and then they began to leave each salaah one by one; first Fajr, then Thuhr, then 'Asr. After the time of 'Asr they began fishing again, and they caught a fish! When they opened it's stomach, they found a shining pearl in it!

Then, one of them, he took the pearl in his hand and turned it around and said: "Subhaanallaah! This beautiful pearl is the result of our disobeying Allaah!"

And saying this, he threw the pearl back into the sea.

He said: "Let us go far away from this place where we have disobeyed Allaah." They went away a distance of 3 miles.

They set up their tents there and they prayed and supplicated Allaah and cast their nets in the sea. They caught a fish again and when they split it's belly, they saw the same pearl in it!!

They thanked Allaah for granting them Halaal Rizq, and begged His forgiveness for their sin.

From: Laa Tahzan/Shaykh 'Aaidh al-Qarnee, may Allaah preserve him.

====================

Ed note: Maa shaa Allaah, Rida is *the* most patient person I know..may Allaah increase her in all that is good...during the course of typing out this blog entry, she lost all that she had posted twice (once thanks to a sibling who was acting up and wanted the 'puter)..and she hurt herself and when I asked her if she wanted to stop, she said no, she'd finish it herself (typing in Arabic is quite difficult imho)...may Allaah grant us all steadfastness and patience

This is an excerpt from Laa Tahzan by Sh. Aaidh Qarnee, who is maa shaa Allaah one of the most charismatic, sincere callers to Islaam that I have seen. I used to listen to his lectures on the Seerah and subhaanallaah...i haven't heard better..this book is a must-read..a long, lingering must-read

Girls in Black

By Rida

Assalaamualaykum!
I haven't been writing on the blog for a long time because we had ourexams, but now alhamdulillah they are over!
I got my results and as usual alhamdulillah I got MUMTAAZ

Ed: *cough*

These days I have a lot of time because Rasha still hasn't finished herexams so I read and help Umma and get on with my tahfeez.
I made these pictures on the computer, the upper one is me with Rasha and my cousins and the lower one is my school , not really, but..

If you look carefully you'll see that the figures don't have their necks joint to the body, that's cuz the girls in school told me to do that so that it doesn't look like a real human being!
:)

The cleverest boy in Madinah

Asalamu’alaikum wa rahmatu allahi wa barakatuh

Bismillah arahman araheem…

I’m Rida… I’m going to tell you about a very clever boy.

He was only 6 years old when he lost his father

He was only 11 when the prophet went to Madinah, at that time he met the Prophet and had already memorized 17 surahs of the Qur'aan. The Prophet sall Allaahu alayhi wassallam asked him to recite a portion from what he had learnt and the boy recited Surah Qaaf.

The Prophet [SAW] asked him to learn Hebrew and Syriac languages so that he [SAW] could write letters to people and the boy learnt these within a month

He learnt the entire Qur'aan and started writing it as it was revealed to the Prophet [SAW]

Later, after the Prophet [SAW] passed away, he was asked to collect the entire Quran in the form of a book.

His name was Zaid bin Thaabit radiyy Allaahu anhu