what if someone opened the door into your life?

Good reminder from Ustaadh Muhammad Al-Shareef:
Allah's Messengerصلىالله عليه وسلم said, "Be honest, for indeed honesty leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to paradise."
[Lessons from this Hadith] Live your life in a way that if someone was to open the door on you at any moment, you would have nothing to hide. This is true success. Think of something that you may be ashamed people will find out about, and take some action right now to stop doing it.

inspirations in your inbox

We don't really have a humungous e-mail list consisting of the entire world and their sister, but this is something really nice that I'd recommend to anyone out there looking for divine inspiration in their e-mail inbox: weekly-emails from Ustaadh Muhammad AlShareef that remind you of the words of Allaah and His Messenger.
A sample:
My number one goal in life is...

مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الْآخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ وَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِن نَّصِيبٍ
"To any that desires the soil of the Hereafter, We will increase
in his soil, and to any that desires the soil of this world, We
grant somewhat thereof, but he has no share or lot in the
Hereafter.
Surah Ash-Shura 42:20
[Lessons from this Verse]
When you ask people what their number one goal in life is,
rarely do you hear the person immediately respond by saying:
"Pleasing Allah, Jannat Al-Firdows - the highest level of
Jannah, and being with Rasul Allah, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam,
in the hereafter."

But ... isn't that the correct answer? Let's make it a reality with how we live our lives!
PS: Invite 10 friends to benefit from these emails by telling themhow you yourself benefitted, and that they too can join by emailing: successinislam@getresponse.com.

Ghada Karmi's book: In Search of Fatima

...is one of the most straight-forward, unselfconscious and unaffected piece of writing I've ever read. These are the highest compliments I can think of for someone of her intellectual stature and experience. It is so easy for academics to fall into the trap of intellectualising everything, it's a major miracle how someone with her background avoided that and came up with such a beautiful book.
She struck a chord with me for several other reasons...a semi-lonely childhood, a house frequented by her father's famous intellectual friends, a convent-school education, studying medicine instead of the arts even though she loved reading and writing to fulfill her parent's wishes...her (self-admitted) anglophilia, her friend's opinion (and her own) of her as "a dark-skinned English girl" and subsequent devotion to the Palestinian cause.
It reminded me in parts of Edward Said's memoir 'Out of Place', but 'In Search of Fatima' is special because it's written from a Muslim perspective, albeit by a person who describes herself as non-practising.
I bought the book at duty-free and could not put it down until I'd finished all 450 pages.
Good stuff.

Into the Mind of a Mum (2)

Why I won't let you fool around with your hair / face.

Cross posted on the Sisters-in-Faith blog .

common sense 101

Parents to the Rescue

The Guardian

...most people would feel helpless if confronted with a medical emergency and seven out of 10 adults would not know what to do if faced with the sight of a child lying face down in water.
"We polled 2,000 adults and their answers ranged from doing nothing and feeling helpless to not checking if the casualty was breathing before starting CPR [cardio-pulmonary resuscitation] - which could prove fatal," says Andrew New, senior training officer for St John Ambulance. "Given the number of first-aid emergencies that could be resolved relatively easily, it is worrying how few parents say they don't know what to do. Even doing something simple, such as having the confidence to give reassurance, can make a huge difference to the outcome."
"Without a doubt, parents don't know enough," says Clive James, a senior training officer and volunteer with St John Ambulance. "Just take the recovery position, for example. Putting somebody in the right position can save their life. Or choking. If you know exactly what to do, you can help."
There are all sorts of first-aid courses in the UK, ranging from a basic three hours to several days, but many people are reluctant to go on one. "Mostly it's because people think they won't need it, that it won't happen to them," says James, "or they're not sure what the course might involve. But 99.9% of first aid is common sense."
Joe Mulligan, head of first aid with the Red Cross, believes some parents are reluctant to learn because they don't want to confront the idea that they may need to use it on their own children. "We get a lot of people signing up for a course after the event. They've normally had a scare of some sort. What happens in the first five minutes after an accident is critical and can be not only life-saving, but in cases of burns and scalds, quick and appropriate treatment can have a huge effect on the cosmetic result."

Instant response: what you need to know
Burns

The first thing to do is cool the affected area. If possible, hold it under cold water for at least 10 minutes. Then cover with clean, non-fluffy material such as a cloth, plastic bag or clingfilm. If it's deep or larger than the palm of the casualty's hand, also seek urgent medical attention. Do not Use lotions, creams or adhesive dressings or break blisters.

Lumps, bumps and bruises

Apply a cold compress to bumped areas for no more than 10 minutes, to relieve the swelling. When people go into shock they go cold. Hold their hand to warm and reassure them. If you are worried they might be concussed, the rule is that if the child gets knocked out, even for a short time, or acts strangely, they should see a doctor.

Nosebleeds

These usually happen because a tiny blood vessel inside the nose has become damaged. Aim to control the blood loss. Sit the child down, tilt their head forwards and allow the blood to drain from the nose. Then get them to pinch their nose and dribble into a bowl. Discourage them from coughing, swallowing or swilling. After a few minutes, release the pressure on the nose. If still bleeding, keep pinching for another 10 minutes.

Strains and sprains

Strains are pulled muscles and sprains are stretched ligaments. Remember "Rice". R is for rest: get the child to sit down. I is for ice to reduce pain and bruising, but don't apply it directly on to the skin - wrap it in kitchen roll or a tea towel. Frozen peas are good because you can roll them around the injury. C is for compress: apply a bandage firmly to the injury. E is for elevation: keep the injured area as high as possible, to slow blood flow to the injury, so reducing swelling and long-term bruising.

Febrile convulsion

Make sure the child is not too hot and keep them in the recovery position (on their side, mouth facing downwards for easy draining, chin up to keep airways open). The convulsion may be caused by their temperature getting too high but it could be asthma or epilepsy. If in doubt, call an ambulance. Do not Wrap the child in too many layers if they have a high temperature.

essential Friday reading/listening

Besides Soorah Al-Kahf of course, there's this incredibly insightful tafseer (exegesis) of the soorah by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi that you should try to get your hands on (if you haven't read it already that is).

I read it aeons ago and I'm looking to get hold of a copy again for Rasha-Rida to read, in shaa Allaah.

In other Friday news, nothing compares to listening to the soorah by one of my favourite reciters.
I'm convinced that the fastest way to learn a soorah is by listening to it as often as possible.
Try it.

'tis the season to eat/make halwa!

The winter chill seems to say: chuck out the calorie counter and dig out the degchis, it's time to make hot, tastes-best-with-ginger-tea halwa.

Chana, carrot, sooji: take your pick.

PS: Now that I've finally acquired the knack of making halwa, I'm appalled at how easy it is!
I mean all these years I've been thinking that there's this huge subtle art behind it that can only be achieved by a chosen few Cordon-Bleu cooks (or the desi-equivalent thereof), and now I find it's ridiculously easy.

Try it, honestly. It's great calorie-rich food for growing kids (not so good for mums though):P

us and them

These days, I find myself thinking a lot about Palestine.

How can one not?

I'm completely dumbfounded when peope shrug their shoulders with supreme self absorption and dismiss Palestine as a ''territorial issue'' or '' not my problem''. I believe it takes a truly hardened heart to brush away so much pain with such nonchalance.

alhamdulillaah, there are several media outlets and personal pages that cut across religious and race lines (AngryArab, UmmKahlil, Leila Um Yousef, Sabbah, Uri Avnery...to name a few of those I regularly follow) who've been doing an excellent job on reporting Palestine, when most of the mainstream media are content to let sleeping stories lie...for various reasons.

It's also achingly ironic that this new spate of violence in Palestine comes at a time when Muslims are fasting in thanks to mark the day Moses is said to have left Egypt with Bani Israa'eel, after the Prophet صلىالله عليه وسلم said: ''...we have more right to Moosaa ...''

subhaanallaah.

must-see

Teachers working for months without pay, a chronic overcrowding in the classrooms, and students at risk each day from imprisonment and perhaps worse - welcome to the typical education experience in a Palestinian school.
Those who can, teach - often without pay.

Witness presents a series of three films taking a close look at the extraordinary difficulties and challenges that two ordinary Palestinian schools face.

While poverty is widespread throughout the West Bank and Gaza, Nablus is one of the worst-hit areas because of the decreasing range of employers and the limited number of opportunities.Hobbled by the Palestinians' diminishing purchasing power and by Israeli security closures that have isolated Nablus and its merchants from the rest of the West Bank, hundreds of employees have been fired this year alone.

According to the Mayor of Nablus, about 70 per cent of the city's residents live below the poverty line, but the Palestinian Authority and local government have virtually no funds to give the poor.
Astonishingly, despite these poverty levels, almost 90 per cent of children in Nablus go on to university.But the education system is cracking under the weight of the crisis. More than a million Palestinian students face daily risks ranging from Israeli roadblocks to imprisonment and even death.

Witness goes into the classrooms and corridors of two schools to gauge the situation.Mahmoud Awemleh and Najla Yousif, maths and science secondary school teachers, do their best to teach and inspire their pupils, while trying themselves to survive the challenges of life in Nablus. Osaid writes his end-of-year exams which he missed while in an Israeli prison. The schools' teachers anxiously await pay day, wondering if their salaries will come through this month or not. Meanwhile tragic pandemonium breaks out when Israeli soldiers launch a nearby raid to root out

militants.This series provides a rare glimpse into the daily lives of those trying to educate, and be educated, under occupation.

good stuff: the week of young people's blogs

interesting :

"For over eight years, the City Circle has been running a supplementary school that offers academic support to students between the ages of 8 and 18. The school is run by volunteers and serves around 110 students. CC Saturday School enjoys a great reputation and fantastic feedback.

Inspired by the movie Freedom Writers, we decided to give our students the chance to share their views on the CC blogs. The students were given the freedom to write about whatever they want and that the good pieces would be published unedited. To encourage the students, we promised prizes to the best six stories. Over this week, the CC blogs belongs to the young ones, the innocent, those with no political agendas. Some bits will make you laugh, other make you shed a tear, some are entertaining, others thoughtful. Above all, we cannot ignore them. They are the future.

To find out more about the school please visit the school's page.

Sid Djerfi is Head teacher of the City Circle Saturday School.''

Read the 'Pick of the Blogs' here

consolation in a cat

ever seen a bald cat?
no?

Then there's hope for mums who are in their post-partum 'shedding' phase...or so the good doctors say.

"The most common cause of hair loss in women is a shift in the growth cycle," says Rebecca Caserio, M.D., clinical associate professor of dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh. In other words, at any given time, some of your hair is growing and some of it is done growing. Most hairs have a life expectancy of three to six years, even if you get a haircut--or several--in the meantime. These hairs go into a resting stage for three months and fall out, and then new hairs are produced from the same roots.
NO BALD CATS
In other words, a certain amount of hair loss is normal. Think about it: Your cat probably sheds hundreds of hairs a day without going bald.
"We normally shed somewhere between 50 and 100 hairs every day," says Dr. Caserio. "But there are a whole host of life events--namely, hormone shifts from birth control pills, pregnancy and menopause--that affect growing conditions, so that we can sometimes lose hundreds of hairs a day." Rapid weight loss, severe dandruff, iron deficiency and a low protein intake can also speed up the normal rate of hair loss by forcing hairs into a rooting stage. A serious illness or a physical stress, such as childbirth, can trigger dramatic (but temporary) hair loss of up to 50 percent, but this only occurs in extreme circumstances, says Dr. Caserio."

The treatment?

"If your doctor has ruled out medical causes for accelerated hair loss, women doctors say that there's plenty you can do to hang on to what hair you have and encourage healthy regrowth. Their advice will be of special help to women who experience hair loss after childbirth.

Be gentle. Treat your hair like a baby's, says Dr. Bihova. Use baby shampoo and shampoo no more than once a day. Lather up only once when you do and rub your scalp gently. Then spritz your hair with a detangling conditioner.
Air-dry your hair. Avoid drying vigorously with a towel, says Dr. Bihova. Also, if you must use a blow-dryer, keep it on a low setting.
Style when dry. Grooming wet hair can cause it to stretch and break, says Dr. Bihova. So don't comb or brush your hair until it's dry.
Switch shampoos with the season. Change your brand of shampoo at the beginning of every new season--summer, winter, spring and fall, suggests Dr. Bihova. In her experience, it seems to prevent some shedding.
Don't tease. Even women who aren't losing their hair should avoid teasing or back-combing, says Yohini Appa, Ph.D., director of product efficacy at the Neutrogena Corporation in Los Angeles. "It is one of the worst things that you can do to your hair." Teasing breaks the hair and contributes to the appearance of hair loss.
Perm and color carefully. When perming and coloring your hair, follow product instructions carefully, says Elizabeth Whitmore, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Neither perms nor color causes hair to fall out, she adds. But both, when done incorrectly, do cause hair to break. And when the break is very close to the scalp, it can make you look as though hair has fallen out.
NUTRITIONAL HELP
So much for treating hair loss externally. To address possible internal causes, try these strategies.
Get adequate protein. Eat a couple of three- to four-ounce servings of fish, chicken or other lean sources of protein every day, even if you're dieting, says Dr. Whitmore. Protein is needed by every cell in your body, including the cells that make the hair. Without adequate protein, the cells in your body don't work efficiently and can't make new hair to replace old hair that's been shed.

Maintain iron levels. Since iron-deficiency anemia can also cause hair loss, make sure that you eat a well-balanced diet that includes a daily serving or two of iron-rich foods, says Dr. Whitmore. Good sources of iron include lean red meat, steamed clams, cream of wheat, dried fruit, soybeans, tofu and broccoli.
Take vitamin B6. "I have no idea why it works, but 100 milligrams a day of vitamin B6 seems to decrease hair-shedding in some people," says Dr. Caserio. Just don't take any more than that without consulting a doctor, she cautions. Larger amounts can be toxic, especially over a prolonged time."

from: The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women

walking the tightrope on a keyboard

This one's an absolute MUST as in M.U.S.T read: Marina Hyde on treading the thin line between being an 'escribitionist' and an 'exhibitionist' on the internet, in The Guardian.

excerpts:

"'Do you really keep a diary?" a besotted Algernon asks of Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest.

"I'd give anything to look at it. May I?"

"Oh no," replies Cecily with princessy disdain. "You see, it is simply a very young girl's record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication. When it appears in volume form, I hope you will order a copy."

Wilde's jokes are so faultlessly crafted that they tend to retain their bite even a hundred years later, but the latter does lose something of its surreal edge when considered against the news that today there are four million bloggers at work in the UK alone. Four million! It feels like the magic number at which the inner monologue could be officially classified as endangered.

These days, if it's in our heads, out it comes, edited to varying degrees into words and pictures, and presented to a real or imagined audience. Self-important? Perhaps. Often tedious? Certainly. But that doesn't matter as much as people make out.

Even if there weren't the vaguest of ironies in newspaper columnists wondering why people feel the need to share their views on life with anyone, it does seem time to move beyond the sneering accusations of Pooterism that traditionally form the basis of mainstream media attacks on self-published alternatives. If all we had to worry about in this brave new world was preposterous self-regard comingled with a comic lack of self-awareness, then it might be an idyll indeed.

Far more intriguing, and progressively alarming, is the degree to which we have embraced the new exhibitionism. An early term for bloggers - back when it was a frightfully niche pursuit and the internet was all fields and so on - was "escribitionists", and though the word was never what you'd call common parlance, what it stood for has become common practice as personal sites and social networking communities have exploded.

How odd, I found myself thinking recently, that in an age when we seem more and more concerned with encroachments on privacy, we are so increasingly keen to invade our own. My mistake, of course, was to assume there is a "we" at all. According to those who understand far more about communications psychology than I do, the great generational dividing line has been drawn. And broadly speaking, if you're under 30, your private self and public self are interdependent in previously unthinkable ways. Time and again, in surveys of what young people want from their online experiences, keeping socially connected is ranked way above privacy.

[...]But the view that this is a cultural shift with which we must all make our peace is wrong. Naive and cavalier is a dangerous combination, and a disdain for their own privacy will leave young people immensely exposed.

Consider the case of the 23-year-old Muslim woman who was found guilty this week under new anti-terror laws. Samina Malik worked for WH Smith at Heathrow, but was given to writing poetry about beheading non-believers and martyrdom and suchlike. Not long after she had begun visiting chatrooms, calling herself the "lyrical terrorist" - she thought the name "cool" - the knock at the door came. Examination of her computer revealed she had downloaded, inter alia, something called "How to win in hand-to-hand combat". She lives in Southall, awaits sentencing.

When we live in a society where reactionary bedroom poets are found guilty under terrorism laws, it makes you wonder whether their rather more seasoned and significantly more brilliant predecessors such as Swift wouldn't, in a similar climate, have realised the folly of bunging their every move on Facebook, and made alternative arrangements.

The world may be shifting, but we must attempt to encourage in young people an understanding of the value of privacy, and a sense of the very real dangers that might attend them should they discard it."

Parents Wake Up!!

Sr. Maryam has a heartfelt post up on Imaam Suhaib Webb's blog called 'Parents: Wake Up!!" which captures the exasperation/frustration I'm sure we've all felt at some point, at the way some Muslim parents allow their children to run amok in public without any supervision.

Obligatory reading if you're a parent, or even a wannabe.

something's cooking

given that some people in our house are still fasting, not all out feasting, I thought I'd share a recipe of something I'm cooking for the evening today: Chinese Chilli Chicken, via India.

Tastes nice, smells appetising, not too many spices and easy to make.

I love that recipe website too btw, it has scores of desi recipes which magically turn out right if you just follow the instructions on there.

Nice!

how the horse got its name

*very* interesting post on one of our favourite blogs: 'How the Horse Got its Name' at Arabic Gems.

Maa shaa Allaah, there's always something interesting and beneficial to read on that blog.

e-'Eid cards

so, we've been sending out e-'Eid cards the last couple of days and were wondering whether some of the readers of this blog might like to check out our new, revamped card service.

alternatively, if you scroll down the page, you'll see the pale blue bravenet e-card service box sandwiched somewhere among the host of other boxes on our sidebar.

suggestions on improving the service/sketches/gifs are always welcome.
jazaakumullaah khayr.

May Allaah accept!

Ed: Our Imaam calls the day of 'Eid 'Yawm al Jawaa-iz', the Day of Prizes, where everyone's efforts in Ramadhaan are evaluated and awarded. He calls Ramadhaan a 'madrassah' from where people graduate with different scores and at different levels.

This is why my 'Eid greeting of choice is: Taqabbal Allaah minna wa minkum; may Allaah accept from us and from you, for without His acceptance all one's efforts and intentions are reduced to nothing...and there is no real happiness without earning His pleasure.

***

P.S: : If you haven't seen the sisters-in-faith blog 'Eid makeover, you don't know the meaning of 'festooned in festivity' yet.

No really, it's the most exciting 'Eid template, complete with an incandescent crescent and colourful fireworks...good work, Rasha-Rida!

***

P.PS: For people like me, who like seeing new places through other people's eyes, this is a real site for sore eyes: MuslimPhotos.

It has pictures of masaajid and other places of historical interest from around the world. I especially liked the gallery section called 'Prophets were Here' which has pictures of places which were actually visited by several Prophets. There's Makkah and various sites in Madeenah, Jerusalem, Damascus and even a picture of the ruins of the church in Syria where the Christian monk Bahira saw the Prophet صلىالله عليه وسلم as a young child and recognised the signs of Prophethood in him.

Very interesting pictures, maa shaa Allaah. Look them up!

if you want to see a real live Qur'aan miracle

tune in to the international Qur'aan award on Dubai tv.

subhaanallaah, it is so moving to see Muslim youngsters from the world over ...from Congo to Nepal to Taiwan to Barbados to Kyrgyzstan...most of whose native language is not Arabic reciting the Qur'aan with flawless tajweed.

subhaanallaah! like the Qur'aan says:

innaa nazzalna ath-thikr
wa innaa lahu la haafithoon.

"indeed, we have revealed Ath-Thikr( The Reminder, Qur'aan)
And indeed we will preserve it."

sadaqa Allaah ul Azeem.

missing!

There are books whose sudden disappearance/absence from my life I mourn just like people...and this book is one of them: Bringing up children in Islam, an excellent English translation of the original Arabic Tarbiyat al-awlaad fil-Islaam by Sh. Abdullah Naasih Ulwaan. Someone (I've even forgotten who) borrowed it from our bookshelf a couple of years ago during the course of a visit, and that was the last I saw of it.

There is much to recommend the book...it's very extensively researched and full of authentic references, but most importantly has virtually none of the irritating typos/editorial errors that crop up in most Islamic self-help books.

Recently we bought a couple of books (summer holiday reading for the kids) and I was appalled beyond appalled to see the horrific editing...At one point I was tempted to take my red pen to one of them, correct it to the best of my ability and send it back to the publisher. Since the book was about the early generations of Muslims, who excelled in everything they did, it made me wonder about the legacy they left us latter-day Muslims...and the pathetic little we are doing to realise it.

anyway, the reason I was missing the book was that it had a chapter/section on zuhd (abstemiousness) for children with various instances from the lives of Muslims who realised the value of instilling this quality in their children at a young age. It cuts a sharp contrast to the doctrine of conspicuous consumption that our children are force-fed these days, but it was comforting to read that at some point in time, this wasn't the overwhelming norm that it is today.

Umm Edison: a mum after my own mind

I was reading a post on the "sorry state of secular (and particularly scientific) scholarship in the Muslim world" at Austrolabe, that seemed almost telepathic to what I've been mulling over ever since I started teaching my children.

School syllabi are geared towards 'acing exams' and achieving the requisite stars/grades to get admission into a good university to get a good degree that would enable one to live the 'good life'. Very little emphasis is paid to learning, or inculcating the love of learning and a spirit of enquiry and wonder at the world within and around us.

I was recently reading about the education of Thomas Edison and how he once said: "my mother was the making of me." It's very interesting to read how the 7-year-old who was decribed as " addled" in the brain by his teacher went on to become "one of America's most prolific inventors, 1,093 patents for such wonders as the microphone, telephone receiver, stock ticker, phonograph, movies, office copiers, and incandescent electric light-despite his lack of schooling."

"In 1854, Reverend G. B. Engle belittled one of his students, seven-year-old Thomas Alva Edison, as "addled." This out-raged the youngster, and he stormed out of the Port Huron, Michigan school, the first formal school he had ever attended. His mother, Nancy Edison, brought him back the next day to discuss the situation with Reverend Engle, but she became angry at his rigid ways. Everything was forced on the kids. She withdrew her son from the school where he had been for only three months and resolved to educate him at home. Al though he seems to have briefly attended two more schools, nearly all his childhood learning took place at home.

Yet Edison probably gained a far better education than most children of his time or ours. This wasn't because his mother had official credentials. She had taught school, but only a little. Nor was it because his parents had money. They were poor and lived on the outskirts of a declining town. Nancy Edison's secret: she was more dedicated than any teacher was likely to be, and she had the flexibility to experiment with various ways of nurturing her son's love for learning.
"She avoided forcing or prodding," wrote Edison biographer Matthew Josephson, "and made an effort to engage his interest by reading him works of good literature and history that she had learned to love-and she was said to have been a fine reader. "
Thomas Edison plunged into great books. Before he was 12, he had read works by Shakespeare and Dickens, Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, David Hume's History of England, and more.
Because Nancy Edison was devoted and observant, she discovered simple ways to nurture her son's enthusiasm. She brought him a book on the physical sciences- R. G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy, which explained how to perform chemistry experiments at home. Edison recalled this was "the first book in science I read when a boy." It made learning fun, and he performed every experiment in the book. Then Nancy Edison brought him The Dictionary of Science which further spurred his interest. He became passionate about chemistry, spending all his spare money buying chemicals from a local pharmacist, collecting bottles, wires, and other items for experiments. He built his first laboratory in the cellar of the family's Port Huron house.
"Thus," Josephson noted, "his mother had accomplished that which all truly great teachers do for their pupils, she brought him to the stage of learning things for himself, learning that which most amused and interested him, and she encouraged him to go on in that path. It was the very best thing she could have done for this singular boy."
As Edison himself put it: "My mother was the making of me. She understood me; she let me follow my bent."