A BROKEN SMILE! 'CUZ IT'S A MUST ONE!

While waiting outside the locked door, I could see them laughing, talking, gossiping and not realizing that what’s going on behind that door could literally rupture me down… I’m waiting and still waiting. Can’t hear anything, and I feel that the door is like a big huge mountain with no feelings!! Can’t it help me by telling me what’s going on the other side? Or at least pass me a glimpse? How harsh that door was! And then I try cooling down, but it’s truly hard to do so! A few slow minutes later, I hear them laughing in there. But to your surprise, that got me more worried, as I felt that that laughter was so loud, fake, and sarcastic, that it wanted to cover something worse coming on the way! I wanted to break that door so bad! I wanted to stop thinking! I wanted a lot of things to happen that I got so weak and eventually unable to even want. I could feel my palms dripping wet, and my heart, oh Allah, I felt that everyone could hear it beating, except me, as I was too busy to notice that! That was the saddest morning of my life, I can’t recall any other traumatic moment than this one, and it just beats them all! Eventually, the door opens, and with it opening I shut down! Just as you can shut this monitor, but with the CPU on! Yes, I could feel my senses so aware of everything, like never before, but it was me not wanting to realize that! She opens her mouth, and I pray with all my might that it’s all good! But it wasn’t! And then I remember the sixth pillar of my faith, believing in destiny, with all that it brings, whether good and bad! Or at least we think is bad but I shouldn’t forget that: [2:286] “GOD never burdens a soul beyond its means: to its credit is what it earns, and against it is what it commits. "Our Lord, do not condemn us if we forget or make mistakes. Our Lord, and protect us from blaspheming against You, like those before us have done. Our Lord, protect us from sinning until it becomes too late for us to repent. Pardon us and forgive us. You are our Lord and Master. Grant us victory over the disbelieving people.”

She tells me that she has a p--- something, Wallahi I couldn’t hear the word and I asked here again “what say?” she said p something, and I gave up, and asked her “so what does that mean?” she’s like “a small lump sort of thing, but not harmful” or whatever she said… I bursted through the door, to hear what the doctor is saying about the dearest person to me on the face of earth, the person whom I’m literally a part of… and he says things that I never wanted to hear…

All praise is due to Allah the Lord and Master of the worlds, worlds that we don’t know off before the one we live in. He is Raheem, I have no doubt…
Please pray for her, pray for the heart of my heart, pray for MAMA.

****Effective Listening Skills****

***Listening is an interactive activity.***

It involves hearing and understanding what the other person is saying...

and asking questions, responding and giving feedback about what is being said.

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The goals of listening are:

**to understand**
**to learn**
**to enjoy**
**to help and support**

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Listen with Empathy
Listen with Openness
Listen with Awareness

Death of a Flower --BY Amber p.

What heals these wounds? Like one endless funeral procession. The owls are forever screeching in our trees. Calling out the names. Now lost to the infinite blackness, akin to the night sky. Predicting our losses which loom so large. As if each soul were as nameless as a star, or a million rosary beads. At this hour counting seems futile to the billions who feel lost, here wearing their mourning like owls wear their feathers.

WALK THAT WALK... --By Momekh--

The urge to create. The urge to innovate. Break stuff. Build it up again. Reinvent the wheel, call it something else. Be famous for all the right reasons with all the right people and entities. Be closer to God by separating from everything else. Only to find out that closeness to God entails being close to your surroundings. The signs of God.
Billions of images. Zipping past. A blur. I think I recognized someone back there. No time. Zip on! Ideas. Make money? For what? Money losing its hyperinflated value before I have enough of it. A means to an end. What end? The end? Bliss? Impossible! What about a smile at the end of each and every freakin day? Achievable, doable!
Who am I? Businessman? Entreprenuer? Did I spell that right? The inclination towards being acceptable. By those whom I have accepted. The deliberate casual clothes to be different from the lot. The fake attitude of not giving a ****, all the while trying hard to portray self’s image as someone who couldn’t care less; a contradiction like everything else. Ahaa, but then I grew up. Now I do give a ****. I come to terms with that everyday and I like it. But there are things that dont qualify as important in my rolodex of life. Things that are important to you and your loved ones, whoever ‘you’ may be. But they are not important to me anymore. And I like that. This time it is not fake. Has not been fake for a ****** long time. And I like it.
Unity. Faith. Discipline. Oh my God. The cliche of cliches if you have even for a moment, been touched by the Pakistani education system. My utmost disgust, not at cliches, but at the afteraffects of indifference towards cliches; universal truths to uphold and implement shrugged aside as being cliche! Akkhhh!.
Unity. Faith. Discipline. beautiful and ultimately comprehensive formula of every citizen of a society, every slave of the God, every particpant in any relation, every individual in a group and every soul in harmony with the Master of souls.
I can do so much. You can do so much. Organize. Chaotic Symmetry. Here I go again. Hate that neatly arranged desk, that uncluttered work space. Who are you bluffing? Trying hard to imitate something that doesn’t exist; life is chaotic yet has a pattern. Imitate that. No? Redefine your organizational skills and hence your organizations.
Apart from the middle finger, a single finger can’t do much. Raise a fist in resist!* Resist what you have been told. Insist on what you think is right. Be ready to take responsibility; be ever ready to take blame. And credit. It is and should be your life and so it is and should be your chin.
Start something. Some company’s tag line. A candidate for philosophy of daily life. I already have so much on my plate. But I tend to believe I have a bigger plate. Ha. so start somthing. So small but such large implications. Whats stopping me? Who but me. So whats stopping you?

SWEET WRAPPERS !

Our beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam has said:
"The life of the world is sweet and green. Allah makes you generations succeeding one another so that He may try you in respect of your actions."

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I pray to Allah that He saves us from the false deception and colour of this world, and that He allows us to see the true reality of this world before it is too late. Aameen....

I.Q.

"First, you shouId find out what is the essentiaI nature of the universe."

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"That's aquamarine, that's bIue-green and that's aIgae. At the atomic IeveI, there's no such thing as coIour. Though they did do that studyin BeIgium, or was it Denmark...

- BabbIing.- BabbIing!

The point was... What was the point? Since protons are so much smaIIer than Iight waves... AIgae, thank you. Since protons are smaIIer than Iight waves, how couId they ever see it to begin with? Oh, James! Or is there a fundamentaI order underIying aII things?"

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" - We're wasting time! Serve aIready! -That's ridicuIous! How can you waste somethingthat doesn't exist? Time doesn't exist? Since when? I wouIdn't know. If time doesn't exist, then there is no ''when''. You hear, Liebknecht? Another crazy theory. Then teII me the correct time, now. You see, you can't. Because as you're teIIing me, the future has become the past, therefore there is no present, therefore time doesn't exist! Perhaps. Oops!"

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"So, young man.Do you think time exists? Time? I was just reading about it in Future Science magazine. - TeII us. - There are these twins... One takes a journey in a spacecraft, at the speed of Iight, and the other one stays on earth. The twin that traveIs into space comes back years Iater, and he's young. And the one who stayed on earth, by this time, is very oId. So, which one do you think is happier? - The young one.- Ja. - No, the one that stayed behind. - Why? Because he's had a fuII Iife, he's had experiences in Iove and pain. He has a famiIy and friends. And the one who Ieft, weII... - Time has just passed. - Ja. This is good, no?"

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"- ''Wahoo!''? - When did he Iast go ''Wahoo!''? - I'm sure I don't know. - When did you Iast go ''Wahoo!''? - I'm sure I don't know."

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"TeII me, do you think they'II ever find inteIIigent Iife anywhere in the universe? StiII Iooking for inteIIigent Iifehere on earth."

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"We squeeze the brain a IittIe to make room for the heart."

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"Maybe accidents are part of the grand design. If you cause the accident, then it is not an accident. The troubIe with accidents is you can't predict the outcome."

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"Everything affects everything."

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Who is Tavis Adibudeen?

Bismihi Ta’ala,
I am a servant of Allah, Most High, a Muslim, primarily. I accepted Islam in 1995, by the grace of Allah, Almighty. I am a witness to the Oneness of Allah, in His Magnificence, Power, and Might. He is the Most Loving (Al-Wadud), and I seek to praise Him in all of my thoughts, deeds, and writings. I further witness that Muhammad, the Prophet, is Allah’s most devout servant and Messenger. He is a Mercy to the entire Universe and everything and everyone within it. He is the master of the prophets and the seal of divine prophethood. There is no new message after the Glorious Qur’an, the message that Allah sent with Muhammad (may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace).
I cannot bear the arrogant burden of calling myself Sunni, although I strive to live by the Sunnah. I cannot hold myself in such esteem as to call myself Shi’a, although I endeavor to follow Ahlul-bayt. I cannot imagine myself to be Sufi, although I dream of achieving such a state. These are qualities of a Mu’min, which I have not achieved. I pray that Allah can grant me such qualities.
In 1999, only by the grace of Allah, I founded One Ummah Network, a site that is dedicated to the unity of Muslims. It branched out and expanded into both for-profit and non-profit projects, such as Lantern Torch ICS, a web hosting company and the Muslim Writers Society, a non-profit organization that publishes the works of Muslims online and in print. Although I could easily post my views on any of these sites, I feel that they have matured beyond my scope and that many of my personal opinions would not be appropriate for them. This site aims to eliminate that obstacle.
I am currently 27 years old at the time of this writing.I have one wife and one issue, alhamdulillah. We live in the United States in some remote Midwestern region.
This blog is an expression of a servant’s thoughts, for Allah created the intellect before all else and exalted it in its praise of Him. Any good that comes from this intellect of mine is purely from Allah, and any harm that comes from it is from my own self.
Abu Zahra

WHY IS PACKING ALL THAAAAAAAT HAAAAAARD?!?!?!

Why is packing so difficult?
Unsure what to take and what to leave behind?
Feel a sense of attachment with your belongings?

The Prophet (SAW) said:

"What relationship with the world have I? My similitude is like a traveller on a mount, halting in the shade of a tree (for a short while only to leave it again, and proceed along the sojourn)."

The traveller rests a while in the shade and then moves on again.

TRUTHS FOR KIDS...

Have you ever thought about the vastness of the universe in which we live? Perhaps you have not given much thought to this subject until now. Even if you have, one can still hardly imagine the huge size of the universe. Let us try to explain how big it really is with an example. What is the biggest width you can think of? The distance from one side of the city you live in to the other may seem pretty big to you. Alternatively, it may well be that you have travelled all the way from the east to the west of your country and couldn't help but be amazed by how big it was. Some of you might have travelled to distant countries. Nevertheless, always keep in mind one important fact! Even if you travelled all around the whole world, that would still be too tiny to help you imagine the enormous size of the universe. That is because the size the Earth occupies in the entire universe barely compares to the size of a speck of dust.

Our Earth is located in still, cold, lifeless space. If we compare space to a vast, desolate dry desert, then it would be no exaggeration to compare our planet to a castle in this desert. This castle protects us from desert storms and extreme heat, and provides us with everything we need. Just like this castle in the desert, Earth is our castle in space. Like a spacecraft travelling through space, it protects us against the dangers of space. Here, there is plenty of everything: water, air and everything we need. A castle could not come into existence in the desert spontaneously. This also holds true for our planet. It is obvious that Earth is a sign of a superior creation.

\\\\\\\\ REFLECTION ////////

Literally meaning thinking on a subject deeply, systematically and in detail, reflection is the lamp of the heart, the food of the spirit, the spirit of knowledge and the soul and light of believers' way of life. Without reflection, the heart is darkened, the spirit becomes exasperated and Islam is lived at a superficial level devoid of meaning and profundity.

Reflection is such a light in the heart that good and evil, harm and benefit and beauty and ugliness can be discerned and distinguished from each other through it. Again, it is through reflection that the universe becomes a book to study and the verses of the Holy Book disclose their meaning and secrets more deeply.
Reflection is a vital step to take a lesson from what is going on around us and draw conclusions from it. It is also a golden key to open the door of experiences, a seedbed where the trees of truth are planted and the pupil of the eye of the heart is opened. It is because of this that the greatest of mankind who is the foremost in reflection as in all other virtues, upon him be peace and blessings, declares: There is no act of worship as meritorious as reflection. So, reflect on the bounties of God and the works of His Power. But do not attempt to reflect on His Essence, for you will never be able to do that. By this declaration, in addition to pointing out the merit of reflection, the glory of mankind, upon him be peace and blessings, determines the limits of reflection and reminds us of the limits of our capacity.
In fact, in its verse, "They reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth (3.191)", the Holy Book presents to our views the book of the universe with its way of creation, the peculiarities of its letters and words, the harmony and coherence of its sentences, and its firmness as a whole. By drawing our attention to the universe and calling us to think about it, the Holy Book shows us one of the most beneficial forms of using the power of reflection.
To reflect on and study the revealed book of God, the Holy Book, and try to follow it in all our thoughts, conceptions and acts; to discover the Divine mysteries in the book of the universe and, through every new discovery which helps man to deepen and unfold in belief, to live a life full of spiritual pleasures along a way of light extending from belief to knowledge of God and therefrom to love of God; and then to progress to the Hereafter and God's good pleasure and approval: this is the way to become a perfect, universal man.
One can use one's faculty of reflection in every field of science. However, rational and experimental sciences can only be a first step or a means to reach the final target of reflection, which is knowledge of God, provided the mind of man has not been deformed and led astray by wrong conceptions and premises.
Studying existence as if a book and reflecting on it can give the desired results and provide ceaseless information and inspirations provided it is admitted that things with all their attributes are created by God. This is what is aimed at and should be done by those who attribute all things to God with utmost conviction and who have attained spiritual contentment through knowledge, love and remembrance of God.
Reflection should be based on and start with belief in God as the Originator of all things. Otherwise, although it can finally reach God if it finds Him at any stage of its 'journeying,' it will not be able to go further than conviction of God's existence and Unity. Whereas reflection that is based on and starts with belief in God as the Creator and unique Administrator of all things, progresses and deepens without interruption with new discoveries and develops into further and further dimensions. That is, since such a reflective activity starts with God having the Names the First and the Outward and progresses toward Him as the Last and the Inward, it will progress uninterruptedly and not come to an end. Encouraging people to such a reflection, focused upon a determined aim, entails encouraging them also to learn and use the methods of the sciences that study the ways of manifestation of existence.
Since with all their elements and compounds, the heavens and earth are the property and kingdom of God, studying every incident, thing and quality in the book of existence also means studying the ways of the exalted Creator's disposal of existence. The way of the one who can study and comprehend this book of existence accurately, and design his life accordingly, will be the way of guidance and righteousness, and his final station will be Paradise where he will drink of the blessed water of Paradise. Contrary to the people of loss and perdition who wander in the pits of heedlessness and ingratitude to God Who is the true Owner of all the infinite variety of beauties and bounties in the world, those following the way to Paradise equipped with reflection recognize the True Giver of all bounties and obey Him in consciousness of what believing in Him means. They travel from gratitude to being provided with all kinds of bounties and from bounties to gratitude, in the footsteps of angels, the Prophets and the truthful and loyal, and do everything incumbent upon them so as to be able to thank God for His blessings. On the 'vehicle' of reflection and with the help of remembrance of God, they surmount all obstacles appearing on their way and, progressing from taking necessary measures (to attain their goal) to submission and from submission to committing all their affairs to the Power of God, they fly through the 'heavens' to their final destinations.

Things to know about Prayer -- Structure - Conditions - Importance

The most important part of learning how to pray is basic memorization and practice. Even more importantly especially for Muslim men to pray in Mosques in congregation. For women congregation is not as important since their praying at home holds more reward. The prayer is composed of different parts or components classified into: compulsory, essential, recommended and voluntary actions and parts.

We hope that this tutorial page on how to pray was beneficial for you. This method of praying is the one prescribed by Allah and his messenger for Muslims.

THE THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND MERCY...

JUST YESTERDAY, THIS "TRUE" SCHOLAR TALKED ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOVE AND MERCY SAYING THAT, LOVE CAN ONLY BE TOWARDS THOSE WHOM YOU LOVE, BUT CAN''T BE TOWARDS YOUR ENEMEIES FOR INSTANCE!!

BUT MERCY CAN BE TOWARDS THE WHOLE UNIVERSE.

It was on Sunday afternoon, the 3rd of July
When my bird, Mercy, decided to fly.
From my deck on the ground, to the tree tops up high
Mercy flew and flew almost touching the sky.
Finally she landed on a very tall pine
But could she fly down – and return to be mine?
We called and we chirped; we whistled and clapped
Yeah, we could see her – but her wings she just flapped.
From branch to branch she flew and she hopped
Our calling and prompting we never did stop.
Lower she came after hours of calling,
While on the deck my mom was still bawling.
At last in the holly, she came to rest
That’s my bird, and she is the best.
Her bright blue and yellow, and orange face
Had finally found a low resting place.
We fished her out – so tired was she
Her freedom enjoyed – but just briefly.
Back in her cage – no longer to roam
You can hear Mercy chirp, “I’m glad to be home”.

TRY TO BE... AND TRY HARD... TRY WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT...

Be truthful in everything, don’t lie.
Be sincere and straightforward, don’t be hypocritical.
Be honest, don’t be corrupt.
Be humble, don’t be boastful.
Be moderate, don’t be excessive.
Be reserved, don’t be garrulous.
Be soft-spoken, don’t be loud.

Be refined and gentle in speech, don’t curse and use foul language.
Be loving and solicitous to others, don’t be unmindful of them.
Be considerate and compassionate, don’t be harsh.
Be polite and respectful to people, don’t be insulting or disrespectful.
Be generous and charitable, don’t be selfish and miserly.
Be good natured and forgiving, don’t be bitter and resentful.
Share and be content with what Allah has given you, don’t be greedy.
Be cheerful and pleasant, don’t be irritable and morose.
Be chaste and pure, don’t be lustful.
Be alert and aware of the world around you, don’t be absent-minded.

Be dignified and decent, don’t be graceless.
Be optimistic and hopeful, don’t be cynical or pessimistic.
Be confident and have deep faith, don’t be doubtful and wavering.
Be spiritually oriented and not materialistic.
Be confident of the mercy of Allah, don’t be despairing and lose heart.
Be diligent and vigilant of your duties, don’t be negligent.
Be thankful to Allah and constantly pray to Him, don’t be forgetful of His innumerable blessings.

Oh there's a peace inside us all...

When shadows paint the scenes

Where spotlights used to fall

And I'm left wondering

Is it really worth it all?

There's a peace inside us all

Let it be your friend

It will help you carry on In the end

There's a peace inside us all

Life can hold you down

When you're not looking up

Can't you hear the sounds?

Hearts beating out loud

Although the names change

Inside we're all the same

Why can't we tear down these walls?

To show the scars we're covering

There's a peace inside us all

Let it be your friend

It will help you carry on

In the end There's a peace inside us all

--BY CREED--

Umma...

Umma...ummi...my mother,

can you conceive your burden?

A radiant belly swelling upward

toward the sky, heavy

with communion between yourself

and your Adored One

is but evidence

of what you must bear.

With each waning of the moon,

your mind consumes a little more

of the heart that sustains you;

awareness eating itself

into oblivion.

What have you borne this day?

You cradle a child with no soul

biting its own hand

as it bleeds between teeth

cut on your empty breast.

Who will be left

to mourn you when at last

your offspring turns

its sightless, greedy eyes

toward your hollow flesh

and with yawning jaws

strips you of all that is sacred?

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Umma...ummi...my mother,

remember

your golden sons and daughters

and how they bled for you.

Cast away this divided child

or will you stand by

as it digs up the graves

of those who lived and died for you

and do nothing as it gnaws on their bones?

Gather yourself with arms

of love and understanding,

hold tight to the promise;

the light your Adored One

first beheld in you.

Call softly to your children

with the voice of compassion

in rememberance of your First Born

and they will crowd around your feet

with arms stretching toward the sky

waiting for you

to lift them up in familiar arms

and kiss away their tears

as you begin the journey home.

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--BY SUMEIA--

THE TORMENTS OF HELL...

If only you knew the torments of hell

It is the worst of places where anyone could dwell

It is in existence even as we speak

And for its inhabitants the outlook is bleak

On the day of rising, hell will be in view

A terrible sight, if only you knew

It will be brought forward by 70,000 reigns

And 70,000 angels will be on each of those chains

After burning for a thousand years , it’s flames turned white

A thousand more years, now it’s as black as the night

You think the flames are bearable, you’re totally wrong

The flames are of hell are sixty nine times as strong

In a flash it will disintegrate all of your bones

The hellfire will be fuelled by man and stones

The thickness of your skin will greatly increase

Causing your threshold for pain to greatly decrease

The people in hell are there to stay

They will melt to nothing, 70,000 times in a day

70 years it will take, for a stone that is thrown

to hit the bottom of hell and it won’t be alone

the food of hell resembles a devil’s head

and to drink, boiling water and blood bright red

which cuts up the bowels, everything will fall out

the inhabitants of hell will scream and shout

some will be taken out by Almighty Allah’s command

but the polytheists will stay eternally damned

take up Islam, the only way to succeed

and if you don’t, you’re unfortunate indeed

brothers and sisters, help determine your fate

once you see hellfire, it’ll be far too late!