Looking back a year!

Assalam o alaykum, I apologize for not posting regularly for the past two months. Well folks, its been a year since I started this blog. Alhamdulillah.

As a year passes by I look back on the posts that were my favorite and the ones that attracted the most hits. Here they are.

So the top one is the arabised english. I loved this one myself mashAllah.

Second on the list is the one About me. Apparently people want to know who I am. Well one reason for opening this blog was to be as anonymous as I can be to write about anything.

Third on the list is  Shaykh Adil Kalbani’s recitation which is very good mashAllah, one of my personal favorites.

Fourth on the list is George Galloway’s visit here in Santa Clara.

Fifth one was my experience going inside the Ka3bah.

Sixth is Umar Ibn Al Khattab’s advice to the believers.  Personally, I would have liked to see this one and the next one on higher up on the list. Oh well.

Seventh is my personal favorite which I read every now and then to remind myself of being silent. Click here.

InshAllah I will be returning to school this year inshAllah. I pray I will  keep on posting on this blog inshAllah. Whatever good is in this is from Allah and whatever bad is from Shaytan and myself and may Allah forgive me and guide us! I would appreciate your feedback on my blog and things I should/shhouldnt post. Please email me at usman@ymail.com for comments/questions.

Wa jazakumullah u khairan

Going inside the Ka’abah

Assalam o alaykum, I recently saw a video on muslimmatters about going inside the ka’abah. Alhamdulillah wa mashAllah, the video is great.

The video kind of inspired me to share my story with you.

Before I start I want to inform you that, going inside the Ka’abah is the same as standing in the hateem( the arch shaped structure). If you pray in the hateem it is as if you have prayed inside the ka’abah. The Prophet(SAW) wanted to extend the ka’abha but knowing the fact that the jahili Arabs were new converts to Islam and it would create fitnah, he did not do it. Why others did not do it after him is baffling to me but nevertheless there must be hikmah in it and there are bigger issues to worry about. Wallah u alam. On a slightly different tangent, the Masjid An Nabawi(SAW)’s dome is also not acceptable under Islamic Sharia but imagine the problems that would come if someone were to remove it. So until the people are more knowledgable, it is best to leave it as it is. More on this here.

Coming to back to my story, I lived in Saudi Arabia all my life – in Makkah tul Mukarramah walhamdulillah. I saw the great Shuyookh of the Ka3bah. I grew up in the House of Allah. It is a blessing of Allah that He bestowed on me, walhamdulillah. In 1993, my mother was the first in our family to go into the Sacred House. She went with a delegation of Pakistani diplomats. She said that she saw pots from the time of Ibraheem(AS). She cannot confirm if the information that was given to her was correct or not regarding the pots. My mother really loved it and we would ask her how was it like etc. My eyes would shine and I would have this desire to go in there and feel closer to Allah. This is after all the House of the Creator. The House whose foundations were laid down by our father Ibrahim(AS) and Ismail(AS) and Allah accepted it from them and magnified this deed in the Quran in Surah al Baqarah.

“And (remember) when Ibrahim (Abraham) and (his son) Isma’il (Ishmael) were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah), (saying), “Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily! You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” 2:127

After all, this is the first Masjid on the face of this earth. Directly above it is Baytul Ma3mur.This is the place where the well of ZamZam is. This is the place where we see the foot prints of our father Ibrahim(AS) and he was a Muslim. This is the place where the Prophet(SAW) entered and destroyed the idols. This is the place where there is much history.  A few meters away I saw the House where the Prophet(SAW) was born. This is the House of Allah. Where everyone comes as a beggar to Him. There is no difference between rich and poor, no difference between anyone of us. This is the place where the great scholars of Islam taught and still today teach.

I was very saddened and one day made dua to Allah that he may give me the privilege to be in His House.

Years passed by and in August of ‘96 I saw the ka3bah being englufed with white boards all around it such that the Ka3bah was just like a white box. The government decided it was time to renovate the Ka3bah to strengthen the structure. I heard they do it every 100 years. This information is however not authentic as I could not verify it. So I saw my mother, my siblings and my father go into the Holy House but I could not go.

One night I slept deeply troubled by this and saw a dream. In my dream I saw the marble under the door of the Ka3bah. I woke up and narrated my dream to my mother. Nothing special. Life went on and the last day came when they were removing the white boards. I was dismayed, because this could be my last chance. On that day my father called me and said, “Get ready, I will send you with so and so and he will take you inshAllah”.I did as I was told.

When I reached the Haram we prayed Isha and met the person who was supposed to take us. In Saudia, you need to have wasta(I don’t know how to translate this) to get any high level work done. So this person, took me by my hand and took me to the entrance. As we reached the entrance there were policeman standing and they told us that we cannot enter because they have orders from their superiors and cannot let anyone through. We went and sat in a corner a few meters away from the Ka3bah.

Then a person came rambling with a loud voice and started yelling at those who were trying to get in. My “guide” told me that this person is Sha3bi. He is the guardian of the keys to the Grand House. The keys were given to his ancestor, Uthman bin Kalid from the tribe of Shaybah, by the Prophet(SAW). As I remember (correct me if I am wrong), Uthman was once asked by the Prophet(SAW) to give him the keys to the Ka3bah so he may go in and pray. Uthman refused. Because he was in a higher position and Islam was new. The Prophet(SAW) said, ” One day I will hold the key to the Ka3bah and I will give it to whom I want.” After the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet(SAW) called upon Uthman and the noble and righteous Prophet that he was, said to him, “Keep this key, it will remain in your family till the Day of Judgment”. Until today, generation after generation, it has remained in the same family. The King makes a formal request to them to open the House of Allah on all occassions.

So this person pushed people away and caused a great deal of commotion because of his frustration of everyone wanting to enter the Holy House.

I prayed to Allah and supplicated to Him. All of a sudden the Saudi who was my “guide”, told me to come with him after receiving a phone call. He said, “let’s go” in Arabic. I went along and the policemen let us through. As I entered I had a smile on my face and I was constantly saying Alhamdulillah. I entered the House of Allah. I entered to pray two rak3ah. I started looking up out of curiosity and surprise. While I was doing that, a mutawwa (religious police) came and pushed me out. I immediately started my prayer. . He didn’t say anything and left. I prayed 4 rak3ah, I believe. Made dua and thanked Allah.

I was very happy walhamdulillah. As I exited I thanked Allah for allowing someone like me to enter His House. Walhamdulillah i rabbil alameen

Shaykh Adil Kalbani’s recitation

One of the best recitations I have heard in a long time! May Allah Guide us!

George Galloway comes to the MCA-part 1

Bismillah i rahmaan i raheem.

“I fear God only”, “inshAllah”, “mashAllah”, “this Ummah” are not the kind of words you would expect to hear from a politician. Certainly not from a politician, who was elected five times to the British parliament. Certainly not someone who has been banned from Canada for inciting terrorism. Certainly not someone who is a Westerner.

Well, last night at the MCA, with a big smile on his face Mr. George Galloway, the British MP started his speech with the Bismillah, the opening of the Quran.

He then went on to remind us the atrocities committed by an idiot they call Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also painted some horrific pictures for us of the atrocities meted out to the poor brothers and sisters in Palestine. He said, “Israel used phosphorus on civilians and do you know what it does to a human being……..it cooks you from inside! I saw a child that was breathing out white smoke because the phosphorus had penetrated his lungs…it was feeding on the child from within….Another scene I saw was that an infant was pulled from the rubble of a bombed building….. that was still alive but was suckling on the toe of its dead mother for sustenance”. He said that the rest is your imagination and he could not put what is happening there in words. He also pointed out how the Canadian government had branded him a terrorist and banned him from Canada. Check this out.

Although the entire evening was full of great things. I will mention a few that really touched me and provoked some emotions.

Mr. Galloway took some food, aid and medicine into Gaza. It was a well publicized event. He wrote a letter to an influential Prince from an oil-rich Arab Gulf state ,who was in the UK at the time , to aid him in the petrol from the UK to the Gaza strip. He could have said yes and could have given hundreds compared to the billions he waste’s, but he said with a cold heart NO. Galloway said, ” I could tell you who he is but I will not”. When the audience pushed him this is what he had to say, “No, no, no….they are all the same, they will stab you in the back, or they will do it from the front, regardless they are not worth it!” Powerful words indeed. The world is not oblivious to the corruption and wastefulness of the highly-rich-tribal-arrogant Khaleejis and their atrocities. Anyway, something to ponder about. Why can’t they understand this? (I will be writing more about the Khaleejis in an upcoming article inshAllah).

Second moving event of the evening was the fact that George Galloway asked, ” when is maghrib”? A person taking care of the Salah. Hmm this is something the momineen do. Where are we with regards to our salah?

Since we were not allowed to ask direct questions, we had to write them on a piece of paper and pass it to the ushers. My question was “Mr. Galloway, you are so initmate with Muslims and love them and work for them and their causes even more then our leaders, I find it hard to imagine you are not a Muslim. What is stopping you Mr. Galloway from doing the right thing and becoming a Muslim?” The question was never answered because the person who it was handed to,  was screening out questions only related to Palestine or I dare say “to thier agenda”.

I could not let go of my question. And prayed to Allah, O Allah make him amongst the Muslimeen. A friend of mine went and talked to Mr. Galloway after the event and asked him, ” Are you a muslim, Sir?” He answered, ” I AM A MUSLIM! I am married to a muslim”.

This makes me so happy. Wallah u alam. May Allah Guide us and help our brothers and sisters. Also, may He destroy our leaders who do not have the guts to say the right thing.

UPDATE: Br Zahid has put up the mp3 on his website. You can download it by going to here. JazakAllah khair to br Zahid.

See I am a human being!

Assalam o alaykum,

1. I have a friend. Let’s call him V. V is mashAllah a nice guy and he is married. Some of you may know I am not married. Everytime a converstaion starts with V about marriage, he downplays it and makes me realize that what a waste of time it is. “They are overrated” says V.

What’s interesting is that V never realizes that this makes me explode inside. Immediately my neurons snaps at once, and send this extreme angst to my brain which wants to manifest in a great calamity. Is he trying to hurt me by saying that marriage and women are non-sense. They are a big fitnah for me at least.  See, I am a human being and I get angry. audhobillah mina shaytan irajeem. Then when the anger is cooled and kind of  gone I am left with a deep sense of helplessness. Then I realize V does not realize that words can be hurtful specially if they are lies.

If I hate lies so much, how could Allah like lies?

2. I was getting some ice cream at lunch time today. As I parked my car and entered the shop, I saw the cashier who was the only one in the shop, was wiping away tears. I felt so bad for her. See I am a human being and I feel pain for others. She immediately served me and acted as if nothing happened. I wanted to talk to her and ask her what was wrong. If I could help. But I am a human being that could not muster up that courage out of shyness. See I am a human being that makes mistakes. At the end, I made dua for her that may Allah Guide her and help her in whatever calamity she is in.

See I am a human being that is born, that was a child, that is now a man, that smiles, feels pain, becomes sad, becomes angry, likes to have fun, likes to be left in peace, likes to feel satisfied, is tired of this world, wants to have a wife who he can be happy with, and wants do do things for his wife, sometimes cry’s, sometimes likes to be spoiled by others, sometimes wants others to care for him, sometimes wants to be happy, sometimes wants to have children to play with.

However, see I am a muslim, that wants to do these things the way Allah has Ordered inshAllah.

Lughat ul Arabiyya fi asarina-Juz al awwal

I am an enthusiast when it comes to learning new languages. Me and my roommate used to- and to some extent still- make up things on the fly though I would have to say he is much better at it mashAllah. We have a word for technical and non technical stuff.

I personally think this is a good way to build your vocabulary in Arabic! Here is a list and their equals in English we compiled. Feel free to add your own.  Enjoy!

1. thalab un naar= Mozilla Firefox

2. Kitab ul wajh= facebook

3. antaambooba= youtube

4. sirqat sayyarat al kubra = I will leave this for you…its funny once you figure it out(it took me sometime to figure out)

5. tanbihu ahmerun= red alert

6. ana hatif=iphone

7. nuwafidh aash bee= windows XP

8. jujal al hadith = google talk

9. mahhatat al laeb= play station

10. khaled fi sandooq=jack in the box

11. akthar ala = MORON I found this hilarious…jazakAllah khair to my roomate

12. jumhureyet al moza= bannana republic

13. masafa= gap

14. Al hasub= Computer

15. tayr ul barq= thunderbird

16. muslimmatters=umurulmuslimeen

17. alif taa wa taa= AT&T

18. buka2 ba3eed= far cry

19. aghezet al 7adeed al salba= metal gear solid

20. nujoom al dollarat= star bucks

21. Tareeq ul aman= safeway superstore

22. Qaisar al sagheer= Carl Jr.’s

23. qabal al sa7afa= meet the press

24. ma7faza sameena= fat wallet.com

25. ahsan u yashtari= best buy

26. yawalad= yahoo

27. far2a3 3uyoon= pop eyes=popeyes

28. garaz al taco= taco bell

29. bareed sakhen= hotmail

30. gmail= geembareed

31. ikhwat marwan al soober=the mario brothers

32. juraij ibn boosh al texassi= George Bush the Texan(akthar ala kabeer)

33. rajul al ankaboot= spiderman

34. malik ul asad= lion king

35. kaubkab ul ardh= planet earth

36. ala al khat= online

37. huroob un nujoom= starwars

38. sena3at al nugoom = starcraft

39. lauh ul abyadh= whiteboard

40. sooq al fala7= famer’s market

41. sook al samak= fish market

42. markaz al sagheer= micro center

43. battaqat ul iktihshaf= discover card

44. battaqatul jawazat= visa card

45. na7nu al le3ab= toys r us

46. sereer, 7amam, wa ba3d thalik= bed bath and beyond

47. maryam’s=macy’s

48. al nisr al amrekee= the american eagle

49. kalb u har= hot dog

50. wadee al silicon= silicon valley

51.

Ok for now thats it for part 1. InshAllah, we will post part two sometime in the future.

Here is my roomate’s blog.(http://whatstheplot.com/blog/).

Do we deserve what we have?

So today I went to a good friend of mine for dinner. He owns a restaurant close to where I live. I strolled in and asked for his signature dish “the kasadiyyah”. While he was preparing the food, we started chatting about how each of us were. I asked him about his buisness and he said Alhamdulillah. He started telling me how he is thankful to Allah for everything. He said,”Wallah Allah has Given me more then I deserve,walhamdulillah”. I said, “mashAllah”.

I grabbed the food and proceeded to eat. As I turned a man came and said, “Allah gives us what we deserve beause He is Al-Haqq and He does not give us more then what we deserve….we deserve what we get”. Further he said, “What do you think?”

I responded, ” Let me think about it an articulate an answer inshAllah”. So I went and sat down and could not concentrate much on my dinner and kept on thinking, what is the correct answer to this. Does Allah give us what we deserve? Do we deserve this? If I deserve to get this then why should I thank Allah? By now I was frustrated at my incompetence. Anyhow, Allah gave the answer in His Book and the ayah immediately came to my mind.
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ

And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom [and said], “Be grateful to Allah .” And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] – then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.

Consequently, I went up to the brothers and said to them, “Alhamdulillah, I have the answer.”
I said, ” We do not deserve what we have. What Allah has given us is not a consequence of our self but it is because He is Al-Rahman ur Raheem and Al-Kareem. If we deserve this then there cannot be a God to start with because we would be self sufficient and we would not need to thank anyone. Thus, we have been given far more then what we deserve. Wallah u alam”. The brothers smiled and said, ” mashAllah this is the truth walhamdulillah”. I smiled and hugged the brother and said to him, ” JazakAllah khair for making me think and ponder, may Allah Accept!”.

That was the end of a beautiful conversation. I felt really good wallahi. Another reminder that came to my mind,

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?

May Allah Guide us and Help us to understand the Truth and May He Gather us under His Shade on the Day of Judgment!

Women as objects

Assalam o alaykum. Innalhamdulillah nahmaduhu wa nastaeenauhu wa nastaghfiru wa naudhubillahi min shurrori anfusina wa min sayyiaat i amalina.

Without a doubt, what Allah has revealed is the undisputed Truth and HIs Prophet Muhammad(SAW) has come with the truth and all the Prophets before him have come with the truth.

We believe in the Ghayb. These are things we believe in without seeing them but believing that they exist. We believe in Allah, HIs Angles, the Jinn, His Messengers without having seen them. Walhamdulillah!

On a sunny Thursday morning I strolled to my cube casually to start a busy day at work. I logged into my computer and started checking my emails and then wandered off to check the latest news on CNN.

This is what it had to offer. Click here.(Warning: There is an evil picture on the left hand side. When you open do not look at the picture. Jazakumullah u khairan).

The article itself is self-explanatory and is more then enough evidence to prove that a society who objectifies women is morally decadent and reprehensible beyond words. SubhanAllah! Allah revealed the verses for the believing women to cover themselves and protect their modesty. Yet, women take this Command very lightly. Allah is our Creator and He Knows whats Best for us.

Those who seek to objectify women, do so to make them objects of their desires. Who is giving the womenfolk their due right? Allah(SWT) has made it clear in His Book, the rights of men and women.

May Allah Guide us and open our eyes to the evil that lurks amongst us!

a new day in history!

salam 3alaikum my dear brothers and sisters in islam.

today is a spectacular day.  al7amdulillah, by the grace of Allah (swt), i am writing this post to you today to share a very beautiful piece of news.

no, i did not get married.  no, i did not win a nobel peace prize.  no, i haven’t changed the world in a major way… not yet, anyway.

but today, insha’Allah, a new day in history begins.  a new footstep – with which the world will change to become a better place insha’Allah ta3ala.  as you know, this blog is the blog of “musafir fidunya” – and as a musafir, you are always looking for the best route to come out successful and in the best shape from your journey insha’Allah.

today, brothers and sisters, by the will and grace of Allah (swt), i purchased a whiteboard.  yes, brothers and sisters, what you read is true, i purchased a whiteboard! can you begin to understand and fathom what this means?  sub7anAllah, you probably don’t understand the reason for my excitement, but i will try to shed some light on it, be’izn Allah (3az wa jal).

this whiteboard will be, by the grace of Allah, my “idea pad” – the place where new ideas are born, sketched out, and implemented.  this white board will be the tool by which we will enter the new era.  here, i will write up ideas which will ultimately benefit islam and muslims insha’Allah.  our goal and target is to bring 3izza to islam and muslims – how do we do this?  by being the best at everything we can be.  we have to be the best scientists, the best mathmeticians, the best lawyers, the best engineers – all while being excellent examples of muslims.  a large reason for the spread of islam was the great character of the sa7aba and how they practiced islam.

the ideas are many, and the time is limited.  i have not yet decided whether i will be writing ideas for my blog posts on the whiteboard or not, but even if i don’t, al7amdulillah, i can begin to examine more interesting phenomena – for example, i’ve long been intrigued by fractals.  this is my chance to begin my fractal research.  moreover, sub7anAllah, there are all types of prime numbers out there – mersenne primes, twin primes, etc.  why is there not a prime number with a muslim name on it?  why is there not a “ibrahim’s prime,” or a “musa’s prime,” or an “isma3eel’s prime?”  – today will begin this new era insha’Allah.

i hope to post pictures of my whiteboard writings on this blog soon insha’Allah.  please make du3a for this new era to shine in peace insha’Allah.

may Allah bless all of you.

walsalam 3alaikum.
– guest writer, on behalf of the author of this blog.

Masjid