I’m currently enrolled in an Al-Huda 4 Week Summer Course.  In it we study the tafsir of certain selected verses, practice reciting with proper tajweed, memorize different du’as, learn about various figures in Islamic history, and finally go over different aspects of good  Muslim behavior.  Today we had an assignment to find an example of patience in the life of any companion of the Prophet sallalahu alyahi wasalaam.  I used this site to find an amazing story.  Below is the post I wrote on my class forum to complete the assignment.

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In class we mentioned the idea of having patience and knowing that when one door closes, another door opens. Such is the case of Zayd ibn Thabit, radhiAllahu ‘anhu.

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I saw it on the counter the other day… a registration packet from school for my younger brother-in-law.  It’s almost that time again.; time to go… Back to school!

Today I’m going to be visiting the new school where I’ll be teaching this fall.  I need to pick up my textbooks.  There’re only two!  This is a major relief after the number of books I lugged around last year.  I’m only teaching Algebra 1 & Geometry as opposed to last year when I was teaching a whole hodge podge of classes– 4th grade Science, Math, Social Studies, Islamic Studies, Computers; 6th grade Computers; 10th grade Algebra 2; 9th grade Biology.

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This past weekend Saqib and I returned from our Honeymoon, and arrived back in Illinois just in time for the AlMaghrib course Sacred Scrolls.  It was a one weekend seminar taught by both Imam Suhaib Webb and Shaykh Yasir Qadhi.

 
Click the picture above.

I was a little anxious to go to an AlMaghrib class in Illinois because I’ve only been attending them in Michigan and Canada.  My tribe, Qabeelat Ittihaad holds classes in both Dearborn and Windsor.  I’ve grown accustomed to the people, the set up, the lunches, the dinners, etc.  I wasn’t sure how they did things here in Chicago in Qabeelat Wasat.

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I always liked Lord of the Rings for one of its extremely valuable underlying themes– even the tiniest of people can make a difference in the world.

In this past year of teaching, I’ve found this to be very true.   The little kiddies of the elementary school not only can make a difference in the world, but they can teach you a multitude of things.

For example, at the start of the year I did not have memorized a du’aa for reciting in the morning and a du’aa for reciting just after prayer and prior to making dhikr.  But now after teaching, I can proudly say that I do know these two new du’aas.  And who were my teachers?  Why the hobbits in my life– the elementary school kids!

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The theme at the last MMYC Spring Conference was:  The Prophetic Legacy–the North Star in Our Troubled Waters.  Throughout the weekend, speakers kept mentioning various hadith relating back to why it was so important to take the Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wasalaam) as an example and guide in our lives.  And how now, more than ever, during this troubling time for our ummah, it is vital for us to increase our love for him. 

One of the hadith that I think almost every single speaker mentioned was from Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 13, narrated by Abu Huraira: 

“Allah’s Apostle said, “By Him in Whose Hands my life is, none of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father and his children.”

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