He really only has 4 basic needs:  to pooh, to fart, to sleep, to eat.  When he’s pooing, he turns red in the face, stretches out, and sounds frustrated, but isn’t crying.  When he’s gassy, he’s crying and won’t eat anything.  When he’s hungry he’ll start to turn his head to the side with his mouth wide open, or he’ll start to suck on his entire fist.  And when he’s tired, it’s usually right after he did one of the other activities

I can imagine that as more weeks go by, and he has more feelings, needs, frustrations, I’ll be able to figure those out based on his habits and faces.  Now I know why my parents can tell how I’m feeling just from the look on my face… they’ve been identifying it for years!  Silly me to think that they didn’t know how I was feeling, when it was clearly written all over my face… at least for them to see.

So note to self, and to other kids:  Parents really do know their kids so well.  You can’t hide much from them.  So just embrace it and let them help you.  Because if there’s one thing I’ve also learned–no matter what face Abdullah is making, every bone inside of me wants to help him get past what’s bothering him.  Even if that means cranking up his leg, and letting him fart all over me

Usually I don’t cook a lot of different things.  My standard rotation is lasagna or enchiladas, which are basically the same thing from different parts of the world.  Obviously I can’t cook those two dishes over and over again, so I’ve had to branch out a bit.  I think I’ve been rather adventurous, personally.  I’ve tried making dishes I never though I could, primarily desi food.

For starters I tried my hand at allu ki bhujiya.  I got a recipe from allrecipes.com and also kinda winged it.  I started with oil, onions, haldi, laal mirch, rye, salt and cumin.  Then I added the sliced potatoes, let them cook, and added in some diced tomatoes.   It wasn’t so bad… in fact it was kind of good!  We ate it with dahl and keema.

While I was at it, I tried using the same spices another day with some chick peas.  It was good, but didn’t taste as good as it could’ve.  I’m not sure what the recipe was missing, but hopefully I’ll figure that out.  The day I made the chick peas, I also made butter chicken.

Wow, that was eye-opening.  I finally found out why it was named butter chicken–there’s a ton of butter in it!  I made enough for three people, and I had to use an entire stick of butter and 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream.  Suffice it to say, I’ll be hesitating to eat it the next time I see it at a wedding now that I know how fattening it is.  We were really filled up at the end of that meal.  All the dairy cream was rushing to my head.

Aside from the desi cooking, I also tried to change up some of the dishes I’m used to making.  This past summer I think I can say that I mastered Mongolian Beef.  All of my chicken stir fry dishes, however, never really tasted that exciting.  So instead of going for the same mix of salty flavors, I decided to try sweet and sour chicken.  I started with boneless thighs and cooked them with carrots, broccoli and bell peppers in oil, soy sauce, chilli paste and garlic.  Once the juices started running, I added brown sugar, pineapple juice, ketchup, and corn starch.  I turned it down to a simmer and let it thicken.  It had the signature red color, and it was pretty sweet.  I actually liked it, and I’m never a fan of the dish to begin with.  We ate some spring rolls with it, and the sauce from the dish was pretty good for dipping.

We also had a night of homemade pizza and chicken wings.  We tried a new method for the wings that didn’t involve deep frying them first.  We actually steamed them and then broiled them.  Knowing that they weren’t doused in oil made me feel a little bit better about eating them.

On the other hand, when I ate fried chicken the other night, I was feeling a bit guilty about it.  Saqib soaked the legs in buttermilk first, and used vegetable shortening to fry them!  The shortening helped to reduce the smell of the frying a lot, but dude– it was a lot of shortening!  We ate that with macaroni & cheese and mashed potatoes.

Hmm… there was another night when we ate steak.  Saqib originally marinated it with just salt and pepper and it came out really good.  You could actually taste the meat.  It wasn’t hidden under a million spices and flavors.  We tweaked that just a bit and added Italian dressing the next time around and it also tasted good.  The dressing added some more taste, but it didn’t take away from the meat.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that after a month of having to figure out “What’s for food?” I’m a little more confident about the day I’ll have to run my own kitchen and do this every day.  Until then, hope you have yourself some good eats!

First:  AbdelRahman did a couple things from a speaker’s end vital for a good event.

1)  The speaker was on time (read, early) greeting people as they came in–this is VERY important as a teacher.
2) The speaker was prepared and organized with a power point presentation–also VERY important when teaching.  It shows your audience/students that you cared to prepare something a head of time, that it required thought, and effort.

3) The speaker asked for the sisters to be seated in the main masjid–this gave us a better opportunity to focus and pay attention
4) The speaker was interactive with the audience, asking questions and seeking different ideas and opinions–this made the class a group effort, and not just your average “boring” lecture
5) The speaker provided a break in the middle of class–people could check phones, and say salaam to people that walked in after them
6) The speaker encouraged people to seek knowledge, not just on the topic he was given, but in general–this gives the audience/students the idea that the subject does not only exist in the masjid between 11:30AM-1:30PM on Sunday, but it’s something that is always on-going and has many facets.

Second:  I personally enjoyed the class because of the warm fuzzy feeling in the room.  I hadn’t had this feeling in a long time–being in a room and knowing that angels were surrounding us.  Surrounding us because we gathered to remember Allah.  Knowing that almost 100 people got out of bed, came out of their houses and drove to ICN to learn something about their religion.  We all came with the intent to improve ourselves.  We all came knowing that there was more about Islam than we knew at the time.  We all came knowing that someone could teach us what we wanted/needed to know, and all we had to do was make the effort to attend.

On top of that, considering the age of the teacher, it was a joy, a true joy, to see a student of knowledge give back to his community.  How often have we seen students enthusiastic about learning about Islam, but not able to share his/her enthusiasm with others?  Whether it is because their local community will not accomodate them to teach others, or because the student themself just likes to sit on his/her new knowledge.  It is so refreshing to see someone take knowledge from a scholar, and pass it on to his community back home.  I wish more people would do this.  I truly wish they would.  Otherwise, what’s the point of all of us learning anything in the first place?

1)  Algebra comes from the root ja-ba-ra, which means to correct or straighten with force–When asked what the connection was, he said it was because in Algebra you focus on  correcting and balancing an equation until both sides are equal.  I will definitely be telling my students this in the fall, insha’Allah.

2)  With great struggle comes great reward–obviously something we could have all figured out, but it was worded very nicely.  It has a ring to it, y’know?  One we can all relate to or maybe have heard something similar before in different words (ie–Uncle Ben Parker from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility”)

3)  Knowledge is worth the struggle and time– another something I want to tell my students in the fall when they’re feeling frustrated and unmotivated.  The confines of what we can and cannot learn, when we can or cannot learn, or who can or cannot learn are built by people and are completely unnecessary.

4)  We are all slaves of Allah–there is no “nice” way to say it.  We are literally His property and nothing else.

5)  Rizq is often mentioned in the Qur’an with rain (weather).  This is a comparison because no one can ever control the rain (weather) and similarly no one can ever control their rizq.  It’s all about tawakkul in that case.

6)  Abu Bakr (AS) was not in town at the time of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam’s death, and so when he came back to find his Rasul and best friend dead, and his daughter a widow, he went to their house.  When he saw the Prophet’s body covered with a white cloth, he lifted it off his face, kissed his forehead and said that he was beautiful in life and beautiful in death.  This story made me cry.

7)  The prescription of what should be done when you’re upset fall into line with doing salaah.  For example, when you’re upset, make wudu–which is done before prayer.  If that doesn’t work say the isti’aadah–which is done after the opening supplication of prayer.  If that doesn’t work, sit down–which is done during prayer.  Long story short–if you’re mad… go pray!

And that’s just from today!  Expect more later, insha’Allah… or take the class coming soon to a town near you!

http://www.bayyinah.com/

My friend explained to me how she made the bars, and it seemed easy enough.  Melt some butter, mix with graham crackers, pour on the condensed milk and add toppings as needed.  She suggested chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, walnuts and M&Ms.  I decided to follow suit.

I tried to make the bars last Thursday but couldn’t remember exactly how much butter or graham crackers were required.  So I quickly looked online to find a recipe for magic bars.  I found what I needed and decided to follow the instructions listed on the site.  They were a little different from my friend’s instructions, primarily when it came to the layering.  She said graham cracker, milk, toppings; the website side graham cracker, toppings, milk.

Yikes!  The bars went from magic to tragic quite quickly   I shouldn’t have followed the website and just gone with what my friend told me.  I didn’t know switching the layers would make such a difference.  Because the condensed milk was poured on top, not only did it make the color run off the M&Ms (which made them look pale and gross) but it also bubbled over and turned brown and slightly warty looking.  Not very attractive when serving to guests

The bars tasted okay, and in the end I guess that’s what matters.  But for sure I’ve learned my lesson:  to avoid tragedies, listen to Aliya Hoda in all matters

1)  For my 8th grade Algebra 1 test I gave the students an extra credit question:  name at least six of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam’s wives.  One of the boys raised his hand and said he couldn’t think of any.  Before I could say anything in response to him, a girl in my class told him to just guess by listing six girls names.  And so he did… outloud, “Kelly, Michelle, Melissa…”  Everyone began to laugh.  I told him to stop because he was being disrespectful, and that his joke wasn’t funny at all.  The thing is… when I sat down, I couldn’t figure out why that was disrespectful?

2) Walking in the hallway I overheard some girls making fun of someone’s name.  One friend said to the other, “If I ever met someone named Anas, I would totally call him… ANUS!” The other friends burst into laughter and kept walking to class.  I turned to see who it was, and gave them all a nasty look.

Anas ibn Malik has narrated one thousand two hundred eighty-six hadith, one hundred sixty-eight hadith are in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.  When the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam arrived in Madina, Umm Sulaym presented her son, Anas, to the Messenger and asked if he would accept him as a servant. He was ten years old at that time and served the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam until his death ten years later. Many of the descriptions of the Prophet sallalahu alyahi wasalaam were related by Anas.  His mother once asked the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam to supplicate for Anas. He, upon him be peace, said, ‘O Allah, increase him in wealth and sons, give him long life and forgive him his sins.’ Anas would recollect that he had 125 offspring in his lifetime and only two of them were girls, his garden gave fruit twice a year and had basil which smelt like musk and he had lived long and had even survived poison and he hoped for the fourth part of the supplication. He was the last companion to die in Basra in the year 93H aged 103 years old.  He was the longest living companion of the Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wasalaam.

What’s in a name?

One of the things he mentioned was to set some goals for ourselves during the month.  It doesn’t have to be something enormous, but just something.  Whether it’s giving something up (because we don’t have the time to waste on it) or if it’s adding something to our busy schedules (because we’re learning to prioritize deen in our everyday life).  He said though, no matter what, after we adjust our life to a “Ramadan schedule” we should try our best to hold on to atleast one good habit, and also to continue to let go of one bad habit.

As he was talking, I was taking notes, and wrote in short hand what he had said.  Now, keep in mind that I’m a math nerd (at least self-proclaimed) so I was thinking in terms of numbers.  So, how did I translate and evaluate the verbal expression of neglecting one bad habit and adding on one good habit?

- (-1) + 1 = +2

What does that mean?  When we give up something bad and at the same time strive for something better, not only are we adding one good habit, but because we’re subtracting a negative, we’re also adding another good!

Who knew math and Islam had something in common?? I think I have something to talk about in class tomorrow with my students!  Hurrah

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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.

When Zayd was a young man, he was very motivated to accompany the Muslims in battle. But the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam felt that Zayd was too young to join. He ordered Zayd to leave the battle grounds, and Zayd listened to this command. He did not whine and complain; rather he had patience and knew that what the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam had commanded for him to do was what he had to follow. The same thing happened two more times to him, but each time he was always patient and knew that a time would come when he would be able to help the Muslim Ummah.

Feeling rejected from helping on the battle fields, Zayd did not dwell and instead focused his energy on a different task– that of memorizing the Qur’an. He started slow, memorizing 17 surahs, but patiently continued. He later became one of the foremost scholars of the Qur’an. The Prophet sallalahu alayhi waslaam used to seek the help of Zayd in recording new revelations, learning different languages to communicate with non-Arabs, sending letters and interpreting messages.

During the time of Abu Bakr As Siddiq, Zayd was employed to collect all the manuscripts of the Qur’an, check the authenticity of them, and arrange them in the proper order. He can be accredited the the preservation of the words of Allah for later generations to benefit from.

For his patience, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala provided Zayd ibn Thabit with a very unique opportunity to gain reward and make a place for himself in Islamic history.

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.

The number of courses I’m teaching is just one of few differences from last year.  This is a brand new school, which means brand new students to get to know and understand.  It took me a long time at my last school to adjust to the students and figure out what works for us.  But now I don’t know if all the lessons I’ve learned will be applicable to this next set of students.  Basically, I feel like I’m starting from the bottom of the barrel, and I am!

And being from the bottom of the barrel means I don’t have my own classroom.  I’m going to be moving around from room to room.  And while I had to travel around my last school at times, at the end of the day, I had my own little safe haven with the 4th grade.  It was a place I could call my own. Where will I retreat to in this new school?

There’s always the teacher’s lounge, I guess.  But my experiences in there at the last school weren’t too fantastic.  I don’t know what to expect from these new co-workers.  Will they be just as sociable or more than my last co workers? Atleast this time I have some friends working there with me, so I won’t feel too out of place.

Also, this school year not only will I be teaching, I’ll also be a student.  Insha’Allah in the winter I plan on finally starting the path towards getting my Masters in Education.  I’m hoping to be enrolled part time, so that means classes after work!  It’ll be a hectic schedule, but if I can manage teaching 8 classes and planning a wedding at the same time, I think I can handle anything, insha’Allah.

The point of all this?  I need to hit up Target and get some school supplies… ickh!

 
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.

I figured the transition would be interesting considering I didn’t really know anyone here, but… I did!  There were over 50 people from Ittihaad attending the seminar in Chicago!  It was like my Qabeelat came from Michigan to hold my hand and send me off to a new tribe.

It was so refreshing to and comforting to take a class with my mom, Mariam, the Fahmy’s, etc and at the same time adjust to another mom, and new girls from Illinois.  I could easily go from one person to the next, without feeling uncomfortable.  And now that I’ve had the chance to get to know some faces from Wasat, insha’Allah at the next class, without the Ittihaadi’s, I’ll be okay to fly solo.

What’s the point of this post?  Just saying thanks to the Ittihaadis for driving down 4+ hours to Chicago.  I know you didn’t come for me, but rather the knowledge; but it still felt like you all came to hold my hand.  Jazakullah khair.

Qabeelat Ittihaad– I heart you!