A few Fridays back I attended a short evening lecture given by Imam Suhaib Webb at UIC.  The subject of his talk was, of course, preparing for Ramadan.  He went over the basics– why we fast, how we fast, who needs to fast, etc.  And he also went over the spiritual aspects of Ramadan:  the do’s and don’t’s of actually reaching the goal of increasing our taqwa.

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

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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