Imagine if we went berserk collecting good deeds the way we all obsess over good deals on black Friday. There is so much planning and preparing put forth for ONE day of sales at the mall.  Now imagine if that was multiplied by 30 days, and also if the deals were 70 times better!  I would line up for a deal like that the night before…

Which is exactly what I did!

Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying regarding Ramadan, “Whoever prayed at night in it (the month of Ramadan) out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.”

Now *that* is one deal I cannot pass up!

I think I may be having a delayed reaction to Ramadan because it seemed to come up and out of nowhere so quickly!  The summer has been going by, full steam ahead, and then… wouldn’t you know it, Ramadan was here!

Saqib started fasting on Wednesday, so Tuesday night we headed to the local masjid to pray tarawih.  We just moved into our own apartment (another reason I hardly noticed Ramadan was coming up–I’ve been busy setting up this place) and it is about 5 minutes away from the masjid.  It was real nice not having to rush out the door to make it on time for prayer.  The hall was jam packed with people.  And with the 90 degree weather, it was almost unbearable in there.  That’s why I haven’t been to tarawih since Wednesday night.  Me and my 33 week baby just can’t take the heat.  I figure it’s better to pray at home, anyway.  I get some more time with the Q, and I can take my time with my salah.

So as someone who hasn’t been going to tarawih, I’m a little behind on my Ramadan-Mubarak-ing.

Oh!  and I haven’t been fasting. I feel like that makes me twice removed from Ramadan (not nightly prayer, no daily fasting)   I tried on Saturday, and it wasn’t so bad.  Insha’Allah I plan on fasting on the weekends.  Most people have told me to not to fast more than one day at a time.  I figured the weekdays would be tough with school and work starting up, so Saturday was the best choice.  I’d fast Sundays, too, but like I said, I don’t want to push myself and fast two days in a row.  I’m not sure how much me and the little one can handle, and I’m not sure I want to find out!

Anyway, for those of you who are fasting and going to the masjid every night, I hope you reap the benefits of your ibadah, and that Allah accepts all that you do this month!

I guess that’s the most important part about the last 10 days or Ramadan.  Really cutting back on the luxury of sleep and using the few eight Power Hours of night we’re given to truly feel Ramadan and worship Allah in the best possible ways.  Here are some of activities that are easy to do, that I like:

1)  Making extra dhikr at any free opportunity–really restrain yourself from useless talk (especially gossip).  Just saying something as simple as subhanAllah wa bihamdihi, subhanAllah al atheem is light on the tongue but heavy on the scales

2) Read Qur’an as a form of dhikr–recite it outloud and try to make your voice beautiful.  Then make sure to read the meaning to get the most benefit from the activity.

3)  Pray in the last third of the night–even if it’s just one set of two rakaah.  Take advantage of your sajjud and closeness to Allah by asking Him for ANYTHING for this life and the next.  Be honest with yourself and realize that He is truly the only One who can give any of us what we want, and more importantly, what we need.

4) Make du’aa for your parents–you and I both know they deserve it.

Allahumma a’inee ‘ala dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ibadatik! (O Allah, help me remember You, expressing gratitude to You and worship You in the best manner, ameen.)

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?

I know it’s kind of a weird way to wish you a blessed Ramadan, but I’ve been going through some changes in thought when it comes to eating in the past few months. And it’s all I can think about now that Ramadan is upon us.

First, it all started with taking Precious Provisions in June.  It’s a class about the fiqh of food and clothing taught by Sh. Yasir Qadhi for AlMaghrib Institute.  One of the things that he mentioned was that it is in the perfection of our character to not over do it when it comes time for eating.  Of the hadiths that he mentioned, one stuck out in my mind especially.  There is no container more evil to fill than your stomach, and just a few morsels is sufficient to keep the back straight [Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah].  This is referring to, of course, over eating, and taking way more than is necessary to survive.

After that class I felt a little embarassed to take a big plate of food and eat it like it was my job.  Embarrassment faded, and disgust rolled in after I watched the documentary Super Size Me where I witnessed what an obscene diet of too many calories can do to your body!  Since then I don’t really like eating out anymore, and I definitely try to keep in mind how many calories I’m consuming.  I was convinced… smaller portions are better for me spiritually and physically.

So, I spent the past two months of summer trying to cut back on whatever I could.  Unfortunately at a party or two, or while visiting relatives, I ended up indulging a little, but not too much.  I’ve been pretty good, alhumdu’lillah.  And I hope to continue in this routine insha’Allah.

Ramadan was around the corner a few weeks ago, and I thought to myself, “Will I be able to keep up this down sized diet in Ramadan?  The fasts are almost 15 hours long!  I’ll need to eat more to keep myself alive, for sure.“  But then I attended jumuah at IFS where Sh. Abdool Rahman Khan gave everyone an ear full about over eating in Ramadan.  He said Muslims today waste more food than ever, especially in the month of Ramadan– a time when we are trying to learn what it is to be thankful for the bounties of Allah by restraining ourselves per His request.

My God, he was right.  I thought about how much iftar people make, and how if we regularly eat to our fill of pakoray, fruit chaat, patties, samosay, cholay, dahi baray, etc… we end up wasting dinner.  Or on the flip side, when we make a conscious effort to cut back on iftar food… we end up wasting that because someone inevitably is going to prepare tons of it because, “It’s Ramadan, and we have to make it.  It’s what we do in Ramadan.“  What a tragedy!  Wasting so much food on ourselves or in the trash.  (A lot of the food does end up in the trash because there are hardly any opportunities to eat left overs in Ramadan)

Then I heard another speech just a few days before Ramadan by Sh. Muhammad Alshareef called The Fasting and the Furious.  He specifically mentioned over eating in Ramadan.  His main point was that some of us consume so much food when we break our fasts, that we feel absolutely lethargic during the night prayers.  Even worse, we are unmotivated to get up for sahur, a Sunnah of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, because “Well, I ate so much last night, I don’t really need to eat in the morning.“  We are doing our bodies and our souls a disservice by consuming so much food in Ramadan.  When we don’t eat all day, our metabolism slows down dramatically.  So when we gorge ourselves on fried foods and plates of dinner, all that food just sits in our stomachs like a rock when we go to pray, a short 15 or 30 minutes after our meals are done.

Anyway you look at it, over eating is a bad idea, ESPECIALLY in the month of Ramadan.   Just because we’re fasting doesn’t mean we can binge on food during the night hours.  Instead we should try to maintain our regular eating habits, and really focus on increasing our taqwa–the main purpose of this month.  I don’t know about you… but massive indigestion and over eating might get in the way of that for me.

May Allah help us to truly benefit during this month and may He make us more thankful servants to Him with increased taqwa, ameen.  Ramadan Mubarak to you all

So I sat down and thought about what we do in Michigan, and figured,  if I couldn’t go to Michigan for Eid, I’d have to bring a Michigan Eid to Illinois.  I called up some friends and invited them over for an open house… Michigan style.  That meant tables of food and people coming in and out all day long.  Below are some food pictures from the event.

Pasta salad with chicken, carrots, corn, black olives, and mozzarella cheese

Homemade chocolate chip cookies

Homemade pudding brownies, more affectionately referred to as “atomic brownies”

 
Seven layer bean dip… I think though there were actually eight layers

Mini-sandwiches made with chicken, coleslaw, Russian dressing, mayo, Swiss cheese and rye bread

Spinach and feta cheese puff pastries

Chili with shredded cheese and sour cream

And last but not least, a new tradition for Eid ul Fitr, turtle cheesecake

The food was, in my biased opinion, good, and the company was even better.  We had a collection of out-of-state-new-to-Illinois girls, and a handful of Illinois veterans.  Alhumdu’lillah, I was laughing and well fed all day.  And really, isn’t that what Eid is all about?

Anyway, I hope you all had a blessed and wonderful day to cap off a blessed and wonderful month.  May Allah accept all our deeds from the past 29 or 30 days, and continue to increase us in our imaan and our ibadaat, ameen.

Eat Mubarak!

After eating, the men went for tarawih, and I got to spend time with just the girls.  It was a lot of fun unwinding with Ammi, Ummy, Fahma, Hunno, my puhpo and Jenny.  We talked about purses, sales, cooking, and everything girly in between.  I felt so relaxed leaning against the coach in front of my puhpo, having her pinch my cheeks, and tell me I’m made of milai.

When the men came back, the rest of Saqib’s family left back home, but the two of us stayed behind with my family and did a half exchange of Eid gifts.  Basically, nothing was wrapped and things were being pulled out of giant Bed Bath and Beyond plastic bags   One person, who shall remain unnamed, came into the room ho-ho-hoing like it was Christmas time… haraam!  Just kidding, just kidding.

Saqib and my dad left for the masjid, and I stayed behind so I could snuggle with my ammi.  Man was I exhausted.  When I hit the pillow I was OUT.  My eyes opened again right in time for sahur.  I couldn’t stomach much, so I had some Cookie Crisp.  We prayed fajr and then Saqib and I headed back home.  On the drive back it just *felt* like it had been layltul Qadr.  It was nice to know I spent it in the company of my family

Saturday morning I pulled myself out of bed early and got started on cooking for dinner for that evening.  At night my parents and local relatives were coming over for iftar.  I didn’t make much, Ummy did most of the cooking.  I baked some penne rigate and a chocolate pie, which OMG, was soo good!  Yes, I just said OMG, but it was only to emphasize how much the pie makes me brain dead after I eat it!! It was so easy to make.

I took 6 hershey bars with almonds and melted them in a bowl over boiling water.  I add like a 1/4 cup of milk to make it alittle more fluid.  After it melted, I took it off the heat, and added enough Cool Whip to the chocolate to take it from being dark brown to light brown.  Once I added that, I realized I didn’t have enough filling to fill my pie crust, so I tried to be creative, pulled out a box of instant chocolate pudding, and mixed that up and added it to the melted chocolate.  Finally I had enough, poured it into the pie crust and stuck it into the fridge.  Later I took it out, sprinkled some cocoa on top and added some sliced almonds and then put it in the freezer.  It was sooo perfectly chocolatey.  Not too rich, not too light, not too thick either.  Sorry I don’t have a picture to show you!  There’s only a sliver left in the freezer now.

After everyone gorged themselves with food, we went to the masjid for tarawih, prayed our 8 rakaah and came back to exchange presents!  More Eid presents!! Yaaaaaay.  I was a little skeptical about the gift I got for Fahma, but she seemed to like it.  I gave her two CDs: 1) Zaid Shakir talking about what an Obama presidency will mean for us and 2) Zaid Shakir and Cornel West on the impact of Malcolm and Martin… or as I liked to say it, 2 blacks guys talking about 2 black guys.

Dr King:  I have a dream, that Zaid and Cornel will do a collabo about us.
X:  O, exciting! Let’s make that happen, by any means necessary!

Anyway!  At night all the girls slept in my room and we kicked out Saqib.  I felt kind bad… but only kinda.  It was a slumber party, afterall, and he has no business in a girls slumber party.  Am I right, or am I right?

Sunday morning the sky outside was so… everybody’s leaving today.  It kinda sucked.   My parents took off at 2:00, followed by ZZ.  I prayed zuhr and took Hunno back home, but not without first stopping at Target.  We both had to pick up one thing from the store, which meant that we passed through all sorts of departments first just to look.  I like shopping with Hunno, it’s fun.  Can’t explain it.  Just is.

Anyway, dropped her off, drove back home, and then spent the rest of the day just chilling, because I don’t have work this week.  That means: no papers to grade, no quizzes to make, no homework to check, nothing nothing nothing!  Just a lot of cooking and a lot more fun, insha’Allah.

*sigh* Man, that felt good to write.

Meanwhile, the masses are still not coming.  And I’m becoming more and more frustrated with them.  Why?  Because they all need my help.  They’re failing quizzes and tests and getting really low scores on the homework that they hardly turn in.  I know they care about their grades, because when I pass back graded assignments, they’re all really upset.  But they don’t do anything about it.  I have repeatedly told them about my office hours, and that I’m availible to meet them on other days too, before, during or after school.  And yet, no one takes me up on this offer.  So, like I said, I’m starting to become frustrated with them because they won’t help themselves by asking for help.

I was thinking, the other day, of the stupidity of the whole situation.  Here I have students in dire need of help, and I’ve made myself availible to them, and they’re not coming or asking.  And then I thought… this sounds familiar.

Doesn’t Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala make Himself availible to us all the time, and do we not use this resource?  I mean, how many times have we been told that if we want mercy (good grades) we have to ask for it (go to office hours).  We’re even told for the best times to ask for the help we need, during sajud of tahajud (Wednesdays after school).  And yet hardly any of us actually take advantage of this time!

If we are to continue to make the analogy of office hours being like asking Allah for help, then take the example of the students who have come and asked.  As a teacher, nowhere close to having the status of Allah, even I have grown to love the students who ask for help more!  So imagine, if we actually are the ones who are wise and ask Allah for His help, make du’aa, and talk to Him when we’re in need, won’t He begin to love us more, too?

Just something to think about, I guess.  Next time you need something in life, don’t think you can manage on your own and figure it out by yourself.  My students can tell you first hand the success rate of having that mentality.  Instead, go to office hours and ask Allah!

Help yourself… ask for help!

I *know* I’m not using my time wisely in Ramadan.  Between the physical exhuastion of fasting and the mental and emotional exhaustion of work, I “can’t” find time to do any extra ibadah.  I’m so behind in my Qur’an, and I’ve hardly been to the masjid to pray tarawih.  Sure I’ve prayed at home, but it isn’t the same.  I get tired easily and give up after just a few sets of nafl.

I don’t want to be one of those people at the end of Ramadan that is filled with regret because this amazing opportunity has slipped right past me.  For the past few days it’s all I can think about– I’m going to regret this.  I’m going to regret this.  I’m going to regret this.  And what’s annoying now is that I’m wasting time thinking about how much time I’m wasting!!

So my new policy is that no matter how tired I am from work, no matter how much grading and planning I have to do, no matter how much cooking I need to do for a party, I’m going to let go of my physical exhaustion and turn into a robot.  After all, fasting was prescribed for “just a few days, ” so if I’m tired now… insha’Allah in just a few days, I won’t be.

O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -[Fasting for] a limited number of days. (2:183-184)

Even Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is giving us tussalli that it isn’t gonna last forever, so man up and do whatcha gotta do!

Last ten days, here I come!

I want lots of oozing, gooey, melty cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, my beloved guacamole, black olives and green onions all over crunchy, crispy and salty tortilla chips. If I can get some meat on that, that’d be nice, thanks!