Reflection: Masjid Adminstrations

In all honesty, I don't think there is a single person in all of Canada who would sincerely vouch for loving the administration of their Masjid. This article is not a scathing generalization of Masjid administrations at large, without any consideration for exceptions and without any hope for change. This article is about admitting the sad reality that many Masajid admins are emotionally manipulative, psychologically deceptive and in some cases, spiritually (or religiously) abusive. Again, this may not happen in every Masjid or it may not play out to the same extremes. Many Muslims working under Masjid administrations often cannot comprehend the oppression in which they exist or the abuses they have deadened themselves to tolerate.

Masajid are not about tolerating manipulations, abusive administrations, sideshow behaviours or restrictive legalism - it is about expressing our love for Allah, receiving spiritual nourishment and above all, feeling safe and feeling a sense of belonging. How can anyone do ibaadah or feel loved when they are constantly in fear of being yelled at by the administrators for everything under the sun, throw out and losing their voluntary position. Many people will say that Masjid administrators are humans and as humans, they are allowed to fall a little short of virtue. Yes, to fall a little short is okay but to be the furthest away from any kind of religious propriety is not!
Masajid administrators have no management education yet they hoard pandemic religious power and authority over the Masjid. They rule like virtual dictators, having boards filled with yes-men to satisfy tax authorities. In reality, they answer to no one - to no committee, not to the congregation at all, not even to the Imaam. They are self-employed and self-credentialed. They literally believe that their words uttered in announcements and meetings are equivalent to the Words of Allah and should be accepted with the same devoution as the Quran.

It can be countered that the administration rules are consistent with what benefits the organization and functionality of the Masjid. If this is true, then why are almost all administrators devoid of any professional training. It may be a surprise to learn that Masjid administrations are usually run by a single family. Though they may use reams of papers to justify who they hire and fire, it is obvious that they are in the business for making money. By dishing out administrative position to their own family, they will enjoy absolute access to all Masjid finances and management. Their sons and daughters come to the Masjid once a month, only to collect their $500 to $900 cheques while other members are pressurized to volunteer for the Masjid all week, from 9 am to 5 pm without a dime (fi sabilAllah). They have parties and weddings at the Masjids expense. They do not consult the donors for any of their major purchases. They enjoy a blank check to control all classes and programs in the Masjid.
Any member volunteer who has reformation ideas is quickly disposed. The mildest form of dissent and inquiry is silenced. In these Masajid, the administration will stop you from giving adhaan and reject your resume for teaching only because you are not from their family. Your ijazah, degree and natural talents from Allah, will never be accepted by them because it threatens their sole control over the Masjid. And they will do anything to protect their authority and wallets. This not only leads to corruption, but also evasion of emaan.

This unchecked power can and does corrupt many administrators who feel the Masjid can be used as a platform for personal gain, the congregation is abused and controlled by tactics intended to create obedience and loyalty, ayaat from Quran and ahadith are contorted to bend the administrators personal opinions - and those that question or stand up to such abuses face public humiliation and ostracism. So, a system that was intended to revive Islam in Canada has devolved into a corrupt system that manipulates people for wealth, leaving emotional and psychological scars on individuals and families for the rest of their lives. They may love Allah but they will never return to the Masajid where they experienced so much stress, strain and abuses by the administration.

I am saying all this because as a Muslim who has been part of Masajid all her life, I am really hurt. I gave so much to these Masajid and in return got nothing back. As a teacher, I do not want to lose a generation of Muslim children who do not have a place to grow up and learn Islam. I want Masajid to have administrative accountability and financial accountability. To hire Islamic teachers for their credential and not their bloodline. To allow the congregation to represent its needs and have them satisfied. I am not asking for a whole lot. I am only asking for what is fair. There are so many ways to make money, you dont have to use the Masjid.

Bookreview - Burned Alive

"I hate tyranny and oppression wherever practiced, more especially if practiced by my own Government, for then I am in a measure responsible" - M.P. Alfred Webb

 Before I say anything, I just want to clarify that gender relations in Islam does not perpetuate female bondage and suffering. This is not another article creating hatred and paranoia against Muslim men. Personally I do not give credence to any rhetoric that evenly remotely suggests that the Qur'an says that it is a part of faith to let someone abuse you. Islam does not condone submission to any abusive authority, whether male or female. However, I find it telling that the issue of obedience always arises in specific sects from back home, subtly reminding women of their duty to their husbands.

According to Burned Alive, every year, more than 6,000 women, who fail to obey their male counterparts, are murdered in the rural villages of West Bank, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, India and Pakistan. In Jordan, a man who has killed his wife/daughter/sister in a state of rage is entitled to the judge's clemency; the same law applies to a man in Palestine, who kills his wife simply because he suspects her of adultery. It is increasingly common in Pakistan and Afghanistan to mutilate or burn alive, girls who have "disgraced" their families.

I have often wondered why Muslims activities have never unpacked the complex reality of violence against women back home. Why is the only issue pressed and loudly proclaimed in our countries is that of human rights violations by Israel or conspiracies by United States. Is it because a crime is only when men die or when missiles are fired? Controlling, isolating and threatening women is in fact, a deep wound that routinely damns our countries. We decry the political situation in the Middle East yet ignore the domestic degradation of women. It is inconceivable for me how we find political violence more harrowing than domestic violence.

Our hearts pound against our rib cages and our neck hair feels like pins every time a headline rips through CNN or BBC about a political "crisis" in the region. Tragically, our blood doesn't thunder and bellow in the same way when Souad points out in this book that,  'a girl is called a charmuta, a prostitute if a man catches her eye or when she is married at the age of 14 or when her brothers go to school but she does not. When being born a girl is a curse, when a wife must first produce a son - at least one - and if she gives birth only to girls, she is mocked, even beaten. A day without beating is unusual. She is pulled by the hair, dragged, hands tied behind her back, legs bound and scarf over her mouth to muffle the sound of her screams. At most, only two or three girls are needed to help with the housework, to work on the land and tend the animals. The rest are suffocated to death in carpets and large blankets after birth.' When gasoline is poured over her body. When her nose and ears are carved out of her face. How can men who do such carnage in their homes complain that Israelis are annexing their land or the Americans are policing the world? Our conscious should roar against this hypocrisy.

The effluvium of terror is all around us. We only choose to see check points, sometimes disputed territories and streets as battlefields when our attention should really be in living rooms baptized in blood,  where mordant perfume of women's tears emanates. The hell-hounds who burnish women s  bodies black and blue and rapture their spirits, think they are performing some sort of religious service in resisting the Israeli/American occupations. If I didn't know any better, I would say they deserve every single punishment, war and sanction from the international arena for what they do to their women. How can these monsters hope for any mercy from Allah when they are themselves murderers? The previous nations were destroyed because they were unjust. Ibn Taymiyyah rahimaAllah deduced that a kaffir state will thrive and succeed if it is just, but Allah will never give victory to an unjust nation-state, even if its rulers/inhabitants claim to be Muslims. This is because Allah has forbidden injustice.

All Islamic texts are self-explanatory: the curse of Allah is on the dhalimoon. Allah hates the dhalimoon! The angels curse the person who points a weapon at a Muslim until he puts the weapon down. These men are not even Muslim if they are harming other believers with their words and hands. And if they think their odious behaviour with women is not dhulm then explain why the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) forbade a person from eating two days together at a time without taking permission from his companion? When eating an extra date is an heinous act of dhulm then clubbing a little girl with a shoe - belt or crowbar is certainly not piety!
Umar (r.a) used to weep in Medina, thinking that Allah will hold him to account if a baby goat died by the Euphrates river. Today, all over the Middle East women are slaughtered worst than cattle and there is no public expression of protest or indignation. Even if women are freed from Israeli occupation, who will free them from their husbands and fathers who stifle them at home.

One can argue that there are human rights organizations fighting for the protection of women in our countries. Yes, but these organizations are secular. Because Masjid Imaams and Scholars do not offer any solution, Muslim women have no choice but to turn to these groups. These groups offer them everything from money, surgery to immigration - in exchange for leaving Islam. Resistance among women to wear the hijab is not a coincidence. It is the result of years of abuse they have suffered by men who represent Islam. I ask all men, from Palestine to Pakistan: what is the point of your tahajjud, siyam, hifdh, sadaaqat and hajj if you inflict your own daughters and wives with rape, molestation, beatings and threat of divorce or homelessness everyday. The true measure of your masculinity is not how long your beard is or even how badly you want to go for jihad against the Israelis and Americans but how benevolently you treat your women. If we want Allah to change our political conditions, we should change our conditions at home with our women.

It is also possible that the political environment in these countries have made men violent and so they take out their frustrations at home. It is not easy being humiliated everyday at checkpoints or being fired from work because of your sect, the colour of your skin or nationality. Men can only take so much despotism. Still, I insist that the liberation of Palestine or any other Muslim country from non-Muslim invaders is not worth the persecution of women by their own families. We should not be deceived into believing that liberation of Palestine lies in the achievement of political power and strategic domination over the Middle East. No liberation is possible without the liberation of women. We cannot talk about freedom without talking about the freedom for all people, including Muslim women from family systems that perpetuate violence against them, marginalizes them and oppresses them.

Vive le Palestine, Vive le Femmes!

Adult: Beti, shadi ke baad apne sare khawab pure kar lena
Me: Yes, sare masiyoon wale khawab

Why are the nights so lonely?
To remind me that I will sleep alone in my grave.

Fadhaail al Aamal

This year I am kind of on a mission to read new books on Seerah and ahadith .... there is subhanAllah so much to learn from and learn about the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) ...

Prophet’s ﷺ reality was that he was an orphan, no brothers or sisters, with a handful of relatives, who harassed and abused him for 13 years of his life. They ostracized him from their lives, launched accusations against him and made sure he would not find any following in the wider community. They made at least 17 attempts against his life. This was his sad reality. Prophet ﷺ could have allowed himself to drown in his grievances. But he kept going. He ﷺ went to Taif. He went to Aqabah. Finally he went to Madina ﷺ. He consoled himself with Tahajjud and descriptions of Paradise. He was positive genius.

The Prophet s.a.w did not give into rage. 
Revenge could have easily been his, but this was not the way of the Prophet s.a.w at Taif. 
Though cursed out of a home and a city, disrespected, violated, betrayed and hurt the Prophet s.a.w placed his hope in the people of Ta'if - their future being better than their present. He s.a.w placed hope in their children being better than their parents. He s.a.w had placed hope in them.

One book which does not do Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) justice, is Fadaail al Aamal.

It is a crime against Seerah and ahadith.

It violates our Deen.

It is a lie against Allah.

Growing up ... I have heard pretty polytheistic concepts. I had no idea that the root of shirk surrounding the persona of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is Fadaail al Amal.

Problem # 1 

In Fadhaail Durood p.97, incident no 35: The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) allegedly said, “Whoever wants something from anyone should go to his grave and supplicate to Allah for it”

On p.109, incident no 48: “Sh. Abu Akhair Qattah said that, “I went to Madeenah and stayed there for five days but did not achieve the pleasure and satisfaction. I went to the graves of the Prophet (s.a.w), Abu Bakr and Umar said, “Messenger of Allah, I am your guest tonight.” Then I left the place and slept behind the minbar. I saw in my dream that the Prophet of Allah (s.a.w) with Abu Bakr on his right side and Umar on his left and Ali in the front. Ali then shook me awake and said that, ‘Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) has come to visit me.’ I got up and kissed the Prophet (s.a.w) between his eyes. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) then gave me a piece of bread which I ate half and when I woke up, the other half was in my hand.”

What is the author, Muhammad Zakaria Kandalvi insinuating from this fabrication? That we should go on the Prophet’s grave (s.a.w) and that of the sahaba to make duaa to them?

Allah commands, “And And do not invoke besides Allah that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers.” [10:96]

Aisha (r.a) narrated, “When a righteous man or a pious worshiper among them dies they build a place of worship over his grave and set up all kinds of pictures and statues. They are the worst all creatures before Allah. They combine two evil: worshiping at graves and making graven images and statues.” Bukhari and Muslim

When of the last things the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said before his death was, “Allah’s curse be upon the Jews and Christians for taking the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.” Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Making duaa is a an act of worship. Directing this act of worship towards the Prophet (s.a.w) or his grave is evil! Profane! Doom! Injury and destruction to the religion! 

This is just a one example of blaspheme, the entire book is full of Shirk!

Problem # 2

In p.109, incident no 46: Abu Na’eem reports from Sufyaan ath-Thawree saw a man who said, “I went along with my mother for Hajj and my mother died there; her face became black and her stomach swelled, to which I realized that she had committed some very serious sin. I raised my hands to make duaa to Allah when I saw that from the direction of Hijaz a cloud appeared from which emerged a man. He placed his hand on my mother’s face and it became enlightened and rubbed his hand over her stomach and the swelling disappeared. I asked him who he was and he replied that he is Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and he instructed me to send durood on him on every step.”

This horrendous story wants us to believe that (a) the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is omnipotent and omnipresent – alive and everywhere (b) the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)  in need of us to send him as-Salat as-Salam, which is why he goes around helping people (c) he massages women’s stomachs? You have got to be kidding me!

Not only the Prophet (s.a.w) but according to Fadhail al Amal, even saints are omnipresent Moosa Darir travels 2700 miles in one night to pray in Makkah. Even a F-16 Falcon cannot fly this fast (p. 223 Fadhail Hajj). 

We can even make duaa to people besides Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w): a person made duaa to Junaid Baghdadi in a jungle for water - p.242-243 Fadhail Hajj, Fadhail Amal vo. II

Is this Islam or Hinduism?

Problem # 3

On p.102, incident no 42 – Zakaria Kandalvi says Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) kissed an insane Sufi.

p.110, incident no 48 – Muhammad (s.a.w) descends from the sky on a cloud with a piece of bread in his hand in order to feed his pious followers. Then the Prophet (s.a.w) plucks hair from his beard and gives it to a dying man in order to cure him. 

Ali (r.a) and Abdullah bin Zubayr (r.a) narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “Do not lie upon me, for whoever lies upon me, let him enter the Fire” Bukhari and “Whoever intentionally lies upon me, let him find his seat in the Hellfire” Bukhari. 

In Fadha’il Hajj, p. 138 says, ‘When you see the green then it should be with awe and reverence....the place of the holy grave is superior than any other place and that place which touches the holy body of the Prophet (s.a.w) is superior to the Ka’bah, superior to the Throne of Allah and superior than everything in the heavens and on earth.”

 Zakaria Kandalvi is saying that the Prophet (s.a.w) is greater than Allah.

Problem # 4

On p. 141 Fadha’il Amal, Fadhail Hajj Vol II it says, “When you visit anyone’s grave...Allah has given the dead the power of Kashf then it is easy for him to see you because when the dead turns to his right in his grave then his sight falls towards your feet.”

If the dead are alive in their grave tossing and turning, shouldn't we take them out? I don’t want go to no creepy grave with people buried alive inside! 

Problem # 5

Fadha’il Hajj p.164 Fadhail Amal Vol I, Kandalvi says there is a no name saint, who taught Khidr his knowledge. Didn’t Mirza Ghulam Qadiani claim the same thing?

On p.241, Fadhail Hajj, Kandalvi writes that saints know of the feelings of our hearts, share Allah’s Knowledge of the unseen and they can tell the righteous of the wicked. This is the Aqeedah of the Shi’a.

p.290, Fadhail Hajj, Imaam Ghazali is allegedly quoted to have said when one reaches the third level of Tawakkul, he is no longer required to ask anything from Allah.

He is no longer required to worship Allah?

Problem # 6

Did you know on p. 105, Fadhail Hajj, Fadhail Amal Vo1 I - an Ajmee (non-Arab) was slapped from a hand that emerged from the Ka’bah’s Yemni Corner.

Where was the hand of the Ka’bah when the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was being tortured and persecuted in its courtyard?

On p.111 Fadhail Hajj, Fadhail Amal, Kandalvi informs us that, “some people live in Khurasaan but are close to the ones who perform the Tawaaf. And yet there are some to whom the Ka’bah itself goes to visit them.” 

I can continue quoting more problems with Fadhaail al Amal but my evidences will not do justice. See the following video for more correction (Note - Video is not for faint of heart):

Jews in Medina

Jews were already well established in Medina two centuries before Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)'s birth. Influential, the Jews were expert jewelers, weapons and armour makers. There were many Jewish clans, up to more than twenty. The most prominent were Banu Nadir, Banu Qaynuya and Banu Qurayza. Jewish clans were aware of the coming of the final Prophet so following the traditions within the Talmud, they had moved to Medina to welcome the final Prophet.

Following are some videos which discuss the prophesy of the final prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) in the Torah and the Bible. The first two are a bit sensationalist, the final video is a lecture presentation by Shaykh Abdur Raheem Green, a Christian convert to Islam. Alhamdulillah, he offers a two part lecture to explain in detail the many incidents were the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is mentioned in the Bible.

Enjoy :)

Tufay bin Amr and Dhimad Azdi

What's so scary about Muslims?
Some people are frightened about Islam ... fundamental Islam...extremist Islam...
We have allocated all sorts of scary names to Islam.
For an average person who reads the Toronto Star or watches Fox News, Islam is an aggressive, violent and intolerant religion. For an average, second-generation Muslim teenager, Islam is the most boring, the most restricted and archaic religion on the face of the earth.

To both I say, be receptive to ideas and opinions outside of yourself. In other words, open your mind a little. Muslims were involved in, led and participated in many of the greatest accomplishments which developed the Western civilization. Muslims not only believe in living with tolerance of one another, but we live with the fundamental fact that we are all humans and count just as much as the other. We do not ascribe a dollar value or a racial demarcation or sexual worth to any individual. We have always served God and all of humanity. If the mainstream public cannot comprehend these facts, then it is because of their lack of knowledge of Islam.

The following are stories of three individuals who were not willing to give Islam a chance:

Tufayl bin Amr Dausi was a poet and a chief of the Daus tribe that lived on the outskirts of Yemen. Eleven years after the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) began his mission, Tufayl visited Makkah only to be warned by the Quraysh about the danger of Muhammad's (s.a.w) bewitching words. Tufayl went ot the Ka'bah with cotton stuffed in his ears asa precaution against Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)'s preaching. He arrived at the Ka'bah to find the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) performing Salah nearby. Overcome by curiosity, Tufayl decided to listen to Muhammad's (s.a.w) recitation. "I am a poet with a trained ear. I can determine of what Muhammad says is true poetry or not. I shall accept what he says if his words are good." Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w) recitation was really amazing. Tufayl then followed the Prophet (s.a.w) home and asked him to explain Islam to him and thereafter he embraced Islam. Tufayl returned home and brought seventy to eighty families from his tribe to Islam.

What would happen if you heard about Islam from its original source?
What if I told you in real life today ... people cry with happiness when they find Islam? They leave drugs, drinks ... they leave Hollywood for the peace that Islam gives them.

Dhimad Azdi was a skilled exorcist, he hailed from Azd Shanwah tribe of Yemen. When he came to Makkah, he heard a rumour that Muhammad (s.a.w) was insane. He then approached the Prophet (s.a.w) and offered to cure him. The Prophet responded (s.a.w) by saying, "All praise be to Allah. We glorify Him and see His help. He whom Allah has guided cannot be misled, and he whom Allah has lead astray cannot be guided. I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger." Dhimad was so impressed with the Prophet's speech (s.a.w) that he repeated it thrice and said, "I have heard the speeches of sorcerers, soothsayers and poets, but never before have I heard anything like this." He then asked the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) to extend his hand so that he could pledge his allegiance to him."

One can argue that we cannot find the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) like Tufayl and Dhimad to speak with directly. So then how can we know the truth about Islam. We can read the Qur'an, the message of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is intact 100% Even if you cannot read or understand Arabic ... people as far as Australia and from beliefs as opposing as Jewish agnosticism are falling in love with Islam through the Qur'an.

We would like to believe that we are open-minded people. However, if we have really strong views about topics that we have never learned about and refuse to be persuaded to sway from those views then we are deliberately shutting our minds off to the possibilities that could exist. 

A mind is like a parachute, it does not work if it is not open. 

http://quran.com/

A Real Man

There is no man in this universe who was can be as magical and as wondererous as the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). My, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), he was the only man and he will be the only man who lived like powder keg giving off sparks. He could race his horse like thunder. The enemy could feel the heat of his presence from a distance of two month's journey. He was better than superman, a complete hero ... not just in battle but also in the bedroom. Don't mistake his strength and speed for abuse. He never made Aisha (r.a) cry. A man who was able to smash mountains with a single command, who could cut the moon in half ... never crushed his wife's heart. That man was Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). No one after him.

Burn It!

utho meri dunya k "ghuraba" ko jaga do
khak-e-ghustaakh ke dar-o-diwaar hila do

ujala karo ghafiloon ke qalb  mein soz-e-Qur'an se
kaffiroon ke makar ko tawheed ke dalail se lara do

iss zamane mein ejaad kar liye logoon ne bohat se ma'bood
jo naqsh-e-shirk ke andhere tum ko nazar aye mita do

jis darga se mayyassar nahi koi rozi
aus darga ke har goshe ko jala do

ta ke makhluq mein qayim rahe sirf ek Allah keliye khushu' aur tazalul
adab-e-ibadaat mushrikeen ko sikha do

utho meri dunya k "ghuraba" piran-e-kalisa ko kalisa se hata do
iss dunya ko لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله ki sada se sajaado

New Year's Book List

Years ago books mattered more in provoking change. It is up to readers today not to be distracted by information overload, to be selective and make knowledge matter again.

1. How the world works by Noam Chomsky (New Society Publishers)
Collection of interviews by Chomsky who brings his vast knowledge to comment on subjects like how the U.S. government really works, imperialism, democracy, and economics. If you are critical of the modern corporate security state then this book is for you.

2.  1000 Sunan of the Prophet (s.a.w) day and night 
You need daily morals and encouragement to live by and this is a good book to get you started.

3. Fiqh of Seerah - by shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali 

I have read and taught the seerah many times. I am looking for something that would go a little bit more in depth, provide reasons and explanations for Divine Providence throughout the Prophet's life (s.a.w). I am looking for something that lends modern analysis to ancient details. Something that argues for faith and purity. Islamic Online University uses this as a Seerah textbook in their BA program. InshaAllah I'll give it a try. 

4. Women around the Messenger (s.a.w) 

Meet my comrades in faith? My worthy predecessors who sparked  the application of women's rights in Islam. Let's put a face to the name.

5. Salah Ad-Din Al-Ayyubi

6.Raid of the Mongols 

7.Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy 

8.History of Palestine

9.Crusade War

10.Life of Abdul Wahab

Food to Syria from Costco

I walked in and out of Costco on Dec. 28th  with way more things than I had planned to purchase - mostly food supplies for school in the coming month. Costco is one giant store with no design or tempting poster displays. No special layouts, not even windows. The whole place is so cluttered, there is barely any room to drive your cart. To be fair, the products pulled out of their boxes and ...free food samples do invite shoppers to loiter in the store for a little longer than they would like.
There were kitchen appliances or fresh plants -- that shoppers can stop to touch, smell or try. Free food stalls from candy to pizza, fish, steamed and buttered broccolis and brownies! You could practically have lunch by just walking around from one aisle to another.

But my focus here is on expired ood. I am interested in what happens to all the food when it expires? The boxes of frozen vegetables, baked cakes, cookies, chocolates, breads,  ... there must have been 15,000 food items in average at Costco expiring on Dec. 30th. A portion of it, I am sure inevitably would thrown into the garbage and end up in landfills. What if we salvaged that food and sent it to refugee camps in Syria? Hundreds of Costco stores across the country throw away outdated packs of granola bars, Cheerios cereal boxes, baked goods and juice cartons. We can take advantage of the fact that retailers are generally not going to care what happens to their products after a certain date. We can purchase the the soon-to-be expired food before it is discarded at bargained prices for people who really need it. The FDA approves outdated food. The government agency determines that expiration dates are simply an indication of optimum quality as deemed by the manufacturer. The food still remains safe to consume for some time beyond the expiry date.

I did a little research on www.a1freightforwarding.com A single crate containing 2500 kg of food will cost us around five thousand dollars. If 50 people gave zakkah of hundred dollars each, we could afford this plan.
We may be tempted to offer our lose change but that does very little for Syrians we don't even have trash to pick out their food from. Costco outdated and out of season products can serve many soup kitchens in Syria and refugee camps. We can open a dozen charity agencies and food pantries that can save lives!

Allahu Musta'an

Review of the Middle East Revolutions

What does the Libyan revolution look like in 2013? The streets of Tripoli and Benghazi are full of militia checkpoints manned by some of the 225,000 registered militiamen whose loyalty is to their commanders rather than the state. On Nov. 15, the militia men opened Kalashnikovs to anti-aircraft guns on demonstrators in Tripoli who were demanding that they go home. They killed 43 protestors and wounded 400 others. Earlier the intern government's Prime Minister, Ali Zeidan, was kidnapped by militia gunmen. Militias have closed the oil ports, exports and eastern Libya. The Libyan state has collapsed.

The revolutions have so far produced anarchy in Libya, a civil war in Syria, a greater autocracy in Bahrain and resumed dictatorial rule in Egypt.

In Syria, the uprising began in 2011 with demonstrations against the brutality of Assad's regime. After 3 years of chants, protests and civil war, there is no fair candidate to replace Assad. In 2003, the majority of Iraqis wanted to see the end of Saddam's rule vis-à-vis US invasion. But the government replaced by the US in Baghdad is even more sectarian, corrupt and dysfunctional. More state violence ensues. Iraqi prisons are full of people who have made false confessions under torture or the threat of it. Abu Ghraib is the world's most tortuous and murderous prison only after Bagram - a symbol of post-Taliban Afghanistan.

 Why have revolutions in the Arab world failed so absolutely, and why have they increased in faults and crimes? The humanitarian principles expressed at the beginning of revolutions contrast the bloodbath at the end. The mass uprising has come to an end with rapid degradation of human life and public infrastructure.

The depressing frequency of failure of the uprisings does not come as a surprise. Revolutions come into being because of unpredictable forces with different motives targeting the governments. The political, social and economic ramifications of the upsurges in the Middle East were masked by English-speaking bloggers and tweeters as unthreatening velvet revolutions similar to anti-organized religion and pro-democracy uprisings in Eastern Europe. It is a simple-minded delusion that problems: personal freedoms, social and economic inequality would vanish once democracies have replaced the old police states. This propaganda sells in Western media but in reality, it does nothing in terms of engineering anything close to a peaceful transition from the old to new regime. The populations remain sectarian, ethnically and tribally divided - tearing each other apart in new civil wars everyday.

Even when NATO (really the US) intervened in the name of globalisation and humanitarianism like Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011, the intervention was very similar to imperial takeover in 19th century. The US talked about 'nation-building' to be carried out but it was clear that they had their own interests in mind just as Britain did when Lloyd George orchestrated the carve-up of the Ottoman Empire. Arab nation states were charted in the early 1960s to create national independence for the various Arab groups. But the leaders of the Arab states, brought to power and armed by UK and the US at the time are now dubbed as ruthless dictators using nationalism to justifying their hold to power. However, the US has always viewed Arab nationalism as a mask for racism and militarism against its freedom and the existence o Israel. The Arabs themselves lack an ideology that would enable them compete as a focus of loyalty with religious sects and ethnic groups. The rebels and reforms in the Arab world have taken the lives of millions and raised their respective countries to debris without resolving anything except creating more dilemmas.

I believe the status quo in the Middle East should change but I will never support the destruction of the Middle East by Arabs. I will never support the invitation to the Crusaders to come back to the Middle East. I will never support the army or airforce of the US, Canada or UK bombing majority Muslim populated lands, the beautiful citadel of Islam. Once the Arabs resisted colonialism and today we are supporting it. What kind of Arab revolution would require the presidents of US, UK, France to bomb the countries which the companions of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) conquered to establish Islam. What kind of Arab revolution is this?  So a principle for me is that the Arabs must liberate themselves. If the imperial powers come to liberate us, they will make an Abu Ghraib and Bagram in every single country full of Muslims and exchange a small tyrant for a bigger tyrant.

How should the Arab liberate themselves? Islamic literature, history and culture - offers an integrated and comprehensive solution to bad governments and civil wars. Stay tuned inshaAllah...


 

"Look who I just caught sinning around."- A Tattle tail is in town!

Dredging up the sins of other people is a form of spiritual grave-digging. Personally, I don’t want to hear about anyone's sins, any more than I want to hear about my own. We all have skeletons in our spiritual closets. If we declared open season on them, the rattling and banging of them emptying out would go on forever.
            Sadly, exposing other people’s sins is a form of social currency within some families. It gets one attention. It gives one momentary power. The more “juicy details” one knows, the more transient acclaim they get. It makes the “best,” gossip the focus of Eid dinner conversation. It gives one the power to discredit the validity of someone else’s present, fruitful, life.

            I don’t know about you, but I’ve been exposed to an endless cataloguing of people. I’m fed up with it; sick of hearing it, weary of talking about it. Allah knows whether the sinners we expose have repented or not, and Allah alone is their Judge. The same goes for the rest of us. All of us have sinned. The only difference is perhaps in the kind, frequency and amount of sins. None of us has a pristine closet. We all have something to be ashamed of in our pasts.

Those who are of the tattle tail kind however, will continue to remind us of others' sins at every opportunity. They will seek to grind the noses of the people in shame and accusations. Their life is about gossip and slander. Little have they spied the Qur'an to know what Allah says about them, "Woe to every slanderer and backbitter. Who collects wealth and [continuously] counts it. He thinks that his wealth will make him immortal. No! He will surely be thrown into the Crusher. And what can make you know what is the Crusher? It is the fire of Allah , [eternally] fueled, Which mounts directed at the hearts. Indeed, Hellfire will be closed down upon them. In extended columns." (Surah Humazah)

God's people– if indeed they are God's people – do not accuse, tear down, remind of, and constantly traffic in, each other’s failures and shortcomings; rather, they build up, edify, encourage, forgive and cover the indiscretions – as does Allah himself. The hearts should not be a place of judgment ("Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah knows and you do not know." Surah Nur: 19) but a place of healing and good counsel ("The believing men and believing women are Auliya' (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) for one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those - Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise." Surah Tawbah: 71).

            I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anyone to come out a loser in the Judgment that we shall all inevitably face – me included. I believe in the old saying that when you point the accusing finger at another, you’ve got three others pointing back at yourself. When it comes to purity, none of us has anything to crow about.

This is an exhortative, and somewhat corrective article. I felt it needed to be written. I’m writing it as much to myself as to anyone. If we insist on bringing other people's mistakes, dusting them out, examining them, analyzing them, and otherwise discussing them. If we try to inflict “guilt trips” as a means of humiliating others, and keeping them one down to us, we may find it backfiring on us. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) warned us according to a hadith in Bukhari, "O those who have embraced Islam only with their tongue, while Emaan has not yet entered their hearts, neither harm Muslims, nor mock them, nor try to expose their mistakes, for anyone who chases after and searches for someone's shortcomings, Allah will expose their sins and humiliate them within their families and on the Day of Judgement."

We have all done our share of gossiping, myself included. Can we please get over it? Can we not move ahead and up to higher ground?

Holidays mean more work!

My last day of work for the year was last Friday, you would think I feel relieved! Sadly no because now I must dedicate more of my time to studying. Term 2 is starting in January and although it is not mandatory, it means as a teacher I have to prepare lessons till June. This makes my life more miserable, in the sense that I have to work for the next hundred years. I have a tentative plan: for January we'll work on learning the Names of Allah using posters, flashcards and case studies. I have these cute cut outs of the Names of Allah to put around the white board. February will be dedicated to the life of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) [Makkan period for grade 7, and Medinan period for grade 9]. In March I will be using Shaykh Saleh al Fawz's Islamic Jurisprudence vol. 1 to teach Salah. April will be the month for discussing hijab and modesty - right before summer when people start shedding ... clothes! This all in my head so far, not on paper yet. It depends on when I wake up in the morning and how my mood copes up. It may in fact involve a lot of sitting down and the end of my workout plan as I know it.  

Which brings me to my university drama for next year. I've missed two exams from the previous semester because of bronchitis, so I cannot take a full course load (5 courses) in the upcoming winter semester. On top of which I am a semester behind as it is (first and second year I took only 4 courses per semester - so I have to make up for 4 courses), plus two more courses now because of bronchitis. I’ll have to work extra as well to pay for my tuition and pay my zakah? I think I'll have to do a second job? When is a girl suppose to have any fun with all this work? I am a lot more tired, sleep deprived ... starved! I have realized this is all part of growing up and taking responsibility. Independence isn't cheap folks. You literally have to break sweat ... your back ... your feet...your voice!

I enjoy making the curriculum though, and teaching is really self-motivating. Telling kids about the Deen leaves me pumped up and it energizes my emaan. I come out of class with goosebumps every time. I re-live the ayaat and ahadith I teach, alhamdulillah! It is the best job in the world, I would say. Then there is the grading that absolutely bores me. I never thought a pile of paper could instill so much dread and depression. I am trying to make it fun by putting stickers. Needless to say, every job has its perks and ... dark side?

I wish I could have time to myself, like read the books I really want to - not because I have to make an assignment or write an essay on it, read them for fun. I feel like I haven't read a really good novel in ages. All the course novels that I have had to read this past semester were written by lesbians or authors who committed suicide. Having said that, I have all these novels which I need to sell now in order to purchase new textbooks for next semester. I am so bummed out because the re-sale value of books is so low. You spend $50 to buy a used book and six months later, people don't even want to pay $5 for it. 

I wish I had more time for ibaadah. Especially at university, I feel I am just rushing through wudu and Salah. Wudu really refreshes me - its like taking a mini shower. Taking the extra minutes to offer Sunnah also helps me slow down and catch my breathe during the day. My relationship with Allah is the most important relationship I have, yet I have so little time for it :(  Salah is our greatest privilege but also our greatest failure. All of us need to learn to pray Salah more and to pray better. But one of the reasons why we don't pray better is because we don't trust that Salah actually benefits us. We don't pray Salah to impress Allah or inform Allah. Then why do we pray? 

• We pray Salah to invite Allah to give us the joy of administrating our lives smoothly: our work, our families, our health more peacefully. We cannot do this without Him. 
• Salah allows us to lean on Allah, to not take continuous stress but to ask Allah to help us with our responsibilities, guide us and favour us with more blessings. 
• Salah allows us to not take Allah's blessings for granted but always maintain a humble and appreciative attitude. 
• When we offer Salah, Allah is growing us - in faith and in good conduct.  
• Salah binds us with Allah - and this is my favourite part. When I feel like I have no one, I know that I have Allah and hasbunAllaha wa ni'mal wakeel :) 

On a side note, I was able to manage a day of shopping on Boxing day! All stores were covered with decorations - I love ornaments, crystal balls, streamers, lights. I wish we were half as festive for Eid. By the way, at the dollar store they already have hearts everywhere. We are barely through Christmas and now they are jamming Valentines down our throats. I guess it should motivate me to do some love themed lesson planning. I am actually excited about the content I am preparing. Now, I only need to find the strength to put my ideas onto paper.

My husband has been very helpful in the kitchen, alhamdulillah. The only thing I am battling against with respect to my apartment is cleaning! I have always been an organized freak. I am a list-o-holic. But I hate folding and hanging clothes. Then I can't study if my apartment looks all messed up. So I try to clean during my study breaks - take out the trash, do the laundry, mop the floor, vacuum. Sigh ... the joys of life!

Make duaa for me.

Winter 2013

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, 

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, 

Seems nowhere to alight 

the housemates sit  

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed 

In a tumultuous privacy of storm

Winter in Canada always comes with many surprises each year. This year the surprise is relentless extreme cold with heavy snow across the country. The storm always arrives gentle and quiet; a distinct calm pervades both the earth and the sky. The movements on the streets are muffled. There is no uproar of winds and no trumpets of sounds. The soft, feathery snow flurries fall like exquisite crystals. The pavement glitters with sliver sparks for a while. 
The next day, rude winds mar the beautiful process. The clouds bring heavy snow and freezing rain, the ground turns in to slush. The stillness is replaced by noise, accidents are spiked. Cars clamour as the roads begin to slide. Everything that is poetic turns into a battlefield. The wind bolts, it gets coarser; the flakes increase in number and size and the snow grows steadily. The flakes fall like pellets, whipping, cracking and consuming trees and power lines. The earth throbs with frost. The impulse to travel dulls, and people suspend indoors. There are white curtains above you and white screens about you. The snow houses you and secludes you. You are wrapped in dark obscurity, caught up with power outage, the cold obliterates. 

As I pass the darkened streets, it is exhilarating in the extreme, my world enveloped in mantles of white, death waiting at every corner side. We huddle together, my husband and I, quietly snuggling  at the sight of wild conflagration of wind and snow. Is this what the Syrians must feel in the cold? Is this what war looks like? Frost penetrates like a blast around everything. Ten and thousands of people were without power: heating, water and electricity for a week. Winter 2013 has been dreadful and beautiful - you decide!

 

                    

The National Research Council of the National Academies (NRCNA) has pre-published (available to the public as of Dec. 2013), an extensive 200-pg study: “Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change, Anticipating Surprises.” U.S. intelligence agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academies sponsored the NRCNA report. The National Academies consists of: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. The NRCNA report mentions the risk of abrupt climate change: we have already been witnessed via 100-year floods and severe embedded droughts as well as bouts of extreme cold weather conditions throughout the hemisphere. 

In, Saving the Global Climate from Runaway Arctic Methane Release and Sea Ice Loss, John B. Davies writes: “The warming of the Arctic seems likely to lead to the total melting of the Arctic Sea Ice in late summer no later than the summer of 2018 and to massive release of Methane from the melting of Methane Hydrates beneath the ESAS [Eastern Siberian Arctic Shelf] by the same date leading to runaway Global Warming and the end of most life of earth” - Arctic News, Dec. 19, 2013

Muslims already believe in the Day of Judgement so the "end of most life of earth” doesn't seem like a very rambunctious, gutsy forecast. As The Day the Earth Nearly Died, BBC / Horizon, December 2002 explains, The earth did come to an end - almost 250 million years ago. Almost every living thing suddenly died. Geological studies show that 95% of life forms perished. Scientists call it the Permian Mass Extinction, which was far more terrible than the later extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, killing off 60% of all species on the planet. It took 100,000 years for the earth to recover. This possibly may have been the time of Nuh (a.s). Extinctions certainly do happen. Doesn't matter how exactly.  The point is not to take time, health, wealth or family for granted. Sometimes we need a crisis to wake up from our slumber. 

Own Your Time

When is the disconnect? When do you decide to give up on doing work you truly love to simply make money? Fast forward to turning 18, entering  the “real world” and earning a big F for failure.

In the real world, most people I know don’t love work. They love leaving work. They love the weekend. They love celebrating a hard week at work by spending some of their hard-earned money at a restaurant or adult toy store. They live in a constant state of the Mondays.

Take my own work, for instance. I’m doing amazing work for a living, alhamdulillah. But I’m almost half way to 50 years old. So what do I want to do with my life now?Amazing work on the side, you guess? Making money to do something that really lights me up.

For the past 5 years I have been teaching, at different institutions, academies and doing private tutoring.  Don't get me wrong, this is great work, I admit. Even if I can ignore the low pay and endless amount of preparation time. What would you do if money was not your primary ambition? What would you do if you were certain you would not fail? 

What I understood in the past year from experiences with certain people is that, its not possible to make crap-tons of money following someone else' direction. That's how business are built; you are their employee and they own your money, your time and your happiness.  But what about the other time? That time you spend youtubing on your laptop, stalking people on facebook and gossiping over the phone? You own that, you. Own. That. Time.

It was an easy but blindsiding epiphany. Your day job may not be filled with a lot of excitement but you have to continue working there to make ends meet. But you can take the time that you actually own and will that with amazing activities and adventures. We can still follow our dreams after finishing 9 - 5.  Our work can fund our dreams.  What is my excuse? When I was single, I was too busy. When I was planning my wedding, adjusting with my in-laws I was busy. When I am raising kids, I will be busy. I have to step up and own my time to live differently, to live effectively. 

What are you waiting for? There are people who just start. They don't wait for permission. They don't wait for the right time, or for an investor. They don't quit their day job, they carry the skills from their job to get out of the prologue and create a new chapter in their lives. This post is dedicated to a group of brothers and sisters from UK who have changed their lives and the lives of others.

Muslim Aid Convoy to Syria 

Muslims Feeding the Homeless 

Anyone an donate cash to a cause (don't misread that, I believe this is a great thing to do), but if you want to enhance your life while also helping others, then you should volunteer. The charitable cause is up to you. Generally, I feel a little heart tug when I hear about similar charitable causes as mentioned above, that's actually my heart talking. I am sure we all feel that. We can fill it by pitching in. Sitting around and doing nothing is perhaps the wimpiest thing you could do (I am guilty of this too). Many of us are holding onto a decision and waffling right now. Do you have a charity idea? Turn that into action or someone will do it! Don't stay on the fence for an opportunity. Stop thinking about it, start working for it. I know I am only tormenting myself if I come home from work and do nothing. We are trapped by the dogma of weekend. We worship the weekend. Don't let the lazy or greedy lifestyle of others drown out your inner voice. You are born to do great things, have the courage to follow your purpose. 

Motion to Oppose Character of Quebec Values

When good people encounter evil, whether as a manifestation of human nature or political outcome, they feel frustration. It would be worst if they didn't take matters in their stride. It would be very unattractive if people just shrugged and said, "Well, isn't it too bad, a bunch of men and women are being mowed down by the Canadian government! But hey, there is nothing we can do, so what about dinner?

Even though doing nothing is preferable to doing something wrong, to do nothing after a mass-murder of rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens, would seem unbearably callous. And that's how it happens, in order to seem caring rather than callous, we end up doing the wrong thing.
The wrong thing will be, unless we the students of University of Toronto intervenes, new measures of state control over our clothes, our jewelry! Possibly extending to monitoring not just what is on our bodies but also what is inside our minds. Hijab, Niqab, crucifix, turbans will become the state's passkey to the nation's beliefs and our speech. The measure to control our bodies and our minds will resolve our freedoms, our human dignity without increasing fairness or equality. What the state will increase though, is our sense of alienation, discrimination, insecurities, a broken country and a broken pride.

In the 21st century, Canada is moving towards a tragedy. It takes a tyranny to enact total prohibitions. Its most tyrannies not democracies that eliminate freedoms of belief and dress. I want to ask Prati Quebecois this: What is the reason  for this state monopoly? What free government decides the wardrobe for its people? Which draconian law denies women access to universities, health care and employment? No, what this party is proposing  is a crime, its violence, it is insanity that they want to legalize and nationalize. The Muslim Student Association of UTSC denies the motion to pass Quebec Charter of Intolerance and Debasement.