A few reflections regarding Surat Al FAtiha and Ayat Al Kursi that I was thinking about today.

1-Surat Al Fatiha includes some of the etiquettes of du’aa like: praising Allah, exalting Him, mentioning your need of his help, and his favour upon you,  then asking Allah what you want.

2-In Surat Al Fatiha blessing is attributed to Allah  while anger is not attributed directly, which is an adab and manner when supplicating or speaking about God to mention anything good that happens to you because of him. So you say “alhamdulilah Allah helped me on my test today” but if you fail it is good manners to say “I failed” “I missed the appointment” etc

3-Worship is mentioned in Al Fatiha in the plural which has two nice meanings. One, is the need to be in good company to be able to have good characteristics. Second, perhaps is the spirit of community in Islam that worships were also aimed to combine peoples’ hearts as they stand in awe in a state of worship.

4-Ayat Al Kursi has 10 sentences :) that’s eloquent…

5- Ayat Al Kursi mentions important things regarding our belief of God: 1-Worship is only due to Him 2-Only He has the complete life and from Him life originated 3- He masters the affairs of life for all creations 4-This does not tire him at all, since His life is perfect! 5-People have to have His permission and will to be able to intercede 6-Allah has the most complete knowledge 7- Our knowledge as humans in our totality is really nothing compared to the knowledge of God 8-Allah has created things in the unseen that are so great. We don’t know their reality and at the same time they are very great, but He is even greater!! Subhan Allah 9-Allah is the protector and caretaker of everything..Subhan Allah this verse is full of might, power, mercy, majesty, and humble subdue if we ponder over it… If we really understand it, it will clear our attitude towards God and our relationship with Him.

Ramadan is the chance to move and get up. Yes it is… so let’s wash our spiritual eyes from  their sleep and wipe off the dust of laziness off our head and body and get ready for a full spiritual-mental-physical-moral renewal:

with God our creator and our maker: we need to fix up our relationship by looking at our obligations and doing them, improving them, and moving them to the state of excellence. We need to look at our short coming and try to repent from them this month.

With our family: We need to look at our family dynamics and see if any maintenance is needed there. We need to contact family members that we have cut off, improve relations that are weak, and move the normal routine relations to relations of high levels of kindness, mercy, love, and politeness.

With people: take a look at your colleagues, neighbours, friends, and brothers and sisters in faith, and any people you know and try to improve your interactions and dealings. Smile more, buy a gift, and lend a helping hand.

With yourself: Put yourself under the microscope and see if there are any germs. If they are spiritual kind it is time to change the diseases of the heart like pride, arrogance, hate, and envy into their opposites. If they are habits like laziness, unorganization,  or procrastination then work on that as well.

The Ramadan tide is here to take us from being far from Allah to being close to Allah, from being cold with our families to becoming a loving family member, from being an unpleasant person to a pleasant person to be around, and from someone with bad habits to someone who acquired good habits.

May Allah aid us all in it…

Once in a past Ramadan we were in the masjid, the sheikh announced when taraweeh prayer will start after Isha. One brother replied that the time was either too early or too late. Another brother raised his voice telling him to be quiet. The first thought that came to my mind “we didn’t even start the month and a mini argument was going to start?!”

It is amazing that each Ramadan people argue… although Ramadan is on the contrary the month of manners and piety. In some countries there is a joke about how some people say in anger “don’t let me ruin my fasting because of you” etc…

I think we as Muslims need to understand the spirit and aim of Ramadan before we start it so it doesnt become habit rather than a worship. Once a friend and mine went to give a presentation about Islam and we both said “one of the amazing things about fasting is almost all Muslims fast including those who are not serious about observing the teachings of Islam.”

So Moon sighting, when is Eid, and how many units of prayer is more preferred arguments are not a victory of any kind? The real victory is to come out of this month when you are forgiven, closer to God, and you improved your manners.

Note: My point about arguments is not to abandon dialogue, or to research, or to share our views, or give advice, or diligence in practice, but it’s about attitude and reflection of why and what we are doing before we start.

People in Canada are familiar with the Little Mosque on the Prairie show that was quite a success on Canadian television. I’m going to play on the words to get a welcoming remark/resolution/goal for Ramadan.

Here it is:

Little Mosque in the heart.

Sound familiar? Think about it… we all complain and hate to see our masjids empty after Ramadan especially they are filled with eager energetic worshipers in the holy month. What happens after it is over? Others will provide a better answer than me here. The only hint I give is we are part of the problem when we realize the phenomenon yet we don’t participate in the solution. Silent actions are more effective than talk. So let’ make the mosque big in our hearts by being more present in it. Let’s try for Fajr and ‘Isha (I won’t mention taraweeh since most people will go for them when they can although it is interesting to note that praying obligations in the masjid is more rewarding! Not a discouragement just to get our priorities right).

Since some sisters might read this, make sure you pray in congregation at home if you are unable to go with your husbands at anytime. Or wake them up and push them out the door :) “See you after salah honey.. tomorrow’s iftar will only be salad if…”

O Masjids around the world I’m sure you will be more happy if us Muslims realize that you are more beautiful in Ramadan but you are still beautiful all year long. So we hope to be consistent guests who are not only users who come for a favour only. Please accept our apologies. We know you are generous hosts. Hope we don’t let you down this month.

any comments needed? 

This is a good article that I came across on Sheikh Suhaib Webb’s blog…

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/2007/08/07/the-islamic-world-and-the-challenges-of-sustainable-development/

good stuff

enjoy 

peace

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3389067&page=1

A very good summary about some essential characteristics of a strong family :)

“Families that are most succesful, functional, happy, and strong are not only balanced but committed, appreciate each other, spend time together, have good communication patterns, have a a high degree of religious/spiritual orientation, and are able to deal with crisis in a positive manner.” (from Counseling A Comprehensive Profession 5th Edition - Samuel T. Gladding)

Yesterday I got more proof to why engineers are not as cool as they think are.

One of my buddies an electrical engineer picked up a text I had for a social change class. He flipped through it and from the look on his eyes it as if he saw a ghost, a sheep fly, or I turned purple. I asked what’s up. He asked how I can live reading a book that has no equations? How can I go through the agony of reading all these pages that have nothing else on them but words? Then another engineer (oh great) came in to explain… I just smiled and sat back realizing that some people still cant read without pictures I mean equations in their books while other less recognized people can.

Disclaimer: I think 90% of my friends are engineers :D and although they can’t live without equations they have sportsmanship to not beat me up after reading this post.

Here are 2 videos I found… just for Omair’s pleasure :)