assalaamu alaikum
inshaAllah, i will be leaving Bmore for NY tomorrow at 12:30PM. make duah that i have a safe trip there and back, and that my Hajj and Umrah is accepted by the mercy of Allah, ameen. i won't have my phone on me, and probably won't touch a computer for 3 weeks, so right now, i want to ask anybody and everybody who knows me, if i have done or said anything against you, please forgive me, as i have done for everybody, and Allah will reward you.
Jazaakumullahu Khairan.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
'tis a sad day
assalaamu alaikum
i played ball today, came home, showered, and cut my hair. man, it was like parting with an old friend, cuz this was the first time that my hair got a little long without me getting dandruff, head getting all dry and itchy, and just being forced to cut it from frustration. it was nice hair. and long hair. i hadn't had long hair for a few years actually. and now its gone. back to the shape-up sized hair, just with no shape-up (i was lazy). but yeah, my intention of growing my hair out sunnah style is still on, but the reason i cut it was cuz i was going to have to cut it anyways for hajj. and since i'm about to travel, long journeys and the works, i don't need to make it worse by having long hair that's gonna get all dirty. so its gone.
my head is cold.
s-m-h
i played ball today, came home, showered, and cut my hair. man, it was like parting with an old friend, cuz this was the first time that my hair got a little long without me getting dandruff, head getting all dry and itchy, and just being forced to cut it from frustration. it was nice hair. and long hair. i hadn't had long hair for a few years actually. and now its gone. back to the shape-up sized hair, just with no shape-up (i was lazy). but yeah, my intention of growing my hair out sunnah style is still on, but the reason i cut it was cuz i was going to have to cut it anyways for hajj. and since i'm about to travel, long journeys and the works, i don't need to make it worse by having long hair that's gonna get all dirty. so its gone.
my head is cold.
s-m-h
Sunday, December 18, 2005
MARRIAGE post #1
SIKE...made ya look.
assalaamu alaikum
Imam Irfan mentioned something very interesting the other day, and it really scared me:
(paraphrased)
Imam Suyuti mentions that when the Prophets die, their miracles go up with them and are no more. for example, Musa AS's staff that he could throw down and turn it into a serpent; once he died, that miracle was also lifted up. when the Prophet Muhammad SAW died however, 2 miracles were left in this dunya after he departed, the first of which is obviously the Quran.
the second miracle has to do with the stoning of the Jamarat, the stone pillars that we pelt during hajj that represent the three places Shaitan came to Ibrahim AS. now for the servents of Allah who's Hajj is accepted, angels come down and take away the pebbles that they have thrown. that is why you are not supposed to pick up pebbles from the area of jamarat itself, because these are the pebbles that have been rejected.
and just think about it. if each and every one of the hujjaj throws around 49 pebbles into this same area, shouldn't there be mountains of pebbles piling up? even if before we didn't have the same number of people performing Hajj, say it wasn't in the millions, but still tens of thousands right? shouldn't the pebbles have started to pile up with all these people throwing them into the same place? but the saudi government has never had to do anything about this pile, because it simply never existed. until now. and thats the scary part. just recently, the saudi government has been required to remove the pebbles from the area of the jamarat, because the piles have begun to grow.
ya Allah, accept our Hajj and Umrah, and do not make us from those who's Hajj or Umrah has been rejected. Ameen ya rabbal Aalameen.
assalaamu alaikum
Imam Irfan mentioned something very interesting the other day, and it really scared me:
(paraphrased)
Imam Suyuti mentions that when the Prophets die, their miracles go up with them and are no more. for example, Musa AS's staff that he could throw down and turn it into a serpent; once he died, that miracle was also lifted up. when the Prophet Muhammad SAW died however, 2 miracles were left in this dunya after he departed, the first of which is obviously the Quran.
the second miracle has to do with the stoning of the Jamarat, the stone pillars that we pelt during hajj that represent the three places Shaitan came to Ibrahim AS. now for the servents of Allah who's Hajj is accepted, angels come down and take away the pebbles that they have thrown. that is why you are not supposed to pick up pebbles from the area of jamarat itself, because these are the pebbles that have been rejected.
and just think about it. if each and every one of the hujjaj throws around 49 pebbles into this same area, shouldn't there be mountains of pebbles piling up? even if before we didn't have the same number of people performing Hajj, say it wasn't in the millions, but still tens of thousands right? shouldn't the pebbles have started to pile up with all these people throwing them into the same place? but the saudi government has never had to do anything about this pile, because it simply never existed. until now. and thats the scary part. just recently, the saudi government has been required to remove the pebbles from the area of the jamarat, because the piles have begun to grow.
ya Allah, accept our Hajj and Umrah, and do not make us from those who's Hajj or Umrah has been rejected. Ameen ya rabbal Aalameen.
Friday, December 16, 2005
six feet deep
assalaamu alaikum
dr. iqbal passed away yesterday. inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi Raji'oon. he was in a coma for nearly a year and just recently woke up a few months ago, only to have a heart attack. may Allah make his sickness and suffering a means for his Forgiveness and grant him the highest of ranks in Jannah, Ameen. his family is awesome. his sons are all huffadh, 2 of them still studying their aalim course in buffalo, and one of them already a mufti in his twenties. he's my teacher and brother. we play football and basketball together. he would always be coming back and forth from the hospital, spending the entire day by his father's side and would only leave to come and teach us fiqh. inshaAllah, he will be one of the teachers in the Dar-ul-Uloom, may Allah bless him.
the janazah was today after jumu'ah. we went to the graveyard for the burial. there were so many people there, and not only from our community but from other communities in silver spring and laurel too. i was thinking about the concept of brotherhood, and how Allah could take into account the shere number of people attending a janazah to forgive His servants sins. when the Sahabah were asked about their fellow Muslim brothers, what would they say? "We know NOTHING about him but GOOD." really, how many of us can do this? and its such a big deal, because when a person dies, and people talk about him, Allah takes that into account as well.
i dunno, its always good to visit the graveyard and see the dirt that will become our bed very soon. the craziest thing is when you're actually inside the grave and helping prop the body up on its right side. sure, the 6 feet high walls of dirt that are surrounding you, the limp body (man dead weight is really heavy) draped in white sheets right next to you, the sides crumbling as dirt and mud fall into the hole as people try to get in and out have their affects, but what you won't notice until you are inside the grave is all the insects. there are so many insects, roaches, centi/milipedes, all those multi legged things you see on fear factor n stuff, they're crawling down there. waiting. just waiting for the body so they can feast on it. and you realize that that is what is going to happen to your body as well. you're gonna be eaten by tiny roaches in your grave. your mouth, ears, nose, hair, is going to decay and be food for the insects in the dirt.
"Every soul shall taste death."
check it out though. i got this problem every time i go to the graveyard, and its always clawing at the back of my mind. aren't we supposed to bury our own dead? aren't we supposed to bury the muslims? the muslims bury the muslims? if we are not even supposed to bury the muslims along with non muslims, should we let non muslims bury our dead?
...
then why do we let them use the machines to finish up what we started? after the body is placed into the hole, everybody is told to take 3 handfuls of dirt and throw it in, reading the ayah:
Minhaa Khalaqnakum, wa feeha nu'eedukum, wa minha nukhrijukum taaratan ukhra.
"From it We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again."
and then after that, they take shovels and start dropping down the dirt. it only lasts like 5 minutes tho before random uncles are like, "beta, leave it, they will do the rest." c'mon now. are you serious? we got like 100 heads over here! how long and how hard can it be to just finish the job? it seems so superficial to do a lil bit and then QUIT, and let the graveyard ppl come with the machines to finish it! whats that mean? we just wanted to feel good by thinking we were making a difference by scooping in a few shovelfuls of dirt?
i've felt this way ever since i followed a random janazah to the graveyard. it was still during my days in quran class. after prayer, my teacher told me to go to the graveyard with the janazah because there were only a handful of people going. literally, i could count them on a hand (and a half) if i wanted to. but anyways, we went to the graveyard, and after we put the body in, we started filling up the grave. after five minutes, the machine dudes came, but this handful of brothers i was with told him that they would do it themselves. it took a good 30 minutes of just shoveling dirt, but we did it. and wallahi, it feels so much more real and doing justice to the deceased by letting the muslims bury them. and its not hard or impossible. we did it with a few brothers. but when it comes to janazahs that have so many people, we can't take a few minutes and just finish the job instead of leaving it half done and giving up.
i dunno if i'm just making it unnecessarily hard on myself and others, but thats how i feel. i know that i would want to be buried by the people i knew and loved, and not some bobcat machine.
dr. iqbal passed away yesterday. inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi Raji'oon. he was in a coma for nearly a year and just recently woke up a few months ago, only to have a heart attack. may Allah make his sickness and suffering a means for his Forgiveness and grant him the highest of ranks in Jannah, Ameen. his family is awesome. his sons are all huffadh, 2 of them still studying their aalim course in buffalo, and one of them already a mufti in his twenties. he's my teacher and brother. we play football and basketball together. he would always be coming back and forth from the hospital, spending the entire day by his father's side and would only leave to come and teach us fiqh. inshaAllah, he will be one of the teachers in the Dar-ul-Uloom, may Allah bless him.
the janazah was today after jumu'ah. we went to the graveyard for the burial. there were so many people there, and not only from our community but from other communities in silver spring and laurel too. i was thinking about the concept of brotherhood, and how Allah could take into account the shere number of people attending a janazah to forgive His servants sins. when the Sahabah were asked about their fellow Muslim brothers, what would they say? "We know NOTHING about him but GOOD." really, how many of us can do this? and its such a big deal, because when a person dies, and people talk about him, Allah takes that into account as well.
i dunno, its always good to visit the graveyard and see the dirt that will become our bed very soon. the craziest thing is when you're actually inside the grave and helping prop the body up on its right side. sure, the 6 feet high walls of dirt that are surrounding you, the limp body (man dead weight is really heavy) draped in white sheets right next to you, the sides crumbling as dirt and mud fall into the hole as people try to get in and out have their affects, but what you won't notice until you are inside the grave is all the insects. there are so many insects, roaches, centi/milipedes, all those multi legged things you see on fear factor n stuff, they're crawling down there. waiting. just waiting for the body so they can feast on it. and you realize that that is what is going to happen to your body as well. you're gonna be eaten by tiny roaches in your grave. your mouth, ears, nose, hair, is going to decay and be food for the insects in the dirt.
"Every soul shall taste death."
check it out though. i got this problem every time i go to the graveyard, and its always clawing at the back of my mind. aren't we supposed to bury our own dead? aren't we supposed to bury the muslims? the muslims bury the muslims? if we are not even supposed to bury the muslims along with non muslims, should we let non muslims bury our dead?
...
then why do we let them use the machines to finish up what we started? after the body is placed into the hole, everybody is told to take 3 handfuls of dirt and throw it in, reading the ayah:
Minhaa Khalaqnakum, wa feeha nu'eedukum, wa minha nukhrijukum taaratan ukhra.
"From it We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again."
and then after that, they take shovels and start dropping down the dirt. it only lasts like 5 minutes tho before random uncles are like, "beta, leave it, they will do the rest." c'mon now. are you serious? we got like 100 heads over here! how long and how hard can it be to just finish the job? it seems so superficial to do a lil bit and then QUIT, and let the graveyard ppl come with the machines to finish it! whats that mean? we just wanted to feel good by thinking we were making a difference by scooping in a few shovelfuls of dirt?
i've felt this way ever since i followed a random janazah to the graveyard. it was still during my days in quran class. after prayer, my teacher told me to go to the graveyard with the janazah because there were only a handful of people going. literally, i could count them on a hand (and a half) if i wanted to. but anyways, we went to the graveyard, and after we put the body in, we started filling up the grave. after five minutes, the machine dudes came, but this handful of brothers i was with told him that they would do it themselves. it took a good 30 minutes of just shoveling dirt, but we did it. and wallahi, it feels so much more real and doing justice to the deceased by letting the muslims bury them. and its not hard or impossible. we did it with a few brothers. but when it comes to janazahs that have so many people, we can't take a few minutes and just finish the job instead of leaving it half done and giving up.
i dunno if i'm just making it unnecessarily hard on myself and others, but thats how i feel. i know that i would want to be buried by the people i knew and loved, and not some bobcat machine.
back to the future
assalaamu alaikum
alhamdulillah, i'm done with finals. finally. the last few weeks i haven't been able to think. like my mind is just foggy for some reason, and i'm just waiting for the semester to be over so bad that it just numbs my brain. i couldn't even get as hyped as i should be about going to hajj. iA tho, i can start now.
my body felt so bogged down during the week, and today we played some serious ball for the first time in a good 3 weeks. my legs are shot. i was out of breath. sweating. bout to have a heart attack. the whole works. it felt so good. came home. hot shower. fresh clothes. and it feels like i just released a whole lotta pent up something. stress? maybe or maybe not, cuz i don't think i was stressed out. more like i was in the slums. lack of stress or activity. i hate having nothing to do and just sitting in the house. i gotta be busy. i feel the best after a long (somewhat) productive tiring day.
alhamdulillah, i'm done with finals. finally. the last few weeks i haven't been able to think. like my mind is just foggy for some reason, and i'm just waiting for the semester to be over so bad that it just numbs my brain. i couldn't even get as hyped as i should be about going to hajj. iA tho, i can start now.
my body felt so bogged down during the week, and today we played some serious ball for the first time in a good 3 weeks. my legs are shot. i was out of breath. sweating. bout to have a heart attack. the whole works. it felt so good. came home. hot shower. fresh clothes. and it feels like i just released a whole lotta pent up something. stress? maybe or maybe not, cuz i don't think i was stressed out. more like i was in the slums. lack of stress or activity. i hate having nothing to do and just sitting in the house. i gotta be busy. i feel the best after a long (somewhat) productive tiring day.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
all-nighters
after being super lazy for maybe a year now, i finally decided to go ahead and install photoshop again. so now those MIST pictures that are like 4 megs each can be easily cropped and resized for normal human viewing.
this was our MIST banner. a masterpiece that is no longer with us today. i believe it was flushed down the toilet or used to soak up a basement flood. (wussup iboo)
after some photoshopping:
this was our MIST banner. a masterpiece that is no longer with us today. i believe it was flushed down the toilet or used to soak up a basement flood. (wussup iboo)
after some photoshopping:
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