Tuesday, December 20, 2011

In the Face of Opposition, Continue to P.U.S.H


A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled  with light, and God appeared.

The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin.

The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might...

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind. (He will do it every time!)

"You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it  hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good enough."

That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled  thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in Your Service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked.

Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against  the rock with all of your strength, which you have done.

Never once did I say that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push.

And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself.

Your arms are strong, your back is muscled, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock.

But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom.

That you have done. Now I will move the rock.."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God Who moves the mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong.................................Just P.U.S.H.

When the job gets you down...............................................Just P.U.S.H.

When people don't do as you think they should.................Just P.U.S.H.

When your money is "gone" and the bills are  due..............Just P.U.S.H.

When people just don't understand you..............................Just P.U.S.H.

P = Pray
U = Until

S = Something
H = Happens

Though no one can go back and make a **brand new start**, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to  fly.


Saturday, December 10, 2011

Comparing the Regular Muslim to the Prophet (S)

Too often we see the comparison of the Prophet's (S) actions compared to that of the regular everyday joe of a Muslim today. Yes the Prophet is the example that we should all try to follow, but the regular Muslim cannot be expected to follow his actions in everyday affairs and emotions.

We can all agree that although the Prophets (may Allah be pleased with all of them) were regular human beings, they were truly extraordinary people. They were the best of the best at their time. They possessed some qualities that are not in all of us or if they are, they are not to the level of the Prophets. They had the ability to control themselves to the level that we cannot. Yet, our scholars ALWAYS seem to focus on the way the Prophet Muhammad (S) did things or how other Prophets did things. We forget, that even if we try, many [if not all] Muslims CANNOT be anything like the Prophets. We just cannot.

One example is about controlling anger (I just heard a khutba about this so it is fresh in my mind). The Khateeb stated that we need to control our anger and he cited 2 examples. One about how Allah controls his anger and the other about how the Prophet controlled his anger in a situation that he cited. The Prophet Muhammad, as well as other Prophets, did mericals too. That doesn't mean we can do mericals. Yes we get the point that we need to strive to be similar in His (S) character as much as we can and we need to have Him (S) as our role model, but the fact is, many of us cannot do that. The best we can relate to is the companions of the Prophet (S), who, though some of the best people to ever live in the world, were nontheless "normal" people. They had their flaws and their mistakes were corrected over time. These are the people we can relate to.

The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) had their issues. They burst out on certain issues. They argued amongst them selves sometimes (ex: During the first chaliphate and at the chaliphate there after). The same companions even went as far as to kill each other in battle because they thought they were right. And this is written in history, MUSLIM HISTORY, and it is thought everywhere. Yet, when our scholars go and start comparing US, regular, everyday Muslims like that of the Prophet (S), they forget that we are not anywhere near the person the Prophet was or his companions. WE ARE FLAWED HUMAN BEINGS.

Even if we follow the Quran and Sunnah to the best of our abilities, it doesn't compare to that of the Prophet (S) or his companions in their self control. We all get angry. Allah knows we all try to stay calm. But every person has his breaking point. It could be a few years, it could be a few months, or it could be a few minutes or seconds.

We have examples from the Quran and Hadith, but it doesn't mean we all have the ability to follow it even after knowing it. And even some "scholars" provoke the anger inside people unfortunately. Some "leaders" do the same. They also vent when they get angry. Besides anger, some of our "scholars" and "leaders" do far worse like backbiting and slander. And these are people in a position of authority. They also KNOW they are lying, cheating, backbiting, etc. just like any regular Muslim or human would, but they never do anything about it so how do we expect a regular Muslim, who has seen "scholars" and "leaders" do this kind of behavior and not get angry?

It is just who we are, we are humans. Yes the Hadith of the Prophet (S) is important, but the stories of the companions are also there to tell the regular Muslim that we what we can with our limited capabilities. We make mistakes, some keep making the same ones over and over again, but at the end of the day, we are nothing like the Prophet (S), no matter how hard we try. [specially with the leadership that rules our mosques and Islamic organizations]

There are other examples too, that of wives, money, battle, etc that we seem to compare the regular Muslim to to that of the Prophet (S). Yes it is important, but the lives of the Companions or other pious people are better fit for comparison to a regular Muslim today. And yes, there are things that are completely forbidden or ordered in the Quran and those are separate issues that don't need comparison, they need to be told straight forward, without watering down the topic *cough* hijab or prayer issue.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Qibla Locator

This is probably old to many people but it is a useful tool to use to figure out what direction to pray if you have an internet connection.

The website is called eqibla.com

Here are some snapshots of it



Monday, December 5, 2011

A Cow Based Economics Lesson

This was sent to me by someone so I thought I would share. It seems really nice and light. Enjoy...



A Cow based Economics Lesson

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you
want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and market it worldwide.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the ** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

I couldn't remember if you liked economics or not, but I thought you might enjoy it either way... =)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Welcome to the New blog

Assalmau Alaikum

Due to some circumstances, I decided to make a new blog and will be posting up new blogs here. All other previous blogs are still available at my previous blog address (listed below). No new blogs will be posted up on that site, rather everything form now on will be posted here inshaAllah.

As always, thanks for visiting my blog, giving me your thoughts as well as words of wisdom and correcting my mistakes. I hope everyone who visits here continues to do the same.

And as I have said in my previous blogs, I am NOT a scholar, I am just a regular Muslim who is concerned about where Muslims are headed in the United States as well as around the world. Everything I write about is based on my personal observations and I try to be as accurate as I possibly can. I try to base everything on truth that I have seen and heard. I would just like all Muslims to think about their actions and how those actions impact the lives of those around them, Muslim or not.

Again, I thank you for visiting my blog. If there is a topic you would like me to do some "research" on and post, please feel free to email me at islamicworker@gmail.com.

JazakAllahu Khairun
Assalamu Alaikum
Your Brother in Islam