Questions

Why is it that sometimes it’s easier to admit your mistakes to God, to ask His Forgiveness, and to swallow your pride in front of Him; than it is with other people? Why are we sometimes more reluctant/ afraid to say or do something in front of other people than we are in front of Allah?

Is it a sign of lack of emaan, shedding light on our pathetic state of affairs; or is it just “one of those things”?

Inna Lillaahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raaji'oon

My granduncle passed away early this morning, of the stomach cancer he was diagnosed with a month or two ago.
May Allah forgive him, grant him an easy time in the grave, and elevate him to the status of shaheed (martyr), ameen. And may Allah grant my family patience and strength of emaan (faith) to pull through this difficult time, ameen.

Abu Hurairah (ra) narrated that Allah’s Apostle (SAW) said:
“While a man was going on a way, he saw a thorny branch and removed it from the way and Allah became pleased by his action and forgave him for that.”
Then the Prophet (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) said, “Five are martyrs:
1. One who dies of plague,
2. One who dies of an abdominal disease,
3. One who dies of drowning,
4. One who is buried alive (and) dies
5. And One who is killed in Allah’s cause.”

(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 11, Hadith no. 624.)
...

I still can't believe it, though.
Even though I saw him suffering the effects of the cancer, the strongest memories I'll have of him are the numerous happy ones of my childhood: going to his house to pick cherries from the massive cherry tree in the garden, our many summer family barbecues, his loving teasing and jokes, his special smell as I'd snuggle up with him...
SubhanAllah. Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa billaah.

-Mouse

Changes

Things are happening. Big things. It's in the air, strong as the smell of cheese in the breeze. Lives will change, the course of the future altered forever.

Keep your eyes peeled for more news, insha'Allah... :)

In Need of Your Ad'iyah

My granduncle has just been diagnosed with stomach cancer... and is, according to the doctors, beyond all help.
He's been sick for a while now - he didn't feel all that well when he came back from Hajj last year, and then he went to Malaysia and it got a bit worse - but he put it down to a really bad virus of some sort. When he finally started throwing up and was rushed to the hospital, they found out what it was.
Al-Hamdulillaah that we have so much of our family in the same city... my uncle and aunt are also flying in today to see my GoraDada.
Please make du'a that his last days are of ease and comfort, and that insha'Allah he dies as a shaheed.

"He who is killed fighting for Allah's cause is a martyr, he who dies in the cause of Allah is a martyr, he who dies in an epidemic is a martyr, he who dies from a stomach disease is a martyr, and he who dies of drowning is [also] a martyr." (Reported by Muslim.)

SubhanAllah, only recently two of my dad's friends have also been diagnosed with cancer... things are getting pretty tough.
May Allah grant us all strength of emaan and the patience to pull through such tough situatins successfuly, ameen.

*Groans*

Of all people, Maclean's Magazine decides to interview Tarek Fatah??!!!!!

The man is crazy... amongst his track record for saying the darndest things, he's claimed that Little Mosque on the Prairie is totally unrepresentative of Muslims because according to him, most Muslims don't even pray.
He's paranoid, too - he's constantly going on and on about how The Islamists are trying to take over Canada and impose Shari'ah or something.
And, ummmmm, what does the whole teddy-bear-named-Muhammad thing have to do with A love affair of the Left and Islamists that is very dangerous for the rest of the world"?

Is Maclean's trying to be funny?

(Late) 'Eid Mubarak!

TaqabbalAllah minna wa minkum... I hope you all had a good 'Eid, insha'Allah!
Mine was all right, al-Hamdulillaah - went for 'Eid salaah (we had 'Eid on Friday), and had the usual family gathering and 'Eid loot.

Yesterday, however, was not so grand... we organized the first "real" 'Eid party in my city, and we vastly underestimated the amount of people who came - not entirely our fault, though, because people walked in even though they hadn't bought tickets in advance! I'm thinking of writing a post titled "A Day in the Life of... an 'Eid Party Volunteer - Or, 101 Reasons Why I Hate People." (Although I'll probably end up getting lazy and not writing it at all!)

Anyway, let me know how your 'Eid went! :)

Love,
Mouse

RAMADHAAN MUBARAK, EVERYBODY!!!!!

May Allah make this month one of increased 'ebaadah, emaan, and taqwa for us all; and accept all our deeds; and make us amongst those who emerge from Ramadhaan with our sins forgiven, ameeeeeeeen!!!!!!

Much love,
Mouse

A Day In the Life of a Young Muslimah

Today I helped wash and shroud my first dead body.

May Allah have mercy on her, and on us; forgive her, and forgive us; and may He save us from the trials and tribulations of the grave, and from Hell. May He make our graves spacious for us, and let us smell the fragrance of Paradise. May He let us die with the shahaadah on our lips and emaan in our hearts.

Ameen, thumma ameen, yaa Rabb al-'Aalameen!

Writing Exercise

It's a bit rough and isn't exactly a great piece, but it was fun to write! :P

-------------

“As-salaamu ‘alaikum… I’m hoooooooooome!” she called out in a sing-song voice, as she swung open the door, motorcycle helmet under her arm. Her mother, Aaminah, setting the table in the dining room, replied the greeting with a disapproving look at her daughter’s getup – what she liked to call her “Muslim biker chick costume”. The “costume” consisted of a long-sleeved ankle-length cape-like leather jacket, buttoned down to the waist until it flared open to alternately hide and reveal a similarly flaring skirt, split at the sides, under which she wore matching leather pants. “Huntress hijab-ified” the Muslimah biker chick pronounced, referring to her DC-comics heroine.

Ignoring her mother’s expression, Sameera relieved her of a stack of plates and completed the chore.
“Where were you?” her mother asked, returning from the kitchen with a pot of steaming stew. “What were you doing?”

“Oh, the usual,” Sameera answered casually. “You know, starting up brawls at the pub and toilet-papering the Masjid.”

“Sameera!” her mother cried out, horrified, and her daughter laughed and kissed Aaminah’s cheek in apology. “I’m kidding, Mom! You know we’d never do that… nah, today we just hung out at the park and gave Da’wah.”

Somewhat mollified, her mother’s expression softened but then became suspicious. “Da’wah?”
Sameera smiled sweetly. “Blowing bubbles, playing with kittens, and beating the daylights out of some drunk loser who tried to rape a teenage girl…”

Aaminah’s eyes widened in horror and she grabbed her daughter’s hands. “Please tell me you didn’t do what you just said you did!” she begged, her face creased with worry.

“All right, so the kitten ran away from us,” Sameera said flippantly, but repented when at the look of anguish on her mother’s face. “I promise, Mama, we’re all okay! And we couldn’t just let that, that animal hurt the girl… Mama, this is our job. This is why we’re a gang of Muslimah biker chicks – the cops can’t be everywhere, and when they do show up it’s too late. This way, we do our civic and Islamic duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil.” She gave her mother’s hands a reassuring squeeze and let go, turning away to leave – but before she could escape, Aaminah caught hold of her sleeve, still anxious.

“What if you get hurt one day?” she implored her daughter. “I wouldn’t be able to bear it. There are dangerous people out there, and Allah only knows what they could to you – you forget that you’re a girl, just like the one you rescued today.”

“Not just like the girl we rescued,” Sameera corrected. “The other girl was helpless – I’m not. I have skills… martial arts, self defence, and I have the girls to watch my back. Above and beyond all those, we have Allah. We place our trust in Him, and whatever happens, good or bad, is from Him. Qadaa wa-l Qadr,” she said, referring to the Islamic belief of predestiny.

“Trust in Allah but tie your camel,” Aaminah quoted back. “You know I’m not happy with what you do… won’t you stop? Think of how I feel every time you go out – you could get hurt, you could have an accident, you might get into a fight with someone you can’t beat. There are too many horrible possibilities!”

“Mama, I think you’re exaggerating a little,” Sameera said firmly. “The girls and I don’t go around beating thugs up every day and night – however much we’d like to pretend we are, we aren’t comic book superheroes, and we know it. Most of the time we’re not engaged in anything violent or dangerous, unless you count trying to teach a roomful of hyper kids to be violent and dangerous.” She paused, then continued in a softer voice. “I’ll stop only if you forbid me. I won’t disobey you.”

Aaminah said nothing, just looked at her daughter – at the determined expression on her face, at the somewhat alarming outfit that made her look like a troublemaker but beneath which she knew was a pure and devoted heart. She bit her lip, then sighed.

“I won’t forbid you,” she said finally. “I suppose I know why you do what you do, and even if I don’t like it I know you’re doing something good with the best of intentions… Now go take off your costume and wash up for dinner.”

Sameera grinned in relief and bounded down the stairs to obey her mother’s command. Aaminah stood still, gazing after her daughter, thoughts and emotions roiling inside her head and her heart. Finally, she heaved a sigh, whispered a du’aa for her daughter’s wellbeing, and went back into the kitchen.

I'm Losing It!

I dunno what it is, but I feel like I'm losing my touch for writing quality articles these days... :(
I can't think of any subject I'm really "qualified" to write about, nor have my recent 'works' been much in terms of insight or anything. My last post on MuslimMatters drove the point across to me quite strongly, and I'm tempted to delete it.
It doesn't feel like writer's block; it feels more like I'm just not writing anything worth reading.

Hmmmmmmm, is it possible for someone to lose a talent? It hurts, really - I miss the enormous feeling of excitement, the wheels of my brain going round and round, the itching in my fingertips that would overwhelm me whenever I came across something that inspired me to write something that I knew others actually thought was worth reading.

Maybe it's a sign... should I just stop writing?

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd   Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.
Social Nerd
Drama Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Musician
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

I Couldn't Resist... Too Funny!

You are a 50% Pakistani!!

Almost there. Keep working on it loser.Are you ashamed of yourself or your momma and papa never taught you the desi ways?

how pakistani are you
Take More Quizzes

(Darn it, I lost the marriageability results! :( Just go to the site - GoToQuiz.com - and type in 'desi' in the search box... mind you, it only applies to girls!)

*Bangs Head on Wall*

Subhan'Allah.
I don't like people.

People who let their egos and irresponsibility and personal grudges get in the way of continuing the work of an Islamic centre. Grown adults who act like petty school children; who have willingly volunteered their time but who don't actually do anything - or at least, don't do anything unless they're (verbally) kicked in the butt, and then they go do what they're told with a frustratingly childish sulky attitude.
People who can't take care of expensive equipment bought with painstakingly collected and saved donations...
People who overwhelm the few really awesome people left, who ruin the efforts of this special handful, and totally mess up the good that's being done (or trying to get done).

I feel so sorry for my dad... having to manage not just a Madrasah, an upcoming summer camp, a Muslim youth helpline, counselling, AND an Islamic centre in another city.

May Allah grant him ease, peace of mind, and the strength and patience to keep dealing with stupid people. If I were him, I would've smacked someone upside the head by now.

This is where the control freak in me kicks in: I wish I could implant mindchips into these people's heads and override their stupidity so that it makes things easier for my dad and for the other few guys who are working really hard at the Dar...

Honestly, I feel like crying. For nine years my dad worked his butt off getting the Islamic centre off the ground, helping it grow out of a tiny office on top of a car factor into several larger facilities, from a simple bookstore to a musallah with weekly halaqas and regular programs for men, women, kids and teens... subhan'Allah, he sacrificed a lot of family time (and okay, so we resented it awfully at the time, but now I'm starting to understand why), and our lives were split between home and the Dar - we used to joke that the Dar was our second home, and my dad's first home.
Then the stress got so bad that we had to move, and now stupid people left in charge, who were trusted to keep things going, go and RUIN EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Bangs head on wall*

I'm glad that I have strong memories of 'the glory days' and haven't had to witness the miserable ruins of the place as it is now (unlike my dad, who's had to make several trips back and forth to deal with issues)...

Politics used to fascinate me. Now it sickens me. Politics between people, between fellow Muslims who are forgetting what our Islamic centre was founded on and why it was established in the first place, is what is ruining everything.

People suck.

Conspiracy Theorist Extraodinaire!

White chocolate is not real chocolate. It is part of a conspiracy by the Free Masons/ Zionists/ Big Brother/insert scary names here . If they get you to believe that white chocolate is real chocolate, you will believe anything... and will be officially just another mindless zombie victim.

White chocolate is not real chocolate.
White chocolate is not real chocolate.
White chocolate is not real chocolate.

DON'T EAT WHITE CHOCOLATE!!!!!

I'm gonna hug ya, and keep ya, and call you George!

*Sneeze!*

As-salaamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatu,

*Looks around at the dusty mousehole and pulls out a duster*

I've been thinking of returning to my cozy little mousehole here... I love MuslimMatters (al-Hamdulillaah), but I miss this place... I've decided that I'm gonna use this as my little corner for some creative writing, and lots of personal musings - I'm so busy with school and the Madrasah and writing for MuslimMatters (okay, not soooo busy with MuslimMatters), that I feel I sorta need to take the time to write out my teen angsty stuff here (well, not so much angst as... stuff).

Anyhoo, if anyone's still here, hiding in the shadows, drop me a line and let me know I'm not allll alone... I'll even make hot chocolate for you! :P

-Mouse

Remember!

If you had/have me on your blogroll, then please replace 'Musings of a Muslim Mouse' with MuslimMatters.org!!!!! This goes especially for most of you on my blogroll! :P

I’m Moving!


I was going to title this post ‘fond farewells’, but I realized that it’s not a farewell at all… okay, you’re probably wondering what’s going on, so I’ll cut to the crux of the matter.

Here’s the deal: brother Amad of Musings of a Muslim Mind came up with the idea for a group blog, composed and maintained by several fellow Muslim bloggers – myself; sister Ruth Nasrullah from The Straight Path; brother Omar from Lota Enterprises; a newbie blogger, brother Ahmad alFarsi; and, of course, brother Amad himself.

In addition to we 5 who form the editorial staff, guest writers will include Sheikh Yasir Qadhi from al-Maghrib Institute and Sheikh Tawfique Chaudhury from al-Kawthar Academy (amongst others).

Cool, huh?!

Anyway, our new blog is at www.muslimmatters.org - Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life.
(Don’t you just love the long title? :P)

So, what does this all mean?

Well, it means that from now on, I’ll be posting over at MuslimMatters instead of my little mousehole here… and while I’m going to miss this place (especially the still-new template and my little Muslim mousey pic!) I’ll still be around. I’m not quite sure whether I’m going to totally abandon my cozy corner here – I might post little things such as bits of creative writing, art, and anything else that strikes my fancy but doesn’t quite fit on MuslimMatters – so check up every once in a while, insha’Allah.

So… yeah. Please go over to MuslimMatters, read the welcome message (as soon as I write and post it, that is!), and check out our other posts! And, of course, please do leave comments!

Before I finally go from here, I’d like to borrow a page from brother Amad’s book and ask you all to please just leave a general review of me and my blog… while reading my musings and mutterings, what sort of impression did you have of me? What do my strong suits seem to be, and what are my failings and weaknesses, the stuff that I ought to improve upon?

I’d just like to say how wonderful it’s been to run this blog… it’s only been up for a few months, really – since July/August… but though it started off pretty slowly I managed to round myself up a few regular readers – al-Hamdulillaah! :)

And so now I shall betake myself off… to write the welcome message and then terrorize my little brother into thinking that he’s got the chickenpox too! :P :D

Your little sister in Islam,

Mouse

Qur'an: Reading & Recitation Without Knowledge or Understanding

Umm Reem mentioned something that I've been meaning to write about for a while now.

It's about teaching kids how to read and memorize Qur'an, yet without any knowledge or understanding of what they're reading/reciting.
I think most of us born into Muslim families will understand it the most - especially non-Arabs.

From an early age, my parents taught me how to read and memorize the Qur'an... because my father studied at an Islamic university, he learned how to read and recite with proper Tajweed, which he then taught me (without telling me the rules and stuff, though - but hey, at least I know a little bit!)- al-Hamdulillaah.
But once I could read and recite, that was it. I wasn't taught Arabic, I wasn't taught the meanings of that which I was reading, nothing. Yet they placed - and continue to place - great importance in spending a lot of time reading and reciting the Qur'an. Which is great, and I understand why.

However, I find it extremely frustrating that I have no understanding of what I'm reading. A couple years ago I started taking Arabic classes at our Islamic centre, but because the teachers were volunteers and it was only once a week, not much progress was made. I've learnt some basic grammar and a few words and phrases, but that's it... certainly not enough to even begin to comprehend the Qur'an.

When my father opened up the Madrasah here, I found that the other kids had the same issue...
actually, worse, because those who could read didn't know how to read with Tajweed, and then there are those who can't read at all (which is where I come in... I help them learn how to read and recite with Tajweed, what little I know).
Yet none of them - not even the Arab kids - understand what they're reading. For them, it's just... words. They know it's the Qur'an, they know it's importance and everything, but it still doesn't mean anything, y'know? And then when they make mistakes in their reading or reciting they don't realize the importance of getting it perfectly right, because they don't know that by a simple slip of the tongue they've just twisted the whole meaning of the aayah...

I really think that this is something that needs to be addressed; a problem which hinders understanding the meanings of the Qur'an, which in turn has a very negative effect on our Imaan - for how can we strengthen our faith if we don't even know what God is saying to us in our holy book?

Since this is a personal problem of mine, I know what the effects of this ignorance are... and I'm worried that the other kids at the Madrasah will end up feeling the way I did when I was younger: that reading the Qur'an is useless because it's just a bunch of words that I don't understand.

Al-Hamdulillaah, I know better now... but still, that feeling of frustration is still there when I read or recite the Qur'an and, aside from a couple words, I don't know what the message Allah is conveying to me is. Even reading English translations of the meaning of the Qur'an aren't good enough; it doesn't have the same effect on the heart.


I've brought the issue up with my parents, but they've pretty much brushed me off - they think it's more important to learn how to read perfectly, and to learn it quickly; than it is to take the time to understand, even if it takes longer to accomplish the goal of perfect reading. But quality is better than quantity (or speed of learning as opposed to practical application of learning)!

I'm finding this really frustrating... I'm concerned about myself and the other kids, but my parents just don't seem to get it - which I don't get, because they know how important this issue is, how understanding what you're reading is more way more important than reading a lot without understanding. I mean, they went through it themselves! They grew up in typical Desi households; they only began learning Arabic and then understanding and comprehending the Qur'an later in life - my father at the university, my mom through Arabic classes she attended while my dad was gone during the day at school.

So why won't they try to change things for the better with my brothers and I, and the students
at the Madrasah?!

Argh... yet another example of how parents/adults in general should know something, or do know something, but don't act on that knowledge themselves!!!!! But I guess that's another blog post altogether... *Grimaces*


Your little sister in Islam,
Mouse

Everyone on earth is different, an individual, unique. Some people are determined to express this; others are content in being themselves without having to prove it. At what point in life does one decide that conscious expression of the self is no longer needed, and that they are happy to be one of the crowd?

Does the fact that everyone on earth is a unique individual end up negating the uniqueness of individuality?