I've been tagged over at Jowhara's Chamber so here goes:
Number of books I own
Three bookshelves full!
Five Books that mean a lot to me
The Quran - Timeless guidance.
Signs before the day of Judgment by Ibn Kathir - this is the book that triggered me to take my religion more seriously. May Allah bless the author.
Al-Udda fee Sharh il-Umdah: pure knowledge
The crusades through Arab eyes by Amin Maalouf - simply one of the best-written books i've ever read on Islamic history. Thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Heir to the Empire - Amazing Star Wars book, opened up a whole new genre of books to me. At one time i owned about 70 Star Wars books. Now i only own about 35.
The book that I am reading for so long but cant finish
Its called "Jewish fundamentalism in Israel" - and its quite an enlightening book. Despite being only around 160 pages long, and three attempts to read it, the best i've ever managed is about 110 pages.
--
I only know one other person who hasn't been tagged.....
Arshad, you're tagged mate!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Another innocent killed by the Israeli army, but...
I don't know if you guys have been following the story of Tom Hurndall. He was a young British photographer and peace activist who visited the Occupied Territories 2 years ago and was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier. The poor guy remained in a coma for several months until he died. After a long struggle by his family to get justice, the soldier was today convicted of his killing.
The twist in the tale is that the murderous soldier was an Israeli Arab!!! Subhanallah! I couldn't believe it. How could he do it? Was he egged on by his fellow soldiers? Did he do it to show the Jewish soldiers in his unit that he could be just like them? Or did he just have a black heart?
I think back to the picture of the two Palestinians, the Arabs, who carried away Hurndall's body with tears in their eyes and grief in their face - as if one of their own had been shot. Yet, its quite unexpectedly another Arab who was responsible for his death.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'oon
:(
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Jinn story
I was reading Ibn al-Uthaimeen's explanation of Riyadh us-Saliheen a couple of days ago and he mentions an incident where Ibn Taymiyya was beating some guy who was possessed by a jinn. Now, i've heard so many tales of dodgy maulvees beating kids wrongly when they suspect possession that i thought that this beating business had nothing to do with the real rites of Islamic exorcism, but i guess i was wrong.
I mean, if you listen to the jinn stories of uncles and aunties you'd believe there was a jinn hiding behind every rock and tree in Pak waiting to pounce on you!
The incident mentions a man being brought to Ibn Taymiyya suspected of possession, so the shaikh recited over him without effect. Then Ibn Taymiyya struck the guy on the neck area a number of times until his own hand started to hurt. The Jinn then started speaking saying "i'll come out for your sake and out of respect for you" but Ibn Taymiyya scalded it saying, "do not come out for my sake, but come out obeying Allah and His Messenger!"
(Wow. Now that is ikhlas and keeping your wits about you!)
As soon as Ibn Taymiyya said this, the guy looked up as if he'd just woken up saying "who brought me here to the shaikh?" When informed about what had happened, he said that he hadn't felt a single hit landing on his body. And that confirms what i've heard before about real cases where a person was possessed, that the beating actually hurts the jinn and not the human.
We ask Allah for well-being in this life and the next.
I still don't trust most of these people who claim they can exorcise jinns, but i do know of one man who does. And if i were possessed by a jinn, i'd go to him ;)
Any volunteers for listing ways in which you can protect yourself from evil?
I mean, if you listen to the jinn stories of uncles and aunties you'd believe there was a jinn hiding behind every rock and tree in Pak waiting to pounce on you!
The incident mentions a man being brought to Ibn Taymiyya suspected of possession, so the shaikh recited over him without effect. Then Ibn Taymiyya struck the guy on the neck area a number of times until his own hand started to hurt. The Jinn then started speaking saying "i'll come out for your sake and out of respect for you" but Ibn Taymiyya scalded it saying, "do not come out for my sake, but come out obeying Allah and His Messenger!"
(Wow. Now that is ikhlas and keeping your wits about you!)
As soon as Ibn Taymiyya said this, the guy looked up as if he'd just woken up saying "who brought me here to the shaikh?" When informed about what had happened, he said that he hadn't felt a single hit landing on his body. And that confirms what i've heard before about real cases where a person was possessed, that the beating actually hurts the jinn and not the human.
We ask Allah for well-being in this life and the next.
I still don't trust most of these people who claim they can exorcise jinns, but i do know of one man who does. And if i were possessed by a jinn, i'd go to him ;)
Any volunteers for listing ways in which you can protect yourself from evil?
Day trek
Got back from camping at 3am yesterday and was met by a strange sight: about 10 drunk women yelling and fighting each other on the main road. Weird.
The trip was good alhumdulillah. The sun was out, there was a refreshing breeze blowing and alhumdulillah i was able to climb better than i thought i would. I find going uphill harder whereas, other people find going downhill difficult because of the strain it puts on knees and ankles.
I realised the night before that i wouldn't be able to use my new head-light thingy because it was a one-day trip and we'd be arriving after Fajr and leaving before Maghrib! hehe
One of the guys lent me his walking-stick and boy did it make a difference. Being able to lean on something as you climb uphill is a great aid and takes a lot of strain off the thighs, so thats going to be next on my to-get list for camping.
The amazing thing is like when you've climbed up to the peak of a mountain and you meet English couples in their 50s with big smiles on their faces and they're taking all the climbing in their stride, whereas, you're huffing and puffing!
The trip was good alhumdulillah. The sun was out, there was a refreshing breeze blowing and alhumdulillah i was able to climb better than i thought i would. I find going uphill harder whereas, other people find going downhill difficult because of the strain it puts on knees and ankles.
I realised the night before that i wouldn't be able to use my new head-light thingy because it was a one-day trip and we'd be arriving after Fajr and leaving before Maghrib! hehe
One of the guys lent me his walking-stick and boy did it make a difference. Being able to lean on something as you climb uphill is a great aid and takes a lot of strain off the thighs, so thats going to be next on my to-get list for camping.
The amazing thing is like when you've climbed up to the peak of a mountain and you meet English couples in their 50s with big smiles on their faces and they're taking all the climbing in their stride, whereas, you're huffing and puffing!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
And the winner is...
Not me! I went Go-Karting with the tech team yesterday evening to a place called "The Raceway" round the back of Kings Cross. Its the yearly team-outing at my company and it was brilliant. The track was great and our Go-karts were 9 horse-power :) But unfortunately, i came 6th in the first race and 8th in the 2nd! My mate, Jon, who is recovering from a broken ankle won overall, so well done to him.
It'd be great to get together with the boys on Eid to visit this place.
Earlier in the day i'd gone shopping at Covent Garden to get this cool LED head-light gizmo for the trips to the Lakes starting this Saturday. Can't wait to use it. And i also took the missus to Kensington Gardens in the afternoon. The park is huge and usually beautiful, but with the grass so long, it looks like its been a bit neglected.
Before i end, here is the Joke of the day: Faria Alam, who had high-profile flings with FA Bosses is reported to have said in court under questioning "I wouldn't swear on the Koran and then lie."
hmmm..... i wonder if she ever peeked inside to see what the Qur'an actually says about sleeping around?
Sort of reminds me of the time me and my wife walked into a restaurant in Edinburgh to check whether it sold halal food. The guy inside looked like a Singh, and he had rows and rows of wine, beer, spirits and what-not lined up on the walls behind the counter and he was telling us about his great Hajj stories. A bit out of place, methinks.
It'd be great to get together with the boys on Eid to visit this place.
Earlier in the day i'd gone shopping at Covent Garden to get this cool LED head-light gizmo for the trips to the Lakes starting this Saturday. Can't wait to use it. And i also took the missus to Kensington Gardens in the afternoon. The park is huge and usually beautiful, but with the grass so long, it looks like its been a bit neglected.
Before i end, here is the Joke of the day: Faria Alam, who had high-profile flings with FA Bosses is reported to have said in court under questioning "I wouldn't swear on the Koran and then lie."
hmmm..... i wonder if she ever peeked inside to see what the Qur'an actually says about sleeping around?
Sort of reminds me of the time me and my wife walked into a restaurant in Edinburgh to check whether it sold halal food. The guy inside looked like a Singh, and he had rows and rows of wine, beer, spirits and what-not lined up on the walls behind the counter and he was telling us about his great Hajj stories. A bit out of place, methinks.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Cairo again?
So, who watched the climax to the Doctor Who series this weekend? It was a good ending, though a bit cheesy how Rose destroyed the Daleks. Its a big shame that Chris Eccleston is leaving because i thought he made a good Doctor. We'll just have to wait till Xmas to find out how good this new one is.
In other news, i'm thinking of visiting Cairo again later this year. I've got a few weeks holidays left and i thought i'd take the opportunity to visit the institute where i was studying Arabic and spend some time to work some fluency back into my spoken. Oh, and on top of that visit the souqs, Nile City, and perhaps this time i might even be able to visit the parks of Qanater.
When we visited Qanater last time, it was during the hot summer, and we found that the parks all close around 3pm. And i was thinking whats the point? When its burning hot in the afternoon no one is going to venture out, and when it cools down around Asr time the parks are closed?!
Otherwise Qanater is very picturesque, especially when you look out over the Nile; it used to remind me of that old series, Huckleberry Finn, that i used to watch when i was a kid.
In other news, i'm thinking of visiting Cairo again later this year. I've got a few weeks holidays left and i thought i'd take the opportunity to visit the institute where i was studying Arabic and spend some time to work some fluency back into my spoken. Oh, and on top of that visit the souqs, Nile City, and perhaps this time i might even be able to visit the parks of Qanater.
When we visited Qanater last time, it was during the hot summer, and we found that the parks all close around 3pm. And i was thinking whats the point? When its burning hot in the afternoon no one is going to venture out, and when it cools down around Asr time the parks are closed?!
Otherwise Qanater is very picturesque, especially when you look out over the Nile; it used to remind me of that old series, Huckleberry Finn, that i used to watch when i was a kid.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Work distraction
Subhanallah - work has been incredibly busy these past few weeks. I've been in on weekends, working from home in the evenings, but insha'Allah everything should calm down after this week.
We've got a major site re-design going live tonight, and then a major project of my own going live tomorrow evening.
At work, we have a prayer room: its just an office in which they store lots of different publications. And its really good that management have afforded us this, because i know there are tonnes of people out there who have lots of difficulty with prayer at the workplace. But you know what? Nothing beats prayer in the masjid. I find that if i'm working on some problem at my desk, and then walk the 3 steps to the 'prayer room', and start praying, my mind continues in work mode, and i often find myself thinking about how to code to fix a problem while in salaah, astaghfirullah. I think you need a break of about 5 minutes to get out of that work mode before you start praying.
We've got a major site re-design going live tonight, and then a major project of my own going live tomorrow evening.
At work, we have a prayer room: its just an office in which they store lots of different publications. And its really good that management have afforded us this, because i know there are tonnes of people out there who have lots of difficulty with prayer at the workplace. But you know what? Nothing beats prayer in the masjid. I find that if i'm working on some problem at my desk, and then walk the 3 steps to the 'prayer room', and start praying, my mind continues in work mode, and i often find myself thinking about how to code to fix a problem while in salaah, astaghfirullah. I think you need a break of about 5 minutes to get out of that work mode before you start praying.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Murabbi needed
I've been following a discussion on an email list about the Luton conference recently, and i raised a concern that virtually all the speakers are arabic-only speaking scholars. Well, whats the point? They don't speak the language of the people, they don't understand the culture, and why would you call down lots of scholars who are specialists in particular topics to do general talks?
One of the brothers replied that you get to learn from their adab - but i disagree. I think to take from the adab of a teacher you need to be around that person for several full days, or at least see them regularly every week over a period of months. Picking up adab from a teacher when all you see of him is brief appearances at a conference once or twice a year, is nothing compared to trekking the hills over a weekend with a scholar. And it doesn't even have to be a scholar, it could be a brother with a degree of knowledge whom you respect and who you love. In short a murabbi. Someone to look after your spiritual and religious development. Not someone who is here for 3 days in a year and then disappears again for the remaining 362 days.
One of the brothers replied that you get to learn from their adab - but i disagree. I think to take from the adab of a teacher you need to be around that person for several full days, or at least see them regularly every week over a period of months. Picking up adab from a teacher when all you see of him is brief appearances at a conference once or twice a year, is nothing compared to trekking the hills over a weekend with a scholar. And it doesn't even have to be a scholar, it could be a brother with a degree of knowledge whom you respect and who you love. In short a murabbi. Someone to look after your spiritual and religious development. Not someone who is here for 3 days in a year and then disappears again for the remaining 362 days.
Two plugs
First plug is for a great halal restaurant that i dined at yesterday with my ole mucker Shafters; its called Sahara Grill and its 2 doors away from Masjid Tawhid in Leyton.The food there was brill (though slightly expensive).
Second plug is for a new organisation called "Skillsplay" which is for brothers to get involved with trekking and visiting the lakes and climbing mountains and stuff. Anyone interested in joining up, send me an email and i'll forward you the organisation's contact details (they don't have a website yet).
Second plug is for a new organisation called "Skillsplay" which is for brothers to get involved with trekking and visiting the lakes and climbing mountains and stuff. Anyone interested in joining up, send me an email and i'll forward you the organisation's contact details (they don't have a website yet).
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