Thursday 26 April 2007

Thank you.

[Hadith]
Rasul Allah, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, said, "Whosoever does
not thank people, has not thanked Allah."

[Lessons from this Hadith]
As you struggle through life to move up, it is not people who
are higher up then you that shall pull you up. Rather, you will
be 'pushed' up by your colleagues. Be genuine and thankful of
everything they do for you. Email someone right now and say
'thanks' and be specific about what you are thanking them for.


With best wishes to see you succeed at the highest level!
- Muhammad Alshareef

PS: There's some exciting new stuff at www.powerworkshops.org
that has been keeping me busy. Please, check out what's new!

Tuesday 24 April 2007

Sisters Mgazine!!


Wow! MashaAllah the Sisters Magazine is fantastic! Here is an excerpt

8 Ways to Spring Clean your Life!

1. Be a grateful
servant of Allah
Take a new look at all that
Allah has blessed you with:
your iman, your health, your
family, and thank Him for
His bounties. You will never
be able to count all of Allah’s
favours but reminding
yourself of them will
increase your gratitude and
humility – and make you see
your life with new eyes.

2. Get to know
your deen again.
Look at your religious
habits. Has your salah
become mechanical?
Is your recitation routine?
Has it been months since
you read an Islamic book?
Make a change now:
schedule some time for your
own Islamic development
and concentrate on
perfecting your current acts
of worship and adding a
new one, however small,
every week or two.

3. Guard
your time.
Been watching too much
TV? Reading trashy
magazines? Talking idly on
the phone? Now is the time
to realise how precious
your time is and start using
it effectively. You only get
each day once – write
down what you need to
achieve in a day, make a list
and tick off as you go along.
Try to incorporate more
acts of ibaadah that bring
you closer to Allah
and minimise acts that are
displeasing to Allah or
take you away from
something better.

4. Cultivate
your relationship.
Look at the state of your
marriage. Could you be
trying harder to keep the
lines of communication
open, to keep your hubby
smiling and the romance
alive? If so, brush up on
your wifely skills: anticipate
your husband’s needs, give
freely of your love, time and
energy and aim to be the
wife who is the coolness of
her husband’s eyes, all for
the sake of Allah.

5. Cherish your
little ones
If your relationship with
your children consists of
feeding, bathing, nagging,
shouting and ‘the naughty
step’, you need to take some
time out. Remember how
much you really love them
and how you wouldn’t
change them for the world –
then go and do something
fun: bake a cake (never
mind the mess!), do an art
project together, build a
giant castle, go to the park
and let them run free,
whatever takes your fancy.
They are only young once:
enjoy them while you can.

6. Reach out
to family
Have you been so busy that
you haven’t had a chance to
connect with relatives?
Write your granny a letter,
send your mum a gift, invite
your sister-in-law for lunch,
throw a party for your
kids and their cousins,
anything that builds those
ties of kinship.

7. Tend your
relationships
Have you been neglecting
your relationship with your
sisters in Islam lately? Or
perhaps you have been
developing some bad habits
together, like back-biting or
time-wasting. Take the time
to look at the state of your
friendships and address any
problems that have arisen.

8. Do some good
Give away things that you
don’t use, volunteer some
time in your local school,
hold a charity dinner –
anything that focuses your
attention on others for the
sake of Allah will boost your
iman and make you feel
better about yourself and
your life, whatever your
own situation may be.

What are you waiting for? Subscribe today free for 6 months!

Smock it out!

So, why do I love this seasons Fashion Range?



I'm not 'that much' into fashion. I'm one for believing you should dress how you like and try not to conform to high street or fashion rules, yet i still frequently get asked where i shop and buy my clothes from.

I do think its important that we all stay 'in touch' to a certain degree with what our husbands may find attractive outside the home. That doesn't mean I encourage sisters to go and buy fashion magazines, I wouldn't pay any amount of money for cosmo, company or instyle. But I do sometimes pick up some lifestyle magazines free from boots or asda etc that do have some benefit in them.

This season I love most of the stuff thats in, for a reason. Apart from the fact that skinny jeans are finally moving on after what seems like eternity, wide leg trousers are back in - thats more like it.

The main thing to put on your shopping list is the smock dress.
I'm told you either love it or hate it - I love it.

They are attractive, can be dressed up or down to suit any occasion and (if worn with jeans, legins or trousers), are modest enough to wear in front of other sisters and our fathers and brothers etc.

The best thing is they are versatile - suitable also for both pregnancy and breastfeeding! If your on the skinny or slim side and want to look fuller, the smock dress is sure to do the trick and on the other side of things if you have stomach you want to conceal it'll work for you too.

If European fashion is not really your thing, there are also smocks that are more similar to Asian designs.

The great thing about the smock though is that it really requires so little thought – you can just throw it on and not think about what to put with it. It’s care-free fashion in its purest form.


Fashion Tip:- Black, black and more black?

If you're in a dilemma where most of your clothes are black you don't need to splash out on a new wardrobe for spring or summer, just wear your blacks with white to achieve a spring/summer look.

Monday 23 April 2007

Gender differences?

My husband and I traveled to the Mark of a Jurist Course (Which was brilliant by the way) this weekend. We traveled with a friend of mine and her brother. So they picked us up. The conversation went something like this:

Men -
"AssalamuAlaikum Man, how are you?"
"WaAlaikumsalam WaRahmatullah, I'm fine man, alhamdulillah."
"Hows Business?"
"Business is good man, mashaAllah."

Women-

A chirpy - "AssalamuAlaikum, you Alrite?"
"WaAlaikumsalam, yeh alhamdulillah. D'you like Maymoonahs' new shoes, cool arn't they
"Yeh, I was just gonna say, mashaAllah!"

Friday 20 April 2007

Maymoonahs' Secret Gifter

A couple of weeks ago someone posted a pile of colourful paper through our door with no stamp or anything, so I assumed it was from one of the neighbours. Today we received some crayons, pencils and a colouring book. Again I don't know who they are from.

It reminds me of a time when I was pregnant with Maymoonah, my husband couldn't find work and we were struggling with our rent. A brother turned up with bags full of shopping for us, Fresh Fruit, meat, rice and vegetables. He wouldn't tell us who they were from though, he said somebody had sent them.

May Allah increase us in love and mercy towards each other. Ameen.

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Something Interesting I came across...

“Girls talk too much” - Peter Pan

We all know it - we women love talking. This can be very charming actually - sometimes you’ll chirp along like a little child. Many times, however, it can get us into trouble.

Aside from the obvious pitfalls of talking too much - gossip, wasting of time, empty-headedness - in a marriage, often speaking messes things up. For example, as women we tend to just sort of comment on everything or mother the situation “oh, we need to do such and such” or “watch out for that”. We call it caring. Guys call this nagging.

On top of it, we tread dangerous waters when it comes to speaking about our relationships. Most guys really can’t articulate how they feel, or if they do, it comes out dumb or just plain hurtful. So save yourself some pain - just don’t delve into too many issues on how a guy “feels” - you might not like what you hear. Sure, it’s the “truth” but many of us can’t handle it. So why go there. It’s usually an unnecessary misunderstanding anyway.

Say you have a guy and a girl sitting there. The girl says “What are you thinking about” and the possibilities are beautiful - how much he loves her, how beautiful she is, how he’d give anything to be with her. What he says is, “work” or something worse. So what’s the point - I mean if he tells you how he feels, great. But until then, don’t hold your breath.

A self-respecting woman will be quiet a lot of the time. Get a life of your own, don’t nag, don’t speak if not necessary. You know what will happen? The guy will have a lot more respect for you, and even interest. Speaking too much causes you to lose your upper hand (in charm and stuff). So try it sometime - let your eyes, your body speak.

And keep your mouth shut. : )

Taken from here

My thoughts? I'm still thinking.

Thursday 12 April 2007

Holiday Activities

The Kids made some cards for Bouchra ElHor today. It kept them occupied Alhamdulillah. Tomorrow I am hoping to get some Chalk and let them Re - Design my back yard. Again its something else to do other than watch cartoons and movies which they are so used to doing at back at home.

They were only supposed to stay for a week so the park, Museum and Library were all done the first week. As you can tell by my plans for tomorrow, Yes, I have run out of Ideas...
.

Great Beauty and Household News!

I know that roll up lip liners have been around for a while. But I didn't know kohl pencils were now available in roll up's! What a time saver! A huge relief for those of us who are constantly fishing for our sharpeners (and our husbands sharpeners too.)

Or perhaps they've been around for a while but I'm slow in catching up since I haven't been shopping properly for - I can't remember the last time.



Stay away from - Plump Up Lip Gloss!

A sister I know picked one up by Mistake thinking it was normal Gloss - She said Her lips swelled and were hurting for a couple of days! Although she isn't absolutely certain that it was related.
As for the permissibility of them, am yet to find out...


Some more good news on the Household side of things - for those of us who swore in our teenage years that we would never turn into our mums - but have ended up exactly like our dear mums. Jeyes now have a 'potty wipes' version of parozone wipes, heres the great thing - you can get em for 39 pence at quality save! They are exactly yhte same but slightly smaller - but almost 3 times cheaper than in most stores.

The great thing about these wipes:-

Quick
Efficient
Flushable
Use on anything
Antibacterial
Non-Bleach
Better for the environment than Bleach.



Stock up Ladies!
.

Sunday 8 April 2007

LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE!

FIRMS WRECKING CHILDHOOD, SAY TEACHERS
By Rosa Prince Rosa.Prince@Mirror.Co.Uk 07/04/2007

GREEDY firms were urged by teachers yesterday to stop robbing youngsters of their childhood.

They were accused of sexualising children by encouraging them to wear provocative clothes, seducing them into eating junk food and pressuring them to become obsessed by image.

Now the NUT wants a government ban on all advertising in schools.

General secretary Steve Sinnott said: "We're letting youngsters down.

"They're the target of advertising messages so unhelpful they can damage their well-being. Child hood should be about education and enjoyment not exploitation. These things must end."

Mr Sinnott hit out after the NUT published a damning expose of the commercialisation of childhood, Growing up in a Material World.

It highlighted how firms exploit children's "pester power" to get parents to buy them expensive clothes and toys so they can stay "cool".

Pressure to develop the perfect body led to teenage boys taking steroids and girls developing eating disorders.

Accusing stores of having sold push-up bras for under-nines, the report said: "A disturbing aspect is the trend for pre-teenage girls to wear inappropriate and provocative clothes and make-up.

"This can send out dangerous messages and illustrates the pressure on children to be 'grown up'."

Calling for the ad ban, the document said industry's infiltration of children's lives was hindering schools to help children think for themselves.

It said: "Children should be protected from advertising aimed at enticing them or their parents to buy a particular brand."
.

Friday 6 April 2007

Cyber Hijaab!

A smile, a wink, a bigger smile showing teeth. Then on with the cool shades.
A lol, A ROFL and an even louder ROFLMAO!!!

Is there such a thing as Cyber Hijaab? Or should there be? Or am I just an, 'old' 24 year old? - (As my '40 year old' husband calls me? He is Joking by the way. I think...)

Is it appropriate that we should be doing a 'Lotta Lotta Lols' publicly and in mixed Forums?
Or is it different when we are online, hiding behind nicknames?

We have never had paltalk or MSN In our house. Too much Fitnah my husband says (or too many viruses more likely). To be honest I really don't miss them either.

Here is an example of why, So the AlKauthar online revision sessions are held live over paltalk, so obviously we needed to download paltalk. My husband decided to browse and see whats available and came across a room where they were listening to Bilal Phillips.

So we also listened.

There was a sister in 'da room' with a name that was clearly female.

And what was lovely mashaAllah is she was typing hadith after hadith after hadith after hadith... Impressive to me. Probably even more impressive to a brother.

So she PM'S (Private Messaged) My Husband. "Are you a bro or a sis?" She asked. "I'm a sis." (You don't say love.)

"Sorry, I'm a bro." My husband Replies.

"Ok" said she said, and went away.

What happened next, who can guess?
Shaitan Crept in of course!
(Nooo - you don't say! Why on earth would he do that?!)

So she came back and just casually started a conversation with him despite knowing that he is not a sister. So my husband politely advised her.

And this was within 5 minutes of downloading paltalk.

Later on I came across someone called 'Mermaid in a Burqa.' (Sigh)

My advice to you sisters, if you want to stay away from cyber Fitnah which more often than not leads to real life Fitnah -
- get to your Cyber Closets and put on your Cyber Hijaabs!

Wednesday 4 April 2007

Remind yourself about Allahs Creation - Take the kids to an animal Museum!

Living in a built up city or a terraced house, rarely do we reflect on the beauty of Allah's creation unless its a nature programme we watch or a Ray Mears documentary(Whom my husband loves to watch!) Or flicking over to watch the Qur'an recitation on Islam Channel at mums house once in a while.

I think the last time I came across anything really beautiful that made an impact on me(in terms of the natural world that is,) was in Sweden when my husband and I visited 2 years ago.

And I vaguely remember visiting Bangladesh with my family at the age of 11. We had to walk hours through the barren land in the scorching sun to visit relatives in a distant village. Once in a while you would walk past what seemed like the tallest tree's - with an eagle perched near its nest, looking down at us.

My Friend and I took our kids and my stepchildren to The Manchester Museum today on Oxford Road. Its exhibitions are on Animals and Ancient Egypt. It struck me as to how little of Allah's creation we actually come across in our lives, unless we travel, and most of us do not, not as much as we would like to anyway.

Although the animals are dead - and stuffed, they are still so beautiful. So many different shapes and colors. Sometimes we humans think and act like we are the only species on earth.

One of my favorite displays was a stuffed polar bear which was absolutely massive so much bigger than I realised they were! I was also amazed by a snake skeleton.



On the other side of things there was the Ancient Egypt exhibition. With a couple of real mummies that were quite frightening. And a few statues of Buddha and other Idols. Of all the things the children felt compelled to sketch - it had to be the gold statue of Buddha.

It is beyond my comprehension how such a statue could be of any significance of ones life. Let alone how it could be taken as a God - to worship.

They asked me what I would've drawn, (If I could Draw). I decided I would've chosen to draw the birds. One would think that they had been painted with rich colours of deep red, blues, greens, yellows and purple. But of course they hadn't. The colours were natural. Just one of the magnificent creations of God. Our Creator.

One particular Bird stayed with me, in my mind. Even later on in the evening when we went home.
Even now.

It was a Green Bird. It reminded me of something that so many of us have forgotten.

Tuesday 3 April 2007

"Cosmopolitan" - Childrens Edition.

AsslamuAlaikum

My step children are down for the holidays mashaAllah. So I took them to the local library on Monday. The eldest Aisha, is 9. She came up to me with a look of absolute shock on her face. "Aunty," she said, "You won't believe this book, it's soooo rude!!!" Although they arn't being brought up as muslims, (their mum is christian) she realised that this book was very wrong.

You know the thing is when we take our children to the library we just let them roam around looking for some books they'd like. You don't expect them to see anything to such a high level of indecency.

The book was called, 'What mum didn't tell me...' And it was in the young children section, key stage 1!

Among some of the things in the book were the following pages,

'Mum didn't tell me....
....Why I have a belly button, and how it got there...

Then it had a cartoon picture of a woman with no clothes on in labour.

Mum didn't tell me....
.....why mum and dad sometimes have the bedroom door locked...

(I won't tell you what the picture was on this page. SubhanAllah)

Mum didn't tell me...
...Why grown ups spend so long in the toilet....

This picture was of a man with his uncovered back showing sitting on the toilet, reading a magazine.

I wasn't sure what to do about it, and still am unsure.

"I don't want to put it back," my stepdaughter told me, "a young child may see it."

We left it in the adult section.
.