Re-charged Mum of 3 - All praise is due to Allah!

Alhamdulillah my 3rd daughter was born almost 3 weeks ago by the Grace and Mercy of Allah. Alhamdulillah another difficult pregnancy is over and now I'm trying to make the most of my energy and good health that Allah has blessed me with (I hardly spend any quality time with my girls since I was so sick,) as well as trying to make the most of the lovely weather at the moment. I've been doing various gardening activities with them and hope to post up some activity/ lesson plans soon.

There are so many benefits to gardening and getting the children to attempt to grow some of their own food. Most importantly though I feel it helps them to become more aware of Allah as as the Creator of all things and controller of all affairs since a seed may not even germinate.

They also learn to be responsible as they have to remember to water the soil each day, they acquire patience - as they wait for the seedlings to appear and learn to make du'aa - as they really want the seedlings to appear soon!

I hope the du'aas are answered soon though as I'm also having to acquire my own patience... :-)

"Only the first glance is allowed..."

"...so make it last."

I'm sure many of us have heard that joke. According to this article, I don't think we should take the quote as advice!

8.2 seconds needed to fall in love

The time needed for a man to fall in love at first sight is 8.2 seconds, scientists claim.

The longer a man's gaze rests on a woman when they meet for the first time, the more interested he is.

If it last just four seconds, he may not be all that impressed. But if it breaks the 8.2 second barrier, he could already be in love they say.


However the same is not true for women. They let their eyes linger on men for the same length of time whether they find them attractive or not.

Hidden cameras were used to secretly track the eye movements of 115 students as they spoke to actors and actresses. They were then asked to rate their conversation partner's attractiveness.

The men looked into the eyes of actresses they considered beautiful for an average of 8.2 seconds, but that dropped to 4.5 seconds when gazing at those they rated less attractive, the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior reported.

The female students, however, looked at the actors for the same length of time. The researchers believe that men use eye contact to seek out fit and fertile mates.

But women are more wary of attracting unwanted attention because of the risks of unwanted pregnancy and single parenthood.

Summer Holidays

Well its that time of the year again, the kids are off school, the suns out, and my stepchildren are visiting for 2 weeks.

This time i'm even more stuck for activity ideas as I have my 2 and a half year old and my youngest is only 5 months old.

Including my stepchildren there are 5 children from 5 months to 10 years to look after, and including me and my husband there will be 6 eaters for 2 weeks, (newborn not included).

I would like ideas for:

1. Family activities that we can all do together inside the home and outdoors.

2. Simple recipes that i can cook for all 6 of us without spending all day in the kitchen.

Al Furqan Mosque & Coffee

My Long Lost Coffee...
Well this probably doesn't tie in very well after Umm Zaida's post on 'Balanced Diet,' but I'm sure she'll forgive me after trying this coffee!

My husband and I are very into our coffee and trying different ones. Not long ago I was at the hairdressers and they made me a cup of coffee. It was the nicest coffee that I have ever tasted, trust me - I've been drinking coffee since I was 8!

My Nanny, an elderly English Widow who would often look after us, used to make it for me as a way to make me drink milk.

So since tasting it at the hairdressers I've been wondering which coffee it is and Alhamdulillah I finally found it!


Al Furqan Mosque
And Speaking of coffee or rather coffee breaks... Myself and Umm Zaida, (a former Mancunian,) used to teach at Al Furqan Mosque In Rusholme.

The Masjid is in urgent need of charity donations in order to secure their premises.

Please check out their website on http://www.alfurqancentre.org.uk and donate whatever you can for the sake of Allah.

The brothers and sisters there do many things for children and the youth, as Myself and Umm Zaidah both witnessed first hand whilst working there.

With regards to the children we taught - many of whom were the children of the brothers who run the Mosque, I have to say I have never met such well mannered children. MashaAllah they were all so respectful and helpful, they would actually fight over who would help to carry our books, bags and even my umbrella! I had to have a child carry each of my things for me so that they all got a chance to help! May Allah have mercy on them all.

They have until October to raise these funds so please pass this message on to as many people as possible and support this.


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Calling all bloggers!

Bismillah
Asalaamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu,

I pray that this finds you all in the best of health and iman! For our Spring issue, SISTERS is asking the bloggers one question:

What two things are you grateful for and why?

Answer in as many as 10 sentences and make it as eloquent, inspiring and individual as you are!

JazakunnAllahu khairan wasalaam
SISTERS.

Please send your responses to editor@sisters-magazine.com as soon as possible to be included in the next issue, insha Allah.

Don't forget sisters is now in PRINT! To celebrate SISTERS are offering FREE postage on all online orders until the end of the month!

Alhamdulillah I have to say this is the first edition that I'm able to read thoroughly. I've been sitting with my magazine while Maymoonah sits with her books. AND since its 'tangible' and Animate Image-free I was able to leave it lying around and even Abu M Picked it up and had a browse through it!

In this Issue...
10 Things to hand down to your daughter
Losing a child - sisters speak
How to obtain the Love of Allah
Balancing work and Motherhood
Superfoods from the Sunnah
A sensuous makeover for your bedroom

and... Funky Winter Fashion Feature!

So what are you waiting for? Where else can you find a combination of Knowledge, Advice on various issues health and beauty tips, household matters, cooking tips, poetry, brothers thoughts ;-) and so much more!

Subscribe today!

Ramadan

Some things to read.

Ramadhân: Have You Got What It Takes?

Ramadan Guide.

How Our Pious Predecessors Spent Ramadan

Welcoming the Arrival of Ramadan

“The fasting person has two occasions for joy”

Islamtoday - Fasting and Itikaaf, articles and rulings for Ramadan.

Last but not least Issue 3 of sisters-magazine is Out!

Highlights of this issue include:
Ramadhan in the Qur'an and Sunnah
The wisdom behind fasting
Exerting oneself in the last ten days of Ramadhan
Preparing your home for Ramadhan
Make this Eid your best ever with our fabulous celebration ideas!

AND... Gorgeous Eid fashion feature
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Camel Meat

My husband came home with some camel meat today. A brother gave some to him. Alhamdulillah he has always wanted to try it but hasn't had the opportunity to. Until now. He's really excited about it too, MashaAllah.

So how do I cook it? Asian, Jamaican? The brother who gave it to him just said to cut it into small pieces and that it should cook for slightly longer than beef. I've never cooked beef either...

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.

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!
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Is it possible to be a busy wife, mother AND look good?

Friday, January 26, 2007

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When a woman prays her five prayers, fasts her month (of Ramadan), preserves her chastity, and obeys her husband, then she may enter the Jannah (Paradise) from any door she chooses." [Ahmad and others; authentic]

Before marriage we read many books on how to obey our husbands and how to be good wives. One of the main things that was emphasized was adorning ourselves for our husbands.

How easy! We would think. Is that it? And we couldn't understand it when we would see married sisters who didn't.

After marriage - 'It's still easy - with the odd 'bad hair day' here and there.'

After children - quotes:
'HELP!!'
'HUSBAND WHO?'
'I can't remember the last time I had a hair cut!'
'Maybe I'll just wait till Jannah InshaAllah to look beautiful....'
'I don't know where to start, it seems like sooo long ago....'
'I need to loose 2 stones first!'

Lately I've been thinking. We make too many excuses, there are too many beautiful woman out there to make excuses. As for the last excuse, a sister responded, 'We know that losing even a few pounds doesn't happen over night. And what to do in the meantime? Plus we could die tommorrow so lets make the most of how we look.'

A sister commented about adorning herself for her husband, 'I'd honestly rather have him expect to come home to see his wife in the best form and therefore push himself harder to lower his gaze, than have him expect to come home and find me in jogging pants and a t-shirt and find it harder to resist the temptations. He's out all day, and he sees all kinds of things. When he knows that if he lowers his gaze, he will be rewarded in the akhirah by Allah, and in the dunya by going home to a wife who can show him what he saw and better (because it's halal) it makes the struggle all the more worth it for him. '

Allah describes the woman as: “…one brought up among adornments” [Sûrah al-Zukhruf: 18]

Below are some practical tips and advice from various sisters that inshaAllah will help us to balance our obligations, to Allah, our husbands and children.

* Buy clothes that are crease resistant or drip dry them to save time on ironing.
* Wear kohl - it takes a second to apply and you can do wudu over it without removing it.
* Try to find out what your husband likes, styles, clothes etc. That always makes things easier. (Ebay is great for this because you can show the pictures of the items before buying - pictures without women in them of course.)
* Time is of the essence! Learn to have quick showers and get ready in a few minutes.
* Practice doing different hairstyles and keep a note of quick ones that look good. Loose buns look great with casual clothes.
* Wear perfume and matching body lotion. A sister said, 'I quickly apply body lotion to sweat areas (ie under arms) straight after a shower and a quick spray of matching perfume to my home clothes so I'm always smelling good.
* Buy clothes that are comfortable - but look good. A sister said, 'Lately I've bought a new wardrobe from ebay (bargain prices! My husbands favourite dress cost me 2 pounds - including postage and packaging!) I've bought some dresses that are comfortable, flattering, not too long so i don't trip over it and can climb up and down the stairs with my daughter. I buy dresses that have some sleeves so i can wear them in front of other women also . I try to look for Warm fabric so i don't freeze on cold days and Comfortable enough to do all household chores in. Also I make sure it has a side zip, or i can pull down the neck because im breastfeeding still.'
* Wear Simple Jewellery that don't get in the way of things.
* Try to balance things ie cooking, cleaning, dressing up. Don't do too much of any so it ends up that you're neglecting the others.
* Going out. A sister said, 'I try not to go out too much Because my hijab makes my hair flat. Also I do most of my shopping online rather than spend a whole day in town with my toddler moaning in her buggy and not getting anything I needed or wanted.'
* Mirror Mirror.... A sister once said, 'A wise woman is one who has a mirror in her Kitchen!'
* Water of life. Remember to always drink plenty of water for radiant skin.
* Oh Sugar! Sugar and water is a fast, cheap and effective way to Exfoliate!
* Remember the most important thing is DUA!!! A sister said, 'I pray to Allah in Sujood to make me the most beautiful woman for my Husband in this world and the next.'

May Allah help us to keep steadfast on the deen and be balanced Muslimaat. Ameen.