Fasad means Corruption or loose morals

I wish I could say that I was doing this for religious reasons. Unfortunately, even after reading that fatwas have been assigned to encourage muslims to deactivate from Facebook, I didn’t/couldn’t do it. Such was the addiction. This Facebook fast, will be about me trying not to use Facebook for a month.

It all started as a joke. I was talking to a close friend of mine that I will be deactivating from Facebook for a month after we are done with exams. And he said. “Yeah right…like that is happening”. I was actually supposed to be going to my home country for vacations for a month but that unfortunately didn’t materialise. And my friend said to me..”Look dude, if you are going to Bangladesh then I won’t be surprised if you deactivate from Facebook since you will already have so much things to do there that you wouldn’t be missing much but if you stay here….for a month, with close to nothing to do, then you cannot deactivate.”

Challenge Accepted! I have deactivated from Facebook yesterday. It was something I have been thinking for quite some time now. In more ways than one, Facebook started to be the centre of my world. It was the first thing I would check after waking up and the last thing I would do before sleeping. Getting a notification…. would be like an adrenaline rush. People “liking” what I said, began to be ego boosters.

Now, I do realize that these may sound stupid to many, but different people get affected by different things and I have begun getting affected by Facebook for a long time now and instead of being the driver of this vehicle called life, I became a passenger and the more I sat back and watched, the faster things started happening and the faster I began losing control. That was then.

This is now. As a muslim we are encouraged to place special importance to time. Just for the simple reason that we do not know when our life will come to a stop. If there is anything that all of us, Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, you or me, have in common – it is the 24 hours of a day. And it is upon us to decide how we invest these 24 hours.

This doesn’t mean that I will never again use Facebook. Unfortunately everything is being discussed on Facebook. From home work assignments, to an educational trip details, to possible questions that can be coming in the exams — it is for this reason that I decided to deactivate after my exams. So I have one month, to get rid of this addiction, better utilize my time and get into the habit of doing what is good for me instead of just going with the flow.

I do realize that this is not going to be easy. I have been too lazy for too long. The rust will take time to come off, but alhumdulillah the process has begun. This can be life changing. No, this is life changing. Insha Allah.

I said: “What if I am right?”

An Atheist said: “How is there a Creator?”

I said: “How is there a Creation?”

A Christian said: “Love God and worship Jesus”.

I said: “Love Jesus and worship God”.

A Jew said: “God will be true to his covenant with us”.

I said: “But have you been true to your covenant with God?”

A Buddhist said: “The purpose of life is to discover Enlightenment”.

I said: “Enlightenment means to discover the purpose of life”.

A Polytheist said: “I worship many gods that hear and intercede for me with the almighty God”.

I said “I worship one God that’s almighty enough to hear me without any intercessor”.

A Secularist said: “Wars and killing for religious reasons are bad”.

I said: “Wars and killing for materialistic reasons are evil”.

An Evolutionist said: “The universe created life by itself, without needing God”.

I said: “Did the universe create itself without needing God?”

A Democrat said: “The majority must rule”

I said: “But what will rule the majority?”

A Nationalist said: “The Nation comes first, before God”.

I said: “God was first, before the Nation”.

A Conservative (Republican): said “Why don’t Muslims assimilate into our culture?”

I said: “Because your culture demands assimilation”.

A Patriot said: “I support my country, right or wrong”.

I said: “A country has no right to be supported in wrong”.

A Liberal said: “What vanity prevents you from adopting Liberal values?”

I said: “What Liberal value isn’t based on vanity?”

A Zionist said: “Palestinians impose their demands for justice onto others”.

I said “Zionists impose their religious demands onto Palestinians”.

A Neo-Conservative said: “I believe we are the superior Civilization”.

I said: “That’s what makes you an inferior Civilisation”.

An American politician said: “We resist against those who use terrorism and violence”.

I said: “You use violence to terrorise those who resist”.

A French Politician said “We have banned wearing the Niqab to free women”.

I said “You have banned womens’ freedom to wear the Niqab”.

An Islamophobe said: “I hate Islam, and fear for my safety from Muslims”.

I said: “I fear for the safety of Muslims, from those who hate Islam”.

A Pacifist said: “The just way is to be peaceful”.

I said: “To be peaceful to the unjust, is injustice to the peaceful”.

A Pragmatist said: “Always choose the lesser of two evils”.

I said: “Then your choices will always be evil”.

An Ascetic said: “Leave worldly affairs, and seek God”.

I said: “Seek God in your worldly affairs”.

A Conspiracy Theorist said: “I believe that ‘They’ control the World”.

I said: “That belief controls your world”.

A ‘Moderate Muslim’ said: “Ideally, you should embrace compromise”.

I said: “You should embrace an uncompromisable Ideal”

That is the whole reason I started this blog. So far, it has served its purpose.

Anyway this post is about welcoming my friend to the world of blogging and to the wordpress family. Najma Aijaz, a school mate, a class mate, a friends friend, a close friend, a sister and some one I look up to with a lot of love and respect. She has been there for me when I needed friends and people I can trust around me. And like they say a friend in need…. is Najma indeed ! Anyway this is the link to her blog: eimaan.wordpress.co – so go ahead, give it a read and enjoy what she has to say.

Najma, now you can thank me

Suddenly keeping in touch became ridiculously easy. So easy that people couldn’t go back to their solitude even if they wanted to. You see, we spent approximately 9 months in our mothers stomach just being quite and minding our own business and life is great and as soon as you are born there is pressure on you for your first word. Leave me alone….. I like being alone. I will talk when I want to, will be silent when I want to. Some times there will be reason behind my silence, some times not. But don’t do a thesis on it, and lets all do what we want to do.

Anyway, back to Facebook. It was Facebook where I met a person, became good friends and today we no longer talk thanks to Facebook. You see, in my moment in searching for solitude I deleted a lot of people from my Facebook — it was my way of dealing with whatever I was going through and may be right, may be wrong – it didn’t really deserve a thesis. So when I did start adding people back that’s where it all went wrong… some got added soon, some would eventually get added, but then Facebook lets people know every thing so this friend was pissed, and was well within his/her reasons to be pissed too. Today we are no longer friends, not on FB, not in life.

I am not pissed with the person, definitely not. In our lives, there are moments where we will take certain actions that might or might not turn out for the best, but I believe that the people who matter will end up in your life. They will find a reason to. Life will give them a reason to. And if not, then its ok — the lights that are lit on Diwali, eventually go off.

Seriously seriously seriously where does the time fly? Its one month already that uni has reopened -_- and honestly I havent felt it. May be because this is the first time that I have got 3 day weekends, which by the way have taken my productivity levels even lower …. wait wait, thats not how things are supposed to be..but eh !

Oh my niece has been named Muntaha Saniya ! I knew the meaning, but I dont remember it now so if and when I do, I will let you know. Oh Oh and this blow has got 1200+ hits….. and I am really sorry to all those people who have been giving it hits thinking its a blog related to cricket…actually it was, then I got bored .

Back to where is the time going..a lot has been happening, well not really but it does give you a sense of importance [fake importance ] when you say that. I have a few interesting plans [as usual] up my sleeves and I plan and pray that they wont get sidelined.

Oh, by the way, I decided to join a gym. Then I decided against it and will now do free form push ups. Today is a friday and fridays are briyani days and that sucks because I eat a lot and then you don’t really want to move.

I havent been posting a lot in this blog because I have started another blog yet another one, but that is an Islamic blog and it will only have posts related to Islam, in sha Allah. For those interested, the blog address right now is, www.aashiqesawdiq.wordpress.com . I might change the title later and make it to www.lovethe Creatoroflove.wordpress.com soon, in sha Allah.

That is it for now. More soon. Take care!

When anything is purchased and brought from Madina Munawwarah, then a lover of Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) will naturally appreciate and value it – no matter how small or how cheap. Why ? …Because it has a connection with the city of the Beloved (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam). It has been touched by the air of Madina Sharief, or it has been produced from the blessed land of Madina Sharief – and this is what has made it special.

The residents of Madina Sharief are the neighbours of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) and they are the envy of the heavens, because they have such extreme physical closeness to Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam). They are the envy of all of us as well – for we too desire the honour of being in such proximity to Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) at all times.

Allah Ta’ala, in His infinite Mercy and Grace, does not want to deprive anyone of us of this blessing of being close to Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam), so He has given us a simple recourse to always being near to our Beloved Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam). This nearness is attained via our nisbat (connection) with the ‘A`maal’ of Madina Munawwarah – i.e. the Sunnah (way of life) of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam). Our value, in the sight of Allah Ta’ala, is dependent on our relationship with His beloved Rasul (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam).

Allah Ta’ala has informed us of this in the Qur`aan Sharief :

“SAY (O MUHAMMAD (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam)) : IF YOU DO LOVE ALLAH, FOLLOW ME. ALLAH SHALL LOVE YOU AND FORGIVE YOU YOUR SINS; AND ALLAH IS MOST-FORGIVING, VERY-MERCIFUL.”
[SURAH AAL-IMRAAN 3 : 31]

And my Shaykh has presented the same message in poetry form :

The footprints of the Beloved of Allah,
Nabi Muhammad (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam)
is the road to Jannat;
The Sunnats of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam)
connect one with Allah Ta’ala .

It is a misconception that a person’s repeated performance of Haj and Umrah and repeated visits to Madina Munawwarah is to be taken as the yardstick of piety. The yardstick of piety is not how many Umrahs or Haj, a person has made.

The present day scenario is saddening to say the least, since Umrah and Haj have become a holiday, a shopping spree, and a “tour” for the majority. …The deficit is in “sincerity of intention”. As has been said, the visitors are many, but the pilgrims are scarce.

For many, these trips are now for business and trade. And for others, each trip is another “feather” in their caps – which must be made known and announced to the world. There are those that boast of their yearly trips, whether for Haj or ‘Umrah, or both, updating us on the number of visits they make to Makkah Mukarramah and Madina Munawwarah. We have heard people say : “I have made Umrah for the past 20 or 30 years and have never missed out one.” …Yet, the reality is that we cannot count our Umrahs and Haj. We cannot say how many have been performed, because we do not know how many have been accepted. Those Umrahs and Haj that are accepted are the only ones that we can count. And we will only come to know of their acceptance on the Day of Judgement.

Despite the frequent visits to the Haramayn Sharifayn, there is generally not much improvement in our spirituality. If we have not brought a reformation in our lifestyles : If we have not fulfilled the rights of people, if we have not returned to people that which is their due, if we have not asked forgiveness from those whom we have wronged, if we are not punctual with Salaah, and if our zaahir (external condition) and our baatin (internal condition) does not reflect the purity and spirituality that come with visits to the Haramayn Sharifayn, then we should truly be concerned as to the quality and acceptance of our Haj and Umrah.

I have mentioned many times that the “maal” (wealth/material goods) of Madina Munawwarah is not what is available in its market places, bazaars and shopping complexes. Unfortunately, when we visit Madina Munawwarah, then more often than not, the objective is the “maal” of Madina Sharief.

The majority of those visiting Madina Munawwarah forget the purpose of their visit once their gazes fall on the commercial centres of Madina Sharief. Many who do know about the material commodities being sold, plan in advance – that there will be an exchange or purchase of gold, there will be this commodity and that commodity bought. …Whilst in Madina Sharief, the talk is the latest technology, the cellphones, the best gold shops, cloak shops, and so forth.

The intention and pursuit becomes the “maal” of Madina and not the ‘a`maal’ of Madina Munawwarah. And this is how our stay of 7 or 8 days passes : “mauled by the malls” . Our imaan, our love for Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam), our time, our energy, our money are “mauled” in the obsession we have of shopping. We forget, and sometimes we do not even care to give any kind of attention or express any kind of appreciation to our host, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) because we are so caught up in material purchases.

Instead of filling up the pockets of our hearts with the wealth of Love for Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) and with the wealth of his noble characteristics, we fill up suitcases and suitcases – many a time, even purchasing more suitcases – for filling up the material commodities of Madina Sharief.

I am not saying that it is Haraam to shop there. It will be meritorious if a person makes purchases with the intention to support the businessmen and traders of Madina Munawwarah. The Hadith also makes mention that when we are on a journey, we should make some effort to bring back gifts for our families no matter how small or how cheap – because there is always an expectation from those who remain behind, at home, that the person on a journey will remember his loved ones and bring back something for them – but this should not be misconstrued. Shopping is not meant to be the “be all and end all” – especially of our visit to the Haramayn Sharifayn. The person should purchase a few gift items a day or two before departure. And the gifts that we should be appreciating most are the duas of the Haramayn Sharifayn, Salaam at the Raudha Mubarak, the Zam Zam of Makkah Mukarramah and the Kajur (dates) of Madina Munawwarah.

Almost everything else is made in China, Taiwan and Japan and can be purchased anywhere else in the world, including our own country, or city or town. However, the Haramayn Sharifayn offer a different “market” where such spiritual bounties are obtained, which cannot be obtained anywhere else in the world.

The true lovers of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) make this trip to fill their hearts and lives with the ‘A`maal’ of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam) – with his beautiful seerat and soorat, with his kindness, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, generosity, abstinence and the treasure trove that we know of his noble life.

The visit should be purely to visit Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam), to make Salaam to our Beloved Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam), to spend time in his Mubarak city and glean from our visit, those virtues, those qualities that will be the medium of bonding with him and being the means of our own value increasing in the sight of Allah Ta’ala.

If all the visitors to Madina Sharief were to return home with the true “maal” and wealth of Madina Sharief – i.e. the akhlaaq (character) and a`maal of Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam), then the value of the entire Ummah will increase.

The Sahabah were the “stars” of mankind – guides and leaders for all nations and people. They had to thus make the great sacrifice of leaving Madina Sharief to spread the religion of Islam. Despite them being distanced from their beloved Madina Sharief, they traveled with the “nisbat” of Madina Sharief. This was the key to their success. Wherever they went, there was progress and success.

On the other hand, we put price tags on ourselves by looking at our material possessions. What are material possessions ? …Fanaa (annihilation and destruction) will come over them.

Let us introspect and consider our value in the light of the nisbat that we have with Madina Sharief. …The reality is that we have discarded our nisbat with Madina Sharief, and as such our value has decreased. Today, the Ummah as a whole is being sold very cheaply in the markets of the kuffaar. This is our own doing and downfall.

If we have to re-connect with the way of life, the actions and characteristics of Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam), then most definitely, we will fetch a high price in Allah Ta’ala’s esteem, and we will be successful in both worlds.

Website : yunuspatel.co.za

One of the most important aspects of our life as students is to be skilled enough at what we are doing. There are many study skills one can use and some of them are basic common sense and sounds so simple. Whats funny and strange is, the simple things are always the most difficult to do.

Anyway, there was this post that I have read and it nicely summarises skills for the muslim student [honestly, the skills can be used by anybody regardless of your religion]. It is important to realize that this is not the be all end all. All fingers are not of the same sizes and these skills are not a “one size fits all”, so its important to mix and match and to see what works out best for you.

Deen –• Keep your deen as the first priority and you’ll realize that many of the skills are already mentioned in our deen as sunnah, difference is you get rewarded for carrying them out if you have the intention of doing it for the sake of Allah SWT. So first comes your salat, tilawa, muraqaba, dhikr, dua..Then comes the rest.
• Deen will automatically orient your life in a way which will make you a productive person.
• You are privileged to be studying, many of the other people your age are equally smart but don’t have the financial support. So be thankful to Allah SWT and make shukr.
• Take studying seriously; it is part of our deen.

Covering a lecture/class/session
• Pre – review  Always pre review what will be taught in class. It gears and oils the engines of your brain and makes you an attentive listener in the class. Best time is after Fajr, finish your daily deeni mamoolat and get to studying. This time is full of Baraka.
• Attendance  Attend your lecture/session and listen carefully. You should have some familiarity with the material now, it makes listening and learning easy. Carry a recorder if you can. Record the session. But don’t waste time on writing notes in class and trying to catch up while your prof speaks at rocket speed.
• Post – review  Immediately 5 – 10 mins after the class, review your sessions or lectures asap. This should act like cement to your concepts. So they stick.
• Detailed study  now go through the concepts, read, understand and memorize your lecture at your peak study hours.
• Weekend review  Revise this lecture again in the weekend but question oriented mode. Think like an examiner and hunt for questions in the lecture.
• Practice Past papers  make your own black bank if papers are not available. Practice only if you have covered at least 90% of the material. Not before.
• Revise again 4 weeks before the exam
• Revise before 1 week
• Revise before the exam
• Get an A and get over with it already. Say Alhumdulilah.

Motivation
• Always carry a work diary and make a daily list of tasks or to do list. Have a special place to “tick” off the things you accomplish – ticks serve as motivation. Add your deeni, domestic duties and be realistic with the time.
• Reward yourself often after you have done the task well – food should not be used as reward.
• Lunch time study group revision session are helpful, make it question oriented. Do not take out special time for this group study, that’s time wastage. Have lunch and discuss your material. Saves time and youl eat less.
• Make a revision chart and post it in front of you so you get reminded. Regular revision is the key to success. Cover your revision slots in the weekend and regular in the weekdays.
• See and visualize your goals clearly.
• Take frequent short breaks to keep you going.

Concentration
• Concentration is best achieved with 15×4 method
• Short bursts of study for 15 mins and 5 mins break, complete 4 sessions of such 15 mins sprints will yield more results than extended concentration for long hours.
• Buy yourself an exercise book to record your study tasks
• Start by writing what you need to accomplish in the 15 mins blocks. Do not under/over estimate the time
• Accomplish the goal, keep your head down and your mind glued to the task.
• Rule down a red column for ticks. Keep ticking as you complete the task. As you go along, youl be increasing your motivation and effort.
• Best time for concentration is after Fajr. When you have prayed and compelted your mamoolat, begin these 15x 4 session and go up until your time for work/school/Univeristy.
• Reserve this time for pre-review and post –review. As your mind is very fresh early in the morning, use it to recall your lecture and revise your notes.
• Similarly, find out what other time is best to fully concentrate on your work.
• Remember that late night studying could be beneficial to some but its not the ideal time to study. Its not compatible with our inner environment of the body and our deen doesnot encourage it. We must shut everything down after Isha prayer.

Procrastination
• Determine “why” you are procrastinating
• Always be a planner. Plans usually get you oriented and even if you don’t follow them, you do get a sense of how much time was used or wasted.
• Break huge tasks into smaller chunks and then study
• Stick a plan infront of your table
• Out of your to do list, always do the most difficult and heaviest thing first and get rid of it. There is no use of doing smaller and useless tasks.
• Study at the same time, same place everyday.

Memory enhancement
• Use the SQ3R method for this
• S – Survery your text/course book
• Q – Question yourself from the topic headings, bold and italic words
• 3R – Read – Recite – Review your work.
• Best memory enhancement technique is repetition.
• Learn as you go – Keep a short note book in your pocket or use your mobile for that task
• Revise each weekend for the finals that are probably months away
• Use the information you are learning – debate with it, question and argue with it, critise it etc.
• Revise your work atleast 5 times. 1st revision on retaining major concepts, 2 – 5th go deeper.
• Use coloured pens and all your senses to learn something.. Visualize it, put on a perfume on your text book, remember the taste of your favourite food and attach this mentally to what you are learning. Our brains work really well with associations.
• DO NOT re write notes !
• Work with geometric designs, triangles, square.. Remembering one corner will make you remember the others in the exam
• Use acronyms and mnemonics often

Time and Stress management
• Always carry this chart with you in a book
• Divide the page into 4 columns
• Task – Priotity – Time – Ticks
• Under tasks, list all the important things you want to do, include daily work, assignments due 4 – 6 weeks. Include deeni work, daily chores.
• When noting these tasks, be specific. Not general as “Do some clinical pathology”. Rather, write down the page numbers and exact material to cover
• Priotity column is for you to priotitse the most important and bigger tasks first.
• Exam revision is also one of the bigger tasks
• Time column is for the estimate of how much time will be needed to cover the task.
• Done column is for ticks

Semester Plan
• Plan your semester for all the weeks, exams, assignments, reports etc.
• Put weeks column horizontally up and courses/subject column vertically down and fill in all the slots with your important submission and exams.
• This gives you a good glance at time needed, time left, creates urgency in you etc.

Diet/Sleep/Exercise

Diet –
• Eat well balanced, regular, short, energy rich, frequent meals
• Say no to caffeine
• Keep yourself hydrated and drink plenty of water.
• Do not skip the breakfast

Sleep –
• Get your sleep !
• If you sleep usually for 7 hours then do so, cut down on something else but always get your sleep. Remember, that sleep debt is a phenomenon just like money debt. If you have borrowed some hours from your brain, then your brain will demand it later on.
• Do take naps in the mid afternoon
• Get to bed early and rise up early.

Exercise –
• If you are a full time student and after your deeni duties, secular education and domestic work, if you do not get time to exercise. Don’t freak out.
• Maximize your efforts and put them in your daily work so you still can burn calories.
• Walk to the mosque and back but with the intention of pleasing Allah SWT.
• Climb the stairs, don’t use the lift
• Go for a 30 min walk 3 times a week with your father/mother or siblings. Give them company.
• If you are lucky to get 1 hour to workout, then do so with the intention of staying fit to stand long hours in salaat.
• Help around the house, your mother in cooking and cleaning.

Lets wake up and climb our ladders of success.

I wont call it the most difficult step, but yes a very crucial step. Take it. And Keep Moving Forward....

My elder sister, "Apa", sent laddus for me. One of my all time favourites....

That was followed by a good breakfast, big lunch, and some really tasty sweets/laddus from Bangladesh. Seriously, everyone should try Bangladeshi sweets….Roshogullas ain’t world known just like that, you know.

The most beautiful relationship is got to be one between a mother and her child. It always surprises me how mom knows exactly what I am thinking, exactly what I want. She is my greatest pillar of support and the most understanding and beautiful person I have known. Her faith in me is one of the reasons for the success I have been blessed with by the Almighty. I love my mom…she is simply awesome…or should that be AweMOMe !

The other day me and a few friends planned a surprise party for a friend of ours. A new post will have details about it. Old friends are always a delight to meet eh? =) And boy did I laugh…. I laugh at the smallest of things =) ! That is awesome too!