I wish we could stop apologising for the crimes we didn’t commit and which our religion doesn’t preach for.
(via arabarabarab)
Posts tagged "faith"
Insane thunder right now. It shook me. Yeah. The windows clattered like mad and I thought they would burst. Really. The lighting was like a flash of morning light. And then, you know what I hear that gives me a bit of peace and then finally alot? The adhaan. Always.
I was in Peshawar. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On the rooftop of my grandmother’s house. From where can see the mountains in the distance, hazy blue or cold brown. It was a beautiful evening and I was waiting for the sunset. There is this muezzin who calls out the adhan in this beautiful way. And then it happened. With maghrib [sunset], the summons to prayer.
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The Hazara bloodshed- Balochistan
Khuda kay liye is ko band kar do. Apnay bhaiyon ka qatal-e-aam band karo.
[For God’s sake, stop this bloodshed and killings of your own brothers.]
For the soldiers
This post can can not even remotely come close to the aching pain. The pain, the affected families of the soldiers go through, this very moment. The soldiers, who are buried under several layers of snow, in Saichen since the last weekend.
But I am still typing this to let know that we, a nation of 170 million, more or less, are thinking of you, the brave, fearless soldiers of our country who spend their life in the cause of men, of Allah. I want the soldiers to know that they are and always will be remembered. As in Urdu language, I would use say, they are javed[eternal] forever. A salute, I send your way. And a prayer that you are at peace, wherever you are.
May Allah save the affected soldiers and reward them. May Allah bless them. May Allah give the bereaved families patience and peace. May Allah give us hope.
You stand on the borders, away from home, into the night, never looking back. For people who you might never know or meet, for people who you owe nothing, for people, who you stand guard anyway out of your selfless heart to protect and defend only because these people are your country men and women. And you, shall never be forgotten or left unrewarded. And that, being a true promise.
Peace be with you.
Some insights on the incidents here.
Kashmir avalanche: Up to 135 feared dead on Siachen
Pakistan resumes search for 135 buried by avalanche
P.S. Please, pray.
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Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she’s a piece of meat, like she’s an animal. That just means you’ve lost respect for a fellow human being- you’re looking at her like an ape looks at a female ape, like a dog looks at a female dog.That’s all, you’ve turned into an animal. Regain your humanity. Lower your gaze.
Nouman Ali Khan (via zuleikha)
This is something that needs to be said. It is not nice to be stared at. It is not nice, to be stared at, at all. No, no.
(via famalamadingdong)
Salaat and Summons
Allah is the greatest
For the fourth time,
the adhan plunges into life
as another day descends.
I testify that there is no God except for Allah
I testify that Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is the Messenger of Allah
It agitates against the silent winds
like a passionate torrent,
gently set loose.
Encompasses every nook, every corner.
Come to prayer
Come to prayer
Through our dens,
well concealed. Even through
these castles, uncovered and seen.
Come to success
Come to success
But in these hearts:
i m p e n e t r a b l e.
For we pride in having them
shut, closed and sealed.
Allah is the greatest
For these walls!
They shield our greatest of fears.
To ever believe, or to ever bow.
There is no God except for Allah
Denial help us built this hole
Only, to fall into it ever the more.
In this lovingly dug abyss
of mere n o t h i n g n e s s.
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The Italics are the translation of the adhan which is sounded in every Muslim neighborhood to summon the believers to bow before Allah. The adhan is sounded five times, every day. Salat: Prayer, namaz.
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I have thinking about writing this down for some time. I finally did when the adhan sounded for maghrib (sunset) on a particular wintry evening in 2011.
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Respect copyrights.
Tuning into Ramadan
The entire Muslim world unites under the glorious month of Ramadan, together, again another year. How lucky we are that we made it to another one of our lives. As the lunar calendar moves back through the year, this Ramadan came in August. One of the hottest months of Summer in the country where I live. Temperature soars conveniently through 40’C+ which demands greater patience and will power. But firm believers do not bring this scorching heat to consideration. They, unmoved, perform their duties with admirable conviction.
I see what my country men and women do: they soak themselves completely in this month. Splashing whatever freshness and goodness they feel/know, they spread it around and immerse again. I embraced whatever came to me and hoped to gain more.
Photograph by: iraqiguy
In the mornings, I go for receiving religious education at an aunty’s house who volunteered to accommodate as many volunteers as might come for this course. It is a group of women that grows steady if not large day by day, as we learn about the teachings and the explanations of one sipara everyday. Ayat by ayat. It’s quite extraordinary to think that InshaAllah, we will be able to read, and for a change, understand what the Holy Koran says. Thirty days. That’s all there is to it. By the night, I make my way with my brother to the mosque to offer tarweeh. We offer about 8 of the total 20 taraweeh.
Photograph by: marayem-uae
We have a masjid in the neighborhood. A couple of blocks away. I and my brother cycle through the streets quickly to reach it as we leave the house a little after 9.45 pm. I, more frantically, fearing I might miss Isha’s salaat. As I near towards the masjid, I see these streets filled with believers and I feel brimming with pride. Men, women, children, not even reached their teens, walking so firmly towards a destination that is much much sought after.
When I see girls half my age, double my age, triple my age, side by side, with me, standing and praying and bowing before Allah, the sense of belonging that I feel there strengthens with every moment. This reminds of an article that I read, about Ramadan. The introduction included how Muslims, in this holy month, fast during the day and pray during the night. This sentence touched me to the extent that I thought to myself that, that is exactly the kind of Muslim I aspire to be. It’s been five days at understanding a sipara a day. And tonight makes it four nights of my taraweeh. Believers inspired me to do something more this Ramadan, despite the heat and the failing electricity. And now, I inspire you.
Photograph by archiprezmosis
Islam And Being Gay
And what is freedom and what is choice? It’s not how you see it, it is if you choose to believe or you choose to disbelieve. That, is the only difference.
jihadjoe90 says it’s not a opinion. It is a fact. And Muslims believe what Allah says. The end. Why? And who is a Muslim? The one who surrenders himself to Allah.
I am gay and what’s wrong with that? It is wrong because it is forbidden and because it is against nature. If being gay was okay, why is it such an issue? Why do you need so many justifications to prove that it is right? That it is a way of life? Because the truth is: it is not. It is sinful and it is wrong.
Islam considers homosexuality to be the result of the human choice. Human beings are not robots that they do what they are programmed to do. They choose how to behave and Allah holds them responsible for the choices they make.
One of the 99 glorious names of Allah, one is العدل
And what does that name? THE JUST. It is a complete falsehood to say that Allah made people the way they are and then declared it a punishable crime. To even suggest something like that means that Allah is (God Forbid) unjust. It must be remembered. Allah NEVER orders His creation to do something they can’t do. Allah is the most Just. He is the All-Wise. The All-Knowing. The King of The Kings. And HE loves His creation more than 700 mothers’ love combined for their children. Then how can you even pose something like that? How can you even think something like that?
It must be noted that Islam did not introduce anti-gay legislature to the world. The texts of the Torah are replete with clear condemnation of such practices.
You’ll say that it’s easy enough for me to say things like that because I am not gay. And I don’t know how it feels. Maybe. But can you not atleast try not to be gay? Try to refrain from the forbidden feelings and urges that you feel? After all, isn’t that what a Muslim is?
The one who surrenders everything to Allah, for Allah.
Everything stated in Islam is for a reason. Maybe we can’t understand it. Maybe it’s beyond us. But this is for sure that it is for our own good. You ask about freedom of choice. This is the choice. Allah gives you free will. He lets you choose. He lets you decide what you want and lets you go after it. Now, it is up to you. To choose to obey Allah or disobey Him.
So if one day, you come up to me and ask me what I think of homosexuality and homosexuals. I will tell you this:
Islam forbids it. I am a Muslim. And I bow before Allah. For everything and anything.
Because I choose to believe.
This is the entrance where, for the first time, I saw the Holy Kaaba. My first Omra, too - Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
