Pen Marks

Friday, July 23, 2010

IlmSummit, Houston, Texas

Preface – Alhamdulillah, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) has blessed me with the opportunity to attend this year’s AlMaghrib IlmSummit. For those of you who don’t know, IlmSummit is a special summer program that AlMaghrib Institute begun in 2008. It is a 9-day event comprised of back-to-back seminars taught by AlMaghrib powerhouse instructors and special guest speakers that delve into topics such as Tajweed, Islamic History, Economics, Heresiology, and much more. The classes begins right after Fajr (which is currently at 6am in Houston) and runs until 10pm, after which the students organize and review their notes before slipping in a few hours of sleep.

I’ve been watching IlmSummit videos ever since last year, and just about everything seemed downright amazing about the event; I saw that the Shuyookh actually live on the same premise as the students, full books were taught cover-to-cover in an intensive manner over just a few days, various wildcard sessions were planned throughout the days, speakers regularly came in and out, and the students were always busy gathering and digesting their daily plethora of information. All in all, it was a student’s dream come true.

I received regular emails from AlMaghrib Institute encouraging us students to apply for IlmSummit, but I always felt that it was a bit pricey and that I wouldn’t be able to meet the high standards of getting in (they look at your AlMaghrib exam grades, your community activism, your Hifdh, etc.). However, while at college one day, I received yet another email from the IlmSummit team. I was about to go ahead and delete the email, but then I decided to at least just give it a shot. I quickly filled out the form, pressed ’submit’, and then went off to class without another moment’s thought.

To my amazement, I was accepted into the IlmSummit program Alhamdulillah. After talking to my parents, I called the AlMaghrib office, confirmed my trip, and paid for the event. As the phone call came to an end, I realized that this was it…I was really heading to IlmSummit.

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14 More Days

I saw a Muslim sister smoking yesterday and I remembered reading this a while back. I’m not sure who wrote it, or where the source was from..

Dear mother,

I can’t forget the day my little sister came to me, crying and asking me will mommy die from cancer, I looked confused not knowing what she was saying. However, when I looked at you mom holding your cigar I then knew what she meant. Mother, look in the eye of my little sister, look at the fear that is eating her, the fear of losing you due to the consequences of smoking.

Many people around you who suffer from cancer wish to be as healthy as you, wish to be breathing normally, and wish to stop taking chemotherapy. Yet here you are holding the cigarette selling your life at a cheap price in order to satisfy the urge of feeling calm and cool. Mother, haven’t you thought of how much pain you will go through once you get cancer? Haven’t you thought of the pain that we’ll go through when we lose you? Haven’t you thought of how much you are affecting our health? Mother, sister and I don’t want to be raised by our father only; we need you by our side. We want your love, care and tender. Mom, a mother’s love is irreplaceable and it is very valuable so please don’t take it away from us, don’t let your urge for something that will do you no good be the reason for us to lose a loving mother. So mother please, stop smoking. Please stop.

With love,

Your eight year old princess

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Here are Some Fatwa’s about Smoking:

Ruling On Smoking

The Reason Why Smoking is Haram

Don’t destroy what you have today by envying what you don’t, and remember what you have today was a thing that you had once hoped” - Boonaa Mohammed

(Summary of an Arabic article by Shaykh Muhammad Salih Al-Munnajid)

All Praise is due Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

From a small, remote island nation located in the North Atlantic Ocean, a small, sub-glacial volcano erupted, sending plumes of ash thousands of feet into the air. It drove the entire European continent into panic and caused the disruption of international flights around the world.

Airplanes discontinued flying, airports shut down, and air traffic was suspended. One-hundred thirteen European airports closed their airspaces in the face of international navigation. More than 63,000 flights were cancelled. The airline industry faced losses of up to $250 million per day. Over seven million travelers were stranded.  Airport lounges turned into dormitories, and passengers were provided with blankets and other necessities. In addition, importers and exporters were confronted with deficits.

Europe was nearly isolated from the world when it met the biggest disruption of air transportation in its history.

1.       So take warning, O people of vision (59:2):

One cloud of volcanic ash sent an entire continent into panic and fear and paralyzes air travel.  What would happen if several volcanoes erupted? Indeed, it is an event that calls upon us to think, reflect, and contemplate. It is not fit for such great happenings to surpass a Muslim without a deep, thoughtful pause that comes about from his/her faith in Allah, with full certainty, that whatever good happens in this universe is from the grace and mercy of Allah and whatever evil happens in it is with His knowledge.

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Source

Ten Qualities That Lead to Success:

1. Every successful person has a strong sense of purpose. What greater sense of purpose than to know that your goal is Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

2. Seek out role models or mentors. These mentors instill in them a sense of possibility. What better role model than Rasulullah sallallahu ‘alaihi wa
sallam?

3. Strength of visualizing the goal. Rasulullah sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam had the strongest visualization of any human. We are people of `success’ and this Deen is not a Religion of `failure’, but a Religion of SUCCESS!

Michael Hart, the historian who wrote the 100 most influencial personalities in history, placed Muhammad sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam as number 1. The greatest witness is what your own enemies show witness to. Our example is the best example, for verily Rasulullah sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam was
`Uswatun Hasanah’, the Best example; he is the model and mentor of success for all of mankind.

4. Positive sensory orientation. That you dwell on your successes, not dwelling on your failures. Remember your past successes when you were weak, and Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala will give you victory, look at Badr.

5. Self assurance. They know that they can succeed. `La tahinuu, wa laa tahzanuu wa antum la’nawla in kuntum mu’mineen’ – `Do not be weak, and do not grieve, and you are the uppermost, if you are Believers’.
Our afflictions are expiations for us. Remember at `Uhud, Rasulullah sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam said: `Your dead are in the Hell fire, our dead are in
Jannah’.

6. They plan and organize. They know how to prioritize. Look at the most important things and take that. We have people now that argue over where you put your hands in the prayer, where your feet should be, etc.
These things are known in the books of Fiqh, we don’t need to argue over them. You ask any scholar of any worth and they tell you very clearly. There’s different ways to do it, because we’re not supposed to get caught up in the trivial matters, because this is the Talmudic (Jewish) mind that asks `what kind of cow, what color cow’ etc. All triviality.

Even in the West, they say that the `devil’s in the details’ (proverb). What’s important is to ask `where’s your heart?’ Where is your heart in the Salaat?
People watching others pray during Salaat, finding mistakes with the Imaam etc. Where is our heart in the Salaat?
We plan to corrupt each other, organizations are successful, because they plan and organize each other. We are good planners when it comes to Walimah’s. For instance, how many sheep will we have, how many belly dancers etc. Allahu Akbar, Takbeer, what type of takbeer? Takbeer of Salatul Janaazah, 4 of them!

7. The ability to acquire the necessary skills to succeed. We need to produce male and female scholars. Why don’t we want to be from those people? The people of knowledge? Make your children people of Akhirah, not Dunya!

8. Patience. Be patient and enjoin others to patience. We have two lessons that Muslims have to learn, most of our tribulations are coming from: o Kibr, and, o Lack of patience.

Saying La ilaha Illallah does not make us special, because a Munafiq says La ilaha illallah, and yet they are lower than the Kaafir.
And remember that if you feel safe from Nifaaq, then according to Hasan al Basri rahimahullah, you are a Munafiq! The only one who feels safe from nifaaq is the munafiq.
`Umar ibn Khattaab radi’Allahu anhu went to Huthaifah ibn Yaman and asked him `Do you see in me what you see in them? Tell me by Allah, I want to know if `Umar is a Munafiq?’ Huthaifah radi’Allahu anhu replied, `I don’t see in you what I see in them’.

The qualities of a Munafiq (some of them include):
- They oscillate
- They remember Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala little,
- They say on their tongues what’s not in their hearts,
- They pray lazily, etc and so forth.

9. Perseverance. Be persevering. No one will have except that what he endeavors for’.

10. To love what one is doing. Radi’Allahu `anhum wa Radu `anh’ – `They love Allah, and Allah is pleased with them’.

Loving Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala and His Messenger! Spending what we love and giving from it freely. You don’t reach righteousness (Birr) until you give out that which you love.
“When perfection is reached then it has to diminish, So once something is called perfect, expect it to perish.”

Original Source

Go to any quotation site, and you’ll notice that the majority of quotes come from only famous people.

However, who ever said that wisdom comes primarily from famous people? The following is a compilation of true stories and conjured tales from MYM staff writers (as well as a special guest writer towards the end) that think otherwise and have encountered wisdom from unlikely sources.

Continue reading here