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Trust and Loyalty

Nikah is the legal binding of a man and a woman in marriage. This relationship leaves deep impressions in the social life of the partners involved, their children, and the stability of the whole community through the institution of family. Therefore, choosing a spouse is one of the most important decisions we make in our lives. It is for this reason that Islam establishes this relationship to be a sacred bond that provides an individual with numerous things: a halal source of love, affection, sustenance, children, companionship and a...

11 March 2013 | Character, Gender Relations, Love, Relationships | , , , | 2 Comments
10

A Soul’s Showpiece

It stood gracefully on a shelf of an antique wooden cabinet – a showpiece in the shape of a heart bordered with Swarovski diamonds. Its many edges, cut with the utmost precision, gave it an additional dazzling shine that captured the eyes of visitors.  Even though it was just another piece picked out of many from a crystal gallery, it had an air of superiority among the other artifacts that it was placed with. Its new surrounding was rather too rusty for a heavenly thing like it to reside....

11 February 2013 | Purification | , , , , , , , | 10 Comments
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Shaytan’s White Flag

Imagine Shaytan’s campaign dancing across your television screen. “He’ll never give up on you. He’ll keep whispering until he’s sure that you won’t enter Paradise. Are you wavering over whether or not to fall into desire? He’ll be there!” Images of people being blissful in their ignorance fade on and off of the screen. The background music is deceivingly soothing, almost enticing. “I’m Iblis and I approve this message.” Every commercial break, the ad plays over again. Your eyes, ears, and heart begin to go numb to it. It...

11 November 2012 | Dua, Repentance, Worship | , , , , , | 6 Comments
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Labyrinth of the Lovestruck

It’s quaint, old-fashioned. Almost like a rite of passage, I suppose, to have this insatiable need for the “fairytale ending,” the classic one where a beautiful girl is riding in a pretty horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by none other than her handsome prince. They’re both smiling – rigidly in that quintessential 50’s fashion – as they ride off into the sunset. Then, from what seems like thin air, two soaring birds trace words into the sky, leaving beautifully scripted letters, which read, “The End.”Sound familiar? Now, before you admonish and...

16 March 2012 | Love | , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments
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Al-Ghaffar: The Perpetual Forgiver

While we go about living our daily lives, caught up in the speed and realness of each moment, an occasional “oh my Allah!” moment interrupts, reminding us to step back and reassess our situation. Reality dawns upon us, and we suddenly find ourselves at a loss of hope because of our sins. All of this is due to our choosing to live in the moment instead of living for this moment and all the rest. We find ourselves being lackadaisical and insincere when we want to repent. We begin...

17 February 2012 | Repentance | , , , , , , | 6 Comments
15

Daring To Reflect

In our day and age, it has become difficult to reflect without disruption. We stay forever dazzled with the reds on our facebooks, the greens on our checkbooks, the blues on our iphones, the yellows on our flintstones. We live in a monotony of cacophony, where constantly our phones ring, our sets sing, our bells ding, our clocks ting, our chats ping, our friends cling. Never once are we left alone. Never once can we hold our own. Solitude has become so hard to come by, to the point...

12 November 2011 | Reflection | , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments
13

Don’t Inform Me

This is a rant. This is a rant of a young man angry at the age he lives in. In this anger, there is not harshness; rather it is an anger of understanding. An understanding of the age that I live in. And the age that I live in is the age of information. Information blasts our eardrums, stimulates our pupils, and invades our brains each second of our days. Dazed, we take in all we can from each screen presented to us: the TVs and the PCs, the...

24 August 2011 | Activism | , , , , , | 13 Comments
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A Hijabi’s Unique Recession

Summer. It’s that time of year when teenagers clamber out of their homes and hunt for that perfect summer job. Especially with the recession taking its toll, many are left looking for work like never before. Interestingly, many teens cite that they work in this odd world of labor not only to have more money in their pockets, but also to instill early life lessons that can really add up to assist them in their later life. It was this that got me thinking: ‘Is it possible that other early life...

18 August 2011 | Hijab | , , , , | 4 Comments
5

Haunting Sins

I wonder how you get to sleep at night. I wonder how could you possibly just close your eyes and shut the tall thick wooden doors on the world. Shut it out completely. Erase it from your mind. I wonder if you lie there staring at the ceiling, like normal people do, countless thoughts sprinting through your mind. Or does the intense burden of your sins exhaust you and you fall into a painless oblivion. Unaware and unconscious. You see, for me my sins keep me awake. They haunt...

13 July 2011 | Activism | , , , | 5 Comments
4

Evaluating Our Character

In life, we grow comfortable with ourselves and feel satisfied by our present character. This is not the kind of satisfaction that is enjoyed when we perform a good deed sincerely for Allah’s Pleasure or when we see the effects of our hard work; rather, it is the excessive satisfaction that is experienced when we delude ourselves into thinking that our personalities are no longer in need of improvement.  No one is perfect (and we won’t ever be) but we can improve ourselves by following the best example of...

20 April 2011 | Character, Evaluation, Featured | , , , , | 4 Comments
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