Archives / Arif Kabir

12

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 | , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments
15

Amidst The Catholics

“Why do your women have to cover but your men don’t?” “How do you know which direction to pray?” “Why can’t Muslim women marry Non-Muslim men?” “What exactly is an Islamic dress?” “Why don’t you believe in the Trinity?” These were amongst the barrage of questions that my friends and I had received while we presented to several classes at a Catholic high school in Washington D.C. The school was offering a “World Religions” module, and they had invited Al-Huda School to send over some students to present about...

22 April 2011 | Dawah, Featured | , , , , , | 15 Comments
13

I’m So Not Worth Anything

It was a beautiful moonlit, starless night. I gazed out of the window and breathed in deeply. It all seemed so peaceful, but yet, the turmoil within me seemed to be raging harder than ever. I had a sudden urge to jump and just let go. Let go of my worries, my problems, my life… I’m so not worth anything. Sometimes I feel like my family thinks I was only a nuisance…and I don’t blame them. After all, they have to pay for my food, pay for my school,...

27 December 2010 | Depression | , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments
6

Islamic Activism: More Than A Hobby?

“I’m going to make her happy, Inshā’Allāh”. One day, I went with my mother to the local grocery store to pick up some food that she needed for her cooking. After we picked up all of the necessary food parcels, we made our way to the checkout aisle. I was determined to make my mom happy, so I decided that I wouldn’t allow my mom to pick up anything from the shopping cart and that instead, I’d do it all by myself. With this firm determination, I quickly began...

31 October 2010 | Activism | , , , | 6 Comments
4

Encounter with Muslim Superheroes

While over a friend’s house, we began to watch The Incredible Hulk. The movie itself wasn’t too impressive, but it was rather interesting to see other superheroes like Iron Man subtly weave their way into this movie. I mentioned this to my friends on our way to the Masjid for the Maghrib Salah, and they explained to me that these individual Marvel movies are all adding up to an Avengers movie that is slated to be released in 2013. The Avengers are a team of superheroes that include the...

29 June 2010 | Activism | , , | 4 Comments
4

An Overnight Orphan

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. The plane will be landing shortly, so please fasten your seatbelts,” the pilot announced. After buckling his seatbelt back on, Ahmad resumed gazing out the airplane window into the gray and dreary sky. His thoughts returned once more to that fateful day… His sister had finally graduated from college and the family had gone out to a local restaurant to celebrate. He didn’t go because he had a final exam the next day and had to finish studying. Tears started welling...

15 May 2010 | Activism | , , | 4 Comments
14

A Pure Mind

Do you get sins based on your thoughts? Two years ago, I witnessed this question being posed to Shaykh Yasir Qadhi in an AlMaghrib seminar. Fortunately, the answer was in the negative and that one does not get sinned based on their thoughts except when in Makkah, Alhamdulillah. I had left it at that for the time being, but when I later listened to a lecture entitled, Allah Is Al-Hayyiy, I was amazed to hear the following: The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) once came to the Sahabah and...

19 April 2010 | Worship | , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments
18

The Extra Mile

Ever wondered what was the difference between an ordinary person and an extraordinary person? It’s just that one remained ordinary, while the other went the extra mile, making him extraordinary. Sounds too simple to be true? Take a quick look at the famous personalities around us. Whether they are famous in the field of politics, sports, acting, or any other prolific career, they usually got there by simply putting in the extra time that others didn’t. In politics, anybody can theoretically run for an elected position, yet we only...

04 April 2010 | Activism | , , , , , , , | 18 Comments
21

Get Your Game On

Ever since I was young, my parents never allowed me to get a game console. Never. Whether it be Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Sega Genesis, PS1, PS2, PS3, XBox, Xbox 360, or anything else, I was never allowed to play these at home. This made it really hard while in elementary and middle school because practically everybody at school had one type of game console or another, and most conversations pivoted on the newest games that would come out. I tried convincing my parents numerous times to let...

01 April 2010 | Activism | , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments
35

Qualities of a Hafidh

“Come in”, Shaykh Haroon Baqai said. I walked in slowly, shaking from head to toe. I had only applied for the Hifzh School a few days ago, and now I found myself entering his office for a scheduled interview. Alhamdulillah, it went smooth and after answering a few questions and memorizing an Ayah from Surah Saad and reciting it to him, the interview came to a close and I quickly sprinted out of the office in relief. By the grace of Allah, I was accepted. For the next few...

22 March 2010 | Worship | , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments
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