Our society is filled with hurt and despair. The sad part is that we, as Muslim youth, don’t make it any better.
Unfortunately, many people do not realize that any statement or action of hurt will hurt, regardless of what one may say.
Tag Archive for 'Muslim'
When you look up at the night sky these days, in your own city, what do you see?
For me, all I see are a bunch of gloomy clouds. MashaAllah it’s a beautiful picture, but tell me, do you see any STARs?
“Whoever sticks to my Sunnah, when the rest of my Ummah…”
I’m just passing on to you all a Hadeeth (statement) of our Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam)… something to think about. By the way, this is a kind of follow-up on the beautiful article by our brother Jawaad Ahmad Khan (Are You Different?), on this same issue.
“Islam began as something strange, and will revert to being strange as it began. So give glad tidings to the strangers.”
-The Messenger of Allah (sallalahu ‘alayhi wasallam) (narrated by Muslim (145) from Abu Hurayrah)
/~~~\
Are you a stranger? Or are you just an average Joe?
Are you DIFFERENT? Or do you fit in with the crowd just fine?
Below is a poem from spoken word poet Silent-K (Raa’id Khan) on the identity of Muslim youth.
Have you ever gone through hundreds of Google pages trying to find a certain hadith or ayah, and have only been left with “Izlam is a violent religion” and other inaccurate information?
I posed my thought and Alhamdulillah got some great responses.
Continue reading ‘iTech: Your Search is Over! Islamic Search Engines’
It’s time to bring some Ihsaan to our productions.
For part 1 of this two-part article, which speaks about video taping, see here.
As Muslims, we always have to try to do our best in anything we do. For, as stated by the Messenger of Allah (Salallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam), “Verily, Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things.” (Hadith #17, An-Nawawi 40 Hadith). Therefore, whatever we produce, we must produce it with Ihsaan (translated as excellence or proficiency). Therefore, we can’t have those videos with boring titles, horrible audio and video quality, and a straight, one-angle shot of a speaker from forty-feet away (There’s actually a Masjid that used a security camera to tape a lecture). We have to be the best of the best, as we are conveying a message that is the best from the best Messenger who received the best book from the lord of all the worlds. We have a standard to uphold. In this post, I will go over some basic editing techniques that will hopefully improve your videos.
By Ayman Nassar
[This post is from a highly skilled guest writer, Ayman Nassar, who is founder of Islamic Leadership Institute of America, works for IBM, authors many books on project management and leadership, and has mentored Muslim and Non-Muslim youth in diverse capabilities. Catch him at his website and blog!]
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,
First of all, I thank my younger brothers for inviting me to write this youthful post. It’s a bounty from Allah that we have minds that reflect, and sleeves that are pulled up in our communities.
Its late and the end of the week, so I will be brief. I had an interesting day today and all praises to Allah, the Magnificent and the Most Merciful. Alhamdulillah, I accompanied the first visit by an Imam to the Howard County Detention Center [in Maryland, USA]. Although a medium size jail with about 325 inmates, 15 of which are Muslims, it is still a first-of-a-kind visit in Howard County, as far as I know.
By Sean Munson via Flickr
I was able to witness the smiles on the brothers faces as they saw the Imam and two volunteers enter the prayer room. It is no regular Friday when a volunteer from the Masjid comes in to give the khutbah. No, instead, the Imam himself is here speaking to these 15 brothers rather than his usual 600+ congregation 12 miles to the west. The knowledge was flowing across the room during the khutbah and after, as if a waterfall of wisdom had broke lose, and the thirsty roots of the plantations absorbed it all within.
Among the worshippers were brothers who are years old into Islam, others who were born into a Muslim family, and some who were six months old, and a few who were days old. These are hearts that found their Lord, found the truth, and are realizing the tranquility of Islam.
The afternoon ended with a different experience, when I came across a Facebook posting by Maryland’s first Muslim legislative delegate, who is proud to post that he wrote an article on supporting same-sex marriage rights. In his own words he says
“Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam. As such I have evinced much grief from my most conservative supporters. But I recognize that I represent people of all faiths and no faith at all. If I tried to enforce religion by law — as in a theocracy — I would be doing a disservice to my both constituents and to my religion.”
It is obvious to any person, young or old, who knows a little about debate, that the argument presented above is broken. A policy maker can abstain from voting and can oppose if they believe that this is in the best interest of the people. However, to lead the push for same-sex marriage is just a total different story.
This article however is a clear proof to several key points. Both democracy and theocracy are failed systems.
A righteous leader does not please the masses, but rather pleases the Creator, and through his love to his followers, guides them to what benefits them.
Secondly, the laws of mankind change based on the interests of those pushing for them. These laws could be evil or good.
The laws of the creator are the just laws, the baseline and standard we go back to. There is no other choice; all other baselines are dynamic and do not qualify to be called baselines.
Finally, self interests are easy to detect. Self interests are based on nonfactual assertions, irrational logic, and invalid evidence.
Leadership is a big burden that rests on the shoulders of the brave. Only the guided can carry this responsibility correctly, and endure the distractions, plots and temptations that aim towards dropping the trust.
We ask Allah (SWT) to keep our hearts on the straight path, and as the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say,
“Oh, You who turns the hearts, stabilize my heart on your obedience”.
MYM Discussion