Let My Masjid Go!

"Many of our youth are also blocked from any effective involvement in the affairs of the mosque, even if they are highly motivated religiously. They gain the impression that they have to wait for the "uncles" to die before they can have any say in the running of the mosque. As the years turn into decades and the same fossilized leadership remains in place, most of the young Muslims eventually get on with their lives. Unfortunately, the role of the mosque in their lives, if they do remain Islamically active, is minimal. Others, who may not be as religiously committed, drift away from the mosque because there are no viable classes or programs to stimulate them or keep them interested. Sponsorship of youth activities such as team sports, camping, ping pong, and pool are seen as being beyond the scope of acceptable mosque activities." -Quote taken from "Scattered Pictures", pages 107-108, by Imam Zaid Shakir.

Balance

كنتم خير أمة أخرجت للناس
"You are the best nation produced for mankind."


وكذلك جعلناكم أمة وسطا
"And thus we have made you a middle, balanced nation"

That means don't be extreme in your daily routine. Pray 5 times a day, read Qur'an, do your school work, go to work, be good to those around you, work out, and have fun. Keep everything just and balanced.

This is the path of a Muslim.

Dominance

"It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allah dislike it."

Gone with the wind...

Lost I am,
Gone it is,
Spun around they are,
Brought it on us he did.

A great affect it had,
the act it self,
adding up by the minute,
set to ruin us all.

Selfish I decline,
But globally accepted,
The accuser is not right,
And truly they must be corrected

The keyboard breaks,
after all this typing,
and to no avail,
thoughts are still spinning.

why here and why now,
expect the unexpected,
God's got your back.
So break out your grinnin'

Satan told me to Pray Qiyam

Disclaimer: This is not a story narrated from any ahadith. It is a mere fable which I heard from some of my teachers which carries a beautiful lesson. If anyone has a reference for the story though I would really appreciate it if you left a comment.

There once was a man who used to pray in the night perpetually. He used to prolong the units of prayer and make much rememberence of his Lord in them. One night when the man was sleeping, Satan came to the man and whispered to him, "The night is long, so sleep." At this, the man did not get up for qiyam that night and slept in till Fajr.

At the sound of the Fajr adhan, the man awoke and realized that he had missed his qiyaam! Knowing this, the man started crying and feeling regret throughout the whole day. After years of practice, the man's sorrow had no bounds. He went to sleep that same night again with the intention of waking up for qiyaam.

The man feel asleep very easily and was able to wake up for qiyam this time. But it was different as he heard a voice telling him, "You! Get up and pray! I am the Shaytan and I am telling you to get up!" The man was baffled as to why the accursed one was waking him to the obedience of his Lord. The man then enquired of Shaytan, "Why are you waking me to worship Allah?" Shaytan responded, "Last night, I came to you to make sure you do not attain the reward of standing and worshiping your Lord in the late part of the night. I was succesful, atleast I thought. But the amount of time you spent in the day regretting and feeling sorrow for what you had missed, you earned much more reward in that process. So now I'm here to tell you to go pray!"