Hidayah Blog

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Just a quick note to everybody to give as much as you can to the Burma Appeal through whichever charity they can.

According to latest reports about 1.5 million people have been affected by this cyclone with tens of thousands of people dead.

It really is a horrible disaster and another reminder of how weak we really are as human beings.

Whether it’s through an Islamic charity or not (I know that Ummah Welfare Trust are collecting through our local Masjid ), please give as much as you can to those people who have lost everything.

May Allah make it easy for them and give us the Taufiq (Divine aid) to provide the right assistance.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Opening night, and all is quiet…

It’s those magical few seconds before the curtain goes up. The crowd are holding their breath, the director’s having his 74th panic attack (!) and the lead is telling himself that it’s all going to be alright on the night, when it happens…..

…..quite suddenly something unexplained goes ‘click’ in the lead’s head and everything goes numb - his ability to speak, his memory of the lines and most importantly, his will to step out on to that stage - a classic case of stage fright (hope you kept your receipt!!)

Ok, now imagine the crowd to be, not at a play but at a wedding, and imagine the director to be not one, but 74 (the people who helped out!) and imagine the lead to be…..well yes, imagine him to be the leading man or lady!

And now imagine the stage fright!

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Now this stage fright is not unexplained - no. It has a reason. The reason is called ‘forced marriage’.

‘Aaahhh’ I hear you say, ‘now we get it!’

‘Well,’ you ask, ‘if it was a forced marriage, then how on earth did it ever get this far?’ - A valid question, I agree.

The thing is, in the hornet’s nest that is the Asian marriage culture (notice how I say ‘Asian’ and not ‘Islamic’), due to the emotional pressure that is put on the girl (or the guy) by the parents, sometimes the bride or groom find it difficult to say no, and before they know it, the bed is no longer empty on the other side, and the towel’s wet and they haven’t even had their shower!

How does this happen?

Just consider this: father has a daughter whom he wants to get married. It just so happens, that his elder brother has a son around the same age, and guess what? He’s looking to get married as well!!

It couldn’t be more of an ideal match - or could it?

The boy and the girl are introduced to each other, but right from the outset, although acknowledging him to be her first cousin, the girl absolutely revolts the boy. Now we have a problem…..

…..On the one hand, the girl has her own happiness to think about (and possibly she has met someone else as well!) and on the other hand, she knows that her father and the rest of her family will be thrilled to know that she is going to marry her first cousin - what is a girl to do?

Does she forsake her own happiness and wishes and marry to make her family happy, or does she speak out and stand up for herself and run the risk of bringing ‘disgrace’ upon the family?

What would you do?

So, months down the line, while she is still unsure, all the preparations have been made, the invites have been sent, the hall hired, and all of a sudden she finds herself having a serious case of the jitters in that long walk up to the stage before the curtains go up. Forget cold feet, she’s wishing right now that she had no feet!

And there really is none of that so called ‘disgrace’. What’s disgraceful is the pressure put on the bride or groom by the families, and a lot of times, the parents.

So the next wedding you go to this summer, take a closer look at the leading couple - what do you think?

Or if it’s your turn to be cast this year in the lead role, make sure your doing it for all the right reasons, or you might just get stage fright!

And Allah knows best.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Alhumdulillah (all Praise belongs to Allah) we have a chance to do our bit in spreading the Word of Allah - the Qur’an.

Caravan of Mercy needs your help in reaching its target of distributing 10 million Qur’ans to the needy people of the world.

It’s a fantastic opportunity for all uf us to help out for a very very noble cause and for those interested there will be collections at the following points:

Venue: Madina Masjid (car park), Mount Pleasant, Batley

Venue: Masjid-e-Heera (car park), Thornhill Road, Dewsbury

Dates & Times: Sunday 4 May 2008 between 2pm -5:30 pm for both

May Allah give us all the Taufiq (Divine aid).

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

If an extra-terrestrial came down upon the earth today, he/she (or It!) could be forgiven for thinking that the religion of Islam is somehow linked to the word ‘terrorism’.

Indeed, thanks to reckless leaders and flagrant press reporting, the words ‘Islam’ and ‘terror’ are now synonymous and the mention of one leads you to automatically think of the other.

But is it true?

What does the way of life of Islam really have to say on terrorism?

At this point I invite my readers to take a look at the Islamic greeting which I put at the beginning of each post, it means ‘Peace be Upon you’. It is the Islamic equivalent of ‘hello’. There is no other culture or religion in the world that has this as their greeting - no other religion which propagates peace amongst humans right from the outset.

And the killing of innocent people - what does Islam have to say about that?

Well let me explain one of the fundamental rules of warfare that the Prophet (PBUH) encouraged: this was that no member of any Muslim army during war should kill women, children, elderly people, and people worshipping in their temples or places of worship - irrespective of their religious persuasion.

Furthermore, the Muslims were emphatically instructed not to uproot trees or cause unnecessary devastation and bloodshed. So if this was the teaching during times of war, you can imagine what the Prophet (PBUH) encouraged at times of peace.

Why?

Because the Prophet (PBUH) believed and taught the Muslims that Islam was sent upon the earth by Allah to bring peace within humanity, and so even during times of strife, a Muslim would do everything in his or her power to uphold that teaching.

Therefore, that means that when it comes to the killing of innocent people, let alone Islam, no sound human being can condone such behaviour, after all, who are we to take an innocent life?

So, terrorism? No, Islam does not propagate terrorism nor does it encourage the killing of innocent people and mindless bloodshed.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Sorry about the last minute nature of this notice folks, but I was told about this only yesterday and have only had time to post it today. Here’s the details of the walk organised by the local group, ‘Kum on Y’all!’:

Event: Over 40’s Walk at Ingleton Falls

Venue: Ingleton Waterfalls Trail, Broadwood Entrance, Ingleton, Carnforth, LA6 3ET

Date: Sunday 27 April 2008

Time: 9 am - 3 pm - Meet at 35 Orchard Street, Dewsbury, WF12 9LT

Moulana Farooq has informed me that all those who are attending should bring packed lunch and one extra for him as well!!

Once again, sorry about the last minute-ness of this, and I hope people (over 40!) do go, and enjoy themselves.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you)

The day of my marriage:

I was sat there next to the Imam as he read the Khutba (sermon), read the names of the witnesses and then turned to me and asked if I accept the person as my wife. I will never forget that moment…that deep black hole feeling in my belly thinking ‘Damn that’s it, I’m a married man after this!’, those couple of seconds were like, ‘Wow! My life will change forever from this point forth’ - but now I have been given bigger and better news…

My wife had been feeling sick for couple of weeks. She had the usual symptoms, not eating, not feeling very nice, I thought she must have caught a nasty bug, especially with the recent weather changes.

I remember she cried at night holding me tight whilst she found it very difficult to breathe. Then the scary thought of a new baby crossed our minds, so we decided to check if she was pregnant before going to see the doctor.

Life goes on per usual and I had to go to work like any other day. Whilst sat at my desk at work, my wife decided to take the test. She broke the news to me that I am going to be a father through a quick and teary phone call. That point I was struck with such a feeling I can not explain. The joy inside me made me want to jump up and scream but just like my wedding it hit me: ‘DAMN there will be mini me calling me daddy!!?? Me..the big kid is going to be a daddy! I still get shouted by my own dad and now someone calling me dad!! This is unbelievable.’

Once the information sank in I thought, ‘How cool is that!’ That feeling of joy and happiness was just so overwhelming. The emotions in my body were all over, my tongue even went numb for a few seconds. I wanted to jump on my desk whilst on the phone with a client and just scream with joy- don’t ask how I did not scream!! Trust me that has to be the hardest thing to do ever. Trust me the feeling I cannot even put it down into words.

Allah has blessed me with many wonderful things in life, my family, my friends and now insha-Allah (with the Will of Allah), Allah will bless me and my wife with a child. I still remember when she broke the news, it felt like my insides wanted to jump out and just say woohoo!!

My wife says she was so over the moon she did the test twice!! And both times that feeling of just pure amazement was just as magnificent. The smile on her face just makes it all worthwhile.

Each night when I sleep, I sleep with a smile on my face and think how lucky I am.

The only thing I ask of you is to make Dua (supplicate) that Allah makes my wife’s pregnancy easy and we have healthy pious child.

So please pray for us all and those to come too.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Jazakallah khair (may Allah give the best recompense)to Mr and Mrs T for sharing this post of joy with us. May Allah make your child the coolness of your eyes.

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Insha-Allah the follwing programme will take place this weekend - please note that this is a ladies only event.

Programme Title: Ummul Mu’mineen - The Life of the Mother of the Believers, Khadeeja (May Allah be pleased with her)

Date and Time: Saturday 19 April 2008 - 4pm-5pm

Venue: Savile Town Community Centre, Dewsbury, WF12 9LT

Speakers: Qualified Aalimahs (female Scholars)

Refreshments will also be served insha-Allah (with the Will of Allah) and ladies from all Faiths are welcome.

Ma’as-salaam

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you)

Well the results are in!

What did you, the readers of Hidayah Blog, think about the consequences of our actions?

Ok, well 93% of you agreed with the post and thought that our actions did have an influence on the things happening around us with only 7% of the voters saying that they weren’t sure.

So in reply, I say that we should think about the way we voted and make our belief manifest itself in our day-to-day actions.

And what does that mean you might ask?

Well personally, for me it means that instead of jumping on the bandwagon and blaming somebody else for adverse events, I look at myself first of all. And furthermore, when I look at events happening around the globe, I try to look past what’s being advertised and see what our actions are.

Anyway, jazakallah khair (may Allah give the best recompense) to those who voted, and may we all be granted the Taufiq (Divine aid) to better ourselves individually so that the Allah betters the events that are happening to us collectively.

Ma’as-salaam

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Ok, the first of our ‘What is Islam?’ series deals with the most important things that Muslims should know and believe in - the articles of Faith.

And as well as these being beliefs for Muslims, I think that it is good, basic knowledge for all to know, so that we can separate fact from fiction…

Read the rest of this entry »

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

It was after a few conversations with friends and colleagues together with an idea that has been in my head for a bit, that we are now proud to present our ‘What is Islam?’ series.

In this series, not only will we try to explain the basics of Islam but we will also explore briefly the reasoning behind the principles and teachings, i.e. the spiritual benefit gained by the Muslims and humanity, etc.

Apart from the Five Pillars we are open to topics which our readers want us to cover, so please, leave your ideas and suggestions in the comments section below.

Ma’as-salaam