Just An Update

InshaAllah, everyone had a lovely Dhul-hijjah and Eid and made the best use of the days. :)

Been quite busy the last few days. Google finally sent me an invite to join googlewave! Actually, I felt it was quite fast so I would definitely recommend people to sign up for a googlewave account directly.

Just a suggestion for this week: If there's something you really need, start making dua for it whenever you remember. The more times you ask, the more likely Allah (swt) will accept it. Just make sure when you ask, you are absolutely sincere.

Do let me know if it works. :D

Make The Most Of Dhul-Hijjah

The first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah are considered the best days of the whole year, including last 10 days of Ramadan. This shows the important of utilizing this opportunity to increase our ibadat (worship) and grow closer to Allah (swt).

Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days." The people asked, "Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah?" He said, "Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight, giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing." (Reported by Al-Bukhari)

Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) also reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no deed more precious in the sight of Allah, nor greater in reward, than a good deed done during the ten days of Sacrifice." He was asked, "Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah?" He said, "Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing." (Reported by Ad-Darimi)



This is a really excellent video of the number of things one can do during these 10 days.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to recite during this time a lot of tasbih (glorification of Allah), as well as tahmid (praising Allah) and takbir (saying 'Allah is Greatest').
`Abdullah ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are no days greater in the sight of Allah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of tahlil (saying: 'there is no god but Allah'), takbir and tahmid." (Reported by Ahmad)

Make the best of it. :)

Catch The Google Wave!

Google has released a beta version of the Google wave which is supposed to be the way email should be used in today's generation/time. I didn't want to sit an watch an hour plus long official video about how the program works. So, instead I found a really short and simple one. I love how they try to explain it. Great for people who aren't really tech savvy. :)

Watch and enjoy!


Only issue is, just like how gmail was available to only a few people initially, google wave has been launched with the same idea. To test the program with a limited number of people and let them invite their friends to test it. Obviously, because you can't test the google wave if you have no one to work with. The invites are going real fast so if you can get someone to send you one, grab it. Strangely enough, people were buying invites on e-bay! Again the issue is, once you get an invite, you may not be able to invite anyone else so you have to know people who already have it to be able to use it with them. So, one can either hold off on using it and let the people who really need it try it first. Or you can grab an invite and and wait till google allows you to invite your friends & co-workers.

And if you have an invite to spare, invite me as well. :D

More Fake Forwards

I've been getting more fake Islamic forwards with fake hadith. The mentioned hadith is not even written in a proper way. I am not sure who writes these up and why people send these around without even trying to find out the truth? Why have we become so passive about false information. Yet, we don't trust what we read in newspapers because everyone is "anti-Muslim". How is a forward any more reliable?

I guess it'll take time for people to change old habits if they really care for the truth. We are trying so hard to remove misconceptions about Islam among non-Muslims yet we continue to spread false information between each other without a second thought. Please think about what you send and try to confirm it's source. And if you realize it's not the truth, please try to educate your friends and family about it so we can put an end to these forwards once and for all. :)

Busy Busy Busy

I've been having a very busy time and will probably continue to have one for a couple of months so instead of completely ignoring my blog, I'm planning to post short posts on something on my mind, Islamic messages, etc. InshaAllah.

I still plan on posting some of the pics that I took, InshaAllah, in a few days when I get a little time off. :)

This Made Me Smile - part 3

It's been almost 9 months or so since I started to keep food for the birds in my balcony. I've had a wonderful variety of birds coming to eat. Although, it's mostly pigeons, I'm also getting sparrows, doves, mynas, a crow (never knew they were in the area!), and a couple of BulBuls. I realized early on that they were a pair and mashaAllah they are really pretty birds even though they are not so colourful. Probably the most distinguishing feature about them is their red bottom!

However, this is not what made me smile. For a few days, I hadn't heard or seen the Bulbul pair come to my balcony and I felt bad because I wasn't sure where else they might be finding food. However, I was pleasantly alerted to their presence by their sweet voice. As I peaked through my balcony door, I saw a baby along with them! It was bigger than a sparrow and had a funny tweet but cute nonetheless. MashaAllah! I really wished to take a family picture but I didn't want to scare them on their baby's first trip. I'm absolutely delighted. :D

Feeling Grateful

So often we talk about being grateful to Allah (swt) for the things we have been given but sometimes it takes a while for the realization to really set in for what we have and what we haven't been tested with.

Although, I am usually around patients and see different diseases, I tend to look at them from a learner's/doctor's perspective until the last few days when people I know have told me of their afflictions and I've got to see the emotional effects of those problems. Alhumdulillah, none are life-threatening, yet it is something that also pains them to be suffering from such problems. And that's when I realize how lucky I am (not in a selfish way) that Allah (swt) hasn't tried me in this manner as yet. I really feel bad for them and try to cheer them up and try to help them see the brighter side of things as well. And it also makes me realize that even though people may not be going through the same trials I face but surely Allah tests us all in our own ways. So, instead of focusing on the difficulties we are facing, we should focus on the things we are NOT being tried with.

Whenever you realize that Allah (swt) protected you from something, say Alhumdulillah and thank Allah and ask Him to continue to bless you in what you have. If your dua is accepted, then pray 2 rakaats non-obligatory prayer and thank Him. And keep asking Allah (swt) to protect you and your family and friends and other Muslims.

(PS: I know I haven't added any hadith or Quranic ayahs regarding this matter as I normally do. It's because I've been a bit busy lately & will find some soon but this topic has been on my mind this week and I wanted to share it. But feel free to share the ones you know in this matter and I'll include them in my post.)