Archive for February, 2008
Feb
17
Posted under
baking recipes,
cooked fish,
flapjacks,
little backbiter Alhamdulillah the fish turned out great :)
A bit of time with foil cover in the oven, then about 20 mins on a lower to temp to get the crisp.
Also made some flapjacks, this is one easy but great recipe:
250g Oats (make sure they arn’t rolled)
150g Butter/ Margarine
75g Sugar (soft brown is the better choice)
2 tbsp Golden Syrup (The more chewier you want add more)
- Melt the butter, sugar and syrup on the cooke (Make sure it does not boil!)
- Mix in oats
- Put in deep baking tray (big enough to keep a bit thick, look at pic below)
- Place in oven for 15-20 mins 170 for gas ovens and 150 for electric.
- Bake until golden brown.
- Remove, carefully cut, so it doesn’t break
- Let cool fully before removing from tray.
- If you want you can chocolate coat.
and you get:
Apart from that, back to teaching tommorrow, Alhumdulillah.
Check this out also, its great!
Duas Requested
Ma’assalam
Feb
14
Posted under
carbon footprint,
cooking,
fish,
kids What have I been up to for the past few days … hmm
Some interesting questions from the kids:
a) Why do we have to get married?
b) But men arn’t nice so why do we have to marry them?
c) Why do non muslims live together and not get married?
d) Why is it haram for men to marry men and women to marry women?
e) Who created Allah 
?
f)If Allah made us all and He knows what will happen, why did He make people who don’t believe in Him?
Those are but to name a few that I can remember.
My answers:
a) Its sunnah and because it keeps people from doing bad things. Also because since the beginning of time Allah has made it that men and women marry.
Students answers: 1- So you can have children. 2- You just have to! 3- So you can do what you want!
b) I’m sure you’ll find one that you like.
Students: 1- I doubt it! 2- no ways! 3- apa have you?
c) Because they don’t believe in the same as we do. Islam believes in keeping peace and being sensible, and if you stay with people not marrying them it can become very messy.
students: 1- Thats true you know (and a long story) 2-They so silly!
d) Because Allah made men and women for each other not men for men and women for women. Also Islam says it is haram so we believe in it. Explain the story of Lut (alayhis salam)
Students: 1- Ewww why did you ask apa that?!
e) No body created Allah , Allah is wajibal wujood and he has always been and always will be.
We don’t understand this because in our lives everything has a beginning and an end, but Allah is very very different from us, so we find it very hard to understand. We should try not to think too much about these things because we can’t understand them.
Students: 1- even a chair? 2- Thats true!
f) Because even though He knows what will happen to us we still have some free will, which means that we can choose what we do. Everybody is born a Muslim but they change depending on their life. We should be very thankful to Allah that we have good muslim families and that we’ve stayed on Islam.
Students: 1- wow
Today we played hangman in class, we’re off now until monday for a well needed break! Alhumdulillah its been a fun term so far.
We recently started “wise time spending” where I give them 10-15 mo=ins to use their time fully conscience of what they are doing and if they are spending their time wisely. Then they have to give me an account of exactly what they did in those minutes. This is to teach them to spend time wisely and that even though I ask only what they did in those few mins angels write what they did every minute of everyday.
In other news, I was made painfully aware of the carbon footprint of my love for ice cream (thank you dear!), though it shall take me a lot to actually be fully conscience i’m trying slowly but surely.
Alhumdulillah for some time we’ve been using bio-diesel in the car, so thats good news (and no its not just cos its cheaper - well maybe!)
Also i’ve been honing my culinary skills and have extended to mastering the art of fish. This as I have been told is a delicate process, so today I went and bought 3 full salmons, though I couldn’t quite take having the head kept on!
I marinated in simple things: Olive oil, lemon, pepper, salt, garlic a few random herbs.
Here are the two I marinated (mum fried the third one):
Thats the first one.
Here’s the second.
The last to prove it is fish not lamb!
How it turns out is anybody’s guess (InshaAllah well!), will let the results be known after satisfactory marination and cooking!
Also if you see the black sheets I’ve used underneath, they are known as teflon sheets, they’re reusable non-stick baking/cooking sheet that stop the food from sticking to the pan or tray and are an absolute wonder for the world of cooking!
You can wash them by hand or put in a dishwasher, they also are great to put at the bottom of the oven when cooking things which might spill over, or to put on the oven racks!
Invest in them and you won’t ever regret it.
Thats all for now … off to sample some fried fish …
Duas Requested
Ma’assalam
Feb
11
Posted under
falestine,
pain I never knew about this documentary:
May Allah alleviate their pain.
I take this opportunity to remind of:
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-brands.html
This does make a difference! And it has been thoroughly researched.
Feb
11
Posted under
agnostic,
imam suhaib webb,
patience,
teaching about Allah Since I started listening to English lectures on CD, I have found an absolute love for the talks of Imam Suhaib Webb.
So here is something from his blog:
Reply To An Agnostic Friend (Clickety Click Here)
Feb
10
Posted under
Random (I found this In my collection of articles)
A Wife
by Shaykh Abdullah Adhami
By getting married you are not just getting a wife, you are getting your whole world. From now until the rest of your days your wife will be your partner, your companion, and your best friend. She will share your moments, your days, and your years. She will share your joys and sorrows, your successes and failures, your dreams and your fears.
When you are ill, she will take the best care of you; when you need help, she will do all she can for you; When you have a secret, she will keep it; when you need advice, she will give you the best advice. She will always be with you: when you wake up in the morning the first thing your eyes will see will be hers; during the day, she will be with you, if for a moment she is not with you by her physical body, she will be thinking of you, praying for you with all her heart, mind, and soul; when you go to sleep at night, the last thing your eyes will see will be her; and when you are asleep you will still see her in your dreams. In short, she will be your whole world and you will be her whole world.
The best description that I personally have ever read describing the closeness of the spouses to each other is the Qur’anic verse which says:
“…they are Libas [i.e. body-cover, or screen, or sakan (i.e. you enjoy the pleasure of living with them - as in the verse 7:189) Tafsir At-Tabari] for you and you are the same for them….”[Surah Al-Baqarah: 187]
Indeed, spouses are like garments to each other because they provide one another with the protection, the comfort, the cover, the support, and the adornment that garments provide to humans. Just imagine a journey in the winter of Alaska without garments! Our spouses provide us with the same level of comfort, protection, cover, and support in the journey of our lives on this earth as garments would do in the Alaskan journey.
The relationship between the spouses is the most amazing of all human relations: the amount of love and affection, intimacy and closeness, mercy and compassion, peace and tranquillity that fills the hearts of the spouses is simply inexplicable. The only rational explanation for these most amazing of all human feelings is that: it is an act of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala,
“And Allah has made for you Azwaj (mates or wives) of your own kind…”
[Surah An-Nahl: 72]
Only our Almighty Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala in His Infinite Power, Boundless Mercy, and Great Wisdom can create and ingrain these amazing and blessed feelings in the hearts of the spouses. In fact Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala is reminding those who search for His signs in the universe that these feelings in the hearts of the spouses are among the signs that should guide humans to His existence as He says in the Qur’an,
“And among His signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and he has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that aare indeed signs for a people who reflect.”
[Surah Ar-Rum: 21]
But Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala knows that the human heart is not a static entity, it is sometimes weak and at times dynamic. Feelings can and do change with time. Love may wither and fade away. The marital bond might weaken if not properly cared for. Happiness in marriage cannot be taken for granted; continuous happiness requires constant giving from both sides. For the tree of marital love to remain alive and keep growing, the soil has to be sustained, maintained, watered and nurtured.
Remember that our Prophet Muhammad 
Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallaam had found the time to go out to the desert and race with his wife Aisha. She out ran him but later after she had gained some weight, he out ran her.
Remember that the Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallaam took his wife to watch the young Ethiopians playing and dancing their folk dances. The show of emotions is necessary to keep the marital bond
away from rusting and disintegrating.
Remember that you will be rewarded by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for any emotions you show to your wife as the Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallaam said “one would be rewarded for anything that he does seeking the pleasure of Allah even the food that he puts in the mouth of his wife.”
Never underestimate the importance of seemingly little things as putting food in your wife’s mouth, opening the car’s door for her, etc. Remember that the Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallaam used to extend his knee to his wife to assist her up to ride the camel. Try to always find some time for both of you to pray together. Strengthening the bond between you and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala is the best guarantee that your own marital bond would always remain strong. Having peace with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala will always result in having more peace at home.
Remember that the Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallaam gave glad tidings for those couples who wake up at night to pray together. The Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallaam even urged the spouse who rises up first to wake the other spouse up even by throwing cold water on his/her face.
Always try your best to be good to your wife by words and by deeds. Talk to her, smile to her, seek her advice, ask for her opinion, spend quality time with her and always remember that the Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallam said “the best of you are those who are best to their wives.”
Finally, it is common that spouses vow to love and honor their spouses until death do them part. I do believe that this vow is good or even great, but not enough! It is not enough that you love your wife. You have to love what she loves as well. Her family, her loved ones must also become your loved ones. Don’t be like my colleague who was unhappy about his wife’s parents coming to visit for few weeks. He candidly said to her “I don’t like your parents.” Naturally, she angrily looked at him straight in the eye and said ” I don’t like yours either”… Also, it is not enough that you love her until death do you part. Love should never end and we do believethere is life after death where those who did righteousness in this world will be joined by their spouses, “Enter Paradise, you and your wives in happiness.” [Surah Az-Zukhruf: 70] and offsprings.
The best example in this regard is the Prophet Salallaahu ‘aliahi wa’sallam whose love for Khadija radiAllahu anha, his wife of 25 years extended to include all those she loved and continued even after her death. It was many years after her death and he never forgot her and whenever a goat was slaughtered in his house he would send portions of it to Khadija’s family and friends and whenever he felt that the visitor at the door might be Khadija’s radiAllahu anha sister Hala, he would pray saying “O Allah let it be Hala.”
Feb
09
Posted under
crazy people,
head scarf The proposed changes state that only traditional scarves will be permitted in universities, tied loosely under the chin. Headscarves that cover the neck will still be banned, as will the all-enveloping burka, or chador.
(Hijab = covering the head and neck!)
Ural Akbulut, rector of the Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, says the changes represent the imposition of religious beliefs into the constitution.
“We say it will damage secularity,” he told the BBC. “Once you do that - we believe you damage democracy.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7236128.stm
Wouldn’t democracy be letting people express their freedom of religion?! Sheesh these people really don’t have their heads screwed on right!
Feb
08
Posted under
rotten onions Some people are like rotten onions.
They may seem rotten, but they have a tough exterior and are perfectly fine beneath, but getting to that part can make you cry. The crying is worth it cos you got what was true in the end.
The second type of rotten onion is thoroughly rotten, no matter how much you cry trying to get to whats beneath, all you find is rottenness and you’re left exhausted and disappointed.
Just my latest analogy on people :)
Feb
03
Posted under
Random I’m known for my never ending questions and inquisitive statements but as of late its been unrelenting (I’m sure a few people will testify to that).
Its one of those things I can’t help, I feel like one of my kids at times, the little one who always has a never ending array of questions.
Yet when I actually sit with the people who can answer my questions I tend to forget most of them, class ain’t it!
Anyway I was thinking about this now (at 6am on a Sunday morning), and remembered madrassah, my fellow class members would get me to ask questions to have a time out during duroos!
That trail of thought lead me to think about a recent post on Br Naeems blog, I think one of the main experiences in learning ilm, and one we benefited from greatly was the true essence of sisterhood found when sitting in a class.
These are sisters who you have to spend at least 3+ hrs a day with for 6 days a week for 6 years, it may seem less, but this duroos isn’t like that of the secular education, its of a whole new level. These sisters become like a family, you have your ups and your downs (mood swings an all!), but soon enough once you have to leave it behind it becomes one of the greatest experiences, one of those that you know you won’t ever have again.
I think the main reason is that the ilm it changes a persons life, and going through something like that, the people you learnt with also become a special part of it. The love for the sake of Allah , being in a place for His sake, He puts barakah into it .
Then that lead me to think of sisters whom one studies with but choose a complete different path to the one you spent 6 years learning.
Deep down they have the ilm, yet what stops a person from acting upon it? Everyone has a conscience and knows right from wrong, you can pin it on shaytaan but the issue starts from within.
There must be a seed that shaytaan plays on to begin with.
I don’t look down upon these sisters of mine, but my heart hurts for them. Like watching a close family member voluntarily hurt themselves, you know they have great good beneath only if they cared to see themselves.
This post may not make sense to many … but to all the Jamia girls it will :)
Duas Requested
Ma’assalam
Feb
01
Posted under
eternal wounds,
tongue
“The tongue has no limits to the harm it can cause. This is why Ali radiallahu anhu used to say:
“The wounds of the spear may heal, but the wounds of the tongue forever remain.”
The tongue is neither restricted by space nor time. One can cause harm with his tongue to someone who may sitting hundreds of miles away.
With the tongue one can even cause harm to the deceased and to those who have yet to come into this world.”
Taken From
In Shaykhs Company
