The Reality of Istikhara - SeekersGuidance

SeekersGuidance - The Reality of Istikhara - Blog: “In this lecture, Shaykh Faraz discusses istikhara (the prayer of guidance) by defining it, debunking misconceptions regarding it, the best way to perform it, and easy ways to integrate it into our lives in a meaningful manner. “

Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur’an. He said, “If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two Rakat prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): ‘Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi’ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as’alaka min fadlika al-’azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta’lamu Wala a’lamu, Wa anta ‘allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta’lam anna hadha-l-amra Khairun li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri (or ‘ajili amri wa’ajilihi) Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta’lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri (or fi’ajili amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.’ (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter… (or said: If it is better for my present and later needs). Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter… (or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs). Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need. (Download Slides)

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How Different Is Obama from Bush on Terrorism? - By Noah Feldman | Foreign Policy

How Different Is Obama from Bush on Terrorism? - By Noah Feldman | Foreign Policy: “The U.S. president has found himself caught in some old legal traps — while creating new ones of his own.”

After five years of waiting, Omar Khadr was finally slated to go on trial in Guantánamo Bay this summer — and then suddenly, the gears ground to a halt. The problem was not that Khadr was just 15 years old when, according to the charges, he threw a grenade in a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan and killed a U.S. soldier. Nor was Barack Obama’s administration having second thoughts about restarting the military tribunals that had been stopped when he took office. Instead, the problem lay in the criminal charge against Khadr: fighting without a uniform. According to news reports, Harold Koh, the legal advisor to the State Department, pointed out that CIA agents and private contractors who fire missiles from U.S. drones are civilians too. By charging Khadr with a war crime, the United States might be opening its own operators to the same charge.

Read more

Help OffroadPakistan’s Flood Relief - Blog - 4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi

Help OffroadPakistan’s Flood Relief - Blog - 4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi

OffroadPakistan and friends have put together an effort to help people effected by the floods in Pakistan. We are providing relief ourselves (delivery and distribution) in Sindh area. Right now it’s food and essentials and temporary shelter. Next we would support run a refugee camp (our choosing of location) providing food, water, medicines/medical camps, clothing etc. Later help some really needful families to rebuilt their homes etc.

Since we are not an NGO, we have got the help of Behbood Association (local NGO) working far last 35 years - they have set up a separate account for us, they will manage, supervise and audit for us.

If any one wants to help contribution can be sent to this account (details here)

Please pass it on to friends!

Hamid Omar

Choosing the perfect watermelon - The New York Times

Video Library Home Page - The New York Times: “Watermelon can be one of the most disappointing fruits of summer because finding

the perfect one is so difficult. Kim Severson seeks the elusive perfection of the juicy gourd. “

 

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude (not plentitude) - Oh! Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude. Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude.

Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude.

So spelled. The word is derived from the Latin “plenus” (”full”) — the etymon also for “plenary.” Unfortunately, through confusion with the word “plenty,” the misspelling *”plentitude” has become common — e.g.:

o “Poulet de Bresse . . . is considered to be the world’s best chicken, a breast and leg with a plentitude [read 'plenitude'] of wild mushrooms.” Janice Okun, “Savoring a Three-Star Evening in Paris,” Buffalo News, 6 Nov. 1996, at D1.

o “In its scant 181 pages (including a well-organized index), the reader will find a plentitude [read 'plenitude'] of good shopping theory.” Georgia Brown, “Gonzo Shopper,” Wash. Times, 2 Jan. 1997, at C11.

o “Moore coaxes out colors and pictorial incidents from his canvases, creating a plentitude [read 'plenitude'] of sensation.” Mary Sherman, “Warrick’s Singular Images Also Her Most Compelling,” Boston Herald, 20 Apr. 1997, at 47.

Of course, the phrase “a plenitude of” can very often be shortened to a simple “much” or “many.”

Language-Change Index — “plenitude” misspelled *”plentitude”: Stage 1.

*Invariably inferior form.

 

For a profile of Bryan Garner, check out the Dallas Observer.

View Garner’s Modern American Usage and Bryan Garner’s other works here.

 

Watch Bryan Garner’s YouTube videos. Just do a name search.

 

YouTube - Keith Olbermann Special Comment: There Is No ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ - 08/16/10

YouTube - Keith Olbermann Special Comment: There Is No ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ - 08/16/10: “Keith Olbermann Special Comment: There Is No ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ - 08/16/10″

 

CNN: Understanding Islam, Ramadan, extremism, communication, and the West - Shaykh Jihad Brown & Tayyibah Taylor

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Shaykh Jihad Brown of Tabah Foundation and Tayyibah Taylor, editor of Azizah Magazine, talk about the role of Islam, Ramadan, communication, and the West.

Part One:

Part Two:

Why is the world unmoved by the plight of Pakistan? - Asia, World - The Independent

Why is the world unmoved by the plight of Pakistan? - Asia, World - The Independent

Surrounded by brown, fast-shifting water on all sides, the 40 or so families in the village-turned-island had received no food, no medicine and no news as to when they might be rescued.

 

“We’re dying of hunger,” shrieked the woman, Sughra Bibi, as volunteers on the boat handed over plastic bags of lentils and cartons of milk to the villagers who gathered around her. One of them shouted out: “We don’t care if it’s the chief minister or the prime minister, but no one is sending anything to us. We are only waiting for God’s help.”

Across a huge swathe of central Punjab, Pakistan’s famously fertile agricultural belt, now besieged by unprecedented floods, such scenes are being played out a thousand times or more. While countless numbers have by now been rescued from the waters, hundreds remain cut off from dry land.

Read more

Why Has Islam Become So Controversial in America? | The Atlantic Wire

Why Has Islam Become So Controversial in America? | The Atlantic Wire

Read more

Help our brethren in distress: Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’

Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’ | World news | The Guardian

Habiba arrived in Sukkur in the early hours of the morning, after travelling nonstop for three days to find somewhere that had not been washed away by the floods. She left her village, Marakh Bijarani 40 miles away in Kashmore district, with 60 neighbours and relatives packed on to one tractor and trailer, with a few clothes, cooking pots and bedding piled underneath them.

Only half the village managed to escape – those who had taken refuge on the raised bank of a dyke at the moment when the water suddenly rushed in. Habiba made it out with two young children, but she has no idea what happened to her husband and five other children….

Read More: Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’ (The Guardian)

Do something: Donate and encourage your friends, family, contacts, and community to donate: Islamic Relief Pakistan Flood Emergency Fund

Free Webinar with Shaykh Hamza, Shaykh Abdal Hakim, and others in aid of the Cambridge New Mosque Project - Sat, August 7…

Mishkat Media & SeekersGuidance :: Webinar in Aid of Cambridge New Mosque Project

SeekersGuidance & Mishkat Media present

‘Healthy Hearts, Healthy Communities’
The life and teachings of Imam al-Ghazali in the modern world
A webinar in aid of the Cambridge New Mosque Project

Saturday August 7th 2pm EST / 7pm BST (6pm UTC/GMT)

REGISTER HERE!

Featuring exclusive contributions from our respected and beloved teachers:

Subscribe to the SeekersGuidance Islamcasts for free at iTunes

SeekersGuidance IslamCast - iTunes

SeekersGuidance Islamcasts provide practical guidance on living the deen of Islam in your daily life. Sound scholarship and accessible teachers will help you apply the guidance of the Qur’an and Prophetic teachings (sunna) to living as a Muslim in the 21st Century.

You can subscribe to the SeekersGuidance Islamcasts for free at iTunes.

Also accessible through the SeekersGuidance site at: http://seekersguidance.org/islamcast

Recommended: Ethica Institute’s Live Webinar: Career Options in Islamic Finance - Your Questions, Our Answers

Live Webinar: Career Options in Islamic Finance - Your Questions, Our Answers

Your Questions, Our Answers. Free Live Webinar on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 5:00pm (Dubai time. Check your local time for this webinar)

Register Now! (Limited Seats)

Learn how you can join the fastest growing sector in banking today! At a time when the financial industry struggles to recover from the global financial crisis, Islamic finance emerges the most resilient. Banks are still hiring in this exciting sector and new countries continue to develop their Islamic finance expertise. Demand for students and professionals continues to grow!

If you have a career question send it to questions@ethicainstitute.com NOW! On Sunday, August 8, we’ll be answering these questions along with your live questions.

Join Atif Khan (Managing Director, Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™) and Yusuf Jha (Sharia Controller, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank), to:

1. Figure out what kind of Islamic finance job suits you.
2. Learn how to connect with the right people.
3. Gain the right kind of experience before applying for jobs.

…And much more.

You get:

1. A downloadable version of our number #1 YouTube video ‘Why Islamic Finance?’ (All attendees).
2. 1-on-1 career counseling with an Islamic finance expert (Only 3 attendees).
3. Special offer on Ethica’s CIFE™ training and certification program (Only 10 attendees).

Space is limited for this webinar. Reserve Your Spot Now!

Fahad Faruqui: Sufi Islam: Reclaiming Muslim Spirituality - Huffington Post

Fahad Faruqui: Sufi Islam: Reclaiming Muslim Spirituality

After two bombs recently claimed dozens of innocent lives at the shrine of esteemed Sufi Ali Hajviri, fingers were pointed at the al-Qaeda-linked militants who see Sufism as the work of heretics. The New York Sufi Music Festival was brought to U.S. to showcase the spiritual dimension of Islam and the rich heritage of Pakistan, counteracting a view that Pakistan is predominantly a country known for its terror factories. Sadly, the image of militants waging war is overwhelming and hard to supersede.

Hearing Abida Parveen sing Bulleh Shah’s ecstatic poetry, which enriched the centuries-old Sufi tradition of the Indus valley, made me realize how the Islamists have stripped away spirituality from the religion and left believers with rituals, sketchy interpretations of the divine laws and fear of God’s wrath. Sufi Muslims of the subcontinent, who converted to Islam in the pre-partition era, were drawn to the Sufi path of knowledge that has been hijacked by the al-Qaeda ideology of violence.

The rapturous quality of Sufi poetry continues to fascinate me, but the very idea of loving and seeking God while listening to radical mullahs (like the clerics of Red Mosque) is deeply troubling. Prostration to God devoid of spirituality is no different from doing sit-ups. Surely, the label Sufi is not necessary. What’s important is the sentiment. It helps the cause of clarity to call those on the path “Sufis” rather than “mystics,” which will more likely conjure images of Aladdin on his flying carpet.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion but has too few religious scholars with requisite understanding to link rituals and divine laws to creative spiritual ascension. I reached a level of comfort with my faith through good guidance from prominent Muslim thinkers such as Hamza Yusuf, Faraz Rabbani and Zaid Shakir, who drink deeply of the Quran’s spring of wisdom.

Faith is ineffable; so is our search for God. Ecstatic poetry and Sufi treatises speaking of “annihilation of self” and “Oneness with the Creator” are merely tools to evoke the Sufi sentiment, which is not peculiar to Islam. Teresa of Avila’s “Libro de la Vida,” Bulleh Shah’s ecstatic poetry, Allama Iqbal’s intimate conversation with God in “Shikwa” (complaint) and Mansoor Al-Hallaj’s proclamation “Anal-Haq” (I am the Truth) are all expressions of the acquired wisdom gleaned from deep introspection.

Though unsuccessful, Iqbal tried to revive the true spirit of Islam. He was quick in identifying that the hardline mullah was a hopeless case. But the Sufis were either consumed in “other worldliness” or digressing from the core of Sufism. For Iqbal, a profound religious experience is one that benefits humanity, which is most unlikely if the seeker retreats to constant seclusion.

Saudi Arabia’s government is often accused of demolishing tombs of the companions of the prophet, fearing veneration of graves, and of discouraging Muslims from praying at prominent sites like the Cave of Hira (where Muhammed received his first revelation). Why they discourage is another column, but one thing is certain: visiting graves and sites mentioned in the Quran will not miraculously lead to divine illumination. The essence of Sufism is to dig into the depths of your soul to seek the One. In the shrines of Sufi masters in the subcontinent, one can expect to find numerous vagabonds pretending to be Sufis, who earn a living by giving false hopes to troubled wives, jobless men and childless couples. This defeats the premise of Sufism — absolute reliance on Almighty.

In a phone conversation, a prominent Sufi scholar, William Chittick, said, “The core of Sufism is to strive for nearness to God.” Even though God is absolutely Other, he presupposes a direct relationship with the seeker. No doubt. Allah says in the Quran (50:16): “I am closer to you than your jugular vein.”

It is our egos that have created boundaries between sects within Islam and ensuring rivalries with non-Muslims. Reviving the spiritual dimension of Islam may be the only way to fight intolerant radical elements internally.

Videos from Islamic Finance Conference - Shaykh Nizam Yaquby, Sh. Taha Abdul-Basser, and others

Straightway Ethical Advisory Blog | UFANA Islamic Finance Conference on March 30-31, 2010 (VIDEO): “Below is part 1-4 of the Sharia`ah Scholars Roundtable discussion on the AAOIFI standards and other topics of note. Sh Taha Abdul-Basser introduces the panel, which was held at the UFANA Islamic Finance Conference on March 30-31, 2010. Speakers in the series (1-4) are Sh Taha Abdul-Basser, Shaykh Nizam Muhammad Salih Yaquby, Mufti Barakatulla (England), and Sh Dr Aznan Hasan (Malaysia). “

Americans flock to Toronto to buy coveted Pakistani mango - thestar.com

Americans flock to Toronto to buy coveted Pakistani mango - thestar.com

It was an impulsive act of love, almost bordering on obsession, which led Waseem Haider to do the unthinkable: smuggle a harmless, yet forbidden, substance across the U.S.-Canada border.

The goods – two cases of sweet and juicy Pakistani mangoes of the chaunsa variety – didn’t get very far.

 

Read more

Listening to Quran Online Is Easier than Ever! « Creative Muslims

Listening to Quran Online Is Easier than Ever! « Creative Muslims

At work? Are you ready to pop in your iPod headphones well before you think about checking your music out, you might want to pay attention to something much more important – the Quran. Ramadan is not far , check out the following three sites where you can listen to Quran in Arabic, in Arabic with English, in Arabic with French, and more! These interfaces are simple and load fast!

1. Halaltunes – User friendly interface, clear high quality audio, extremely easy to stream, organized by chapters of the Quran

Arabic Reciters:
Abdus-Samad Abdul-Basit (Mujawed)
Abdus-Samad Abdul-Basit (Murattal)
Mishary Rashid al-Afasy
Ahmed al-Ajmy
Abdullah Basfar
Salah Bukhatir
Saad Said al-Ghamdi
Mahmoud al-Husary
Muhammad Jibreel
Abdullah Al-Johany
Mohammed Siddiq al-Minshawi (Mujawed)
Mohammed Siddiq al-Minshawi (Murattal)
Tawfeeq As-Sayegh
Abu Bakr al-Shatri
Saud al-Shuraim
Abdur-Rahman as-Sudais

2. Quran Explorer – Easy to use, clear high audio, multiple translations of the recitation (in English, Spanish, French, Urdu, etc), multiple reciters to choose from, text of the Quran and translations are easy to read and present to follow with the recitation

Arabic Reciters:
Abdul-Baasit
As-Sudays-Shraym
Khalil-Husari
Mishari-Rashid
Mishari-Rashid-HQ
Saad al-Ghamdi
Salah Bukhatir
Sheikh-Ahmed-Ajmi
Sheikh-Al-Huzaifi

3. Quran.com – Easy to use, appealing visual interface, multiple languages for the translation, large easy to read text (Arabic & translation are side by side), tafsir is included with each ayat, organized by chapter, audio streamed from

Reciters:
Many (http://quranicaudio.com/)

On Faith Panelists Blog: No religious basis for 9/11 - Hadia Mubarak

On Faith Panelists Blog: No religious basis for 9/11 - Hadia Mubarak

While opposition to the opening of an Islamic center at Ground Zero is certainly not surprising, it reflects a dismal level of intolerance, bigotry and ignorance that continues to plague our country. To characterize the existence of a place of worship for God-loving, law-abiding Muslim citizens as a ’stab in the heart’ to Americans is to presume that 9/11 was a religious attack that exclusively targeted non-Muslims.

I’m sorry Sarah Palin, but 9/11 was an attack against all Americans - including Muslim Americans. Muslim firefighters, lawyers, restaurant waiters, and dozens of other Muslims who worked at the World Trade Center lost their lives on that day. Hundreds of Muslims lost loved ones and millions of Muslims across the country grieved with everyone else on that day and continue to grieve every day that lives are unjustly taken. Sept. 11 was not a religious attack that exclusively targeted one religion, race or ethnicity, but one that stabbed all of our hearts. The victims of 9/11 spanned countless ethnicities, races and religions. Read more

Prince of Brotherhood - Amir Abd el-Kader

Saudi Aramco World : Prince of Brotherhood

During his lifetime, Abd el-Kader, tribal leader and scholar of the Qur’an, became world-famous as both a freedom-fighter and an advocate for religious tolerance and cultural openness. President Abraham Lincoln thanked him for saving lives. French priests praised him from their pulpits. British readers admired him as they read his autobiography. And Algerians today regard him as a founder of modern Algeria and a symbol of its future. This May, the people of Elkader, Iowa (population less than 1400)—the only town in the United States named after an Arab—invoked his legacy when Algeria’s ambassador to the us helped school officials honor the teenage winner of the town’s high-school essay contest on the topic of religious understanding.

Read more

The End of Liberalism – John Gray - Allahcentric

The End of Liberalism – John Gray « Allahcentric

“As the political theory of modernity, liberalism is ill-equipped to address the dilemmas of the postmodern period. Liberalism was the political theory of the modern age, partly because it was a response to circumstances of diversity in world-views that arose in the early modern period with the Reformation and the Wars of Religion, and partly because it was a version of the animating project of modernity, which was the Enlightenment project – ‘the project’ as Alasdair MacIntyre summarizes it ‘of an independent rational justification of morality’.

The diversity of world-views, which gave rise to the liberal project in early modern times, has not diminished and is with us now; but the Enlightenment project which informed and sustained liberalism is now a dead letter. It lingers on in academic debates about realism in ethics and in the philosophy of science but – except in the United States, where along with an equally atavistic Christianity it continues to pervade the public culture – the Enlightenment project is no longer a living force in contemporary culture.

Within philosophy, the project of rationally reconstructing morality – whether on utilitarian, contractarian or rights-based foundations – is virtually extinct; and, if there remain philosophers wedded to that Enlightenment project, they are few and unimportant in the larger scheme of things, since philosophy itself is not a culturally marginal activity. The intellectual foundations of the Enlightenment project have fallen away; but liberal theory, for the most part, proceeds as if nothing has happened.”

(p 85 of “Liberalism” by John Gray)

Excellent blog: Allahcentric

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