A Quick Reminder on this Relaxing Sunday

101. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said. "The (Hell) Fire is surrounded with all kinds of desires and passions, while Jannah is surrounded with adversities.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

SUBHAN'ALLAH!

I totally get the message, but its the way he talks....LOL

BROTHA, WHERE'S YOUR BEARD???

so, the link up there ^^^^^ is probably the funniest video i've seen in a while, but I figured that I could start a lil dialogue about the topic and see if people get the idea of the video.

Feel free to laugh. No on is (or should be) judging you. The way the brothas talk is the reason why its so hilarious. The brotha in the white has the perfect older, semi-arrogant tone and the brotha in the suit has a very relaxed tone, but still kind of comes off as a smart ass because he's just thaaat relaxed. lolllll

So, for the sake of dialogue - if you noticed a brotha without a beard, would you say he's "transgressing the limits of Allah (swt)"? How about a brotha with "long" pants?

P.S. if one of yall gets arrogant, i will start putting people in there place. Dont get wild on here. Be a grown up - have a polite debate.

Salaams and stay snuggly,

Dedra

Ummm.... alright?

I'mma make this post real quick. Its not about anything super DUPER important and considering that its 5am, I must be swift and go to bed.

Reaction: I'm over it. Get some thick skin and take these struggles as a blessing. I would go deeper into my reasoning for my reaction, but considering that I'm not the NICEST Muslim quite yet, I'm not going to go there.

Nevertheless, I'm starting to worry my Ummah and I and the rest of us must continue to make du'a for each other b/c clearly people are starting to lose sanity.

Astigurfullah - may Allah swt keep us in His mercy ... even when we start acting ungrateful.

FYI: I watched some retarded, I mean *sigh* cancel that.... I watched a youtube video about some girl who de-reverted herself from the deen.... a message to her:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT MUSLIM BECAUSE IF THERE WAS, THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR ISLAM. YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT YOU ARE NOT THE BEST MUSLIM IN THE WORLD. SUCK IT UP AND STOP JUDGING THE DEEN OFF OF AN DIGITAL LAND OF CRAZY, JUDGMENTAL MUSLIMS THAT THINK THEY'RE PERFECT BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO GET JUDGED MY THE ALMIGHTY TOO.

Lord... today, today. *shakes head*

I'll be posting later about something else that isn't going to make my head pop off in irritation.

I love you (even the ones that don't want to be Muslims anymore) for the sake of Allah.
Goodnight/morning

HIJAB...

So, this morning as I was driving home from taking my mom to work around 7:00 am-ish, I started thinking about hijab (again). I was thinking about why some people decide not to wear it and why I haven't done it yet. I was watching something on the internet, I forget what it is, and this sister said that she decided to wear hijab and she decided to take it off. She said that since hijab is mention very few times in the Holy Qur'an, than her whole faith in God shouldn't revolved around the concept of hijab.

'Hmmm', I thought. I mean it is a good point, but then I thought, "Since it's only probably 2 or 3 times in the Qur'an about maintaining our modesty, maybe the point was that its really not that difficult to wear hijab. Maybe the point was that since its only mentioned a few times, then that makes the decision to observe hijab a few times easier."

I think about wearing hijab [and niqab] daily, but I tend to come up with excuses that would deter me from observing my Lord's command.

So, considering the simplicity of this command, why do we make it harder on ourselves for deciding to please our God? I'm sure we have harder things to observe within Islam than remaining modest.

Just something I was thinking about.

“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Quran 33:59)

“O you Children of Adam! We have bestowed on you raiment to cover your shame as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness, that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition.” (Quran 7:26)

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear therof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, or their brothers’ sons or their sisters’ sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers, turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.” (Quran 24:31).

Another Hadith Thanks to my Facebook 'friends'

488. Ibn `Abbas and `Imran bin Al-Husain (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "I looked into Jannah and saw that most of its dwellers are the poor; and I looked into Hell and saw that most of its inmates were women.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

I would looooooove some commentary!

EID MUBARAK MY LOVELY READERS!

I pray that Allah has accepted all of prayers and has forgiven our sins....

Subhan'allah! May you and your families have a bless Eid!!

Ramadan/Jihad experience #2

So, I haven't blogged much for a while for a couple reasons.

1. School started last week and i haven't figured out how to manage my work and school schedule. So, I've been trying to sleep/study/work/live/worship all at once and its still not coming together yet. 
2. Since I have my own laptop, I realize that for me to use it occasionally, I must have working internet that I pay for which is very hard to find if you are a conspiracist like me! 
3. I have been feeling very alone lately. Its hard to explain, but since Ramadan started I feel a tad abandoned. I'm the only convert I know/talk to (yes as in I talk to myself) that actually gives a rat's ass about this crazy experience called, First in the Life of a Convert (made that up myself). Everyone expects it or can't relate, but its driving me insane. I eat by myself most of the time, if there's a question, there isn't someone that I have to sit in front of me and answer or hug if I have a sudden nervous break down of some sort.  So, since I'm back to fasting after my week long break, I have been doing random things to distract me from not eating and realizing that noone is around me. For example, I've stimulated the economy quite a bit because  I usually eat out of boredom, but since I can't, I shop. I can't manage to get to sleep, so I shop. 

So, yeaaaaaa basically I'm strugglin' as usual, but its all good. Strugglin' is good right? Right. So, I'll take it in stride. *sigh* ... I should get going... I need sleep before I go back to work. 

:::::::::~salaaammmmmmmm~:::::::::::

P.S. if you don't hear from me before Eid, Eid Mubarak! lol just in case I sleep through Eid or something.

TONIGHT AT IFTAR

...LICK YOU FINGERS. ITS SUNNAH. :)

608. Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) finished eating his food, he would lick his three fingers (i.e., the forefinger, the middle finger and the thumb). He (PBUH) said, "If anyone of you drops a morsel, he should remove anything harmful from it and then eat it. He should not leave it for Shaitan.'' He commanded us to clean out the dish saying, "You do not know in what portion of your food the blessing lies.''
[Muslim].

So, next time someone looks at you crazy for licking your fingers, just smile and silently count a blessing...then stick out your tongue and show them your chewed up food lol jk jk

Ramadan/Jihad experience

Salaam readers,

I hope you all are having a blessed and successful Ramadan.

I have been having some struggles during my first Ramadan and last night they were really bothering me, so when I woke up I opened to the Quran (alhumdulilah). 

Every time I wake and open the Quran (alhumdulilah), I pick a random place to read because something may be on my mind or I want to leave the house with something peaceful in my mind. So, today this is the passage I bumped into::

Sura 31. Luqman (The Wise):

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Alif Lam Mim:

These are Verses of the Book of Wisdom-A Guide and a Mercy to those who do good- Those who establish prayer regularly, and give charity regularly, and have (the truest) belief in the Hereafter. These are (the people truly) guided by their Lord; And these are the ones who will prosper. And from mankind, there are, those who buy useless talk, without knowing (the meaning), to mislead (others) from the Path of Allah and to make lowly jokes (about Allah's path): For them there will be a demeaning penalty. And when Our signs are rehearsed to such a one (person), he turns away with (empty) pride, as if he did not hear them, as if there was deafness in both of his ears: So, announce to him of a (very) painful penalty. Verily, for those who believe and work righteous deeds, there will be Gardens of Joy, To live therein. HIs, the promise of Allah is true: And He is the Almighty and All wise. He has created the heaven without any pillars that you can see; and He set mountains standing firmly (on the earth) in case it should shake with you; And upon it He has spread beasts of all kinds. And We send down rain from the sky, and We made on the earth every kind of noble creation to therein.

 

I would continue on, but I would be putting the whole Sura on here. 

But anywho, so my main reason of posting this is because yesterday, twice people that I knew insulted my deen to my face. It was frustrating because Dedra's non-Ramadan reaction would to share a few choice words on their ignorance and arrogance, but instead I just let it go, but there are 3 main things that just rubbed me the wrong way and I just had to read my Quran just to clear my mind of any horrifying thoughts that could be floating. And just to make this clear, when I say horrifying I mean cruel and sinful, as in violent lol.

1. I was told it was my fault for fasting.  Reaction: stupid... thats like saying its someone's fault for observing Lent which is obviously very important and is done in order to please God.

2. An acquaintance of mine told me that their friend told them that it says in the Quran that fish were created from the sperm of the Prophet Mohammed when he saw an attractive woman. Reaction: Doesn't that contradict the concept of God creating ALL things? Every specimen on this planet. How is a human going to create a creature that Allah (SWT) created before hand? It just doesn't make sense. Not only that, what Quran is this guy reading?

3. This same random guy said that the Prophet Mohammed made up everything in the Quran. First, that would contradict that ridiculous statement above. Second, that's insulting, its disrespectful and ignorant. Thats like saying Musa (Moses) just made up those 10 commandments. Thats like saying The Torah was thought up by conspiracists. I mean seriously, with all of the similarities of Islam and Christianity, you would think people would at least realize the stupidity that they say before they actually say it. 

**sigh** 

I'm still learning so much about my Deen and people disrespecting me, my deen, my prophet, and my God all in one day is a bit much for my first Ramadan is overwhelming, but I guess thats why Jihad is a blessing right? Subhan'Allah.  

Keep me in your du'as as I continue on with Ramadan. 

w.salaam

Love,

Dedra

FUDGE CAKE!!! I DID IT AGAIN!!!

Clearly, I do not have fudge cake to offer to you lol if I did, I'm not exactly sure if I would share - just being honest hahaha.
BUT SERIOUSLY, I'm censoring myself for fudgin' up again during Ramadan. I ate before Iftar AGAIN. I obviously suck at life.
Not really.
But I feel even more awful because I ate suhoor and everything. I got bored and when I get bored I eat (which is even worse in general, so I might wanna work on that).
Is there a du'a in regards to mistakely breaking fast WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY before Iftar???? If not, I got a lot of explaining to do while praying.

Keeping Shaytan Away One Facebook Message At A Time PARTIE DEUX (part two)

In a narration by Muslim, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The reward of every (good) deed of a person is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times. Allah (SWT) says: `The reward of observing Saum is different from the reward of other good deeds; Saum is for Me, and I Alone will give its reward. The person observing Saum abstains from food and drink only for My sake.' The fasting person has two joyous occasions, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time of meeting his Rubb. Surely, the breath of one observing Saum is better smelling to Allah than the fragrance of musk.''

we should be grateful to have to the opportunity to fast. a time where we can become closer to Allah - though we may not deserve a lot of the blessings and forgiveness we may receive during this blessed month, Allah is merciful enough to forgive us from an act as simple as fasting. Subhan'allah, He is truly merciful.

Keeping Shaytan Away One Facebook Message At A Time

So, on Facebook there's a group called "Ahadith a Day Keeps Shaytan Away". Its so clever its awesome. So, anywho I'm on FB checking my Ahadith of the day and this one pops up:

45. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The strong man is not one who is good at wrestling, but the strong man is one who controls himself in a fit of rage.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: This Hadith instructs oneself to keep in control in order to overcome his rage.

This hadith touched my heart in ways I couldn't believe. I have a temper that could top some spoiled brats at times and my struggle since for the past year or so has been controlling my anger. I don't get violent or anything like that really, I just say some really nasty things and this hadith just erased any excuse I could've had for my temper.

Unbelievable.

ITS ALMOST HERE! and my boredom disease

I'm doing my whole post in large bold print because I am AMPED for RAMADAN! You could ask my friend CB, but you can't because she won't follow my blog because she's being lazy... and I know she's reading this SO HA!Anywho! Excuse my spelling, I'm typing with a bandage index finger because I was yanking off dead skin out of boredom!!!!! I'll talk about that in a minute. So, yea I'm all super excited for Ramadan! I'm learning some recipes for it so when nightfall hits, I can make some meals for some of my close friends (which is very few cuz everyone will be off at school... boo). I'm trying to get my room in order so I can have personal space to pray, but ummm hmmm ... I don't think my bed feels like moving. My room is like 5 by 5 so there's like no room to think, BUT WHO CARES CUZ RAMADAN COMIN' YALL!!!! I can't wait! *does happy dance* I know, *haram haram*, but you know what... can't none yall see me, so I'm dancin... mentally... cuz I'm at work ... BORED AS HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLL OMG MY BOSS ISN'T HERE AND I HAVE NOTHING TO DO!!!! ITS FREEZING FROM THE OVERUSE OF AIR CONDITIONING AND I JUST WANNA SLEEP!!! I RIPPED DEAD SKIN OFF OF MY NAIL BED AND IT STARTED DRIPPING [BLOOD] SO THE ONLY PRODUCTIVE THING I DID TODAY WAS BANDAGE MYSELF. ugh. I feel like her...

Except without all the strange old folgie men drooling at my feet *yuck*, I look like her in my cubicle except I'm black...and Muslim...and have a bandaged finger...and i hate socks, so i have on flippy floppies.

ugh.

telemarketing sucks.

but you know what doesn't?

RAMADAN!

Please pay attention in history class

Why?
Because you don't wanna be like a particular person whose name I can't remember. So, I'm at work on break because I was on the verge of death and decided to take hold of a seat in the file room. I was reading Ange's blog when my co worker was playing her alternative Christian talk radio station.
So, I was minding my own business, catching a couple of words here and there while "Mr. Radio Man" (that's his name now) was talking about keeping the Christian community together and how that's what Jesus wanted etc, etc. As I was minding my business Mr. Radio Man was talking about the relativity of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He started off fine saying the were the three largest monotheistic religions and I'm like "okay, Mr. Radio Man", then he said this:

"These religions are considered Abrahamic religions because of their connection with Abraham... I feel this is true for Judaism and Christianity, but not for Islam. I feel this way because Islam is a fairly new religion..."

~~soak that in~~

---ruminate on that---

Now, its not a direct quote, but its 98.9995% correct plus or minus a couple of words, but wallahi thats the shell right there.

I don't even know how to react to this. First, I was like "this effing idiot is effing retarded", but then when I was discussing it with my friend, I realized this dude had absolutely no clue. Its that lack of education that has people thinking that every time a Muslim goes grocery shopping, we're out to take over the world and blow up Christians.

The fact that he made a obvious contradiction could be completely ignored by someone simply because they don't agree with Islam. Fine. I don't care if you agree with Islamic beliefs or not, but a smart person would realize that if Islam is considered a major montheistic religion, how is it not an Abrahamic religion? What god are we (Muslims) worshipping then? Since apparently its not the same God Abraham and Jesus worshipped, it must some complete random moon god or something. Do you understand where I'm going with this? Its logic people need to start using. People are so adjusted to "well this is like this because it is" theory that they won't let go of their ignorance to pay attention to what they are saying or doing.

This is overwhelmingly irritating. I love Islam and I feel blessed and honoured to have to brought to this path of living and because of this, I feel that when someone has a question or has a particular image of Islam that's not correct, I should be the one to educate that person.

I was thinking of calling and telling Mr. Radio Man and telling him Christianity is older than Islam by just about 500 years... not 2,000. Its not like Muhammad (pbuh) was born 50 years ago and was "hey, guess what - y'all ain't living right. God told me to tell y'all that". Then I would ask him that wouldn't he think it's odd that we acknowledge EVERY single prophet/apostle that Christians acknowledge? From Abraham to Job to Jacob to Joseph to Jesus, not one person is underestimated nor ignored in Islam, but SOMEHOW we just don't fit with the Abrahamic religion because we are "fairly new".

Let me make something clear because I know some non-Muslims might come through and read this. You must pay attention to what comes out of another person's mouth. I don't care WHO they are, be smart, use your intellect that God has blessed you with. Don't go around bashing something you don't know about. Gaining knowledge and rejecting ignorance and arrogance pleases our Lord and we all know that, so take advantage of that and learn about your fellow bretherin around you.

Don't be like Mr. Radio Man and just say something that is contradicting and could be harmful for others and mislead your community.

I am done now.

OH what's that Mr. Gadget, a Muslim paying taxes? Blasphemy!

So, I was snooping around my favorite website, Muslim Matters, and they had posted something about a particulary website that I thought was really halarious.
Loon Watch is a website that shows all this Tom-foolery called Islamaphobia. It's quite halarious. The satire paired with awesome journalism makes Islamaphobia seem like a game that some kids made up on a rainy day... wait a second, IT WAS WASN'T IT?! But anyway, lol, I was reading an article that made me giggle that was about some dude named Steve Emerson.
Here's a clippet of zee article:

Steven Emerson: “Wowser!”
Posted on 06 May 2009 by Garibaldi

Steven Emerson, a pillar of the Islamophobic movement, promotes himself as an “Investigative journalist” exposing terrorism and the supposed “fifth column activities of American Muslims” through his Orwellian organization, The Investigative Project. He claims, just as his counterparts Douglas Farah and Joe Kaufman do, that all his work is done in defense of America and in order to safeguard the homeland. Yet his claims are as mendacious and exaggerated as the other two.
He is simply the progenitor of some of the vilest, most imbecilic anti-Muslim hysteria on the inter-net and in America today. This is the case because more often than not he is so off the mark in his accusations and conclusions that it makes you wonder why anyone would take him seriously as a so-called “Investigative Journalist.”
His hunt to “expose” American Muslims is almost akin to watching an Inspector Gadget cartoon because of its hilarity if it weren’t for the fact that at least Inspector Gadget was sincere and actually solved a case or two. Unfortunately, it looks like Emerson lacks the high tech gadgetry that was at the disposal of Inspector Gadget and that might show him the error of his ways or at the very least help him get his foot out of his mouth.
Instead of using a magnifying glass to look for evidence, Emerson’s technique of choice is to make up the evidence as he goes along, Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent notes:
Emerson has a long history of getting into hot water over his anti-Muslim rhetoric. In the 1998 nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan, Emerson fed reporters with an informant who said Pakistan was set to strike India with a nuclear weapon. The media eventually found the informant to be unreliable - but not until international media had used Emerson’s source and intensified an international crisis.
In 1990, he was accused of plagiarism in his writings about Pan Am 103.
….
He sued a Florida paper after it published reports that he was supplying reporters with documents he said were from the FBI. The Florida Weekly Planet reported that the documents were frauds and Emerson sued. When he couldn’t substantiate his claims, he withdrew the lawsuit.
Emerson once claimed that an extremist Muslim group put out a hit on him and that the FBI offered to put him in a witness protection program. The FBI denied that claim.
In 1995, right after the Oklahoma City Bombing, Emerson was quoted on air stating that he believed the bombing showed “a Middle Eastern trait,” he came to this conclusion because according to him it was done “to inflict as many casualties as possible.” Wowser!

Read the rest here.

Allah Sent...

So, the other day I had the craziest dream. I feel like maybe Allah was trying to tell me something.
So check this out:
So, I was going to Jummah and I was chillin' exchanging some 'salaams' with some sistas, but when I was talking an older sista she ask me why I didn't observe hijab. I said that I wasn't sure if my imaan was strong enough to exude a good Muslim. she says that, you believe in the shahada, you believe in Islam right? I said yea, of course. she's like, "well whats stopping you? Allah knows your intentions. Don't let shaytan make you doubt you imaan."

DEEP

I woke up stunned. I felt like I knew what to do, but I was floored. This is the most forward "message" I've ever gotten in my entire life. When I converted, it was more of an emotional revelation than say... dream direct revelation I guess you could say.

I know what I have to do....

I just feel like I don't know where to start.... or when.

OMG ITS HERE!

YESSSSSSSSSS!

ZEE PRECIOUS IS HERE!!!!

ISN'T IT JUST AMAZING! IT WAS CREATED JUST FOR ME AND MY INNER CHILD!!! SUBHAN'ALLAH!

I HAVEN'T STARTED COLORING YET BECAUSE I GOT IT WHEN I WAS SITTING IN BED AND THE CRAYONS WERE ALL THE WAY AT MY DESK WHICH APPROXIMATELY 3 FT AWAY.... BUT CHECK THIS OUT.

ZAMZAM!!!! YUMMY!!!! I LIKE SOME FRESH, ALLAH SENT ZAMZAM!

"The moral of this story is that believers who, despite their hardships, follow the path of Allah, will find that, Allah will remain with them and help them in miraculous ways, just as the child Ismail was saved by the miracle of the Zamzan spring."

That's too real Mr. Coloring Book.... too real.

Love,

Dedra

A Month in Half!

So, the past two months I can't stop thinking about Ramadan! I'm so dang excited because I know I will learn so much (hey, I might even make a friend, yes!)... but then I realize that I should prep first right? hmmm, but I wouldn't know where to start said prepping. If you have any ideas, let me know. I hate to start Ramadan, then get sent to the hospital because I was doing too much lol. ugh, I CAN'T WAIT! It's gon be grand y'all! lol, I still need those tips though.

Love,

Dedra