<b>RAMADAN </b> is a month of discipline, self-control, patience, and good


behavior. In Ramadan, Muslims are expected to gain the fruits of


fasting, namely, piety and consciousness of Allah. In this context,


Allah, Most High, says in the Glorious Qur'an : "O you who believe!


Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was


prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun


(the pious)." (Al-Baqarah 2:183)


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Also, He says: "And He it is Who has put the night and the day in


succession, for such who desires to remember or desires to show his


gratitude." (Al-Furqan 25:62)


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Life and death and the succession of nights and days have a purpose


and that is to test us and to give us an opportunity to express our


thanks and gratitude to our Creator and Sustainer. The month of


Ramadan comes and goes. We must examine ourselves now and see what


we have learned and achieved during this month. The test of success


of this month lies in the effects it has left upon us as follows:


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<b>Discipline</b>


We learn in this month how to discipline ourselves for the sake of


Allah. We follow a strict schedule of eating and drinking. We are


constantly aware that even in our such mundane activities as eating


and drinking, we must follow divine injunctions. We change our


habits in our daily routines because we learn that we are not the


servants and slaves to our habits, but always the servants of Allah.


Then after Ramadan, we have to keep this spirit of discipline in


other modes of our life and must continue with our submission to the


commands of Allah.


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<b>Renewal of devotional life</b>


Ramadan renews our enthusiasm for worship and devotion to Allah. In


this month we are more careful of our daily prayers and have special


prayers at night. There is no religion without prayer and Muslims


learn in this month how to strengthen and deepen their religious


life.


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<b>Renewal of contact with the Qur'an</b>


Ramadan and the Qur'an are linked together from the beginning. It


was in this month that this divine message was revealed to Prophet


Muhammad (peace be upon him). We are told that the Prophet (peace be


upon him) was fasting when he received the first revelation. Fasting


prepares the believers' hearts to learn the Word of Allah. It is the


most suitable condition for our spiritual and mental communication


with the Qur'an. The Muslim Ummah pays more attention to the Qur'an


in this month. This renewed contact with the Qur'an must help us in


following its message.


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<b>Renewal of identity with the Ummah</b>


Ramadan is not an individual experience only, but it is an


experience in community. The whole Muslim Ummah fasts together in


one and the same month. We identify with one another in our


obedience to Allah. This gives us a new sense of togetherness and


association. Ramadan teaches us that the Muslim Ummah is the


community of piety and devotion to Allah and its members derive


their strength from each other in deeds of piety and virtue. The


bonds that are based on piety and virtue are the strongest and these


bonds prove good for mankind. The strength of the Muslim community


lies in its commitment to the values of goodness, morality and


piety. Ramadan leaves an imprint of all these values upon the Muslim


Ummah.


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<b>A fresh sense of care and sympathy</b>


Fasting in the month of Ramadan helps us to understand the suffering


and the pains of the poor and needy. By our voluntary hunger and


thirst we realize what it means to be deprived of basic necessities


of life. Ramadan is called the month of charity and sympathy. We


learn how to be more kind and generous in this month. Many Muslims


also pay their Zakah in the month of Ramadan.


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<b>Jihad or struggle</b>


Fasting in Ramadan and Jihad both of them were prescribed in the


same year, that is, the second year of Hijra in Madina. Fasting


prepares for hardships and sacrifices. These are two important


things without which Jihad is not possible. Muslims learn in Ramadan


how to struggle against the forces of evil in their own selves, in


the society around them, and in the world at large.


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<b>Taqwa</b>


To summarize all the moral and spiritual gifts of Ramadan, we can


say that Ramadan gives us the great gift of Taqwa (piety). Taqwa is


the sum total of Islamic life. It is the highest of all virtues in


the Islamic scheme of things. It means, God-consciousness, piety,


fear and awe of Allah and it signifies submission to Allah and total


commitment to all that is good and rejection of all that is evil and


bad.

A news story from last week which appears to have completely gone under the radar of the main news corporations in this country. I suppose it's cos they were too busy Muslim bashing...


The story is about the largest chemical explosive haul recovered by police to date in this country. I wonder what the headlines would have been if they were Muslims?


http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?k...&grp=66&cat=330


http://www.pickledpolitics.com/categories/...litics/the-bnp/


http://www.burnleycitizen.co.uk/news/newsh..._bomb_swoop.php


The only mainstream coverage appears to be this brief piece in the Times: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,...46,00.html

Puppet Im 25 and in my time:


1. This pas weekend my momma and her friend were almost hijacked. They smashed her window , grabbed her cell but me moms mate drove off


2. 2 homes I lived in was almost broken into , I managed to chase the guys away.


3. My Toyota Tazz Car was broken into 2 times. Cd’s money and stuff stolen.


4. 3rd time a window was smashed only, nothing stolen.


5. My Toyota Corolla – was broken into once, radio and tapes , money stolen


6. I ditched school, going to the movies I was held up on 2 occasions. Gangs at knife point


7. Almost been shot on 2 occasions– but that was petty fights.


8. My bank I work at burgeld 3 times, Laptops , palmtops, stolen, now me boss wants Peper spray for all her staff.


Apart from other general stuff that happened, I have tons of friends and family members who have been shot, robbed ….brake inns , held up


IS your country like this? DO you have to watch your back wherever you go ?


I know my time in Canada showed me that people there don’t experience an antom of violence I seen.


You cant go out to certain places at night, stores are locked down, some areas are No go zones, instant death.


The crime aint only from Gangs – but criminals who’s livelihood depend on killing and sydicates who's jobs are crime


When i was a Teen, I never used to leave my house without a weapon

There was an aetheist on the radio today, pushing his new book, there some quiet good,and funny, rebuttles on the phone in. But it reminded me of this is old one:


One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had


come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one


scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.


The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we


no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and


do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and leave us to it"


God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and after the


scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this,


let's say we have a man making contest." To which the scientist


replied, "OK, great!"


But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in


the old days with Adam."


The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed


himself a handful of dirt.


God just looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own


dirt!"

As Salaamu Waalaikum


I've been a member for a couple of weeks and only 1 memeber has welcome me from this forum and that kinda makes me sad cause i came to this forum to meet new friends


;-(

As Salaamu Waalaikum


Ramadan Mubarak!!! insha'allah everybody fast is going well :)


May allah bestow his favours upon everyone in this group & May we all receive the reward of Allah Subhana Allah Wa Ta'ala of Ramadan Ameen


Have A Wonderful Day Everyone

Salaam,


I am new to this, and i am glad i found it as this site had answered alot questions for me, my biggest fear apart from being prepared for death, is marriage (is that wrong?)


In this message board we have spoken about women disobeying men, but what about men disobeying women? one of the main reasons to why i am scared to get involved/married is because of the stories i hear about men treating there other halfs really bad.


is there n e thing that a woman can do if her husband disobeys her?


Thank you


salaam

Written by Sherri Day


Monday, 09 October 2006


<b>Faith's Friction</b>



<b>Tampa woman who lost eight relatives in the attacks converts to Islam as tensions simmer from the memories and new terror plots. But she presses on . . .
</b>


<b>By SHERRI DAY</b>


Published September 8, 2006


St. Petersburg Times


http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/08/Tampabay..._friction.shtml


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Her mother named her Elizabeth after the queen of England. More than four decades later, she took another name: Safia Al-Kasaby, reflecting her new identity as a Muslima.


Safia, 43, is an unlikely candidate for conversion. She claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry. She is a former sergeant first class in the Air Force National Guard. And she lost eight relatives — one uncle and seven cousins — in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.


Back then, Safia did not imagine the faith professed by the hijackers would one day become her own. “It didn’t really matter who did it,” says the Tampa woman now, reflecting on the 2001 attacks. “I just never hated Islam. I never hated Muslims. For me to be angry about what happened to the twin towers would be like me hating all the Germans that killed the Jews.”


Safia embraced Islam last year, coming to the faith at a time when it is seemingly maligned anew with each new report of terror plots, wars in far away lands and dead American soldiers.


Like other Muslims, Safia feels the tension all around her: curious stares because she wears the hijab or head scarf and store clerks who ask for extra identification. Just last month , officials at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo turned down an initial request from Safia’s Egyptian fiance for a temporary visa. Safia was certain bigotry played a role.


Her new faith also has widened the chasm among her Christian family. Her mother, three sisters and one of her daughters question her choice. Safia presses on.


“For her to accept Islam, making that decision especially in this day and time, it says you’re ready to step up and deal with the challenges of this journey,” said Pat “Aliyah” Cruse, a fellow Muslima and 11-year convert.


Some demographers consider Islam to be the fastest-growing religion in the world. Of the 1.3-billion Muslims worldwide, 4.7-million live in the United States, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.


One of the world’s oldest religions, Islam has been in the United States for generations. But the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, thrust the religion and its adherents into the spotlight. Before the attacks, American Muslims largely kept to themselves. Now, many feel the public expects them to answer for the actions of those who commit heinous acts in the name of their faith.


Across the country, some Muslims complain of stereotyping, racial profiling and discrimination. Others pine for the days when Islam was rarely mentioned in headlines. Most dare not complain openly, religious and civic leaders say, for fear of being labeled unpatriotic or sympathetic to extremists.


“There’s a certain sense of indignation to being treated the way they’ve been treated,” said Imam Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society’s Freedom Foundation in Washington, D.C. “There’s a kind of rage. The challenge is to make that a healthy rage.”


Many American Muslims say extremists misrepresent their faith. But convincing the public to separate Islam from terrorism at times seems an insurmountable hurdle.


Opinion polls back up what American Muslims say they feel every day: Masses of the U.S. populace view them negatively. In a USA Today/Gallup poll released in August , 39 percent of Americans said they feel prejudiced toward Muslims. Nearly one quarter of Americans polled said they would not want a Muslim as a neighbor. Another 39 percent want Muslims to carry special identification at all times and undergo enhanced security checks when boarding airplanes.


Anti-Muslim sentiment also has popped up in the Tampa Bay area, home to an estimated 45,000 Muslims. In 2002, federal agents arrested a Seminole podiatrist, Dr. Robert Goldstein, on charges of plotting to blow up a mosque.


Fearing for their wives’ safety after Sept. 11, husbands of immigrant Muslim women pulled them out of leadership roles in Islamic women’s groups. Fathers encouraged daughters to remove their hijabs in public to avoid harassment. Muslim women complained of verbal abuse in retail stores. One woman’s hijab was ripped from her head by a customer in her husband’s store.


Children get few passes. Last spring , athletic officials benched Temple Terrace’s Briana Canty when she refused to remove her head scarf in an amateur youth basketball league tournament. Rather than recognize Islamic holidays, the Hillsborough County School Board voted to rescind all religious holidays, a move it later reversed.


This is the new reality for American Muslims. Advances are often eclipsed by setbacks. Quoting Charles Dickens, Ihsan Bagby, a leading Muslim demographer and associate professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky, said this is the best and worst of times for Muslims in America.


“This frustration, this pressure will ultimately produce positive results as Muslims continue to strive to become full members of this society,” Bagby said. “Overall, everybody will look back at this period, they’ll see this possibly as a turning point in the history of Islam in America.”


Despite challenges for Muslims, Islam continues to grow, buoyed by births and new converts such as Safia.


Raised by her grandparents in Puerto Rico, Safia grew up in a home of melded cultures and faiths. Her grandfather was a Jew, who fled Germany during the Holocaust. Her grandmother was Catholic. Safia ultimately chose Judaism, a faith she believed was her birthright.


But Judaism eventually let her down, Safia said. In 1997, nearly destitute, she approached a North Tampa synagogue for help. Officials at the shul wanted to know if she was a member. She was not. They asked her if she was really Jewish. “They said just because I had a relative along the line didn’t make me Jewish,” said Safia. “That was the first wall. That I wasn’t pure.”


Battling rejection, Safia left the synagogue. For eight years, she did not participate in organized religion. She found Islam in 2005 on the third day of a Moroccan vacation.


“I just felt like God was there,” she said, recalling her visit to a mosque during the call for prayer. “I said, 'This is it. I believe there is only one God. His name is Allah, and his messenger is Mohammed.’”


At first, Safia’s family didn’t take her seriously. And some colleagues at her banking job looked askance at her new Moroccan-inspired Islamic attire. Safia quickly toned it down, wearing scarfs only around her neck. She dared not pray at work. Mostly, Safia kept her new faith at home, learning about her religion on Web sites and Islamic chat rooms.


Safia went to the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area in June and asked for the imam. She wanted to renew her shahadah, the formal declaration of the Islamic Creed. Safia also was out of work. The imam gave her a job managing the society’s office. The group also stocked her refrigerator and paid her rent and electricity bill.


At last, Safia said, she had found a spiritual family. It helps blunt the sting of the rejection from her biological one.


Safia’s eldest daughter, Sylvia, wants little to do with her. A Baptist and young military widow, Sylvia berated Safia when she showed up at her husband’s funeral wearing a hijab and carrying a Koran. At home in Town 'N Country, Safia raises two daughters. Ten-year-old Natalia says her mother’s religion is cool.


Ada, 18, appreciates Safia’s transformation and doesn’t put up with people who make fun of Islam or stereotype Muslims. “I say, 'Wait a minute. My mom’s a Muslim,’” Ada said. “She’s not a terrorist.”


Safia hopes the world will see her as an example of what Islam really is. Still early in her conversion, she is a Muslima in transition. She studies the Koran and prays five times a day. She also wears makeup and has French-manicured acrylic nails. Sometimes she covers and sometimes — when she fears heckling or worse — she does not.


There are victories: Her fiance received his visa and the two married Friday. She looks forward to the day when her religion is not an issue. “I don’t want to have whispers behind me, whispers in front of me,” she said. “I want to be able to blend in, keep my faith and blend in.”

I'll start another thread on this, so the stadium poll doesn't go off-topic.

Quote:Also i dont know if anyone knows but here in the UK the niqab has become an big issue and the kufr basically want to ban muslim women from wearing it.

Please use the link to vote… VOTE YES.


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18...do?answer=33793


A MASSIVE mosque that will hold 40,000 worshippers is being proposed beside the Olympic complex in London to be opened in time for the 2012 Games.


The project’s backers hope the mosque and its surrounding buildings would hold a total of 70,000 people, only 10,000 fewer than the Olympic stadium.


Its futuristic design features wind turbines instead of the traditional minarets, while a translucent latticed roof would replace the domes seen on most mosques. The complex is designed to become the “Muslim quarter” for the Games, acting as a hub for Islamic competitors and spectators.


“It will be something never seen before in this country. It is a mosque for the future as part of the British landscape,” said Abdul Khalique, a senior member of Tablighi Jamaat, a worldwide Islamic missionary group that is proposing the mosque as its new UK headquarters


Also i dont know if anyone knows but here in the UK the niqab has become an big issue and the kufr basically want to ban muslim women from wearing it.


So please where ever you see any votes or anything please tk time to participate as this is something that will affect us all over the world. If the niqab does get banned then wots next????????


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18...do?answer=33832