Islam provides many benefits for the individual and the society. This chapter mentions some of the benefits gained through Islam for the individual.


(1) The Door to Eternal Paradise



God has said in the Quran:


And give good news (O Muhammad) to those who believe and do good deeds, that they will have gardens (Paradise) in which rivers flow.... (Quran, 2:25)


God has also said:


Race one with another for forgiveness from your Lord and for Paradise, whose width is as the width of the heavens and the earth, which has been prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers.... (Quran, 57:21)


The Prophet Muhammad told us that the lowest in rank among the dwellers of Paradise will have ten times the like of this world,1 and he or she will have whatever he or she desires and ten times like it.2 Also, the Prophet Muhammad said: {A space in Paradise equivalent to the size of a foot would be better than the world and what is in it.}3 He also said: {In Paradise there are things which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has thought of.}4 He also said: {The most miserable man in the world of those meant for Paradise will be dipped once in Paradise. Then he will be asked, “Son of Adam, did you ever face any misery? Did you ever experience any hardship?” So he will say, “No, by God, O Lord! I never faced any misery, and I never experienced any hardship.”}5


If you enter Paradise, you will live a very happy life without sickness, pain, sadness, or death; God will be pleased with you; and you will live there forever. God has said in the Quran:


But those who believe and do good deeds, We will admit them to gardens (Paradise) in which rivers flow, lasting in them forever.... (Quran, 4:57)


Next: Salvation from Hellfire


_____________________________


Footnotes:


(1) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #186, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #6571.


(2) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #188, and Mosnad Ahmad, #10832.


(3) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #6568, and Mosnad Ahmad, #13368.


(4) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2825, and Mosnad Ahmad, #8609.


(5) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2807, and Mosnad Ahmad, #12699.

aslamualykum


hey everyone, just find this topic on the net and though maybe usueful for the young ones. sorry is tooo long


The Stranger


A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. Fom the beginning, dad was fascinated with this enchanting new comer and soon invited him to live with our family.Though his outside apperance was not attractive, the 'stranger' was quickly accepted, and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in the family. In my young mind, each member had a specific niche. My parents were complementary instructors. Mum taught me to love Allah and dad taught me to obey him.


But the 'stranger' was our storyteller. He would weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell bond for hours each evening and would consume most of our time over the weekend. If I wanted to know about politics, history, science; he knew it all. He knew about the past and understand the present. The pictures he could draw where so life-like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched. He was like a friend to the whole family.


He was always encouraging us to see the movies and made arrangements to introduce us to several famous people. The 'stranger' was an incessant talker. Dad did not seem to mind but sometimes mum would quietly get up, while the rest of us were engrossed with one of his stories of far away places, she would go to her room and read the Quraan. She would quietly tell us that the Holy Prophet Muhammed(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) said(something similiar to...) "THE BEAUTY OF ONE'S FAITH IS SHUNNING ALL NON-PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES".


I wonder now if she had ever prayed that the 'stranger' would leave. You see,my dad ruled the household with certain moral convictions, but this 'stranger' never obligated to honour them. Profanity,for example, was not allowed in the house, from us, from our friends nor from anybody else.


Our long time visitor however used four letter words that burned my ears and made dad squirm. To my knowledge the 'stranger' was never confronted by anyone. My dad was a teetotaller(a person who advocates total abstinence from intoxicants) who did not even permit alcohol in his home, but the 'stranger' felt that we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look appealing. He encouraged us to flirt with women. I know now that my early concepts of the man and women relationships were influenced by the 'stranger'.


As I look back I believe that it was Allah's mercy that the 'stranger' did not influence us more. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. But if I had to walk in my parents's bedroom, I would still see him sitting in a corner waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures and enchant his audience with his magic.


His name you may ask?


we call him the T.V.

alslam a'alikom wa rahmat alllah wa barakato


i'm a new membership i was lookin in internet when i find this pretty site about islam.i'm happy cuz this site help muslim & non muslim in the same time 2 know islam better.


i'm 20 year old from saudia arabia & i have friends all over the worls who i would like 2 invite them 2 know more about islam far from tatarof & gholo . i want them 2 know the religon off our prophet which is become hard 2 find in muslim countries


any how, i wanna know about good sites 4 da'awa 2 islam in english sepcialy if it ofcial from famous religon men like alshaykh hamza yousf & other like him.


allah yebareek your job here.


wa jazakom alla 5ayer


new frind of the fourm


ryo

Video: Darkness To Light


A revealing film that sets out to discover through the experience of people, who from a variety of backgrounds embraced Islam; what it is about Islam that attracts them, how it changed them and what Islam ultimately has to offer mankind


at this link: http://212.37.222.34/islam/tolight.htm

Video: Darkness To Light



A revealing film that sets out to discover through the experience of people, who from a variety of backgrounds embraced Islam; what it is about Islam that attracts them, how it changed them and what Islam ultimately has to offer mankind.


at this link:


http://212.37.222.34/islam/tolight.htm

One of the most beautiful things about the concept of worship in Islaam is the truly unique way in which it incorporates the feeling of love, fear and hope within the hearts of the worshippers of Allaah. Understanding how to combine these three qualities into the worship (ibaadah) of Allaah is one of the most essential things that every Muslim must grasp, not least because every sect which has drifted from the Straight Path has strayed in the aspect of worship. The deviation of the other religions in this regard is clear for all to see: “God is love! Jesus is love!” say the Christians, denying the fact that Allaah should be feared too. As for the Jews, their hearts were filled only with hope; hope that the Fire will never touch them, since they were the “Promised People”.


In Islaam however, no worship is complete without the presence of all three qualities: love of Allaah, hope in His Mercy and fear of His Punishment. Contemplate the opening Soorah of the Qur'aan - Soorah al-Faatihah - and you will see this for yourself.


<b>Aayah 1: “All praise [and thanks] is for Allaah, Rabb of all the worlds.” </b>


In this opening aayah (verse) of the Qur'aan, we have LOVE of Allaah and every time we recite this aayah we are testifying to our love for Allaah. How is that you ask?


It is because in the aayah, we are acknowledging that Allaah is our Rabb and the Rabb of all the worlds. Rabb is usually translated as ‘the Lord’, but this translation does not do justification to this name of Allaah and all the meanings this name carries. In reality, Rabb means that Allaah is the Creator of everything; He sustains and nourishes everything; He gives life and Death; anything good that we have is from Him; everything is dependant on Him and nothing can happen unless He wills it. Furthermore, for the Muslims He - the Rabb - in the One who has guided us to the Truth and given us good morals and manners.


Thus when we testify that Allaah is our Rabb, then we are acknowledging that He is the One who has given us so many blessings - so many that if we try to enumerate His blessings, we would be unable to do so. So how could we not but LOVE Him?


After all, we all love those who show kindness towards us or present us with gifts. And therefore the Messenger of Allaah (salla-allahu alaihe wa-sallam) encouraged the exchange of gifts between Muslims because it helps to strengthen ties and develop love for one another. He (salla-allahu alaihe wa-sallam) said, “Give gifts to one another, you will come to love one another.”[1]


So imagine the LOVE we should have for our Rabb who has given us everything: nice families, shelter, security, food, health and above all the Guidance of Islaam and the Sunnah. We should be overwhelming in our love for Him. That is why we praise Him and thank Him and say, “All praise (and thanks) is for Allaah, Rabbil-‘aalameen.”


<b>Aayah 2: The Rahmaan (Merciful) and the Raheem (Mercy-Giving).” </b>


In the first aayah of Soorah al-Faatihah, Allaah mentioned He was the Rabb. In this aayah two more of His beautiful names are mentioned: ar-Rahmaan and ar-Raheem. Ar-Rahmaan means that He is the Most Merciful. Ar-Raheem means that He is the Giver of Mercy, in other words His actions are full of Mercy and He shows Mercy to His creation.[2]


When we mention these two names of Allaah, then we have HOPE. Since He is the One who is full of Mercy, and we hope He will forgive our mistakes and shortcomings. We should never loose hope, because Allaah says in the Qur'aan, “O My slaves, who have transgressed against themselves! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, Verily Allaah forgives all sins (except sins). Truly He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful” [39: 53]


The need to have FEAR in our worship is shown by the next aayah of Soorah al-Faatihah.


<b>Aayah 3: “King/Master of the Day of Judgement.” </b>


When we recite this aayah, we remind ourselves of the Day of Judgement - that awful Day, when all of humanity shall stand before Allaah … naked, uncircumcised and barefooted. People will appear drunk though they are not. On that Day, every person will stand before Allaah and account for his sins, knowing that not even the smallest action which he did is hidden from Allaah: “So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom shall see it.” [soorah 99 : 7-8]


So when we recite this third aayah of Soorah al-Faatihah, we remind ourselves of this Judgement and accountability and that should bring about in us a sense of fear - that maybe our evil actions will be too great and we will be responsible for them - May Allaah protect us from such a fate. Then the next verse goes on to say: “You alone we worship.” i.e. we single out Allaah for our worship. And how do we worship Him? With LOVE, HOPE and FEAR. And in order to achieve these qualities, we need Allaah’s assistance, so we say then, “We seek Your Aid.”


<b>Striking the Balance </b>


After understanding the need to have love, hope and fear in our worship, the next question that naturally arises is that, in what proportion should these qualities be present in our worship? Again we turn to the Qur'aan for the answer.


<b>“Call upon Him with Fear and Hope.” [ Soorah (7): 56] </b>


<b>Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in Fear and Hope.” [(32): 16] </b>


So both fear and hope should be present in our hearts in equal proportions. Anas reported that the Prophet (salla-allahu alaihe wa-sallam) entered upon a young boy who was dying. The Prophet (salla-allahu alaihe wa-sallam) asked, “How are you?” The boy replied, “O Messenger of Allaah, I am in between hoping in Allaah and fearing for my sins.” The Prophet (salla-allahu alaihe wa-sallam) said, “The like of these two qualities do not unite in the heart of a servant except that Allaah gives him what he hopes for and protects him from what he feared.”[3]


Therefore whenever we do a good action, we should hope that it has been accepted by Allaah, but at the same time we should also have fear that maybe it isn’t enough or that the good deed has not been worthy of acceptance. Likewise when we sin, we should have hope that Allaah will accept our repentance and forgive us, but we should also fear that we may be accountable for it.


This balance should be reflected in our Dawah (which of course is also worship). So when we invite others to the Truth, we should not give them the impression that ‘they have nothing to worry about’, nor do we suggest that ‘they are doomed forever’. Rather we couple warnings with encouragement. We inform them of the horrors of the Fire and tell them about the bliss of Paradise. Just as we find Allaah telling us in the Qur'aan: “Verily your Lord is Quick in Punishment and verily He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Giver of Mercy.” [(7): 167]


And the scholars of Islaam say, “He who worships Allaah with hope only is a murji’ee. He who worships Him in fear only is a Harooree [Khaarijee]. And He who worships Allaah in love only is a Zindeeq [eg. the Soofis, the Christians, etc]. But he who worships Allaah in fear, love and hope is a Muwahhid Mu’min [a believer upon Tawheed].”[4]


The Murji’a were a sect that emerged within the first century of Islaam. The people of this sect (i.e. the murji’ees) believe that sins do not affect faith i.e. no matter what sins a person commits, his eeman (faith) is complete and perfect. They worship Allaah only with hope because they believe that as long as one believed and testified to Islaam, they would enter Paradise regardless of their actions.


Unfortunately, all too often nowadays we find a similar attitude amongst many Muslims today, which is why we find that so often we try to advice someone to turn to the Deen and abandon sin, they just point to their hearts and say, “Allaah knows what is in my heart”, or “Allaah forgives”, or something else like that.


As for the Khawaarij, they worshipped Allaah in fear only because they held that anyone who commits major sins was a disbeliever and would therefore dwell in Hellfire forever. This of course is gross extremism and straying from the correct path. The Prophet (salla-allahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: “There were two men of Banoo Israa’eel who strove equally. One of then committed sins and the other strove hard in worship. And the one who strove in worship cto see the other in sin and kept saying to him: “Desist.” So one day he found him committing a sin and so said to him: “Desist” So he replied, “Leave me by my Lord, have you been sent as a watcher over me?”. He said, “By Allaah, Allaah will not forgive you, nor will Allaah admit you to Paradise”. Then their souls were taken and they came together before the Lord of the Worlds. So Allaah said to the one who strove in worship: “Did you have Knowledge of Me, or did you have any power in what is in my Hands?” And He said to the sinner: “Go and enter Paradise through My Mercy.” And He said to the other: “Take him to the fire.” Aboo Hurairah t said: “By Him in whose Hand is my soul! He spoke a word which destroyed this world and the hereafter for him.”[5]


Therefore we should never say of anyone that he or she is a ‘lost cause’ or ‘doomed’ or the like for this is a great sin. However, we fear for those who commit major sins because they have been threatened with punishment in the Qur'aan and the Hadeeth. However it is up to Allaah whether He chooses to punish them or whether He will forgive them.


The Zindeeqs - or the heretics - are groups, such as many of the Soofis who have become like the Christians and reduced the religion to just ‘love’ and so all their talk and their mystical practices are centred around developing more ‘love’.


It is thus clear how imbalances in any of the three qualities of worship can lead to major deviation and straying to the True Guidance. It is therefore important for every Muslim to combine all three of them in his heart properly. As was mentioned before, the fear and hope should be in equal proportions[6], but as for love then that should be uppermost. As Fudayl ibn-‘Iyaad - rahimahullah - (d.187H) said, “The love is better than the fear. The fear checks us from sinning, and the love makes us do what is prescribed with an open heart.”[7]


May Allaah grant us what we hope for and protect us from what we fear. And may the Blessings of Allaah be upon our Prophet Muhammed, upon his family, his Companions and upon all those who follow Guidance until the Last Day.


Source: ad-Dawah illaah Magazine

asalaamu alaykum


I have this Question which non-muslims ask me all the time.


Why we wear the hijab? i know Allah said in the Qur'an that we have to wear hijab but when you tell that to the non-muslims, it's not enouch for them they want more explaination , like what is the reason behind this . Can you guys help me please Coz i really need many answers for this.

<b>Who are the Yajooj and Majooj?</b>


<b>The Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj</b>


During the reign of Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) people will live an extremely peaceful life filled with prosperity and abundance. Then the wall which imprisons Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj will break and they will surge forth in large numbers.


"But when Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj are let loose and they rush headlong down every hill" (Quran 21:97)


<b>Who are the Ya'jooj and Majooj?</b>


Zul Qarnain (A.S.) who was a pious and just Ruler travelled to many lands and conquered them, establishing justice and the Law of Allah therein. Allah Ta'ala provided him with all forms and material strength through which he was able to carry out his conquests and missions.


He once carried out a mission in three directions, the far west, the far east, and then in a northerly direction. It was here that he came across a tribe of people who complained to him about the tribes of Ya'jooj and Majooj which inhabited the land behind two huge mountains and often emerged from behind these mountains to perpetrate acts of anarchy and plunder among them. They requested Zul Qarnain (A.S.) to erect a barrier between themselves and the tribes of Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj so that they could be saved from their atrocities. With the material strength at his disposal, Zul Qarnain (A.S.) enlisted their physical labor and set about erecting a high wall between the two mountains. The height of the wall or its exact length is unknown. What is known is that the height of this wall reaches that of the summit of both mountains. It is made with blocks or sheets of iron, which is further strengthened by molten lead. In this manner Ya'jooj and Majooj are unable to scale the wall, or cross it, except when it is the will of Allah.


"And when the promise of my Rabb approaces, He will level it to dust" (Quran 18:98)


They are situated in a land of ice which is hidden from our gazes and the exact location of which is unknown. Though many interpretations do exist in this respect, none of these can be said to absolute.


Ya'jooj and Majooj are human beings and according to a narration they are from the progeny of Yafith ibn Nooh (A.S.).


Some Ahadith...


In a lengthy hadith by Hadhrat Nawwas ibn Sam'aan (R.A.) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) is reported to have said:


"...Allah will send revelation upon Eesa (A.S.) that 'Such a creation of mine is now going to emerge that no power will be able to stop them. Therefore take my servants and ascend the Mount of Toor.' Then Ya'jooj and Majooj will emerge and surge forth in all their fury. When those from among them who constitute the former part of their army pass the lake of Tiberias (which is in northern Palestine), they will drink up all the water of that lake and by the time those that constitute the latter part of that same army pass the lake, they will say, "There used to be water here (long ago). When they reach the Mount of Khamr in Jerusalem, they will arrogantly proclaim: 'We have conquered the people of the earth, now we will annihilate those in the sky.' So saying they will fire their arrows towards the sky. When the arrows return to the ground they will be blood stained.


In the meantime, Eesa (A.S.) will be on the Mount of Toor with his followers. At that time the head of and ox will be as valuable as is a hundred dinars to you in this day. [This indicates the scarcity of provisions]. Faced with these hardships, Eesa (A.S.) and his followers will make dua unto Allah (to remove this calamity). As a result, Allah will cause sores to appear on the necks of each and every individual of these people which will cause their death suddenly. When Eesa (A.S.) and his followers descend from the Mount of Toor there will not be a single space on the land where the dead rotting bodies of these people is not littered, giving off a horrendous odour. Eesa (A.S.) and his followers will once more supplicate unto Allah as a result of which Allah will send down huge birds whose necks will be as thick as that of the necks of camels, and they will dump these bodies in a place where Allah wills. (According to a narration by Tirmidhi, they will be dumped at a place called Nahbal).


Allah Ta'ala will then send down a heavy rain, the waters of which will flow in every part of the earth cleansing it thoroughly. It will rain for a period of forty days.


The Muslims will then burn the bows and arrows of the Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj for a period of seven years.


Allah will order the earth to yield forth its crops in abundance and there will be such blessing and prosperity that one pomegranate will be sufficient for a whole group while the peel thereof will suffice to cast a shadow over them. The milk of one camel will be sufficient for many groups while one milk giving cow will be sufficient for a whole tribe. One milk giving goat will be sufficent for a whole family..."


(Muslim)


Hadhrat Abu Saeed Khudri (R.A.) narrates that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said:


"On the day of Qiyamah Allah will say to Adam (A.S.) to pick out the Jahannamis from his entire progeny. Adam (A.S.) will ask: 'O Rabb, who are they?'


Allah will say: 'Nine hundred and ninety nine of a thousand are Jahannami while the one is a Jannati.'


On hearing this the Sahaba were overtaken by fear and they asked "O Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), who will that one Janniti be?'


Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: 'Do not grieve, the nine hundred and ninety nine will be Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj while you will be the Jannati."' (i.e. your numbers in relation to them will be one in a thousand).


(Bukhari and Muslim)


Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Umar (R.A.) says that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said:


"Allah Ta'ala divided mankind into ten parts. Nine tenths constitute Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj while the remaining tenths constitutues the rest of mankind."


Hadhrat Zainab bint Jahsh (R.A.) says: "...once Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) awoke from such a sleep that his face was red and these words were on his tongue: 'There is none worthy of worship except Allah. Destruction is upon the Arabs on account of the evil which has come close to them. Today a hole as big as this has opened up in the wall of Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj.' ..and Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) indicated the size of the hole forming a ring with his index finger and thumb."


(Bukhari and Muslim)


Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (R.A.) narrates that every day Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj break (dig) through the wall erected by Zul Qarnain (A.S.) until they reach the end of it to that extent that they can actually see the light on the other side. They then return (home) saying that 'We will break through tomorrow.' But Allah Ta'ala causes the wall to revert to its original thickness and the next day they start digging through the wall all over again, and this process continues each day until as long as Allah wills them to remain imprisoned. When Allah wishes them to be released, then at the end of the day they will say, "If Allah wills, tomorrow we will break through." The following day they will find the wall as they had left it the previous day (i.e. it will not have returned to its orginal state) and after breaking the remaining part of it they will emerge."


(Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)


Commenting on the above hadith, Allamah Ibn Arabi says, Three miracles are evident in this Hadith:


1.) It never occurs to these tribes that they must continue work during the night. After all, they are in such large numbers that they can easily delegate the work among themselves and work in shifts. But Allah does not allow this thought to occur to them.


2.) It never occurs to them that they can merely cross the mountains or scale the wall, which they can do through the aid of equipment and implements wich they possess in large numbers. According to a narration by Wahab ibn Munabbah it is known that these tribes are agriculturists and artisians possessing various types of equipment.


3.) The thought of saying "If Allah wills" never enters their minds and it will only occur to them to say it when Allah wills that they be released.


<b>Source from:</b> "Signs of Qiyamah"


by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali

BY AMANDA RUGGERI


Staff Reporter


At age 26, Dawood Yasin was almost killed. Three times.


Back then, his name was not Dawood. He was not yet a teaching assistant in Yale's Arabic Department, the imam of the Masjid Al-Islam mosque on George Street in New Haven, or the chaplain of the Muslim Student's Association of Yale.


Instead, he was a nation-hopping male model, a man whose face and body splashed Paris billboards and Vogue fashion spreads. His name was David and he was Roman Catholic.


But three near-death experiences in the span of six months changed all that


In 1996 he was living in South Africa modeling in photo shoots. One night, he said, he got into a heated discussion with some South Africans vocalizing their unhappiness with the end of apartheid. Threats were issued. Tensions boiled. Then the aggressors pulled out weapons.


Luckily, a member of the group talked them out of a fight. But just a few weeks later, something else happened. Yasin was driving from Capetown to Johannesburg. At one point the fog thickened dangerously. The car behind him began to pass him and, at the same time, a truck approached from ahead. His own car narrowly avoided the horrific crash that followed.


Not long after, he witnessed another crash -- one he might have been in had he arrived at the scene 30 seconds earlier.


Many 26-year-olds may have brushed off the three incidences as merely unsettling. Not Yasin.


"Thinking that you could check out at any time made me think about spirituality," he said, sitting in Au Bon Pain Oct. 27, a dark beard covering his once-famous face.


Because his cousin had converted to Islam two decades before and become a better person for it, he said, the religion was already in the back of his mind. So when his brushes with death made him reconsider spirituality, he had no qualms about taking a look at the Koran.


"It worked for me," he said. "I find there to be justice. In the prophetic tradition, there's no preference of the Arab over the non-Arab, white over black, black over white."


But not everybody sees that side of Islam. Twice since Sept. 11, 2001, Yasin and his wife, dressed in traditional Islamic garb, have been almost run off the road, he said. Once, the driver shouted at them to "go back to your country."


"And my mother, my grandmother, they were born in America," he said, shaking his head.


Rather than let such ignorance get him down, though, Yasin said he focuses on raising understanding of Islam. His Arabic students said he was always very open about his life and religion. They could ask him delicate questions -- what the Koran says about homosexuality, for example -- and get a straightforward answer.


And because Yasin is American, students seem more receptive to what he has to say, said Bassam Frangieh, a professor in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department.


"The students identify with him," Frangieh said. "He has a very, very beautiful relationship with them."


Yasin has even welcomed his class into his mosque. Last year, 40 Arabic students took a class trip to George Street during the month of Ramadan. They covered themselves appropriately, the women in head scarves. As they walked, they stopped traffic, Frangieh said.


After attending services, which included a sermon by Yasin, the students ate a traditional dinner in his home.


Teaching about Islam and the Koranic tradition is important, Frangieh said. After all, one requirement of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations major is "Arabic and Islamic Studies."


Despite such glowing reports from students and colleagues, Yasin was not always so focused on Yale. When he came back to America after studying Arabic for five years, teaching at Yale was not the job he had in mind, he said.


Hardly the typical teaching assistant, Yasin does not even hold a college degree. He briefly attended Southern Connecticut State University, but he was discovered by a Wilhelmina Models agent during one summer break in Nantucket. At 19, his life turned into a whirlwind of runways in Milan and Paris, photo shoots with Christy Turlington and Brooke Shields.


"It's like, 'Wow, do I shoot a Levi's campaign and make a lot of money, or do I go back to school and get a degree?'" he said, chuckling. "You think about it for about three breaths."


And although he studied at a religious seminary in Damascus for five years after "embracing Islam," the events of Sept. 11, 2001 interrupted his education. In America at the time of the terrorist attacks, Yasin and his then-pregnant wife decided not to return to Syria.


A friend at the Yale Divinity School told him there was an opening in the Arabic department. At the time, Yasin said, he laughed off the suggestion, intimidated by the idea of teaching Yale students in a language that was not his native tongue. But when a few weeks went by and the position remained open, he decided to apply.


Rather than a one-on-one interview, Yasin presented himself to one of Frangieh's Arabic classes. They loved him. Yasin was hired.


This year, though, Yasin is on leave. Recently appointed as imam of Masjid Al-Islam, Yasin said he is now too busy to teach classes. As religious leader of the 300 people in the congregation, he has more responsibilities than he had even expected.


"I'm dealing with everything from the jurisprudence of someone's marriage, to someone asking you on the end-of-life decisions for their two-year-old child," he said.


And he has taken on a new project, as well -- managing a fashion company geared toward traditional Muslim dress. The former model described the clothing line as modest, but sophisticated and practical.


Running a clothing company is only the latest phase in his life. From modeling, to studying, to being a TA, he said each experience has made him who he is today.


But if his now-2-year-old daughter were to grow up and tell him she wanted to strut down the runways in Milan, Yasin knows exactly what he would say:


"I'd say, Tell me when you want to go and we'll go together.


http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=27158

We are so busy here in America we forget to visit others. In countries outside of America they are always just stopping by and visiting one another. It is a shame this is not done in America.


I just wanted to drop a reminder to everyone to continue to visit others and open your home to visitors so they may drop by.


If I had any good hadiths off the top of my head pertaining to this I would add them.