Al - Jumu'a

You who believe! When you are called to the prayer on the day of Jumu'a, hasten to the rememberance of Allah and abandon trade. That is better for you if you only knew.

Then when the prayer is finished spread through the earth and seek Allah's bounty and remember Allah much so that hopefully you will be successful.

Quran - (62:9-10)

(Translation: Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley)

Jummah - Yay!

Jummah has arrived again so firstly Jummah Mubarak to you all! Many of us take Jummah for granted its just another day of the week like Monday, Wednesday, Saturday etc! But this is the wrong way for us to look at it!

Jummah is a day of celebrations its a blessed day for us all and alhamdulillah we are blessed it with it once a week again one of the countless mercies we have from Allah! We need to give Jummah the full credit it deserves! We have so many ahadith about the blessings and virtues of Jummah a couple of which I shall share here insha'Allah!

"Whoever dies on the day of al-Jumuah or on its eve will be protected from the torment of the grave." (Ahmed)

The Prophet (saw) said, "A person who has a bath on Friday, cleanses himself fully, uses oil and perfume; then goes to the mosque early in the afternoon and takes his place quietly without pushing or disturbing people; then he prays (optional prayer as much as he was able to pray); then sits quietly listening to the Khutbah, he will be forgiven his sins between this Jumah and the next Jumah." (Bukhari).

Abu Hurairah (ra) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "On Friday the Angels stand oust the door of the mosque and write down the names of the people in the order in which they enter the mosque for Friday prayer. The first group of people who enter the mosque get the reward equivalent to that of sacrificing a camel, the people who enter the mosque after them get the reward equivalent to that of sacrificing a cow. The people who enter the mosque after them get the reward equivalent to that of sacrificing a ram and the people who follow on likewise get this reward of a Chicken, egg and so on there is a gradation of rewards for the people as they enter. The angels keep writing the names of the people as they enter the mosque until the Imam sits down to give Khutbah. Then the angels collect their registers and sit and listen to the Khutbah." (Bukhari, Muslim).

Many of us dont realise the importance of Jummah and each one come and goes just like that! It is a day of celebration for all of us and we should treat it so!

Today I was speaking to my husband and we decided a few things we will insha'Allah try to do every week on Jummah to make it special from all the other days! We want Yaqub to grow up insha'Allah knowing how important and special this day is as for him insha'Allah a he will one day be going to pray his Jummah Salat in the masjid so its important for him to know from now that it really is a special day, a day of celebration and treats! Here is our plan of action if any one has any suggestions please feel free to leave comments and share with me and everyone else! The day shall really start on Thursday evening where the house shall be cleaned nicely ready for Friday morning where I shall burn some lovely bukhur to start this blessed day! Every Jummah me, my husband and Yaqub shall make a special effort to dress up, not like in wedding outfits or anything lol just to really make an effort to be clean, neat and tidy wearing something that is not just every day like scruffy jeans or a tracky but something a little smarter! Each Friday for dinner we shall have some type of roast maybe chicken or lamb with all the trimmings, roast potatoes, gravy, vegies etc and something really scrummy for desert too mmmmm! Also Jummah shall also be referred to as Jummah of course we shall teach Yaqub the days of the week and insha'Allah he will know that Friday is Jummah but we shall try to call it Jummah this again differenciates it from the other days of the week!

The idea is to try and create a buzz of excitment on Jummah insha'Allah!

We should also read as much Salawat on our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) each Jummah too! This of course we should do anyways but make an extra special effort on Jummah insha'Allah!

Check out Yaqubs smart outfit he wore for this weeks Jummah! May Allah always instill the love of this blessed day in his and all of our hearts ameen!

Being Closed Minded Is Like A Foreign Language!

Being closed minded is like a foreign language... hmmm what a strange phrase yet it is very true and let me explain how!

On Tuesday I was taking Yaqub to the baby clinic and when I came outside my house my neighbours elderly aunty was standing there with our neighbours 1 year old son! Our neighbours are from Mauritious and I know that their aunty only speaks creo or so I thought! Each time I have seen her I have only ever said Salam as I thought there was no other way to talk to her! So on Tuesday I was leaving to go to the clinic when I stopped to go and see the neighbours son Jamal! I was bending down talking to him when the aunty started talking to me and of course I did not understand what she was saying as it was a foreign language and so although I could hear her I could not understand her! Then after she had finished and I was about to walk away I realised I had caught the last 2 words and then realised hang on a minute I understood that and then realised she was speaking Urdu not creo!!! I had thought she only spoke creo so had mentally told myself that I could not understand what she was saying where as in actual fact she was speaking Urdu which I do understand!

Now you may wonder how this relates to be closed minded! Well its very simple! When we are closed minded we can not allow ourselves to see the views of others even though in actual facts we may understand and agree with their views and ideas but we do not allow ourselves to do so! By being closed minded we have convinced ourselves that I can not understand any other way just like one might believe they can not understand someone speaking a foreign language!!!

This idea can be linked to Islam! It is so so so sad to see 1 Islam, 1 Quran, 1 Sunnah Billions of Muslims and so many divisions!!! Islam is so complete that it has room for all subhana'Allah! And if only we all stopped (by we I mean all the groups within Islam) and listened to each other we may find that we are not so different after all we are one brotherhood one sisterhood One Ummah!

The same can be linked to Islam, Judaism and Christianity... if we only stopped being so closed minded and opened up to each other we would see the similarities we have and we could work on that and go forward!

I am currently reading The Road To Makkah by Muhammad Asad and he begins by telling a friend of his that perhaps one of the reasons why the West has so much against Islam is the fact that it shares so many morals with it! A very intesresting point... I remember a very good friend of mine who is a convert/revert to Islam saying that her father had said to her.... 'I agree with the morals and teachings of Islam but when you put the name Islam on it I dont want to know'! Why are we so afraid to open our minds and see what is around us!

So the lesson to be learnt here is to open up our minds ask Allah to always guide us and look for the truth where ever it may be! Dont be closed minded and see everything around you as a foreign language!

Famine Vs Dieting!!!

Hmmm an interesting title! It occured to me yesterday how strange this concept is! In some parts of the world we have humans who are paying hundereds of £ or $ some times even thousands to lose weight be it by eating less, buying low fat recipie books, joining the gym, getting a personal trainer and even having surgery to remove unwanted fat from their bodies! On the other hand we have humans across the world who are dying of hunger and thirst who when they eat a few mouthfulls wonder if those are the last mouthfulls that shall ever enter their mouths and bodies as they know not where their next meal (if you can call it that) will come from or if it will come at all! And then when food or water is found they eat and drink not knowing where it has been if it is clean and if eating it will do them more harm than good!

Just yesterday I was saying to myself I need to gain more self control when it comes to eating yummy scrummy foods and then just like that while I was walking between the door way of my kitchen and passage it hit me Subhana'Allah here I am praying for self control on eating all this food I have available to me and others are praying and begging God for just a few mouthfulls to feed themselves and their dying children!

Let us not forget those who are less fortunate than ourselves those who spend days in constant involuntary fasting, those who are forced to hear their children cry night and day out of hunger and thirst and all the while knowing they can do nothing about it and let us all thank God for everything He has given us for the Mercy He has bestowed upon us and for the favours He continues to shower upon us let us remember Him and praise Him often as He is Most Deserving!