2 Perverts and a Kitten.

I started my day by saying my goodbye to a new Egyptian friend I made in the past few days. She stayed over my place for 3 nights and it was fun having her around. It's a great change of pace in my life. I love hosting people who need a place to stay. I don't host other than girls so, sorry guys...

Anyways, so after that I had lunch at my aunt's place. I haven't seen her in a while and she invited me. As soon as I reached there I ate then rushed to work... Had a normal day at work doing some recording and then fixing some audio files here and there with a client. While I was sorting the files I hear a cat just screaming outside the studio... Me being the cat lover had to see what is going on.

I open the door and to my surprise I see the most adorable kitten. As soon as it noticed me, it ran to me. Of course nobody wanted me to let it in but it came anyways, then I got it out. To make a long story short, I decided to take the kitten till I can find it a proper place to stay. There was one problem and how am I going to take it home? There wasn't any box and I didn't have a car. So I just carried it and asked stores near by if they had a box I can put the cat in it. The first store didn't have a box, the cake shop did though.

One thing I didn't get is why on earth were the "men" weirded out why I wanted to take care of it and tell me how usually he kicks them. I'm thinking, "Does this guy think he's scoring brownie points with me being pathetically all macho?" As I was putting the kitten in the box and taping it shut, the guy was trying to ask me all sorts of personal questions about where I live and he hasn't seen me around and crap like that. I was like why? He even wanted to offer me free cake. I was like nope, I'm on a diet. I'm not really but I just didn't want anything from him. So I just rushed out and the kitten is SCREAMING!!

I was walking as fast as I can and hopefully, I'll find a cab to take me home ASAP. I found one finally but to my luck the guy is a serious pervert. Again this guy was asking me all sorts about me and telling about how cats mate. I'm praying, "GOD, make this ride end safely." The guy even reached backwards to calm the kitten down. I felt like I was ready to get raped. I was freaking out especially that he's telling about how cats mate. The he was asking some personal question about my marital status and he's telling me that he's single. As soon as he said that, my cell phone rings. I'm like YAY!!! It was my good friend and blogger Zena. She saved me from freaking out more than I already am... In one hand the kitten is screaming and the guy is hitting on me. BLAH... I just wanted to reach home.

I finally reached and after paying the guy, I jumped out of the cab. and rushed home. Then I settled the kitten in by putting it some food to eat and water to drink. I didn't have everything so I rushed to the pet store and got some sand put in the litter box and some proper cat food.

Now the cat is settled in for now. I'm just hoping I can find a place for it to stay for good. I can't keep it, my mom will kill me. Pray for me...

My conclusion for today is that, just when I think I started to understand men and think they can actually be wonderful some idiots throws me off completely... Sorry guys but the truth is that good guys are minorities. God bless them...

Dalai Lama Meets With Muslims in California

By JUSTIN M. NORTON, Associated Press Writer
Sun Apr 16, 8:47 AM ET


SAN FRANCISCO - The Dalai Lama urged religious leaders Saturday to reach out to Muslims, saying Islam is a compassionate faith that has been unfairly maligned because of a few extremists.

"Nowadays to some people the Muslim tradition appears more militant," the 70-year-old exiled monk said at a weekend conference, which aimed to bring Muslims and Buddhists together.

"I feel that's totally wrong. Muslims, like any other traditions — same message, same practice. That is a practice of compassion," he said.

Event organizers say the Dalai Lama interrupted his schedule to fly to San Francisco and meet Islamic scholars and leaders from other faiths to discuss reducing violence and extremism.

Security was tight at the invitation-only event, which drew about 500 religious leaders and scholars. The conference included speakers and presenters from numerous faiths and roughly 30 countries.

The Dalai Lama told the audience that many people see and hear news of suicide bombings in predominantly Muslim countries but don't hear about how Muslims often work with the poor.

He said all human beings are prone to violence if they lose control of their emotions and not to judge an entire faith based on a few people. "A few mischievous people are always there," he said.

The Dalai Lama, who was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, fled Tibet in 1959 following an aborted uprising against Chinese rule in the territory and now keeps an office in exile in the Himalayan town of Dharmsala, India.

The Dalai Lama also told conference attendees that religious traditions must work harder to live together in peace, citing religious violence in Northern Ireland, Pakistan and Iraq.

Hamza Yusuf, founder of the Zaytuna Institute, a Hayward-based center for Islamic study, said the conference could help build relationships between Buddhists and Muslims and promote a greater understanding of Islam. He noted that Muslims and Buddhists lived together peacefully for hundreds of years in Tibet.

Yusuf said the Dalai Lama's participation in the event could warm Americans to Islam, since many Americans have mixed feelings about the faith but are receptive to Buddhism.

"He wanted to meet us in solidarity as a community because he felt like people were attacking Islam," Yusuf said.

Seyed Ali Ghazvini of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno said he hoped the conference would encourage Muslims to be more visible and active in the United States.

"This is a matter of necessity," said Ghazvini, who gave the Dalai Lama a set of Islamic prayer beads. "It's not an option to sit alone in our own community and our own mosques."

When I read this, I thought that it is one of the coolest things I've read. I've always respected the Dalai Lama and seeing him actually help Islam makes me wonder where it's all going to go from there? I have good hopes that people would actually get to realize that Islam is not horrid as majority of Americans think. The original article can be found here.

The Story of Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him)

Last Tuesday was the birthdate of the Prophet with much celebration I got this email and decided to share it with everybody...

12th Rabil Awwal (Islamic Calender) is the anniversary of the birth on an incredible personality, who arrived as a boon for the entire humanity and brought with him a set of principles, pursuing which guarantees even triumph and well-being for every individual, every nation and country and the whole mankind. Though this day comes every year, but this year it has come at such a crucial time when inhabitants of the earth are more indigent of the guidance of that sagacious person, than ever before.

TIME to know The Noble Personality
TIME to spread The Noble Preaching

We, as his followers, must live and spread this message today at a time when hatefulness and ugliness towards each other has become the norm.
Please read the excellent book:

Meelad-un-Nabi (SAW) (in English)

Meelad-un-Nabi (SAW) (in Urdu)

We launched an YEAR-LONG campaign to spread the Message of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

(These books are part of this campaign. We can send you these books by e-mail as well if u doesn't have the Internet. Kindly send an e-mail to us with an indicating language: in English or in Urdu )

FREE Available on
http://www.prophetmuhammadforall.org/
Biggest FREE e-Library & Audio Collection in Multiple Languages
Unique Features:

Multiple Titles
Multiple Authors in
Multiple Languages
Beautiful Hadith based Screensavers
Quiz in Multiple Languages
Biggest Audio Collection
Nasheed & Stories for Kids

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please send all comments, suggestions to: info@prophetmuhammadforall.org

Our Lives are What we Make Them

Here's a lecture that I got from Amr Khaled's website. I thought it'll be a something quite interesting to share to fix any misconceptions in Islam... Feedback from everybody would be great.

First thought: Is this gathering important to Allah? Yes it is. Our Prophet (PBUH) was once sitting at his home and a group of his companions were at the mosque. Suddenly he got up and went quickly to the mosque and looked at those companions and asked them: “What are you sitting here for?” They answered: “We sat to glorify Allah.” The Prophet said: “Do you swear that you sat only for this?” They said: “we swear that we sat only for this.” The Prophet said: “I did not ask you to accuse you but I was informed that Allah is bragging about you in front of the angels.”

Second thought: Brothers, what about renewing your intentions now in this session. You came here to please Allah and to meet good companion and listen to what may bring you closer to Allah, so let Allah witness this. Make this your intention; May Allah let us go to the “Al-jannah” by this.

Third thought: I have a question in mind. What about all of the thousands here? What will be their state after the conference ends? I want to advise you to stick to Allah’s compliance as much as you can and to be keen on having a group of pious friends (Saleheen) to support you in this hard life.

Our subject today is: We make our lives ourselves

This lecture is considered a continue for the lecture of “Set your goal in life” and our lecture today is centralized around one question: Who makes our lives? Do we make our lives? Or are the circumstances responsible for making our lives? Who is responsible for the difficult state of our nation? Who is behind our backwardness? Who is the reason behind the youth not being religious enough? Who is responsible for not having a Muslim youth who’s not excellent in sports, for example? Who makes our lives, our own wills or conditions?

Psychologists’ views:

Psychologists, like Freud and his peers, see that there are three factors that make human lives

Genetic factors

Educational factors

Environmental factors

Thus these three factors control one’s behavior and reactions. Freud’s explanation for a characteristic like nervousness or stinginess, for example, are due to the genetic factors and the person has nothing to do with since the genetic factor is domineering.

Freud and his peers interpret mistreatment for wives, to be due to educational factors. This person saw his father when he was a child insulting his wife, so he did the same when he grew up and all this is out of his hands since educational factors were domineering.

With the same logic of Freud, the reason for the youth not being persistent in their worship to Allah is due to the surrounding environmental factor, which is full of strife and temptation so the environment is domineering and the person is helpless.

But is this a right point of view? This point is very critical. One might ask how Allah will judge us if we are not the ones who control our actions but they are the outcome of conditions and the three above factors?

Lets hear the Islamic point of view and its reply on who is responsible for making our lives? Is it conditions or our own wills?

The Islamic point of view:

Islam regards the Psychologists’ view to be wrong. Islam acknowledges that the person is affected by the previous three factors but it acknowledges as well that Allah gave us the weapon to fend them off. The weapon is the abilities given to us by Allah. Thus Allah, in the Day of Judgment, will judge how we used these abilities to defeat these factors and conditions. The more the person succeeds in using his abilities to defeat these factors, the more he will be rewarded by “Al-Jannah”. Yet, the more he is defeated by them, the tougher his punishment will be.

In this lecture, we will demonstrate –God’s willing- giving examples how we can defeat these factors using the abilities Allah blessed us with. This is to prove that the success and the advancement of Muhammad’s nation is not an impossible target. This lecture’s aim is to make everyone have an undoubted faith in the possibility of achieving his target and that he can -with Allah’s help- defeat the factors hampering his march towards his target.

If the factors are those we mentioned above, then what are the abilities we need to have in order to defeat them?

The abilities Allah gave us:

It is an internal power Allah placed inside each one of us. This power exists and when called upon it can defeat anything, so let us release our built-in power.

Example: Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal was imprisoned during strife in Jordan, he used to say that he does not fear being imprisoned or being killed since he will be martyred. But he feared being whipped. When he was taken to be whipped, an imprisoned thief saw him and said: “Imam, be steady on the truth; if you live you will be praised, and if you die you will be martyred. Imam, I have been whipped in this prison eighteen thousand lashes for the sake of Satan, so you be steady for the sake of The Merciful God (Ar-rahman).” Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal says the words of the thief made him a new person and his internal power was released. They began whipping the Imam but he was steady to the extent that his hangman said: “I have whipped him severely; if he was an elephant he would have collapsed by now, I kept saying to myself the next lash will penetrate his back and come out of his mouth”. When the Imam fell down, someone offered him water, the Imam replied: “I am fasting”.

We can see from this example that whatever the factors are, you have the power to defeat them. Allah’s Prophets faced many factors and harsher conditions than we face. A Prophet was not sent till disorder and corruption prevail. When the hardships and strife become tougher, when the three factors are at their peak and faith descends to the lowest, at this moment Prophets are sent to revive the faith with their followers once more. We are full of hope now to revive our faith once more. Prophets and their followers succeeded in this although they had minor resources. We all hope to succeed as they did and to defeat the factors with the abilities Allah bestowed on us.

We will present you an example that has succeeded on earth and in religion. This example was subject to earthly factors, yet he succeeded and conquered them, this example is:

Prophet Yusuf (PBUH) and from his story we will see that we can succeed as he did:

Yusuf and life:

Factors Yusuf (PBUH) was subject to:

As a child his brothers detested him.

He was thrown in the well when he was less than 12 years old, and Allah says what can be translated as, “bottom of the well” (TMQ, 15:15) (1), as the well was so deep.

He was sold as a slave and stayed as a slave for 10 years.

He was put in jail for another 10 years.

When he reached 40 he started his life as Egypt’s Aziz (minister of treasury).

40 years passed from his life in agony but he succeeded in life regardless of the factors he was subject to.

What where the abilities that helped him to succeed

Patience: We have to learn to be patient till success is accomplished. Let’s all learn from Yusuf’s patience.

Talent: His talent in interpreting dreams. Allah gave each one of us a talent to allow us to succeed.

Knowledge: Economy. He studied this science from the previous Aziz, being a slave did not keep him from studying.

These are the keys for success to any one: patience, knowledge and talent. With those abilities Yusuf (PBUH) succeeded and became Egypt’s Aziz who led the Middle East and saved them from the famine crisis. Using your abilities makes defeating factors a possible target.

This is Yusuf and the story of his success in life. Let’s see Yusuf and religion.

Yusuf and religion:

Yusuf was subject to a great seduction, the seduction of a woman. The story of Yusuf and the seduction of a woman left no excuse for anyone. The lady was the wife of the great Aziz; she had both beauty and position. Yusuf was; strong, beautiful, a bachelor, still had many years before getting married, a slave who can do things a free man can not do, a stranger who can do things natives can not do. She was the one who seduced him saying what can be translated as, “Now come, thou (dear one)!" (TMQ, 15:23) ,“She fastened the doors” (TMQ, 15:23) so he became safe from scandal and she was the one who seduced him many times. She said what can be translated as, “I did seek to seduce him from his (true) self” (TMQ, 15:51). Yet regardless of all these factors, he said what can be translated as, “Allah forbid! Truly (thy husband) is my lord! He made my sojourn agreeable! Truly to no good come those who do wrong!" (TMQ, 15:23) She said about him, describing his resistance, what can be translated as, “he did firmly save himself guiltless!” (TMQ, 15:51) He succeeded in defeating seduction factors. So he succeeded in both life and religion.

Yusuf’s abilities for succeeding in religion

Patience: Patience from sins and patience in obedience.

Supplication: He said what can be translated as, “unless Thou turn away their snare from me” (TMQ, 15:33) and he asked Allah’s help to overcome the seduction.

Will you succeed as he did? Will you defeat the factors? Will you say no to sin?

Youth, what will be your state after this conference? Will this spiritual spirit last or will it disperse before the first temptation? “And on them did Satan prove true his idea, and they followed him, all but a Party that believed”, Satan supposes that we have come here to be better. He supposes that we will be weakened by the first sin he offers us. Will you live up to his expectations? We all hope that all those in this hall are of the believers party the verse talked about

Before I end the lecture, I want to assure you that we can succeed. If Yusuf succeeded in the presence of all those factors, we will Insha’ Allah.

Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith (PBUH) about hope was always in the times of turmoil. In the day of The Battle of Al-Khandaq (the Trench) Muslims were besieged and were subject to hardships greater than we are now. When they were not able to break a rock while digging the trench they called for the Prophet (PBUH). He held the axe and said “In the name of Allah” and he hit the rock and a spark came out from the rock so Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allahu Akbar, Persia is conquered”. He hit the rock once more and another larger spark came out so the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allahu Akbar Rome is conquered”. His talk about hope comes in the time of turmoil.

Nation of Muhammad, hope is still there to restore our nation’s power as long as there are souls in us and as long as we pray for Allah and say, “Allah is the Greatest” and acknowledge that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger.

Brothers set your targets and do not lose hope in achieving them.



(1)TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

AmrKhaled.net © جميع حقوق النشر محفوظةThis Article may be published and duplicated freely for private purposes, as long as the original source is mentioned. For all other purposes you need to obtain the prior written approval of the website administration. For info: dar_altarjama@amrkhaled.net

Beit Iba Checkpoint Occupied by Peace

This article was taken from the ISM website. I thought it's quite interesting to show that Palestine is an International issue and it is being dealt in a peaceful way with some humour.

Palestinian, Israeli and international activists from ISM and IWPS celebrated the new year and their continuous determination to jointly fight the occupation by peacefully taking over Beit Iba checkpoint, north of Nablus. Following a call of local activists from Nablus over one hundred Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, many of them dressed up as clowns and Santa Clauses, marched to the checkpoint from both sides chanting and playing drums and trumpets.

They succeeded to join each other in the middle of the checkpoint and to deliver their demand for freedom and to end the occupation to the Israeli soldiers on the spot. Activists, including one dressed as Santa Claus, handed out chocolates to the Soldiers, calling on them to drop their guns and join the peaceful struggle against the occupation.

Beit Iba is one of several checkpoints isolating the city of Nablus and its 200,000 inhabitants from the surrounding villages and the rest of the West Bank, and is notorious for daily harassment and other abuses faced by Palestinians. As a result of the continuous siege of Nablus since the beginning of the Intifada, all aspects of live in the area are severely interrupted: teachers and students face daily difficulties on their way to school and universities, patients are delayed or stopped on their to hospitals and doctors and farmers are often unable to bring their products to the market. Recently Nablus residents under the age of 35 are denied their right to leave the city, but depending on what the Israeli army calls the ìsecurity situationsî this can also apply to all Nablus residents regardless of their age.


By taking over the checkpoint and crossing it without showing their ID-cards to the soldiers, the activists confirmed the right of all Palestinians for freedom of movement, without being at the mercy of the Israeli military and its illegal occupation. In an attempt to regain control of the checkpoint the soldiers started closing the checkpoint with barbed wire and pushing the activists, separating them from each other, and prevented many activists from Nablus from coming back into the city.

Two Palestinian activists were detained and arrested by the Israeli military; one is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, the other a Palestinian man from the Nablus region. They were released after paying bail in the amount of 2000 shekels and were accused of having assaulted a soldier, despite the fact that the demonstration was peaceful and non-violent.


For more Information call
ISM Media Office: 02-297 18 24

The Right to Be Educated

I got an email this morning with some pics of Palestinians students at checkpoints trying to get to school. They weren't allowed to cross. So they just decided to have classes right at the checkpoint. This picture in particular touched me because it seriously shows how nothing stops determined people to practice their right to learn. It makes me feel that my strife is nothing compared to theirs. God bless them...

A Blessing to All

May the long time sun shine upon you

All love surround you

And the pure light within you

Guide your way on.

Love and peace to all,

Sara

Just a quick note.

Hello readers,

I know it's been a while since I've written something. I'm just busy with a few things but sooner or later I'll be back.

Here's a Motto for today...

Be loving--because God is love.

Peace and love to ALL!