Story of a life

Today I was sitting in Jum'ah (Friday prayer), listening to the Khutbah (sermon) when I saw an Arab man enter the prayer space with both hands held out high as in prayer (dua)...I had not seen that practice before so I was a little surprised by the grandiose gesture. I wondered why he was doing that and then I saw that the family entering behind him was African American...following them was a couple of South Asian heritage, followed by a White man. All of different heights, b ackgrounds, races, colors, ages. All with a hurried, busy expression on their face that said "oh snap! I am late!". All there for the love of the One God. All there to say "We submit to you, Our Lord!" All could have been doing anything else in the middle of a work day but chose to serve God the best way they knew. And that reminds me of: "O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (no...

It's November 25, 2015. I am extremely introspective. The most, perhaps, that I have been in the quarter of a century I have been on this earth. It's 5 days to my 25th birthday. 1 day to, my soulmate, my grandmother's 10th death anniversary. 23 days since my best friend's 5th death anniversary. 17 days since my other grandma's death. 25 days since the 4th anniversary of one of the biggest turning points in my life. 3.5 years since quitting school. First ever time that I reached 500 friends on Facebook. Where I am: 1- Just started working on my ijaza for Qur'aan recitation. 2- Just started my ijaza for Sini script. 3- A quarter done with my first ever Americorps service year - a dream of my 12 year old self fulfilled. 4- Sub for different Arabic classes. (Living the full no commitment life) 5- Considering being an EMT. What I have accomplished: 1- Learned how to save a life: CERT, CPR and First Aid Things that I want to do: 1-Drive a converti...

Salaam! Yesterday I started studying for two ijazahs. Alhumdulillah. May Allah swt make the journey easy for me. 1- Ijazah in recitation of the Qur'an. 2- Ijazah in Arabic Calligraphy (Sini script) Along with that in sha Allah I will try to memorize as much as I can and eventually study for an ijazah with memorization as well as continue my work in calligraphy in other scripts (I do Nastaleeq, Naskh and Riqqa/ Ruqqa) and improve my ability in these but for now it's a first step. Bismillah. May Allah swt put barakah in my efforts. If you see this...make dua for me please! :) Oh and in case you wanna know what an ijazah is: Ijazah: ijazah  ‎( plural   ijazahs ) ( Indonesian English ,  Muslim )  A certificate of authority. Among  Muslims  an indication that the person is an authority, recognized by someone as capable of interpreting scripture. Source: Wikitionary   and an ijazah specifically in calligraphy is: Ijaza: “Licens...

Heart hurts Eyes sting from all the unshed tears. They have to stay inside though for the time is not right. Not yet. Now the time is to turn them Turn them into sweat To use the pain to burn a fire within a fire that doesn't die wouldn't ever die except for when those tears are finally allowed to shed

        Imagine a white, pure place. With a heavenly glow. Imagine a beautiful crystal vase perched on a glass stand slightly towards the right side of the room. There might or might not be other people, other things in the room but you are oblivious of it. You are mesmerized by the crystal. You want to go close and touch it. You want to hold it. Perhaps own it. But there is a halo-like, soft, transparent dome surrounding it. It makes you stand where you are and look at it from a distance. The crystal, oblivious, is hurting inside at being put on display. She doesn't understand the presence of the shield. Does not recognize it. You just stand and watch. The crystal squirms inside. Sensing the presence of life around her but never really understanding it. She knows a few caretakers.Trusts them. One by one they disappear into the oblivion. She stares after them longingly, with empty eyes, wanting them to stay, knowing they can not. You stand there and watch this ...

It was over five years ago. I had not actually seen anything happen in front of me except the after-effects. Up until recently, I have never been able to talk about it. Even when I did, this mashed up, shaken account came out. I do not know how they do it. The people who live through it for so long, how do the do it? How do they live? Are they even human or just empty shells? Is that the reason we have so many disturbed souls around? For soldiers, the trauma is recognized and treated, what about the ones who never get such support? What are we doing to this world of ours? These fellow human beings of ours? It doesn't make sense to me. It does not make sense at all. Where is the humanity? I do not know what else to say, so here is my account: "Now this is something I can relate to. When the IIUI bomb blast happened, I was exiting the university. Given the size of the place, I did not really notice what happened. (Plus I was on the phone chattering away happily with a ...