Random Thoughts and Updates

This is going to be one random post...with many random thoughts.

Okay, I admit it, updating my blog hasn’t been on my list of priorities for a long time, but I can assure you that it has always been on my mind. I’ve started countless blog posts in my head. Unfortunately, there isn’t a USB cable that can connect to my brain and transfer my thoughts to the computer... (actually it IS fortunate we don’t have something like that!)

One thing that keeps poppin' up in my head is, "WHEN'S WINTER ENDING?!" Seriously, I'm done with the snow now...

Life is coming along just well alhamdulillah. No complaints! I started teaching at the Lote Tree Foundation. Just for the evening Qur’an classes though. Alhamdulillah, it’s going well so far. As for my Alimah course... well, we’ve finally managed to sort it out. I’m going to get taught by my husband. InshaAllah it leads me to completing the course. I’m going to have to go over all that I’ve already learnt at JAS and also continue from there on. I’m really, really looking forward to it. Make du’a Allah (swt) accepts me as a student of knowledge and gives me the reality of His Noor, so that it enters my heart and allows me to gain Ilm, put it into practice and teach it to others. I know my husband is already a great teacher. He’s really knowledgeable and motivated. May Allah (swt) make it easy for him to teach me, as I can be a difficult, lazy and forgetful student! I need all the support, motivation, determination, and patience I can get from him, and Alhamdulillah he gives me that everyday.

I’m finally moving steadily along my Child Psychology course…the course ends in July and the thing with distance learning is that you REALLY and I mean REALLY have to be motivated, and if you know me personally, you’d know that I can’t be self-motivated. If it wasn’t for my husband’s motivational talks…I’d have gone all dead with that course, the Alima course and my paintings. Alhamdulillah my paintings are coming along just fine as well. I’m actually surprised they’re turning out so good. I would post pics of them online, but everyone will have to wait and see them at Muslim Fest this year, inshaAllah. (muhahahahaha)

One of the things that I wanted to blog about was Black History Month (actually my husband gave the idea) and it’s important that we, as Muslims also educate ourselves with the History of Blacks, after all, they have a great part in our Muslim History. This brings the topic of racism, which isn’t only an issue amongst the non-Muslims but unfortunately amongst the Muslims as well. We have guji/desi parents (not all..) teaching their kids to be afraid of “karyas” or “kalais”, it’s like, “if you don’t behave the “karyas” will come and get you!!” I know a girl, who’s very VERY afraid of any black person she sees. If there’s a black person on one side of the street she’ll cross over to the other, shaking from head to toe and it tears. Sticking ideas like that isn’t going to help the future of this Ummah in anyway. We should be teaching kids that racism is not accepted in Islam and Islam was the first to oppose racism (1400 yrs ago!!!)

Black History month shouldn’t only be acknowledged at public schools but we should teach our children at home and to not just the children but it should be acknowledged in our communities and in our Masajids. There is so much to talk about; one famous example is Bilal (ra), one of the greatest Companions of Rasulullah (s.a.w). We all know his story of how he was tortured for being a Muslim and how he was given the honour of being the Mu’azzin of Rasulullah (s.a.w)’s Masjid. Umm Ayman (r.a) (also known as Barakah) who Rasulullah (s.a.w) described as “mother after my own mother. She is the rest of my family." She took care of Rasulullah (s.a.w)’s parents. She helped his mother through pregnancy and after she died she took care of Rasulullah (s.a.w) as well. She was one of the first to accept Islam, and was also tormented and tortured by the disbelievers in Makkah.

There were many great black Muslims in the past who were given the honour of being Sahabahs of Rasulullah (s.a.w), and there were many great Ulema afterwards as well. And there still are. We had great personalities like Malcolm X, he’s not only a legacy for the African Americans but for Muslims as well.

Here is a page on Sound Vision with many links on Black History month.

I can go on and on about it, but I’m kinda late with the whole black history month thing. However, it’s not something we should think about only in February!