New Blogger

As Salaamu Alaikum

I hope your all fine and in the best of health and Imaan InshaAllah.

I'm just and addition to the blog...basically I'm of earth's sis taking over for her while she's away and I'm very new to blogs as I've never had one and I'm just used to reading them...so hopefully I don't mess her's up...or what a surprise that would be for her when she comes back eh haha.

Right well, I would've started sooner but ah well lol...hopefully those "very few readers" haven't deserted the blog.

Anyhow, as my sister already mentioned that she was going to JAS in her last post, I guess it would make sense just to continue on from there.

So that Sunday morning was insane. We were all running around trying to get the previous night's shopping in order for them (of earth, and my baby sister). We basically tried to sort everything out and stuffed them in bags, and then threw those bags in huge black garbage bags only because we had no suitcases at home and the ones we did have were at the farm. But oh well, it's not as if they were going to the airport and the extra thousand pounds of things they were carrying were going to be taken out...so it's all good.

My aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents all came over to say goodbye and all that mushy stuff. A while later at about 1 pm we got in the car and everyone's just saying goodbye...and I'm waving back at them...and then I stop cause I remember how I'm not going anywhere. It was weird lol...I guess it was one them "in the moment" things where you just go about doing something and then realize you have absolutely no need to do it...err..right.

The drive there was quite longer than I had actually expected. It took us around an hour to get there (and I'm not including the time spent to turn back since we took a route on a closed highway...). When we got there our friend had already saved them a room. We took a look at it and liked it. So we hauled alllll the bags into the building. We also met Maulana Nazim..who thought we brought our whole house with us lol. And it seriously did look like that. I looked at all the bags once more and thought to myself, "what on earth did we pack in them?" :|

While they were still settling down, we prayed and ate. Then we walked around and talked for a bit. After Maghrib we took a walk outside and saw all the buildings there. It was getting pretty late so we decided to leave...and...yup all that mushy stuff came up. It was over real quick though. Was just kind of like a "okay then, take care, be good.....*sniff*.....ahem, make sure you two call home, and eat your food, and study...." Right well..yeah..you know...kinda awkward.

It was so weird for me and my little sis to get back into the car. It never really clicked that my sisters wouldnt be coming home until Ramadhan until we got in the car. I know it's not a long time, but it's still weird. The whole hour drive home was quiet with the exception of my parents talking now and then. We got home, prayed Isha, then just went to sleep.

It's so quiet in the house now, with only my little sister and I..only when we're not arguing ofcourse. But even then...

Hm, now with of earth gone...guess who's got to take over the cooking? Yup, yours truly...me. I made pasta today and my little sister and I are still alive so it's all good Alhamdulillah. I shall be cooking more often now I suppose...wait...I have to...blah. If any of you have any good recipes or anything, feel free to tell me. With no one home I could continue with my experiments in the kitchen muahaha...*cough*...right.

*sigh* I realllllllllllly wanted to go to JAS as well. Ever since I heard they were opening it I wanted to go. However, I'm basically not allowed to. Sometimes I think and even say so many times that it's unfair. But Allah (swt) has something planned out for each of us. And if it's not written in my Taqdeer (destiny) then it's not. He has something else planned for me InshaAllah, and that's what'll happen. Patience is the key...if I don't get this, then InshaAllah I'll get something better...if not now, then later. SubhanAllah.

Alright, well some of the following pics are from the JAS website. And the other pics were taken by me.











So until another day I post,
As salaamu alaikum :)

-believeress

It's Destiny

Just a few months ago, I thought about the remaining year, trying to imagine where I might be. And I couldn’t come up with much. I thought, “It’ll probably be same ol same. I might get married…nah that might not happen either since I need a guy to get married too…yup it’ll be same ol same for me.”

But I was wrong (no I’m not getting married) …I am going to go to a place where I thought only a miracle from Allah (swt) could take me. InshaAllah I’ll be going to the newly opened Islamic institute called Jamiah Aishah Siddiqah, run by Shaikh Nazim Mangera. I heard so many amazing things about it, that I'm confidant that it'll be the "bestest" girl Maderasa in the whole wide world. :) InshaAlla, InshaAllah, InshaAllah.

It’s been a while since I was learning in an Islamic environment/institute, and since then I’ve been feeling a deep void in my heart. A void so deep and painful that it has been making my Iman weaker. Now that Allah (swt) has opened this door of Ilm for me, I cannot let it pass without trying to get in. And that’s what I’ve done, no actually that’s bc Allah (swt) helped me through.

I know this new part of my life will help me in my journey in this world and for the Hereafter inshaAllah.

So all I ask in this post from you (very few regular readers), is that you remember me in your du’as (bc I neeeeed them) and you keep visiting my blog while I’m gone. Why? Well because my younger sister is going to take over until I come back for Ramadhan (inshaAllah).

Hmm maybe that’s a bad idea. Well we’ll just have to see…muahahaha

BBC NEWS | Europe | Over 1,000 bodies in Bosnia grave

BBC NEWS | Europe | Over 1,000 bodies in Bosnia grave

Pics from MuslimFest

So here are the pictures my sister took from MuslimFest. She had a headache so she only took a few.

My art buddy from Sakina Designs

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Some facts about HIV/AIDS:

* There are 38,600,000 people living with AIDS around the world
* There are 60,000 people in Canada living with the disease - 49,400 men and 9,600 women

Courtesy of globalhealthfacts.org

Alarming Trends

* Every six and a half seconds, another person is infected with HIV.
* Every ten seconds, one person dies of AIDS-related illness.
* There are an estimated 11,200 new HIV infections and nearly 8,000 deaths every day.
* Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that has been most severely impacted by HIV (in terms of the percentage of the region's population that is infected). This is followed by the Caribbean.
* Only one-tenth of the world's population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, yet almost 64 percent of those infected with HIV live in this region.
* India and China, the world's most populous countries, are experiencing rapid growth of HIV in certain subpopulations and geographic areas.
* More than two-thirds of those infected with HIV from Asia live in India.
* There has been a major increase in HIV infection in Eastern Europe and the nations of the former Soviet Union, a region which has among the fastest rates of new infections in the world.
* The majority of people living with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe live in the Ukraine or the Russian Federation.
* The total number of people living with HIV continues to rise in high-income countries. In the US, for example, HIV prevalence reached its highest level to date in 2005.
* Even with a 3 percent increase in school enrolment, over the past four years, there has continued to remain a gender gap in education. An estimated 113 million school-age children are not currently in school, 54 pecent of which are girls. In high prevalence countries, girls' enrolment in school has decreased in the past decade. Girls are often taken out of school to care for sick relatives or to look after young siblings.
* Access to basic prevention services is inadequate. Less than one in five people at risk for HIV infection has access to prevention services.
* As of December 2005, an estimated 20 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries (1.3 million) received appropriate HIV treatment (including antiretroviral medicines).

Courtesy of the International AIDS Conference 2006.

_________________________________________________________

Taken from "An HIV/AIDS Primer & Facts" article on CityNews.ca

Also check out the XVI International AIDS Conference Website.

Backbiting

I saw it a while back, and I saw it again today it and creeped me out even more...check it out.

"O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, for some suspicions are a sin. Do not spy on one another, nor backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would abhor it, [so similarly, avoid backbiting]. And fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful." Qur'an, [49:12]

Recent Quotes I've Read

"Washington is the only place where sound travels faster than light."
- CVR Thompson

"In archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known."
- Thomas Pickering

"I believe that people would be alive today if there were a death penalty."
- Nancy Reagan

---

Currently listening to nothing, my ears are sore because of my iPod for way too long.

Currently reading The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum and PS. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Currently watching Video Blog #10: How did you convert to Islam? by Baba Ali

My paintings for MuslimFest

On August 12, two events are taking place, the BBQ at Bowmanville's Darul Uloom and MuslimFest. I would just love to go visit Bowmanville again, but I have to be at MuslimFest, obviously because of my paintings.

"What paintings?" you ask.

Well I paint. I have not mentioned that before, have I?

However let me assure you all that I'm no professional, but just an amateur (well below an amateur actually). Anyways, if anyone is coming to MuslimFest, be sure to check out my stuff. I've tried to put some sort of meaning in each painting relating to the Rasul (s.a.w). Especially since this year they have a theme and it's "Inspired by the Prophet (s.a.w)".

Try to figure them out. You can also click on them to see the larger image. And criticism is most welcome.


The Seal

(I actually stuck on real stones/pebbles from Mount Uhud, in Madinah al-Munawarra.)




In White









Hangman







Love of Rasulullah (s.a.w)

(There were many failed attempts to steal this one...)







Dua



Illusion



Mawla

Do we put ourselves in denial of who we are and why we’re here, in this dunya? We blind ourselves and convince ourselves to hold on to this materialistic world. In we fall deeper and deeper in this dream. Trying to live every detail of this momentary life. Sins above sins are committed and still we induce ourselves that we’ll be all right. We leave the Sunnah because “it’s only a Sunnah”. It is only our words, and no more our actions. The way of life dissolves in front of our very eyes. It leaves us slowly and painfully, but we have numbed the body, mind and soul. No more do we feel, speak, hear or see, the truth, the way and the reality. Sincerity and steadfastness leaves us in our Ibadah, are we really worthy of Allah (swt)’s Mercy and Forgiveness? I sure hope we are, for my soul abates with the sins of everyday life.

TheStar.com - Yukon crash ends faith mission

TheStar.com - Yukon crash ends faith mission

Please pray for the brothers and there family.

May Allah (swt) protect them from the hardships of the grave, and May there graves be full of the Noor of Allah (swt). And May Allah (swt) shower blessing, mercy and patience on their families. Ameen

TheStar.com - Harold Hosein, bowed but not weather-beaten

All the Torontonians who watch CityNews on TV or listen to Chum or 680 News on the radio know who Harold Hosein is. Well he doesn't work for CityNews (and of course Chum) anymore. But I think he still comes on 680 News.

When I got the newspaper yesterday, the title caught my attention. Harold was off air for some time now, but I didn't know why.

Anyways, I thought I'd just share the article...for those of you who care. And, it's quite hilarious (and cute in some ways) .

TheStar.com - Harold Hosein, bowed but not weather-beaten



NOTE: Also, I'm so sorry for not updating the blog. I've been kinda busy and the heat wave kept me away from my room (which is on the top floor of the house, and no, we don't have central AC, which sucks).

Youth Tarbiyah Conference

I just love this annual conference, InshaAllah I'll be there. I mean how can I miss Shaikh Sulaiman Mullah, Shaikh Ahmed Ali and Shaikh Riyadh ul-Haq?! InshaAllah, InshaAllah I'll be there for both days.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Links for more info.
Islamic Foundation
Jucanada

Lines Stuck in My Head

V: Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.
[carves V into wall]

V: The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.
[giggles]

V: Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Evey Hammond: Are you like a crazy person?

V: I'm quite sure they will say so.

---
V for Vendetta (2005)

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US braced for Haditha effect

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US braced for Haditha effect

Oilers

I saw this pic just now...It's crazy for Canada, since we don't have our team at FIFA. But don't get me wrong, I'm still a big of a football (soccer fan). I just want the Stanley cup home (the Stanley cup and Tim Hortons are both embedded in our Canadian blood)

http://www.canada.com/