September 29, 2008
· Filed under Announcements, Gratitude, Gratitude Carnivals
Please Note: Submissions for the Gratitude Blog Carnival will NOT be accepted if they are not properly submitted.
PLEASE, DO NOT post your submission as a comment on the blog! EMAIL your submission to me at niqaabisister@yahoo.com OR use the handy Submission Form through the Blog Carnival Site by following THIS LINK. SHUKRAN!
A blog carnival is a list of links to blog posts on a variety of other blogs, often around a centralized theme (in this case, Gratitude to Allah). Writers of those blogs submit the LINK to the post they have published on their own blog for inclusion in the carnival. If you do not have a blog or write for a group blog where you can post your submission, you may email me at niqaabisister@yahoo.com with the text of your submission for me to “Host A Post” at http://WriteousSisterSpeaks.wordpress.com. However, if you have a blog or participate in a group blog, it is greatly appreciated if you post your submission there and simply send me the link to it to participate in the carnival.
September 29, 2008
· Filed under Announcements, Gratitude, Gratitude Carnivals
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
Prepare yourself! We will be hosting a Gratitude Blog Carnival in October, inshaAllah. 
Please join us!
The month of Ramadan is often used as a means of correcting our slackened efforts in this deen. It is a month when extra effort is made towards spiritual goals, with the du’a that we will receive blessings for our good works, and the hope that we will come out of Ramadan ready to incorporate more into our daily spiritual practice the rest of the year.
Many Muslims keep journals throughout Ramadan to track their progress on goals and save for future benefit the feelings, sights, and lessons learned throughout the holy month.
Gratitude is one of the character-improvements that we should see as a fruit of Ramadan. “Depriving” ourselves for the month should make it that much clearer to us how much we take for granted, how much we sometimes normally overeat, overspend, oversocialize, over-talk, etc.
So, this year, the Grateful to Allah blog will host a blog carnival designed to celebrate our gratitude to Allah. This is an opportunity to take the lessons learned, the insights discovered, and the goals intended during Ramadan and express our gratitude for them. It is also an opportunity to share and learn from what each other have experienced throughout the month.
- This carnival is open to ALL Muslims.
- After winding down from Ramadan and the Eid festivities, please look over your journals, blog entries, and memories of the month and write a blog post expressing what you are grateful to Allah for.
- Email the link to your post, along with your name, email address, and the name of your blog to niqaabisister@yahoo.com. Or you can submit through the Muslimas Speak Up! Blog Carnival Submission form (technically this is not an MSU carnival, LOL, but to keep the Blog Carnival site appeased I have to list something anyway, and many of you find it easier to submit through that form, so please feel free.)
- Submission deadline will be Wednesday October 8.
- The carnival will be posted at the Grateful to Allah blog on Saturday October 11, inshaAllah.
- Please feel free to be creative; express yourself in your own way. Artwork and photographs with explanation of how they relate are welcome. Poetry, journal entries, essays, etc. are all fine.
- If you do not have your own blog but would like to participate, email your post and it can be hosted at the blog.
- Older blog posts related to gratitude are also welcome! Do not feel that you must write about Ramadan-related matters, or only what you felt grateful for during Ramadan. Ramadan is just a nice jumping-off point, but we should express this gratitude to Allah all year long.
- No limitations (as long as it’s halal, LOL): Poetry, essays, articles, lists, meandering random thoughts, quotes, photos, whatever: However you would like to express appropriate gratitude to Allah – please share.
PLEASE, DO NOT post your submission as a comment on the blog! EMAIL your submission to me at niqaabisister@yahoo.com OR use the handy Submission Form through the Blog Carnival Site by following THIS LINK. SHUKRAN!
See Also: An IMPORTANT Note
September 27, 2008
· Filed under Aaminah's Journal, Gratitude, Poetry
For a month and a day
i have sat pondering
Looking for verse to express
The gratitude due YOU.
It is not the muse that is lacking
For all around me i see
YOUR creation, wonders, bounties
All the blessings YOU Alone give.
Yet to sit and try to find words
There are few:
SubhanALLAH
AlhamdulALLAH
A poem of two phrases only
Seems hardly sufficient to convey
The tears when i hear YOUR Words
The aching heart that longs for YOUR Face
The awe when i pause to consider
All YOU have placed before me:
SubhanALLAH
AlhamdulALLAH
That is all i can say
Would that i could limit
Silence my tongue from heedlessness
And complaining
That i might say nothing more
Forever
than:
SubhanALLAH
AlhamdulALLAH
© Aaminah Hernández – 2008
September 27, 2008
· Filed under Gratitude · Tagged technology
This may seem like a post not really designed for this blog or for this month but I am grateful for this useful bit of everyday life that would make research and contact so much more time consuming and difficult with it.
Let me explain, if you ever visit my blog (my other one) you will see I just posted twice with things I found in my inbox. Subhanallah… I have emails from 2003 when I first opened the account and had decided to save the useful bits of information that had been forwarded to me as a new muslim. I thank God that I did save them, and that I had the ability to, because every now and again I need something to pick me up, shake me up or generally slap me around to realise the beauty that I have in my life. And without technology, I would have that.
Can I get an ‘Alhamdulillah?’
September 26, 2008
· Filed under Gratitude, Quotes
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
When one reflects upon the bounties that Allah has bestowed on him, and how little he is thankful for them, he becomes ashamed of asking for more because of how much he has attained thus far.
– Saida Bint Zayd
If you are granted a blessing from Allah, hurry toward it with thankfulness before it disappears.
– Hind Bint Al-Muhallab
September 15, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
Assalamalikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatahu,
insha’allah this post finds you all in good spirits with a high iman. This is my first post on this blog after reading through some of the well writing posts here and feeling that my writing really isn’t up to as good a standard as the other contributors here. Now I feel maybe it was because I didn’t have the right feeling within me for gratefulness to Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) to write about. Yes I am grateful for everything but that doesnt mean I have topics of inspiration to write about.
Alhamdulillah yesterday I got this feeling. After hearing so much about hurricane Ike in the news recently, and all those people who have been affected by probably the biggest hurricane so far this season, it was on my mind. Here in Ontario we had been told that we would be feeling the last ruminant’s of the hurricane in the form of heavy prolonged rain and winds. I was on my way to the mosque for taraweeh when the winds started, the rain had already fallen a little but not the 9 inches predicted alhamdulillah. I could feel it rattling my car as I drove down the road to the mosque that has taken me in for every problem I have encounted here in my little town. I got out and had to calm my skirt as the wind sent it flying everywhere including in my path to nearly trip me up as I walked up the steps as isha was being played over the loudspeakers in the car park. I got up there late and caught up in time to pray taraweeh from the beginning alhamdulillah and soon got into the swing of things. I have noticed that recently my posture has become bad when I have been standing for long so I have tried my best to rectify this during salah. We prayed 2, then another 2, I needed water, was beginning to feel hot, bothered and a little woozy. Then on the 6th rakah I was reminded of the people affected by the hurricane when the winds blew around and through the open window.
This is what caused me to immediately send my thanks to Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) I was at that point grateful for us only getting the tail end in 2 senses of the word getting. I was grateful that we only got the tail end and nothing worse or in any way similar to those in the south of the continent. I was grateful for getting it and being shown it at a time when I needed the wind, I needed the reminder that there were worse things happening in the world than what was going on in my life.
Alhamdulillah,
thanks for reading
Ammena
August 24, 2008
· Filed under Aaminah's Journal, From Other Blogs, Gratitude, Re-Posts
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
This is a re-post from my own blog. Reading these two things made me so grateful for so much that I take for granted… easy access to healthy food, being able to go to the store to pick up the school supplies my son needs (even if we complain a bit about how much it all costs, at least it is possible!), having a family that accepts me as a Muslim and is even relatively supportive…
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These two stories brought tears to my eyes this morning. And no, it’s not from the menopause, hee hee. Really, please check them out, and see if they don’t make you think and feel something:
Via SouthernMuslimah: Baby Steps: School Bag Project - Just read the whole thing.
From SunniSisters:
I met a young brother today. He’s been Muslim for a short time. His family gave him the big ol’ boot when he did that — his mixed Jewish/Christian family wants nothing to do with him now. He goes from Muslim home to Muslim home, relying on a network of brotherhood for a place to lay his head. “Are you American?” he asked me. He hasn’t met many American-born Muslims. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me there is something about meeting another Muslim that grew up American. It’s not always that you get along or like one another or anything, but it’s a connection, the same way we see the immigrants connect with one another in the masjid.
Anyway, an example of being in the trenches together is the way that this largely immigrant community where I was has taken this young American dude under their wing. He’s got a job with them, he’s got a place to stay. His arms may be covered in tattoos, and he’s definitely had a bit of a rough go before, but there seems to have been no question about helping him out, no shying away from the guy with flames and skulls on his arms. An example of a community that didn’t just hug him and say “Mabruk” before turning their backs and forgetting about him when he took shahada. His “Muslim family” has stepped up when his blood family hated his beliefs more than they loved him. We should celebrate and encourage this type of brotherhood — the kind that sticks it out in tough times, and isn’t just a pat on the back at ‘Eid. (Note, I’m not going to name the community, so don’t ask.)
August 23, 2008
· Filed under Announcements
Sisters Ammena, Huda, and Samira have joined up to contribute to this blog, mashaAllah.
So, welcome, sisters! We look forward to your additions, inshaAllah.
August 22, 2008
· Filed under From Other Blogs, Gratitude, Re-Posts
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
Asalaamu alaikum. This is being reposted from Abdur Rahman’s Corner, with permission of course! (Aaminah)
Following on from sister Aaminah’s Grateful to Allah Blog Carnival, here are a few things I am sincerely grateful to God for. As you will soon notice, given that Ramadan is fast approaching, this particular list consists of all my favourite foods! Allah!
- Clean, cold water on a hot day
- Milk
- Lassi/Laban: produced in many parts of the world, this is a drink made from milk and yoghurt. Sometimes with sugar (yum), sometimes with salt (yuck) and often with fruit (double yum)!
- Olives and olive oil: I truly, madly, deeply love olives and olive oil. Olives come in all shapes and sizes, and all of them are lovely!
- Cherries, apples and grapes: these are 3 of my favourite fruits. We don’t get cherries all of the time and so when we do, they don’t last long! My children love apples, as do I. I grew up in London with a small apple tree in the garden. My in-laws have a huge apple tree in their garden. Grapes are delicious and the occasion for much humour in our house: both of my daughters enjoy biting them, sucking the juice out of them and passing me the remnants!
- Mangos: my wife’s family say that Pakistani mangos are the best in the world, ever! Based on my own experience, I would probably agree (though I’ve not had many from elsewhere). Mango eating is a delicately crafted ritual in my in-laws home: my wife and mother-in-law sit down, out comes a wickedly sharp knife and before you can say ‘bismillah’, a plate of neatly sliced mango pieces are produced. I like to eat the skin – though my wife says that it’s disgusting.
- Humous and taramasalata: I love both and so does my wife. Fortunately, neither seem to be very popular in Merthyr and so there’s often lots of it in the reduced section of Tescos.
- Freshly cooked, warm crusty bread: Allah! What can I say!
- A traditional sunday roast dinner: a childhood favourite and great on any day of the week!
- Cawl: a traditional Welsh soup/stew (often made with lamb). My beloved wife makes a really lovely cawl.
- Achar Gosht (Pickled Meat, approximately): fiery, spicy and the cause of much chili-induced pain/pleasure
- My mother-in-law’s chicken curry
- Porridge
- Supermalt: a malt-based, alcohol-free drink. I really do love supermalt (and I can now buy it in Merthyr Tydfil). Not loved by everyone (and loathed by my wife and sister). But, hey! I like it.
- Coffee: I drink too much coffee, but there’s nothing quite like it.
- Tea: I love all kinds of tea – although I especially love Earl Grey and Mint Tea.
- Family barbecues: another much-loved family ritual, also involving much care, effort and attention to detail; my wife’s family tell me that Pakistani barbecues are the best in the world.
- Eating food (of any kind) with my wife and three children
Sometimes, we spend so much time thinking about other things that we forget to thank God for the simple things – for the food we eat, and the water we drink. Allah! I have so much to be grateful for.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
August 19, 2008
· Filed under Gratitude, Hadith
♦ Mughira b. Shu’ba reported that Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) worshipped so much that his feet were swollen. It was said to him: (Why do you undergo so much hardship despite the fact that) Allah has pardoned for you your earlier and later sins? Thereupon he said: May I not (prove myself) to be a grateful servant (of Allah)? (Sahih Muslim – Book #039, Hadith #6772)
♦ Narrated Al-Mughira: The Prophet used to stand (in the prayer) or pray till both his feet or legs swelled. He was asked why (he offered such an unbearable prayer) and he said, “should I not be a thankful slave.” (Sahih Bukhari – Book #21, Hadith #230)
♦ It is reported on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that there was (once) a downpour during the life of the Apostle (may peace and blessings be upon him Upon this the Apostle (may peace and blessings be upon him) observed: Some people entered the morning with gratitude and some with ingratitude (to Allah). Those who entered with gratitude said: This is the blessing of Allah, and those who entered with ingratitude said: Such and such asterism was right. It was upon this that the verse was revealed: I swear by the setting of the stars to the end and make your provision that you should disbelieve it. (Sahih Muslim – Book #001, Hadith #0135)
♦ Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “There is a (compulsory) Sadaqa (charity) to be given for every joint of the human body (as a sign of gratitude to Allah) everyday the sun rises. To judge justly between two persons is regarded as Sadaqa, and to help a man concerning his riding animal by helping him to ride it or by lifting his luggage on to it, is also regarded as Sadaqa, and (saying) a good word is also Sadaqa, and every step taken on one’s way to offer the compulsory prayer (in the mosque) is also Sadaqa and to remove a harmful thing from the way is also Sadaqa.” (Sahih Bukhari – Book #52, Hadith #232)
♦ Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “None will enter Paradise but will be shown the place he would have occupied in the (Hell) Fire if he had rejected faith, so that he may be more thankful; and none will enter the (Hell) Fire but will be shown the place he would have occupied in Paradise if he had faith, so that may be a cause of sorrow for him.” (Sahih Bukhari – Book #76, Hadith #573)
NaksibendiMuslimah
Umm Layth
A'ishah
ammena