Just Dont Be Afraid

As Muslims, we have many responsibilities and living in the west sometimes exacerbates the difficulties in living up to these responsibilities. Sometimes I feel as Muslims living in the west we have a good enough excuse to not practice our religion, even the minimal that is required by us. Practising Islam for some is adequate enough when it’s in the privacy of our lives be it at home, mosque, and relatives/friends place but there’s that little bit inside of us that’s afraid of that unknown territory. The territory that’s in the public. Afraid that if I (ref. to a woman ) go out with the hijab what will people think of me? If I get caught doing wudu in the public restroom what will people think of me? If I ask for a place to perform my prayer at work then what will my boss think of me? etc We find ourselves blocking out from our lives some of the most essential obligations of our faith just because of what someone may or may not think of me.

I think there’s no better way to express Islam then to practice it, but not in seclusion, I mean practice it openly. Non Muslims are going to learn about Islam through most readily available sources, one that comes to mind is the Media but im sure most will agree that the only coverage on air about Muslims is negative and biased. There is the Islam channel for example that can battle such negativity in the same medium but how many non-Muslims have Islam Channel. Hardly any. So the method to be adopted is practising it openly. Be ready to be asked questions about your practises but that’s part of the process. It’s a disguised form of dawah you may call it. A blessing in disguise. You get to fulfill your religious obligation and you also get to fulfill an additional obligation which is to do dawah.

One experience I have had of this is at my workplace. We were in the process of moving offices some 150 miles into another town after merging with another company. So each colleague to be affected by this move had a chance to discuss any needs that they may have as a consequence of the move. I stated clearly at this opportunity that about my need to pray at work. The conversation then followed:

Me: I need a place to pray at work. A small room would suffice.
Boss: So how many times will you need to use it?
Me: Probably 2 or 3 times.
Boss: How many times a day do you pray
Me: Five times a day.
Boss: Wow, at what times do you pray?

I told him the times and a small conversation about prayer followed.

Boss: We should have a room available most afternoons for your prayers but if not then there is a house not far from the office and we can give you access to that if need be
Me: There’s also my Friday prayer, I need to go to the mosque for that one. Do you know of a mosque nearby?
Boss: There is one about 12 miles away in a nearby town. What time will you be going there?
Me: The prayer is at lunchtime, so about 1.
Boss: What time will you have lunch then, we dont want you not having lunch on Fridays do we?
Me: Err, I'll grab something on the way back to work. It seems that on Fridays Ill be needing more than an hours lunch break. Will that be fine?
Boss: Yes that will be fine.

I have great access to that room that was made available for me. There are even times that when the boss is using that room. He comes to me and says 'You may use this room for a few minutes?'. On Fridays, other colleagues (non-Muslim) being fully aware of my need to be out at the mosque on Fridays shuffle their own lunch times around in order to ensure that there is adequate cover of the systems we manage when I am out. Subhanallah, I got so much respect and understanding from others about my needs.

Also, during ramadhan I told my boss I wanted to leave early because I want to go home to break my fast. So he said as long as you can come in early to make up those hours then that’s fine, so I did that. It was ideal to do so.

I’ve even been caught doing wudu in the washrooms, so had an opportunity to explain what I was doing and why I was doing it. Having your foot stuck in the wash basin would raise an eyebrow or two for most people who don’t know.

These are just examples from my experiences. You will more often than not find most people understanding to your most basic religious needs. But you have to make them aware of it. Take the first step. God will not help you if you do not put in the effort yourself. All I had to do was to ask for a room to pray in and I was alhamdulilah blessed with a lot more than I envisaged at the time.

It’s never too late to ask for things that are important to you. Prayer to me is important as it should be to any Muslim. For most people who work and are in this situation, arranging such a thing is possible but you have to do your part and make that first move and remember one thing...Just Don’t be Afraid.

Idiots Guide to Beating the traffic

Today was a day that remined me of most other days. Your going to work and your stuck in seemingly endless commuter traffic. But today only exacerbated my feelings of how horrible being stuck in commuter traffic is really like. However Im willing to excuse these car flooded roads just for today becaue of the horrible storms weve had but the traffic was everywhere, even places where you would least expect, at least in my experience of those roads. Every detour i took there would be traffic. Having left work at 3.45pm I got home at 6.30pm and was too late to make it to my arabic class and was quite understandably totally cheesed off.

Now im someone who used to spend on average 2hrs30mins commuting to work and back. Ive been doing that for nearly a year and have invented small tricks to minimise my commuting time. Despite exceptional days such as today I have found these to be quite effective.

The slow lane is the fast lane

This has proven most successful on motorways where the junctions are relatively close to one another. In my journey its the M25. On any sign of congestion or 'lower speed restrictions showing' you drive in the left hand (slow) lane. You will whiz past the traffic and you come off at the next juntion taking the slip road only to get back on the motorway after having come off. Doing this for the 4 junctions of the M25 i use easily saves me 10-15 minutes. It feels great whizzing past poor souls stuck in traffic. The twisted logic assumed by the majority here i assume is that when road conditions force you to drive slowly you want to get into the fast lane. But if everybody does that then thats where the traffic is most likely to build up and when they realise theyre stuck even more they cut back into other lanes only to hold the traffic further.

The cops are the robbers

This one works wonders on congested A-roads and motorway traffic mainly and is not for the faint hearted but if the thought of chasing a police car tickles your pickle then sure give this one a go. The situation would normally arise in one when an accident has happened and the police/ambulance services are rushing to the scene. As the cars make room for the police to pass through you follow the police car closely as if your chasing them until they get to the scene of the accident. I dont think doing this is illegal but the majority of people still wouldnt try it even if they knew what to do.

Thou shal use the bus lane

It amazes me how many people actually dont understand the true meaning of bus lane restrictions or if they do then they must adore driving in traffic! Restrictions dont normally apply all day and in most areas you find that the restriction apply after 7 or 8am in the morning and before 6 or 7pm in the evening. So if you are ever driving on a road with a bus lane on it and find traffic then do read the restrictions and dont be afraid to use it then if you are allowed to do so.

Big Hug

Some brave woman !!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm

Best UK Complaint Letter

This is quite amusing !!

Below is a copy of a letter that won a competition in UK as complaint letter of the year...
have a laugh and read on.
Complaint Letter of the Year. The British do have a way with words....
A real-life customer complaint letter sent to NTL (to their complaints dept....)


Dear Cretins,

I have been an NTL customer since 9th July 2001, when I signed up for
your 3-in-one deal for cable TV, cable modem, and telephone. During this
three-month period I have encountered inadequacy of service which I had
not previously considered possible, as well as ignorance and stupidity
of monolithic proportions. Please allow me to provide specific details,
so that you can either pursue your professional perogative, and seek to
rectify these difficulties - or more likely (I suspect) so that you can
have some entertaining reading material as you while away the working
day smoking B&H and drinking vendor-coffee on the bog in your office:

My initial installation was cancelled without warning, resulting in my
spending an entire Saturday sitting on my fat arse waiting for your
technician to arrive. When he did not arrive, I spent a further 57
minutes listening to your infuriating hold music, and the even more
annoying Scottish robot woman telling me to look at your helpful
website....HOW?

I alleviated the boredom by playing with my testicles for a few minutes
- an activity at which you are no-doubt both familiar and highly adept.
The rescheduled installation then took place some two weeks later,
although the technician did forget to bring a number of vital tools -
such as a drill-bit, and his cerebrum. Two weeks later, my cable modem
had still not arrived. After 15 telephone calls over 4 weeks my modem
arrived... six weeks after I had requested it, and begun to pay for it.

I estimate your internet server's downtime is roughly 35%... hours
between about 6pm -midnight, Mon-Fri, and most of the weekend. I am
still waiting for my telephone connection. I have made 9 calls on my
mobile to your no-help line, and have been unhelpfully transferred to a
variety of disinterested individuals, who are it seems also highly
skilled bollock jugglers.

I have been informed that a telephone line is available (and someone
will call me back); that no telephone line is available (and someone
will call me back); that I will be transferred to someone who knows
whether or not a telephone line is available (and then been cut off);
that I will be transferred to someone (and then been redirected to an
answer machine informing me that your office is closed); that I will be
transferred to someone and then been redirected to the irritating
Scottish robot woman...and several other variations on this theme.

Doubtless you are no longer reading this letter, as you have at least a
thousand other dissatisfied customers to ignore, and also another one of
those crucially important testicle-moments to attend to. Frankly I don't
care, it's far more satisfying as a customer to voice my frustration's
in print than to shout them at your unending hold music. Forgive me,
therefore, if I continue.

I thought BT were shit, that they had attained the holy piss-pot of godawful
customer relations, that no-one, anywhere, ever, could be more
disinterested, less helpful or more obstructive to delivering service to
their customers. That's why I chose NTL, and because, well, there isn't
anyone else is there? How surprised I therefore was, when I discovered
to my considerable dissatisfaction and disappointment what a useless
shower of bastards you truly are. You are sputum-filled pieces of
distended rectum incompetents of the highest order.

British Telecom - wa*k**s though they are - shine like brilliant beacons
of success, in the filthy puss-filled mire of your seemingly limitless
inadequacy. Suffice to say that I have now given up on my futile and
foolhardy quest to receive any kind of service from you. I suggest that
you cease any potential future attempts to extort payment from me for
the services which you have so pointedly and catastrophically failed to
deliver - any such activity will be greeted initially with hilarity and
disbelief quickly be replaced by derision, and even perhaps bemused
rage. I enclose two small deposits, selected with great care from my
cats litter tray, as an expression of my utter and complete contempt for
both you and your pointless company. I sincerely hope that they have not
become desiccated during transit - they were satisfyingly moist at the
time of posting, and I would feel considerable disappointment if you did
not experience both their rich aroma and delicate texture. Consider them
the very embodiment of my feelings towards NTL, and its worthless
employees.

Have a nice day - may it be the last in you miserable short life, you
irritatingly incompetent and infuriatingly unhelpful bunch of twats.

John

City Circle: The merit of Jesus Christ in Islam

My first ever attendance to a city circle event was on a topic that is of profound interest to me. That being 'The Merit of Jesus Christ in Islam'. The speaker was Abu Muntasir, a popular Islamic Scholar and president of Jimas which is a leading body of young british muslims.

For anyone whose not familiar with the basic tenets of Islam. God, the Almighty had sent many prophets and messengers during the course of time, the first being Adam and the last Muhammad (peace be on them both), the purpose of which was to guide people from the lowest depths of darkness up unto the true light of righteousness and piety. One of these mighty messengers of God was Jesus (pbuh) sent to the children of Israel on a specific mission to confirm the law of the torah (that which was revelaed before to Moses, peace be on him) and as many scholars say, to also lay the foundations of the emergence of a final messanger to be sent from God Almighty.

The audience included memebers of the Christian community and other faiths who were interested to learn what Islam had to say about Jesus.The speaker using references from the Quran and Hadith (sayings and teachings of the prophet) explained the Islamic viewpoint and compared it to that of christian theology. He highlighted many similarities and many differences. The major differences being:

• In Islam, it is essential to accept that God is One, with no partner i.e. a son. In Christianity, it is incumbent to accept that God has a son.
• The quran states that Jesus was not killed nor crucified but was taken up by God and that he will return back to this world at at a time decreed by God, then lead a normal life following the law of God and die a normal death. Christians belive that he was killed and crucified and that he came back i.e. the resurrection. This is necessary for the Christian theological doctrine of blood sacrifice and atonement for sins, which is rejected by Islam that makes it clear that no person shall carry the burdens of another and that every individual will be held accountable for their own sins
  

There are quite a few similarities. This can vary given that there are now many christian denominations present today:

• Jesus was born from a Virgin, Mary.
• That he could perform many miracles such as healing the lepers and giving back sight to the blind. In Islam we may add, the first first mircale of Jesus was that he spoke from the cradle to defend his mother from the false speech of the people that were around her at the time. Islam does stress however that the miracles performed by Jesus were by the permission of God thus strengthening the Islamic viewpoint that all things are done by the authority and will of Almighty God alone.
• That he was charitable and kind in nature (even to his enemies). Was gentle in speech and forgiving.

On the whole, the event didnt produce any argumentation between the various faiths present as to the way they viewed Jesus. It did however encourage the need to be able to have constructive dialogue and debate between the two faiths as to understand better the viewpoint of the other religions. The nature and character as exemplified by this mighty messenger of God that these faiths unanimously agree on can be used I believe as the foundations on which we conduct ourselves with one another in the works of inter-faith dialogue.

The Best Cricket Match Ever!!

If there was ever a greatest match in the History of Cricket, then it would have been yesterdays final one day game between Australia and South Africa. With the series level at 2-2, the final one day of the series was well poised for a game of exciting cricket.

The batting started with the aussies and their steady start was the precursor for a collosal total. The momentum was constantly on the increase as the innings gathered pace and boundaries were plentiful. With Ricky Ponting hitting a magnificent 164 runs off 105 balls, scoring his highest ever in a one day game the final total was 434, which breaks the record for the highest score ever in a one day game.

Now, how would anyone expect the South Africans to respond here. My guess is that they probably knew they would not reach that total to clinch the series but they wanted to put on a respectable performance not only to show that they have some batting muscle in their line up but to also impress a vibrant and ecstatic crowd, the type you would expect from an India vs Pakistan game.

The South Africans started nervously and lost the first wicket at 3 runs, but the next two batsmen battled it out and took on the experienced aussie bowling attack with all guns blazing. Herschellegibbs scoring a tremendous 175 runs off 111 balls, a performance that consisted of 21 fours and 7 sixes, the number of boundaried typical of what youd expect from a whole teams batting combined. Wickets began to fall but each new batsmen was chipping in with the runs, with some even achieving strike rates of 200 before losing their wicket. The climax of the game was the last over with 7 runs required and 2 wickets remaining, which then boiled down to 3 runs required with one wicket remaining.All that was needed for the aussies was the wicket of a very nervous looking South African Tailender but he managed to play a difficult shot well to give the other batsmen the strike. In the penultimate ball a boundary was hit and the South Africans had won the game. What an Amazing Performance. Absolutely Awesome! No one has ever witnessed a game like it before and Im pretty sure no game like this will ever be played in the future.