RAMADHAN KAREEM SISTERS AND BROTHERS IN ISLAM

Salaam all. Believe it or not the Month of mercy is upon us once more. Alhamdulillah we have once again been blessed with the opportunity to better ourselves. To tighten our ties with the Merciful and to seek forgiveness and guidance. This is the month when a great number of people (can’t remember the actual number) will be saved from Hell Fire. It is the month of Rahma….when we are surrounded by Allah’s mercy, tranquillity and the gates of paradise are wide open. It is the month of guidance…..the shayaatins are locked in shackles and the gates of Hell Fire are shut.

Sisters and brothers in Islam, let us make the most of this Ramadhan. Only Allah is aware if we will witness the next one. Let us use this month as a stepping stone to increase our imaan, to get closer to our creator and exercise some self control. InshaAllah I pray we all improve our Islamic character however small or big it may seem.

May we be among the ones saved form the Hell Fire on this Month of Mercy. I pray that we are all granted what is kheyr . May we benefit and make the most of Ramadhan. May the Angels always protect us and may happiness and blessing always surround us. May Allah’s love enfold us, may His power protect us, may his presence guide us and his blessing pour over us always.
Ameen thuma ameen.

InshaAllah kheyr

I see Changes!

Changes……lately I have been surrounded by them. It seems every time I turn someone throws one at me. 2007 so far has been something.

I am having difficulty keeping up. It seems everything is moving around me while I stand stagnant …stuck in waist length mud which is keeping me motionless. I don’t even know how I feel about these changes…I haven’t allowed myself time to think about them. Why? Haven’t thought about that either.

I am always telling everyone that they should embrace change but I seem to be having some difficulty with that. It is easy to see what is right in other people’s situations but when it comes to me…I seem to store everything in the back of my mind where cobwebs seem to have grown because I hardly pay it a visit. Think outside the box…easier said than done.

Methinks it’s high time I knock on THAT door and have conversations with the Almighty; I don’t think my iman is where it should be right now.

Anyway…alhamdulillah ‘ala kuli hal

InshaAllah kheyr

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEMO!

Nothing says I love you like an original piece writing dedicated to you!

Happy Birthday sista-friend
Although I haven’t known you for ages
I feel blessed to be able to send this greeting
Perhaps because when the going got tough
You always managed to make me crack a smile
So here is my two pence worth of advice
Celebrate your specialness for awhile


Our NM has turned 23, here's us wishing you a joyous year!

We pray that Allah keeps you in our company for many more years to come. May he forgive your sins and replace them with lofty deeds. May Allah always love you and keep you in his mercy. May you be one of the guided ones who strives in the path of Allah always. May you be raised as the pious on the day of reckoning, and may Allah make it possible for all of us to meet in the gardens of Jannah……ameen thuma ameen.

We love you Naima!

Its been a year gurlz!

So its just been over a week and things are going great alhamdulillah. Work has been flexible since it’s Ramadhan…that’s the joy of working with Muslims

So Friday was the MAB iftari………..and boy did it take a lot out of me!
First of all I walked from Moss Side to Levenshulme where Nawab Restaurant (the place where the iftari was held). Then when I got there they told me that they had run out of tickets. I just looked at the brother and thought “What?”

He just looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.

Brother: I’m sorry but all the tickets are booked we don’t have any more

Me: brother don’t play us like that….you must have a few that you can spare….I mean we payin

Brother: I’m sorry…..there is nothing I can do

Me: we walked from Moss Side…..brother have some sympathy!

Brother: sorry (shrugs his shoulders)

Me: ok….kheyr inshaAllah. Guess it wasn’t meant to be.

So I’m really disappointed by now but not yet despairing…..so I call everyone on my line that might be selling tickets. Get a massive disappointed because no-one has any left. I decided to call White African to see if she is going and she tells me she is. It was exactly a year ago at the same event that I met her…..so this event had some sort of a special meaning for me.

As I am about to leave the brother comes up to us (now our group consisted of Shuks, Gdon, Fdows, BabyH and myself) he says he only has two tickets for Gdon and Fdows. So we ask them to take it.
One of my friends from uni comes up to me and says “I have one ticket…do you guys want it?”

I reply “we want three…..aint you got 3?

She says “I only got one”

I call Shuks over and ask her to have the ticket coz I can’t leave Baby H and she can’t leave me (we are attached at the hip). She accepts reluctantly.

By now I’m consoling myself by saying it wasn’t meant to be. As BabyH and I were about to leave the brother comes back and says “I have two tickets”. I look at him as if to say are you for real?
Then Shuks speaks up and says “we want three…..there’s three people left (while looking for a ticket we met this girl who was in the same dilemma as we were…..so we couldn’t leave her by herself).

“I thought you wanted two?” says the brother

“We can’t leave our sister hanging” replies Shuks

“Sister? She is not your sister” says the brother

You should note that the sister was Pakistani and the rest of us were Somali.

“She is our sister is Islam” I reply

The brother then smiles and gives us the ticket.
I wanted to hi-5 the brother……..but then that kinda act aint exactly appropriate (especially in an Islamic event…..u feel me).

Went inside and had a good time. A lot of talents were showcased. The story of the King and the boy was entertaining and a good reminder.

Poetry by the Quest was one of my highlights together with the play. I have to say that the two brothers were talented hands down. The play was hilarious and White African provided an excellent narrative.

The best part was the dua delivered by White African’s father……..it was just beautiful!

All in all…..it was a night well spent.

This event marked the first anniversary of my friendship with the Group…….it was what got the ball rolling…..by the will of Allah.

MashaAllah it has been a blessing knowing these girls……they have increased me in knowledge and encouraged me to be a better person.

Just wanted to say that I love y’all…….4real.
You my sistas and my homies………….may Allah keep us together for many more years….ameen.

By the way…..I know I live in Moss Side and I walk around as if I’m a gangsta (albeit a hijabi gangsta…lol) but I did not sneak into the iftari. Allah just showered his mercy on me…alhamdulillah. That myth should be dispelled of………lool

Luv ya'all

The new man in my life!

He is sweet, he's beautiful and all that I ever wished for. He is a that shining light and a glimmer of all things nice. He calms my heart and brightens my day. My gift from ALLAH.............. May he grow to be pious and God fearing, May he grow to be one filled with kindness and a radiation of inner beauty. May he be a blessed son to all..........ameen

I'm in love......and yes it's real!

I always thought that love at first sight was a myth….but I have been proven wrong. My heart was stolen by this beautiful creature on Saturday 16th September at 7:25pm. As soon as I laid eyes on him I knew I was hooked and didn’t want to leave him . His beautiful large eyes which inquisitively searched the room tagged at my heart strings. How is it one is able to love so suddenly….and so unconditionally? I’ve only known him for 24hrs and yet I cannot picture my world without him. He is the first thing I think about and the last….in fact he is all I think about. SubhanaAllah, truly Allah is amazing

Alhamdulillah........MashaAllah!!

My friend has said the shahada………..mashaAllah. I am lost for words. I am happy to the point of tears. Wow! Well that’s it really….she is now a muslim…..alhamdulillah!

Being Random!

Well….it has been a week of planning and researching.

First and foremost NM and I have been given the ability to sort out our issues with a certain friend. ALLAH (s.w) sent inspiration to us via White African….alhamdulillah. Jazakillah for the help White African.

WA has left for morocco for 10 days…….I hope she had a safe a safe trip and ALLAH keeps her and her companions in best health and of iman, and returns them safely back to us ……ameen

I think we might have finally found an all female martial arts class…….I know we have found a belly dancing class to accommodate our needs ( we need to get fit and toned……sitting around on our lazy butts all day aint gonna do us good).

Another funny incident occurred.......WA, NM and I had to teach a little rudebwoy wannabe a lesson......I will NM have the honour of blogging about this.

Plans on broadening my linguistic skill have been slightly modified. Together with plans on learning Arabic I will also be learning Bosnian (albeit basic). On top of that save for our Egypt trip with NM. It’s going to be the most hectic six months in along while. This sounds a bit far fetched but I am hoping to fit in driving lessons into my schedule as well (although I am wondering whether I should leave that to NM and keep riding on the passenger side for a little longer.........hell its cheaper so you cant knock it).

Oh........another funny thing (I nearly forgot). While innocently surfing brother Rendezvous blog I decided to curiously browse through his links. I came across a blog called Native Xalimo (I was wondering who has the same name as my blog...........and wondering why I didn’t think of adding Xalimo to my name instead of Female). Anyway I was with NM at the time and it made us laugh. By the way……brother Rendezvous has cool blog.........entirely dedicated to Muslim women........I guess he knows we are the better half......lool

I also watched District 13 (the French movie)......it was good! And I met some great Muslim teenagers from London and Bosnia. MashaAllah.....this kids migth be going places....they are our future!

Reflections!

One of my brother's friend lost his life in a house fire caused by a gas leak (his older brother, his wife and two kids were also lost in this tragedy). The boy (called Abdirahman) was only 18.

My mom just called us from back home to tell us this. It happened this afternoon (kenya time).

May ALLAH have mercy on them and grant them jannah! Ameen

This reminds me that death does not discriminate.
Truly......kulu nafsun da'iqatal maut!

Life is short.........people let us use our time on earth productively.
I for one need to increase my dhikr and taqwa. Lately my 'ibadah hasn't been what it should be.

Inalillahi wa ina ilayhi raji'un.

I need to recharge

Ok, it’s been a long weekend. We were refurbishing the house and our target was to finish by Sunday night. We started on Thursday night.

Well it’s now Monday evening and we are done……well we were done on Sunday night actually. I’m in between exams….in fact I just came back from a chemistry paper. It was an ok paper….not good but not bad either. In between painting the whole house and revising for my exams am exhausted. Having the typical English weather of rain and cold air aint helping a bit. It’s May for god sake……we need some sunshine. I better not complain though….rain is a blessing (alhamdulillah ya Allah…..thank you for providing us with this rain).

My house is slowly turning into a full one. I remember five months ago I was just by myself in the big house…..now the house doesn’t feel big anymore (which is a great thing by the way). Two of my little sisters will be showing up soon and we are also going to be having a temporary addition to our family. His name is Abdul Kareem…..he is just under two and sooo cute. He will be staying with us coz his father is undergoing surgery (may Allah make it easy for him ameen, and may Allah also preserve Abdul Kareem’s father for him ameen). I will have a lil’ kid to run around and play with……am so happy. The icing on the cake will now be getting these exams over with. Three down and two to go. May Allah make the outcome of these exams one that is kheir for me…..ameen.

Anyway…this aint much of a post but let me recharge my batteries and then I’ll post something that is a little interesting inshaAllah :)