why arent you in montreal?

can you tell me more about taraweeh? like its definiiton? is it the same thing as a lenghtened group qiyam? i tried to do taraweeh at home, but i never got further thann 4 raka's. oh, another lesson i learned is that when someone wrongs you the quran can actually speak for you.

salaama 3leykum I learned that charity increases your wealth... actually i knew that, but i got to re-experience it i learned Im being tested by my family, and this will be a constant struggle. i learned that if I am tired or weak, its most likely because I mismanaged my time. this ramadan, i had small goals. ive never been someone who goes to taraweeh regularly, but this year i completely shunned it. i sort of wheighed what i need to improve, and the possible rewards in it, and i thought that taraweeh wouldnt be beneficial for me, at the stage i am right now. sheikh nuur, id like to know your input on this. instead, i focused on private devotional acts, so much so that if i found myself waiting for something/someone, i would do dhikr or read quran, rather than "waste time". so far, 12 days after ramadan, i have suffered a slow fall in terms of time management, but insha Allah, i will return to a more blessed filled time. please make du'a for me. oh, what i did wrong... i think i lied, but im not sure if being purposefully vague is a lie?

peoples reactions are interesting... the man didnt write anything obscene. i can understand people feeling conflicted about identifying or feeling compassion for a less than savory character, but i wonder if people would react similarly if the story were about a murderer, a warlord, perhapps? its a story, and frankly even a story such as this can have a moral... remember the hadith of the prostitute who was granted paradise for her charity towards a dog? and the devout woman promised hellfire for her mistreatment of a cat? i mean, he isnt glorifying zina, or prostitution, just highlighting the discrepancies of human nature. i really enjoy your writing style, masha Alla. i think you are gifted and i cant wait to read more.

uhhh, is this article promoting homosexuality??? dont bother with women, kulaha,pffft!

i am so ugly, when i went to the beautician to get my eyebrows waxed, she accidentally waxed my moustache. and if that wasnt embarassing enough, the beautician charged me double because, apparantly, the struggle to wax me cost her a nail and a chipped tooth. i am so ugly... the last time i went for a job interview, they wouldnt let me in the building stating: "NO DOGS ALLOWED". i am so fat, everytime i get out of bed, my family jumps out of their rooms screaming: "EARTHQUAAAAKE!!!" I'm ugly yall.

i wouldnt last a minute as any of my favourite characters... theyre lecherous, egotistical and sightly epicurian. in other words theyre going to hell in a hand basket, and frankly i prefer living vicariously and thus live numerous epiphenies on life, without any of the trouble. do you have a hard time saying no to people?

i lie, and often i lie to protect people's feelings, but i suspect that even with my supposed good intentions, i may be lying out of fear from the other person's reaction. i think it is better for both parties when the truth is spoken and frankly i have no business fearing anyone except Allah, swt. do you find it easy to talk about islam to non-muslims?

i hate shiisha and people the people who smoke it... maybe not hate, but they lose respect. what do you want from this world? and do you ever feel guilty for wanting it?

there is a very good website called www.understandquran.com its ideal for people like me who do not understand the quran in its original format. i recommend it to any of you struggling, the website is very motivating, and the lessons are completely relevant to the quran, may Allah swt reward those who put the lessons online.

^^^ did you also imagine the "Mufasa" voice from lion king?

Allah wont change your heart, until you change yr heart--- there is an ayat in the quran that says something to that effect. meaning, if you dont want to believe, than you wont. for a believer, proof is found everywhere he she looks, and to a certain degree it (belief) is subjective. the scientific argument/ demands proof from those arguing the existence of something, however, for us (believers), it is difficult to prove His non-existence. any scientific calculation you come up with, it will simply make us marvel at our Lords infinite wisdom, and mercy. Proof of Allah's existence can be found in the night, the stars, the moon, and the perfect harmony... if the moon were placed just a mile further than it is, we would be suffering all kinds of harsh climate changes, like floods, hurricanes, etc... subhan Allah, proof is in the perfection of this universe (despite how much we abuse our planet), and really, you have to believe first to even recognize it... you have to be willing to recognize the truth, and not cover it up with your own fancies or egotism. we pray, we fast, etc because this is what our prophet muhammad (pbuh) ordered us to do, and he was ordered to tell us by Allah swt. every nation of the world has been sent a prophet and or a messenger, and they all came with the same message, which is to worship the one true God, and to do good actions. Muhammad,pbuh, is the seal of the prophets and the last of a long line of messengers, and he was a man/human like any of us, except he had the best of characters, and because of that, we muslims try to emulate him as best we can.

yes, masha Allah. i can hear the gun shots slowing down as nuur escapes from this child's face and everyone, confused and hopeful, looks around them, and than someone screams "mashaAllah", and suddenly everyone is looking at the same direction and silence encompuses the entire region, and, simultaneously, the populous lets out a long exhale of "aaaawwwwwwwwww" and than someone says -"what are we fighting for? what are we animals" "i love you man" -"we got to make the world a better place, so lets start giving" and than the music starts to play, and everyone holds hands and sings " we are the world... we are the children..." *sniff* i can see it now... *sniff*

mrs dalloway by virginia woolf (i have about 20 pages left), than i will read the best of the best stories ... the odyssey. i ve only read one other v. woolf novel (to the lighthouse) and maybe a couple of short stories, and though she generally has the same style of writing with all that ive read so far, this book (mrs dalloway) really makes you appreciate her. it kind of makes you think about new frontiers in art (in this case literature), has everything been done already, in terms of style and composition?people in the visual arts are always doing these odd things to gain media attention, but im beginning to think its not just for attention, maybe its a stifled imagination?

brap-brap im a celtics fan simply by default (hate the lakers)--- and because i heart kevin garnett. totally jumping on the band wagon!!!

except even the somali "majorities" are in a big pile a dung... nothing to share but more dung.

^^^

why cant they be considered "colored" its their own fault for not mixing...

havent you heard? 50 is the new 40---

he could be working at those hours--- i mean, if the youngest is a couple of months old, than he cant be that far can he?

jaad is an intoxicant... thats like saying homosexuality is mentionned in the quran, but not bestiality, therefore... anyways, i think this is beautiful news.

where do peanuts come from?

remove the joke section... and dood wadaag (cause thats basically the purpose of general anyway)and poetry should be changed to short stories (masha Allah, we have a lot of talented people). and who goes to student talk??? sorry, just a bit of constructive criticism. i do appreciate the forum and the many different pages, just think we could be more efficient.

i had a bit of a scare with my old monicker, and felt the need to change it. its also a bit of a remix on james bond's famous words: "shaken, not stirred".

why not just change the topic?