Here are practical ways we can improve and enjoy our Salat as it was meant to be! ---------------------------- Today we have indeed come to treat the Prayer (Salah) as something insignificant in our lives. Very often we hear our elders say, I will start praying when the time comes. Others, especially the younger Muslims, do not find much comfort,and joy in their Prayers. Due to our treatment of Prayer as a burden, our love and passion for the Prayer has vanished. Our hearts have become hardened, and we have become a depressed and defeated people. As a result, many are searching for cures and remedies to the distress in our lives, through any means available, but are unable to find any because they have ignored the greatest medicine-Salah! If we look deep into our daily lives and diagnose the causes of our spiritual, social and psychological illnesses, we will realise that probably something as uplifting, as evolutionary, and empowering as Salah is missing. If we, the youth, realize the potential role of Prayer in changing our lives and as a constant source of hope we would regret missing even a single Salah. The Role of Salah in Changing our Lives. The whole purpose of Salah is to be ever conscious of Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Salah is indeed, one of the most comprehensive forms of Dhikr (Remembrance). No wonder, Allah states in a Hadith qudsi: Out of all the ways through which my servant gets closer to Me,Salah is the dearest to Me.(Bukhari) It is unfortunate, therefore, that we do not always take full advantage of this gift. We may compare the obligatory Salah to bathing five times a day. If after such frequent bathing, your body still remains dirty, then we may question the usefulness and efficacy of such bathing. Similarly, if after regular observance of Prayer your heart remains unmoved and your morals remain corrupt, we may question the usefulness of your Prayer. If you enter into Salah and come out of it the same person, then you have missed something great. How can you improve the quality of your Salah? Remember, first and foremost, that as soon as you commence your Salah, Shaytan makes it his duty to fill your mind with anything and everything, but thoughts of Allah. He tries ceaselessly to disengage your mind and heart from such remembrance. It is this state of absentmindedness that destroys the quality of your Prayer. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said: Allah does not accept the Prayers of an individual until his heart achieves in it what his body has achieved.[Al- Ghazali in Ihya-Uloom ad-Deen] The ability to concentrate in Prayer may be improved by undertaking adequate psychological, mental and physical preparation before the prayer and by utilizing certain techniques during the Prayer. Ways to Improve Salat Avoid praying in a state in which you are mentally and physically fatigued. Keep your mind free of worldly worries, evil thoughts, and ideas. Plan what verses/duas you are going to recite. If you do not understand Arabic, learn the meaning of what you recite in your Prayer. Remind yourself that engaging in Prayer offers you an opportunity to release yourself from the tensions of this world. The Prophet(Peace be upon him) has said that in Prayer was placed the comfort of his eyes. Therefore cherish the opportunity to remove the burdens of this world from your shoulders. Use your Prayer to remain focused on your mission in life, which is to bring your entire being to serve only Allah. Use your Prayer as a source of strength, inspiration and enthusiasm for your life and activities. Fulfill all your personal needs before you commence your Prayer, for e.g.,thirst, hunger and calls of nature. Pray in a pure physical state. Perform your wudu with care and perfection. Although the whole earth is a masjid or a place of worship, choose a place that is clean. Pray in an environment free of noise and one where there is no distraction. Adorn yourself with clean and respectable clothes. Assess your mental readiness for Prayer before its commencement, during the various postures, after each raka and ultimately at the end. Pray with humility both in your mental state and in your physical manner. Pray with hope and awe. Remind yourself continually that you are talking to the most important One in your life - your Creator and Sustainer. He is in front of you. You are facing Him and you are involved in a dialogue with Him. Commence your Prayer by seeking Allahs help and protection from the influences of Shaytan. Lower your gaze while praying and do not allow the physical environment to distract you. On each occasion that you recite the Sifat or attributes of Allah in Ruku and Sajda, consider how indebted you are and how grateful you should be to Allah and express your true emotions. Utilise the occasion of Sajda to make additional dua to Allah. The Prophet said: A servant is nearest to his Lord when he is in Sajda, so increase your supplication when in Sajda. (Muslim.) Pray as if it is your last Prayer. The Messenger of Allah said: When you stand up to pray, perform your prayer as if it were your last...(Ahmad) Compiled from: "In The Early Hours" by Khurram Murad Salaams

Arranged marriage to happen of course you have to agree to it, never, never will I agree to it. No matter what the circumstances might be. I have seen it happen and not work, and parents still being blamed for the consequences. Dont want to go through that. As walking out on someone I care about, that won't happen, since my parents gave up telling me to get married. Sue- you would never want to grow out of ‘rebel without a cause’ stage. I miss that stage of my life so much since no one bothers telling me what to do now. It works really well.

^^Maybe she had nothing better to do. Wow, she's is brave, gota admit it. I can't even stand seeing a spider a feet away, scares me to death. Again it's haram to put your life in danger, it's not worth it. How can you build resistance to stings?

The thought of working and my children at day care never appealed to me. Unless it’s necessary for me to work, hopefully not, me and my hubby would have to switch work shifts so he can stay home while am at work, and me home when he is at work. Or else there plenty of jobs where you can work from, with this advanced technology it sure does make every thing easier. It’s so critical to teach kids in their developmental years what yuo want them to learn, and there’s no else that does it better than their own mom. As for mom taking care of her grand children, she had great time raising 10 kids, now she makes my sisters bring my neices and nephews over so she can spoil them. I 'm always telling her she will force me to move out of state when I have kids, I don't need no spoiled-brats. It's sad when children make their parents take care of their kids, you need to be there to see your child grow, not your mom. Where is the joy of having a kid when your mom is raising the kid for you. Salaams.

Salaams Walal the khimar is Hijab, but what you wear with it or lack of what you wear with it, and how you wear it defines if your attire is Islamic or not. I prefer wearing khimar, becuase what I feel most comfortable in.

Whatever he chooses to do, his presence wouldn't lessen any pain I might be going through. If he stays all well and good, if not I wouldn't make him stay.

That was a very nice poem, masha allah. Are you the author? Just curios.

Inshallah you feel better soon. May allah ease your pain.

Salaams Modesty – Girl you are 5’4 and complaining, do what sophist said look upon those shorter than you, there are plenty of us. No need to be distressed about your height, look at it as being unique individual. Try dacas with heels.

Asalamu alaikum Nur, It's been awhile since I read your posts. It was a great read, looking forward for the next part. Salaams

Salaams What is so difficult about the requirements? For #4 - Invitation of what?

Few people that do horrendous acts dont define Islam -- still wether they are muslims or even arabs are unknown so no need to become anti-arab-there are many great arabs and most of all the most beloved to allah was an arab. What they did does not represent Islam,our beleifs nor our values. I feel sorry for the guy, he was warned not to go, but he did, so that was his fate. If Bush can't make christianity look bad - few who have done things out of anger assuming they were muslims cant make Islam look bad -- at the end no matter what a muslim does Islam will pervail Inshallah. Pls Pray for all the muslims around the world - may allah lessen their suufering.

Goodness child *gasps* Did you fall on your head? No man knows a thing about training future Araweelo's. Meenah- Must have more like taking advantage of the faaraax’s Araweeelos on the loose now -- watch out guys, run!

Distorted Image of Muslim Women Naasira bint Ellison Since the height of the feminist movement in the late 70's there has been a magnifying glass placed over the status of muslim women. Unfortunately, the magnifying glass that has been used is an unusual one. Unusual in the sense that it is very selective about which items it will magnify; other items it will distort to such a degree that they will no longer look familiar. I remember once reading in an "in depth" article about the lives of muslim women. This article "explained" that at any time a man can divorce his wife by simply stating "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you". This article can lead anyone ignorant of the Islamic ruling regarding divorce to believe that in less than five seconds the woman is left with no husband and is left to care for herself (and possibly children) by any means necessary. The question that immediately popped up in my mind was, "Did the author innocently write that out of sincere ignorance or was it another of the many attempts to degrade the religion of Islam and its followers (muslims)?" It may be my own paranoia, but I tend to believe it was the latter of the two. The truth of the matter is that Islam has the most humane and most just system of divorce that exists. Firstly, many options are taken and tried before coming to the decision of the divorce. If the man and woman decide that they can no longer live together successfully as a husband and wife, the husband (in most cases, not always) pronounces the divorce by saying "I divorce you". At this point the waiting period begins. The waiting period lasts for three menstrual cycles to assure the woman is not pregnant. This period allows the couple time to think about what they are doing and if this is what they really want to do. There are no lawyers involved to antagonize an already delicate situation. In the case that it is realized, that the woman is pregnant, the waiting period lasts the entire time she is pregnant. During the waiting period (whether the woman is pregnant or not) the man is obligated to provide food, clothing and shelter to the woman as he did before the divorce pronouncement. If the couple carries the divorce through to the birth of the child and the woman suckles the baby, the man is obligated to feed and clothe both his ex-wife for the time the woman suckles (the maximum being two years). After this weaning, the child will be provided for by the father until he/she is no longer in need of support. It is quite ironic that in such an "advanced society" as America, there are divorce cases in which women are being forced to pay alimony to their ex-husbands. Can this and many other things we know about the American system of divorce compare to the Islamic system of divorce? I have also read stories wherein it is stated that women are forced to marry men without their consent. This in no way resembles the marriage system in Islam. In Islam the woman marries the man of her choice. She may even marry someone that her mother and/or father objects to. The point is that it is the woman who makes the final decision as to whom she will marry. Once the man and the woman decide that they are interested in one another for marriage, a dowry is decided upon. A dowry is not a brides price but, it is a gift from the groom to the bride. They agree upon a gift that is affordable by the groom. In the time of the Prophet (sas), often things such as livestock and money were given. This is a wise decision in the event that a woman becomes divorced or widowed, she has some financial security to fall back on even if it is for a limited amount of time. Once the man and woman are married, the man is required to clothe, feed, shelter and educate her (or allow her to be educated) in the same manner as he does himself. The last distorted image that I will cover is that of the muslim women's dress. The western influenced media portrays our dress to be outdated and oppressive. Needless to say however, I differ with these adjectives. Our dress code does not hinder us from doing anything productive in our lives. Muslim women maintain a variety of jobs, non of which are devalued nor hampered due to their dress code. And as for the timing of muslims women's dress during these contemporary times, it seems most appropriate due to decreasing morals in the world today. For those who say that Islamic dress is outdated, they speak from great ignorance. The decreasing molarity and trials of this time makes Hijaab even more in need. More than ever before sex crimes are rampant. Although this society tells women they can wear what they want to wear, anytime a rape occurs the woman is the one put on trial an one of the first questions is, "What were you wearing?" This concept seems as though it is a set up directed against the so called contemporary woman. Also there is a direct correlation between the respect a man has for a woman and the amount of her body her body she displays flauntigly. In conclusion, I hope this article helped to clear up some distorted/misunderstood aspects of Islam and women. Women in Islam are respected and held in high regard. We will never find success and/or solutions to our problems until we realize that Allah knows best and that this disbelieving society will ruin itself.

Narrated Safwan bin Salim: The Prophet said "The one who looks after and works for a widow and for a poor person, is like a warrior fighting for Allah's Cause or like a person who fasts during the day and prays all the night." Narrated Abu Huraira that the Prophet said as above. Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "There is a Sadaqa to be given for every joint of the human body; and for every day on which the sun rises there is a reward of a Sadaqa (i.e. charitable gift) for the one who establishes justice among people."

Hey Ayoub -- how much do you charge to train these women. BTW watch out ka barti ka badii a la yidhi -- they seemed to be eager for faraaxs. :eek: :eek: :eek: Such a scary pic though..But hey women gotta do what they gotta do-right.

That was a brilliant read. Ohh, but what a sad predicament that Halima farax must have been in – should have taken easy on the qurbash though. :eek: and the men … iga dhaaf* LOL Ameenah – are the faraax’s of today any better?

Make-up usually tosses women into a pit of lack of confidence, mystification, and even self-loathing (even if they're not really aware of it). Well, men who are attracted to women who wear a lot of make up are attracted to them out of pure animal instinct. Of course only in my opinion Men who act purely out of physical attraction treat women as sex toys, trophies and personal property. I will gladly walk out the door without a junk on my face – about the only think that I put on once in a while is kohl. Unfortunately many women wear make-up and consider themselves ugly without it, very sad indeed. Turning make up into a daily and clown-like ritual only makes women feel unsure of her self and can really ruin their self-esteem. It's important to remember that true beauty is not found in superficialities but in who someone is. I must agree with the 3rd philosopher though that’s why many women wear make-up.

Those must have been very embarrasing expriences-with 20 neices and nephews I've learned my lessons not to talk in front of them. Here's more out of the mouths of babes... My friend who teaches at a sunday school--told the kids to draw pictures of the most important thing in their life...she started walking around checking on their work..stoped at girl's desk..asked her what she's drawing...girl said God..my friend responded but nobody knows how god looks like..the girl said but everyone will know as soon as i'm done drawing with the picture.

Lucky The lactic acid in yogurt sloughs away dead skin cells, it really gives you radiant complexion -- it's even better when you mix it with olive oil.

Inshallah you have a wonderful and safe trip -- filled with great expriences. Dont forget to share the events of your trip with us though.

You will be greatly missed Tamina. Good luck with graduation.

their own selfish purposes and complete put the kids on the burner!! ^^puhleaaase Rudy -- The word selfish aint on a mothers dictionary when it comes to her Kids. As for the topic -- As the way for people end a marriage is different for every individual..Your scenario is disturbing... I must say it happens- there are individauls who are so preocupied with themselves that the kids aren't in the picture -- there is really nothing a soceity can do -- it depends on the couple and the foundation of the marriage they had.

Shaabella Thanks sis for sharing the info -- Qasil is really good -- but I cant seem to find it anywhere in Michigan. BTW Plain yogurt really does wonders for your skin.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RAXMAH... Miz-Unique -- Thanks Hon-- it's been awhile since my birthday -- it's never too late though