I hope that all the London nomads are safe and sound Insha'Allah. This is Just shocking, I can't Imagine what you folks must be going through. My prayers are with you all and all the Muslims and their families who have been affected by this tragic incident. May Allah protect us all!

^^Yaa...waad tagtay ma istidhi, hadeeyba gabdhihii oo idil saf kuugu jiraan walee waxbaa isbadaley Hibaad sis, I see absolutely nothing wrong with sisters being vocal about their marital status. As far as acting as you put it...well only Allah knows their true intentions. Originally posted by dawoco: What a disappointment this has turned to be Awww...jiq bey kaaga dhigeen, maskiina..lol...How about I deliberately start a cat fight just to grant your wish of best possible entertainment What's his name, Tuujiye, horta I've been meaning to ask you waxa baas eed tuujiso walal,lol. Nice to see the sisters here are being studied and their differences appreciated.

^^LoL There's a lot of faces missing...I feel almost out of place here **Reminiscing good old SOL days**

Originally posted by Rahima: brother Nur is not at fault for his responsibility is to keep the place clean not punish people for their views I in no way form or shape suggested that the brother is at fault or that he should punish ppl for their views. Bisinka! Maybe I should've worded my statement a little differently and said 'as a respected and knowledgeable debator' instead of a moderator. And by intervention I was merely alluding to him joining the discussion and putting some sense into certain people with respect to the way they chose to speak about the Sheikh even though they are entitled to their own opinions. Correcting and reminding our Muslim brothers and sisters when they slip a little (or big time in certain cases) is a responsibility we all share. Brother Nur , my apologies if I came off as though I was laying blame. That was not my intention. As always, your input is greatly appreciated.

Shukran Rania. Ya Allah, send your peace and blessings upon the Rasuul, his companions, his family and those who follow him.

^^Amiin Sorry for interrupting your 'dialogue' folks. Originally posted by Nur: the reason i did not respond to the Hamza Yusuf thread is because I have very little exposure about the brother, his beliefs and speeches Still, it would've been nice had you intervened as a moderator. That thread was very disappointing to say the least, subhanallah, no one has the right to label others nor speak ill of others and it seemed to me that labelling was the theme of that thread. Salam

Subhanallah, Walahi you folks amaze me. Please have some respect and decency for the sake of Allah and stick to topic at hand, esp since the brother has asked you to. Itaqullah! As for the questions, Originally posted by Guhaad: Today, who is a true Somali nationalist ? Alhamdulilah, I do consider myself one. If there is one or two left, what shall s/he be doing? A Lot! I believe the most important thing they can do is to start re-examining their lives and purifying their hearts. They should form a close relationship with their Creator then seek His forgiveness and guidance. This will help them become functional/rational members of society who are aware of their roles as Muslims, as Somali citizens and as well as global citizens. As stated in the Qur'an: "Verily Allah does not change the condition of a nation until they change themselves"--I guess this ayah sums up the point I'm trying to make. So, Guhaad (Interesting name), I don't know what type of answers you were expecting there walal and I'm certainly not a social/political pathologist, but this is trully where I stand at the moment. ALLAH KNOWS BEST!

Most Definitely! Congratulations to all those who have attained/surpassed their educational goals. May your success in this dunya help you bring about a positive change in the global ummah, and above all, may it help you achieve success in the hereafter Insha'Allah. I really do have strong faith in our young people...May Allah(swt) guide us all and help us achieve a pure state of Islam...Ameen

Salams Originally posted by Hibo: It shouldn't be a wonder to find so many marriages being a product of SOL. Really?...Looks like I missed a lot while I was away...spill the beans lady so I can send my congrats

Wish you guys all the success Insha'Allah.

^^^subhanallah, be a lil optimistic eh Kheyr...Hambaliyo walaal, may Allah swt bless you with a lifelong blissful marriage insha'Allah!

May Allah(SWT) create peace and stability in our country and love between the people.

salam, Thanks for posting the article bro. Sometimes I feel like many Muslims lack the very basic teachings of the three stages of Islam to begin with let alone how they relate to gender. Speaking about the genders though...Sheikh Al-Qaradawi and Dr. Jamal Badawi (as well as others) have written great pieces on stutus of women in Islam...very much worth checking out! I think This Ayah in the Qur'an also sums equality up: "If any do deeds of righteousness, be they male or female , and have faith, they will enter Paradise and not the least injustice will be done to them."[Quran 4:124] Therefore, in the eyes of Allah (SWT), the only thing that puts mankind into different rank is their level of creed and nothing else. Finally...I thought this quote was worth sharing with the sisters in here: "Her position in early Islam was really an exemplary one, one that should be studied and known by every woman as well as every liberationist in the twentieth century--in America as well as in the Muslim World. The Muslim woman, if she is true to the principles of her religion, has lessons in equality to teach the Westerner, and her descendants in the East have to learn anew the role demanded of them by their religion. Orientalists and orientals zealous for modernization should cease to put the blame on Islam, a blame which instead deserves to fall on their own ignorance of the faith and on the political and social decline which their nations suffered in the past." -- Lois Lamya Al-Faruqi Women, Muslim Society and Islam

Assalamu Alaikum everyone, just thought to share this article which I found to be helpful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TREE OF IMAN by Umm Abdullah from a lecture by Dawud Adib ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If someone gives you a plant to take care of..how do you think you will do it? Wouldn't you try your best to not to let that plant die? And of course, to do that you are going to make sure that all the things that plant need, you provide it and keep it away form all the harmful things. At the same time you will try to find out about the basic elements that plant is consisted of and the basic things those elements need to grow properly. Believe me or not but all of us have one, very delicate and at the same time very strong tree to take care of given to us by our Lord. Allah (SWT) has given us this tree that is planted in our hearts, called "shajarat-ul-Iman" (Tree of Iman). Allah (swt) describes that tree in Quran: "Have you not seen how Allah coined a similitude (of parable) a good word like a good tree, the root of that tree is firmly established in the ground and the branches reach the heavens." At another place in Quran Allah (swt) said: "(this particular tree by the permission of its Lord), gives fruits (all kinds of fruits) anytime Allah (swt) wants it to give fruits. Allah (swt) also said: "Allah coin similitude for the human beings (for you and I), so that perhaps we may reflect (we may think)." Science say there are trees in other plants than earth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Allah (swt) created seven heavens and earth other than this planet. Some people say that there are trees and some say there are not. There is proof in Quran and Sunnah that there are trees in Jannah (heaven). One of them is called "Toobaa", the tree for the "ghurab'a" (strangers). The shade of that tree is one month journey and this is where the believers will take their clothes from. Most Important Tree in this World: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The most important tree in this dunya (world) is the Tree of Iman (shajarat-ul-Iman). The tree that Allah (swt) has planted in our hearts. The tree that we all should be worrying about day and night. We all must know what that tree of Iman is made of so that we can take good care of it. What Does the Tree of Iman Have: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Almost all the trees that Allah (swt) has created/originated, almost all of them have three very basic things: 1. Root (O'rooq) The roots of the most important tree on this earth are: a) Knowledge (I'lm) b) Certainty (Yaqeen) The tree of Iman is the basic belief of Islam "La ilaha illal lah" "There is no God worthy of worship except Allah (swt)" So the root for us of the Tree of Iman, is the KNOWLEDGE of the meaning of "la ilaha illallah". It covers every single aspect of our life. When we know that there is no God other then Allah (swt), we totally surrender to Him alone and we take everything that He gave us through the Quran and the Sunnah of Rasul of Allah (saw). The other half of the root of this tree is the certainty, meaning the certainty of everything what "la ilaha illallah" brings. When implementing Islam in our lives, or when accepting a matter which we were not aware of before, we should do it with firm belief and certainty, as long as it is from the Quran and the authentic Sunnah of Rasul and his Companions. 2) Trunk: (Saaq) The tree of Iman, like the other trees, also has a trunk, which is Purity of Intention: (al-Ikhlas) We must have the purity of intention for our tree to be firm and unshakable and immovable. Abdullah Ibn Sahl at-tuzkuri (ra) (scholar from the taba'een) was asked: "What is al-Iman?", he said: "Iman is statement, is action, is nyyah (intention) and is Sunnah. If it is a statement without actions then it is Kufr (disbelief), if it is a statement and action with out intention then it is Nifaq (hypocrisy), if it is a statement, action and intention without the Sunnah, then it is Bid'ah (innovation)." To keep a healthy trunk of our tree, we must have a pure intention of our actions. Our every righteous deed is divided into two parts. The first half of a righteous deed is the purity of intention. The nyyah has to be pure for the pleasure of Allah ONLY! 3) Branches & Fruits: This tree should also has branches and fruits. And these are: a) Righteous deeds b) Honorable/Noble Character At several places in Quran, Allah (SWT) has distinguished the people of Jannah from the people of Hell as Indeed those who believed and did righteous deeds.... Those people who believed and did righteous deeds have also been given the glad tidings of Jannah at several places in Quran: Every righteous deed consists of two parts. First part is the purity of intention (for the sake of Allah only!). Second half of the righteous deed is that the action has to be in conformed with Shariah (Quran and Sunnah of Rasul (SAW) and the Companions(May Allah be pleased with them)). If the action is not conformed with Shariah, it is not considered a righteous deed! When a tree has firm roots and healthy trunk and branches, it automatically produces good fruits. Similarly, when we establish firm roots of Iman in our heart and keep healthy trunk and branches of the tree the fruits will prosper. If we have the knowledge of our deen and certainty of whatever knowledge we have, and we do righteous deeds with pure intentions, we will automatically develop an honorable and noble character. Things that will Make Our Tree Die: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1)Kufr: If we allow kufr to come into our tree, it will destroy the tree. 2) Shirk: If we allow shirk to come into our tree, it will also destroy the tree. 3) Bid'ah: If we allow Bid'ah (innovations) of all types to come into our tree, it will demolish our tree. Our tree will become yellow, our tree will become dry and our tree will eventually die! Note: Muslims nowadays are involved in so many "religious practices" thinking that they are pleasing Allah (swt), though in reality they are getting themselves involved either in bid'ahs or sometimes even to the extant of shirks. Muslims, intentionally or unintentionally, either add or remove stuff from how a certain act was originally practiced by our pious predecessors and hence making it a bid'ah. And since the act was not practiced according to the "Shari'ah", it will not be considered a righteous deed. To avoid from getting ourselves involved in these dangerous things, it is extremely important to have the "knowledge" of the deen and to refer back to our pious predecessors in every single thing we do or say. What is AL-Iman: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Al-Iman is: 1) Belief: Iman is a belief in our hearts. It is to have a firm belief of "la illah illallah" in our hearts and all the thing that it brings. Every thing that we find from Quran and Sunnah, we must have a sincere and firm belief on that without having any doubts. 2)Statement: Iman is a statement by our tongue. We must state "la illaha illallah" by our tongues. Meaning what ever believes we have, we cannot just keep them in our hearts, but we must say them out. 3) Actions: Iman is to carry out our believes and our statements by our bodily limbs. After believing in "la illaha illallah" and stating it, we must imply it in our actions. And the way we imply "la illaha illallah" in our actions is by modifying our every action and deed according to the Quran and Sunnah of Rasul and our pious predecessors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A general example of the above could be wearing hijab. If one has a firm belief in Allah (swt) and whatever He revealed, will definitely believe that wearing hijab is a command of Allah and it is mandatory. Then only believing is not enough, we must have to admit by stating by our tongues the fact that hijab is necessary and inform other people about it in a nice pleasing way (not in a displeasing or complaining manner). But still our Iman is not completed until we start wearing it ourselves. To think that Iman is in our hearts only, is one of the tricks of Iblis (satan). We shouldn't be fooled by the shaytans (satan) of the Ins wal Jin (Humans and Jinns) by thinking that Iman is in our chests only and as long as we have a firm belief, our Iman is completed Rather we HAVE to show our believes by our statements and by our actions Highest and Lowest of Iman: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rasul of Allah (saw) said: "Iman has 70 branches. And the highest of al-Iman is the statement "la illaha illallah" (It is the most sublime, the most magnificent and the most superior of all Iman). The lowest of the Iman is to remove some harmful thing from the street. And modesty is a part of al-Iman." Iman Wears Out: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We all go through high and low levels of Iman. As Rasul of Allah told us:"al-Iman wears out in each and everyone of you and me like a "thaub" (garment) wears out (like our clothes wears out...and they become shabby eventually. Iman wears out like that "thaub"). So Rasul of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) advised us (since our Iman wears out) "So all of you Muslims, should ask Allah (swt) to RENEW the Iman in our hearts." Back to Path to Jannah ...

Subhanallah! Subhanallah! This is truly sad. May Allah swt guide us to the straight path and bless us with the light of knowledge and understanding of His beloved deen.Ya Allah stop this overwhelming confusion and hostility that seems to be epidemic among Muslims nowadays. Indeed Muslims are facing a difficult time as there is the ever-increasing lack of solidarity and peace among us, so let's not further this division by categorizing and sectifying Islam. It's just wrong! It literally depresses me when I see Muslims resort to labelling and insults, as though Allah doesn't hold them accountable, in attempt to prove their own interpretations and to disprove others while calling them 'misguided' and deluded. Ya Allah. I mean some people become their ideas; they're so engrained in their thoughts and perceptions that they forget about humanity. I personally had an encounter with a Muslim fella(a store owner) few weeks ago who, to say the least, nearly jumped down my throat just becuase I had asked if he carried some of Shaikh Hamza's work. I'm not even gonna get into his accusations and reasoning for obvious reasons, but I was just speechless and I left thinking walahi we need to go back to the basic teachings of Islam specifically about the sunnah of Rasuul of Allah(saw) Also, I would like to remind some of you that the scholars have an elevated status in Islam as Allah swt states this the Qur'an: "Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge"[al-Mujaadilah 58:11]...so beware of the manners in which you speak of them. Allah Knows Best! P.S. Hamza Yusuf is an amazing sheikh whom Allah swt has granted great knowledge and the ability to touch so many lives in N. America (and increasingly globally). May Allah reward him immensely and all those who contribute to the global ummah, and may Allah forgive their sins.

Congratulations with the baby sis..Masha'Allah. You picked a nice name!

Amiin to all the dua's! Ramadaan kariim to all of you.

Wow...what an astonishment! He finally did it . He gives the old saying 'persistence pays off' a whole new meaning. I sincerely hope that he's in the best interest of all somalis and that he serves his people and country with loyalty and justice...cuz he has a huge challenge ahead of him. Originally posted by Rahima: May Allah guide him to that which is correct and make him successful in the position (Islamically speaking). Amiin!...I guess that's all many of us can say for now. PS. Ramadan Kariim to all SOlers

hahaha...lemme get a good laugh at those dudes...what, now somalis dye their hair blonde...bisinka macruuf, walaal, it sends no new message what-so-ever, simply shows what we've known all along....that most somalis are 'dameeri dhaan raacday'...kolba meeshay tagaan umbeey la qabsadaan...as you said, at least these have a somali flag! On the contrary...to many ppl this flag was 'once' symbolic of patriotism, brothehood, a country whose people stood united...and now, with that vision shattered, this flag unfortunately holds no significance...unless of course you live in a so surreal world where reality hasn't cought up with you yet. We all wanna cling on to the past and think about the good old days and maybe even dream about reclaiming our beloved country...but that's all it is, a dream!, at least for now. So, war iyo dhamaantii, Somalia wey udhamaatay! This is just how I feel at the moment about Somalia, so no offence eh. And Also, I'm not referring to the team in particular, but this is just generally speaking.

Originally posted by juxa: 4habrood oo madaxshub la iskugu keenay. Sis, somaaligaagu aad buu ii cajabiyaa ma ogtahay, lol....but this one had me stuck....the heck is "madaxshub"? back to the topic...sure, u can count me in too...I won't hesitate to share what little I know, if anything...Insha'Allah

Alla anagaa iska bi'i weyney....sheekadii ma gacan bey gaadhay?...Inaa lilaah Originally posted by Rahima: I look at these photos and have decided that we are probably doomed for many more years to come. I second that! I've actually started to think that there will be no more Somalia, period.

Subhanallah...of all places, why the Masjid.

double post

^^It only takes few rotten apples to ruin the whole barrel huuno! To put it simply, dadkayagu wax uroon iyo wax udaran toona kala garan maayaan...qaarkood damiirkii buu ilaahay ka qadiyay baad isleedahay walee.....therefore, wax kasta ka filo! :rolleyes: p.s it's good to see that no fights broke between the teams like previous years.

Aamiin to all the dua's for the people of this region! They are indeed voiceless! OG...Thanks a bunch for your hard work huuno....I know that your one patriotic woman masha'Allah! We honestly do need to put every effort in raising awareness about this region and its inhabitants to the general Somali public...and more importantly, to the whole world as pain and torture inflicted on innocent civilians in this region by the Ethiopian government needs worldwide atttention. One cannot even start to fathom the severity of the injustice committed by this government daily and the number of people whose lives are changed forever as a consequence. Today, this type of injustice committed by non-Muslims is seen all around the world, and Allah (swt) is simply testing our faith as Muslims. As a result, we need to be patient. With strong determination and motivation and most of all, with Allah's guidance, we shall gain our freedom...and people of Ogade'nia shall suffer no more!!! (I wonder why the name of this region is being blocked by SOL ) Where do Somalis stand on this issue?...well, I've realized that many don't have a clue about this region and it's people at all...some will sometimes even question where the region is located let alone being familiar with what's happening there init...well, I don't quite blame them as Somalia is in a state of chaos itself and people are suffering just as much if not more, thus being very frustrated themselves and not knowing who to support and who not to support with the recent regionalism craze and the clannism fitnah that seems to somehow be infecting many people. I know similar issues have been spoken about already...but once more, I'd like to make it clear to those who are unclear about this region and it's affliations (or to those who are quick to judge for some odd reason or those who disregard the hard work of ppl of this region)...people of Ogade'nia are in jihad...fighting with Ethiopian Christians who are depriving them of their rights and rulling their land by force. What they need from their fellow Somali brothers and sisters is support...emotional support more than anything, and a lots of Dua's. May Allah guide us through this fight and make it an easy one for us, and may he bring peace and harmony to all Muslims around the world.