Good End

I’ve wanted to head to Umra ever since I came back from KSA 7 years ago. Recently, I got the chance to go again as a school trip, and unfortunately, I don’t have a mahram. This fact was the last thing I had in mind. I searched a lot about Umra being accepted without the company of a mahram and found out that it would, except that you’ll be going against the Sunnah in the process. It took me days to be convinced and think logically. It’s not written for me, so why fight it?

My friends, for some unknown reason, are not going either. And others chose weddings over the chance of visiting bait Allah in Makka and AlMadina. I can’t understand this kind of people, those who can’t make up their mind and have the guts to compare the two. Your sister, aunt, cousin, uncle is getting married. So what? And what, in the world, is it going to do to you? ‘Weddings are once a life time.. .’ Oh yeah? What about accomplishing a religious pilgrim? How on earth are you going to make sure that you’ll live till you have the chance to do Umra again? There are no guarantees. Actually, no one’s life should be taken for granted, because they aren’t, as simple as that.


Who knows, you might drop dead before attending the wedding. Wouldn’t it be better if you passed away while you had the pure intention of doing Umra and visiting the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) grave? All these pleasures of life are temporary. One day, you would die, you have got no say in this, and you will leave everything behind. What you gained from an enormous amount of money wouldn’t matter, not then, when you’re in the womb of your own grave, under the ground, just like you have never existed. This can change based on your good deeds in life and what you worked for the hereafter.

عن أبي هريرة أن رسول الله قال:
إذا مات ابن آدم انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاث: صدقة جارية، أو علم ينتفع به، أو ولد صالح يدعوا له..

Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) said: "When a person dies all his good deeds cease except for three: a continuous charity, beneficial knowledge, and a righteous son who supplicates for him." [Muslim]

Basically the Hadith mentions the three important things;

1. Continuous charity: Such as building mosques, schools, or any other forms of institutes that serves a good cause.

2. Gaining Knowledge:The first verse of the Quran that was sent from Allah (SWT) through Jibreel (PBUH) to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was ‘اقرأ’ meaning ‘read’ emphasizing on the importance of learning and gaining knowledge, not to forget, enlightening others.

3. A righteous son: raising your child based on religious beliefs is one of the things that would benefit you and the community during your presence and after your death.

This leads me to mention my second cousin’s death on Dec, 26th. She was in her mid-twenties, a young, beautiful and intelligent girl who drew smiles on everyone’s face. A couple of months ago, she was suffering from TB, and was somehow okay afterwards, so she returned back home. Things were slightly better till she was due to travel for treatment. All her close friends and family members gathered around before that day to say goodbye, and how lucky they were as she was gone for real the other morning.

Her death came to us as a shock; she was an easy-going person with a great sense of humor and cheerful personality, and just as she was alive, she passed away peacefully. (God bless her and may she rest in peace)

At the funeral, I couldn’t imagine how her mother would look like after she had just lost her only daughter, thus I was surprised by what I saw from the mother’s behaviour. There were no tears streaming down her eyes, no loud cries or anything of that sort. All I had to say was Mashallah, she’s one faithful women. She accepts and strongly believes in Allah’s qadar as she’s also aware of her daughter’s place; heaven, inshallah.

A lot of people attended the funeral, but mostly her friends whom she met in Islamic lectures. She had made sure to never miss a chance. A true example of a muslim woman indeed. My mother was amazed by how bright my cousin’s face was after the 3’osil, even though she was a bit tan.

One could only hope to be such an obedient person to be both remembered and blessed.

Don't we all just wish to be like this man?

اللهم ارزقنا حسن الخاتمة ~

+ On a different note, I recently got the chance to sit down with a newly-muslim women who just got into Islam (a few weeks ago) and her two children. We’ll meet up sometime this week plus my mom’s friend who’s an Islamic teacher (and have done this a lot of times before). She asked me to join since I’m pretty interested and might be of help in translation.

The question here is what are they supposed to know?

We can’t mention everything from the beginning so as not to scare her and the kids off, but we’ll surely start off with the basics. Do they need evidence from the Qu’ran or Hadith?

And have you ever been in this situation before? How and what did you do/say exactly?

One Religion?

While watching Saturday’s episode of Dare to Ask on Peace TV, presented by Dr.Zakir Naik, one of the audience asked a similar question to this,

Why isn’t there a one religion? Clearly, Islam is the religion we’re all supposed to follow, so as to stop the conflicts and confusions, why hasn’t there been one religion delivered by the different messengers of God?

His answer revolved around the same point, which was none other than (as far as I understood): God sent the messengers –Peace Be Upon Them- to spread out the exact same message of believing in one God, or in other words, proving His existence.

Anyone else has a better explanation? Since the one I got is incomplete.

Why Don't We Read?

Based on the article I read yesterday with the title of 'Ma waraa2 3uzoof el3arab 3an el8era2a' (The reasons behind Arabs neglecting reading) [?] on Al Khaleej newspaper, I found out many points and I'd like to hear your own take on this.

Some of the reasons were,

Political instability; according to what people think and emphasize on, due to lack of trust some Arab government has on its authority, they resort to the policy of obscurantism, in order to stop their own people from reading and enlightenment.

Other than this, the rest of the article talked about poverty being the main reason.

Do you agree/disagree, and what, in your opinion, are the reasons why we, Arabs, don’t have that habit of reading?

My Eid

19th Nov was the date of my final update. Soon after that day, my first term exams started giving me lesser time to spend on blogging or anything else. Things went on very smoothly, except that I’m still lacking behind in Maths (As I always did – No surprise there).

My sister and I spent the past couple of days that followed Eid at my Granny’s and I got to read more than I usually do, which is a bonus. Take this from me, isolating yourself from civilization for a while to achieve a specific task is the key to success.


It took me a long time to decide on where to stay over for the upcoming days (Starting from Eid’s night itself) and I finally settled at Granny’s (Dad’s part of the family). As usual on the first day of Eid, we were the late comers as everyone was waiting for us to join in the tiny house. My parents left early to get ready and I kissed them goodbye and made sure to tuck in my wish-list somewhere - I, amongst my siblings, am the only one who usually does this.

That evening, my uncle took all of us to Qurum City Centre based on our never-ending demands (God bless him). Entering from the food court entrance was a bonus to the whole thing as Borders Express is located next to it. The kids went crazy over the electronic games shouting how much money was needed and I found myself eyeing the books one by one looking for a catchy title.

Those caught my attention:

I finished Girls Of Riydh last night. I had a fun read, there’s no doubt about this, but I found the story plot very typical when comparing it to ‘our’ world. The things that the four Saudi girls went through are the same things girls here are going through; looking for the love of their life.

Here are some random shots I took while staring at the place's natural beauty:

Hope ya’ll enjoyed your Eid because I know I did, and it’s better late than never to say: Eid Mubarak.

[P.S This post is dedicated to my lovely Granny and her children who endured my sister’s demands and mine].

My Three Obsessions

I was extremely bored at Chemistry’s lesson today as I've dropped it recently, and thought of writing something. Thus, this post. I tried listing down my obsessions and as it seems I could only name a few.

1. Reading.
Ever since I was a child, I used to pick up every book my eyes set on, and I’d start to read it at that exact moment, people often made fun of this habit, but I really couldn’t care less.

Sometimes, reading soothes me in a way, the exact effect that music does to others. I can’t recall a single day in which I’ve been empty handed (be it waiting in a car, bus, saloon, etc) I’d make sure to carry a novel along, that or a notepad.

‘If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write’ - Stephen King.

2. Writing.
This obsession and the one above are linked, of course, and I could’ve mentioned them as one, but I didn’t. Writing was and always will be my passion (ignore the cheesiness, and bear with me for a while). I think I’ve inherited this from my Dad since he’s a journalist and his career is my first inspiration (Wait for the actual explanatory post)

3. Drinking Canada Dry.
For a while, my favourite drink was (Omani’s most common and beloved drink) Mountain Dew, after realizing this fact, the boredom of drinking the same thing zillions of times rose into me thus Canada Dry. (Cream Soda, to be exact) I’ve had this really weird obsession about it since the very first time I drank it.

‘Jump’ They Said

‘Jump’ they said to him. He thought ‘what the heck? I can jump and I’ll just show them how much I can’. He stood up and jumped as high as he could but when he landed on the seat, the whole bus practically vibrated. They laughed their heads off, and I did too, merely for the fact that the boy hadn’t had a single idea on why we’re doing so considering his young age. Yes, you’ve guessed right. He’s an over-weight child and his friends were making fun of his body-shape.

Parents are the one to blame here, I believe. Generally, individuals are responsible for their own behaviours, but this is an innocent child who’s barely 7 years of age and who happened to gain all of this weight; Chips, macaronis, and other loads of junk food being sent along with him…to school! Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing fingers on this kid because I’m sure there are others with the same situation out there.

Here’s a wake up call, parents. Just because you’re filthy rich doesn’t mean you should kill your kids. And that brings us back to the role of education.

Education, people. Education.