Bismillah..

Dedicated to everyone.. We are all travellers.. Travelling to our 'final' destination.. Care to know the roadmap to paradise?

1.Take Adam and Eve avenue until you come to the intersection of Habil (Abel) road, and Qabil (Cain) street; merge right o-n Habil (Abel) and continue for the next twenty miles till you come to Noah's Ferry.

2.Take the ferry to Safety Land, ignore the majority of other travel agencies' directions, and arrive at Abraham's Super Highway also known as High way o-ne God o-nly (1).

3.Follow Abraham but avoid the exit of Sodom and Gomorrah townships until you get to Moses lane but pass Gold and Greed bridges and take it to Jesus' Mercy road. Here you will encounter a lot of confusion, streets are not
well marked, and many peddlers along the road are giving away maps with conflicting directions to travelers. The Romans have renamed Pagans' path as Jesus' mercy road.

4.If you are not sure about the authenticity of Jesus' mercy road, review your map. See if Jesus' mercy path is a continuation of Abraham's Super Highway. If it is a continuation you are fine, but still proceed with caution. If you have diverged, make a U-turn and go back to Abraham's high way (1) and re-try again.

5.Continue o-n True Jesus' road, if you do not see the following signs along the path, you should stop and review your map again. Maps for this path have been tampered with, we recommend the Barnabas edition street map to get to the Unity of God congregation, Immaculate conception corner, and Love thy neighbor community center.

6.Avoid to show the Roman Traffic police your Barnabas street map, it is banned, they will confiscate it and you will be forced to use the o-nly authorized official map - the Paul street map which was drawn to direct the
motorists to Rome. For that reason there is a lot of lost traffic o-n this road. o-n the other hand True Jesus road is found o-n the Barnabas street map, but o-nly few people have access to this map.

7.Keep o-n Jesus' Mercy road until you find Muhammad's sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam Sunnah (Guidance) Expressway. Stay o-n this expressway and do not be lured to rest areas along the expressway. Beware of the highway robbers,
by insuring your vehicle with Dhikr (Remembrance of God) security systems. All vehicles secured with Dhikr Security Systems will be protected from assaults by robbers (Satan).

8.Make sure that you have enough fuel. The highest grade fuel for this long and tiring trip is the Taqwa (God-fearing) grade fuel. Make sure you demand this brand when you stop for refueling. Lighten the load o-n your vehicle, carry o-nly the most important items for this trip: two meters of white cloth, good deeds and prayers of your kids is all you need. Excess weight is allowed o-nly if it is more of the above. Other items will o-nly slow
you down or cause you to loose sight of where you are heading, and you risk losing the coverage of Dhikr Security systems, thereby becoming an easy target for the Robbers.

9.You need to check your vehicles safety features periodically by reading your vehicles manual - the Holy Quran. Your steering wheel must be calibrated by the Sunnah Calibration method, batteries must be charged with
Iman, the engine needs to be tuned up with Ikhlas and your tires must be properly inflated with Ihsan. Most important of all, you must test the entire vehicle with the tawheed (Unity of God) check list.

10.It does not matter if most parts of your vehicle are performing right, if a single part in your vehicle does not perform according to specifications of Tawheed (its conditions) your vehicle will break down and again the robbers will rob you of what is left. The overall performance of your vehicle depends o-n the performance of the weakest part in your vehicle, so routinely check these weak points, they may be detrimental to your trip.

11.There are many milestones o-n Muhammad's road, and these milestones will assure you that you are o-n the right track. Do not worry that there are not many people o-n this road; just because you are alone o-n this road do
not think that you are driving the wrong way o-n a o-ne way street. Loving Allah more than anything else, loving the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam and his companions, who supported him when he was oppressed, following all his teachings, responding with patience and acceptance to lack of worldly goods, hunger, loss of
family members are but some of the milestones and glad tidings that you are o-n the right track.

12.Also this road will be paved with pain, hard work, struggle with yourself and others and Iblis , the Robber, and all things that are not appealing to the soul. Never lay down your guard, this trip is not over until it is
over. Keep dhikr your guard, good deeds your luggage and do not lose focus o-n where you are going, so you may endure the pain of this trip. When you finally arrive to your destination, Al-Jannah (Paradise), you will forget
all the pain.

Note: Author Unkown
I seek refuge with the Almighty Lord.. is my heart really travelling to the final destination or has it built for itself a home in the ephemeral land?

Assalamualaikum wrth,

I would like to share a poem that I wrote during the Tazkiyah Retreat that I attended for 10 days at Camp Fowler , Adirondack Mountain . It was around 5.45 am in the morning last Saturday and I was sitting by the lake.

Click here for full photo gallery for the retreat.

Knocking At Your Door

I am listening to the sounds of the birds
I wish I am a bird
I am looking at the stillness of a rock
I wish I am a rock
I am wondering at the calmness of the lake
I wish I am a lake
I am looking at the 5 ducklings constantly following her mother
I wish I am a duckling
I listened to Yahya Ibn Muaz’s story
I wish I am he

To the birds I said
I wish I could constantly in zikr of Allah like you
To the rock I said
I wish my qalb is still like you
To the lake I said
I wish my nafs is as calm as you do
To the duckling I said
I wish I followed Rasulullah SAW constantly as you do
To Yahya Ibn Muaz I said
I wish I am ‘ibad like you

But who am I
A sinful human being
With a clouded heart
With a broken mirror to see in me
An ugly being kept in me
I wish I looked at it constantly since before
But who am I
A sinful human being

O Allah I am knocking at your door
Wishing you to open for me
Oh! I saw a woodpecker in front of me
Knocking at a tree in front of my eyes
Subhanallah
I wish I am a woodpeacker

To you oh Allah
Please open the door for me
For I long your forgiveness and mercy on me
O Allah
Please accept my heart
As my heart have something to say

O Allah, I am weak
Turn my weaknesses to strength to what pleases you
Please take my forelock to khair
And let Islam be my ultimate expression of satisfaction

Ya Allah
Verily I am weak, base and low
Please elevate me I am in need
Please enrich me

O Allah
Please open the door for me

June 20, 2004
Saturday
6.27 am
By the lake

a'uzubillahi mina shaitaani rajiim
bismillahi rahmani rahiim
alhamdulillahi rabbil 'aalamin
wassolatu wassalamu 'ala rasulillah

What is the covenant that the Bani Israel wrote with Allah?

What does it entail?

1. to worship Allah
2. treat parents kindly
3. treat near of kins kindly: cousins, uncles, aunties…
4. treat orphans kindly
5. taking care of the needy
6. to be good in speech: fal yaqul khairan au yasmut kalau betul2 believe, only one choice of speech, good speech.
7. establish solah
8. give zakaah

(from ayah 83 al Baqarah)

Bila worship Allah, bukan itu sahaja dan that’s the end, but it is the whole lifestyle.

Our common definition is that worship Allah dan pray je.. tapi 6/8 daripada tu, is to do with community. Kalau tak fulfill kesemua tu, then we are breaking the mithaaq with Allah. Nerakalah tempat mrk. “Ma salaka fii saqar? We never did our solah, and we never used to feed the needy people”. We never cared – the not being kind to people, is a translation of kufr and unthankfulness to Allah. na'uzubillahi min zhalik :(

That is what iman is, this is the covenant.

+ 2 more in ayah 84

9. shed no blood among you
10. nor turn out your own people from your homes

- from al Baqarah tafsir class with al Maghrib Institute.

bismillah walhamdulillah wassolatu wassalam 'ala rasulillah

Another technique in Quran is fear and hope. Because there is a way out, and this doesn’t have to be the end (lepas fire tu). Turn back to Allah sincerely. “give glad tidings to those who believe…” (ayat 25)

Cuba imagine betul2 camne keadaan kalau dapat masuk syurga, camne keadaan kat sana. Cuba waktu sorang2, stand up dan cuba imagine camne hari yang kalau dapat masuk jannah.. all the senses throughout. Siapa lagi ada kat sana, and how would you celebrate? How will it all be?

Kenapa all the sweet talk dekat non-muslims je? “backwards day” give hope to the believers. (raja’ & khauf dalam optimum balance) what will make us work in beginning is actually the pain. Then the hope pushes towards the action. The herald, the bringer of glad tidings.

Battle of uhud, in the battle, tables have been turned. Statement goes out, Muhd has been killed. Companions pening. Ada sorang tu just stop dan duduk je. Someone asked, kenapa stop gaduh?
Haven’t you heard? Muhd Rasulullah has died.

What are you stopping? Die for what he died for!

Orang tu terus jerit dan masuk ke dalam perang tu, “Inni la ajidal jannah…” between me and paradise, I can smell the scent of paradise of Uhud!

There was nothing that stood between him, he could smell jannah waktu tu, di dunia.. dan waktu dia dah shahid, no one could recognize anything of his body ada 80 cuts.

He went like a machine through the army and nothing could stop him. Cause the only thing in his mind was jannah. No cut, or metal in dunya would stop him.. cause he was looking for Allah.

Were they other humans? No, they were the same, but they internalized jannah

Being truthful with themselves dan ingat pasal neraka juga.

Kalau takde aim for something, you’ll never get there. if we only aim for passing point, we will surely fail in the test. Kalau tak serius buat betul2, ask yourself is jannah really my goal?

glad tidings of jannah bukan di sana saja, tapi banyak kegembiraan di dunia. Kalau ada orang yang baik di dunia, tell them the glad tidings.

fr. al Maghrib seminar notes.

Sami Al-Arian: A Timeline



February 20, 2003: After nearly eight years of government harassment due to his activities on behalf of Palestine and his political activism and leading stance on civil rights in America, Dr. Sami Al-Arian is arrested by federal authorities on spurious charges of supporting terrorism. Three others are also arrested and detained at a local jail. To protest his political incarceration, Dr. Al-Arian embarks on a hunger strike.


February 27, 2003: Only one week after Dr. Al-Arian is charged, the President of the University of South Florida, with pressure from the Board of Trustees, fires Dr. Al-Arian from his position as an award-winning tenured professor, after over a year of trying to do so, in the aftermath of the post-9/11 hysteria surrounding his constitutionally protected activities.


March 20, 2003: The bail hearing for Dr. Al-Arian and his co-defendants lasts four days and features over thirty-five witnesses in defense of their character, with the prosecution providing no witnesses and no evidence, and failing to show that any of the men are flight risks or threats to national security. Weeks later, Magistrate Mark Pizzo denies bail to Dr. Al-Arian and Sameeh Hammoudeh. Hatim Fariz and Ghassan Ballut, two American citizens, are granted bail.


March 27, 2003: The men are moved from the local jail in Tampa, Florida to a maximum-security federal penitentiary in Coleman, Florida, 75 miles away. There they are placed in solitary confinement and denied basic privileges, given limited visitations and access to attorneys and subjected to strip searches and the harshest conditions of confinement. Dr. Al-Arian and Mr. Hammoudeh are the only pre-trial detainees in a facility full of hardcore criminals.


April 8, 2003: Unable to raise enough funds for private attorneys, Dr. Al-Arian is appointed attorneys by Magistrate Thomas McCoun. In the months ahead, little progress is made under their services.


April 10, 2003: Dr. Al-Arian and Mr. Hammoudeh are denied bail, while Hatim Fariz and Ghassan Ballut are released from Coleman federal penitentiary. Also, a new civil rights organization, the National Liberty Fund (NLF) announces it will be taking on the case of Dr. Sami Al-Arian and organizes a number of events across the country in the following months.


June 5, 2003: Judge Moody announces the trial date to be no sooner than January 2005, nearly two years following the arrest.


June 15, 2003: In its annual meeting, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) condemns the University of South Florida, stating that it violated the rights of Dr. Al-Arian to due process and academic freedom.


June 18, 2003: Upon making a phone call to his home and then to his son who was studying abroad, Dr. Al-Arian is punished for violating the Coleman penitentiary's ban on three-way calling. He is given a six-month ban on all phone calls.


July 17, 2003: Respected human rights organization Amnesty International writes a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons condemning the conditions under which Dr. Al-Arian is kept, including the 23-hour lockdown, strip searches, use of chains and shackles, severely limited recreation, lack of access to any religious service and denial of a watch or clock in a windowless cell where the artificial light is never turned off.


July 25, 2003: Dr. Al-Arian is allowed to fire his court-appointed attorneys following months of little progress in his case or improvements in the conditions of confinement. He chooses to act as his own attorney. In preparation for his self-representation, he ends his hunger strike after 140 days and losing 45 pounds.


September 12, 2003: Following a frustrating few months of little development for Dr. Al-Arian's case or improvement in his confinement, Judge Moody rules that the 21,000 hours of taped conversations classified by the government must be released to defense attorneys, but they are barred from releasing them to the public or discussing them with anyone other than their clients. The process of providing these tapes to the defense is slow and tedious.


October 29, 2003: After three months of representing himself, Dr. Al-Arian hires respected Washington DC attorney William B. Moffitt and the experienced local lawyer Linda Moreno to represent him.


December 9, 2003: A Chicago Tribune article reveals that key evidence in the case was destroyed by federal authorities. The search warrants and other related materials from the early searches of Dr. Al-Arian's home and office were mistakenly shredded by court officials.


January 20-22, 2004: Sameeh Hammoudeh is denied his request for bail. A judge also orders the government to release more of its evidence. The government narrows its use of wiretapped conversation from the 21,000 hours to 200 hours of relevant material. Defense attorneys argue for motions to dismiss the indictment on grounds that it criminalizes free speech and First Amendment protected activities.

Bismillah walhamdulillah wassolatu wassalam 'ala rasulillah

Suhaib Ibn Sinân -known as Suhaib Ar-Rûmî (Suhaib the Greek)

Suhaib ar Rumi was sold into slavery when his family was attacked. Went from different areas till found himself in makkah. Dan bekerja dan dapat jadi kaya di sana. Pastu he became Muslim dan ucap shahadah with R. saw. When hijrah time, lepas R. saw dah hijrah, Suhaib pun hijrah jugak, pastu dalam perjalanan Quraish kejar dia.

“you know I am the finest archer. I have twenty arrows in my quiver and I can kill 20 of you”- Suhaib
“you came to us poor, etc.. and we let you become rich…”
“if I gave you all my money, will you let me go to Allah and His Rasul?”
“yes”
“my money is in this and this location… ”
“ok” because they trusted him. He had good character and was a trustworthy person, radhi Allahu anh

he owned nothing except his love for Allah and His messenger, and that is more than enough for him, and for us, if we own it. “Rabi7al bai3ul suhaib.” – r. saw said of Suhaib, because he did the transaction. Till today, remembered.

The human being makes the decision. May Allah give us the taufiq to make the right decision in life. Amin.

- from al Maghrib seminar notes, tafseer of surah al baqarah