Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

 

 

 

Every time I put radioquraan.com I feel like the ayas are so relative to me....It took me a while to figure out what Surah was being recited, but then using context clues (Surat Al Isra recited right after) I figured the Surah was Surat Al Nahl.

 

Today while I was at the mall I noticed the following sign (picture below) in a store about their upcoming renovations...
 

I thought to myself this such an Islamic quote, it reminded me of Surat Yusuf, and Yusuf and his fathers patience and their end result.It reminded me of the Promisse of Allah

 

 

 

And now at home a couple of hours later, the following ayas are recited"

 

 

 

Whatever you have will end, but what Allah has is lasting. And We will surely give those who were patient their reward according to the best of what they used to do.

 

Surat Al Nahl 96

 

 

 

Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.

Surat Al Nahl 97

 

 

 

 

Means Towards Achieving Barkaa Blessings In Your Time: Lessons From The Prophet: Sheikh Mohammed Moussa

Last Wednesday during the weekly seerah college students serah course with Sheikh Moussa I requested him to speak about how the Prophet had so much time to do so many things, here is what Sheikh Moussa taught us:

The prophet took the means towards gaining baraka.. he died when he was 63 years old, but he was only a prophet for 23 years...look how much he did in those years!!  He took the people from being nothing, to becoming one of the most civilzed nations in the world.

Means Towards Achieving Barkaa in your time:

1. Maintian your realtionsip with Allah

 

A.Fard obligations, salat, siyam , etc

B. Sunan, voluntary deed

After you do this (fard and sunan) =

 

….and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (voluntary deeds) until I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My Protection, I will protect him..."

The qiyam prayer brings you closer to Allah

2. Organize your priorities

 

Start with the most improtnat deeds: the obligaory and thehn Allah will place baraka in your time...for an example dont let your salat come after appointments, classes, etc, choose your appointments, job breaks, etc based on the salat times.

3. Always be busy:

 

Aya (cant find it)

Hadith about 5 before 5

4. No obstacles: dont give up, no excuses

Most improtant thing in Isla is tabwah but you have to acknowldge your sin

 

5. Surrond yourself around people who are not lazy

Dr.Islam Elfahmyoui Notes, Tawbah

Todays topic was Tawbah:

 

Dr. Islam Elfahymoui said:

 

If you want to invest in the best realestate, invest in 50 thousand years under the shade of Allah (haha love this !). You already know who the 7 type of people that will be under His shade, and you  know it requires tawabah.

 

You need tawbah

 

Tawabah is retunring to Allah

 

As long as you are on the path towards the truth, you will be safe inshAllah. Stop condeming people, and dont judge.

 

 

The conditions of tawbah:

 

1. Knowledge of what you have done wrong

2. Acknolwedge the sin

an acknowledgement comes fear of the consquences wheather its punishment in this world or the hereafter. Fear of not giving Allah the true honor He deserves.

 

 

 

And Allah invites to the Home of Peace 10:25

 

 

Allah will not take away any blessings he has given you if you have shukr.

We already spoke about shukr.  ( see notes on shukr lecture)

 

 

 

"And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe." 14:7

 

 

 

 

And if you would count the graces of Allah, never could you be able to count them. Truly! Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. 16:18

 

 

Allah is challenging us to count the blessing He has give you.

Can you tell me how many blessings you have?

 

Envy is a lack of shukr, and contment with what Allah has give you.

 

We get cancer, we die, we make duaa and then the cancer doesnt go away and we think Allah has not answered our duaa, but what if I told you that the cancer you have is threason you are going to Jannah

 

Many people are not patient with tribulations which can be the reason you go to Jannah

 

Jannah is a gift from Allah

 

Who does Allah not love?

I have taken all these ayas in the Quran about those whom Allah does not love

 

1.  "surely Allah does not love any one who is unfaithful, ungrateful" 22:38

The one who does not have shukr is as we described in our past lectures

 

 

2.  "then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers" 3:32

 

AlhumdAllah we are not of this category because we beleive in Allah

 

3.  "Allah does not love the unjust" 3:57

 

When we think of someone being unjust we only think of unjust leaders, etc but anyone can be an oppresor. For an example if someone comes to you with a huge smile and a waram salam and you just quickly say salaam and make them feel bad, this is a form of opperesion.

The Prophet used to always go to the unknown people to talk to them.

 

Seek the person who is sick, poor, unpouplar, that is where heaven will be!

 

4. " Surely Allah does not love whoever has been conceited (and) constantly boastful" 4:36

 

When you brag about the stuff you have its like you are saying "I am the one who brought myself this. Allah is the One Who Gives, not you.

 

Contemplation is differnt from prayer. Conemtopmaltion leads  you to fixing your actions.

 

Example:When you cheat and you get an A you think you won.

 

In Islam, you cheat, you get the A, but thats an illusion and you will never know , but guess what  something bad will happen because of that path you took of chetaing

 

When you do good things and you think you lost (in the dunya) have eman and you will realize you have not lost with Allah. Example: Charity: you have $50 and you give $10 now you only have $40 this looks like a lost, but guess what Allah will give you soooooo much more like 700 times more (refer to Surat Al Baqarah aya about charity)

 

Thats how the beleiver functions in this world

Its Official! NASPA Posts Session Descirptions

Breakfast Roundtable Sessions 7:45 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

Representing a Diverse Student Body: The Need for Diverse Professionals

Primary Competency: Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

Join us for a round table discussion about the importance of staff diversity within the student affairs and  administration ranks of our colleges and universities. Diversity helps us build bridges and promotes the feeling of community. A former student leader will facilitate this discussion about how a diverse staff can better serve the diverse student population and their needs.

"The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance"

http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/

Recently, the institution I work at was granted the "Muslim Journeys Bookshelf Collection. They even had a week of events on the culture of Islam to promote the collection. Although I was not able to attend any of these events, I was able to attend one event at Rutgers University as they also had been given the same grant. I was visiting for fun and then I had seen the ad on the event, it was very interesting. Yesterday I picked up two books from the collection

http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/bookshelf

 I am currently reading the following:

"The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance"  Jim Al Khalill

I have a side interest in Islamic history when the ummah was at what I like to term as "its high point". It makes you think to yourself what happen to us!?

Here are my favorite parts of the book so far and I am only upto chapter 3 !

"Yet in order to understand this sudden flourishing of scholarship, we must look back in time to see how Islam rose out of the Arabian desert two hundred years earlier. Why did the golden age of science take place during the reign of the Abbasids of Baghdad, when nothing of any real intellectual consequence had taken place in that part of the world since the decline of the Liberty of Alexandria hundreds of years before the arrival of Islam" (Al Khalili 17).

"The early thinkers were quite clear about their mission: the Quran required them to study alsamawat wal arth (the skies and the earth) to find proof of their faith. The Prophet himself had besought his disciples to seek knowledge no matter how far that search took them for, "he who travels in search of knowledge, travels along Allahs path to paradise". (Introduction).

"One cannot, therefore, understand Arabic science without considering the extent to which Islam influenced scientific and philosophical thought. Arabic science, was throughout its golden age, is linked to religion. Clearly the scientific revolution of the Abbasids would not have taken place if it were not for Islam..." (Al Khalili 33).

"It had taken a new Islamic Empire to achieve the necessary unity between difeernt peoples and cultures, but it was this empires multicultural and multifaith tolerance that fostered a real sense of expectancy and optimism, and this would usher in a golden age of enlightenment and intellectual progress" (Al Khalili 33).

"The rest of Arabia was inhabited mostly by nomadic Arab tribes. Long before the birth of Muhammad, however, these people were already beginning to develop a sense of cultural identity. Despite their wide range of different dialects, a common Arabic language had begun to develop, mainly through the reciting of poetry. The qasida or ode was an important feature of the cultural life of Arabia, otfen telling of lost love or tribal victory. Most of them were not written down but memorized. The Arabic script that was to be later used in the Quran still had some way to go before it would reach the level of maturity it has today, and its rules and grammatical nuances would take centuries to be established by scholars keen to remove any ambiguities of meaning from the Quran" (Al Khalili 19).

I found this section about the memorization of poetry very interesting because just this week during my Seerah Al Nabwi course, Sheikh Mohamed Moussa spoke about how we have so much clarity on the life of the Prophet, and how it is so beautiful that we have so much information and details on the Prophets life. The question the Sheikh posed is: What are the means that allowed all the details of the life of the Prophet to be available. You can look at the Prophets life from Salat Fajr to the next Salat Fajr in full detail subhanAllah. One of the means he mentioned was that someone was always around the Prophet. Whether his wives at home who gave us an inside look of what he did at home, or his friends outside who also taught us alot about the Prophet. The sheikh also mentioned how Arabs at the time did not know how to write, but they had amazing memory. They were able to memorize every detail, and the Prophets exact words.

LOL , Diversity Walk Uses My Picture To Promote Tshirt Sales

hahahahaha nothing like waking up to an email with your picture on it!  It seems like this always happens, I take a picture and then I am surprised at where it ends up LOL...last time I found myself on the NJCU YouTube page, and then the NJCU self portrait life size picture of me I had to walk
 past every time I would go to class !!!

 

I attended this diversity walk on my birthday last year and then the camera person took my pic...I was like oh maybe ill be on their fb page or the newspaper...I  didnt find it..... a year later look where it is now lol promoting their t shirts !!I want to gather a bunch of hijabis and Muslims to attend this year inshAllah!!

Secure your Diversity Stride T-Shirt!

Raise $75 or more and earn a DIVERSITY STRIDE T-Shirt! (You know you want one!)

Raise $100 in 10 days!

Yes YOU CAN DO IT! Raise $100 in 10 days, or better yet raise $125 and be eligible to win great Diversity Stride Prizes! Click here to learn more

REGISTER YOUR TEAM TODAY! Pace Yourself for Change! We are the cause ... our stereotypes, attitudes & negative behaviors We are the cure...open minds, empowered leaders, & change agents

Questions? Call 732-745-9330 or E-mail Melissa

Emergent Issues in Higher Education in New Jersey

 I really love my current field of study (Higher Education Administration) to the point where I attend reallly long lectures and conferences on the topic! Like always I was like the only hijabi and one another hijabi. I love it when im the only hijabi!humdAllah

Today I was able to attend a Conference at Rutgers University, titled

"Emergent Issues in Higher Education in New Jersey". 

The line up of speakers was impressive, amongst the speakers were:

Rochelle Hendricks: Secretary of Higher Edu, State of NJ, John McGoldrick: Chair , Governors HIgher Education Council, Senator Sandra Cunningham: Chair, Senate Higher Education Committe, Senator Thomas Kean Jr: Current Senatate Republic Leader, Assemblywoman Clestse Riley: Chair, Assembly Higher Education Committee, Thomas Kean: Former Governor of NJ and Chairman of the NJ Higher Education Task Force, Robert Barchi: President of Rutgers University, Micheal Klein: President NJ Association of State Colleges and Universities, Joann La Perla Morales: President of Middlesex Community College

 

Here are my key notes from this educational learning opportunity, I did not include every speaker

Keynote : The Honorable Thomas Kean : former NJ Governor, and Chairman of NJ Higher Edu Task
 

Look at these problems and innovative ways to lower costs, increase access, and to improve what we already do well in.

Research these things, this is a community effort

I believe that the answers are within the higher education institutions

 Session 1: Rutgers University: Challenges and Opportunities

Robert Barchi:Rutgers President

(This was my favorite speech as included alot of materials I learned in my Higher Edu program)

We are a community of scholars

Its not whos leading the university, its about whos talking and actually doing something

Is higher edu a public good or a private investment? Who benefits and who pays the price?

Is the product worth the price for either the society or the individual student?

The economic value of a college degree still remains high

At Rutgers, we have just started our strategic planning process and tactic plan. There has not been a strategic plan at Rutgers for over 15 years. We want to include things that are actionable, measurable, and accomplishable.We want full participation and consultation form our business and political partners, to the staff and students. We are doing this through over 70,00 surveys, quantitative data and analysis , stakeholder input.

We have developed a model :

 Strategic planning starts with our short term aspiration (not vision) and our foundation

1. Robust care of science and humanities 2. Cohesive, vibrant,diverse and inclusive culture

We didnt have a vision, that is why we created a strategic plan

(he showed us a PowerPoint with the strategic plan): all are working programs

1. Public private partnerships

2. Emerging themes: such as ethnicity and diversity

Timeline for the planning process

1. Plan should include how do we prepare community college students for Rutgers and four year colleges

2. We need to come up with a plan not just for Rutgers but all of NJ

Trends in higher edu,specific issues :

A working document to measure success, NJ has the largest investment in K-12 in the country but the lowest for higher education..there is a major disconnect.

Public universities need to  build an endowment like private colleges

Session 2: Cost and Affordability Issues

Sue Henderson:President  New Jersey City University  (Alumni Matter)

70% of NJCU students require financial aid

Average amount of debt NJCU graduates have: $16,000 (Shes right I had zero debt, and I didnt even have financial aid)

NJCU is looking into decreasing administrative costs and move the funds to faculty and student services

Jersey City is growing fast, especially the water front business area, we would like to build business connections within the community, public private partnerships to keep tuition costs reasonable

Session 3: Workforce Development

Ralph La Rossa: Chief Operating Officer PSEG

(its cool how they had a non higher edu professional speak, he had lots of beneficial insight)

The lowest paid major is preschool education,.

Start as a clerk and move your way up, put your foot in the door.

Alot of PSEG employees start at the bottom working their way up to becoming high leaders

The type of skills we look for in employers is team building, basic project management, negotiation skills, presentation skills, leadership skills.

Joann La Perla Morales: President of Middlesex Community College

50 % of students at this moment in NJ are community college students

Hispanic students mostly begin at a community college

The average age of a community college student nationwide is between 27 and 29

Degree completion is important

The only success measure we have is graduation rates of 1st full time students but alot of community colleges are part time students, or 2nd degree students. We should create new success measures such as the student who comes to community college to complete ESL but goes on to a four year institute and graduates.

Collecting data to measure success is important

 

Final Session: Views From the Legislators

Sandra Cunnigham: Senator, Senate Higher Education Committee

This is the first time NJ has a committee on Higher Education

NJ is at the top of the list for graduating non minority students, but bottom of the list for graduating Hispanics, Blacks, and low income students
 

Immigrant students is a key issue, there are some who are residents but continue to pay out of state costs

We need to reform developmental and remedial courses

In some states remedial courses are not allowed in 4 year colleges

There cant be a division between college and k to 12 system. We need more data

 

Thomas Kean Jr : Senator Republic Leader

For 3 to 4 years, NJ was the only state to be negative in the Higher Edu union.

In 6 months we have accomplished alot such as the Higher Education Bond Act

Celeste Riley: Assemblywoman , Assembly Higher Education Committee
 

Start from the bottom up

We need accountability, affordability, accessibility, employ ability

The subject of remediation, how much money, time of the students and faculty is spent in the undergraduate education or remediation . Nobody knows how to deal with remediation

Same Ayah Mentioned 3 Times in Same Surah About Remebrance of the Quran

While I was reading Surat Al Qamar about two weeks ago  I noticed Allah mentions the following ayah multiple times...and now just while I was writting my other post the ayahs from Surat Al Qamar were being recited on radioquraan.com....

 

SubhanAllah I once heard a shiekh mention the aya and he said its like Allah is telling you are ready to take the challenge of memorizing the Quran. And at the same time Allah mentions how it is "easy" to memorize. The fact that millions of Muslims today and for the past decades have been able to memorize the WHOLE Quran is a huge miracle of the Quran.

I dont know if the meaning of "remembrance" is equivalent to memorization..
would have to ask the sheikh

 

The ayah is mentioned 3 times in the same surah..!!

 

 

Ayah 17

 

 

And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?

 

 Ayah 22

And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?

 

Ayah 40 

And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?

 

Duaa of the Prophets & Others : Noah,Ayub,Zacheria, Ismeal, Idress, Surat Al Anbiyah

 

 

 

 

Surat Al Anbiyah: Examples of hardships and how Allah responds to the duaa

 

Today in Quran class our teacher made us recite ayas from Surat Al Anabiyah The Prophets...this surah has some amazing duaas in it that the Prophets made during times of hardship.

 

I think I wrote a post before on the ayahs ...but their just so helpful in life and they make you realize that the Prophets are like us, they had difficulties and they made duaa to Allah to help them, and Allah responded. It gives you hope...these are examples set for all of mankind....Allah says before some of these ayas "And Mention"...so when someone has a hardship mention the hardships of the Prophets and how the reacted.

SubhanAllah so many examples for us!

 

My notes : pink

 

Ayahs 76 & 77

Prophet Noah: He was in trouble during the time of the flood, so he called to Allah , and Allah says "We" saved him

 

 

 

And  mention  Noah, when he called  to Allah ] before [that time], so We responded to him and saved him and his family from the great flood.

 

And We saved him from the people who denied Our signs. Indeed, they were a people of evil, so We drowned them, all together.

 

 

 

Ayas 83 & 84

Prophet  Ayoub: He was crying to Allah and he made a beautiful duaa in this aya..Allah tells us "We Responded"...Allah responds and how this is a reminder for us the believers

 

 

 

And mention  Job, when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has  affected  me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful

 

 

So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him  back  his family and the like thereof with them as mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers  of Allah

 

 

Ayah 85:

Ishmeal, Idrees, and Dhul Kefle were mentioned as patient people, patience is a characteristic one needs in order to overcome afflictions.

 

 

 

 

And [mention] Ishmael and Idrees and  Dhul Kefle ; all were of the patient.

 

 

Ayahs: 87 & 88

 I never noticed until I read the meaning toda thatAllah does not mention a prophet but rather a anger man , and Allah still says "We Responded".

This ayah also shows us an example of tawbah.

 

 

 

 

And  mention  the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree  anything  upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers"

 

 

 

 

So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. 

And thus do We save the believers.

 

Ayahs 89 & 90 :

Zacheria: this is the duaa he made when he and his wife were not able to have childern...subhanAllah there is even a duaa for this in the Quran. Allah bestowed them with the best offspring: Yahya because they used to rush to do good deeds, and make duaa ...what a beautiful marriage!

 

 

 

And remember Zakariya, when he cried to his Lord: "O my Lord! leave me not without offspring,  though You are the Best of the inheritors

 

 

 

 

 

So We responded to him and gave him Yahya and made his wife fit for him; surely they used to hasten, one with another In deeds of goodness and to call upon Us, hoping and fearing and they were humble before Us.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Islam Elfahymoui Lecture, Good Works

I dont know if I should consider this a blessing or funny, but right before I was about to write this post, my favorite show came on so I decided to write this post later...guess what happen when I watching "my show" the channel went black but the other channels still work...subhanAllah


AlhumdAllah Dr.Islam Elfahymouis class has been back for a couple of weeks now. He is continuing Surat Al Baqarah, todays was aya 81

Heres my notes for today's class

We do not follow what is doubtful.
Our scholars worked very hard to make sure everything in our religion is authentic

Uthman made sure every copy of the Quran was authentic

When you make dawah be kind and gentle, do not condemn people when you make dawah

You can reach a point in your life in which Allah always keeps you away from sin

The prophet is like us, thats what makes him someone we can follow, he is a man not an angel, but he had special gifts from Allah

The prophet is looking out for you (this made me want to cry!! Think deeply about this..)
The Prophet would constantly make duaa for the Ummah (Muslims), he would say ummahtee uhmatee

If you work hard at work (good) and get your paycheck you take it with honor and dignity, but if you steal or work haram you will feel bad
Why do you feel bad when you do something wrong? These are signs from Allah, this is your fitrah to be good and obedient to Allah

The bad deed hurts your heart

There is no mumin (believer) that has anxiety, insomnia, etc..you will sleep soundly, its a gift from Allah. Your body is Muslim
Everything in this universe is Muslim

There will be a lecture on the Day of Judgement with the Prophet and companions and those who will be under the shade of Allah (I never knew this!!)

Next Sundays topic will be Tawhbaah (Repentance)

Allah created us to know Him in a unique way a way that the mountains,angels and etc dont even know. The mountain does not need Allah forgiveness, because the mountain does not sin, but the human was created to know Allahs name "AlTawaab" The Most Forgiving" .

For your tawbah to be accepted you have to know that your tawbah will be accepted

The Story of InshAllah: Mean It When You Say InshAllah!!

 

 

 

One of the most important short and insightful lessons I have learned from Dr.Islam Elfahmoui is to never forget to say inshAllah! He gave an example (like last year) that I think of every time I forget to add inshAllah.

 

If you  send your friend a  text saying I will meet you tomorrow...and you forgot inshAllah, go back text them and write inshAllah (not isA) !!

 

If you are promising someone something, add the word inshAllah but dont say it carelessly (this is apart of the Arab culture) say it and mean it and have tawkul:trust in Allah that it will happen if Allah has written for it.
 

For an example, if someone tells you to make duaa for them,
say inshAllah, but dont forget to make  duaa for them!

 

I recently came across the beautiful story behind the word inshAllah. Some of you probably already have knowledge of this story, but this was my first time understanding it. I attached pictures of the pages including the story which is from the book, "In the Footsteps of the Prophet".

 

 

 This story makes you understand the beauty of the word inshAllah, and how important it is to use this word sincerely.

 

So next time you say inshAllah, mean it!!

 

My favorite part of this chapter:

 

"Never say anything, "I shall do that tomorrow" except: if God so wills", and remember your Lord (Rabb, Educator) when you forget and say "I hope that my Lord will guide me even closer than to the right course" Surat AlKhaf

 

This Revelation once again involved a reproach and a teaching: it reminded the Prophet that his status, his knowledge, and his fate depended on his Rabb, on the One and Sovereign God, and that he must never forget it. This is how one should understand the meaning of the phrase inshAllah: "if God so wills": it expresses the awareness of limits the feeling of humilty of one who acts while knowing that beyond what he or she can do or say, God alone has the power to make things happen. This is no means a fatalistic message: it implies not that one should not act, but , on the contrary, that one should never stop acting while always being aware in ones mind and heart of the real limits of human power"