Ramadan 2008

[Aymsgirl 0]

I think those siggy pics are of Mohamed's new sister in law and his brother. The bride does look very pretty!!!

I'm doing good Nawal. Ayman tried to wake me up this morning to eat and I just couldn't. I had heart burn so I drank water and took an antacid. Our air is broken and it is about 90 in the house and I am wanting water but I'm dealing with it and self disciplining!!! I am going to read from the Quran here shortley and study my Arabic. How is everybody else's first day going?

[HLM 1]

My first day of ramadan has been very much traditional all the family gathered at one of my uncles house... ate iftar then hung out then the men went off to pray tarawi7 n the women watch the egyptian series which can be up to 4O different ones!!!! lol

Nawal- AMEEEEEN to ur beautiful duaa i ask Allah to accept from us and help us through out the month.

Aymsgirl- Allah ma3aki! - may Allah be with u and support u!! insha Allah ull be used to it by the end of the month always think of the reward.... i love this quote from my quran teacher: when i remembered the reward i forgot about the pain.

Edited September 1, 2008 by HisLittleMasriyah

[Nothing1234 2]

I think those siggy pics are of Mohamed's new sister in law and his brother. The bride does look very pretty!!!

I'm doing good Nawal. Ayman tried to wake me up this morning to eat and I just couldn't. I had heart burn so I drank water and took an antacid. Our air is broken and it is about 90 in the house and I am wanting water but I'm dealing with it and self disciplining!!! I am going to read from the Quran here shortley and study my Arabic. How is everybody else's first day going?

OMGoodness...Sorry Melinda...u know I saw the man and thought...boy Mohammed looks different....lol.

Tasha, you will learn to eat even if a little...water is most important of course. We have finally finished all our shopping the ME stores here were MOBBED...yikes it was crazy. LOL

HLM...Ameeeennnn I do enjoy everyone around...its hard at times but being here in AZ w/ just the hubby, babies n my father..it does get lonely and certainly not like back in Egypt or even for me back East.

How's everyone doing? What's for breakfast?

[Muh and me 18]

For me this being my first ramadan, i ended up not getting up early with Kamal and eating and sleeping instead. he was up all night and every time he went into the fridge i woke up. So i woke up this morning and because of my meds, i have to drink water. Well i took 2 naps and by 2:30 broke down and ate. And got sick to my tummy after that. i'm trying hard. i plan on getting up early with kamal next time, and hopefully it will make it easier. But with no job and being home more all i want to do is sleep. i can't do that. i have a job interview tomorrow(temp job for 3 months), so inshallah it all goes right.

[Nothing1234 2]

For me this being my first ramadan, i ended up not getting up early with Kamal and eating and sleeping instead. he was up all night and every time he went into the fridge i woke up. So i woke up this morning and because of my meds, i have to drink water. Well i took 2 naps and by 2:30 broke down and ate. And got sick to my tummy after that. i'm trying hard. i plan on getting up early with kamal next time, and hopefully it will make it easier. But with no job and being home more all i want to do is sleep. i can't do that. i have a job interview tomorrow(temp job for 3 months), so inshallah it all goes right.

Inshallah all goes well w/ the job interview Terrie! You should really try to get up with Kamal and drink plenty of water, something small/light to coat ur belly. It may help a bit. However, if you have issues with meds...think always about your health first! Nothing wrong with napping of course!

Edited September 1, 2008 by Nawal

[Muh and me 18]

Thanks Annie. Tomorrow the plan is to get up early and sleep for a while, go to the interview, and hope i can make it thru the day without eating.

[Nothing1234 2]

Thanks Annie. Tomorrow the plan is to get up early and sleep for a while, go to the interview, and hope i can make it thru the day without eating.

Inshallah, all will be fine. Take it step by step. I try not to think past the present and what I'm doing. Plus avoid clock watching.

[S and S 12]

Thanks Annie. Tomorrow the plan is to get up early and sleep for a while, go to the interview, and hope i can make it thru the day without eating.

Inshallah, all will be fine. Take it step by step. I try not to think past the present and what I'm doing. Plus avoid clock watching.

lol, it is easy to watch the clock. Today I did a lot of cleaning and that really helped pass the time. There is the drawback of it making me thirsty, but I drank so much water yesterday and in the morning that it wasn't too bad. I am known to not eat all day until the evening so not eating isn't as hard except I don't have the liquads to fill my stomach which is how I get away with not eating all day normally. The next thing is not eating all day will make me light headed and it is more difficult to concentrate.

[Nothing1234 2]

Thanks Annie. Tomorrow the plan is to get up early and sleep for a while, go to the interview, and hope i can make it thru the day without eating.

Inshallah, all will be fine. Take it step by step. I try not to think past the present and what I'm doing. Plus avoid clock watching.

lol, it is easy to watch the clock. Today I did a lot of cleaning and that really helped pass the time. There is the drawback of it making me thirsty, but I drank so much water yesterday and in the morning that it wasn't too bad. I am known to not eat all day until the evening so not eating isn't as hard except I don't have the liquads to fill my stomach which is how I get away with not eating all day normally. The next thing is not eating all day will make me light headed and it is more difficult to concentrate.

Agreed...concentration is harder towards the end of the day.

[Aymsgirl 0]

Mother nature came today......I felt kind of bad, it was my first day of Ramadan and things were going great and that little aunt flo came and ruined it all! I learned today that I make the days up later on. One of the guys from the Islamic Society called my hubby tonight and told him that he just came back from a 4 day convention and there were 30,000 muslims there. He said it was awesome!

Edited September 2, 2008 by Aymsgirl

[HLM 1]

Mother nature came today......I felt kind of bad, it was my first day of Ramadan and things were going great and that little aunt flo came and ruined it all! I learned today that I make the days up later on. One of the guys from the Islamic Society called my hubby tonight and told him that he just came back from a 4 day convention and there were 30,000 muslims there. He said it was awesome!

oh im sorry about that Amysgirl... but yes u can make them up insha Allah (:

my husband was just telling me about this convention its in columbus OHIO right? i thought of u right away lol and i was wondering if u went. He said there was 4O;OOO -i guess ur friend is accurate than my husband lol but yeah- muslims praying tarawih together masha Allah thats a beautiful thing to see in America!

[Henia 11]

You can always make them Aymsgirl before the next Ramadan ooor if for any reason you feel you cannot ... before Eid pay the "fee" for not fasting (check at your local masjid what it is where you are) to the needy. I am doing this, since I cannot fast due to medical reasons... and planning to breastfeed for 2 yrs so not clear when I could make the days, so I am just going to pay daily 80DA (rate here of iftar daily meal) to someone needy ...

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Oh man, if I had been in Ohio, I would have been all over ISNA. Granted, it's mainly a bunch of young desis macking on each other, but there were some awesome speakers (as always). I think next year it's in DC, and then the year after that it's back in Chicago. I've always been too poor to afford going, but I think if we save up these next 2 years we can go inshaallah.

Here is some Ramadan advice from Sh. Hamza:

http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2008/09/02/rama...kh-hamza-yusuf/

Alhamdulillah, ISNA 2008 Convention Over… and not only is it time to get back to work, but Ramadan is here! Inshallah ill try to post some pics/vids/notes from the conference over the upcoming days if not weeks.

Nonetheless, since it is the start of Ramadan I thought i would share some notes from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s final talk at the main MSA Session in which he gave some Ramadan Advice: (Note: These are only notes from my interpretation of his lecture, and any mistakes I may have made are solely my fault.)

- The Quran is our GPS on our road of life. It is the book that provides us with a map and clearly guided directions on how to live our life. The more we give to the Quran, the more it will give back to you.

- At the beginning of any struggle (mujahada) - you have to work hard. The harder you work the easier Allah will make it for you to do that work and gain benefit from it. Shaykh Hamza mentioned the account of a man who came to him who asked how he could develop the persistence of prayer that his father had (he would always perform many additional prayers (tahajjud) in addition to the daily 5 everyday) - and Shaykh Hamza mentioned that his father must have been doing this for years - and he didnt reach that state overnight. We have to continually struggle!

- And we will have ups and downs and change. The believer’s state will change 40 times per day whereas the disbeliever’s state stays the same for over 40 years. A child for example - always lives in the moment - because change quickly manifests in their state at that moment. We as Muslims need to make the most of each moment.

- Muslims feeling depressed? - Do more for the sake of God (Pray more, read more Quran, give more charity…)

- Know yourself. Understand your own personality and issues and work on self-knowledge. For he who knows himself knows his Lord. (Shaykh Hamza gave the example of the 4 classic temperaments: choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic.)

Specific Ramadan Advice:

1. No Television. If you have a TV - put it away in a closet for this month.

2. No Computer ().

3. Cut Down all sensory stimulation

- He understands how many of us (This goes especially for me) are addicted to the internet and e-mail. He says if the first thing we do in the morning is check our email - we have problems. (I actually noticed myself reaching for my Treo to check my email as i was turning to shut my alarm off this morning - but stopped myself thinking of what Shaykh Hamza said!).

- The first thing we should do when we get up in the morning is be thankful and look forward to praying to Allah and say:

All praise is for Allah who gave us life after having taken it from us and unto Him is the Resurrection

- TIME MANAGEMENT. We all need to work on prioritizing our time. The Prophet Muhammad never wasted any of his time. Time is a limited gift from God. Shaykh Hamza never accepts the excuse that “I don’t have time”, for ALL WE HAVE IS TIME!

- One of the greatest tribulations facing this planet today is tribalism. Tribalism = Iblisism. No (insert race/tribe here) is better than any other race/tribe. In America - tribalism means nothing. One positive thing about the African American experience is that it removed tribalism.

- Some final comments about America. He realizes and condemns all the injustices committed by our country. Shaykh Hamza is anti-war and against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and torture (Guantanamo Bay). This universe is a moral universe, and Shaykh Hamza believes in cause and effect, and that the chickens do come home to roost! He quoted Thomas Jefferson who said that “[He] shudders for my country when I reflect that God is just, (that His justice cannot sleep forever)”. America needs to be redeemed!

[Aymsgirl 0]

Yes, it was in Columbus Ohio from what I was told. We had no idea about it but wouldn't have been able to go. I believe that the man told my husband next year it will be over July 4th.

Thanks for the information ladies!

[Nothing1234 2]

Rahma...the no computer part will be so very hard. I can try to cut down but seeing that work requires I be on all day long and at home we contact family overseas...It's been a trial.

What are you doing? Just cutting down or will you be offline from now on?