Stephen Colbert and Conan O Brien Invisible String Dance Off

I love crossovers on the few shows that I watch...

Via

The Reality of Istikhaara

Excellent article clearing up some misconceptions about istikhaara. Thanks for posting, Jinnz.

Read it.

Hadrat Shah Waliyyullah (RA) writes: "From amongst the greatest benefits of Istikharah is that man becomes detached from his carnal desires, his animalistic characteristics become subject to his angelic nature and he hands himself over to Allah. When he does this, he reaches the stages of the angels whose quality is that they await the command of Allah. When Allah's command is received, they exert themselves through divine motivation and not carnal motivation.

"In essence, once the 'Mustakhir' (i.e. the person who performs the 'amal' of 'Istikharah’) submits himself before Allah, hands his matter over to Allah, asks Him for strength, becomes satisfied with His choice, and begs Him for protection from evil and harm, and to grant him good, Allah accepts it from him, destines good for him, protects him from harm and keeps him in His care. After that, whatever direction he takes, will be for his betterment, even though his heart may be disinclined to it."

Allamah Murtada Zabidi RA states in his famous commentary on "Ihya Ulum: "Shaikhul Akbar (i-e.' Allamah ibnul' Arabi) stated: "... And he should recite the narrated du’a after making salam. This should be done before every important task he wishes to carry out or fulfil. He should then proceed with his task. Hence, if there is good for him in it, Allah will ease the way for him until it is accomplished, and its result will be praiseworthy. However, if the means were not available, and he was unable to accomplish his goal, he should realize that Allah had preferred this for him, and thus should not complain about it, as the outcome, whether it was that he accomplished his pursuit or not, will soon turn out to be praiseworthy."

Man...that's the hard part.

Shaikh Jilani also says regarding this complacency of the heart: "This happens by the grace of Allah, and is not necessary, nor does it always occur. Similarly, Salatul Istikharah is mustahabb, even if he has already made a firm decision before performing the Salah, as has already been mentioned that Istikharah is not a means of discovering the ‘ghaib'(unseen), but rather is a humble supplication unto the Knower of the unseen, the Most Powerful, to bestow the best."

"In Quest for Equal Rights, Muslim Women’s Meeting Turns to Islam’s Tenets " (NYT)

Article

Highlights:

It was frustrations like those that drew several hundred Muslim women to a conference in this Muslim-majority country [Malaysia] over the weekend. Their mission was to come up with ways to demand equal rights for women. And their tools, however unlikely, were the tenets of Islam itself.

The advocates came from 47 countries to participate in the project, called Musawah, the Arabic word for equality. They spent the weekend brainstorming and learning the best Islamic arguments to take back to their own societies as defenses against clerics who insist that women’s lives are dictated by men’s strict interpretations of Islam.

She referred to the work of Muslim intellectuals, like Nasr Abu Zayd of Egypt and Abdolkarim Soroush of Iran, reformers who argue that the Koran must be read in a historical context, and that laws derived from it can change with the times. Their ideas are controversial, and both are in exile in the West.

Ms. Mir-Hosseini argues that Muslim societies are trapped in a battle between two visions of Islam: one legalistic and absolutist that emphasizes the past; the other pluralistic and more inclined toward democracy.

Some scholars argued that the effort sounded unrealistic and would have no impact, mainly because it appeared to ignore more than a thousand years of Islamic legal scholarship and practice. Religious authorities are the only ones with the power to interpret laws, and circumventing that well-entrenched system would require replacing it altogether.

“This kind of argument is being made at the margins of the Islamic world,” said Bernard Haykel, an expert on Islamic law at Princeton University. “It has shape and form, but no substantive content. There’s no real way of actually bringing about these changes.”

Ms. Mir-Hosseini said she believed that change was coming, and that it was just a matter of when.

“There’s so much tension and energy there now,” she said. “It will be a flood.”

Hm. I'm intrigued. Generally/stereotypically speaking, those who have argued that they need to go back to explore original texts (and, especially, those who wish to put such authority into the hands of the layperson) usually end up with some... extremely controversial viewpoints. And they tend to fizzle and die. I want the real deal. I still struggle with thoughts that the system's broke, but have been thus far unconvinced with many of the moves to fix it.

Hm.

Hadith of the Week 13

Hadhrat A'ishah (ra) narrated:

"Once, when I saw the Prophet (sallAllahu `alayhi wasallam) in a good mood, I said to him: "O Messenger of Allah! Supplicate to Allah for me!"

So, he (sallAllahu `alayhi wasallam) said: "O Allah! Forgive 'A'ishah her past and future sins, what she has hidden, as well as what she has made apparent."

So, I began smiling, to the point that my head fell into my lap out of joy.

The Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu `alayhi wasallam) said to me: "Does my supplication make you happy?"

I replied: "And how can your supplication not make me happy?"

He (sallAllahu `alayhi wasallam) then said: "By Allah, it is the supplication that I make for my Ummah in every prayer."

Incoherence

Though I generally make it a point to avoid writing personal thoughts beyond "I think this is awesome" on this blog, I think I might be turning towards a new direction soon. I've had a lot to think about over the course of the past year, and while I hope it's all coalescing soon, I know nothing will make sense to me until I force those rusted up gears in my head to slowly turn and crank out some coherence. This should take a while.

However, I'm still rather paranoid about the inevitable collision of my online, mental and real-life worlds. Maybe I should just take up writing on another site? Hm. Until then, chances are, if you try to discuss things with me in the real world, I'll just pretend I didn't hear you. And if you share this on google reader, I'll punch you in the face.

I can't imagine how people don't believe in qadr (destiny). I'm awestruck at all the little 'serendipitous' occurrences that truly shaped my personality. Alhumdulillah; Allah swt has definitely blessed me with the people who surround me, and those who walk in and out of my life... Alhumduilllah for ALIM; it really did change my life in ways I never imagined it would or even realized it did until very recently. It gave me such a strong foundation and structure for my thoughts, and just a new lens through which I could look at the world and my life. I still struggle to implement those changes. I still struggle to UNDERSTAND those changes.

It is what it is; we do what we can.

Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah -- Muslims in America

I will probably remain forever bitter that I wasn't blessed with Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah's presence at ALIM 2008. Sigh. Khair, at least I (finally) found some online videos.

I have to admit, though, I kinda found the beginning of this lecture a bit... boring :look: (sorry!) but alhumdulillah, it picks up after that (especially the last 2 or 3 sections). He makes a few references to that insightful PEW survey (summary)

Alhumdulillah, this was a nice (yet superficial) overview/review of our "Islam in America" class with Dr. Jackson, with a few more really cool insights, particularly in regards to differences between the American and European Muslim communities (and how/why many of these differences came about). In the end, he talks about community building in America, tying in a couple of his older articles. My fav lines:

"A lot of muslims are brought up abroad and here in Islamic centers and mosques so that all Islam is is five pillars: the knowledge that there is one God and the Prophet Muhammad is His Messenger, pray, fast, give alms, hajj. "do this," "don't do this," "do that," "don't do that." But pillars are for BUILDING. Pillars are for an edifice. You can't live in pillars -- you have to build around the pillars."

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

http://www.nawawi.org

Hadith of the Week 12

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I know of a people from within my Ummah who will come on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds like the Tihama Mountains in quantity, pure and white. Allah will make those deeds like dust scattering in the wind.”

Thawban then said: “O Messenger of Allah! Describe them to us. Make them known to us so that we will not be of them without realizing it.”

He said: “They are your brethren and your countrymen. They take from their nights (for prayer) as you do. However, they are people who when they are alone with the limits of Allah, they violate them.” [ Sunan Ibn Mâjah (4235) – authenticated by al-Bûsîrî]

New Ad Agency Caters To The Muslim-American Consumer And Their Spending Power

Heads up to Adeel, whose FB posted items I stalk and then steal as my own.

Read the original article here

(or just scroll down! It's like magic (or plagiarism)!)

The Muslim Ad Network, an online association that concentrates on the Muslim Market in North America, has partnered with advertising strategy firm, Desedo, to create a new advertising agency. Though we don't know what the agency will be called (Desedo is not giving up the goods to us) we are very excited about this new shop.

For starters, the Muslim American market has been valued at $170B according to The New York Times. The Economist also has said that "Two-thirds of Muslim households make more than $50,000 a year and a quarter earn over $100,000." Those are some attractive numbers. Still, it's basically an untouched marketplace. What American brands have seriously tried to engender their loyalty? And yes, in an age where advertising messages can be segmented, an online communities serve every need, a Muslim-American ad agency sounds like the right move to make. Plus, with our first minority President getting ready to be the new leader of the free world, the conversation about race is only going to get louder. Brands would be wise to listen up.

More from this second article, American-Muslims And The Advertising Agency Dilemma

I'm curious to see if those who invest along the lines of Sharia (Islamic principles) better weather the recession. Having more disposable income in these times could accelerate this process.

Hey, I'm interested in that as well!

In your research paper, you cite one person as saying: "part of the problem is that it is difficult for ad execs to create an advertising profile for Muslims as a whole, because [they] come from many diverse backgrounds and believe many different things." Question: isn't that true for Asians and Blacks living in America? Why do you think the ad industry still does not have a grasp on identifying and marketing to various ethnic identities?

"Wow, there are many answers to that question, here is one thought:

Outside of humor, advertising is a generally risk-adverse platform. So if you're attempting to 'reach' a demo via broadcast, it's a massive investment and agencies/brands play it safe. So the same tropes get trotted out. Blacks get 'soul', Latinos gets 'family', Asians get 'sedulous', etc...

While agencies may intuitively understand that a black guy can love both Jay-Z and Modest Mouse, you're not (yet) gonna see that multiplicity reflected in traditional advertising. Luckily, the authorship space of new media and rise of transmedia planning is slowly changing this..."

Kelly Kapoor: A Tribute

A tribute to one of the less noticed, but extremely glamorous, Kelly Kapoor. She is pretty much full of awesome. So enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC_B6uaZ1I8

The Ascent of Money (PBS Documentary)

Extremely interesting documentary, available fully online for a LIMITED TIME ONLY. Had I studied it a bit more, I probably would fully understand this financial crisis we're going through; it does a fantastic job of explaining the past, present and future of our economic situation. As for the past/present, I know NOTHING about economics... but the general gist I'm getting from it is "interest is evil." Go figure! Islam fo' lyfe.

I honestly hadn't been that interested in watching it to start, but in the end, it proved extremely informative. Take a look at the preview and, if you're interested, watch the full documentary here while you can.

Thanks for the linkage, deel.

"About the film":

One week before a new President who campaigned on a promise to fix the economy takes office, public media provider WNET.ORG is putting the meaning of money into context – where it came from, where it goes, and why it has always been (and always will be) the fulcrum of civilization. THE ASCENT OF MONEY, a two-hour documentary based on the newly-released book The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World (Penguin Group USA), will premiere on Tuesday, January 13 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film is written and presented by the bestselling author, economist, historian, and Harvard professor Niall Ferguson. An expanded, four-hour version of THE ASCENT OF MONEY will air on PBS later in 2009.

In THE ASCENT OF MONEY, Ferguson – whose series War of the World garnered critical attention last summer – traces the evolution of money and demonstrates that financial history is the essential back-story behind all history. “Everyone needs to understand the complex history of money and our relationship to it,” he says. “By learning how societies have continually created and survived financial crises, we can find solid solutions to today’s worldwide economic emergency.” As he traverses historic financial hot spots around the world, Ferguson illuminates fundamental economic concepts and speaks with leading experts in the financial world.