Tired as a cat...

Peace be upon you,

So this was the first week of school for me and Tuesday will be the first day of teaching 5th grade. I'm already tired and drained from my own classes and preparing lesson plans and trying to figure out how to teach 30 some kids. :( anybody have any advice or ideas for fun engaging lesson plans?

Argh!!! Rawr!!!

but i am excited though... and i anytime i hear of great scholars , or listen to lectures of my teachers I always get encouraged by the tremendous sacrifices they made for this deen. Truly it is because of their sweat and sacrifice that we are Muslims today.

One thing in particularly that encourages me up is Silent Sunlight the one with Dawood Wharnsby from The Prophets Hands. It never fails to inspire me to get up and do somethings, i dont know, it kind of reminds me of my purpose as a slave of God.

But the lyrics are by Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens.) Man i love that guy. He is one for the best nasheed artist around. I just found out that one of his songs ( Dont be shy) was a soundtrack for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Thats crazy.

May Allah (swt) reward everyone who has contribute to this deen and encouraged others to contribute.

~ Peace till next time… MoCo

sKooL is KoOl

Peace be upon you,

So this week is the beginning of my school. As soon as i finished my TEFL course i had to being school. blah! But Allhumduliah i also started school! i mean teaching school! Yup, yours truly MoCo is a teacher! I teach 5th grade islamic studies!!!

whooohooo me so excited, me is a educmacator! hOked on foniks halped me reed, and me not fail engamalish, that unposibale!


haha... i love ralph wiggum. He was my role model through out college and Allhumdulah what a great model he was...

well now i have 25 some kids to look after and teach Islam to! Ya Allah! have mercy on those kids if someone like me ends up as their teacher! On top of that i have to make lesson plans and think outside the box to become a innovative educator. Shoot... what am i going to do now?

Argh... Rawr! i gotta get my act together fast and start coming up with interesting and engaging lesson plans and i gotta become a Super Muslim ASAP!

Look its a bird, no its a plane, no its ...Do Dooo Do doooo .... Super Muslim!

~ Peace till next time… MoCo

Finally done...here we go again....

Peace be upon you,

So i was doing this Teaching Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) training course. Basically it a crash course on how to teach English to foreign students. Hopefully I'll be able to use it abroad at an international school, that way I can go study Islam in Egypt or somewhere and support myself at the same time.

It took me the whole summer to do but I finally got done! Praise be to God!!! But tomorrow I have to start school again. @(#$%&. So... i guess ... here we go again...














< ~~~ i feel like this guy :(

~ Peace till next time… MoCo

Khwaja Mere Khwaja from Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

Peace be upon you,

Ok, my last post was about the movie Jodhaa Akbar, so i guess this is kind of a continuation of it. Like I said before the movie was absolutely amazing. Great scenes, storyline, history, blah, blah, blah. One of the best parts of the movie though was after Akbar's wedding to Jodhaa the sufis wanted to present him with a gift. so they wrote and performed this song for Jalaludeen Akbar...
———————————————————————

Khwaja Mere Khwaja

Lyrics written by Javeed Akhtar

Music by AR Rahman

Jodhaa Akbar 2008

Khwajaji, khwaja…………………………………………. O saint khwaja, khwaja

Khwajaji, khwaja, khwaja ji …………………………..O saint khwaja, khwaja O saint khwaja

Ya gharib nawaz ………………………………………….O patron the poor

Ya moinuddin, ya khwaja ji …………………………..O moinuddin (chisti), O Saint khwaja

Khwaja mere khwaja ……………………………………..O khwaja my khwaja

Dil mein sama ja ………………………………………….Reside in my heart

Shaho ka shah tu …………………………………………..You are the king of kings

Ali ka dulara ………………………………………………….Beloved of Ali

Khwaja mere khwaja dil mein sama ja ……………….. O khwaja my khwaja, Reside in my heart

Beqaso ki taqdeer, tune hai sawari……………………… The destiny of the ones in despair, you have changed for the better

Khwaja mere khwaja…………………………………………… O khwaja my khwaja

Tere darbar mein khwaja ………………………………………At your door, o khwaja

Noor toh hai dekha ………………………………………………Divine light i have seen

Tere darbar mein khwaja………………………………………. At your door, o khwaja

Sar jhuka te hai auliya ………………………………………….. Saints bow their heads

Tu hai Hindalwali khwaja………………………………………….. You are the hindalwali Khwaja

Rutba hai pyara………………………………………………………. Your status is Beautiful

Chahne se tujhko khwaja ji mustafa ko paya………………….By loving you Saint Khwaja, I have found The chosen One ( Prophet Muhammed)

Khwaja mere khwaja………………………………………………………. O khwaja my khwaja

Dil mein sama ja …………………………………………………………… Reside in my heart

Shaho ka shah tu…………………………………………………………….. You are the king of kings

Ali ka dulara ……………………………………………………………………Beloved of Ali

Mere peer ka sadka ……………………………………………………….The alms of my old age

Hai mere peer ka sadka………………………………………………………. You are the charity of my old age

Tera daaman hai thama………………………………………………………. That I have come in your refuge

Khawajaji …………………………………………………………………………….. O saint khwaja

Tali har bala hamari ………………………………………………………. (You) averted All my problems

Chaya hai khumar tera ………………………………………………….. (I) want your cloak

Jitna bhi rashk kare beshak ………………………………………………No matter how much one may envy

———————————————————————————–

This is a really rough translation of the song. if anyone has a better translation lemme know.

And i know many of you are going to have a big fit of a issue with the whole sufi thing... but seriously can we but the whole sufi vs wahabi issue off to the side for one minute and appreciate Muslim history and culture?

The fact of the matter is that scenes like this did happen. Great kings and important court officials did sponsor poets and artist, which led to a highly developed and sophisticated court culture. The Ummayids, Abbasids, and Ottomans, alogn with the Mughals had rich cultures which developed over time and produced some of the world's most beautiful poems, books, and artistic works.

This scene in Jodhaa Akbar is just a small nostalgic hint of that great legacy which still lives on today.

("The Concourse of the Birds" painted by Habib Allah. The hoopoe, center right, instructs the other birds on the Sufi path.)

~ Peace till next time… MoCo

Peace be upon you,

Jodhaa Akbar ( 2008 )

I am not, I repeat NOT, a bollywood fan. im the guy who sits in corner making stupid jokes about how stupid the indian bollywood movie is. I HATE everything about bollywood pop culture. Frankly i think is been saturated by American pop culture. For all practical purposes Indians have sold out. All bollywood does is remake old American movies! on top of that they have such a limited genre. Why does every frickin dumbass bollywood movie has to have a love theme? Why is bollywood such a god damn ass kisser? Seriously!

People think about it, The Indo-Pak subcontinent has such a long and rich history, yet they never ever take an interest in the honors that Allah swt has blessed them with.

In recent years though they have gotten better and every once in a while though i stumble across a decent movie. Jodhaa Akbar for example was a great movie. im not sure how accurate its was historically but it was an amazing break from the regurgitated vomit bollywood normally spits out. I hope that they continue with quality material like this.

I loved the movie because the 1st, the sets were vibrant and alive. They took you back in time and created a nostalgia of a long lost paradise on earth. The director clearly put a lot of time and effort into the sets. 2nd the song and dance scenes, which Indians apparently cant live with out, were tasteful, practical, and well incorporated into the storyline. At least they weren’t dancing around the world and changing clothes every two seconds. What the song and dance scenes lacked in ridiculous and flashy it made up in well planned choreography.

Lastly and probably the best thing about this movies would be the story itself. It actually had substance! the characters were so well developed and felt real so wou actually felt drawn in to the story. Jodahh, Akbar and the Mughliya Empire had a huge impact on the subcontinent’s history and politics. Learning something about the subcontinent’s history could help one to understand the diffrent groups, politics, and everything that is going on in the Subcontinent and the world today.

All in all…

* * * * * * * *

8/10

~ Peace till next time… MoCo

Contrary to common belief…

Peace be upon you,

As I was blog surfing I came across an amazing post by Mujahideen Ryder

It brought back many memories of debates with Muslim and non Muslim friends, and it reminded me of great work that still needs to be done.

First and foremost of which is , at least i think, educating the people of America. There is so so so much misinformation and bias in the media against Islam its unbelievable! I remember when this rally was going on the media spend like 10 min reporting on it, and half of it was interviewing the Pro-Israeli side of it, even though there were like 1500 anti-Israeli protesters and only like a handful of Pro-Israeli protesters!!!

handful of pro israeli protestors ...

more handful of counter protesters ... oh wait no its the same 20 guys.

On top of that the media conveniently forgot about the Neturei Karta (Jews Against Zionism)

















Many Americans claim to stand for justice, due process, and we claim to love the freedom of speech. Yet we allow things like this to happen! Even though its been a couple months I am defiantly not going to forget the bias, and if people don’t raise these issues then we will be doing a great harm to ourselves and the world.

~ Peace till next time… MoCo

Ramadan is around the Corner

Peace Be Upon You!

I received this email from my MSA, and thought it would be very beneficial. I edited it a bit though.

Is everyone ready??

Ramadan is the month in which approximately 1.6 billion Muslims around the world are told to
not only refrain from eating, drinking, and sex from dawn to dusk, but also to attempt to stay
away from evil actions in general such as lying, stealing, cheating, backbiting, slandering, etc.
We also try to drop some bad habits that we may have acquired throughout the
years (i.e. cursing/swearing, arrogance, greed/miserliness, envy, etc) through as many acts of
worship and charity as we can manage.

There is a little less then a month left before the sacred month of Ramadan begins!

Researchers say it takes about 40 days to change a bad habit into a good one.
Our actions BEFORE the month of Ramadan are crucial. It is in this
month, Shaban, that we have to try to get into the habit of fasting as well
as restraining our body parts and senses from wrongdoing.

The Prophet (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) would fast most of the days of
Sha'baan (the month preceeding Ramadan) besides the last few days. We would
like to encourage all our brothers and sisters to try to fast some days of
this month so the first day of Ramadan doesn't throw us all off :)

Ramadan is also considered the "Month of the Quran". We believe it was in
this month that Allah began revealing the Quran to the Prophet
(PBUH). Quranic recitation during this month is highly recommended! Let's
try to begin implementing some techniques into our lifestyle *now,* so when
Ramadan starts we will have already started devoting more of our time to
reciting (and reading the translation) of the Quran.

Ramadan is also considered the "Month of the Quran". We believe it was in
this month that Allah began revealing the Quran to the Prophet
(PBUH). Quranic recitation during this month is highly recommended! Let's
try to begin implementing some techniques into our lifestyle now, so when
Ramadan starts we will have already started devoting more of our time to
reciting (and reading the translation) of the Quran.

Here are some great additional sources for Ramadan:

9 ways to plan for Ramadan: http://www.soundvision.com/info/ramadan/r.plan.asp

Preparation for Ramadan: http://www.sacredlearning.org/classrooms/ramadan/index.htm

Verses and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) on Ramadan: http://www.soundvision.com/info/ramadan/qhfast.asp

Basic information about Ramadan: http://www.jannah.org/ramadan/intro.html

~ Peace till next time... MoCo

Azeem Khan of I.C.N.A. Defends Freedom of Speech

So a little while ago I was at work on break. While casually channel surfing i find this on CNN.

At first i was like what the hell is going on. Then i recognized Azeem Khan! For those of you who don't know him, he was a member of Young Muslims, a youth division of the Islamic Circle of North America. I guess he's all grown up now and moved on to becoming a representative and secretary for I.C.N.A.

Personally I don't see what all the commotion is about. I think the ads are respectful and are not being "preachy" in anyway. Congressman King's complaints are really illogical. His two main complaints are that 1) the main person behind these ads is Imam Wahaj 2) these ads are offensive.

Congressman King contradicts himself, though. At 0:36 he states that "There is nothing wrong with these ads, theres is nothing wrong with educating people about Islam, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are outstanding citizens." Later though Congressman King states these ads are offensive because they are occurring on Sept. 11th.

First, Congressman King was mistaken since these ads are starting Sept. 15. Second, even if they were overlapping they are still protected by the First Amendment. Third, neither the MTA nor the Homeland Security CMTE have a right to regulate offensive material and media. That falls under FCC regulation. So Congressman King is way out of bounds.

Also, this whole issue is very very very hypocritical because just a couple years ago when the Dutch published pictures of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, they offended Muslims around the world. When organizations and governments petitioned the paper to retract the pictures every political pundit, shock jock, and politician were firmly opposed to any retaction or apology. Why? because the paper had a right to free speech. Now, when these ads go up, even though they are in no way offensive or crude, a congressman, someone who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, is trying to suppress the Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Religion of 7 million American Citizens.

Although the ads are roughly coincide with the 7th anniversary they are not geared towards the commemoration and even if they were Muslims have a right to commemorate the event as they see fit along with the rest of America. When Congressman King states that these ads are "offensive to the families, and its offensive to the memory of those killed that day" he is alienating and denying American Muslims their place in America. American Muslims witnessed the events that took place that day as well as non Muslim Americans and there were many Muslim victims in those attacks. If American Muslims want to take this opportunity to educate Americans or clear bigotry then they have a right to do so. There could be no better way of honoring the memory Sept 11th victims of then to educate people and stop hatred.

The second complaint Congressman King has is in regards to Imam Siraj Wahaj.

In the beginning of his interview Congressman King states that the problem isn't with these ads but that the main person behind these ads is Wahaj, and this is a problem because 1) he was a character witness 2) he made several comments about democracy, America, the FBI, and the CIA.

Congressmen King's complaints are ridiculous. First, these ads are organized by I.C.N.A. no Imam Wahaj, so this argument has no basis what so ever. Second, even if Imam Wahaj was single handedly organizing these ads they are not promoting terror, they are merely education people about Islam, and he stated at the beginning of the clip that "There is nothing wrong with these ads, theres is nothing wrong with educating people about Islam, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are outstanding citizens."

Imam Wahaj has nothing to do with this whole "terror train" situation and it seems as if Congressman King is trying to pull a character assassination against Imam Wahaj. He states that "These ads attempt to give credibiltiy and respectibilty to people such as Wahaj..." but no where in the ads is Imam Siraj Wahaj praised, and yet Congressman King brings this up and denounces Imam Wahaj.

I am not a lawyer but even if Imam Wahaj did testify for the blind Shaykh who was indicted in the 1st trade center bombings that does not mean he is automatically a terrorist. Citizens have a right to a fair trial by jury and Imam Wahaj was merely taking part in a judicial process! For example if somebody testified for O.J. Simpson's character does that mean they are guilty of murder along with O.J. Simpson?

Also, Imam Wahaj was clearly not indicted in the 1st trade center bombings meaning that the government did not find him of any wrong doing. Meaning he was INNOCENT! Congressman King is bring up past statements of Imam Wahaj and trying to use them to paint Imam Wahaj as a guilty or violent man. This is quite unfair and hypocritical of Congressman King. Citizen Wahaj has every right to the freedom of speech just like Bill O'Rielly, or Howard Stern, or Don Imus. He has a right to criticize a political theory such as democracy, he has a right to criticize a government such as America. Citizen Wahaj also has a right to criticize government agencies such as the FBI and CIA. Coincidently independent organization such asthe red cross and Amnesty international have found that the CIA, and the armed forces have been using torture techniques such as stress positions and water boarding. So Imam Wahaj's claims, although exaggerated, were based upon the truth.

So the question i leave you all with is...

Why then, is Imam Wahaj the victim of a character assassination? Why then, is this educational ad campaign being repressed?

~ Peace till next time... MoCo

Assalamu alaykum world.

So this is Blogger huh? i wonder if i will every use this thing. well we shall see. for now good bye and good night good people of Blogspot.

Salam,

MoCo