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Transcript of Al-Nur: Volume 11 | Issue 2
al-Nur THE NEWSLETTER OF
THE MUSLIM STUDENTS ’ ASSOCIATION AND
THE MUSLIM WOMEN OF MARYLAND
by Lena M. Hassen and Ikhlaas M. Hassen
Eid Mubarak! In the night of the last,
when the full moon has once again risen,
after the holy month of Rama-dan has passed,
Now that we’ve fasted and done extra good deeds,
We celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the two Eids!
This is the time when Mus-lims share
Love and happiness every-where.
Put on your best perfume and wear your best clothes,
Visit a beautiful mosque with its pretty decorations. Pray Eid Salah and listen to
Eid Khutbah,
And give each other pre-sents to share your Ni’mah! Thank ALLAH for the bless-ings He gave you,
Thank ALLAH for grant-
ing you your needs, Say Alhumdulillah, for He prescribed us these Eids, And continue to perform
good deeds.
May the peace of Allah and joys of Eid be with everyone, Eid Mubarak to all my be-loved Brothers and Sisters in
Islam!
Inside this Issue
the Light the Light
ISSUE 11 VOLUME 2 SHAWWAL 7, 1428 - OCTOBER 19, 2007
“...Light upon light! Allah guides to his light whomsoever he pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men, and Allah knows all things full well.” [Holy Qur’an]
HistoryHistoryHistory
Founded in 1969, the Muslim Students' Association
is an organization dedicated to serving the Muslim
students on campus and educating the campus com-munity about Islam and Muslims. We carry out Is-
lamic activities, sponsor social, community service,
and charity events, and strengthens relations and
understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Political Action & Current Events Page 3
Quran & Spiritual Reflections Page 4
Personal Experiences Page 5
Hadith/Duaa of the Week Page 7
The Never Ending Story Page 9
Creative Writing Page 10
How-to Column Page 8
Contact Us! Please send your creative submissions, comments, and suggest ions to msa.nur@gmail .com or v is it www.msaumd.org
MSA Events Page 2
msa events
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 2
Before our father Adam was created as the first human being, the angels were confused as to what good his children would serve. As we are taught in the Holy Qur’an: “And behold, when your Lord said to the an-gels, ‘Verily, I shall create on earth a vicegerent. They said, will You create therein those that will create mischief and commit blood-shed, while we glorify and praise You, and hold You most holy? He said, ‘Verily, I know that which you do not know.’” Indeed, the angels had captured immense truth in their statement. Entirely free from error and fully committed in devotion to Allah, the angels are ceaselessly engaged in prayer until they arise on the Day of Judgment, say-ing “Glory be to Allah, we have not worshipped You as You deserve to be wor-shipped.” What could hu-manity possibly offer that is superior to the angels? What could justify the im-mense evil that would oc-cur at the hands of the children of Adam and Eve? Among the divine wisdom that the angels did not compre-hend was there was, from among humanity, to arise the very great-est of Allah’s devotional servants. While there are many who would make the wretched choice, others would choose piety and righteous-ness under no compulsion – and thus attain a status even higher
than the pure and noble angels. Do you remember in the Night of Ascension, that the great angel Gabriel (Jibreel) stopped at a cer-tain point, while the Prophet Mu-hammad (saw) was allowed to proceed further? The Prophet (saw) he had attained a status higher than one of the most re-
spected angels. And do you recall that the angels were commanded to bow before your father, Adam? Such is the honor bestowed upon humanity by Allah. Yet, great honor does not come without great responsibility – and great consequences. Look at the first part of the verse: hu-manity was given charge of the care of this earth. You and I, by selection and by name, were or-dered to bring this earth a little
closer to the way Allah ordained for it to function. Through sincere worship, a call to righteousness, and selfless service, we were en-trusted with the well-being of the world. We are literally vicege-rents, agents, representatives – we are Ambassadors of Allah. Perhaps you are startled by my choice of vocabulary, yet I
mean every letter of it quite deliber-ately. Look again at the verse above – you find that you are a khalifa of Allah on earth. It is true that we are far from perfect, and it is also true that Allah, ex-alted and magnificent, is free from any needs or any shortcomings. Yet this does not preclude
that the Almighty has given an-gels many trusts and assignments although He is in no need of their service. Similarly, it does not pre-clude that Allah entrusted you with a higher and greater assign-ment. Dear brother, dear sister: let me then emphasize the great task placed before us. Let this verse shed new light upon each of your decisions and actions. Think
(Continued on page 5)
by Mohamed Abutaleb
I Am Islam: Ambassadors of Allah
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 3
political action & current events
by Anonymous
To Vote or Not to Vote, That is the Question Presidential primary elec-tions are around the corner - are you prepared to vote? Does it seem like sometimes you just can’t seem to find the time to reg-ister to vote? Or anyways, is there even a presiden-tial candi-date out there wor-thy of your support? Do these bob-ble head pol it i cians even care about half the issues they are ad-vocating for or against? I mean either way we’re still going to be in Iraq, the PATRIOT Act is still going to invade our private lives, and the resolution to go to war with Iran is already in Congress…and if these issues don’t concern you anyways, then you have other problems on your hands, don’t you think? So…is there a candi-date unlike the others? One that will take a chance to do the right thing…maybe… The candidates criticize the Bush administration’s war in Iraq, enactment of the PATRIOT Act, and dealings with Iran. But do these candidates really offer us a better alternative? Barrack Obama has said that he would bomb Paki-stan to fight terrorism. Hillary Clinton has refused to give a con-crete stance on the major issues; meaning we really don’t know what to expect from her in office. One republican candidate,
Senator Tancredo, thinks that the most reasonable course of action in response to another terrorist attack would be to bomb Mecca and Medina. All of these candi-
dates supported the PA-TRIOT Act’s initial enact-ment, and regardless of any criticisms they may have of it, they continue to support its reauthoriza-tion. These candidates also supported the inva-sion of Iraq, and are pushing for greater sanc-tions on Iran. Is there anybody that seems a little bit sane? Don’t give up the
search just yet…there might still be hope. There are a few candi-dates out there, while they may not be getting as much spotlight as the others that seem to be get-ting the right idea on foreign/domestic policy. Congressman Dennis Kucinich from Ohio is running for a second time in the Democratic primaries. Congressman Ron Paul from Texas is running in the Repub-lic primaries. Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are the only presiden-tial candidates who voted against the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Kucinich and Ron Paul were the only congressmen against the Rothman-Kirk Resolution, which calls on the UN to charge Ahmed-nijad with violation of the geno-cide convention after his remarks about the holocaust. Dennis
Kucinich even went so far as to say that Ahmednijad was mis-translated and that he never called on for the destruction of Israel. Kucinich voted against the Patriot Act and has been very out-spoken about his views on Iraq saying that the US is involved in an illegal occupation. In 2004, Kucinich signed a letter of solidar-ity with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; and has advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons calling on the US to be a leader in a unilateral disarmament. This article isn’t supposed to be about telling you who to vote for, but that you SHOULD VOTE. That with a little bit of re-search, we may find a candidate that has the answers we are look-ing for. While it might seem like the elections are a lost cause, as you can see, there are a few can-didates out there that know what they are doing and are not afraid
to voice their opin-ions. Be-cause not voting is not doing anything; and living in the m o s t powerfu l country in
the world, even if it doesn’t make a difference, make an effort to change what we find unjust. It is our intentions and actions that matter. So please VOTE and get others to VOTE.
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 4
quran & spiritual reflections
by Khuram Zaman
The Etiquettes of Fiqh
In Arabic, Shariah means the
clear, well-trodden path to water.
Islamically, it is used to refer to
the matters of religion that God
has legislated for His servants.
Just as water is vital to human
life, so the clarity and uprightness
of Shariah is the means of life for
souls and minds. The sources of
the Shariah are: the Qur’an, the
example of the Prophet Muham-
mad (saws), scholarly consensus
(ijma), and analogical reasoning
(qiyas)
The Shariah covers all aspects of
human life. Classical Shariah
manuals are often divided into
four parts:
1. laws relating to personal acts
of worship (ibadah)
2. laws relating to commercial
dealings (mu’amalat)
3. laws relating to marriage and
divorce
4. laws relating to crimes and
punishments (hudood)
The Shari’ah is considered a
mercy to mankind. It promotes
the welfare of humans by fulfilling
necessities, needs, and comforts.
As a Muslim, you may come
across problems that you didn’t
have to face before. For example,
how do you pray salah on an air-
plane? One of the conditions for
salah is to face in the direction of
the Ka’aba. However, since an air-
plane travels very fast, it may be
difficult to determine the direction
of the Ka’aba, which may actually
shift while you pray salah. What
would you do in this situation?
You have several options: (a) fol-
low your desires, (b) follow your
own independent choice, or (c)
follow the opinions of a scholar.
With regards to the first
choice, following your desires, this
is something that is strictly pro-
hibited in Islam. We do not do
things in Islam because they “feel
good.” We do them because it is
the command of Allah (swt). In
the Qur’an, Allah (swt) prohibits
us from following our desires and
commands us to obey him (Qu’ran
5:48-49).The Qur’an is the
Speech of Allah (swt), so when He
commands us to do something, it
becomes obligatory to obey.
There are many other examples in
the Qur’an where Allah (swt) com-
mands us not to follow our desires
but to follow the Shari’ah. Thus,
when deducing rulings, we
shouldn’t make up things just be-
cause it is easy or fun.
The second option is to
make up your own opinion. This
option is just as bad as the first.
Here is a hadeeth that explains
why:
Jabir said, "We were on a
journey and one of us got injured.
Later, he had a wet dream. He
asked his companions, 'Can I per-
form tayammum?' They said, 'No,
not if you have water.' He per-
formed ghusl and died. When they
came to the Messenger of Allah,
they informed him of what had
transpired. He said, 'They killed
him, Allah will kill them. Do you
not ask if you do not know? The
rescue of the ignorant person is
the question. He could have per-
formed tayammum and dropped
water on his wound or wrapped it
with something and wipe over the
wrapping, and wash the rest of his
body." This is related by Abu
Dawud, Ibn Majah, ad-Daraqutni
and Ibn as-Sakin, who said it is
sahih.
In this hadeeth, several
Sahabah (ra) gave some bad ad-
vice based upon their own opinion
which resulted in the death of a
person. This made the Prophet
(saws) very upset. He asked them
“Do you not ask if you do not
know?” So whenever we come
across a situation where we don’t
know what to do Islamically, the
Prophet (saws) instructed us to
ask those who do know.
Who are those people who know?
These people who know are re-
ferred to as the ‘Ulema (singular:
Alim). Allah (swt) in the Qur’an
instructs the Muslims that a small
group of them should study the
deen. “. . . if a contingent from
every expedition remained behind
in order to understand religion
(Deen), and so that they could
admonish their people when they
return to them (from war) that
thus they (may learn to) guard
themselves (against evil).” (Surah
(Continued on page 7)
no more of your actions as being reflective of only yourself, rather, imagine your deeds reflecting upon Islam. Visualize yourself as an Ambassador of Allah. Sister, whether you have begun practic-ing hijab or not, you are the sym-bol that the world now associates with Islam. Your actions, words, and demeanor will either convince the world that the Muslim woman is the oppressed, exploited person most believe her to be – or that she is instead the pinnacle of what humanity should strive to be. Brother, if many imagine a Muslim to be backwards, greedy, and spiteful to all that is good, then through your actions this will ei-
ther be reinforced or exposed for the fallacy that it has always been. The task is great, but the reward is greater – success and tranquility in this world, and Heaven and the contentment of Allah in one to come. Let me leave you with this: there was a tribe who, like us, had become complacent in their concern for Islam, who had momentarily for-gotten the great trust of an Am-bassador of Allah. A select few words were hurriedly scribbled and sent in a letter to them. They read: “From Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha to Banu Bakr: Do not em-
barrass the Muslims.” Perhaps the shortest letter in history, yet it
had its desired effect plus more. Thus do I share these same words with you today. Dear friends, do not embarrass the Muslims. Rather, hold your heads high and grant us honor – with your stud-ies, your professions, your charac-ter, your worship, even with as little as a caring smile. Remem-ber the One you represent – for you are, after all, an Ambassador of Allah. I Am Islam: Footsteps on the
Journey Within is a lecture and
discussion series held on select days throughout the year at the University of Maryland. To join the listserv or for any inquiries, e-mail [email protected].
(Continued from page 2)
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 5
I Am Islam: Ambassadors of Allah
“Oh my Allah. What was
that?” I remember screaming. My
voice echoed against the cold mar-
ble walls of the minaret as I quickly
started to run down the spiral steps
trying to fig-
ure out what
was going
on. I was at
the campus masjid of the Islamic
University of Malaysia were I had
been studying as part of a study
abroad program for 2 months along
with 15 other youth. Going up the
minaret was going to be the last
adventure of our trip since we were
heading back home in a week.
My question was directed at the
fact that I had just seen what
seemed like a piece of cardboard fly
down through the center of the spi-
ral staircase and heard screams
coming from the top. I turned to
one of the brothers standing on the
opposite side of the stairs from me
waiting for an answer and the ex-
pression on his face was so fear
stricken that without any words, I
knew what had happened. All he
kept saying to me was “don’t look
down” as he ran off to call our
group leader. After a few seconds
of hesitation and panic of not know-
ing what to do, I forced myself to
look over the ledge. The cardboard
like thing I had just seen flying
down through the center of the spi-
ral stairs was actually a 16 year old
brother, Luqman, falling down 54
stories from the top of the minaret
to the bottom floor of the masjid.
For those of you
who were at the
MSA meeting on
Friday, the trip
to the cemetery was a wake up call
to us all. I realized that the last
time I had been to one was to bury
Luqman over a year ago, on the
other side of the world. How could I
have ever forgotten that night? It
wasn’t Luqman I had forgotten, I
remember him clearly. His crazy
afro hair, his love for playing
pranks on people and his need to
(Continued on page 6)
personal experiences
by Sumayyah Taufique
Remembrance of Death
“For those of you who were at the MSA meeting on Fri-day, the trip to the cemetery was a wake up all to us all.”
always see a smile on everyone’s
face. What I had forgotten was
how quickly all that was taken
away from us, how fast death
came and changed our lives.
We’ve all hear the imam say “pray
as if its your last prayer” before
each salah but not once did
any of us think that the isha
prayer we prayed 30 minutes
before the accident was really
going to be the last for one of
us.
The janazah took place
after Asr the next day. Reality
struck as I watched his body
being lowered into the
ground, the first burial I ever
witnessed. I had heard and
spoken the words “Inna lilahi
wa inna ilayhi rajioon” (to Al-
lah we belong and to him we re-
turn) often, but for the first time I
truly understood and felt their
meaning. Luqman had been called
back by Allah, a calling neither he
nor anyone else could delay or
stop. We like to think that we
have control over our lives, control
over what we’ll do tomorrow,
where we’ll be the next hour and
then bam. We’re standing at a fu-
neral, watching the person we had
class with yesterday wrapped in a
white cloth being lowered into the
ground. Is life really this fragile?
The only thought that kept running
through my head was the ayah
"Every soul shall taste death, and
only on the Day of Judgment will
you be given what you earned.
And what is the life of this world
except the enjoyment of decep-
tion." (3:187). If Luqman, a 16
year old, could die so suddenly
without any warning right before
my eyes, what guarantee did I
have from life?
I didn’t know whether to run
away from it or to embrace it. It
seemed bizarre to think of em-
bracing death but running away
from it felt inadequate, as if Lu-
qman’s life would lose some of its
purpose if I just stored his death
in some sorry corner of my mind.
As unfortunate as Luqman’s death
was, I realized that the only way
to honor his life was to be inspired
by his death. We had spent a lot
of time in the classroom while in
Malaysia, learning tajweed, Arabic,
hadeeth, fiqh, aqeedah and
seerah, yet somehow all of that
didn’t feel like enough. His death
gave me the motivation to put all
the knowledge I had gained into
action, to reanalyze my focus in
life and to really question the va-
lidity of my Iman.
We live in a world, in a so-
ciety, whose social and materialis-
tic culture is based on the denial
of death and this notion that we’ll
live forever. We focus on attaining
all the great things in life, the best
education, a high paying job, a
nice car and big home but we for-
get that focusing on the hereafter
will get us both. Anas bin Malik
and Zayd bin Thabit narrated that
the Prophet (S) said “If anyone’s
intention is to seek the hereafter,
Allâh will place his sufficiency in
his heart and order his affairs, and
the world will come to him sub-
missively; but if anyone’s intention
is to seek worldly good Allâh will
place poverty before him
and disorder his affairs,
and only so much of it as
has been ordained for him
will come to
him.” (Tirmidhi 5320;
Ahmad and Darimi).
As Muslims, we don’t con-
sider death to be some-
thing taboo and bizarre to
discuss and think about,
unlike the culture we live
in. The remembrance of
death is a motivational tool
to keep our lives in this world in
check and to prepare ourselves for
the hereafter. Before you do any-
thing, honestly think to yourself if
the action you are about to do is
one you want to be engaging in
when the moment for you to meet
Allah comes. Death reminds us to
renew our intentions and make
everything we do only for the sake
of Allah, it teaches us the essence
of time and how every second
matters, it serves as a reality
check when we get too engrossed
into the dunya and it helps us re-
member that nothing we have will
last forever.
Luqman’s death is not stored in a
sorry corner of my brain but is a
constant guidance throughout my
day. Don’t wait for death to hit
close to home to remember it, re-
member it often and have it be
the tool that not only benefits you
in the hereafter but makes you a
better person in this dunya.
(Continued from page 5)
Remembrance of Death
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 6
al-Taubah : 122) This verse of the
Qur’an clearly states that a group
of Muslims should devote them-
selves to acquiring the knowledge
of the Shari’ah and all others
should consult them for their rul-
ings. Becoming a scholar is not an
easy thing. A student of Imam
Ahmad ibn Hanbal asked him
"When a man has memorized
100,000 hadiths, is he a scholar
of Sacred Law, a faqih?" And he
said, "No." The man asked,
"200,000 then?" And he said,
"No." The man asked, "Then
300,000?" And he said, "No." The
man asked, "400,000?" And
Ahmad gestured with his hand to
signify "about that many". How
many hadeeth do we know? If we
don’t know a single hadeeth or
much Qur’an, how can we possibly
start giving rulings from these two
sources? It is simply not possible
for a person without knowledge to
do so. This is why Allah (swt) and
His Rasul (saws) told us to follow
those who have knowledge.
When someone follows an-
other person in rulings of the
Shari’ah, this is known as
“taqleed.”
Linguistic Definition: Literal:
Taqleed is a verbal noun from the
Arabic root q-l-d which means to
place, to gird, or to adorn with a
necklace.
Shari’ah Definition: The accep-
tance of another’s statement with-
out demanding proof or evidence
on the belief that the statement is
being made in accordance with
fact and proof.
The basis for taqleed is a
Qur’aanic command where Allah
(swt) says “O you who believe!
Follow Allah; follow the Messenger
and those in authority (Amr)
amongst you.” (Surah al-Nisaa:
59) Those in authority (Amr) can
mean either the rulers or the ju-
rists. Abdallah ibn Abbas (radhi
allahu anhu), a companion of the
Prophet (saws) was of the opinion
that the verse was applied to the
jurists. Taqleed was something
that was practiced in the time of
the Prophet (saws) and after his
death. Imam Bukhari
(rahmatullah alayh) mentions that
the people of Madina asked Ibn
'Abbas about a woman who did
tawaf and then started menstruat-
ing. He said to them, "She can
leave [before doing the Farewell
Tawaf]." They said, "We will not
take what you say and abandon
what Zayd said." He said, "When
you arrive in Madina, ask about
it." When they arrived in Madina,
they asked. One of those they
asked was Umm Sulaym and she
mentioned the hadith of Safiyya.”
The Sahabah (ra) did not fol-
low their own desires or use
their own minds but followed
the most knowledgeable per-
son amongst them and did not
even ask for evidences or
proofs because they knew that
they weren’t qualified to inter-
pret them. Another example is
when Abdallah Ibn Abbas (ra) said
"When some authentic person
brings us the fatwa of Ali (ra),
then we will not move from it a
bit.” In fact, out of the hun-
dred thousand or so Sahabah
(ra), only seven of them issued
legal opinions. [Imam] Suyuti,
in Tadrib al-rawi, quotes Ibn
Hazm's report that most of the
Companion's legal opinions
came from only seven of them:
'Umar, 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn
'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, Zayd ibn
Thabit, and 'A'isha; (ra). If the
majority of the Sahabah (ra) en-
gaged in taqleed without asking
evidence, what about those of us
today who lack their intellect, pi-
ety, and closeness to the Prophet
(saws).
**Stay tuned for the remainder of
this discussion in the next al-Nur!
(Continued from page 4)
The Etiquettes of Fiqh
hadith / duaa of the week Submitted by Kadiatu Bah
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah created His creation, and
when He had finished it, ties of kinship got up and said, 'I seek refuge with You from those who sever the ties of kith and kin.' On that, Allah said, 'Will you be satis-
fied if I bestow My favors on those who keep you, and withhold My favors from those who sever you?' On that, ties of kinship said, 'Yes.' Then Allah said, 'So, be it.' "
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 7
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 8
how-to column
So, I am now in dee Amrika. In dee Amrika, all dee peoples talking eso funny. I telling my Amrikan friend he needs to espeek like me because I talking dee bery cool vay. Here are esome tips to talking like me, dee FOB:
• All words beginning with “W”
are now pronounced with a “V”
“VHATSSSSS???? You tink her biryani dee better den my vone? All dee peoples vishes dey vere my son so dey could eats my biryani! I vorking eso hard to making you dee good foods and you tink my is dee vorst?”
• Put an unnecessary “the” (or
‘dee’ in the case of a true FOB) in front of literally every other word.
“All dee peoples telling me dat my ecletric blue eshirt is dee eso cool and dee eso hip! In dee estore vhen I esaw dee shirt I esaid “VOW!” Eberytime I vearing dee eshirt I getting all dee compliment from all dee peoples.”
• Words beginning with an “s” are pronounced with
a soft “eh” type sound before it. “ESHUT DOWN right now!!!! Estop argue vith me!!! You dee estupid person and you making dee no esense.”
• Sure a lot of dhesis are Muslims…. but for some
reason FOBs (and their offspring) pretty much butcher Arabic words.
“Assamalakum Farida Bhabi. You know, in dee Ramzan my eson alvays going to dee masjid. He go-ings all dee time for dee iftaari and he alvays pray-ing dee taravih and before ebery namaj he doing his wuzu. Mashalah he alvays vearing dee tobe. Alla-Kasam, he eso good Muslim boy.” • Pluralize your words… even if they are singular. “Vhat is dee matters vith you?? Dee estore gibings avay dee free estuffs and you only gets vone? So
many peoples dere, nobodys vould esee you. You no hab to be dee embrassd.”
• Dhesis could make great poets. We’re es-pecially great at rhyming. Check out our
skills: “On dee Eid-teid, after dee dinner-tinner vee alvays eats dee rusogullah. I no lie-tie to you, I makes dee best rusogullah. Oh, and of course den vee have chaa-taa. ” • If you’re Paki, “yaar” comes be-fore and after every other sentence. “Yaar I vent to my friends’ home and he vasn’t dere yaar. Yaar I eso esad, I vanted to see dee Ibrahim bery bad yaar.” • When a FOB is on the phone with somebody it can be difficult to under-stand said FOB. But, it’s all good be-cause FOBs still have ways to com-municate with people. When all else fails, SPELL IT OUT!
“Esir, I telling you my name is dee Mahfruz!!!! I espell for you. M like dee man. A like dee apple. H like dee Henry. F like dee family. R like dee ring. U like dee umbrella. Z like dee zoo.”
• Switch Zs with Js.
“I lowb to go to dee Pijja Huts vit my friends.” • Use random numbers when trying to make a
point. “I vill gib you $2.37 if you can find an Amrikan vho know vhat dee Bangladesh is. In facts, only abouts 33.2546% of dee Amrikans know vhere dee Ban-galdesh is on dee maps.” • Since our Ws are now Vs, our Vs are now Bs. “I lowb vorking at dee Seben Eleben. Eberday I can drink dee coffee for dee free!” **Of course, this list never ends :). Don’t forget to check out the next issue for How to Speak like De Afrikaan FOB!!**
by Sanjana Quasem How-to Espeek Like dee Indian, Bangali, and Pakistani FOB
to Espeek Like dee Indian, Bangali, and Pakistani FOB
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 9
the never ending story
Allah Will Help Me by Adam Stephenson
It was a bright sunny morning when Brother Hisham woke up to go to the University for his first class. There, he was encountered by Brother Tamer, who asked Hisham for help with some school work. Hisham hap-pily agreed and when Tamer apologized for preventing him from going to class, Hisham said, “Don’t worry, Allah will help me”. After helping Tamer and missing his class, Hisham should have gone to his intramural soccer team’s last-minute practice be-fore their big play-off game. Hisham was the goalie, but he said to himself, “Allah will help me, I don’t need to go to the practice, and instead I’ll read some Qu’ran.” After reading some Qu’ran, Hisham went to the game and failed to block many key shots, resulting in their loss and the end of their season. Later, as the once bright sunny morning started to get cloudy, Hisham thought that this was okay, it was Allah’s will. Then, Hisham went to the campus Mus-allah to pray Salat Al Duhr, be-fore studying for his test that was later that day. Just after they finished, the Imam gave a halaqa which lasted for the duration be-fore his test. He said to himself once again, “Allah will help me,” and he stayed for the entire ha-laqa. When Hisham finally took the test, he could not remember anything he had studied the night night before. He left the test knowing he had done badly, mumbling with his fading faith, “Alhamdulillah, it was Allah’s will.”
As Hisham drove home, he remembered that he had an op-tometrist’s appointment for a pathogen in his eyes, but the misery of the day caused him to use “Allah will help me” as an ex-cuse, and he went straight home. After being alone at home for an hour, Hisham started to find that he was having issues seeing, and soon afterwards his doctor called in a frenzy. Hisham was about to apologize for not making it into his appointment, when the doctor reported to Hisham that his eyes had a complication they did not realize until now, and due to this complication Hisham would go blind unless he got certain antibi-otics immediately. Worried, Hisham uttered, “Alhamdulillah there is still a chance if I come to you immediately.” The doctor said sadly, “No Hisham, it is too late for that, look outside.” Hisham pulled up his shades to find that the once bright sunny morning had changed into a terri-ble cloudy storm, rendering transportation by car impossible. Hisham’s faith had gone down so much now that he could not even praise Allah for being alive. And by the power of Allah, within less than twelve hours Allah had taken Hisham’s once perfect vi-sion from him. As Hisham sor-rowed in this terrible turn, a knock came to the door. Hisham felt his way around his house to the door and opened it. He heard the voice of a man who ad-dressed himself as a police man, telling Hisham to come quick, “there is a flood coming, and we’re evacuating everyone from the area.” With adrenaline
pumping through his body, Hisham said, “No, this house is all that I have left, and Allah will protect me inshallah. I can not leave.” And following this com-ment, in the heat of the moment Hisham did yell with his whole heart the Shahada. The next thing Hisham re-membered was opening his eyes to find that he could see, but he was no longer in his house. He didn’t know where he was. It took Hisham just a minute to re-alize that he had passed away in the flood, and he saw an angel approaching him. Hisham asked the angel, “What happened? I was a devout worshipper of Allah, but he did not protect me.” The angel replied, “Yes he did, Allah did protect you from all the bad things that happened to you dur-ing day of your death. He gave you an opportunity to go to your practice, he gave you an opportu-nity to study for your test, and he gave you an opportunity to pro-tect your health, which would’ve saved your eyes. He even sent to you a police man to save you from death, but you rejected every form of help that Allah sent you. While you replaced Allah’s help with other acts of worship, as the day went on you let the problems of the Dunnyah get to you, thus rejecting Allah’s help when you needed it the most. Through all these self-chosen times of hardship, by your own free will, Allah did test you of your faith for the Day to come. Remember that Allah helps those who help themselves first, and then ask for His help.”
al-Nur Volume 11, Issue 2
Page 10 T H E M U S L I M S T U D E N T S ’
A S S O C I A T I O N
University of Maryland College Park
Box 44, Stamp Student Union
College Park, MD 20742
www.msaumd.org
President: Sami Zaharna
VP: Adam Stephenson
VP Sis’ Aff.: Namika Zaman
Masjid Aff.: Ridwanur Rah-
man
PR: Adil Zaman
Secretary: Ameer Abutaleb Treasurer: Faten Gharib
President: Maria Khalid
VP: Namika Zaman
Secretary: Shama Sheikh
Treasurer: Sanjana Quasem PR: Nadia El-Hillal
SGA Liaison: Tooba Moham-
med
Newsletter Staff
Editor in Chief Eman Haggag
Co-Editors
Maria Khalid
Nour Al-Muhtasib
Zeynep Ozer
Susan Shatila Manaar Zuhurudeen
Staff Writers:
Mohamed Abutaleb
Kadiatu Bah
Mouhamad Diabate
Lena & Ikhlaas M. Hassen
Nadia El-Hillal
Sanjana Quasem
Ridwanur Rahman
Adam Stephenson Sumayyah Taufique
Habiba Wada
Khurram Zaman
The views and opinions expressed in
al-Nur are solely those of the writers
and do not necessarily reflect the
views and opinions of the editing staff
or of the MSA.
MWM
Muslim Women of Maryland
by Habiba Wada
Dear Mother
creative writing
Dear Mother, You're the one I'm writing to Because I am thankful for all you do I have learned so much from you. You taught me, when I was little, how to talk You also taught me how to walk Not just to walk, but with my head held high You taught me that I could reach the sky if I tried. You taught me to work hard, and hold fast to dreams Everything is not as easy as it may seem But you also taught me "where there's a will, there's a way" And so I strive for the next day. I learned from you that dreams can come true I want you in my dreams, too I love you.
by Nadia El-Hillal
“Eidy” Meeny Miney Moe