ISNA Weekend and Beyond...

AA

Well, loyal fans, it's been a minute, hasn't it? Okay, so I should NOT be admitting this, but, hey, what the heck: As I type this entry tonight, I'm listening to Ray J's new joint One Wish. Yes, I know, Ray J... Brandy's little punk-of-a-brother. Whatever it is about this song (and not any other of his so-called songs), I feel it.

Anyway, here's a brief recap of the weekend:

ISNA Weekend.

I was not really planning on attending ISNA this year. But then I remembered that I could possibly find my wife during ISNA, so...

:) Basically, the entire time was spent hanging out in the bazaar or lobby...chillin with friends.

Saturday: I went with this guy who wore a shirt that said, "I HAVE CANDY." Okay, I have to say this: that was embarassing. Come on, man, what are you trying to say? Especially after Fifty's Candy Shop song?! Some of my friends kinda looked at me and were like, "Who's the guy with the shirt?" Now, don't get me wrong here. The brotha with the shirt is a nice guy, but the shirt was questionable (sorry, bro, if you're reading this!).

Moving on now to Sunday: I was initially hanging out with Taha. We went to some DePaul friends' booth where they are in the business of selling clothing. My boy Taha gets really involved and lost in the world of 'power selling,' so I ditch him after suffering through many of his failed attempts. Finally, AJ comes along and saves me, so I hung out with him. I also bumped into Farooq, which was nice to see that baller (mashaAllah). Of course, I probably ran into most of my friends and a handful of family.

I guess ISNA is whatever you make of it. It can be a 'religious' experience if you make the effort to attend as many lectures as possible and spend time amongst good company. It can also be a completely social affair by spending most of your time as I did: hang out for a little bit in the bazaar and a little bit in the lobby(-ies). And then it can be a completely, let's say, liberating experience! Enter "Club ISNA" as it's now commonly referred to. This is for the people who exclusively hang out in the lobbies (especially the Hyatt) and are interested in familiarizing themselves with members of the opposite sex. :) Does that sound a bit better than saying, "...and are interested in hooking up" or "...and are interested in degrading themselves as much as possible." Ouch. That last quote was a nasty slap...sorry.

The thing is, man, you have to be careful and keep yourself in check. Hanging out with girls can be, to be honest, fun and tempting. It's just the stuff that you can get into which causes problems and then gets you into trouble, ya know? This time, enter one's brother: AJ. MashaAllah, it's good to have a friend...or, in his case, someone that's like a blood brother...that has similar intersets like oneself (i.e., the deen, self-respect, etc.) and ensures that we keep on the straight path as much as we can, despite our weaknesses.

As AJ knows, I've been big into this "spending time with quality brothers" thing lately. It stemmed two Sundays ago when Sh. Amin (Oh Allah, please protect him and his family and bless him with the best in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah huma salay ala Muhammad. Ameen) mentioned, while giving tafseer of Surah Furqan, a concept along the lines of saying to yourself on the Day of Judgement, "Why did I spend time with such-n-such friend who diverted me away from xyz." "XYZ" being something deen-related. SubhanAllah. It's amazing, man. Soon after that brief statement Sh. Amin mentioned, I recalled advice that was given to me by Sh. Hussain Sattar over two/three years ago: Imran, the most important thing for you, from what little you have told me, is that you need to have good friends because of the influence your friends have. Back then and up 'til that point two Sundays ago, I never really appreciated that statement. But, in the past few months of my life, I can see how profound that piece of advice truly is. SubhanAllahi wa bi Hamdihi! Our scholars are beyond our planes of existence. And if they're beyond our plane of existence, then what sort of level does the Beloved (sw) begin? No wonder there is a naat that, translated into English from Urdu, states, "Who can understand/appreciate Allah's Greatness other than the Prophet (sw)? And who can understand/appreciate the Prophet's (sw) Greatness other than Allah."

Whoa...talk about your tangents, man. Gotta hit the sack now...

Keep me in your prayers.