White Sox. Team of Destiny.

Unreal...

One of the best playoffs and World Series I've seen...

Da Bears (oh, and the Sox)

Hi

Alhamdullilah. Alhamdullilahi Rabil Alameen. Ar-Rahmanir Raheem....

The Chicago Bears are #1.

No, I could care less that they have a .500 record in the worst division of the NFL. All I know is that we're already playoff contenders and should take a commanding...yes, commanding...lead by defeating Detroit this weekend, inshaAllah'ta'ala. The Lions probably still have a sour taste in their mouth based on the last game earlier this year when we made them into zabiha meat. They'll want blood this Sunday; especially at their field. But the Bears will nonetheless triumph, iA.

Oh, and in other news the Chicago White Sox are World Champions. Don't know if anyone caught that...? "Second team of the city no more" indeed, Joe Buck...

[see: www.chisox.com]


:)

More Pics From Last Week's Iftar...

AA

Courtesy of Mike Rabi (www.mikerabi.com):

My new favorite picture. :)

This was right after Taha
slapped me when we were
playing that hands slap game.

Yep, the slap was that hard
to have totally moved my
face in the other direction.

Thanks, T-Man.

Mike (Mustafa) and me enjoying
a nice bowl of homemade ice cream/kulfi
And Harris giving me the bunny ears effect.

Good times, mashaAllah

Backstreet Boys: Chinese Version

Hi

Now this is passion...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648&q=chinese&pr=goog-sl



Hysterical!

The Iftar Party

AA

Alhamdullilah, the iftar party I had at my place was a great time, mashaAllah. I owe it all to my mother whom, mashaAllah, cooked for hours on end, despite not feeling well. SubhanAllah, I'm lucky to have such a caring mother who makes her son look good in front of her friends!! Please remember her in your duas.

Here's a recap:

1. Sami Haque pulled in a surprise by being the first one to show up. In true Hydro fashion, he guaranteed himself a spot to being the first guy at the buffet. Sami also took a lot of time to explain what he does for a living and how Hydros do not have a tribal system. Sami, halal food processing centers are very promising, bro...run with it. Sami is the guy looking up in the pic below obviously trying to pose for the camera, but in a nonchalant way. You're a smooth operator, man. :)

2. Fasih, aka Maulana Fasih (based on attire), and Mehboob Ali showed up. I'm not sure what else I can say other than wanting to relive the moments of them walking into my house. Imam Fasih out did it by bringing in apple cream pie from Bakers Square -- a big hit of the night. Fasih also did it big by dropping off his family and ditching them for me. Mehb ditched his expecting wife and then threatened to bust into my house at his discretion with his master key (note: Mehb is a part-time real estate agent and our house is up for sale). Please note that Mehb looks hotter when not wearing his standard button shirt, tie, dress pants combo. Thanks for taking our relationship to the next level, guys. In the pic below, Fasih and Mehboob are discussing the fiqh of eating with hands...haha


3. Mike Rabi. During the first 30 minutes or so, I was worried about this guy. I thought he wasn't enjoying the festivities. You see, I rarely see Mike without his digital camera and though that perhaps he didn't think the party was www.mikerabi.com worthy. But, Alhamdullilah, after I took out my camera, he busted out his like it ain't no thang. I was relieved. See http://www.mikerabi.com/ for more pics. Mike (aka Mustafa) poses like he's either a dignitary from Palestine, preparing for a high school senior year picture, or just getting read for a new career in modeling.


4. Taha Ghani. Ahmed Hassan. SubhanAllahi wa bi Hamdihi, they showed up. I was partially convinced that they would not as one can never tell with people from STL. They tend to be a shady group of people that cover their shadiness with hot looks (mashaAllah) and, in the case of Ahmed, hair that's simply 'on fire.' In the course of the night, Taha somehow managed a solid slap across my face, which then provoked me to launch an all-out assault on him. Ahmed, hope your 1st experience at my crib and the suburbs of Chicago was fun. Next time, please be sure to bring 1) Hershey's king size candy or 2) a huge Oreo ice cream cake. In the pic below, Prince AH (Ahmed) makes himself at home and Taha...well...all I see is his chisled chest and distinguished, Punjabi nose (mashaAllah). Did I mention that Taha works out?

5. AJ. AJ (Ahmed Abdul-Jaleel) had to feel pretty darn good coming to the Shakur household. In one-on-one basketball (semi-full court up to 7 in what was a king of the hill type of tourney) between me, him, and one of my brothers (Umar), he dominated us just a couple hours prior to the iftar. It's hard for me to say that, but I cannot deny him this truth. If he does that again, though, he's definitely not coming next year!! Then he has the audacity of winning the Madden 06 tourney. In the picture below, AJ looks like a white college guy who's enjoying his 15th beer in someone's dorm room on a Thurs night. It was actually roo afza. But it probably was his 15th serving!! :)

6. Harris Lakhani. You know, I just don't know about this guy anymore. I mean, it's amazing, really! The guy recently got engaged (mashaAllah) and suddenly thinks that he can drop the shareef, acha bacha image. Harris, she agreed to your hand in marriage because of those traits! Just keep that in mind and stop polluting our minds! Ha ha. Of course, I'm just joking. Harry Potter is my homie. Well, up until he started making fun of my xbox Madden '06 skills, that is. Oh, I finally got to see his facial expression for when I call him Harry! It's...well...intense. Here's Harry after eating too many samosas and thinking he's somehow teleported back to the 70's:

7. Fahad Siddiqui. He's the 'lover' part of my blog title. And at times the 'punjabi' part b/c the brotha is always down for a little bhangra, mashaAllah. Fahad, I'm sorry I disappointed you. I know that I don't live in the ghetto I rap about in my songs (please Google "2pac Shakur"), but I hope my love for your, let's say "family," overshadows it. In the pic below...well, who cares about describing this pic...do you see this guy's hair!! SubhanAllah...hot/flawless as always! Harris...seriously...what's up with the peace sign, vato loco?

8. Aladdin Nassar. The great thing about Aladdin, mashaAllah, is that he really makes himself feel at home. I mean, doesn't he get that people just say that? You see, just like everyone else in my family, Aladdin soon enough started giving me orders to prepare chai for him. Aladdin also re-enacted our first meeting years ago. Yes, the infamous, I'm-gonna-pull-Imran's-shorts-down-but-also-happen-to-grab-his-boxers-too. That one, much at my expense, never gets old. Just ask Taha. But I can't hate on Aladdin...he let me drive his car...60mph+...in my subdivision...in a Porsche Cayenne (mashaAllah)...it was my early Eid gift! Aladdin entertains everyone by looking all too gay in this picture. And yes, there's Harris with his peace signs again. The 2nd pic is a better one of Aladdin, who uses me as his personal pillow, again proving that he really felt like part of the family that night!

9. Zubair Khan. Yes, Mr. Hydro himself graced my home. Though he suggested where I could stick the Pakistani flag I held in my hand and then did his own version of Taha's slap by walking away from me when I told him my family's preference for marriage to Pakistani women, my brother had sweet revenge by destroying him (over and over and over and over again) in Halo 2. My brother commented, "I never knew ethnic cleansing felt so good." Even AJ and Tariq laughed at that. Don't worry, Zubair, I won't mention how I saw a smile on your face when my brother made that joke; it was too funy not to laugh. Oh shoot...too late. I did serve Zubair and others green tea in a really nice way, which prompted him to say, "If I had a daughter, I'd marry her to you." But then he followed that up by saying, "Thank God I don't have a daughter." Ha ha. In the pic below, Zubair looks like he's teaching AJ the art of meditation...

10. Tariq Syed. Yes, my Bolingbrook partner in crime and reunited work out buddy. Here, he's also looking like he's meditating, but via the xbox controller. I guess it didn't work as AJ emerged victorious in a thrilling game. When Tariq came into my home, I don't think he said salaam to anyone but headed straight to the kana table. Though he lives the closest to me, Tariq was the 2nd to last person to come. Tariq, we never did work out that night, did we?

11. Farooq Alikhan. I start off with praising Allah: AllahuAkbar! MashaAllah, it can only be an act of Divine Intervention that brought Farooq to my house. But, in what turned out to be a complete catch-22 or test of my patience, seeing Farooq was of little good as he spent his entire time 1) eating food, 2) going back-n-forth on txt msging for an hour and ignoring everything else around him, and 3) sleeping for a good hour until 2:15am. Yeah, needless to say, this quality time was one to take advantage of for me. Please see the pics of a passed out Farooq below. :) Ha ha. Seriously, it was really awesome for the guy to make it this far out and to come so late and stay late, mashaAllah. JZK, man.

Well, until next year, inshaAllah! Jazak Allah khair for reading all this and more importantly JZK to all my friends who came by and made it so fun, memorable, and baraka-filled. And we missed all you guys who couldn't make it. Please remember me in your much needed duas.

Salaam!

It's here! iPod video!

Hi

Awesome. Why didn't I buy Apple stock like ten years ago...??

http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html



Peace

Rumi (rh) Quote...

Hi

Taken from Salikah: A Student's Digest:
http://salikah.blogspot.com/2005/10/mawlana-rumi-do-not-lose-hope.html

"One must not despair of God, for hope is the first step on the
road to salvation. Even if you do not travel the road, at least
keep the road open. Do not say that you have gone astray.
Take the straight way, and there will be no crookedness.
Straightness is the quality of Moses' staff; the kinks are in the
staves of the sorcerers: when straightness comes it devours all
the others. If you have done evil you have done it to yourself.
How could the evil you have done ever reach Him? When a bird
perches on a mountaintop and then flies away, what has the
mountain gained or lost? When you straighten yourself out,
nothing else remains. Do not abandon hope."

-Jalal al-Din Rumi, "Signs of the Unseen", trans. Wheeler Thackston, pp. 9-10.

SubhanAllah. And people think that Rumi (rh) is just some esoterical poet talking in general terms of love/romance. May we all take inspiration from this. Ameen. He is mashaAllah a giant amongst the lovers of Allah and the Prophet (sw).


Duas Please!

The Desi Taraweeh (aka tarabee namaz)

AA

Justice demands that I, or someone, write on the bona fide desi taraweeh experience. The following is an attempt at doing so:

Uncle G. You gotta love him, right? He's the dark-skinned uncle who usually stands in the second, third, or even fourth row during namaz. You can recognize him with his Jinnah-style topee, old gray slacks that he wore when his now 18-yr old son was born. Somehow, these pants still fit him despite his rather large, protruding, and unsightly gut, which is thankfully covered by a white button-down shirt Aunty G bought him for his 53rd birthday. Coincidentally, Aunty G bought the shirt at Kohls. Anyway, you can spot Uncle G in a crowd easily because he generally has a big, warm smile on his face as he drinks chai and chats with other uncles. When drinking chai, he uses that large gut of his as an amazingly effective replacement for a tea saucer. Don't worry, though, the hot chai doesn't burn through his skin, because underneath that white button-down shirt, Allah has protected him with a jungle of hair that covers only his belly button.

But the easiest way to recognize Uncle G is during the blessed month of Ramadhan and specifically in taraweeh. He's the one, when the congregation 'sings' ameen in unison follows his 'ameen' with a loud, thick belch that almost convinces you to do ghusl. But this belch is truly amazing! Because, within seconds, you are miraculously taken back in time. To be specific, you are taken back about two hours in the past to when you ate your iftari. Suddenly, you are aware Uncle G also had, mashaAllah, a great iftar filled with salan, chowall, pakoras, and samosas filled with onions. Okay, may be not samosas filled with onions, but at this point in the prayer, that's what you feel!

Fortunately, you, the supplicant trying to please his Lord, are used to this test of patience and have come to accept this as part of a 'normal' taraweeh salat....oops, I mean taraweeh namaz when desis and especially Uncle G are present. But this spiritual moment doesn't stop there...

After a few other rude awakenings (i.e., more belching from Uncle G that has now taken you back to what you had for opening iftar to your main meal and, yes, even to your lassi and kheer), you find yourself coming out from sajood. Uncle G, instead of following your lead and everyone else's by standing up for second rakat, however, remains on the floor. Unfortunately, you cannot help to notice this and are first initially alarmed because perhaps, azubillah, Uncle G hurt himself when trying to lift his body and stomach back up. Before you break your namaz, you quickly realize while briefly looking at Uncle G's bold spot (his Jinnah-style topee fell down while in sajood), that he is actually finishing up his prayer by sitting down. Yes, the same uncle who has the energy to sprint to the buffet line at Shahi Nehari and knock down a few children on the way, has become exhausted and is now forced to pray the way most, if not all, Aunty G's pray.

To Uncle G's credit, however, this Aunty G-prayer style may not happen immediately. What I mean is that Uncle G may have actually tried to get up, but was unable to. Scientifically, it's impossible and your heart goes out to him for trying. I mean, for his skinny legs to push up against an object (his stomach) that carries a tremendous gravitational pull to the earth's surface is simply not possible! So, eventually, he is forced to give up and remains on the floor. I guess, then, it's not his fault, right?

At this time of the prayer, you just finished saying the final salaams. Your concentration was killed, but, hey, at least you went through the motions...!!



:) Ha ha

More from Pakistan / Kashmir

AA

Taken from Time.com (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1115600,00.html):

When they found open ground, families began offering special naful prayers,
while others knelt on the roadside and began reciting the Quran. Loudspeakers in
the mosques urged the faithful to seek forgiveness. "I thought doomsday had
fallen," said Abdur Rashid Hajjam, as he came out of prayers at a Sufi shrine.
"Pray for our brethren who died today and thank Allah for we are safe," said the
imam at Illahi Bagh mosque on the outskirts of Srinagar, which lies in
Indian-ruled Kashmir. "Whatever the scientists say, our Prophet said that when
this earth is replete with sin, this would happen." As evening fell, the
thanksgiving prayer, Nimaz-e-shukrana, echoed from every mosque in Kashmir.

SubhanAllah. May Allah have mercy and favor upon them. Ameen. This is the month of mercy...inshaAllah, this will be some sort of healing.

WS

Earthquake in Pakistan (and India, Afghanistan)

AA

SubhanAllah. Islamabad and surrounding areas was hit with a 7.6 earthquake. I'm watching video footage from MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9626146/) and it's just very shocking and sad.

InshaAllah, those who have passed away (inna illahi wa inna illahi rajioon) will be granted rank of a shaheed and a peaceful resting especially during this month of Ramadhan. Please keep them and my family over there in your duas.

So far, Alhamdullilah, I've heard from some family and they're fine, though experiencing aftershocks that are registering as 5 on the scale. Here's an excerpt from one of the reporters...

...entire villages disappearing...

It's amazing. We're all well aware that Allah is the Best of Planners. And we're also well aware that He is not in need of us. I wonder if this is the reasoning behind such a tremendous devastation? To remind us of His (swt) Ultimate Power? Or is there something more here? Some deeper hikmah that we are not aware of? Allahu Alim.

I saw one article (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1195594) that showed nearly 400 kids died. What can you possibly say to that? The death toll is in the thousands.

Looking at the 'bigger picture,' you gotta wonder what's going on? In the sense that have we forgotten ourselves (i.e., our purpose of worshipping Allah) and is this a result of that ignorance? First there was the tsunami. Then New Orleans. Then even Texas. And now this. What's interesting is that many that were impacted in these natural disasters were all poor.

Again, all this ignorant faqir can do is speculate. That and make dua to Allah, repent to Him, make dua for those that have suffered, and then listen to the advice of our shayukh, our scholars.

Living here in America and the West in general, we have it easy. We do what we can in terms of donations and duas (and I'm not downplaying that responsibility and obligation we have), but we cannot actually feel the pain our brothers and sisters are experiencing.

At least we should try to make a conscious effort to keep the following Islamic principle in mind: If one part of the ummah is hurt, then the rest should be hurt, too. (Sorry, I obviously don't know the exact hadith/wording/etc., but inshaAllah, you know what I'm getting at.)

Duas please.

Ya Allah, have mercy upon us, make all events in our lives a means of drawing closer to Thee, and forgive and overlook our sins. Allah huma salay Allah Muhammad. Ameen.

Yahoo 360

AA

Alright, so Google is fricken awesome, right? I mean, a company's stock that is valued at $300+ has to be doing something right, right?

Well, if you're a Google fan like yours truly, you're probably using the Personalized Google page by now (www.google.com/ig). I like how you can, for example, after adding whatever link you want, can just click and drag them around wherever you want. It's awesome. Seriously, these guys are good.

So now Yahoo! is trying to turn it up and be like Google. They're trying to create or buy cool companies just like Google has (i.e., Picasa, Blogger, etc.). I believe Yahoo bought Flickr, which seems like a nice site. And now they have Yahoo 360 --> 360.yahoo.com.

360 is actually not that bad (see my page at http://360.yahoo.com/ishakur2002) and the idea is actually really good. You combine a blog service, pictures (album sharing), rss/atom feeds, little one-liners, links, etc. So it's pretty comprehensive. So it's like all-in-one. The more I use it, the more I like it. Should be a good thing for Yahoo, since they're definitely still no Google.

Nonetheless, I think Google, and I can't believe I'm about to write this, has to step it up a little bit. Come on, our increasingly globalized world is becoming convergent like many of our technologies (i.e., iPod meets cell phone, treo 650, etc.).


Good times

Dala'il al-Khayrat

AA WRWB

I gotta remember this website:
http://dalail.co.uk/home.htm

The book looks absolutely stunning, mashaAllah*. And it's in praise of the Prophet (sw). Awesome!


Salaam!


*Yes, a hint for you (whoever you are) to buy this for me!

100 Best Products of 2005

Greetings

Courtesy of Sidi/Shaykh Faraz Rabbani's blog (www.seekersdigest.org):

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120763,pg,12,00.asp

Not surprisingly, Firefox, Gmail, and Tiger (Apple OS) are the top three, respectively. Sounds about right. Other notables include: Skype, Treo 650, iTunes, Flickr, Apple Mac Mini (rated lower than I would've thought), and the Razr V3.

Knowing me, I'll probably check out each product I am not familiar with!!


Rgds

GB Fudge Packers

Yes!

0-4, baby.

This is beyond a dream for all Bears fans.



Word

Ramadhan Mubarak (and an early Eid gift)

AA

So there's gotta be a handful of mumins out there who are White Sox fans after today's domination. I mean, you can't even call it a win, but a slaughter (note: BoSox = bakra)! Hey, I'm a Cubs fan, but I gotta give respect to the Sox. Last I checked, it's not haram or makruh to like two baseball teams in a given city.

Okay, so onto the obviously more important topic here:

Ramadhan Mubarak!!!

For all those reading, I request that you make dua for this lost faqir. I'm in dire need of reform, inshaAllah, and so what better month to ask for it?

Unfortunately, being sick and the symptoms getting worse, I will be unable to fast tomorrow. The antibiotics my cousin put me on would also make me very thirsty. I'm bummed, but very thankful that Allah is so Merciful that He (Swt) is lenient upon those who are physically unable to fast. You never know, though. Tomorrow morning, I could feel really good...

InshaAllah, pray that this sickness is beneficial for me as a cure to my diseased ruh. JazakAllahkhair.

Best.

Zaytuna's Ramadhan Site

AA

Man, check out these resources available with just a few clicks:
http://www.zaytuna.org/ramadansection.asp

Enjoy!

What I'm listening to...

Hi

These days it's:

1. Trey Songz. As a co-worker brilliantly pointed out, a lot of people are sleeping on this guy. He's got some vocal skills! Right now, you can hear him on the radio with a song he has with Twista (just gonna make it).

2. Naats. As always, man. Just the classics. Be sure to hit up one of my favorite websites: www.naatsharif.com. It rocks. As well as Qari Wahid Zafar Qasmi, mashaAllah! May Allah Protect him. Ameen. Actually, right now I'm listening to his "Koi Guftagoo Ho." Never heard before. I love it!! SubhanAllah. May our love of the Prophet (sw) increase always. Ameen.

3. Quran. Listening to the two qaris from the IIE/Islamic Foundation event back in August. One if from NY and the other from Egypt, who's ranked (with good reason!) as number one worldwide. May Allah protect them as well. Ameen.

Well, as Ramadhan is just a couple days away inshaAllah, I'll really only be listening to the Quran primarily and then may be naats, but my plan is to listen to as much Quran as possible.

DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE IS NOT IN ORDER AND DOES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE WRITER'S PRIORITIES IN LIFE!!

:)

Cheers.

Ikea

Hi

I finally got around to checking the new Bolingbrook Ikea. Man, that place is CRAZY! Since this is opening weekend, the place was insanely packed. They had a parking security team set up, a number of Bolingbrook Police, an ambulance on stand-by right in front of the store, and a trolley system.

Sounds serious? Well, it definitely was, man! Check out these numbers:

1. 2 people camped out in front of the Ikea for about two weeks. Why? 1st customer received a $3000 gift card. 2nd a $2000 gift card and third a $1000 gift card. The first place person was a guy from Atlanta who just finished up school and will be starting grad school at Wheaton College. The second place person was a Bolingbrook local who is trying to get a fresh start on living on her own. $2000 gift card at Ikea would certainly help that! And the first place guy has nothing to worry about either!

2. Then, the first 100 customers received a free chair ($99 value). My mom wanted to be one of the first (especially considering that we live 5 minutes away from it), but it didn't happen because she didn't have her car that day. But, it did not matter anyway as I read that at 1am on opening day (28-Sep-2005), there were already 70 people waiting outside!! Jeez!!

3. The first 45 minutes of the store opening allowed for 2500 customers to come in and receive a 45 minute long applause and cheering by the 150 new Ikea employees. In-fricken-tense, huh?

4. An expected...get this...30000 customers were anticipated on opening day. And 100,000 for the first five days. Based on the traffic I experienced there, I am NOT surprised at all.

The store is huge. I felt like I accomplished something when I (along with my mother) walked throughout the store. The store is only 2 levels (I think the Schaumburg one has multiple levels), but do not assume that it's any smaller. It's HUGE!

Within the Ikea "subdivision," there is also a new Bed, Bath, & Beyond store opening soon. There is a small strip mall adjacent to it and may be one or two more stores opening there. But that's not it...

Less than a 1/2 block down Boughton, there is construction (right now in the initial landscaping phase) being done for more stores/a new mall. I believe it will be that location where the new Marshall Fields (I'm NOT calling it Macy's, just like I still refer to US Cellular as Comiskey) will go up along with many other stores. I think that Bass Pro Fishing store or whatever is also gonna open there.

All this stuff happening in Bolingbrook and you're probably wondering, as I do on occassion, why we're moving to Plainfield? Despite Plainfield going crazy in development (being called "The Next Naperville"), it's no Bolingbrook. But, inshaAllah, it'll be home. Oh, and we live right on the Plainfield-Bolingbrook border, so we're not far from all this! :)

Take care.