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.