Duaa, a Fisherman & Birds Singing

أَصْبَـحْـنا وَأَصْبَـحْ المُـلكُ للهِ رَبِّ العـالَمـين ، اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّـي أسْـأَلُـكَ خَـيْرَ هـذا الـيَوْم ، فَـتْحَهُ ، وَنَصْـرَهُ ، وَنـورَهُ وَبَـرَكَتَـهُ ، وَهُـداهُ ، وَأَعـوذُ بِـكَ مِـنْ شَـرِّ ما فـيهِ وَشَـرِّ ما بَعْـدَه

The morning has come to me and the whole universe belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, O Allah, I ask of you the good of the day, it's success and aid and it's nur (celestial light) and barakaat (blessings) and seek hidayah (guidance) and seek refuge from the evil in it (this day) and from the evil of that which is to come later.

Hisn from Abu Dawood

Good morning dear sisters!

I hope you're all doing well. I've been up since 5am because I had to bring my stepdaughter to school, who then stayed home anyway, 'cause she wasn't feeling too good. So then I got lots of time to prepare a good breakfast for my family and at 9am I'm going to do the laundry and clean the house. But before all that I wanted to share the duaa above and also the picture of the man (leaning forward) in the little boat. The photo was taken by me in 2005 on the Greek island Symi, where I was on vacation with my parents and little sister. I think that vacation was one of the best ones ever. We have always gone on vacation to places, which were not too crowded by tourists. And Symi was just such a unique, beautiful tiny island. This man in the boat was there every morning around 6am catching fish :) What a life. I'd love to live on an island far away from big cities, cars etc. Everything was so peaceful! Insha'Allah, some day :)

Have a beautiful day all of you and perhaps you too enjoy the beautiful song of the birds below. Allah's (swt) creations are truly magnificent.

Reminder of the Day of 'Arafah

Today it's the 7th of Dhul-Hijjah...

Here a little more about the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah and the day of 'Arafah (the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah):

The first days of Dhul-Hijjah are the days of Hajj, which include the Day of `Arafah, the peak of Hajj; it is the focal point when the pilgrims gather in the plain of `Arafah. Such a mammoth gathering of Muslims supplicating to Allah is bound to have all-pervasive effects on the whole world; Allah has promised an answer for those who gather on the plain of `Arafah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) exhorted the non-pilgrims to spend these days in as much devotion as possible. This means that we must show spiritual solidarity with the pilgrims. The Prophet (saws) is reported to have said, “There are no days that are dearer to Allah in respect of devoting oneself to devotion and worship than the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah.”

 He is also reported to have said, “Fasting on the day of `Arafah expiates sins of two years, the past and future.”
 

Source: islamonline.net...

It is very beneficial to repeatedly say: “La illaha illa Allah, wahdahu la sharik la, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd, wa Huwa ‘ala kul shayy’in Qadir.” This is related in many ahadith.
Ibn ‘Abbas said, “Whosoever reads Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad (Chapter 112 of the Quran) 1,000 times on the Day of ‘Arafah will be given whatever he/she asks for. The best thing to occupy oneself with during this day is du’a. Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari, may Allah be pleased with him, “They are days in which du’a is not turned back. How would du’a be turned back during these days when the Day of ‘Arafah is amongst them, which was narrated as being the best day in the world?” [Ibn Hibban in his Sahih collection].

Source: islamcrunch.com...

So dear sisters and brothers in Islam - this was a reminder of the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah! Take care all of you and I hope you spend the day fasting and in remembrance of our Lord, insha'Allah :)

Give a Goat... or a Cow for Eid ul-Adha

If you don't know what to give your loved ones for Eid or for their birthdays or whatever you're celebrating, I think one of the most wonderful presents you can give is something related to charity.

Perhaps you already knew this and were going to do it anyway, but if not - read on: Through Muslim aid.org (and other organizations too probably) you can donate money for the yearly Qurbani in countries, which need our charity for that purpose! Do it for yourself and give it as a present to people close to you, if you feel like it. The more money donated, the better!

More charity-present-ideas:

In Denmark there's this organization, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp - Dan Churchaid, who started this fantastic campaign (Giv en ged - Give a Goat), which gives you the opportunity to buy "a goat", "rabbits", "a bag of rice", "a football", an almond tree", "an island", "a fish" etc.! (You can see all the presents here).

Two years ago I "recived" an almond tree. Well that is I received a card with a picture of that tree on it and on the back it was written that I hereby support families in Central Asia and Kirgisistan to join and plant almond trees together, which will supply them with almonds that they can sell on the local market.

That's just one example of how their presents work and I LOVE the idea of it and it really was the best present I received! Almost daily I looked at that "tree" thinking about how the money donated would help some people in need. I have a feeling that many more Danes have donated to charity because of these gifts, because it gets so real and you're not "just" giving money, you're giving something special for a special place in need of that present. And really: most of us have enough stuff lying around in our apartments or rooms and don't really need more of that!!

The presents range in price from kr. 80 ($ 40,7) - kr. 5000 + ($ 919 +)! Awesome, isn't it?

My intention with this post, was to hopefully give some of you ideas for presents that will not "just" make one person happy - but many more, insha'Allah, and you can do it even if your country doesn't have a campaign like the Danish one above! You could for example donate some money to an organization and find a postcard yourself (for Eid it could be with some kind of cattle on it (any one approved by the Sharia) :)) and write the amount of money donated and how it will, insha'Allah, please some people in need! Then you donated for the present for a loved one (loved ones) and donated for Qurbani yourself :) Insha'Allah!

Good luck my dear Blogger-friends!

Global Pink Hijab Day

Did you know about this day? Why didn't I? 'Cause I'm always the last to know what's going on in the world. Hehe. I live in my own little happy bubble, most of the time... Not watching the news etc. And that's why today I realize it's been Global Pink Hijab Day for breast cancer awareness yesterday. Hehe. Did you sisters participate? This website Pink Hijab Day has a lovely video for this day. Check it out!

Anyway I really didn't observe any pink hijabs yesterday here in DK... I think mulims don't really dare to put on too bright hijabs in this crazy country :-P Sweden marked the day... Denmark not... I'm living in the wrong country!...

Take care my beautiful sisters!

Ramadan Day 25

This day has been so beautiful with a fantastic blue sky, no clouds, no wind and just this peaceful pre-Autumn atmosphere, masha'Allah. I can't thank Allah (swt) enough for the beauty He has created!

My sister stayed at my place this night, which was great.
Tonight I'm all alone, which I haven't been since January ('cause that was the last time my husband was gone for a few days). I enjoy the silence...and I see now how healthy it is to be away from your significant other sometimes and actually feel that you miss the person! And he misses you too :-)
I'll spend the evening in worship, insha'Allah, which is also very great when you're all alone... And looking forward to Laylat al-Qadr tomorrow night, insha'Allah.
I'm just having rice pudding, fruit and bread for Iftar, 'cause I'm all alone and nobody expects from me to prepare something special :-)

Tomorrow I'll be doing charity work in my city for a couple of hours, collecting money for the organisation Save the Children. They have one day every year where people can walk around in their neighbourhoods collecting money for that year's project.


I hope you sisters out there are also having a great evening, insha'Allah.

My Sister Next Door

At times I'm not really satisfied with the area I live in. Too much of a bad atmosphere. But the fact that I have such a great neighbour makes me want to stay here just a little longer. Spending the Ramadan next to her is a great pleasure. She always has a big smile on her lips and is very welcoming at any time. Two days ago she rang our door bell and had prepared some samosa's for my husband and I. How I love this tradition among Muslims - to think about your brothers and sisters and share food or other things with them. Of course I returned her gesture the next day with some of my homemade couscous dish. It really warms my heart, when people are kind to each other in this way. Alhamdulillah. I miss having Muslim sisters close to me, but in insha'Allah they will come into my life some day. Till now I'm thankful for my sister next door.