In The Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Sometimes, I look upon my bookshelf, and see the books, audio lectures, and Qur’an, and question myself.. where has all this knowledge got me? How much have I implanted in me of the knowledge I’ve sought?

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Assalamu alaykum,

The “Cisco and Sujud” talk and the new Tafsir of Surah Kahf mp3s are now in the Audio Lectures page!  Also, the “intensive class”, taught recently in Chicago, on Risalatul Mustarshideen (spiritual advice for those seeking to get closer to Allah), is also posted.

Webbmaster

p.s. sorry about the delay in getting the podcast up, I promise it’s coming soon!

Confessions of a “practicing Muslim American”

“You are a beautiful Person with so much to give. You have the strength and courage and ability and Power and everything to do it. I have seen so much sadness in your eyes I haven’t seen in anyone’s eyes before. I haven’t to see those eyes again and for them to Bright. You define yourself. Make that definition a Beautiful one and believe it. You Deserve it. I will never forget you. Thank you for sharing with all of us. You are an incredible person. I love you,” Written by a non-Muslim Friend.

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“The funny thing about faith-based mutual funds is, well, that there’s anything called a faith-based mutual fund. For one thing, Scripture is full of exhortations against accumulating wealth. The New Testament, especially, repeatedly reminds followers of Christ that earthly wealth means nothing in heaven. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God,” says Jesus. Also, it seems quixotic to apply a religious framework to something as material as the markets. What, after all, does God have to do with mammon? Nevertheless, faith-based funds have grown to nearly $17 billion from $500 million over the past decade, according to Morningstar, which tracks market data.”

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1. Have a workout plan

The one who enters the gym without a plan and randomly goes to each machine, watches various people who each of their various goals and tries to imitiate them without any objective, will not achieve substantial gains in anything.

But one who decides his goal is aerobic fitness, or muscular size, or muscular toning, or speed, will be able to focus his/her workout on specific areas and grow in this. The same applies to spiritual growth. A person cannot simply say: “I want to be a better Muslim” and then aimlessly go for it. It is best to say: “I need to improve my prayers’, “I need to improve my relationship with Quran”, “I need to grow in knowledge of Sunnah”, “i need to correct my anger problems”. Then, using the guidance of the Quran, Sunnah, and knowledgeable advisors, one can do exercises, readings, dhikr, and methods to help him/her gain progress in the target area.

2. Success comes with leaving harmful foods, and eating healthy ones

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Asalamu alaykum,

I want to take some time, again after a year and half, to encourage all to register to vote and support Sen. Barak Obama. Although there are certain things I disagree with, I hold that the benefits of Sen. Obama over Sen. Mccain leave a Muslim no choice but to vote for the former. Izi Din Abdul Salam noted that if a Muslim has the choice between two leaders, he should choose the one who will bring the most goodness and justice to the society. I want to express my sincere hope in Allah that my choice will be pleasing to Him and ask Him to guide our leaders towards what is good and just for all. I want to encourage all Muslim citizens to investigate both candidates, observe DNC and RNC’s programs, pray istikhara and make a profound choice.

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2008 seems to have seen its fair share of AlMaghrib Institute instructors coming to Chicago. First in January came AbdulBary Yahya for The Shepherd’s Path, followed by Yasir Qadhi in March for an orientalist conference he spoke at, followed by AbdulBary coming again for Loyola MSA’s IAW dinner, followed by YQ again for Light Upon Light, followed by YQ yet again with Imam Suhaib Webb for Sacred Scrolls. This weekend, Imam Suhaib came to the Windy City once more during this 2008 visit to the states for a weekend of events held by MAS Youth.

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