How To Unlock the iJannah

I love Suhaib Webb's khutbahs - did you catch the True Blood, Kobe, and Iverson references? I would move to the bay just to attend them.




"La illa ha ilillah (there is no God but God) has a profound impact on the life; it touches every aspect of the person. And the Prophet (pbuh) said to his companions, 'renew your faith' how? say, 'la illa ha ilillah' in abundance, iA you're faith will be renewed." (more on this in another post)

Step one of unlocking the iJannah: have sound faith
How to attain sound faith?
1. study the Qur'anic method of creating the believer, look at the statements of the Prophet (pbuh)
2. have good friends and good companions
3. practice, be involved in the community

May Allah (swt) protect us all from laziness and ignorance and control of our tongues.

Pakistan Floods

donate: http://www.islamic-relief.com/Emergencies-And-Appeals/1-67-pakistan-flood-emergency-appeal.aspx

Never let the hand you hold, hold you down

"Everyone's making everything up
There is no one in charge except for those
Who pretend to be
No one is coming
No one is going to
Rescue you
Mind read your needs
Know your body better than you
Always fight back.

Ask for it
Say you want it
Cherish your solitude
Take trains by yourself to places
You have never been
Sleep out alone under the stars
Learn how to drive a stick shift
Go so far away that you stop being afraid of
Not coming back.

Say no when you don't want to do something
Say yes if your instincts are strong
Even if everyone around you disagrees
Decide whether you want to be liked or admired
Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out
What you're doing here."
-Eve Ensler's Manifesta from "I Am An Emotional Creature"

Today's khutbah included a reminder that the person we mold into in these four years of college is more or less the person we're going to be for the rest of our lives. Essentially, our interactions with one another can get really dramatized seeing as we're living on our own and have our own little campus community; meaning we are prone to experiencing extremes on the popular-lonely spectrum. This can lead to potential elementary decisions if we don't take a step back and make sure we're being true to ourselves. What is being true to yourself? I don't think you can know that without taking a few minutes out of every day to contemplate the person you are aiming to become and what steps you are taking to get there. It's easy to get caught up in a multitude of things, atleast it is for me. My theory is that the key lies in remembering death often and making sure you keep that Allah (swt) connection tight - via actions and intentions. These four years aren't to be taken too lightly...don't do stupid shit.

DEEN TIGHT

"Music, considered taboo practice by many traditional Muslims, has also become one of the most prominent methods for Muslims to share their faith internationally through Muslim Hip Hop. Hip Hop is a global phenomenon reaching from the skyscraper laden skies of New York all the way to the deep deserts of Arabia and beyond. It is a subculture that transcends boundaries of language, gender, and religion. Deen Tight brings to the screen the untold story of Western Muslims struggling to find a balance between their culture and their religion.

Filmed on location with Muslim rappers, DJs, slam poets, breakdancers and a graffiti artist in concerts, recording studios, at homes and in the streets. Our story focuses on the perceived conflict between traditional religious ideals and modernity, as well as both the positives and negatives of Western Pop culture on today's Muslim youth."

Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul

SKATEISTAN:




photo credit to Noah Abrams.

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile: so basically Skateistan is a co-educational, non-profit skateboarding school in Kabul, Afghanistan that teaches ollies, kickflips and boardslides to nearly 300 children a week. The program has expanded from three boards and no building to a free, co-educational skateboarding school open six days a week and boasting a 18,836-square-foot indoor skate park, funded by $600,000 in donations.

'Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul' trailer from grain media on Vimeo.

She was a skater girl...


why is this AWESOME?
1. It builds community. Skating is a great tool for communication. "Helps with social interaction...I think the kids were very keen to get involved with something...focusing on an activity giving them something to do that is positive. At the moment in the media there is nothing actually positive wirtten, filmed, or spoken about Afghanistan..."
2. It builds confidence and ultimately confidence = smart choices. "To become a good skateboarder, you just have to lose your fear - and they don't have any fear in the first place."
3. Girls are getting involved.
"Roughly half of Skateistan's students are female, not only notable because skateboarding is a boy-dominated sport, but also because of the plight of women in Afghanistan."

"When I'm skating I feel like a bird flying. I wish I've always had."
Hardly any of us can imagine what it's like to live in a country that has been afflicted with war for almost all of it's history. Yes, there's a lot of work that needs to get done in Afghanistan (i.e. building new infrastructure), but seriously the kids need something positive to do. Something fun to do; depression lowers productivity by like a crazy percentage. No kid should be forced to grow up so quickly, so THANK YOU Oliver Percovich, jazaks to the max.

"Not to get preachy, but at the end of the day, people are people. Culturally we may be very different but our goals are pretty much the same — we all want to be happy. No-one wants to suffer. This is why, for me, doing a trip like this is so important in the grander scheme of things. It’s that cross-cultural dialogue that will hopefully help push things in the right direction for us all." - Noah Abrams

wanna volunteer?
http://skateistan.org/international-volunteer-application

"How are you living? Sirat Al Mustaqeem" - One Be Lo

Living authentically: being true to our own evaluation of what constitutes a meaningful existence and accepting responsibility for the fact that we create our lives through the choices we make.



Lo knows what's up.

"I rock brass knuckles over my kid gloves/ Like you wake up with busted teeth, but know you felt real love." - Doomtree

"They say don't judge a book by its cover but in the US right now, as far as the Muslim community, that's exactly what they're doing."

Face the Truth: Racial Profiling Across America from Breakthrough on Vimeo.

A big thanks to Haneen O for posting this on her fbook.

Sanah

"Also, you sound super wasted, but since you are Muslim, I can only assume that you were exposed to large amounts of glue while constructing a collage for the local mosque."

My sister should really write for a TV show.