Access Islam

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Alhumdulillah (all Praise belongs to Allah) the Marriage Matters seminar took place last Saturday with a decent turnout of around 100 women.

We had handouts of the seminar notes as well as the ‘controversial’ (!) ‘10 Tips to be a Successful Husband/Wife’ leaflet. Please see below for the links to view those handouts.

As well as an extremely informative and highly stimulating lecture delivered by Moulana Ilyas Dalal, we were happy to see and hear the questions which the ladies who attended raised.

We now invite all those who attended and indeed, even those who didn’t attend to leave us your comments on what you liked/disliked, and how we can improve. Alternatively if you don’t feel comfortable about other people seeing your question you can now e-mail us at hidayahblog@gmail.com.

Finally, jazakallah khair (may Allah give the best recompense) to those who helped out in any way, big or small - we couldn’t have done it without ya!

Click on the link below for the Power Point Presentation Lecture Notes

MARRIAGE IN ISLAM zakaria masjid.ppt 283K View as HTML Download

Click on the link below for the ‘10 Tips to be a Successful Husband’ Leaflet

Ten Tips Towards Being a Successful Husband.doc 42K View as HTML Scan and download

Click on the link below for the ‘10 Tips to be a Successful Wife’ Leaflet

Ten Tips Towards Being a Successful Wife.doc 39K View as HTML Scan and download

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Well it’s here - finally!

Insha-Allah (with the Will of Allah) this Saturday, 7 June 2008 we will be holding the long awaited ‘Marriage Matters’ seminar for ladies only (the one for men is going to be soon after insha-Allah).

The seminar will focus on the position of marriage, relationships and family life in Islam. It is intended for those who are married and those looking to get married, and also for anybody else who wants to come along and learn about what Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said with regards to married life for a Muslim and Muslimah.

So please come along if you have the time, and bring anybody else who may be interested along with you. The program will be in English only and there will also be time for Q&A insha-Allah. Here are the full details:

Event: Marriage Matters - Where Islam and Marriage go Hand in Hand

Date: Saturday 7 June 2008

Time: 4pm - 5:30pm (1 hour seminar, 30 mins Q&A)

Speaker: Moulana Ilyas Dalal

Venue: Upstairs Hall in Zakaria Masjid, Dewsbury, WF12 9ND

See you there insha-Allah.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Just a quick reminder as to the clean up program organised by ‘Kum on Y’All’ tomorrow. It’s basically for anyone who wants to come and help clean up the streets of lovely Savile Town, Dewsbury! Here are the full details:

Event: ‘Kum on Y’All - Let’s Clean it Up’

Date & Time: Saturday 31 May 2008 from 10 am onwards.

Venue: Please meet at the Taleem Centre on Orchard Street, Savile Town, Dewsbury, WF12 9LT.

Remember that for a Muslim, cleanliness is half of Faith, so please make it down if you can and help make our residential area a cleaner and more enjoyable one to live in - make sure your not wearing your Friday best!

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalaamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

We’ve all been there…

…The big test or the big exam.

Whether it’s for school, college, University or even later on in our careers, there’s always a defining point, a critical point - the day of the big test!

Why is this test so important?

Because it helps us progress. If we pass, we get given the all clear to move on - that we are now qualified in that area - don’t you love it when you pass!!?

The flipside is obviously when you fail. This means that you have to do it all again, that you are not good enough yet and sometimes that’s the end of the road - I hate failing!!

And just think of that period before the test - when you’re busy revising, studying, cramming - whatever you wanna call it, it’s definitely the make or break time. In that period, you study for hours, eat less, go out less and generally do less of the things which you want to because you’ve got to take the test. Once the test is over, and you know you’ve passed, you know you can chill, relax and do whatever you want because the hard work is out of the way.

So for a Believer, this life is also a test. It’s a test which lasts the span of your whole life.

What’s the reward for passing?

Allah’s pleasure and eternal happiness in Jannah (Paradise).

And the price of failure?

Well let’s leave that for the time being, let’s concentrate on PASSING!

Just as in any test, to pass the test which Allah has set us, we must sometimes do things which go against our own desires but which agree with what Allah wants and gets us marks in our ‘life paper’.

And just as in all tests, to know how to get the best marks we must keep on learning how to please Allah. Things like Prayer and Fasting is what comes to mind, but let’s not forget things like fulfilling the rights of those around us and being good human beings to EVERYBODY.

And so that day will come, Insha-Allah (with the Will of Allah), that we will stand up and be told that we have passed the test of life. That way, we will have irrefutable proof, something backed up by Almighty Allah that the life we led was a good life - a life of benefit to us and of benefit to others.

So, the clock is ticking, the paper’s set and every second of our life, we are filling in the answers. Only one thing remains now - and that’s Results Day…

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

So what’s important in your life?

What gets you out of bed in the morning? What’s that special thing that gets your juices flowing?

Well, we at Hidayah Blog would like to know.

So here’s a little poll for y’all to fill in when you’ve got some time. Remember, we wanna know what YOU hold dear, what’s close to YOUR heart, what’s most important to YOU!

We will then report back to you after we’ve collated the results and see what we come up with.

Have fun!

Ma’as-salaam - With peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

You walk inside your house that and that delicious smell of freshly cooked food hits you making your mouth water. Or when you walk past the local takeaway and and catch a whiff of a nice “chip butty” or big fat greasy cheeseburger.

Just think on your way home how many takeaways you pass and what food is available to you? Pizza? Just a phone call away?

But just think next time you eat how easy it is to access food, not any food but food that we desire, think how much food we waste?

In recent news we find that there is a mass food shortage, prices have gone up and people are unable to afford basic food such as rice!!

“Global rice prices have risen by more than 90% in the past year (bbc.co.uk )”

We hear stories in the news that people in Africa are being murdered over food, looters the lot.

Like everything there are number of factors contributing to the price rise these include:

• Poor harvests resulting from extreme weather (hurricanes, extreme rain etc)
• A rise in demand in some rice-importing countries, where populations and incomes are growing
• The expectation of further price increases - resulting in hoarding
• Low stockpiles and a long term lack of agricultural investment

So what can we do? Read more »

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Just a quick note to everybody to give as much as you can to the Burma Appeal through whichever charity they can.

According to latest reports about 1.5 million people have been affected by this cyclone with tens of thousands of people dead.

It really is a horrible disaster and another reminder of how weak we really are as human beings.

Whether it’s through an Islamic charity or not (I know that Ummah Welfare Trust are collecting through our local Masjid ), please give as much as you can to those people who have lost everything.

May Allah make it easy for them and give us the Taufiq (Divine aid) to provide the right assistance.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Opening night, and all is quiet…

It’s those magical few seconds before the curtain goes up. The crowd are holding their breath, the director’s having his 74th panic attack (!) and the lead is telling himself that it’s all going to be alright on the night, when it happens…..

…..quite suddenly something unexplained goes ‘click’ in the lead’s head and everything goes numb - his ability to speak, his memory of the lines and most importantly, his will to step out on to that stage - a classic case of stage fright (hope you kept your receipt!!)

Ok, now imagine the crowd to be, not at a play but at a wedding, and imagine the director to be not one, but 74 (the people who helped out!) and imagine the lead to be…..well yes, imagine him to be the leading man or lady!

And now imagine the stage fright!

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Now this stage fright is not unexplained - no. It has a reason. The reason is called ‘forced marriage’.

‘Aaahhh’ I hear you say, ‘now we get it!’

‘Well,’ you ask, ‘if it was a forced marriage, then how on earth did it ever get this far?’ - A valid question, I agree.

The thing is, in the hornet’s nest that is the Asian marriage culture (notice how I say ‘Asian’ and not ‘Islamic’), due to the emotional pressure that is put on the girl (or the guy) by the parents, sometimes the bride or groom find it difficult to say no, and before they know it, the bed is no longer empty on the other side, and the towel’s wet and they haven’t even had their shower!

How does this happen?

Just consider this: father has a daughter whom he wants to get married. It just so happens, that his elder brother has a son around the same age, and guess what? He’s looking to get married as well!!

It couldn’t be more of an ideal match - or could it?

The boy and the girl are introduced to each other, but right from the outset, although acknowledging him to be her first cousin, the girl absolutely revolts the boy. Now we have a problem…..

…..On the one hand, the girl has her own happiness to think about (and possibly she has met someone else as well!) and on the other hand, she knows that her father and the rest of her family will be thrilled to know that she is going to marry her first cousin - what is a girl to do?

Does she forsake her own happiness and wishes and marry to make her family happy, or does she speak out and stand up for herself and run the risk of bringing ‘disgrace’ upon the family?

What would you do?

So, months down the line, while she is still unsure, all the preparations have been made, the invites have been sent, the hall hired, and all of a sudden she finds herself having a serious case of the jitters in that long walk up to the stage before the curtains go up. Forget cold feet, she’s wishing right now that she had no feet!

And there really is none of that so called ‘disgrace’. What’s disgraceful is the pressure put on the bride or groom by the families, and a lot of times, the parents.

So the next wedding you go to this summer, take a closer look at the leading couple - what do you think?

Or if it’s your turn to be cast this year in the lead role, make sure your doing it for all the right reasons, or you might just get stage fright!

And Allah knows best.

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace

Assalamu-Alaykum - Peace be Upon you

Alhumdulillah (all Praise belongs to Allah) we have a chance to do our bit in spreading the Word of Allah - the Qur’an.

Caravan of Mercy needs your help in reaching its target of distributing 10 million Qur’ans to the needy people of the world.

It’s a fantastic opportunity for all uf us to help out for a very very noble cause and for those interested there will be collections at the following points:

Venue: Madina Masjid (car park), Mount Pleasant, Batley

Venue: Masjid-e-Heera (car park), Thornhill Road, Dewsbury

Dates & Times: Sunday 4 May 2008 between 2pm -5:30 pm for both

May Allah give us all the Taufiq (Divine aid).

Ma’as-salaam - With Peace