Private Opinion

Ramadan Blogging: Day 5

Quranic verses regarding fasting and Ramadan, translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.

(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (with hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more, of his own free will, it is better for him. And it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew

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Ramadan Blogging: Day 4

Today’s after-fajr talk was by Dr. Hisham Abdullah who discussed a small portion of the 6th hadith from the collection of 40 Hadith by An-Nawawi. This collection of Hadith (42, actually) is considered quite important in the canon of the study of Hadith and is widely popular among Muslims. Here goes the 6th one:

On the authority of Al-Numan bin Basheer, who said : I heared the messenger of Allah say :

Ramadan Blogging: Day 3

I didn’t get much out of the after-fajr talk by Dr. Imad Bayoun. May be he was trying to pack too much in short time. May be I was too sleepy. In the evening we went to smaller Masjid Noor instead of the bigger MCA for iftar. The congregation at Masjid Noor has a higher proportion of South Asian which has maintained the tradition of sending iftar from homes to the mosque everyday. So, it was good to taste the typical iftar dishes like pakoris, fruit chaat etc.

Ramadan Blogging: Day 2

I am really getting to like the short talk after fajr (early morning) prayers. Since it is no more than 10 minutes, the speaker has limited opportunity to digress from the main theme. Today’s talk was given by a young (looked like American born Arab to me) who was quite nervous in the beginning but gained confidence soon after. I don’t know his name and most of the people in the mosque didn’t. He should have introduced himself in the beginning but anyway. His emphasis was on the social aspects of Ramadan and how Muslims should help the needy in poorer parts of the world like Africa and people affected by natural calamities as in Bangladesh floods or Indonesia earthquake. He also mentioned Darfur and I have recently began to notice that more and more speakers are raising their voice against the injustice in Darfur in Jumah Khutbahs (Friday Sermons) and other events.

Ramadan Blogging: Day 1

First day of Ramadan is always the hardest. It takes time to to get accustomed to abstaining from eating and drinking during the daytime and I am constantly on alert lest I may eat something accidentally. Hunger and thirst is not much of an issue especially here in California. I remember as a kid the month of Ramadan in India used to occur bang in the middle of May-June. The heat in North India is sweltering during those days and on top of that, power cuts. Generators or other alternative means were not very common then. Those days were tough.

The Beginning Of Ramadan

The month of Ramadan is starting today here in Santa Clara. May be in other parts of California (and USA) too. The folks at Muslim Community Association (MCA), where I go to pray, have decided unanimously to go by the calculation method for determining the beginning of the months of Ramadan and Shawwal. They cited and endorsed the joint Fatwa of the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) on the issue. So, we knew two weeks back that Ramadan will be starting from 13th September. Of course there is other view on this matter which calls for either manual sighting or wait for 30 days to start a new month. It is a hot debate within the Muslim community with persuasive arguments on both the sides. It has led to people celebrating Eid on different days even in the same city in North America.

On Osama Bin Laden’s New Tape

Why did it took three years for Osama bin Laden to record a tape?

He didn’t want to dye.

—–

How come bin Laden’s beard is black now?

They found a copy of Photoshop.

Why Himesh Reshammiya Sings The Way He Does?

The secret is out. Great work guys!

BTW, does anyone knows how to embed external flash files in WordPress posts?

Ron Paul Comes Out Strong In Iowa Poll

Mitt Romney might have won Iowa’s Republican straw poll (as was expected) but Ron Paul’s performance was credible too. He came in fifth with 9.1% of votes. Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to ignore him. The write-up at Washington Post covering this news doesn’t even mention his name. Why?