a prayer.....

Thankyou Dear Lord for All the things you gave me.....and for all the things you gave  others for me....and for all the things you gave others for me but they did not give me ...and for all the things you gave others for me and they thought it was for them......Amen !

T

Amir Almighty....and the poor people of Pakistan.

The rich people of the world whether they are Saudi's,Americans,Japanese or Europians, don't remember or care about the poors of the world much,but by nature they are very Godly and nice....they may not remember what bad things happened far across the distance in other parts of the world but they somehow know that people of Pakistan are poor and they need our help...and to remind them are some really great people come be known as the Televangelists. Here in pakistan the private television is new only few years old....and there is a regulatory authority PEMRA  that keeps a very close eye on everything that becomes popular on television....but still we are Blessed by the Lord with a few Televangelists....of our own becoming very popular year after year....now the thing that surprises me almost to the level of suspision is the fact that since these Televangelists have started their business here in pakistan ,we are also blessed every year specially during the holy month of Ramadan with a calamity of unparallel proportion...almost unprecedented....whether it is the Earthquake of 2005,or the taleban uprising of the past years making millions of IDP's or this present Flood in the whole country which began from a place in the recently named Khyber Pakhtunkha province from the river kabul and river indus ....very rarely do they flood ever....

worldcall is the best....!

The favorite nephew and most trusted companion of Prophet Muhammad (saw) was the fourth and last Orthodox Caliph of Islam...with the blessing of the lord and due to the company of the prophet he grew up to be one of the wisest,strongest and courageous leader of his time....most cable operators in karachi are the followers of his youngest son Hussain (AS) and are not very keen about learning the wisdom of ALI(kaw)....since I learned to read the newspaper...(daily dawn) I see a quote of Ali with a heading of "Reflections" everyday very regularly....many quotes have been repeated hundreds of times but to me they are as fresh as if have been said recently.One of my very favorites is "When this world favors somebody, it lends him the attributes, and surpassing merits of others and when it turns its face away from him it snatches away even his own excellences and fame"
 In may 2010 somebody in the neighborhood cut down a large tree which fell on the worldcall' s cable and so my net and my mother's cable tv was disconnected for almost a week...the repair took less that ten minutes...I was so furious when they were not responding to the complaint and instead calling from the office and asking ....whats the status now...as if  the cable would repair itself somehow...lol
Last week the day before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan ....somebody disconnected the cable from the distributor on the pole...this time only my cable was disconnected...so only my net and my mothers cable tv was shut down....only this time I knew it would be a waste of time to complain before the independence day of pakistan...The most interesting thing is that instead of  sending someone to repair they publish this ad of a wireless phone in the daily jang....God knows why....lol

Ramadan Moon not sighted by me....

Unfortunately I was at the seaview clifton karachi on wednesday 11th aug 2010....when somewhere in the city of karachi the Roet ay hilal committee was deciding about the Ramadan moon....lol

Ah! You shouldn't have...

every ramadan the debate about true interpretation of islam intensifies between the followers of sufi islam and the rest. Learning ,Teaching and Questioning are the hallmark of sufi islam.

Social Outcast.......

Last year in the middle of Ramadan I got a facebook invite from CAP...the Citizen archive of Pakistan...for sports function...near mohatta palace..Clifton .I was not able to attend it due to the starting flu weakness....that was the only reason honestly...! recently my facebook account was disabled and I choose to stay away from facebook for a while...so this year in Ramadan there will be a hundred percent decrease in the facebook invites I receive during the Ramadan.Still I don't regret or feel remorse...because I am not a social outcast at least not during the Holy Month of Ramadan. 
So who is a Social Outcast.?...during the holy month of Ramadan....well the people who do not fast,offer regular prayers and pay zakat are the social outcast in this month....the rest of the things are usually the same for all the people in a big megapolis like karachi....Schools,shops and offices open and close with a slight relaxation in timings....so there is no lunch break....or lunch because the office canteen's,restaurants and free delivery is closed during the lunch time....people usually offer the prayers very regularly with the sound of azan call...and at closing time nobody waits a minute more...too eager to get home or to shop before Iftar.
 A day or a week or a month before the Ramadan most people are too worried about the beginning of Ramadan...but when the Ramadan begins that same people are seen more active than the rest and after the first ten days...the markets and shops starts opening day and night....and they have no time at all left to worry about anything else but shopping.....most even forget what the month was about....I am not sure if they can be called social outcast or not....but they sure come in the category of obsessive compulsive....lol
Now I come to the most important social event of this month and that is the Iftar parties.... people invite family and friends to break their fast with them....to gain blessing from Allah and also to please the invitees....these events are like the ALL YOU CAN EAT offers at fastfood joints....only here you don't have to pay.The most incredible thing about these iftar parties is that you get to eat twice first while breaking the fast...then a prayer break after that the dinner.and then the guest leaves hurriedly for the taravee prayers....those who don't are again the social outcast ....look for somebody to chat with but eventually have to leave ...because to over stay after the dinner at a iftar party is not a very good thing to do unless the host insists that you stay till sehri...to begin the next day's fast with them....now that is something to remember all year long....you started eating at sunset and continued eating till the morning...with intervels...it does happen...many muslim people are very social and they have the resources and nerve...to entertain guests all night long....
Because of the illness of my parents we decreased the number of Iftar parties and I stopped going many years ago.....in $ terms this means that I never break or begin my fast alone....so unfortunately I do not qualify to be the social outcast here as well....tich such bad luck ....don't you think...?

Halal food to begin and break your fast.....

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is believed to break the fast of Ramadan with Dates....which is a very common fruit of the desert of Arabia....Muslims around the world still follow that tradition and in the holy month of Ramadan use dates of various kinds and origins to break their fast...iftar and also to keep their fast... sehri.
And in between the iftar and sehri we eat according to our taste and likeness which vary from region to region and person to person....but the most important thing is that whatever we eat in this month is halal according to the islamic law.as it should be in general all the year round...

What is Halal food...? Halal food for muslims is everything that is not from a dead animal,does not contain blood, and the meat of a pig. and the animal has to be properly sacrificed in the name of Allah....it should not be a stolen or wrongfully acquired.Some people also have reservations for the sea-food....but most believe it is halal....as for the birds who feed on the dead and carrion are also not halal.unless there is desperation....Things grown from the soil ...like wheat,rice,vegetables and fruits are all halal and much preferred food of the Muslims during Ramadan.

I usually do the iftar with a date,some salty or spicy fried pakora or samosa,a seasonal fruit and tea,juice or shake.....then after the prayers and taravee....I have the dinner....which is usually the same dinner I have all year round....and in sehri I take scrambled eggs with roti or bread....and tea....lots of tea till the sirens of the end time sounds.Then I brush my teeth and offer the morning prayers....and then I sleep..

When I wake up if it is required I help my mother do the lunch....because she is the only person who is not fasting....last year in ramadan....I did something very incredible for which I feel very proud even today....I made a roti for my mothers lunch which did not look very much like a roti(bread) but she said it is okay....lol