Spotlight

Assalamu Aleykum to All,

I have been thinking over this for a long time, except that it didn't materialize. Alhamdulilah today, having some space to breath--post midterm--I have created the "sister-blog" to tHe BeAutY WiTh iN, Engaged Surrender.

Just to give everyone the background info on the title: For some unknown reason (I still haven't figured out why) I absolutely adore this title, originally taken from a book "Engaged Surrender" by Carolyn Moxley Rouse. I like the book, yes, but there are books that stand out in my 'read-list', yet Engaged Surrender has my neuron committed.

What would be posted? Anything really, but mostly on the line of what I call "From Inspiration to Perspiration: How to take an active role in who you're". Insha'allah this will also help put my thoughts out. Anything from natural sciences, socials to spirituality.
So make sure you tune in, although posts might take up to two weeks.

I have also been actively involved in getting an interfaith room up here. What amazes me is not what can't be done, but the real bureaucracy that is involved at the administrative level. Alhamdulilah, things do seem to be moving along, although we do need everyone's prayer insha'allah.

Sami Yusuf - Asma Allah

So, beautiful. I can't wait until the CD comes out insha'allah.

Reminder

Bismi'llahi Rahmani' Rahim

" And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith:Lo!I am of those who surrender (unto Him). The good deed and the evil deed are not alike.Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he between whom and thee there was enemity(will become)as though he was a bosom friend. But none is granted save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness." (41:32-34)

Rabi Israh Li Sadri Wa Yasir Li Amri

Rabbana Amanna Bika Feghfir Zunubena ,
wa'ijalna Muslimayni Laka
Ya Arham Ar Rahimin

(Ameen)

retrospective a.k.a deleted posts

and so it has become a 'bad' habit for me to post something only to take it down later. well today, I'm re-posting an entry that was originally written at the beginning of the month, only because ever since then, almost everybody that i talked to(a serious talk that is) have somehow touched on the ideas I was engaged in. So here goes what was originally titled "precious":

it is as if new beginnings are born everyday, yet it also feels like the world's come to an end.
some days are bright and others are dark. sometimes you feel young, yet others old.

nostalgic.

composed.

beginnings give rise to an end and ends lead to a beginning.

what is your PASSION is my question today.

connections with the past. no coulds or shoulds. a dream towards the future. no ifs.
feel the ground you're standing on...let your faith be your anchor. the present is the secret.

SO what is your passion in life?!

to be or not to be, that is the Q!

you never know until you try, and you never see until you change your lenses...until you land on the bubble of truthfulness...

what is the price you're willing to pay to be where you truthfully want to be? what is the commitment you're willing to make to be the best that you can be...to excel in those things you're really good at?! how wise do you play your game?!!!

am on a journey to reconnect with me. rekindling the essence that marks who i am with the will of the Almighty.
it don't mean i'm sad and it absolutely don't mean that i'm there... but it totally means that i'm making my landing ...a step at a time.

all it took was a firm ground to stand on in a world full of storms. it took forgiveness and compassion. it took the will to believe and it took the blessed loves i can never repay...


...guidance from the ONE..

signs...through all what makes the web in our lives. big or small. whatever it is. we're surrounded by countless of Beauty, astounding Light and overwhelming Love.

enough to lead us where ever we're headed...enough to keep us soo close no matter how far away we're. enough to change us forever...
are you ready to be part of a miracle that never seizes to end...to wake up and say 'i'm finally home'!!!

አላሁ ኸይሪ ጀዛእኾው የክፈለኝ

Beauty

(moments to share a prose I wrote a while back...Peace be unto you. H.)

There is a physical beauty—that which is measured according to the eye of the beholder. There is an inner beauty, that which is manifested through wisdom. And there is the beauty that is incomprehensible, that which the heart can perceive but fail to explain—that which behooves silence and eternal awe. Every creation is endowed with all sorts of beauty.

A physical beauty, as was the magnificent Prophet Yusuf (alihimu Salam), is that which eyes can behold and hearts admire. Yet, it is tied with time; it withers with age and circumstance. Today you’re beautiful, but tomorrow you’re not. We’ve seen countless examples where by an instant accident leaves one with utter physical damage. Then the physical beauty ceases to exist. There is also cultural beauty. Some cultures around the world consider body mutilation a type of beauty; others shun it, and rarely consider it rather, uncivilized. And in some cultures, as in the West, it is highly commercialized and implicitly defined for women. There are also the beauty contests, where one would be considered more ‘beautiful’ than the other. Because of this and other reasons, physical beauty is somehow broad and even controversial. But it is certainly dependent on the eye of the beholder.

What can I say about inner beauty? It is the beginning of everything about a person. Inner beauty is that entity of one which is a product of both nurture and nature. It changes and varies tremendously with time, but unlike physical beauty, it gets refined and beautified over time. It would, in other words, be as simple as experience or as complex as personality. Inner beauty is also the faculty through which people interact with the rest of the world. Some people are considered more beautiful than others by virtue of their kindness, other by virtue of their immense knowledge and etc. Most amazingly, through getting to know an individual, one either gets attracted to or alienated from him/her. It is then, that one’s beauty is more visible (pronounced) the more we get to know them; meaning, that every individual IS beautiful by virtue of who they are. Hence, unless we get to know a person, his/her inner beauty lies dormant and unreachable. And that is why it is imperative that we strive to reach out to others in kindness and mercy as our Beloved, may Allah raise His rank, has practiced in his Sunnah. He has said that the most beloved to Him in the Day of Judgment are those who are best in their character. Inner beauty, then, is the manifestation of intellectual beauty.

The Beauty of the Most High is unattainable, and at times, incomprehensible. As feeble human beings, our intellects are limited and as are our faculties that drive us. Hence, to see, understand, and respond to the Magnificence of the Lord of the Worlds, requires that we’re not bound to this little planet we live in. And only because of this, we’re unable to fathom the Beauty of the Eternal and the Majesty of the One God. This very recognition of the vastness of the Divine Kingdom, our limitation and NEED of assistance from the Omnipotent, is sufficient enough to silence one in awe and SURRENDER—a beauty of eternity.

Dust is my bed