The Baji

Quds

posted by The Baji @ 1:33 PM 0 comments

The end of an era...

posted by The Baji @ 2:43 PM 0 comments

Baji Cake

posted by The Baji @ 8:45 PM 0 comments

ISOC is like...

... marmite.

You either love it, or you hate it. Even when you love it, you kind of hate it, and even when you hate it, you kind of love it. You hate to love it, and you love to hate it.

It's a very complex relationship really.

Sigh.

posted by The Baji @ 3:35 PM 0 comments

The Green Room

When I first started at Leeds University, the Green Room had a purely functional purpose. You came in, did your wudhu, prayed, and then frog-marched back to lectures. It was a pretty drab place, with an even drabber atmosphere. Between the mould growing in the fridge and the peculiar smelling donated hijabs there wasn't much going on the place. Worst still there was a faint smell of farts because of the kebabs being sold in the hallway.

It wasn't really the kind of place you'd want to bring your non-Muslim friends.

Things started to change over time, especially when the sisters on the committee made a pact to smile, say salaam, and introduce themselves to absolutely anyone who walked through the door. To make the place feel more homely my beloved Ayeshah B hung old saris and scarves on the walls, put candles on shelves and hung strange Pat-Butcher-earring-type-thiniegs on the broken sprinklers. Ruqsy kept the kitchen supplied with milk and tea, and I made sure my merry voice could be heard as soon as any sister opened the door. We decided Muslim students at Leeds University were far too British and conservative for their own good - and we woz 'avin' none o'that.

The issue of friendliness between Muslim students on campus even came up in a meeting one time. I guess the President noticed the sisters were having fun in their section of the prayer room [sometimes a bit too much, like one time when we got told off for holding a rather rowdy nasheed contest].

"So how do things work with in the sisters section?" the brothers once asked.

"We just say salaam to anyone, and ask them how they are."

The brothers looked thoughtful. I guess after a while they picked up the habit of talking to random strangers in the Green Room, because Alhamdulillah over time the feeling of their being a community on campus grew. If you walk past the Brothers section now you'll hear backs being slapped and Shaku Maku and Kaysay Ho and Apa Khaber alongside all sorts of other enquiries after peoples health.

What is the Green Room, you might ask? Well, I'd say it's a place where people go to pray primarily, but also to eat, think, work, laugh, sleep, and sometimes shed a tear or too. I have even witnessed a sister do a stunning backflip across the carpet, however the less we say about that the better ;-)

The truth is that renovation aside, the people make the Green Room what it is - a sort of calm and friendly oasis amongst the daily storm of University life. No matter how bad your day has been, whether your presentation went wrong or your supervisor was an ass, or someone flicked body fat onto your hijab in the dissection room...it's nice to know there's a place on campus where you can walk in, take time out, and just gather your thoughts.

Alhamdulillah, we are very blessed.

أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.

posted by The Baji @ 3:26 PM 0 comments

Thank You.

If ISOC was a person I would feed it my best homemade lasagne [when I say homemade, I mean the real deal; home-made cheese-sauce and not that bakwaas drippy E-gunk you get from Dolmio] to say:

posted by The Baji @ 12:00 PM 0 comments

Leeds ISOC Dawah Training Seminar

Programme:

10:30 Registration and tea/coffee
11:00 Dawah Part 1
12:30 Dhur Prayer in the Green Room
1:00 LUNCH room 8.38
1:45 Dawah Part 2
2:45 Q+A, presentation on last years Discover Islam Week, and a chance to sign up for dawah/interfaith sub-committee.
3:00 Depart

REGISTRATION COMPULSORY:

Please email info@leedsisoc.com or call 07795 165 869 to book your place. Don't delay, as spaces are limited!

www.leedsisoc.com

posted by The Baji @ 6:36 AM 0 comments

Mmm. Extra protein.

It does actually get worse than the CHD-inducing- grease-fest in the Green Room...

posted by The Baji @ 9:35 AM 0 comments

Seven in Heaven

Seven kinds of people will be sheltered under the shade of God on the Day of Judgment.

A just ruler a young man who passed his youth in the worship and service of God, one whose heart is attached to the mosque, two people who love each other for the sake of God, a man who is invited to sin but declines saying 'I fear God' one who spends his charity in secret without making a show one who remembers God in solitude so that his eyes overflow

[Riyadh-us-Salaheen]

posted by The Baji @ 4:59 AM 0 comments

ISOC Bizzarities

Actual requests people have made to the sisters@leedsisoc.com account :

- My lecture hall is very close to the Green Room. Is the store-room at the back up for rent? I could just about fit a bed and desk in there .

- Could you please help me find a wife? Attatched is my Biodata.

- Can I sell noodles in the Green Room?

- I am please looking for friendship, please be my friend. Please see pictures of me in my home country. [Pictures of random Egyptian man posing against a lampost]

Baji sez: No, no, no...and no!

Hehe.

posted by The Baji @ 8:17 AM 0 comments

Leeds Islamic Society Handover Meeting Training Scenarios

Read and discuss the following scenarios in your group.

Scenario One:

The ISOC committee have less than a week to plan Freshers Dinner. It is an important social event during Freshers Week for old and new students to get to know one another. Food and venue have been sorted out but publicity is yet to be printed.

Muhammad volunteers to ring around printing companies and get a quote for posters and flyers.
Unfortunately that weekend his pet frog comes down with ‘flu and he spends two days nursing his beloved amphibian back to health.

By Monday there are only three days left until Fresher Dinner and he still hasn’t managed to get any posters or flyers printed. He avoids telling anyone - he’s committed to doing something and doesn’t want to let people down.

But time is running out…

He rings the first printing company in Yellow Pages who give him a rough estimate. They promise everything will be printed and ready in two hours. When Muhammad picks up the posters he is asked for £600 to cover costs, which he pays out of his own bank account.

In a meeting later on that day, Muhammad asks for a refund for the money he has spent.

The Treasurer gets out the ISOC cheque book. “How much did it come to altogether?”

“It came to £600. But make it £550. I’m feeling generous today.”

The Treasurer turns extremely red.

“Brother…that’s more than we’ve spent on the food and venue together! The constitution says committee members can’t spend more than £20 without consulting the rest of the committee. What the ‘eck were you thinking?”

Ø How could Muhammad have prevented this situation from happening?
Ø What could other members on the committee have done in the beginning to prevent this situation from arising?

Scenario Two:

Zaynab has an idea for an event she believes will make da’wah on campus more effective. She announces her idea in a meeting, but after a lengthy discussion everybody feels it may not be worth doing. Arranging it will be very complicated and costly, and it is very close to the end of term.

As a result, the idea does not go ahead.

Zaynab feels upset. Everything she suggests doesn’t seem to be good enough, and she feels unappreciated by the other people on her committee.

Later on that night, Zaynab spends an hour on the phone to her friend Khadijah.

“They never listen to anything I say, they just do their own thing. I want to leave the committee”, she complains.

“Don’t ever get involved in da’wah work; it’s such a waste of time with these people. Two of them have their way all the time, no one else can get a word in edgeways. And that Brother Ibrahim is so revolting. Every meeting we have he spits paan all over the wall.”

Khadijah is shocked.

The following day she tells some sisters in the prayer room about the reality of the Islamic Society at their University

“They treat her so badly, the miskeenah. They ignore her, and it’s got a point where brothers are spitting on her. It sounds like she’s being bullied. Astaghfirullah. This is one Islamic organisation we had all better stay away from” says Khadijah, shaking her head with disgust.


Ø Why is Zaynab wrong to feel offended by her idea being put down?

Ø Who would it have been better to discuss her disappointment with?

Ø What are the consequences of letting other students know about internal conflict within a committee?

Ø What could other members on the committee have done to prevent this situation arising in the first place?

Scenario Three

Sarah is half Pakistani, half English. Since starting University she heard about an Islamic Society and wants to find out more. She knows very little about Islam despite her dad being a Muslim and thinks joining their society might help her understand the religion a bit better.

During Freshers Week she approaches the ISOC stall and asks if she can sign up.

Two sisters are busy registering people on a computer. Sarah asks if she can join and they simultaneously look her up and down. She is wearing a short skirt and a top that leaves very little to the imagination.

“Are you even a Muslim?” asks one sister abruptly.

“Yes, I am. My dad’s Pakistani...”

“Why aren’t you wearing a hijaab?” asks the sister. “Sister, when I saw you I thought you were some random gori. Don’t you know Allah says in the Quran in SurahAnNisaaayahfiftynine a woman must cover herself! Not walk around half naked with everything on display. Be a slave to Allah, not a slave to Western ideologies of freedom!”

Sarah feels extremely embarrassed and confused. She decides joining the Islamic Society is probably not such a good idea after all.

Ø What did the two sisters do wrong in this situation?
Ø How could they have been more welcoming?

Scenario Four

Sulaiman and Nabeela have been asked to attend a meeting in London to represent their Islamic Society. They book their tickets separately but end up sitting on the same train together. The journey is long and they start talking about their ideas for Islamic Awareness Week, a big Dawah event in the ISOC calendar.

Unknown to them, Auntie Jameela [Nabeela’s next door neighbours’ younger sisters’ cousins mother-in-law] is also on the same train. She is sat four seats behind watching and listening to every word of their conversation.

“I would really like to invite Barry,” says Sulaiman.

“Yeah I think that’s a good idea,” agrees Nabeela.

Aunty Jameela is shocked. She just heard the boy say “I would really like to get married”. And Nabeela - who everyone always commended for her modesty - replied with “Yeah I think that’s a really good idea.”

Jameela always suspected Islamic organisations were full of people with ulterior motives. What she had witnessed just proved her point.

Her daughter had recently asked if she could help out at an Islamic Society iftaar after lectures, but if this was the kind of thing going on between brothers and sisters after hours there was no way she would allow her to get involved.

When Aunty Jameela returned home from London she made sure everyone in her family knew about Nabeela and the conversation she had overheard.

“She wears the hijaab and yet she speaks to boys. I don’t want any of you becoming like her.”

A few weeks later Nabeela hears through a friend that she has developed a bad reputation in her community. Many of the women are talking about her and saying something is going on between herself and a brother on the committee. She is extremely upset and cannot understand where the accusations have come from.

Ø Discuss the reality of brother sister interaction; where do you think a person should draw the line?

Ø How could Nabila and Sulaiman have protected themselves from this kind of accusation?

posted by The Baji @ 10:35 AM 3 comments

TP's Manghies & Imported Bananas

Ayeshah B. Ruqsy & Co. showing their not-so PC side to the BBC;

"The young person in cheap trendy clothes and jewellery is a chav. And if they're in Bradford - and they're Asian - they're a woonnahbee. And my dad and my mum, we call them mawali.

[Giggle]

Which is the Gujarati word..."

What a great addition to Ruqqsys' NUS campaign for Black Students Rep.

;-)

Click here to listen

posted by The Baji @ 3:29 PM 1 comments

Welcome to the family

Only I would find this very funny:


Heh.

posted by The Baji @ 11:05 AM 1 comments

Oooooh. Cake!

Cold, snowing and Discover Islam Week was over :'-(

Ayeshah B. and Baji concluded there was only one answer to their woes :

La Besi Restaurant

[Don't be fooled by the name - it's run by Kosovans]

Friday 3rd March 2006

posted by The Baji @ 2:58 AM 0 comments

Discover Islam Week

Hennah painting in the marquee

posted by The Baji @ 11:18 AM 0 comments

Girls and Boys; A Love Story

posted by The Baji @ 1:23 PM 0 comments

How a Pearl Develops

When news of the Christian army that had prepared on the horizons to wipe out Islam reached him, Abu Qudaamah Ash-Shaamee moved quickly to the Mimbar of the Masjid. In a powerful and emotional speech, Abu Qudaamah ignited the desire of the community to defend their land, Jihad for the sake of Allah. As he left the Masjid, walking down a dark and secluded alley, a women stopped him and said

"As salamu alaykum wa Rahmatullaah!"

Abu Qudaamah stopped and did not answer. She repeated her salam again, adding "this is not how pious people should act." She stepped forward from the shadows. "I heard you in the Masjid encouraging the believers to go for Jihad and all I have is this…" She handed him two long braids. "It can be used for a horse rein. Perhaps Allah may write me as one of those who went for Jihaad."

The next day as that Muslim village set out to confront the crusader army, a young boy ran through the gathering and stood at the hooves of Abu Qudaamah's horse. "I ask you by Allah to allow me to join the army." Some of the elder fighters laughed at the boy. "The horses will trample you," they said. But Abu Qudaamah looked down into his eyes as he asked again, "I ask you by Allah, let me join." Abu Qudaamah then said, "On one condition, if you are killed you will take me with you to Jannah amongst those you will be allowed to intercede for." That young boy smiled. "It's a promise."

When the two armies met and the fighting intensified, the young boy on the back of Abu Qudaamah's horse asked, "I ask you by Allah to give me 3 arrows."

"You'll lose them!"

The boy repeated, "I ask you by Allah to give me them."

Abu Qudaamah gave him the arrows and the boy took aim.

"Bismillaah!" The arrow flew and killed a Roman.
"Bismillaah!" The second arrow flew, killing a second Roman.
"Bismillaah!" The third arrow flew, killing a third Roman.

An arrow then struck the boy in the chest - knocking him off the horse. Abu Qudaamah jumped down to his side, reminding the boy in his final breaths, "Don't forget the promise!" The boy reached into his pocket, extracted a pouch and said, "Please return this to my mother."

"Who's your mother?" asked Abu Qudaamah.

"The women that gave you the braids yesterday."

Think about this Muslimah. How did she reach this level of Taqwa where she would sacrifice her hair when today other women do the same to die so long as their son stayed home. Indeed, she spent her life in the obedience of Allah, and when exam time came, she passed. Not only did she pass herself, but her children shone with that same beauty of Iman, children that she herself raised.

Very often - and perhaps in our times when we have forgotten much of the Sunnah - the lectures, khutbahs, and talks are all directed to the Muslim men. We forget that from the Hady – guidance and way – of Rasul Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam - was that he would allocate a specific day of the week to teach the women. Women would come up to him in Hajj, in the street, even in his home and ask him questions about the Deen. At the Eid Salah, after addressing the men, he would take Bilal and go to the women section and address the women.

Allah revealed an entire Surah by the name of Surah An-Nisa – the Women. And another by the name of – Maryam. And a third by the name of al Mujaadalah – the women who pleads. It is in enlivening this Sunnah that today this speech shall be addressed to the believing women, al-Mu'minaat.

Dear Sister. Everyone is looking for happiness and fun, and I am sure you are not excluded. Where is that happiness and fun though? And where and when do you want that happiness? Do you want happiness, do you want to have `fun' in this life at the expense of the hereafter? Or is it in the hereafter, when you meet Allah that you want to be happy?

Every where you go you shall find a swarm of people and media and culture swearing to you that happiness is the happiness of the Dunya. Is it really happiness though? On the day of Repayment, Allah shall take the most `happiest' kafir of the Dunya and dip him in Jahannam – Hellfire. Then he shall ask him, "Have you ever seen any happiness?" The Kafir will say, "Never!"

The happiness is only the happiness of the hereafter no matter what happens in this Dunya. Allah shall bring on the Day of Repayment the most tested human and dip him in Jannah – Paradise. He shall then ask him, "Have you ever seen sadness?" And that person shall say, "Never!"

And don't think that this happiness and fun is exclusive to the hereafter. It is very much tied to this life as well. Listen and understand the words of Allah:

Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, while he (or she) is a true believer verily to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter). – Surah AnNahl (16/97)

Dear Sister, you have to understand that you or anyone may enter Hellfire! By Allah, we are not better than Fatimah, the daughter of Rasul Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. And he said to her, "OFatimah the daughter of Muhammad, Ask me whatever you wish from my wealth, for I shall avail you nothing to Allah." Meaning that it doesn't matter if you're my daughter, if you don't work for Jannah, saying to Allah that my father is so and so will not help you in anyway.
Islam is filled with many Mu'minahs that completed their Taqwa of Allah. When the other girls put up posters of singers and athletes and actresses, you should put up posters in your heartof Fatimah and many other Mu'minahs.

Aasiyah, the wife of Fir'own. Her Eeman in Allah thrived under the shadow of someone that said, "I am your Lord, Most High!" When news reached Fir'own of his wife's Eeman he beat her and commanded his guards to beat her. They took her out in the scalding noon heat, tiedher hands and feet and beat her perpetually. Who did she turn to? She turned to Allah! She prayed, "My lord, build for me a home with you in Paradise and save me from Fir'own and his deeds and save me from the transgressive people."

It was narrated that when she said this, the sky opened for her and she saw her home in Paradise. She smiled. The guards watched astonished - she's being tortured and she smiles? Frustrated, Fir'own commanded a boulder to be brought and dropped on Aasiyah, to crush her to death. But Allah took her soul before the boulder was brought and she became an example for all the believing men and women till the end of time:

[And Allah has set forth an example for those who believe: the wife of Fir'own (Pharaoh) – when she said, "My Lord, Build for me a home with You in Paradise, and save me from Fir'own and his deeds, and save me from the transgressive-disbelieving people.] -Tahreem 66/11

When we talk about Jihad and Shuhadaa' - martyrs, do you know who the first Muslim in Islam to be killed in the path of Allah was? It was Summayah, the mother of Ammar. When Abu Jahl heard of her Islam and her husband Yaasir and her son Ammar, he whipped them all and beat them. So much so, that Rasul Allah would pass by them as they went through this test of their Iman and would say to them, "Be patient O Jannah!"

As Abu Jahl beat Sumayyah one day, she refused to recant her Deen, something that enraged Abu Jahl. He took a spear as she lay on the burning sand, looking up to the sky, and he speared her through her midsection. She was the first of her family and the entire Ummah to meet Allah as a Martyr.

Dear Sister, our role models come from the Quran. You may have heard the story of the boy and the king. When the entire village became Muslim by the death of that young boy, the king ordered that an enormous fire be kindled and that all those who would not recant theirreligion be burnt alive. A Mu'minah, stood with her baby over the fire. She looked at her baby, and seeking her child's weakness and innocence, she considered turning her back. The baby said to her,"What are you waiting for mother. Go forward for you are on the truth!" She nodded. Then with her baby in hand she was pushed to her death.

[And they ill-treated them for no other reason than that they believed in Allah, Exalted in Power, Worthy of all Praise!- * Him to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! AndAllah is Witness to all things.].- Surah AlBuruj, 8,9

And dear sister, your role models come to you from today. As her son tells us, a senior women in a Muslim land decided that all the vanity that normally happens in the gatherings of women was not for her. She turned to Salah and praying at night, and in her old age, she found herself calling to her son one night from her prayer room. He son says, "I came in and she was in Sajda saying that she was paralysed!" Her son took her to the doctors and she began a cycle of rehabilitation, but there was little hope. She then commanded her son to take her back home, take her back to her prayer room, take her back to that Sajdah. As she prayed to Allah in her sajdah, the night came when she called to her son. "Astawdi'ukallaah alladhee laa yadee'u wa daa'i'uh – I leave you in the trust of Allah, and whenever something is left in Allah's trust it is never lost." She passed away in her sajdah. Her muscles froze in that position and so they had to wash her body as she was in Sajdah. The prayed Janazah for her as her body was in sajdah. The carried her to the grave yard as her body was in Sajdah. The buried her as she was in Sajdah. And the Prophet said that we shall all be resurrected on what we died on, she shall be resurrected on the day of judgement in Sajdah to Allah – Jalla Jalaaluhu wa taqaddasat asmaa'uhu - because that it how she lived and died.

There are many other stories that we know about of powerful believing mothers, wives and sisters and many, many that Allah only knows about. Go to an Islamic teachers/schools conference, attend a lecture and you shall see the mismatch of sisters to brothers. Sometimes it is sad to see all these brothers lacking the motivation that many Muslimahs have. But if there is a beautiful sign in all this, it is that – in sha' Allah ta'ala – those sisters are going to raise an army of believing men and women inthe coming generation. Wallahu akbar!

When Imam Ahmad was still young, his father died. He would tell his students of the work his mother went through in raising him, and he would pray for her. In the cold Baghdad nights, she would wake long before him to warm the water so that her son Ahmad could make wudu for Fajr. Then she would wrap him in blankets, herself cloaked in her Jilbaab, and guide him through the dark, cold alleys to reach the main Masjid, long before Fajr so that her son could get a good seat in class. Her son Ahmad - at that age in grade 2 or 3 - would sit all day long studying Quran and Sunnah, and she would wait for him to finish so that she could drop him home safely. At the age of 16, she prepared money and food for him and told him, "Travel for your search of knowledge." He left for Makkah and Madinah and many other places and met many great scholars. She raised Ahmad to become one of the four greatest Imams in Islam.

When the Prophet - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam - stood on the plain of Arafah and gave his farewell speech he said to the Ummah, "Treat the women kindly!" History records that in Europe in the same year, at the same time that Islam was saying this, the Christian clergy were arguing whether a women was a human or an animal! Those clergymen are the ancestors of the Kuffar that now want to `liberate' you.

There is much more than can be said. I shall conclude with the advice of Rasul Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam - to every Muslim mother, daughter, and wife: "If the women prays her five (Salah), fasts her month (of Ramadan), protects herself (from committing Zina), and listens to her husband, it will be said to her, `from any door you wish, enter Paradise!" Sister, that is where you want to be.

[O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calls you to that which shall give you life; and know that Allah cometh between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered.]- Surah Anfal 8/24

Allah and His Messenger are calling you to life. Dear sister, reply!

[Leeds ISOC Sisters Eid party January 2006]

posted by The Baji @ 7:37 AM 0 comments

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Cheers Nazia

posted by The Baji @ 2:17 PM 0 comments

Just Say No Campaign

December 2005: LUUIS launches its Just Say No campaign to increase student awareness of the dangers of becoming addicted to the Islamic Society. "Once you Izoq, you just can't stop," explains Ruqqsy, who is now sucessfully recovering in the Exec Office upstairs in the Student Union. Support by close family and friends have been crucial in getting her life back.

"I never meant for things to turn out like this." She wipes away a tear and stares out of the window, recalling how it all began. "It all started when I was asked to sell tickets. How was I supposed to know what it would lead to? Someone comes up to you and says "Here, have a ticket." I thought one ticket wont do me any harm. It's only for some Charity Dinner, it's innocent. Before I knew it, I was dealing tickets out to people in my department. And after a while, I started getting into heavy selling; some days I'd find myself wondering up and down the Airport Lounge in the Worsley Building. I even started hanging around with medics. It got that bad."

It has taken Ruqsy months to detach herself from the ISOC. When asked what helped her through the withdrawal phase, she explained that staying away from her computer and avoiding anyone with facial hair helped her to forget her past life and focus on more important things, like Wayngroos and being Education Officer.

"I looked at people who were worse off than me, you know? I look at people like Baji; when I met her she had a full head of black hijab. Now all hre hijaabs have turned grey from stress. Subhanallah. I'm glad I have my life back. All that dealing and organising, it's just not good for your health. It has an impact on everyone. I want people to learn from my example, not make the same mistakes I did."

Another Muslimah who has fallen victim to ISOC - Ayeshah B - recalls how her addiction began. "It was the ISOC Summer Barbeque. One minute I'm eating kebabs, the next I'm buying and cooking them for 400. It happened so fast I didn't even realise I had gone onto the Dark Side. I just hope I find the strength to go back to leading a normal life again."

We attempted to interview Baji but she declined, saying she was too busy trying to figure out how to paint cream over aubergine and yellow in the kitchen, and still call it The Green Room.

posted by The Baji @ 1:18 PM 5 comments

Talk Squad - Jesus & Isa

Leeds ISOC Talk Squad bring you...

Tenner someone complains ;-)

posted by The Baji @ 5:06 PM 0 comments