Movie: City Of Life (Full Video)

 A privileged young male Arab at odds with his cultural identity and his less fortunate street smart friend; a disillusioned Indian taxi driver who bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous Bollywood star; and a former Romanian ballet dancer now working as a flight attendant and searching for love and companionship … these individuals all live in Dubai and their lives are about to collide for better or for worse in a city where ambition, growth and opportunity are encouraged and dreams can still manifest. “City of Life” is an urban drama that tracks the various intersections of a multi-ethnic cast, examining how random interactions and their consequences can irrevocably impact another’s life. As the name suggests, City of Life’s inordinately humane kaleidoscope of converging experiences introduces a city that is in itself a living pulsating character. “City of Life” ultimately reveals how unexpected tragedy and loss can lead to hope and profound transformation as it explores and exposes the complex network that exists in an emerging multi cultural society’s race, ethnicity and class divide. Written by Tanya Wagner.

Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def – Umi Says (Video)

 An epic night to say the least. Mos Def back stage with a glint in his eye, seeing so many people from diverse backgrounds coming together on Chicago’s South Side in celebration of humanity and civic action. The event, hosted by the Inner City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), Taking it to the Streets, was held is Marquette Park, a place where Dr. King would talk to the people and was met with racism in the past, now the park is becoming a place where people of all races can come in celebration of diversity and our shared humanity! Amazing! We’ve come a long way but have a long way yet to go.

Mos Def was the highlight of the night and his music brought the crowd together and inspired us all. Thank you, good sir, for respecting the deen and for being a gentleman, an artist, and an activist always!

And thank you IMAN for being a pillar of Chicago’s South Side activist community dedicated to social change in all the right directions. You are all inspirational and I am proud to call you family.

Miracle of God: The human brain

Source: everystudent.com

By: Marilyn Adamson

The human brain…simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.

3 Steps to be the Best Child to your Parent!

By: Zohra Sarwari

Source: http://zohrasarwari.com/

Bismillahhe Rahmanee Raheem – Often when I give a speech for the Muslim Youth, at the end of it I am asked “How can I change and be the best child to my parent?”

SubhanAllaah, this shows me that if we were to teach our children the importance of parenthood, then they would actually reflect on the subject and possibly change their behaviors for the better.  Glory be to Allaah for all of His favors.  The problem that many of us have is that we do not teach our children how to be the best child.

InshAllaah today I will be teaching just that.  I am writing this article for all of the youth out there who want to know in 3 simple steps how to be the best child inshAllaah.   If you are one of those youth, then I would like to begin by saying mashAllaah I am proud of you first for reading this article.  That tells me a lot about you as a person.  If you have the courage to admit that you could be a better child, and you want to learn more skills that alone says a lot about your character.  However, to fully benefit from this article you need to actually put the information from this article into action- inshAllaah.

Before we get started I want to ask you one question.  Will you commit to me that you will use these 3 steps as often as you can until it eventually becomes habit?  Please say YES.  InshAllaah you said yes, and our journey begins.

Let’s start with Bismillah:

 

Step 1.  Always say “At your Service Umme or Abi (Mom or Dad)”:

What does this mean.  Well when you’re called upon to do something without a second thought say “At your service Umme or Abi.  That means I am ready to do as you wish.  With those words coming out of your mouth, your actions inshAllaah will be sincere as they take into effect next.   You see sometimes the words coming out of our mouth helps us put our actions to ease as they take effect into the next few minutes.  Believe me just saying this will make you smile and be ready to serve your parents.

 

 Action Step:  Practice saying “At your service Umme/Abi.  Say this 20 times to yourself, until you feel comfortable saying it inshAllaah.

It should be natural and easy to come out of your mouth.   Everytime you say these words to your parents and actually do what they ask you to do inshAllaah Allaah will bless you more, and you will feel happier.  When our parents are happy with us, Allaah subhana wa Tala is happy with us, when our parents are angry with us Allaah subhana wa Tala is angry with us.

The Prophet (Sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said:“The pleasure of Allaah is from the pleasure of the parents, and the anger of Allah is from the anger of the parents.”

So let’s not make our parents angry and instead earn their pleasure, for when we do good to them, we make our Lord happy.  SubhanAllaah what a beautiful religion Islam is, Allaah subhana wa Tala only wants the best from each of us.   By taking the action step as I proposed you’re on your way to success inshAllaah.

The line for food at Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp

This jaw-dropping photo published in The Guardian this week shows the line for food at Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp. The UN says that some people in this camp have been reduced to eating animal feed!

Extremely small amounts of aid have gotten in recently but delivery has been suspended repeatedly due to ongoing security concerns. The situation is dire! Take action to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria –>http://bit.ly/1mIYFrT

How to read Quran with Multiple Intentions

Source: blog.islamiconlineuniversity.com

By: Shaibu Asali

What is your intention when you recite the Qur’an? The Prophet () said,

“Actions are to be judged only by intentions and a man will have only what he intended” ¹

Having great intentions was the way through which the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them), the sincere worshipers of Allah () and the scholars sought reward from Allah () They used to have multiple intentions for one action in order to acquire a great reward for every action. Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said,

Freedom for Palestine: #GazaNames Project (Video)

 Prominent Jews and Palestinians and others stand for Palestine in this heartbreaking video with Jonathan Demme, Gloria Steinem, Tony Kushner, Diana Buttu, Chuck D, Eve Ensler, Brian Eno, Roger Waters, Mira Nair, Wallace Shawn, Naomi Klein, Mira Nair, Raj Patel, Noura Erakat and many others. To learn more or take action, visit freedom4palestine.org. Project of JewishVoiceforPeace.org with assistance from IMEU.org (Institute of Middle East Understanding).

Godfrey Bloom: The State is an Institution of Theft – Tax Evasion (Video)

 European Parliament, Brussels, 21 November 2013.

True understanding necessarily generates action that reflects the understanding

Understanding of the Religion means understanding of the Quran and hadith, religious injunctions, and knowledge of the lawful and the unlawful. True understanding necessarily generates action that reflects the understanding. For example, most people have not personally experienced the devastation caused by a nuclear weapon, but do you have any doubt that they will do all that is in their power not to have one dropped on them?

Thus, when understanding of the Deen exists, it will result in righteous action and bring one on to the path leading to Paradise. This will ensure everlasting happiness for that person, without a single blemish to mar it.

The blessing of understanding Islam, such that one’s belief and behaviour reflect it, is a sign of Allah’s special favour to that person. One has to make oneself worthy of the honour.