Granddaughter of Ottoman Sultan smashes stereotypes with novel

Source: dailysabah.com

A strong, Muslim Indian woman who stands against British colonialists in 19th century India is the central focus of the latest novel by the granddaughter of Ottoman Sultan Murad V. Kenize Mourad’s “In the City of Gold and Silver”, tells the story of Begum Hazrat who stands bravely against the East India Company, but is eventually forced into exile in Nepal. Begum is an orphan and aspiring poet who gains the attention of the Indian ruler and finally becomes his wife. From this powerful position, Begum is a principal figure that leads the uprising against British colonialist in India.

10 Choices You Will Regret

Source: http://www.marcandangel.com/2013/01/18/10-choices-you-will-regret-in-10-years/

“If only…” These two words paired together create one of the saddest phrases in the English language.

Here are ten choices that ultimately lead to this phrase of regret, and how to elude them:

1.  Wearing a mask to impress others. – If the face you always show the world is a mask, someday there will be nothing beneath it.  Because when you spend too much time concentrating on everyone else’s perception of you, or who everyone else wants you to be, you eventually forget who you really are.  So don’t fear the judgments of others; you know in your heart who you are and what’s true to you.  You don’t have to be perfect to impress and inspire people.  Let them be impressed and inspired by how you deal with your imperfections.

2. Letting someone else create your dreams for you. – The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are; the second greatest is being happy with what you find.  A big part of this is your decision to stay true toyour own goals and dreams.  Do you have people who disagree with you?  Good.  It means you’re standing your ground and walking your own path.  Sometimes you’ll do things considered crazy by others, but when you catch yourself excitedly losing track of time, that’s when you’ll know you’re doing the right thing.  Read The 4-Hour Workweek.

3. Keeping negative company. – Don’t let someone who has a bad attitude give it to you.  Don’t let them get to you.  They can’t pull the trigger if you don’t hand them the gun.  When you remember that keeping the company of negative people is a choice, instead of an obligation, you free yourself to keep the company of compassion instead of anger, generosity instead of greed, and patience instead of anxiety.

4. Being selfish and egotistical. – A life filled with loving deeds and good character is the best tombstone.  Those who you inspired and shared your love with will remember how you made them feel long after your time has expired.  So carve your name on hearts, not stone.  What you have done for yourself alone dies with you; what you have done for others and the world remains.

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 company you choose to become associated with reflects on you

By: Abu Bakr Islam

The company you choose to become associated with reflects on you. Just like a mirror gives you a reflection of yourself but in reality its something else. You should be able to see yourself within your companions hench why you have this relationship. As muslims brotherhood/sisterhood is key, we should always look out for each other trying to elevate our emaan. Its only natural to have your emaan go up or down and this sometimes affects us negatively as we may fall back into old habits. However a loving and true companion will always try help maintain your emaan levels. Providing you reminders being a positive example. This is the type of person we should look for in our spouses. A Lover and Friend. The sweetness of emaan is uncomparable.

10 Corporations Create Almost All Your Stuff

(Click to Enlarge)

Source: exposingtruth.com

By: Katharine J. Tobal

You probably knew some of these connections already, but the size and scope of these Russian-doll like corporations is hard to imagine.

Although many have heard of Nestle, fewer have heard of Unilever, which sells to two billion people around the world and can attribute the majority of its success to its ownership of Q-tips and Skippy peanut butter.

The confusion lays in companies like Yum! Brands, which owns KFC and Taco Bell. The company itself was actually a spin-off of Pepsi. All Yum! Brands restaurants sell only Pepsi soft drinks because of this special partnership with the soda-maker.

Join the BDS movement and make an impact!

Source: http://www.bdsmovement.net

Why should I join the boycott of Israel?

World governments have failed to end their support for Israel’s crimes or put pressure on Israel to comply with international law and human rights.

By working together on focused consumer boycotts and campaigns against the companies and institutions that help Israel to commit its crimes, the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement is a powerful and strategic tool for isolating Israel.

Check out our timeline to see BDS-related achievements to date. Boycotts and sanctions helped end apartheid in South Africa!

Malaysia Airlines: can it survive? (Video)

 The carrier announces financial losses and job cuts as it strives to recover from two passenger jet disasters.

37 SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR YOUTH MORE REWARDING

By: Amina Edota

Source: http://muslimmatters.org

Do you always dream of the years ahead when you will hit your first million, memorise the Qur’an, or break some world record? Or perhaps you jump, to a few months ahead – getting published, married or launching an online business.

Whatever your big dream is, you know what I’m talking about, right?

John Lewis’s new line, hijabs to wear at school: Department store signs contract with schools in London and Liverpool to offer conservative Islamic clothing

By: Sean Poulter

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

John Lewis is offering the hijab in its school uniform department for the first time.

The headdress is to be sold in the company’s stores in London and Liverpool after it signed contracts with two schools – one which was set up to educate Muslim girls and a second that welcomes pupils from all religious communities.

The hijab covers the head and chest and is worn by Muslim women after the onset of puberty as a sign of modesty in the presence  of men who are outside their immediate family.