Salma Yaqoob Protests Against BBC Refusing Gaza Appeal Broadcast

Ten Things We Waste

1. Our Knowledge

Wasted by not taking action with it.

2. Our Actions

Wasted by committing them without sincerity.

3. Our Wealth

Wasted by using on things that will not bring us ajr (reward from Allah). We waste our money, our status, our authority, on things which have no benefit in this life or in the akhirah (hereafter).

4. Our Hearts

Wasted because they are empty from the love of Allah (swt) and his Messenger (sallallahu 'alahi wasallam), and a feeling of peace and contentment. In it's place, our hearts are filled with something or someone else.

5. Our Bodies

Wasted because we don't use them in ibadah (worship) and service of Allah.

6. Our Love

Our emotional love is misdirected, not towards Allah, but towards something/someone else.

7. Our Time

Wasted, not used properly, to compensate for that which has passed, by doing what is righteous to make up for past deeds.

8. Our Intellect

Wasted on things that are not beneficial, that are detremental to society and the individual, not in contemplation or reflection.

9. Our Service

Wasted in service of someone who will not bring us closer to Allah, moreover something that will benefit us in dunya.

10. Our Dhikr (Remembrence of Allah)

Wasted, because it does not effect us or our hearts.

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The Plight of the Three Bulls

By Shaykh Tawfique Chowdhury, Al-Kauthar Institute.

If you were to travel through the barren dunes of Arabia, you could be forgiven into thinking that the average Bedouin is a very simple person. After all, the harsh Arabian Desert, the difficult camels of Arabia, the tough unforgiving desert - where could the Bedouin find poetry and inspiration? Rather, for inspiration, one would need to go to the most beautiful of sceneries, just like the English poets used to do when they used to go to the Lake District in northern UK.

Yet in my travels through Arabia, I have found the Arabian Desert to have parables and examples that bewilder the mind. One such parable was from a wise old man who used to sell the miswak in the gates of the Prophet's mosque. At a time when America was bombing Afghanistan, I and a couple of friends came up to the man and wanted to buy some miswak. Whilst we were looking over the miswak, one of us mentioned the indiscriminate bombing and the human cost of the war. At that point, the old man looked at us and said: "Let me tell you the story of the three bulls." What he was to tell us, was a parable I have not forgotten till today.

"There was once three bulls - a red bull, a white and a black one. When they were all together, they were very strong and the lions could not eat them. So one day, a lion came and told the black and red bull - if you help me eat the white bull, I will let you go. After a lot of deliberation, the red and black bulls agreed. So the red and black bulls looked on whilst the lion killed and ate the white bull. Many months later, the lion came to the black bull and said - if you help me eat the red bull, I will let you go. Without daring to hesitate, the black bull agreed to the proposition. So the lion came and ate the red bull whilst the black bull looked on. Many months later, the lion was hungry again. Now there was nothing but the black bull left. As the black bull looked on whilst the lion pounced on him and as he was choking and dying - with his last breath, the black bull said: Truly, I was killed the day the white bull was killed." With that, we gazed into the man's eyes lost in thought from the wisdom of his speech.

If we Muslims continue to deny our brotherhood, continue overlooking the plight of our brothers and sisters around the world, continue with our own life being oblivious to the problems facing them, continue to spy and cheat and harm - then know that our fate will have been sealed already.

If you were to ask me, which of the three bulls do I most sympathize with? I would have to reply: the black one. Truly the one, who Allah had mercy on, was the first bull who died a death free of guilt. However, the black bull lived a life of guilt and sorrow that was worse than death itself.

I pity our brothers and sisters who harm the Muslims and are not moved at their plight. How miserable their lives must be! A life that is devoid of tasting the sweetness of emaan and devoid of love that is in the Islamic brotherhood is truly a miserable life. If only they knew how rewarding it was to help the Muslims, how good it felt to hear a person thank you and make dua for you, how great it felt to see a smile on your brother and sister. What a wonderful feeling and how pitiful are those who deny themselves this blessing.

"And those who before them, had homes (in al-Madinah) and had adopted the Faith, love those who emigrate to them, and have no jealousy in their hearts for that which they have been given, and prefer (their brothers) over themselves, even though they were in severe need. And whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, then such are the successful." [59:9]

Boycott Israel

It is a great shame for all of mankind that hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives in Palestine yet nobody in the world is able to stop Israel from carrying out such evil. The silence of our leaders (or words that are equivalent to silence) who are supposed to represent us is the most depressing aspect of the situation. The least we can do as human beings is to boycott the companies that are funding Israel by stopping ourselves from buying from them. If people all over the world were to think like this and even if they decided to boycott 4 or 5 companies...it would definitely have a negative impact on Israel. Please forward this poster to everyone that you know so that it spreads this message across nations and touches the hearts of those who have a heart....