dosta mi je Allah moj...

Once a upon a time
A friend adviced me that whenever I feel sad or confused to read surat Yusuf [12] from the Holy Quran…
This surat tells the story of the young Prophet Yusuf [Joseph]… and his story rings a bell to a lot of young people… he went through so much of troubles… he was offered an easy way out [through the tempetations]… but he refused… he chose the hardest way… as long as it for Allah’s sake…

Each day we face a new challenge… a new test… [dosta mi je Allah moj] we are to stand up… to say no to compromising our own values… even if the cost is to loose everything we might had at a time… [dosta mi je Allah moj]….
And as we go more and more to that road… it might get darker… lonelier… but… [dosta mi je Allah moj]…
Prophet yusuf… never lost his hope… His father Jacob also didn’t loose his hope…
We all should never loose hope… even if the chances according to our limited minds are none… we shall not loose hope… because… Allah is our hope… and [dosta mi je Allah moj]…

there is a famouse nasheed by Zain bhikha named "Allah is enough for me" telling the story of Prophet Yusuf PBUH... to read the lyrics click here... to listen to it click here...

the same nasheed was sang in Bosnian... "dosta mi je Allah moj"... to read the lyrics click here... to listen to it click here...

No Smoking!

Smoking is one of the worst habits I've ever known… because unlike other habits not only it affects the smokers but none smokers as well…
I think that it is a very selfish act… the smoker joyfully puffs off the smoke while the person next to him/her coughs his/her soul out!!!
So…
In Scotland [viva la Scotland]… they’ve put forward a law that would affect the life of the whole society by banning smoking in ALL public spaces and the law was put into action starting last Sunday 26th/March/2006…
I think it is a brilliant idea and I hope it will work out and give the people a chance to breathe the lovely fresh air of Scotland…
And I hope that this would set a good example to the rest of the world… to move forward to put an end to smoking once and for all…
To read more about the law click here…
To read more about it from NHS click here...

About Architecture...

I love being an architect! It is one of the best things in me and I feel that when I studied architecture my whole personality changed!
There is some kind of charm in Architecture… a noble sense… I just love it…
A couple of weeks ago I saw a movie [My Architect] which was done by the illegitimate son of the famous Louis Kahn in his own pursue to know more about his father…
And I was astonished by how good architecture can change the shape of a society! One of Kahn’s projects is in the Capital of Bangladesh and hearing people’s opinion about the spaces created made me realize how architecture can transform life…
Unfortunately most of the architecture now especially in Jordan and the Gulf countries relies on the concept of building architecture to look at! And here where I think architecture cease to be architecture.
For me architecture is the mystical interaction between oneself and the space around! It is the light… the sound… the appreciation of existence…
Architecture is the stage where events aren’t imposed but spontaneously performed…
Architecture is the good sense of the built environment enveloping environment…
Anyways…
Here are some quotes about Architecture:

[[ARCHITECTURE is an act of design, which creates space and structure for human activity and establishes a poetic dialogue between the built domain and its inhabitants. Architecture serves as a durable contextual symbol of the lives of a people, their spirit and aspirations, and their history]] anonymous to me

[[Maybe, architecture doesn’t have to be stupid after all. Liberated from the obligation to construct, it can become a way of thinking about anything – a discipline that represents relationships, proportions, connections, effects, the diagram of everything]] Rem Koolhaas

[[I call architecture frozen music]] Goethe

It's Women's Week!

here is a quick reminder of Muslim Women Week which is this week! click on the posters for more details...

strolling in a graveyard

A couple of weeks ago… I had a friend coming over for the weekend… and once she realized that I have a graveyard just across the street… she decided that we should take a stroll there…
I’ve been into many graveyards in Edinburgh… they are ancient… they are quite… they seemed like a poem written ages ago…
There is this serenity that befalls the heart once you are in there… a kind of respect for those lying underneath… a frighten shiver down one’s spine… one day… sooner or later… I’ll be the one under and some one else would be above [The ground]…
And in there… in that busy full place where only stones and trees meet the eyes… words of reflection come to the mind… teaching us yet another lesson…

[[The mutual rivalry (for piling up of worldly things) diverts you, Until you visit the graves (i.e. till you die). Nay! You shall come to know! Again nay! You shall come to know! Nay! If you knew with a sure knowledge (the end result of piling up, you would not have been occupied yourselves in worldly things). Verily, you shall see the blazing Fire (Hell)! And again, you shall see it with certainty of sight! Then on that Day you shall be asked about the delights (you indulged in, in this world)!]] 102:1-8 Holy Quran

[[REQUIEM

Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me;
"Here he lies where he longed to be,
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."
Robert Louis Stevenson]]

[upon a book] The Kite Runner...

Around a year ago I read one of the great novels I ever read… it is called “The Kite Runner” whose author is an Afghani Writer named Khaled Hosseini… this novel wasn’t translated it was originally written in English…
I wrote to my friends reflecting upon the story…
[[
Yesterday... I cried from my heart at this little incident that took place in the story... a story that can be happening to many people... a story not that far from me... or you... subhan Allah... how you can relate to someone totally stranger... I guess it is words' magic.... ya Allah...
The hero of the novel was reflecting upon something in his life that didn't happen as much as he wanted it to...

“it wasn't meant to be... or maybe it was meant not to be"

... simple twist... in a simple fact.... imagine if you can apply this to the so many things that you wished for but didn't get... ya Allah... of all these things... I can point out one thing... I wanted the most... but ... it was meant not to be... suddenly I feel more goodness sweeping into my life... Alhamdullilah...
it is just amazing what faith do to you... one moment... you are so down... hating everything and everyone… but suddenly... the word of Allah comes to your heart and makes you feel peace... because when you are with Him... He is with you... Alhamdullilah...
Maybe we are all kite runners... we all run toward our destiny... and when we are there... our lives are changed for ever...
]]

[[
In the beginning like anyone starting to run... you put this pre-conceived notion of your last destination... but not a clear one... because in your course of running no one can tell what might happen....

“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it, because the past claws its way our. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years."

]]

[[
It seems to me that I had in my subconscious known that it might hold no clear ending at all...

"Life is not a Hindi movie... life goes on..."

The author leaves the rest of his life to your imagination... and that is so right... because no one can point out a single event where his life turns to be good for ever more like in the old good fairy tales... but he gave you this hope!!! Hope that things can be good again... that life can offer you more and more goodness by each day... as we run to catch our kites...
]]

Apparently this novel is in the process of being adapted into a movie… umm… nothing can defeat the written words for me!!... anyways… I’m excited to see it…

The Glorious Recital [video]!

so this is the video I promised about the Glorious Recital...
please don't mind the low quality of the video... that's the best my humble cam can do!...
enjoy...

The Spring Wind...

Last Saturday I went to a haiku reading and writing workshop!
What I love most about haiku is the minimalist touch… you have to use less and less words to describe a concrete image… not like other kind of poetry… haiku don’t rely much on metaphors and poetical words… rather it describes a scene or draw an image… with less words as possible… yet somehow it puts you in a totally different poetical mood…
I guess the concept of less is more [Sandy my girl] is quite charming in itself… I totally loved it…
And guess what… I had to write my first haiku! =) well we were asked to write a haiku about the spring! And we had a nice walk around the botanic gardens… a rich place for inspiration… of course I couldn’t resist the temptation of using my cam to [haiku] a new type of poetry!
So here it goes… my first haiku…
[[
The silent grey sky
Showers soft rain
Glossy buds
]]

And to get you more in the mood here is other haikus

[[working at it
and working at it
and still the tall grass grows]] Santoka translated by Cid Corman

[[Outside the station,
tree dense with green oranges.
I put down my case.]] Tobias Hill

This workshop is part of the Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace Festival… and took place in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Paradise now…

A brave attempt to portrait the true face of what goes in Palestine…
Last night I watched the movie “Paradise Now” which is a Palestinian movie telling a story about two brave ordinary guys who couldn’t take [it] any more…
The movie is beautifully done… the storyline is interesting… and the ending is very clever…
What amazes me is that this movie actually was nominated for this year Oscar for best foreign movie… but it didn’t win… anyways… it is great that such a movie is nominated…
The actors and the setting revived a sense of belonging I thought I don’t have… their accents… their houses… their cloths… it was all somehow like a forgotten grandma’s story she must’ve once told us…
It really brought tears to my eyes…
Well done to all those who made this movie a reality…
I loved it…
more about the movie... the nomination... contraversies... click here...

The Glorious Recital [done]!

Alhamdullilah rab al3alameen
Yesterday was the Glorious Recital event in Edinburgh…
A night to remember… were pure hearts had gathered to feel the beauty of the art of reciting Quran…
It was a very enriching empowering experience for me… the voices of the reciters were beautiful and the idea of having English translations of the meanings is smart and helps a lot to get people in the right mode of understanding and interaction…
The Quran is the word of Allah… and you can feel His words coming straight through to your heart… helping you to know yourself better… to love your Lord more and to appreciate and respect the whole of creation.
The theme of the night was “God and Creation”… the reciters read in various chapters of the Quran like 3 [Aal Imran], 6 [Al-Anaam], 24 [An-Noor], 42 Ash-Shura’a], 50 [Qaf], and 103 [Al-Asr]. The verses were well selected to tell us more about God and His attributes as well as His creation of the world and humans… the verses also spoke of the art of reflecting upon the world around us… thinking about the magnificence of God… the Signs of the One hand that created everything…
Subhan Allah… praise be to Him who created us from nothing… and honored us by knowing Him and worshipping Him as He pleases… May He guide on the Straight Path and abide us by the word of taqwa… Ameen…

It was a well organized event! I applaud to the guys and girls of ISOC-Ed. A great respect to the reciters; Sh. Syed Hasan Bokhari, Sh. Muhammad Rif'at, Jamil Rahman, and Suhaib Saeed , also many thanks to the people in Quranica and MESP.
a short video of the event will be uploaded soon....

>Go the extra mile….

All in place… the sound of their breaths are getting louder and louder… yet… a fearful silence is enveloping everything else… his eyes become focused… he can see the ending out in the horizon… and people gathering their waiting for the winner [him] to cross the end line…
All are in place… his heartbeats are accelerating… staying focused… it is not that faraway… it is only some miles…
Time seems to be frozen… a pause click on a speedy movie…
Bang!
All are suddenly in motion… run… run… faster and faster…
He is not alone… but no… he can’t look at who is next to him… ahead of him… or even behind him…
He can’t see nothing but the end cross line…
Run… faster…
His heartbeats are not feeling that fast anymore… because each living cell in him is as fast as them…
Faster…
The miles are diminishing… the cross line are getting closer… more clear… focus… people at the end line moves in slow motion… shouts in silence… they form the background of that end line…
Faster… run...
Oh my God…
The end line is not there any more… someone else reached it before…
Someone took it…
What should he do? Run that extra mile? Reach the end anyways… or just stop… now…
Make a decision now…
Go for it? Is it about the end line? Is it about his end line?
Run… faster… faster… faster…
And he is crossing the line now…
He is crossing the line…
He crossed the line…
He ran that extra mile…
And yeah…
He did it…
He did it for himself…
And in that self triumph… he shall rejoice…
Alhamdulliah…
He ran his extra mile…

lovely early spring!

أتاك الربيع الطلق يختال ضاحكا______من الحسن حتى كاد أن يتكلما
translates:The fresh spring has come swaying and laughing all beautiful as if it is going to speak!

Muslim Women Week

If you happen to be in Edinburgh 21st-24th March... make sure to attend these upcoming events organised by the Islamic Society of Edinburgh University...and they are all free to all...

تلج...تلج.. عم بتشتي الدنيا تلج