SaqibSaab

Thoughts After Attending The Janazah of Imam W. D. Mohammed

I attended the janazah of the late Imam W. Deen Mohammed, rahimuhullah. There were THOUSANDS of people at our masjid, Islamic Foundation in Villa Park, IL. Literally thousands. Cars parked all over a 1-mile radius and, again, thousands there for the janazah prayer. I ask that Allah accepts our prayer for him and that the brother is forgiven any and all mistakes he made in his life.

Before the janazah, we had to make multiple jama’at for Dhuhr due to the sheer size of the influx of people coming from 11am until 2:15pm when the prayer actually began. Due to the number of the attendees, the janazah later took place outside of the masjid on the nearby soccer field, loud speakers attached and all. Abdul Hameed Dogar, Islamic Foundation’s director, lead the janazah prayer.

There’s lots of coverage on the janazah and death of the late Imam as it is, so I won’t say much about it. However as a typical suburban middle class Desi Muslim kid who hasn’t really seen much of the world, I feel the need to say a few things. Read more »

Where Do You Sit? A Real Life Gender Interaction Scenario

All aboard! You’re a happeningly hip young practicing Muslim attending the local university. After staying for an unnecessarily long MSA Exec Board meeting on campus, you are forced to take the train home during rush hour. You really want to get home in time for dinner, so you hurry to the station and barely squeeze into one of the cars in time for the express ride home.

As you make your way to find a seat, you notice two, and only two open seats. However, next to each of the spots are two young outrageously attractive passengers of the opposite gender the likes of super models; one non-Muslim and the other a practicing Muslim from your MSA, community, and masjid. You’re dead tired from the day and standing is not an option on this 45 minute ride. As the train leaves, the question emerges: where do you sit?

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Meeting Umar Lee at MAS-ICNA Conference 2007 – Final

After we left the bazaar, we met Tariq Musleh, Omer Hedroug, Omar Maktabi and some IFS boys, then went to go pray Isha with Ahmed Mustaffa. Then we headed back to the hallway to meet Umar.

Umar was chilling and helping out at a booth that was set up right outside the bazaar for an-Nisaa Woman’s Shelter. The plan was to take him on the “welcome to Chicago” Muslim standard: drive down Lake Shore, hit up Devon, etc. But we ended up going across the street to Aldo’s Restaurant for some broccoli cheddar soup and cake using Umar’s $20 stack of Rosemont food tickets. Read more »

Good Khateebs Are So Hard To Find These Days

When was the last time you were absolutely thrilled to listen to a Jummah khutbah? If you’re like the majority of Muslims, you probably haven’t heard a solid khutbah in a long time. That’s because khateebs nowadays are lacking in so many ways vital to giving that solid khutbah we’re all wanting to hear.

I asked some brothers what they felt was the #1 problem about Jummah khutbahs for them. Here’s some responses and reflections.

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