Join us for Hajj 2026 – Limited seats available!

Book your Spot Now
Donate Now

Our Blogs

Filter Blog Posts

Categories
Filter by Tag
Filter by Tag
0 result(s) found
December 22, 2025

My Ramadan Diary: Friends!

By Umm Ibrahim All things come to an end. So shall Ramadan in just a few days. One thing that we all fear, or should fear, is turning back on our heels after Ramadan, and nullifying whatever of good actions and habits we have maintained. Here is a golden tip to keep you keep steadfast after Ramadan: good friends! Yes, your friends can make or break you. We are informed in the Hadith that: “A person is on the way of his close friend. Therefore, he should think very carefully whom he is making a friend with.” (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood) Many of the sins we fall in are because of the kind of friends we have. Backbiting, gossip, cursing, watching movies together, discussing rubbish literature etc. would not be possible if your friends were good, Allah-fearing people. Many of the sins would automatically be deleted from your life. They would be replaced by remembering Allah, racing in good deeds, giving good advice to each other. This is not a light matter as it affects the state of your heart and your nearness to Allah. “Do not speak much without mentioning Allah, for too much speech without mentioning Allah hardens the heart, and the hard-hearted are the farthest of all people from Allah Most High.” (Tirmidhi) Take a good, hard look at your friends today. Maybe you need to distance yourself from some of them. Maybe you need to look for other people to include in your circle of friends.
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 18: The Waning Dusk (series)

  Myth: It’s not that big a deal. Surely, those who like that lewdness spreads among the believers, for them there is painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. Allah knows, and you do not know…  O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, (should know that) he orders (one to commit) shameful acts and evil deeds. (24:19-21) More often than not, you will feel like a pawn being played in a game where you do not know the rules. There can be two interpretations of the first verse. 1) People spreading immorality in the society. 2) People talking about shameless topics just so everyone gets used to it. There are shows about what kind of dress that celebrity was wearing on that award ceremony. Special news segments for your updates on who’s dating who and who just had a break-up. In fact, I get free celebrity gossip alerts on my phone from my service provider. And then you see million likes and shares on jokes that are all shades of dirty– some even have a religious context to them. There’s a whole industry behind our daily dose of entertainment. It has entered our homes, our phones, the books we read and has messed up our heads so bad that we shrug it off saying “It’s no big deal”. And when you comment on how classics are a dying breed, you get to hear “What are you? Last century?“. Polluted literature is a major
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 19: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: Best friends forever Many of you will be able to relate to this: you pulled an all-nighter preparing for an exam. When you see the question paper, you realize that 80% of it has been reproduced from last year’s past paper that you had all along but you didn’t bother to go through it. Imagine the regret. It’s a chain of progressive reaction– that begins as a sinking feeling in the gut, courses through the veins and ends in a clenched fist as you stab the desk with your pen and the questions stare back at you insolently. A thousand silent curses hurled at the friend you studied with, since it was his unfortunate idea that previous year’s paper will be useless. And a thousand more hurled at yourself for going against your better judgment. What if Allah tells you, you’re going to see this day too… And (Be mindful of) the Day the wrongdoer will bite his hands saying, “Would that I had taken a path along with the messenger! Woe to me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for my friend! Indeed he led me astray from the advice after it had come to me.” And Satan is man’s betrayer. And the messenger will say, “O my Lord, my people had taken this Qur’an as deserted.” (25:27-30) A scenario that’s very real. An expression of intense regret that will cause you to bite your hands. That you would wish you had taken a path alongside the Messenger. An interesting
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 17: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: Greek Mythology Had there been gods beside Allah, in the heavens and the earth, both of them would have fallen in disorder. So pure is Allah, the Lord of the Throne, from what they describe. (21:22) This verse reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad years ago when I was a kid. I had learnt about continents in a nursery rhyme that day and a bit of side info that there are over a 100 countries and we are just a small part on the big big globe. It was night time and we were driving back home, and I was humming the nursery rhyme in my head. I looked up at the sky and since kids are told God is up there, the sky reminded me of Him. One thought lead to another. I wondered if God ruled all the continents or if there’s a separate god for each. Or if there’s a god appointed for different countries too… I knew God was one but suddenly I wasn’t so sure if “one” meant one god for each territory. I didn’t like that idea ’cause I assumed big countries will have a more powerful god than mine, if that was true. And if that was indeed true, then America will have the most supreme god just because well– America is the biggest continent. Believe me when I say, I was liking the scenario less and less with every passing thought… And then an entire blockbuster played out
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

My Ramadan Diary: Getting on Your Nerves?

By Umm Ibrahim So, you casually resolved to maintain a smiling, cheerful countenance in Ramadan. Little did you know that something apparently so easy will also prove a tough nut to crack at times. It’s actually quite uplifting, easy and fun to be cheerful with people who are good to you. But who wants to be cheerful around obnoxious people who take every opportunity to put you down and make you feel inferior? Their smirks, their snide comments and self-righteous attitudes can be as irksome as long nails screeching on a blackboard. This breed of people seem hell-bent to make your life miserable. They will doubt your intentions, discredit you for your good and highlight your mistakes. How can you be nice with them especially when you’re already fuzzy-brained because of hunger? How can you maintain a smiling countenance when you wish you could chew their heads off? In fact, why do such exasperating people even exist? Allah says: “..We have made some of you as a trial for others: will you have patience? for Allah is One Who sees (all things).” (Surah al-Furqan, ayah 20) Everyone has their share of ‘nuts’ in their lives. But you have it clearly spelled out in the ayah: 1)the reason 2)the cure (patience) and 3)the encouragement and satisfaction (that Allah is watching). A believer is soft in the inside but sturdy on the outside. Don’t let people get to you and distract you from your destination: Jannah. Also know that your smile
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 16: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: Counting your good deeds before the Judgment Day That’s half of Ramadan gone. Calls for an official half-time evaluation which we should be doing every waking minute anyway. Here’s the question- Say, “Shall We tell you about the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds?” (18:103) When I first read this, my immediate response was: “Kaafir and Mushrik!” But the answer was quite humbling and made me count the skeletons in my closet. This is something worth losing sleep over. “Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds!” (18:104) Imagine coming up with a mountain of good deeds on the Judgment Day and watch it amount to nothing. There are worldly motives behind everything that we do and sometimes behind religious activities too. You share something good on Facebook– you sit back and wait for likes to pour in. You work away on a blog post all night, hit ‘Publish’, spread it around and then you find yourself fixated on the stats. Number of visitors, likes, follows and reblogs… And the passion nosedives if your posts and statuses don’t receive as much attention as you would’ve liked. It all boils down to intentions at the end of the day. There is an internal monologue I’m sure everyone’s familiar with when they’re trying to get their act together. Make sure pleasing Allah is set on default. In fact, unlike computers where your settings stay fixed, you have to keep changing your default
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

My Ramadan Diary: Break The Ice

By Umm Ibrahim So, for 11 months, we did as we chose. We broke the promises we made last Ramadan. We undid all our efforts. We corrupted our hearts and polluted our minds. We put the dunya in front of us and chucked the akhirah behind. We forgot the allegiance we pledged to Allah. We started slacking off in our prayers. We let our tongues run loose. We brought our guard down. In short, we harmed ourselves more than our enemies could ever harm us! Yet come Ramadan again, and overnight we want to transform back into pious worshippers. We want to savour the sweetness of Salah; we want to ponder over the Quran deeply; to make zikr with the tongue and the heart. However, we find that our hearts have hardened, our eyes have become dry, and the level of our faith has nose-dived. Some people might give up on themselves, and stop doing righteous actions altogether, thinking things like: I don’t ‘feel’ anything in dua’ , why make dua? I have no khushoo’ in tahajjud, might as well just sleep. To those people, think about this: Can you afford to give up on yourself? NO! Then, get up and get your act straight. Allah did not wrong you. You, and only you, wronged yourself. We need to worry, and we need to strive very hard to cure ourselves. Here are five practical tips which can help us soften our hearts: 1- Make dua’ to Allah, for your
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 14: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: Let’s live the American Dream We have given you the seven oft-repeated verses and the glorious Qur’an. Never stretch your eyes towards what We have given to groups of them to enjoy… (15:87-88) This verse in itself solves our problem of envying the developed world that has all the privileges. Just a few days ago, I was complaining how no one accepts credit cards from Pakistan and my online shopping plans are always foiled. That Apple does not have its retail store here and Adobe does not allow subscribers from Pakistan either. And I cannot upgrade my WordPress site because Pakistan is just not listed. Again. But all of this is accessible in US and blah. Even though this verse was revealed a long time back in the Meccan period, it is timeless of course. It came as a response to the taunts of the Quraysh who mocked the Prophet (pbuh) and his few companions about not having enough and yet had the audacity to tell them to reject their gods and idols. So, in response, Allah assures the Prophet that the seven verses given to him and the Quran are better than whatever it is they are deluding themselves with. Seven verses, according to majority of the scholars, refer to Surah Al-Fatihah. And Al-Fatihah is mentioned separately from the rest of the Quran which highlights its importance and its due place. The only chapter we recite in every rakah, and you might have noticed that it is sectioned separately too. Juz 01 starts
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 15: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: Israel is the enemy Israel may be the bad guy, but we are enemies unto ourselves. And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: “Indeed you would do mischief in the land twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!” (17:04) At certain times in history, some misguided Jews have made mischief and wreaked havoc, and have paid for it too. So, the genocide that is happening in Palestine will not go unpunished either. Allah will liberate the oppressed and take the perpetrators into account all in due time. Whether or not you play a small part in it, is entirely up to you. And since we settle our scores and fight our wars on social media, here’s what’s happening: Brace yourselves for the “I’m getting tired…” statuses… Last time these statuses made rounds on my newsfeed, it was 15th Sha’ban. “I’m getting tired of people telling others it’s a biddah. Whoever wants to pray, they should let them pray…” Yeah, I saw so many of these that biddah almost became another b-word. The hating is back now and it’s getting crazier. There are two global issues happening simultaneously. International crises (Gaza) and global entertainment (FIFA). The Muslim world of course is always hogging the spotlight but the drama on Facebook is a completely different story. Kinda gives you an insight of our collective maturity as a nation. Stage I: Gaza supporters changed their profile pictures and cover photos to show solidarity with the oppressed. Football fans changed their cover pictures; at
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 13: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: Whine for more لَٮِٕن شَڪَرۡتُمۡ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمۡ‌ۖ   This snippet is from one of the most beautiful verses of the Quran on gratitude from surah Ibrahim (v. 7). And I wrote just the Arabic text here for you guys to read it and comprehend it better when I expand on it. In Arabic, there are a lot of ways you can emphasize or stress upon a point. And using a shadd (or tashdeed) on a verb is one way of doing it. Allah (swt) says, “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you…” Notice the form of verb for being grateful is shakartum— lightest form of the verb used and the word for the promise of being increased is la-azeedannakum— the most intense form with a shadd is chosen to drive the point home; meaning: if you are a little bit, just a tiny, teeny-weeny bit grateful– Allah will surely, most certainly, definitely increase you. And this is the eloquence of the Quran– it can contain so much in just one word. We miss out on these special effects when we limit ourselves to the translation. And Allah used first-person singular narrative here “I will increase you…” and not “We will increase you…” as opposed to most places in the Quran where “We” is generally used. “I” has more powerful undertones than “We”. This hammers another dimension of intensity and emphasis to the promise that if you are a teensy bit grateful, Allah Himself WILL increase you (sadly, caps lock is as far as I can go
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

The Healer of Hearts

By Mariam Riaz Bismillah. For a long time now, I have searched for inspiration to write. What better inspiration than the Book of Allah (SWT) and the most blessed of months, Ramadan! Every single one of us have reached a point in our lives when our heart suffered the deepest blow. The death of a loved one, a broken relationship, a scandal that ruined one’s life, failure of the acutest kind, and the list goes on. You reach a point where you feel like no one can understand your pain and it feels like it will never go away. A void in your heart that nothing can fill. We go left, right and center, searching for shrinks, self-help books, or we wallow in despair and drown in drinks and drugs. Yet, nothing seems to fill that gaping void in your heart. Why is that so? Because we are searching in all the wrong places! Our Creator, the One who knows our every single thought before we even express it, says in His Book, the Qur’an: “O mankind, there has come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.” (Surah Yunus: 57) This Book that we take off from our shelves when someone is sick, dying or to hold it above the bride’s head during her Rukhsati – don’t leave it there to gather dust while you knock your head against people and other things to heal
Yasha Fatima
Read
December 22, 2025

Chapter 12: The Waning Dusk (series)

Myth: I doubt my sins will ever be forgiven This one’s gonna be super-short. You must have read those memes where they say life should have an Escape key so you could live on while keeping a finger on it. Or that you could just pull a Ctrl-Alt-Del to start all over… While you may not be able to reboot yourself, but you can do something to that effect. What if I told you, you can Ctrl-Z out of your sins? Yep, you heard that right. You can undo your messes. That key-combo is one of our many favourites too. Life-saving actually. Blew up an entire report? Undo it back. When you can’t fathom how the heck something disappeared off the screen or why your work suddenly looks so warped, you hit Ctrl-Z frantically. So– here’s the ultimate life-hack: Surely, good deeds erase bad deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful. (11:114) UNDO ftw! Right a wrong with a good deed. Not that you’ll need a “DIY 101 imaginative ways to do a good deed” self-help guide. And that’s not it. In Ramadan, the reward for every good deed is increased from 10 to 700-fold or more. (Muslim) You don’t just get a clean slate, you’re also rewarded for it! Moreover, this “Undo” feature is revolutionary. Often, you find yourself limited and can’t correct more than 10 blunders. But well, you’ve hit the jackpot with this one. You can wipe out unlimited mistakes in this limited time offer. Ramadan is a
Yasha Fatima
Read