'Nabiha My Love' – But a Person is With the One Whom They Love

The following article was written by Abu Shoaib Ashmead Choat, a very dear family friend of ours. He visited Houston a few years ago and gave some talks there; he's a graduate of the College of Hadith from Madinah and an active da'i in Trinidad (where he runs his own full-time Islamic school). His daughter Nabiha passed away last year, while still a teenager. She had grown up in Madinah and memorized significant portions of the Quran. She was an active tajweed teacher in her native land of Trinidad.

After her tragic death, her father Abu Shoiab wrote up this beautiful article. I've asked his permission to post it on our website.

Nabihah My Love
But a Person is With the One Whom They Love

Even before we start to write about this glimpse into the life of our dear daughter, it is necessary to purify our intentions, hence the reason for the delay. This must not be for Shuhrah or fame or some Nahiha fan club, but it must be for, as Allāh has said, “Ya ayyuha ladhina amanu itaqullaaha wabtaghoo ilayhil waseelah” (Oh you who believe fear Allāh and seek out the means of approach to him). Great effort and attention must be paid in trying to purify our intentions and knowing precisely why we are doing this. It may be a wake up call for a lazy or sleepy Muslim. It may help someone to realize how short and fleeting this life is; how precious it is that we must take every opportunity to do good, no matter how small, and we must seek every opportunity to invite people to Allāh and use all the resources available to us in that cause, even if that means the life and death of our dear baby.

How do we begin to describe the love of our life? If Allāh had given us someone for one or two years and took her away, it would have been easier because of her short life. Or if she had been married with children and away from the home it would have softened the loss. But our baby girl was in the prime of her life, just at the age of marriage, and the decision is with the Lord of the universe. As our Prophet (SAW) said at the moment of his death, when he was given the choice to go or stay, “Balir-rafeequl-'alaa, Balir-rafeequl-'alaa – certainly the highest companionship, certainly the highest the companionship.”

It was late 2004 when Nabiha discovered a non-healing ulcer on her tongue which became exceedingly painful and was preventing her from eating. In March 2005, she had her first operation for the removal of the ulcer and a biopsy, which showed a presence of malignancy. In retrospect, when a Muslim is faced with the news of cancer, he begins to think of the options available to him. Seeking treatment and medical care is encouraged in the Sunnah (called: “at-tadaawee – seeking treatment”). So over the next two years, we followed the full gamut of treatment of up to seven or eight surgeries together with radiotherapy in far away India, a return there for a review, then on to chemotherapy back in Trinidad. Despite huge setbacks, we were to see the Hand of Allāh in everything that challenged us. He tested us but walked us through to the very end. Allahumma laka wa minka; O Allāh to you and from you. Laa malja'a minallahi illa ilayhi; There is no refuge from Allāh, except in Him. (more…)

Let Us Sit Down and Believe For A While: Sr. Anam

So `Abdullah ibn Rawahah (RAA), whenever he met one of the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH), used to say, “Come, let us believe in our Lord for a while.” When the Prophet (PBUH) heard about this, he said, “May Allāh have mercy on Ibn Rawahah, for he loves the gatherings that the angels feel proud to attend.”

Let us sit down and believe for a while…

In the dappled sunlight of this June afternoon

Amongst the swaying leaves and the violet bloom

I promise not to ramble on about economic pacts

I will not bore you with depressing trade facts

And partake neither in vain babble nor pretension-

But instead marvel at the exquisite surface tension,

Of a single drop of tender dew

Serenely dripping into view.

(more…)

[Photo credits: Sadness by WPL Photos; Sunflowers by RDV]

It's too funny to miss!

Please click on the link below and sign the petition demanding that the government stops the extradition of British citizen Babar Ahmad to the US and puts him on trial in the UK:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BabarAhmad/sign

For more information on the case, please visit www.freebabarahmad.com.

***

For the attention of all Global Citizens:

The initiative was first announced in Washington during the ADC Annual Convention on June 10, 2007

Can unarmed civilians break the siege of Gaza?

We can try

“I am unable to see my own country, much less live there”
- Palestinian professor, Mahmood Ibrahmin

“I cannot be silent when Palestinians are oppressed in my name.”
-Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein

“I have the right to tune pianos in Gaza if they want me to.”
-US Piano Technician Paul Larudee

Setting Sail to Break the Siege of Gaza

Who are we?

We are Palestinians, Israelis, Americans, Europeans, Africans and Asians. We are Jews, Muslims, Christians and Bud-dhists. We are clergy, programmers, farmers, fishermen, officials, language teachers, piano technicians and holocaust survivors.

What do we want?

We want the siege of Gaza to end. For forty years, Israel has controlled Palestinians. Israel says Gaza is no longer occupied, yet it denies Palestinians access to jobs, travel, visitors, commerce, education, health and medical care. It has made the Gaza Strip into a prison controlled by land, sea and air. Israel forces Palestinians to live on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. It is time for Gaza to be free.

What can we do?

We can travel to Gaza at the invitation of its beleaguered people. We need no permission from Israel; we will not travel through Israeli territory. Instead, we will sail directly to Gaza by sea from international waters and nonviolently challenge Israel's blockade through civil resistance.

What is our plan?

We will sail to Gaza in the last half of 2007, from a variety of embarkation points. We will take as many vessels as we can, both large and small, and we will go at different times, as our funding and logistics allow.

Why now?

We will no longer wait for the UN to enforce its resolutions, for the world to do its humanitarian duty, or for Israel to respect human rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention. We choose to act upon those rights as free people, and be in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

• We will not stand by while Israel besieges Gaza and denies Palestinians control over their own borders.
• We will not accept that the 1.4 million people of Gaza are trapped and starved, surrounded by 27-foot walls.
• We will not stand by as civilians are daily terrorized by bombings, incursions, and abductions by Israeli armed forces.
• We will not wait for Israel to free Gaza.

What can I do?

More than anything else, we need money – 250 people to make a $1000 donation each or many more to make smaller ones. Whatever the amount, we welcome your participation. We are going forward even on credit, in the belief that your support will make this happen. Please send your tax-deductible check to

PCWF – Gaza Human Rights
405 Vista Heights Rd.
El Cerrito, CA 94530

or donate at our website www.freegaza.org. Please contact us for further information or to ask for speakers to do a presentation to groups.

Thank you for your support and solidarity.

The Free Gaza Movement
Website: www.freegaza.org
Email: friends[at]freegaza[dot]org
USA tel. 510-236-5338

Comments for this entry are closed

Assalamu'alaikum,

My name is Bryn and I'm an Australian Muslim who is leaving for Indonesia soon and has a very quick, but important request to ask of people before I go!

Background

My mum is working in Indonesia and has become friends with a teacher at a rural Indonesian 'pesantren' (Islamic boarding school). Apparently most of her friend's students are terrified of Westerns, and basically equate Westerners with people who want to hurt Muslims (sounds a bit like some of the misconceptions we get over here in reverse!)

Our idea…

Together with my husband we've decided to make a collection of photos and short messages from Muslims living in the West, and most importantly, from Muslims for whom Western countries are our homes. Basically if you're Muslim and feel some connection to a Western country, we'd like to hear from you!

What we would like you to do…

**Before the end of May 2007** Send us a photo and a short message…

Photos – Send 2/3 of your favourite photos – you with family, friends from uni/work, interfaith gatherings… whicever you think fits with the message that you want to send. The idea is not to say that the West is faultless and wonderful but that, like Indonesians, and Muslims everywhere, it's complex and can't be put into a box. And hey, there's a decent number of us who are Muslim!
(Quality of the pic – we need it to be good enough that we can blow it up a bit when printed)

Message – short and sweet! We'll be working to translate all your messages into Indonesian, so please don't write too much! A catchy line or two would be perfect.

Something along the lines of… introduce yourself… my name is ___, I'm ____ ( e.g. Lebanese Australian) I am married… (family stuff is good!). And then something to do with your home/experiences… I live in Canada/a small town/a big city, I work with people who are European, have friends who aren't Muslim…

Pick the message you want to get across to students in a village somewhere who are scared that all Westerners (including us!) don't like them and, given the chance, might want to hurt them. The idea is to reassure them that we're not all that bad! Write it in English or Indonesian and send it through to Bryn and Ro at: photos4indo@gmail.com

This request – Pass it on!

Look forward to hearing from you soon inshā’Allāh!

Dear Mariella:
'I was with my partner for 15 years before falling for another woman with an intensity I've never experienced. Foolishly, I confessed to her and now I am on my own …'

Mariella replies:
Did you expect your partner to thank you for confessing your feelings for another? If there is a word like 'lobotomy' that relates solely to the removal of our romantic instincts I'd like to hear it. Meanwhile, how did you expect your partner to live with you in this condition?

Read the full story here

Khambat is a celebration of life, of children, of family, of ties, of relationships, of people, of love.

She was embarrassed, she didn't want to cause a scene, she wanted to scream and tell him to stop, but what would happen then? She had never been in this situation before, she was confused, frightened, scared. “Protect me Hani, don't do this in public” she told him, edging away. He woke up from his trance. He looked at her and told her, “We're in love, we have the right to do this“. She shook her head, “No, not here. When we're married”. She had made it clear, didn't she? But he ignored her and pulled her into his arms again, trying to kiss her. He needed her, the atmosphere was so right. He just wanted a kiss, a taste. He wouldn't give up until he had. Shayma squirmed, tried to break free, but he was stronger.

If i could, i'd dump her whole blog on I J T E M A – but she hasn't offered to bribe me, yet. Plus, we're trying to employ an unofficial rule of not linking to the same blog too often, in order to highlight 'lesser known' gifted writers. So, instead, i shall honour her with a link on my 'lesser known' blog.

Organic's comment in response to the entry also deserves a mention; it spoke volumes to me:

When you truly love someone, you would want to preserve their self dignity and honor. You will try to raise them above you, you want them to be better than everyone–including yourself. You will never try to hurt them. You will protect them. Your own selfish needs will become unimportant. When you love, you respect.

Hani doesn't respect his fiance. He thinks only of his own needs. He might think he loves her, but love can never hurt, right?

Frisk me, I'm Muslim

More T-shirt slogan hilarity here.

Warning: there are a few shots of sisters in T-shirts – so if you're not into that kind of thing, then you know not to click!