My Amazing Umrah: June 03, 2007

bismillah!

saturday 12:30 pm houston

inshaAllah, my flight to washington, dc leaves in a few minutes. i
pray that Allah subhanahu wata ala will be pleased with me, and will
forgive me my mistakes and shortcomings, the ones i know all too well,
and the ones that i have not yet faced.

i pray that He will watch over and care for my parents, relatives, and
friends, and that He wil keep them strong in their deen, health, and
mind in my absence.

i pray that my niyat remains pure, and free of anything that would
prevent my Umrah's acceptance.

for me, there can be no place i want to love as much as the birthplace
and nurturing place of Islam. rectification of the deen, comfort of
the soul, inspirer of the heart and mind -- these are Makkah and
Madinah to me.

--
Whether you hide what you want to say, or speak out loud, without
doubt He knows what is in your heart. Would He not know Who Created
everything? He is the Most Subtle, the Most Aware. (The Holy Qur'an,
Surah Al-Mulk, v13-14)

Open your heart to Islam.
Pray Fajr at 5:30 am at Al Farouq.

in good hands...

thursday 3:40 pm houston

alhamdolillah, while checking off to-do list items in preparation for
the trip, i remembered something i learned from muhammad alshareef,
that Hajj is a "journey of hearts."

he tells students that whatever they are most certain will exceed
their patience, that will be their test during Hajj. will they summon
even more patience or will they fail -- that is what Hajj tests.

Umrah, especially in the heat of summer will not be crowded or as
difficult as Hajj. but it is a good reminder that humans can plan,
prepare, and pray, but everything boils down to practicing patience.

not because life is random and cruel, because life and death were
created by Allah subhanahu wata ala to test us in our deeds (Surah
al-Mulk, ayat 2). and He is Supreme-in-Mercy, the Always Merciful.

--
Whether you hide what you say, or speak out loud, without doubt He
knows what is in your heart. Would He not know Who Created
everything? He is the Most Subtle, the Most Aware. (The Holy Qur'an,
Surah Al-Mulk, v13-14)

Open your heart to Islam.
Pray Fajr at 5:30 am at Al Farouq.

a comfort for the eyes

wednesday 11:45 pm houston

alhamdolillah, how much joy it brings to see Baitullah, al-Kaaba and
al Masjid al Haram!

my father forwarded this picture to me. may Allah subhanahu wata ala
be Pleased with him, and with all the Muslims who love what Allah
loves. ameen.

--
Do people give you excuses? Islam will give you answers.
http://hosna.almaghrib.org/coc.html
Come to Fajr at 5:30 am at Al Farouq -- Allahumma 'a'innee 'alaa
dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ibadatika. Ameen!

an Umrah every morning...

wednesday 4:30 pm houston

bismillah. alhamdolillah, you can get the reward of making Umrah every
morning with three easy steps, inshaAllah:
1. pray salat-ul-Fajr with the jamat at a masjid
2. stay at the masjid in prayer, halaqa, or some other ibadat or
beneficial activity until the sun has risen high enough to be warm --
roughly 15 minutes after sunrise
3. after that point, and before you leave the masjid, pray at least
two rakats of salat-ud-Doha

inshaAllah, may all of you have the tawfiq to make Umrah and Hajj, and
may they be accepted from you. ameen. but if you cannot make the
journey, you can get something almost as good: the ajr, inshaAllah!

Plane Ihraam

tuesday 11:40 am houston

from IslamQA.com: (search using the question number)

4635 enter the state of Ihraam a short distance before the meeqat
(since we will fly past the point on way to Jeddah, inshaAllah.

33738 make ghusl at home, change into Ihraam sheets at home or on
plane, but delay the intention of Ihraam till appropriate place. also
NOT waajib to pray 2 rakats.

also 34744 some awesome Umrah duas.

alhamdolillah: reloaded

monday 11:30 am houston

alhamdolillah when what you see pleases you, and alhamdolillah in any case. in Fortress of the Muslim, i read that the Prophet, sull Allaho alayhi wa sallam, if something displeased him, would say "alhamdolillah alaa kulli haal" all praise is to Allah in all circumstances/conditions.

that makes a lot of sense when one reflects on the story of the man and the beautiful garden as narrated by Allah subhanahu wata ala in Surah Al-Kahf.

inshaAllah, if you see a picture with this post -- alhamdolillah, it was uploaded from my phone. and if not, alhamdolillah alaa kulli haal.

one small test...

monday 10:30 am houston

alhamdolillah for the tools that make this blog more fun to write, and inshaAllah, more fun to read.

sending images: required a new browser. currently using opera mobile 8.65.
the image below was created on my phone but i had to use my laptop to get it into the blog. turns out i was using a more difficult route for sending posts...
Now I need to tackle the line breaks that get inserted in my e-mail-submitted posts...

cut and paste: (only works so far within one program -- not yet between apps) we take cut and paste for granted, but to use it on this phone required http://www.vitotechnology.com/en/products/copypaste.html and unlocking the phone's application registry.

image capture: another utilty called Smart SS that was downloaded from a list of apps compiled by other dash users. http://www.htcwiki.com/page/The+Dash+FAQ?t=anon

and of course the image itself was from newly loaded free map/gps software. :)

Do people give you excuses? Islam will give you answers.
http://hosna.almaghrib.org/coc.html Come to Fajr at 5:30 am at Al Farouq -- Allahumma 'a'innee 'alaa
dhikrika, wa shukrika, wa husni ibadatika. Ameen!

T-Minus 6 days

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Raheem

17.Jumada-al-Awwal.1428
3.June.2007
Sunday 6:30 am, Houston, Texas, USA

I am just a few days from the start of my Umrah! InshaAllah, on
Saturday, I leave Houston for Washington, DC. On Sunday, inshaAllah, I will put on my ihraam and join my Umrah group at Dulles airport.

It will be almost two months later when I return to Houston,inshaAllah!

Please make lots of dua' for me!