Daddy & Apology to My Father

Quran 17:23: “Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour.’ 

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Salaam All...Here's the newest brochure titled DADDY. Please share it with all your contacts. Thank you.

"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided, but for the feeling that you cherished them. Unfortunately, some fathers have poor relationships with their children. There is a lack of dialogue, tenderness & affection."

And accompanying it is this spoken word poem by a young girl, Sakila, called APOLOGY TO MY FATHER. It's so brilliant. This moving poem bridges the divide between generations of immigrants. If you're in America then read it to your father...it will cut so deep that he will begin to cry.

Apology to My Father | Sakila Islam | TEDxDetroit

Apology to My Father | Sakila Islam | TEDxDetroit Sakila Islam is a young poet from Detroit who has performed at slams around the country and even at the White Ho...

Shamal...Before I end this mail I want to thank those teachers who acted as a mother or father to my son. THANK YOU!!! For those who treated him harshly maybe one day your consciences will make you pen a poem titled APOLOGY TO MY SON.   

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Now study these words...

Apology to My Father, by Sakila Islam

My father has the pride of a thousands suns
The kind of pride that leaks out of him as he walks
The kind of pride that radiates from him as he talks
The kind of pride that’s so bright that I can’t even look him in the eyes sometimes

My father’s pride is as deep as the ancient green forests behind his Bangladeshi home and as strong as the rigid jackfruit trees that stand tall even during the monsoon season floods.

And that’s why I know that he will never accept my apologies.

Dear father,
You came to this country with only the clothes on your back and the hopes and dreams of your family in your pocket
Hopes and dreams so heavy that they weighed you down with every step you took, putting so much pressure on you that you kneeled to the ground in prayer time and time again
I’m sorry that this country will not accept you

I’m sorry that your skin is too brown, too similar to dirt to be worth anything, 

if anything it’s only good for their cheap labor

I’m sorry your English is too broken, like jagged shards of glass—maybe they’re too afraid of cutting themselves on your sentence fragments so they clench their fists full of insults before even getting to know you

I’m sorry your faith is too strong, that it’s become a threat to the people around you. Instead of realizing how beautiful your voice sounds coming from the minaret of a mosque, they silence your needs and turn a deaf ear to your problems

It’s been two decades since my father came here, and he’s begun swallowing his pride like diabetes pills

Doctor’s orders: be unseen, unheard. Unless you were born in this country, you’ll always have second priority while sitting in the waiting room

But my father’s sight has gone bad from turning a blind eye to the people who mock him so many times, that he can’t even read the fine print on his prescription.

Maybe that’s why he takes a little too much, overdosing on becoming a pushover, in a society that has no problems pushing him over the edge, 

father

I’m sorry

I’m sorry I’m writing a poem to you in a language you’ll never fully understand

I’m sorry I don't even have the ability to properly tell you how much I love you because they didn't teach me your mother tongue in the school I was adopted into

I’m sorry this country is such a cruel lover to you, binding you to it with blackmail

I know you’re only in this destructive relationship for the sake of your children

And your children, with one foot in America and the other in Bangladesh, know you can’t fight a war when you’re standing at the border

So when people fire insults, they follow in your footsteps, overdosing on silence

Swallowing the pride of a thousand suns, and becoming shadows that can only carry

Apologies

Ramadan 2017: The Introduction

Supplication: Our Lord! Accept this service from us: For You are the All-Hearing, the All-knowing
[Quran: 2:127]

During this month of Ramadan we will explore every day great Muslim lives over the last 1400 years. Read on to find out WHY.

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Salaam All...The whole progress of humanity is an eloquent sermon on the externalization of the thoughts of those gone before. An intelligent glance over the past reveals to us many secrets, and, contemplating the struggles which men have gone through, we perceive the process of development that has resulted in the advance of character from the purely physical plane to the moral and spiritual. 

The world, consisting of more than fifty-five Muslim majority countries and nearly two billion people today, Muslims have left their fingerprints on every field of human endeavour. It is not surprising, therefore, that some of history’s most influential men and women have been Muslims. 

In the words of George Sarton, the renowned historian of science and author of Introduction to the History of Science, ‘The main tasks of mankind were accomplished by Muslims. The greatest philosopher, al-Farabi, was a Muslim; the greatest mathematicians, Abu Kamil and Ibrahim ibn Sinan, were Muslims; the greatest geographer and encyclopaedist, al-Mas’udi, was a Muslim; the greatest historian, al-Tabari, was a Muslim.’

So if when Islam is mentioned you think only of Osama Bin Laden because of the American media propaganda then be prepared to be educated...You will come to understand why 1 in every 4 human beings on earth is MUSLIM. It's because of these great moral characters. 

These shining Muslim luminaries....if only modern day politicians could quell their arrogance and learn from them....O what a world, a grand world, we would occupy.

Shamal...The lessons start from the next email!!

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Note: The genesis of doing this Ramadan project on great Muslim thinkers is amazing. A dear friend of mine had an art class...and after it was closed he said he had a few pieces. And I asked him for them. It contained two pics of Ibn Sina & Qasim Zahrawi. They were framed and put in our home/office. And my God, have they generated conversation starting with "Who are those people?" Christians. Hindus, Muslims have all benefited from the dialogue. They leave enlightened when they hear of the greatness of these men. Here's hoping that our Islamic schools can display such luminaries in their hallways so that visitors can be educated about our history...a history that has been and continues to be...TRAILBLAZING!!!

Ramadan 2017: Welcome

Supplication 1: O Allah! Grant a good end in all our matters and save us from humiliation in this world and the torment of the Hereafter.

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Salaam All...The month of Ramadan is here in spectacular glory with the new moon hanging from the Throne of God by a golden thread...

The month of Ramadan is here...where human stamina can be tempered to meet all the vicissitudes of life. Fasting & lots of prayer hold the capacity for renewal and transcendence. In Ramadan's calm and tranquility the soul revives its strength, and is fitted to help the body to subdue self. lf we would but pause for a while each day and let our thoughts dwell for a space on the Unseen World—how much better would our daily lives become—how much the more would our lower self be subdued, and the higher self fitted for success. 

Ahhh...the first night of Ramadan. It is such a night as when the trustful and believing heart is filled like a holy chalice with the rich wine of joy and gratitude,--when the soul rises to an angel's stature within its fleshly tenement, and sings 'All Praises are For God!'--when nature wears her most serene and noble aspect,--when it seems good to live, good to work, good to hope, good to love,--good to be even the smallest portion of the divine and splendid order of the Universe.

This sacred month is meant to shape our experiences by turning adversity into advantage and obstacles into opportunities. It offers a resting point for reflection on where we wish to go from here so that we can live a life free of limiting beliefs.

Each of us needs tremendous courage to keep from being overwhelmed by our own troubles and the distrust and hostility afoot in our world today. This rejuvenating month will provide the resources, the practices, and the access to a global community we need to develop inner strength and resiliency for the journey down the shape-shifting road that lies ahead.

Quran: "Fast...if you only knew"...Better even than curing the body is to rise above it; to be its master, and not to be tyrannized over by it; not to abuse it, not to pander to it, never to put its claims before virtue; to discipline and moderate its pleasures, and not to be overcome by its pains—in a word, to live in the poise and strength of the moral powers, this, better than bodily cure, is yet a safe way to cure, and it is a permanent source of mental vigor and spiritual repose. 

Shamal...A Blessed & Pure Ramadan to all of you.

Za & I along with other members of the household went to the Sonu Nigam "Live in Concert" show at the National Stadium. It was a beautiful evening with the first quarter moon and a cloudless sky that made for gorgeous viewing of the stars. Za was making triangles with different stars. "Look daddy a right angle triangle with those stars!" And I loved his game. The show started an hour late (at 8:00 pm) but with Za's interruptions & my reading one line here and there on the Kindle of Cheerfulness the time flew by.

The show in itself I would give 9/10. One point deduction for at some points being too loud. I "knew" one song "Kya ho wa terde wada" or something like that. There was a huge crowd, and properly behaved. Sonu was good, spoke English well and interacted in a pleasing & pleasant manner.

Went to Essequibo On the 13th and 14th to promote the brochures & dvds. Met a brother from Imam Bacchus, a lady named Aisha that runs a spare parts store, a rice farmer (wonderful brother) who gave us dinner & breakfast, a Moulana who gave the khutbah at Affiance masjid, a brother from Toronto who bought a few Palestinian dvds, a brother who runs a restaurant in Affiance.

On the 16th, the day my son's school reopened, I had a meeting with Fazeel Feroze from CIOG. He wants to run the brochures in the newspapers and maybe restart a dinner/dvd show once a month. I am hoping that the CIOG helps financially to get a once a week one-hour TV programme going. He is supposed to get back to me in 2 weeks.

A prominent businessman gave a substantial donation for printing the brochures. Another gave his third annual donation. One can only thank them and Allah who blessed their hearts with the understanding that money should be used for promoting good here on earth. Money will have no value on the Day of Judgment or in Paradise. So the wise thing to do is to use it for good & useful causes. Storing it away in a bank is obviously not a good investment.

On Friday 20th the new principal requested a meeting with me. He wants to hear my ideas that can push the school to another level. I mentioned khanacademy.com (he never heard of it) as a website that must be used by the school.

GIT called on Friday evening to invite me to their convention at Zeeburg on May 6th. Have decided to go, inshaAllah.

Also a brother this week has pledged $50000 to purchase a booth at Guyexpo in Sep. for me to promote the brochures.

A wonderful week by the grace of the Almighty.

Watched a Hamza Yusuf video on Poetry. Very interesting ideas as usual from one so intellectually gifted. Leart that Aisha memorized 12000 lines from a poet. There are some Muslims who are against poetry because the Quran & the Prophet (p) condemned some poets & poetry. They in the unmistaken belief have then condemned ALL poetry.

A sunny morning. Aisha turned to me as I sat as normal on the school bench. "Do you have any brochures?" I reached into my bag and gave her a bundle of about 60. She was astonished. And I then engaged her in conversation of the many reasons I have put these brochures together...with God's permission. She said that the few she got from the Mall was very interesting and asked permission to reprint them and share. Like always all Praises are for The One Who has made it possible.

Another woman came to my office yesterday and bought 4 dvds and also took a bundle of brochures. Said she came into contact with them during Islam Awareness Week.

After a Long Time

Revisiting this site after 17 months...and it JUST happened. Like I opened an old diary that had all my passwords & I just entered the code to see if it was still working. So what's happened as time marched on...to use a cliche...quite a lot. Something I didn't foresee was continuing the brochures. But thru all the dark nights and emotional lightning & thunderstorms...and holding onto God I did. Or truthfully HE did. And it has brought me into contact with some amazing souls. Souls who appreciated the spiritual "gems" that helped them. One day I will share those stories. And in the last year God brought me back into contact with a stunning woman. What a reuniting we have had. Sharing our life stories from the last decade.