Gratitude

salaams bros,

"Said one who had knowledge from the Scripture, 'I will bring it to
you before your glance returns to you.' And when [Solomon] saw it
placed before him, he said, 'This is from the favor of my Lord to test
me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful -
his gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever is
ungrateful - then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous.'
(27:40)

these days i feel like there's always something going down for someone
in the jhuma alumni crew to be thankful for. first of all i want to
congratulate our brother sam on zaynab's birth...may Allah bless her
and your whole family with a lifetime of happiness! as for me, first
year of derm residency is nearing its end and i'm already thinking
about possible fellowship tracks to go down. it never seems to end!
alhamdulillah i can't complain though, i'm extremely happy with where
i am in life and my job actually is tremendously satisfying and i'm
thankful for that.

and most recently, i am incredibly thankful to Allah for helping me
bring half my deen closer to near completion! alhamdulillah i've
actually managed to find someone out there who's willing to put up
with me and my antics :D. inshallah i will be getting (officially)
engaged within a week to a sister i met through some family friends.
she's from the philadelphia region and works in public health. but
most importantly, knowing we will inshallah spend our lives together
makes me more thankful for all the blessings Allah has given me than
anything else has before this moment. i'm so happy to be (finally)
joining the rest of our married and to-be-married brothers in the
group and honored to be sharing this news directly with you all!
please remember to keep us in your duas :).

--zain

ps...since it's not officially official until next week (you know how
we desis roll), i would appreciate no posts on facebook (just yet)
about it! thanks!

Update, update

As an update my wide gave birth to Bilal Naqeeb Rasheed at 1:55am 8lb 11oz 21 in. Alhamdulilah mother and child are doing well many tests ahead today. Please keep us in your duas.

Asalaamu Alaikum

Gerald's update

Asalaamu Alaikum
Lots of things are changing for me these days so i have some updates finally. It was great to spend time with the brothers at Shamims wedding and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. I was recently laid off from my teaching job, which was a bit concerning but alhamdulilah I was hired to teach high school chemistry and this job is pretty nice hours pay and potential growth opportunities are much improved in addition, my next masters degree will be largely subsidized. Plus I have my own mini lab access to chemicals and fire so I am a kid in a candy shop.
Insha Allah we are expecting our child to be born any day now alhamdulilah. This pregnancy has been the most challenging for my wife but thus far things seem to be going well.
Keep us in your dua as we do the same for you all

Salaam

salaams!

hey salaams bros,

it was amazing seeing so many of you jhuma bros at shamim's wedding
this past weekend! shamim was beaming and looked incredibly happy.
as for me, residency life continues despite a fun filled
weekend...sigh. but i honestly can't complain, it's going well.
here's a quick reminder for all of us:

narrated by Abu-Huraira: "Riches does not mean, having a great amount
of property, but riches is self-contentment" (Bukhari)

--zain

salaams!

salaams all,

i think i may have missed my last update, but inshallah with this new reminder system i'll stay on track.  residency life has officially started with me now that intern year is over and i'm finally doing what it is i actually want to do.  and for all those brothers struggling through medical school, all i have to say is: its all worth it in the end.  now i know what everyone is thinking..."that's cuz derm is an easy residency."  while that is true from a work-hours standpoint, i will say that i worked far less during my intern year...actual work that is.  i had a pretty chill prelim year in a community hospital so i may have been in the hospital for long hours, but i wasn't really doing too much during that time other than sitting around in the lounge.  but despite the "chillness" of it, i didn't truly enjoy what i was doing, and i just did it to get through it.  but when you've really found something that you love, it doesn't matter if the hours are long or short, i can truly say that i enjoy what i do now and i don't regret any portion of the journey of getting here.  the learning curve is pretty steep so there is a TON of reading to do pretty much everyday...on par with medical school to be honest...but most of it relates to what i do on a daily basis, so its much more interesting to read.  and despite all that, not having to work weekends and taking call from home are pretty sweet alhamdulillah :).

a real quick hadith for everyone to think about...i'm sure you have all heard it many times:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day."( Bukhari)

none of us even come close to the piety and perfection of the Prophet (SAW), but even he would make istaghfar 70 (and in some hadith, 100) times a day.  just think about all the small things we do each day that we could be asking forgiveness for and try to make istaghfar after every prayer.  it only takes a few minutes more and its quite possibly the simplest way of erasing smaller sins, so it seems ridiculous NOT to do it.

in other news, i'm really sorry to have missed out on the festivities at bilal's wedding, the pictures were awesome!  and a big congrats to imad for getting engaged!

--zain

Blog Automation Solution [Your Reply Requested]

Asalamu'alikum,

InshAllah, you and your families are in the best of health and Imaan. Alhumdulilah, Nazia, Abida and I are doing OK.

I have a solution to propose that can, inshAllah automate our JHUMA Brothers blog, although it doesn't meet Nabil's full automation suggested requirements, it is, inshAllah, a solution that will work better than our current.

The solution is:

1. I will schedule an automatic reminder email on the 1st day of every month for everyone to send to ME ONLY (usman.email@gmail.com), their own blog post for the month.

2. As we have 24 brothers in this group, we each will have until the 4th of the month to reply back, to ME ONLY (usman.email@gmail.com), with our individual post. If you miss the deadline, there is no guarantee that your post will show up, but i'll try to accommodate.

3. Please start your email with "This is my [YOUR NAME HERE]'s JHUMA Brothers post," to avoid confusion

4. I will copy and paste your post into the blogger system and schedule one post to be sent out per day of the month.

We all don't need to know the technicalities of how the delayed posting works, but it would be good if ONE or TWO of you could volunteer to be a back up, at which point I will show you how to schedule the posts through the blogger system that is already linked to this google group.

 NOTE: all of the emails would originate from my email address in this solution, so I will make the subject of your email posts your name.

Also Note: You will still be able to send additional emails to the group whenever you want, if you have an in-between update, etc.

 InshAllah, please reply back so I can know if we have a consensus to start this automation. If so, I will plan to kick this off on June 1st.

JazakAllah khier,
Usman

Gratitude take two

Asalaamu alaikum

I'm not sure where my text went and I'll never get it back so I'll try and duplicate the raw emotion and eloquence of my previous submission. Alhamdulilah things are going well with me and the family. I've been working with my father to get the Luqman center and the Allima institute going and things are going well. We've had salat al Jumaah for the last three weeks and things are starting to look up a bit. I definitely invite you all to join us for salat or and iftar if you are available.
Aside from that I have to thank you all for the generous gift. Alhamdulilah Zainab has been enjoying her brand new swing and I'm sure Amber will have her in tons of cute clothes. May Allah bless you for your generosity and your duas. I love you all for the sake of Allah and I have gained so much from our association.
I was inspired to remember Allah while I thought about the gift from my brothers and I also had to consider the concept of gratitude to Allah. I like to think of myself as a grateful servant of Allah but in reality when I consider more deeply the many blessings I have I realize that I have barely scratched to surface of thankfulness. We often do not appreciate the comforts and miracles of this life until we are without them. I often find that when I try to formalize my gratitude to Allah I realize what I was expressing thanks for is only a component of a greater set of fortunate consequences which in turn is a component to an even greater set.
I invite you all to take some time this month and really consider your gratitude to Allah. The fact that you are able to read this means you have eyesight(maybe glasses), electricity, a computer, language, intelligence, education, time and you are alive. By virtue of the fact that we realize what we have, and take for granted, is a gift we are able to enjoy a more meaningful existence.
I hope this reaches you all in a good state and insha Allah we will see one another soon.

Narrated Suhaib (ra): The Messenger of Allah (sa) said: “Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good in every matter of his and this is not the case with anyone except the believer; for if he is happy, he thanks Allah, thus there is good for him, and if he is harmed, he shows patience, thus there is good for him.” [Sahih Muslim, Book 042, Number 7138] عَنْ صُهَيْبٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏“‏ عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لأَحَدٍ إِلاَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ ‏”‏

Gratitude

Asalaamu alaikum








Narrated Suhaib (ra): The Messenger of Allah (sa) said: “Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good in every matter of his and this is not the case with anyone except the believer; for if he is happy, he thanks Allah, thus there is good for him, and if he is harmed, he shows patience, thus there is good for him.”
[Sahih Muslim, Book 042, Number 7138]
عَنْ صُهَيْبٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏“‏ عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لأَحَدٍ إِلاَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ ‏”‏

Ramadan Mubarak!

Salaams all,

Sorry I've been a little behind on my posting, but Alhamdulillah I held out until the first day of Ramadan!  I started doing my internship in internal medicine at a hospital outside of Baltimore, and I'm really enjoying being back in the world of clinical medicine.  Research was certainly a great experience last year and it will inshallah help me throughout my career, but it's nice to come back to why I decided to go to medical school to begin with.  Residency is busy, but enjoyable, and luckily there are a ton of muslims at my program (as well as muslim attendings) so we are able to get together for jummah prayers every week in the hospital.  It's also nice to have other muslims around you fasting during Ramadan so that you get the feeling of community even while at work.

We all know the basic tenets of fasting, and what Ramadan is all about, so I'm not going to go into that in any detail.  But one of the things I think is useful during this month is to increase your piety in some way in the hopes that you will continue to do this during the year.  From a practical standpoint, I like to set some form of a goal during the month.  And that goal might be different for each person depending on their level.  Whether it's praying all 5 prayers on time, or attending every taraweeh for all 20 rakahs, or memorizing a surah (or more than one), or reading a certain amount of quran each day, etc.  Or perhaps its not doing something you would normally do.  It's easier to form these sorts of habits during Ramadan because your hunger will give you a bodily reminder of why you are doing what you are doing.

And finally, here is a hadith which really brings home how special fasting is in Allah's eyes:

Abu Huraira related that the Prophet said: Allah the Majestic and Exalted said: "Every deed of man will receive ten to 700 times reward, except Siyam (fasting), for it is for Me and I shall reward it (as I like). There are two occasions of joy for one who fasts: one when he breaks the fast and the other when he will meet his Lord" (Muslim).

May Allah bless all our deeds during this holy month and accept our fasts.  Ramadan Mubarak!

--Zain

The power of the adhan

Asalaamu alaikum

I'm out of turn or extremely late depending on how you view things. At any rate I have spoken to some of you all recently and more of you I have not and since Nabil has shamed me into finally writing in my my traditional fashion... here goes.

I have been remiss in sharing with you all that my daughter (Zainab Aminah) was born on May 17th. She is very healthy and already has a strong personality at this early age and (alhamdulilah) her siblings are adjusting to her getting so much attention. Aside from that, things have been quite hectic but usually in a good way. Please indulge me in one anecdote:

Directly after Zainab was born she begins to scream and she is loud. I begin to say the adhan quietly to her and she immediately quiets herself and opens her eyes to look at me. This was one of the most humbling and exhilarating moments of my life and an illustration of the value of giving the adhan.

It is reported that Abu Rafi` (a Companion) said, "I saw the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and his household and grant them peace) give adhan in the ear of al-Hasan, the son of `Ali, when Fatimah gave birth to him."

Standing out

Salaams all,

Thank you for the reminder...cough cough Bilal cough...at least it wasn't Nabil :P.  Anyways, I'm halfway done my research stint at Henry Ford, and it's been great so far.  It's nice focusing on a few disease conditions and actually expanding the knowledge base of that condition.  I was never really into bench research, so it's nice to do research that actually involves seeing patients.  I'm waiting on the match for residency, so please keep me in your duas.

I heard this hadith mentioned in a lecture a few months ago, so I thought I'd share it:

Abdullah b Mas'ud reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) addressed us and then supported his back (by reclining) against a leather tent and said: Behold, no one but a believing person would enter Paradise. O Allah, (see) have I conveyed (it not)? Allah, be witness (to it that I have conveyed it). (Then addressing the companions) he said: Don't you like that you should constitute one-fourth of the inhabitants of Paradise? We said: Yes, Messenger of Allah. He again said: Don't you like that you should constitute one-third of the inhabitants of Paradise? They said: Yes, Messenger of Allah. He said: I hope that you would constitute one- half of the inhabitants of Paradise and you would be among the peoples of the world, like a black hair on (the body of) a white ox or like a white hair on the body of a black ox.

There are a lot of lessons in this hadith, but the part I want to point out is the last statement, which mentions how we should be "among the peoples of the world".  The stark contrast that is mentioned between a black hair on a white ox (and vice versa) is how we should strive to stand out in this life.  It should be easy to tell who amongst the people is muslim based not only on appearance, but also on behavior.  Even though being pointed out as muslim these days usually means you get an extra pat-down at the airport...we should convince everyone that being muslim in reality means being best in morality, behavior and piety.

--Zain

Talk More About Islam

Asalamu'alaikum JHUMA brothers,

Hope all is well with each of you and your families. Alhumdulilah, I had a nice break last week and visited family in both northern and southern California...

Some of you may know about my new project: Muslimhood.net. Muslimhood.net is a networking site for Muslims to come together, talk about Islamic topics and focus on striving to do more good deeds. Alhumdulilah the site is less than a month old and there are over 130 members who have contributed valuable content and intiated good discussions.

You can say Muslimhood.net is a facebook for Muslims, but it doesn't have the distractions of facebook. I saw that on facebook, most of the things that Muslims shared and talked about were worldly and vain day to day matters. So, alhumdulilah, I created Muslimhood.net with many of the same netorking features as facebook and even some extra (blogs, walls, events, groups, etc.), but Muslimhood.net fully focused on Islamic topics.

The first step is to just bring more Muslims together at Muslimhood.net. We can all start by talking more about Islam as the first step. Once more people gather to talk about Islam together, then we can strive to colloborate on projects that meet the needs of the Muslim community. There are many distractions in our day to day lives, so my intention in creating Muslimhood.net is to give the Muslim community an easy way to gather on-line and remind each other to strive to do good.

Inshallah, I hope to interact with each of you more deeply on Muslimhood.net. Please also share this with your contacts, friends and family.

Membership is free so log on to http://www.Muslimhood.net

I am open to and would appreciate any feedback as well.

May Allah guide us all and keep us all on the straight path.

Your brother in Islam,
Usman

Muslimhood.net
Doing Good