Driving Test

InshaAllah this weekend I intend to write a longer post about my trip to Marrakech, and I'll try and upload a couple of pictures too. I had an amazing time, and should have plenty to ramble about. It all depends though on whether I pass my driving test on Friday and what mood that puts me in. So please make the following du'a for me:

"Ya Allah, please allow me to get bored this weekend from reading ramblings about Marrakech on that at-taalib blog website because the writer felt motivated to write a long-winded post because he was still on a high from passing his driving test"

Whaa? I remember reading somewhere (I need to start making a note of where) that the more specific you make your du'a the more chance of acceptance :P.

InshaAllah I'm starting to feel a bit more confident about my test. I would have felt better taking the test a month ago when I had been taking lessons more regularly, rather than now when I have only had 5 hours worth of lessons in the past month due to my 2 excursions into foreign lands (2 of those were hours were only in the past 2 days). But inshaAllah, if it's written then that of course won't matter. I just want to get it out of the way really, it's become a time-consuming hindrance weighing down on my shoulders. And it costs my mum waay too much. Oh and if I pass, it'll mean I've passed my first time and so I'd have done one better than my dad and [insert large number that I can't count to] better than my sister. InshaAllah :).

Back to du'a. On a more beneficial note, on the authority of my University iSoc's du'a sheet that they give out at exam time, I can relate that "when making du'a for yourself, also make du'a for your friends by name, for every time that you make du'a for another - an angel will say Ameen for you too".

SubhanAllah.

(Notice how I said "on the authority of" and "relate that". See what I did there? See how I made a joke there by structuring the sentence in such a way that should be familiar to Muslims. Funny, right? :D).

Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli haal

I've noticed that I haven't really done any Islamic posts. That's quite strange, it doesn't really reflect how much I talk about it in real life. I don't wanna force it though, so here goes another non-religious (should I just call it secular for the fun of it?) post..

OK so I've been working for 3 days now. Alhamdulillah. And I really mean that. But I can't deny that it's pretty boring. No, wait. It's REEEEAALLY boring. Alhamdulillah. I don't wanna sound like I'm complaining, I'm very greatful (stupid spell checker, I AM NOT IN AMERICA, stop telling me to incorrectly spell it as grateful!) to have a job when so many people (especially in the current economic climate) are so desperate to find a job. I'm just trying to describe how I'm finding it so far. So let me give you a break down of how it's gone..

Day 1

1. I woke up waay too early (well it was actually on time, but generally speaking, it was waay too early).
2. Got in the car (my sister drives me, it's the Qadr of Allah that I managed to get a job 45 minutes away from home in the building exactly opposite hers).
3. Fell asleep in the car (she didn't appreciate that too much).
4. Got to work.
5. Got bored.
6. Had lunch.
7. Got bored.
8. Finished work, went hunting around the area for somewhere to pray (found a place after 45 minutes), and then waited for my sister to finish work in the car (which took about another 45 minutes).

Once again, alhamdulillah. I need to keep saying that to myself, or else I might start taking it for granted. Why was the day so boring? Mainly because of problems with setting up the computer I was working on, and so I ended up actually spending the day doing nothing but sitting around, staring, sticking out as the only bearded guy in a shirt and trousers in a building full of beardless men in shirts and trousers (the word bearded and brown can be used interchangeably there). But hey, they still paid me. Paid me to sit around all day doing nothing. Alhamdulillah :).

Day 2

A much better day. My computer was working, so I got cracking on the work they gave me. Despite working in a company that is intrinsically linked with my degree (I'm studying chemical engineering, what a stereotype..), the role I can be given can only be described as a glorified Administration Assistant. I don't mind, but the work gets pretty tedious pretty soon. But it keeps me busy.

Day 3

Went for a little drive with someone at work to a site further up north in the country. Took 2.5 hours to get there, was there for about 3 hours, and then it took about 4.5 hours to get back (plenty of traffic, we covered about 2 miles in 2 hours, no joke). Which was highly convenient as I had a driving lesson at 6.30 (my test is on Friday, make du'a!), at which time I had only gotten back to the office. But once again, I got paid. I got paid for sitting in a car for 7 hours and falling asleep and eating some raisins.

Alhamdulillah :).

Work Trousers

Oh my God.

Tonight I came to a realisation that has been staring me in the face for months now. I mean, it was obvious. I knew it all along, but I just kept ignoring it. But now I can ignore it no longer. I need to lose weight. I mean, I stand on the scales everyday. I'm not blind, I can see how much further that little damn arrow goes. But I never really noticed when I looked at myself, so kinda just ignored it. But when it came on to trying on a pair of work trousers I wore a year ago, and just how badly they didn't fit... what a moment. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. From tomorrow, I'm hitting the treadmill again. Hardcore. I've done it before (6 times a week for a year and a half), so I know I can do it again. Just gotta stay strong.

I hate that damn treadmill though..

My First Job

I'm expecting a sleepless night tonight. It happens to me every year, whenever the new academic year starts, although it looks like this year it's gonna happen twice. Tomorrow I start my first day of work. I've never worked a day in my life (well, at a real job), but surprisingly I'm not feeling that nervous. I never really get nervous. I'm actually quite looking forward to it. It's kind of like a placement type of job, linked to my degree. I found it pretty boring last year when I went for like a little taster, but now for some reason I'm grown to the idea of working in that whole office type of environment. Maybe it's because I'll feel more grown up. Or maybe it's because I'm getting paid this time :P. Let's just hope 24 hours from now I won't be writing a post that will be the beginning of 9 weeks of complaining on my blog..

InshaAllah

How do you spell the phrase? I've seen it spelt a number of ways. The ones I can remember are:

inshaAllah
inshallah
in shaa' Allah
insha'Allah
iA
inshalla

Personally, I spell it how I've written it in the title of this post. I don't know why to be honest, I capitalise the A because I would capitalise the first letter in any other type of name, so why not for Allah's swt? I write that extra little a because of the little hamza in the spelling and the way you pronounce it. I guess strictly speaking then, if you wanna be pedantic about it, the most correct way of writing the phrase in English would be as "in shaa' Allah". I mean, not too long ago I even remember receiving a text message saying that unless you spelt it that way, you risked sinning in the eyes of Allah as the spelling "inshallah" translates as something along the lines of "Allah is created". Na'oodhubillah. I mean, come on... As it is the phrase is being written in English and not Arabic. I'd understand if we were talking about a misspelling in the Arabic language, but we're talking about English here! Of course you're not gonna get the transliteration spot on. If the text had been meant solely to ensure people were pronouncing the phrase correctly (which is a fair enough intention, those of us who don't speak Arabic and have never learnt the language are often guilty of some pretty nasty pronunciation mistakes) then I'd have no reason to complain. But the text was making a big deal about making sure you spell the phrase in English correctly. Come onnnnn. When you see it written down, in whatever spelling (even as inshalla- why drop the h, the spelling of Allah swt has become pretty much standard now), you go on to think it in your head or say it with your lips. Surely that is the point. Even if it's written down as iA, you don't read it as "ih-aa". You say the phrase, right? I see it just as like a way to remind you to say it, just a type of indicator. It could be a symbol, but as long as you saw it and then said it, the purpose has been achieved right? What's the need for telling people they HAVE to spell it one certain way or they're doing it wrong. It's hardly something we're going to be questions about on the Day of Judgement. Whether you write inshaAllah or iA, I'm happy. It shows that you follow the Sunnah and are aware of the Qadr of Allah. Just please don't spell it as inshalla, now that really annoys me :P.

Sore Throats

I hate sore throats. They suck man. I hate it when you wake up in the morning and have that tickly feeling in the back of your throat and just know that you're gonna have a sore throat, and will most likely end up with a sucky cold. I dunno how I got this one, I didn't have it in the morning. I don't even remember shouting much (I went climbing today, I don't want anyone to think I'm some chronic shouter). My throat just started tickling half way through the day and has been getting progressively worse. InshaAllah it'll be gone by tomorrow. That'd be awesome. As long as I don't wake up with one of those even more annyoing bumps on my tongue. They suck too.

UPDATE

I've added 3 sites to my Islamic Links page.

1. http://www.ilmgate.org/
2. http://attahawi.com/
3. http://www.youtube.com/user/roadside2islam

My Absence

OK, so I realise I have written for a long long time. I apologise. To be completely and entirely honest with you... I'm a lazy guy. I really am. I try not to be, but I just can't help it. I'm sure there's a lazy gene or something, and I've definitely got a few. My last post was waaaay back, over a month now, and soo much has happened since. I wrote that post thinking the next day I would be travelling to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, and instead I found myself in Mumbai, India, 3 days later. SubhanAllah. No matter how much you plan or what you intend to do, nothing will ever come to pass but by the will of Allah. I don't want to get into the details as to why the plans changed, but nonetheless I, along with my mum, dad, and sister, ended up at my foi's (dad's sister) house in India along with about 11 other of my family members. The trip was overall quite enjoyable, although it wasn't really a holiday. I'll write about it again later in another post. I came back from India, and then about 4 days later I was off again to Marrakech with my best friend. Now that was a holiday I'll never forget, but I'll write about that in another post as well. I can make excuse about bad internet connection and being too busy, but if I really wanted to I could have found a way to keep on posting. All those reasons just gave me an excuse to not write. I guess I was feeling a little demotivated. I mean, I'd been writing a few posts but was thinking "no one's even reading this?". I came back from my exotic travels, had come to terms with just leaving my blog to gather dust before it had even had a chance to kick off, when I woke up today to an e-mail on my phone. I now have a follower, and a reason to keep on writing :).

Packing for DSM

Mannn has today been hectic. I'm going Dar-es-Salaam tomorrow so have been busy with all the typical last minute preparations ie. actually packing. Constantly having to go back and forth between the scales (in the kitchen) and the sitting room to weigh the bags was an extreme workout. A sport, even. Honestly, it's as if my mum is on a one-man mission to clothe the whole of Africa. And still, there were clothes and toys left over that are gonna have to be couriered. I probably won't get time to write a post tomorrow. Leaving in the evening, stop over in Dubai, and then heading to our final destination. I'll try to write a post as soon as I land. Make du'a that we have a safe journey inshaAllah!

You Know You're Fat When...

How does that expression go? 'You know you're fat when you can't fit in your old pair of jeans' or something like that. Well I'd like to propose a new expression. A much more accurate acid test for knowing when you're fat. Ready...

You know you're fat when... your're parents call you fat. :|

That's right, when you're parents call you fat, you KNOW you're fat. And guess what, I'm fat! Well my parents said it, so I've gotta be, right. You know, those same people that raised me, are supposed to love and support me no matter what. That's right, point blanc, no warning, they just put it out there...

OK, so I know I'm not really fat. Maybe I gained a little weight over the past year, but come on... what do you expect? A year at Uni living off of junk food (I didn't live out though... if I did then my parents would DEFINITELY have a point) can be a little unforgiving on the waistline. And it's not like I've been oblivious to the situation... I have a nice pair of jeans that I used to wear all the time that has been gathering dust in my cupboard for about 6 months now. But what can I do... I go on the treadmill, but I just can't cut down on the food. I love food too much, and you know what? Food loves me! It's a beautiful relationship we share (the antithesis of my hate-hate relationship with the treadmill). Food is my friend. A good Muslim never abandons a real friend, so unfortunately mum and dad, you're gonna have to get used to a plumper me for a while. How long is a while? Well, until it's time for me to get married of course ;).

And I'm not hating on my parents, they're only looking out for me. But mannn, how about looking out for my ego from time to time?

What I'll Write About

OK the title's pretty self-explanatory, I think I can just jump straight in there with this one.

1) I'll write about Islam. All the time. But I'm in no position to discuss matters of fiqh or give personal interpretations or reasonings. I will post some fatawaa and rulings now and then, but always with the link/source I received it from. All that I'll contribute is maybe a quick summary or why it makes sense to me, etc. (I'm not even sure if I'm technically allowed to do that, I'll try and get in touch with a shaykh and find out). Although I think I should make it clear that this blog isn't a religious one, it's just gonna be me commentating on loads of different (general) topics.

2) Food. I love food. To be more specific I mean desserts, but I love allllll food. I'll talk about this all the time too, and post loads of mouth-watering pictures.

3) Current affairs. Anything I see on the news that I feel like commenting on.

4) My life. It's not too interesting, but everyone has stories and experiences to share. I'll spice them up a bit too, don't worry I'll try my best to keep you entertained :).

5) Other random things that I feel like writing about. My interests, something interesting I heard, etc.

I want whoever reads my blog to go away afterwards having learnt something new, or at the very least feeling a bit entertained (preferably both). Up to now it's all sounded pretty dry, I'm still tryna get used to it and feel a bit more comfortable. I'm getting there...

FB

I'm sick of FB. I'm gonna quit. It causes waaay too much drama and they're so invasive. But not yet. Let's get this blog rolling first, and then I'll have something more productive that I can substitute in FB's place.

Followers

I've done so much writing so far, and no one's actually following me. How sad. A catch-22 really. I need someone following me right now to tell me how to get followers, but then I don't have any followers in the first place. What to do...

Anonymity

I guess this really should have been part of the last post, but I thought it was important enough to command one on its own. I'm gonna try my best to remain totally anonymous (well I may tell a few people so I can get started off, but not enough so that I'll need 2 hands to count them!). I wanna do this cos I realised (mainly with experience on FB) that waaaaay too many problems arise from all these online forms of socialising and whatever. Also, this way I can get a bit more personal about what I write. I wrote a note once on FB (one of those '25 Things No One Knows About You' chain notes), which I was really proud of, but then I regretted it because of how much I revealed. So to prevent that from happening again, I'm not gonna revel my real name, or the real names of people I mention that I interact with, and if necessary I won't name real places either. I can already foresee problems with this though, and hope I manage to maintain it. Oh, and yesterday when I decided to make a blog I had loads of crazy fantasies of me becoming some huge internet blogging phenomenon who's identity remains unknown to all his readers. InshaAllah :).

Why?

I guess a good starting point would be to say why I'm starting a blog, and lay down the way in which I plan to do this thing. The why's are as follows:

1) I love writing. I enjoyed it at school, despite all the deadlines and how repetitive it would become. But this is a different kind of writing, I can just write what I want, you don't know who I am, I don't have to follow any silly rules about structure or grammar, I can just write.

2) This is gonna be cathartic for me. I can express my ideas, say what's on my mind, and let out whatever's really bothering me. You may be thinking 'why don't you just write something like a diary instead then?'. Good question. But writing a diary gets boring, I've tried a few times before and never stick to it. I need an audience. How else will I satisfy my ego? :).

3) My sister always tells me to write one so that she can read it. My blog is therefore in part dedicated to her (I'm so selfless..).

OK, so now the rules and what you can expect..

1) I don't wanna use too many big words or write all sophisticated and what not. I guess I talk like that at times in real life, but I prefer just talking like a normal person. Plus it always annoys me when people do it, as if they're showing off their intelligence, or have no idea what point they're making so instead mask it with big fancy words. But it'll happen at times, I go through phases.

2) I'll try to not use too much slang, but it'll inevitably come out. I don't wanna say something in my head and write it out differently to how I thought it, because then it just wouldn't be MY blog. I'll make a glossary post or page at some point, so don't worry about it :).

3) I'm gonna use some other informal language too, like gonna, kinda, wanna, etc. Just because I've noticed that when I type online it just comes out like that.

4) I'll use a lot of commas. I can't help it, I've always done it. They won't be in the wrong places though.

5) Some of my posts will be pretty long. I've always has a problem with writing too much (when I was 7 in year 3 I wrote a 5-page poem on the colour blue. My parents still repeat that story to me over and over again). I'll try to keep most of them short and snappy, but sometimes I'll ramble and sometimes what I write will be deserving of a few extra lines.

6) I have no problem starting my sentences with words like but, and, etc. Some people care, others don't. I don't.

7) I might sound a bit whiny at times (I don't think so, but let me cover myself just in case). Forgive me. I can't help it.

8) I'll use smileys and the word lol often. Without it, the tone of what I write may often be misunderstood.

9) Please, please, pleeeease, I need whoever happens to be reading this to understand that whenever I sounds arrogant, whiny, dramatic, etc., that I'm actually just JOKING! A lot of people in my everyday life don't seem to get that. I've grown to live with it, but it doesn't mean I don't mind it. Pleeeease understand this, and then maybe you can read my blog and laugh a little and not just think I'm a loser and start hating me.

I'm gonna be really pedantic about all the points I've just listed. If I post something, and then 4 months late I realise there was a typo, or that I didn't throw in a comma, I'll edit that post.

OK, I think that's everything.

The Beginning

Innal-hamdu Lillaah. Al-hamdu Lillaahi nahmaduhu wa nasta’eenahu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na’oodhu billaahi min shuroori anfusinaa wa min sayi’aati a’maalinaa. Man yahdih Illaahu falaa mudilla lahu wa man yudlil falaa haadiya lahu. Wa ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu la sharika lahu, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu sallalahu alayhi wa ala alihi wasallam wa ba’ad.

(Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. All praise is due to Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness, we seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the One, having no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

And with that, I begin my blog :).