The Test

Salam alaikum.

A short post. I am now going to delve into the Medical college aptitude test study with just 30 days before the big date (23rd October)! Sometimes, it sends a shiver down my spine, other times I rebuke myself for turning away from the hope of Allah's help.

I've wasted time but now I must get to the book like a true bookworm. I pray Allah helps all of us busy in the test prep. Ameen.

Ameera, you're an absolute idiot. 30 days! Allah, help!

Salam Alaikum. Good day! :)

Subhan-Allah!

Salam alaikum!

I just made a post about over an hour ago, and minutes later, I was browsing various websites where the result might be announced. Finally, I found a website where the result were being uploaded and on tenterhooks, I waited for the page to load.

Amongst the multitude of colleges on the page, I found my college and then my roll number! I got 919 out of 1100!!! Alhamdolillah! That 470 out of 550 in my first year, then 449 out of 550 this year - an aggregated result is announced! So, I moved down from 85.45% to 81.6% but an average of 83.54% ... an "A-1" grade, in our education system!

I was so happy, it's all the blessing of Allah, Hadha min fadl-e-Rabbi! Otherwise my papers weren't so good that I'd get these marks! Allah has been very, very kind to me.

This has encouraged me more than ever to spend more time for the sake of Allah. Don't you see? Allah automatically takes care of the rest!

This is the meaning of the dua, 'Rabbana aatina fit-duniya hasana fa fil aakhirati hasana wa qina azab an-naar!' - "Oh Allah, make good for my wordly life and make good for me my Hereafter!"

The purpose of life is to excell in the test of the Hereafter. In the end, that is what will matter. We must thus direct our energies to that purpose, so that everything in life achieves a balance. I might sound preachy and too optimistic, but I'm not being optimistic. I'm being realistic. The reality of this life is the reality of the Hereafter.

May Allah bless your life as He blesses mine. Salam Alaikum!

Result today!

Salam Alaikum!

Due to some minor delays, the result wasn't announced on the 15th... but the day has finally arrived. I found out yesterday that the result would be certainly announced today.

You can imagine I must be receving phone calls and SMSes since early in the morning. It is currently 10:45 am and I'm sitting online, hoping for the result to be announced on the internet. Here, the result can be accessed in severeal ways - the evening newspapers supplements, special phone-numbers, tv networks' websites, the education board office, etc.

Frankly, I am not putting much of my brain-power into the result business. To fret over it and worry about it is to not have faith in the doings of Allah. Whatever the result is, and the subsequent admission procedures, one must have complete faith that what will happen will happen for a reason. And besides, we lose our appetite over things such as these when we should really be doing so over our time in the Hereafter. Will we be among the people close to Allah? Will He forgive our wrong-doings and admit us into paradise? That is the question!

Yes, the result can get on your nerves but to give it priority over the rememberance of Allah means you're giving something more importance. So there, you see, is the great test which we are currently taking and will continue to do so until our death.

Many might not agree but, well, this is my blog! And this is what I believe in.

As soon as the result is out, I'll post it here... yes, I'm expecting a decrease but not without the glimmer of hope that Allah might improve the percentage - expect the best from Allah!

Allah Hafiz!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

Before you read further, it would be better to scroll down and read the previous post as this one is a direct sequel.

In my last post, I’d left the cake in the deep freezer. Well, I woke up the following morning at 8:30 to discover the sky was hidden in a thick blanket of rain clouds! Yes, the monsoon, late again, had finally hit Karachi! The forecast in the newspapers was for about a week of wet weather.So what does this have to do with the cake? Well, my mother and I stood at our balcony and admired the layered clouds, grey and blue and black all at once, but we had yet to find out what was to happen with the fall of the first raindrop.

The ecstatic atmosphere that had overwhelmed the rain-starved city soon died off when the power supply went off in most areas of Karachi! Let me remind you, it was 8:30 am. I had to make the icing and I needed modern electricity-run appliances for that! I could only hope the power supply would be restored soon. Soon. Soon.The rain did not abate that morning so my mother and I decided to brave the squelch outside and drive to the nearest store and get icing sugar and more butter. If only everyone had listened to me and bought the things the night before!

With an impending sense of doom, we made our trip and bought what we needed. The electricity showed no signs of coming back – but there was hope. It was now 11:00 am. We then wondered if the party would be postponed to some other day perhaps? Who knew when the electricity would be back?

But my aunty was determined to go ahead with the party, hoping, like us, that everything would be normal soon. The sky thundered ominously. We decided to go ahead with the cake icing manually! Without a working electric beater, it would take quite some time and energy to beat the butter-cream up into a fluffy icing. Anyway, my mother and I started our work in the gray afternoon. Alhamdolillah, the icing was fine and we made portions out of it – pink and green for the lacing and piping, while plain white for the base coat. Smarties would do the rest.

About two hours and with several sticky hands, dirty utensils and ruptured piping bags – the cake was finally ready and yes, it looked very, very cute with all the effort gone into it. After all our worries, it turned out fantastic, Alhamdolillah! We placed it in the deep freezer which was, thankfully, still cool within. It was 1:30 pm. No electricity yet.

The party was definitely on. Like it or not, crumpled clothes and costumes or not, we had to make it. We thus got about with our costumes. I had planned to go as Hermione Granger from ‘Harry Potter’ and I was very happy with the end result. The crooked black witches’ hat, black robes, white collared shirt with maroon and yellow Gryffindor tie, the Hogwarts school crest on the robes, the black wand and the over stuffed school bag created the perfect look!

Things had started to look up for this day finally! Both my sisters were also dressed – one as a “Jewellery Box” and the other as “Punk”. The punky make-up was fun to do – my poor make-up skills were adding life to my sister’s punk look! She had a scar running down over one eye, a skull-symbol on a cheek, a bandana around her head, cool knuckle gloves (gloves with half of each finger snipped of) and a dozen other accessories to complete the look.

We left for my Uncle’s home at 5:30 pm with the cake in Hermione’s lap. Nine hours – no light yet. The next hour and half was blast, as I’d put it. As cousins continued to arrive at my uncle’s house, there was a scuttle around the door to see how they’d dressed. It was fun… we had Batman, Spiderman, Shrek, Fiona, another Punk, a French model, a princess, a cowboy, a businessman, a clown, an Indian actress, Cinderella, a pathan (Afghan) girl and three ‘60s Indian Heroines’ – these three were my cousins Saima, Meha and Anum – around the same age as I.

It was a lot of fun, even though it was really hot and sticky inside the house. A solitary Emergency light lit the dining area. Despite the problems, everybody was good humored and enjoyed everything! My Punk-sister was awarded a small gift by my Aunt for ‘Best Costume’, mainly because, I think, she looked so out-of-character and bizarre! Everyone began to leave quickly then, for it was growing unbearably hot, dark and stuffy in the apartment. It was 7:30 pm. Eleven hours – no light in sight.

We got home to find that neighboring areas were lighting up again. Our building and several others still lay draped in darkness. Then on, a flurry of emotions overtook each one of us successively. My problem is that I can’t sleep without electricity powering the fans! It’s too hot, sticky and there’s nothing to blow of the mosquitoes. We fanned ourselves with traditional fans made of bamboo but how long could that work?

Word came in that no light was expected until morning. My mother and sisters tried to sleep but couldn’t do so for long. I patrolled the apartment like a mad ghost with a candle in my hand, then read a book I had vowed never to read as it was so boring. I was mad enough to expend precious light from the Emergency light and read it. When I finished, it was 2:00 am. People from various apartments were sitting outside in the common corridors, where the breeze from ducts and large windows were pleasant. Many later went inside.

In the gloomy darkness, I once again started ranting and abusing our pot-bellied politicians who were, no doubt, enjoying air-conditioned palaces in other parts of the city. Nothing could go wrong in their world. And in the rest of the city, a simple rainfall can cause transformers to malfunction and short-circuits to paralyze all activity.

The spirit of the Karachites amazed me – they’ve adjusted to the various problems that come part of a metropolitan situated in a developing country. They go about their work, they adjust, they complain but they don’t fall apart. They don’t become melodramatic. They remain hopeful.

When I finally decided to try and go to sleep, the electricity came back on! It was 4:30 am! Twenty hours without power and we’re back to our old selves as if nothing had happened. Everything’s fine, people go back to their beds with the fans or air-conditioning on – with the difference that they vow to wake up no earlier than noon!So, that is the story of an EVENTFUL day! It might have shocked you if you live in a well-developed country but for the majority of us, this is life and we’re going to take it as it comes, may Allah be with us. Don’t pity us, because we don’t wish to pity ourselves. These are all part of a colourful life and most wouldn’t trade nations for anything. We’d love to chuck out these bloodthirsty politicians but we can’t attribute the sour moments to the land Allah has blessed us with.

(I'll post pics as soon as I can get them from my cousins - my digicam had no capacity for more pics and without electricity, I couldn't download them to my computer! :P )

Half way there... phew!

Salam alaikum!

A short while ago, I finally got to take my mind off the Birthday cake I've been making for my cousin since 3 pm. It is now 1:03 am precisely. I am covered in layers of kitchen grime and grease, my hair is sticky and my glasses could need a good scrubbing too.

Is it complete? No, sadly. I had planned to finish with the process by 12 pm, shove the cake in to the deep freezer and forget about it till 5 pm tomorrow.

I've been cracking eggs all day... 2o, in total! And separating the yolk and the white too! Besides, think of how much flour, sugar, etc. went along with those eggs! I might make it seem like an army will be present at the birthday party... well... almost an army. :)

Anyway, the reason this cake is not yet done is that when I started with the icing, I discovered that we had "castor" sugar, not "icing" sugar. Why bother going to the market and gettign another pack when you've got a working grinder in the kitchen? I ground up a lot of sugar as "home-made" icing sugar but obviously didn't get it very well refined. Anyway, a whole chunk of butter and a couple of cups of "home-made" icing sugar later, the icing was grainy - duh!

That couldn't work so sms-ed my mother to ask her to get a packet of thick cream on her home from some errand. She got my the cream and I'd just started to complain how the dairy people were cheating on us by selling thin, liquidy cream when I realized my mother had mistakenly bought a 250 ml pack of milk! Couldn't blame her, the packaging is 99.9% identical, except the part where they say "Haleeb - the thickest milk!" instead of "Haleeb - the thickest cream!" as a small sub-title!

Bleucch! Anyway, the time was 9:30 pm. Hurriedly, my mother and I drove down to the nearest market and got a pack of cream!

We then drove not only upto our apartment building but also to the realization that we should have bought icing sugar when we got the cream... anyway, too late. I was inclined to go with the 'grainy' cream but my mother decided to call it a day - put away this cream and start all ofer again in the morning!!!!

I threw a little tantrum at that... I'd been slugging at the cake since 3 pm! Anyway, she didn't budge. No way was she going out for icing sugar again. So... I gave in, put the cake skeleton into the deep freezer and now, eagerly await the morning... 9 am when my mother shall again go to the market and get a new pack of butter and good icing sugar, inshAllah.

The Clown-cake currently is just a round shape for the face, a triangular cone shape for his hat and a bow tie below the face. Enough cake for one day!

Currently, I am putting the finishing touches on my Harry Potter themed costume... I've actually decided to go as Hermione - we're both "insufferable know-it-all's", as Snape would put it.

So what was the point on this post? Introduce you to the pleasures of baking?

No, to show you how things go wrong when Ameera thinks she's planned something perfectly! I can only pray to Allah that things go smoothly tomorrow!

Allah Hafiz!

(By the way, result out on Thursday... pray for me!)

"Enlightened Moderation" explained!

Salam alaikum!

The website of the Tanzeem-i-Islami organization, founded by renowned Islamic scholar Dr. Israr Ahmed has an excellent "Articles" section, where articles on current affairs and Islamic philosophy are posted and updated. Due to my high regard for Dr. Israr Ahmed, his views, his ideologies, I often visit the website of Tanzeem-i-Islami.

Ubaidullah Jan writes regularly at this website and his articles are very informative. I was, thus, delighted to see that he updated his "Current Affairs" section with an article on the concept of "Enlightened Moderation in Islam" which Pervez Musharraf has been propounding for quite a while now.

Though I have my own criticisms and comments regarding "Enlightened Moderation", I believe Tanzeem-i-Islami presented an excellent analysis. I'm posting it here for anyone interested in Musharraf and his pro-American, anti-Islamic, opportunistic, degrading policies.

You can also see the article here.

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"Moderate Islam or Effective Subservience" by Ubaidullah Jan

On the opposite ends of the broad spectrum of anti-Islam views, there are two very general and deep-rooted misconceptions: one that the Holy Qur?an preaches intolerance, and the other that Islam is a religion of peace alone. Misrepresentations on the part of both Muslims and non-Muslims could go no further.
The basic principle of Islam, a faith in all the prophets of the world, is enough to give the lie to the first misconception. The Qur?an that preaches not only love and respect for the founders of the great religions of the world, but much more than that — faith in them — could not shrink down to the narrowness of intolerance for those very religions.
Zero tolerance for zulm — injustice and oppression — in Islam negates the second misconception that it is a religion of peace alone.
To demystify this pair of grand misconceptions, we need to study words and deeds of the present day self proclaimed “moderates” who are exploiting the second misconception in their favor, which indirectly leads to consolidation of the first.

Analysis of Musharraf?s approach
Musharraf?s adding “enlightened” to “moderation” gives an impression as if other opportunists are preaching some kind of inferior or benighted moderation. However, his best explanation could hardly tell the difference between the confusion which several others are spreading in the name of moderate Islam for their self-interest.[1]
According to Musharraf, the “suffering” of his “brethren in faith” at the “hands of militants, extremists, terrorists, have inspired” him to come up with “the strategy of Enlightened Moderation.” Here we must note that Musharraf: a) tries to kill two birds in one shot, i.e., to please both Muslims and the enemies of Islam; b) presents ?enlightened moderation? as a strategy not a value or a form of Islam to avoid annoying Muslims; c) confirms Islamophobes perspective that the root of the global turmoil lies with Muslims alone; d) gives legitimacy to the Islamophobes classification of Muslims and Islam e) attempts to show that Islam and secularism are compatible, and f) hides the source of his inspiration — his self interest.

This article is very long to be posted in full here. Please check it out at the link below:
Enlightened Moderation or Effective Subservience