Ramadan Mubarak!
Here in North America, we will start fasting either tomorrow Sunday October 
26, or Mondy Ocotber 27th depending on when the moon is sighted inshallah.
May Allah (SWT) accept our fasting and forgive us our sins. Ameen.

Please see the forward below, it si food for thought.
Jabou Joh

Begin forwarded message:

Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim
> Innal-Hamdalillah was-Salaatu was-Salaam `alaa Rasoolillah
> ASSalaamu alaykum wa-RaHmatullahi wa-Barakatuhu
> "The month of Ramadân in which was revealed the Qur'ân, a guidance for 
> mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and 
wrong)."(2:185) 
> Ramadan Fever!
> 
> Ramadan Fever!
> The heat is on! Once a year a dramatic change occurs in the Muslim 
> community. Once a year Mikey  baby and the Sams becomes Muhammad and Sameera.
> Off come the baggy jeans, the Nike 180's and the Raiders cap. On come the 
> yellow Shalwar Kameez (clothes most subcontinent people wear), or the 
> Dardasha(mostly arabs wear) the brylcreamed hairstyle which glues on that terribly 
> uncool Towpee(cap) or Kofi and in comes the miswak in the top pocket, making you 
> look like something like "Karachi or Cairo cops".
> 
> It's during this HOLY month of Ramadan that we ditch the daytime raves and
> the frequent visit to the library (and we don't mean for the reference  
> section) and begin to act it out. Mikey baby becomes temporarily RELIGIOUS.
> 
> It's a sort of spooky feeling. The Mosques are full and you feel good. Good  
> cos' you've done your bit for the year. One by one you scratch the days from 
> your Ramadan timetable that your GrandPa/dad brought back from the 
> Mosque-and then-thank crunchie it's Eid.
> 
> Eid Mubarak!
> 
> The Mosques again becomes museums for the OLD and for those deprived "ACHA
> BACHA"- a good (WALAD)  baby. The crease-free shalwar kameez or Dardasha  
> comes off and comes the baggy jeans, whilst the libraries reopen for "business 
> as usual". Just 11
> more months of "freedom" to go before the smelly breath season come back  
> with vengeance.
> 
> Year after year it goes on, almost as a ritual. You know it's rough. Yet  
> Allah(swt) is Al-Rahman and Al-Raheem as we are told by our /grand 
> parents/parents (who probably also have gone through this). And anyway RELIGION is for 
> the OLD men in the mosques - with smelly breaths, and LONG beards that sweep 
> the floor everytime they walk from one end of the mosque to the other.
> 
> Religion is for those "fundies"(fundamentalists) at school/college, the 
> weirdoes" who only talk to the opposite sex about the benefits of the Khilafah 
> ruling system or the fallacies of Western ideology such as Capitalism/Democracy 
> and Marxist Philosophy.(i.e.try saying that in one breath!).
> 
> The game
> 
> So you go around playing this game. It's like an endless spiral. You think 
> you're a rebel or tough(wanna B)-yet you're just one of the pack- a zombie, 
> conforming (wanna Be Down with) to master-plan, when you turn 40s you grow your 
> beard and take your seat in front row of the mosque, invest in a miswak, 
> pack your bags for Hajj, and then everything is gonna be safe!- well NO! It 
> doesn't quite work like that. The million dollar question is will you ever turn 
> 40? Boom. Game Over.
> 
> Suppose you die. Just suppose you snuff it before you turn 40? What then? It 
> could severely damage that master-plan of yours. Alright, the chances may 
> look slim yet the stakes are high. Nobody knows when he or she is going to die. 
> Just suppose you're locked up in a room and there's no way out.
> Just suppose there's a time bomb-a foot away from you in this room. Now if 
> this bomb
> has "6 days" on it you would probably turn " supper dupper fundy" and spend 
> all six days
> reading namaz(salah) and the QURAN which was laying on the shelve under 
> thick dust for YEARRRRRRRRS .
> 
> Just suppose the bomb had a "?" on it? What then? That's exactly how life 
> is!!! A ticking-bomb (HEART) with a "?" on it, you never know when it's gonna 
> blow-up. "Wherever ye are, death will find you out, even if ye are in towers 
> built up strong and high!"(The Noble Quran, 4:78)" (Translation of the meaning 
> of the Qu'ran)
> 
> 30 days or a lifetime? And anyway, even if you do go along with this "dodgy" 
> game, don't you think your Creator will know your intention? Many people 
> have sassed out Islam as a blind faith or and emotional/spiritual/spooky belief 
> which leaves you a contemplating
> rationally about the meanings of life. Where did you come from? Why are we 
> here? Or the question that puts a damper on all raves, " what's going to 
> happen to us when we die?"
> 
> Islam asks us to answer these vital questions and come to a conclusion, the 
> correct one. Islam doesn't rely on the dodgy culture/tradition we are brought 
> up with either from our parents or from the Molvi-Saab(imam). Islam is far 
> from being a "religion" as it is often coined in the media.
> 
> Islam is a complete system of life- with solutions to all our problems be it 
> for Muslims or non-Muslims. Check out Islam for yourself and free yourself 
> from this shallow zombie-like culture. Before your credits run out! "And that 
> I had never known, how my Account is? Would that it had been my end (death)! 
> My wealth has not availed me, My power and arguments (to defend myself) have 
> gone from me!"(69:26-29) 
> Word out!
>  "O you who believe answer the call of Allah(swt) and His Messenger to that 
> which gives you Life." (8:24) 
> 
> 

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