فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?

[Al-Rahman]

Yesterday was a day of spending. While I didn’t spend too much, and I did not spend unnecessarily, I did spend with an uncharacteristic insouciance. I usually agonize a bit more about spending money, both before and after the fact, than I did this time. This casual dropping of cash might have been the result of a hellaciously loud computer that was aggravating the daylights out of me for the worse part of two years. The loud  fan or hard drive or whatever it was that has been incessantly screaming at me caused me to panic into sincerely believing that I will lose all my data if Noisemaker decides to finally up and die.

After we came out of the electronics store and deposited my shiny (literally) new laptop in the trunk of the car, my mom started reminiscing about the computers we’ve had, and how afraid we used to be of technology. Like seriously scared-to-death-don’t-want-to-touch-that-monster scared. The fact that I’m an IT person is a total irony of fate; I took the closest thing the Comp Sci department had to an Internet 101 class, except that it was a Global Networking, let me teach you about TCP/IP protocols, kind of class. I fell in love with Comp Sci, and as a family, we’ve done an almost about-face with respect to technology since then. So, when we breezed in and breezed out of Best Buy with the nicest computer for a miserly $555 (I’m cheap, ok?! and that does include taxes!), it was something that would have been inconceivable nearly half my lifetime ago. We got to talking about the terrifying first computer experience, the barely better second computer, and realized that I am now on my third laptop.

My third laptop. When I type that, it literally brings tears to my eyes. When I was in high school, the cost of computers was so high that I thought the only place I would use one would be at school. Today, they are commonplace, and to be without one would be the oddest thing in the world. It’s like a second brain, a third arm, a sixth toe. When I was in college, my first few years of it, we had a hand-me-down computer from hell, and nobody to give us moral or technical support. When it would spontaneously (I swear, it was unprovoked) shut down, I’d lose entire essays…and nobody could tell me why. I used to save my WordPerfect documents every 30 seconds, just in case. was Yesterday, when I confused about which laptop to buy, I turned on Twitter, and called for help. And I got it…very good advice at my fingertips, quite literally. From someone who is, outside of the blog world and Twitter, a complete stranger, in a different time zone, with nothing but gracious kindness. I wonder what I did to be so blessed? Thank you, Cookie Monster, for the help. It is greatly appreciated.

Ever since yesterday, the ‘aya I quoted above has been running through my brain. While transferring stuff from the old computer to this one, while installing applications, while adding the new laptop to my wireless network, I realized that I have been Supremely blessed. Alhamdulillah. I have done so much to not deserve the blessings I’ve been given. Yet, Allah has been Most Gracious to me. And there are no favors from Him that I could deny.

I’ll leave you with a beautiful recitation of Surah al-Rahman, as well as the first few verses of this surah. I feel like I understand it in a more real sense today. Or perhaps in a different way.

The Most Gracious (Allâh)! (1) He has taught (you mankind) the Qur’ân (by His Mercy). (2) He created man. (3) He taught him eloquent speech. (4) The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning). (5) And the herbs (or stars) and the trees both prostrate themselves. (to Allah. See V.22:18). (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) (6) And the heaven He has raised it high, and He has set up the Balance. (7) In order that you may not transgress (due) balance. (8) And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient. (9) And the earth He has put down (laid) for the creatures. (10) Therein are fruits, date-palms producing sheathed fruit-stalks (enclosing dates). (11) And also corn, with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-scented plants. (12) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (13) He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery. (14) And the jinn He created from a smokeless flame of fire. (15) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (16) (He is) the Lord of the two easts (places of sunrise during early summer and early winter) and the Lord of the two wests (places of sunset during early summer and early winter). (17) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (18) He has let loose the two seas (the salt and the frsh water) meeting together. (19) Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress. (20) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (21) Out of them both come out pearl and coral. (22) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (23)

I don’t know if anyone Stateside listens to Democracy Now; it always has very interesting perspectives on world happenings, and you can catch it online. If you don’t get the chance to listen to anything else, spending 1 hour on this will fulfill your world news fix for the day. Yesterday, Amy Goodman interviewed Juan Cole, a well respected historian and author, on the topic of his new book, “Engaging the Muslim World.” You can read the transcript or listen to the audio. It will break your heart at times, and definitely give you something to reflect on.

Snippets to give you an idea of the interview:

AMY GOODMAN: So, would you say the surge worked?

JUAN COLE: No, I think the—you know, I take nothing away from the US military. I think they tried to do their best in tamping down the really apocalyptic rates of violence that were there in places like Baghdad in early 2007. But I think the main reason for which the rate of civilian death has fallen dramatically in the past year and a half has been because the ethnic cleansing campaign of the Shiite militias against the Sunni Arab population of Baghdad succeeded. And the recent provincial elections indicate to me that Baghdad may be as little as ten or 15 percent Sunni now. It used to be 50/50 before the Americans came. So there aren’t any Sunnis around in most Shiite neighborhoods anymore to be killed.

AMY GOODMAN: Juan Cole, the first chapter of your book, “The Struggle for Islamic Oil: The Truth about Energy Independence.” What is the truth?

JUAN COLE: Well, you know, I like President Obama a lot, and I’m very green. I’m all in favor of alternative energies. But the physical limitations are there, and the likelihood is, by 2050, we still will get probably a majority of our energy from hydrocarbons. And this is undesirable, but there are severe limitations to what can be done. And so, the deep reserves of hydrocarbons, oil and gas, are in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, so, over time, as the shallower reserves are used or people start using their own oil, as we expect to happen in Mexico, the United States is going to be actually much more dependent on hydrocarbons in the Muslim world than it is now.

AMY GOODMAN: And what is that going to mean for each country?

JUAN COLE: Well, we’d better have good relations with them. I say, find a Muslim, make a friend. You know, the Venezuelans now are starting to try to make a pipeline to the Pacific so as to export more to China, because they want to diversify away from the United States, because they have such bad political relations with the US. If we have bad political relations with the countries of the Muslim world that are producing the hydrocarbons—you know, increasingly it’s a seller’s market—they could sell it to China or India instead, and the United States could end up really not having the energy that it needs.

And then, later on:

AMY GOODMAN: You wrote a piece, Juan Cole, called “Obama’s Vietnam,” talking about Afghanistan. Explain.

JUAN COLE: Well, you know, Lyndon Johnson was bequeathed this police action in Vietnam, and he became very invested in it. You and I remember those days. And it was again, you know, was to shore up the South Vietnamese government, and we kept putting in troops, and you ended up with 500,000 over there. And, you know, they did search-and-destroy tactics, which alienated the population. They didn’t realize they were fighting a kind of nationalism. So, I think, in the same way, you know, there’s a danger of Obama committing so many resources to Afghanistan in the wrong way that it can turn into a major quagmire. And then, just today, a poll came out that 40 percent of Americans now are thinking this was a mistake.

AMY GOODMAN: So, what do you think Obama should be doing here? The same as Iraq, pulling out?

JUAN COLE: Well, again, I’m not so worried about the timetable for withdrawals; I’m worried about what they leave behind. So, you know, 80 percent of all insurgencies in modern history have been settled through negotiations of various sorts. Obviously, the people of the south of Afghanistan, there are substantial numbers of them who are not happy with the new situation. So, you know, Obama was a community organizer. What do you do as a community organizer? You go in, you ask people, “What do you need? Why are you unhappy? What can we get for you?” So he needs to do that with the Pushtuns. He needs to find out what they want and to see if there is not a peaceful way of getting it for them. And I think, you know, it’s hard to say these things at a time when the US economy is so badly damaged, but very substantial foreign aid is needed to rebuild Afghanistan.

Our hotel in Makkah was the best spot. You peeped out the window and could see the minaret of the Masjid al Haram. It was right behind the Makkah Hilton, and more importantly, right above the Hunain cassette store! That meant one wonderful thing, along with the bustle of the Makkah night we got to hear nasheeds and duas playing all night. And not just any nasheeds and duas. They chose the best of the best. Muhammad Nabeena and Sheikh Sudais’s Khatam, which I can promise you if it’s loud enough, you will not get sleep. Well, I managed to get sleep, but my siblings didn’t have the same good fortune, which was hard on them especially our first day in Makkah given the lack of sleep we’d already been going through. We tried convincing ourselves that the nasheed was the most annoying nasheed ever, and there is no way we’d buy it. Needless to say, the night before we left Makkah, we did buy it! After all, they are the cutest kid singers, mashaAllah. And I’m sure most of you’ll have heard it, because even now two years later it’s still popular, but since the whole album isn’t around much for download, here it is.

http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_1.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_2.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_3.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_4.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_5.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_7.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_8.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_9.mp3
http://muslimtents.com/iharam/Muhammad_Nabeeuna/Track_10.mp3

It was the week following Hajj, and my mom, sister, and I were standing in a bookstore opposite Bab al Fath of the Masjid al Haram in Makkah. We were glancing at some books, asking the men working there the prices, when one of the other men standing there turned on the nicest nasheed ever.

Mine and my sister’s eyes lit up and looked at each other like “buy it? ” And my mom was like, definitely! It’s one of those nasheeds that stay as a favorite forever simply because every time we listen to it we have the sweet flashback of being in that sweet lil bookstore across the Haram.

If you want to download the album, I’ve made it available here.

I’ve been watching the salaah from the Haram’ain lately, and it’s getting, or actually has already gotten quite packed for the Hajj season. It’s bringing back some awesome memories, which inshaAllah I may share over the next couple weeks.

Here’s a sweet nasheed by Sameer Basheeri for now. Hmm, I might post up some really beautiful nasheeds which we bought while we were there later as well inshaAllah. Anyways, for some strange reason, I can’t seem to properly get to work within this post, so click here if you wish to listen to the nasheed.

I just heard this nasheed, and it put a massive smile on my face, so I thought I’d share it. Ah, I could just tickle the cute lil kid!

Hela hela hela hub

Translation:
helaa helaa helaa hub, My Mother & Father are the symbols of Love
helaa helaa helaa hub, My Mother & Father are the symbols of Love

Never have they said to me No, on anything no matter how much I ask
Never have they said to me No, on anything no matter how much I ask

On anything no matter how much I ask

helaa helaa helaa hub, My Mother & Father are the symbols of Love
helaa helaa helaa hub, My Mother & Father are the symbols of Love

Never have they said to me No, on anything no matter how much I ask
Never have they said to me No, on anything no matter how much I ask

On anything no matter how much I ask

And for this reason, my behavior towards them is always duteous,
And if my Mother asked for something, I give my Mother what she wants,
And if I say anything to Mother,

Never, ever will I lie
Never, ever will I lie
Never, ever will I lie

And if I wronged, I say O Father indeed I am guilty
Then Father forgives me, no doubt!
Since he is forbearing, never gets angry

And if my beloved goes to his room to rest, then I stop playing,
Since I know, that my beloved works hard for his earning

And if my beloved goes to his room to rest, then I stop playing,
Since I know, that my beloved works hard for his earning

And he teaches me the Remembrance of my Lord, during my eating & drinking
During my entrance & going outs, during changing and traveling

And he teaches me the Remembrance of my Lord, during my eating & drinking
During my entrance & going outs. during changing and traveling

And he teaches me my school work; so that, so that I will never fail,
Since my mother is longing for me to be a Star, climbing the heights of Medical (profession)

My mother, my mother is the Noblest of mothers,
And my Father, my Father is best of Fathers

O my Lord, preserve them O Lord
O my Lord, preserve them O Lord

For Queenie: (and everybody else!)

Speaking of the Crayola bomb over at Queenie’s Coffeehouse reminded of this song…enjoy, Queenie

This is endlessly amusing too! Wallahi, these kids are already better than me! Mashallah!

This made me and my sister smile…okay, more than smile. He is soo cute mashaAllah.