Pearls of Wisdom

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-974915612958558493&q=60+ways

Are you, or someone you know, interested in working for the Muslim American community, bridging the gap between Muslims Americans and decision makers, understanding how policy gets shaped, and gaining experience in the non-profit sector? The Muslim Public Affairs Council is now accepting applications for its Summer 2007 Internship Program in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA.

THE MPAC INTERNSHIP — Education. Experience. Service.
MPAC interns gain hands-on education, experience and skills in media, community, and government relations. You won’t just be filing, you’ll get to use your creativity and initiative to enhance or even create effective projects that help fulfill our mission. We are looking for team players who are self-motivated and enjoy working hard.

On any given day, MPAC Interns keep up-to-date with local and national politics and media, write reports and analyses, have an opportunity to interact with government officials, attend press conferences and organize events. The MPAC-DC office is located across the street from the Supreme Court, Capitol Building, and all of the Senate Office Buildings, allowing interns to experience the political atmosphere of Washington firsthand. MPAC-LA is located in the center of one of the nation’s media capitols, and regularly engages with media and government professionals as well as interfaith dialogue, hate crime prevention, and community outreach.

HOW TO APPLY FOR AN INTERNSHIP (Deadline: April 30, 2007)

Applications for the Internship Program are now available by visiting www.mpac.org .

The Summer Internship is an 9-week program, which runs from June 18 to August 17. There are limited internships available, so act now!

For more information, please contact Communications Coordinator
Zabie Mansoory at zabie@mpac.org.

Excellent book to read and ponder.

If we look at the world today, the tribulations, the trials, and every war that we have, we will see that every bit of human suffering is rooted in human hearts. The reason people are aggressive against other people is due to diseases of the heart: covetousness, the desire to conquer, the desire to exploit other people, and the desire to steal their natural resources are all from diseases of the heart. A sound heart cannot commit such acts. Every murderer, every rapist, every idolater, every fowl person, every person showing an act of cruelty has a diseased heart because these actions emanate from diseased hearts. If the hearts were sound, none of these actions would be a reality. Therefore, if we wish to change our world, we cannot go about it by attempting to rectify the outward; rather, we change the world by rectifying the inward because it is the inward that precedes the outward.

In reality, everything that we see outside of us comes from the unseen world. The phenomenal world emerges from the unseen world, and all actions emerge from the unseen realm of our hearts. Thus, if we want to rectify our actions, we must first rectify our hearts. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the famous American preacher and civil rights activist, said that in order for people to condemn injustice, they have to follow four stages: the first stage is that they must ascertain that injustices are indeed being perpetrated. People must point out the injustices, and in his case, it was injustices against the African-American people in the United States. The second stage is to negotiate: people must go to the oppressors and demand justice. If the oppressors refuse, then Dr. King said that the third stage is self-purification. He said that we must ask ourselves, are we ourselves wrongdoers? Are we ourselves oppressors? The final stage is to take action once we have looked into ourselves.

One of the things the Muslims of the modern world fail to recognize is that when we look at all of the terrible things that are happening to us, we often refuse to look at ourselves and ask ourselves, why are these things happening to us? If we ask that in all sincerity, the answer will come back in no uncertain terms that this is all from our own selves. We have brought all of the suffering upon ourselves. This is the only empowering position that we can take, and this is the Quranic position. Allah subhanahu wa t’ala says quite clearly that He places some of the oppressors over other oppressors because of what their hands were earning. According to Fakharudin ar-Razi’s explanation, radi Allahu ‘anhu, this verse means that whenever there is oppression in the earth, it is a result of other people’s oppression. Thus, those people who are being aggressed upon are being oppressed because of their own oppression. However, this is obviously with the exception of tribulation. There are definitely times when the mu’minun are tried, but if they respond accordingly with patience and perseverance, Allah subhanahu wa t’ala always gives them victory.

http://www.islamic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Tazkiyyah/alchemy_of_the_heart.htm

As salaamu ‘Alaikum,

Brothers and Sisters,

As you may know, our dear brother Sabri Ben Khala was recently convicted of four felony counts including perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to a federal agent. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 27, 2007. We desperately need everyone who knows him and cares about him to write a short letter to the judge to say some good words of support for Sabri and to ask him to show mercy when deciding on a sentence.

There will be a letter writing workshop on Friday April 20th after salatul Jumu’ah from 2:15 – 3:30 PM at Dar-us-Salaam in the Media Center.

As you may know, these letters of support have made a tremendous difference in some cases. It is our duty to stand by our brother in his time of need. The Prophet said, “Whoever lifts a hardship from a believer, Allah will lift a hardship from him on the Day of Judgement.” Please join us and gain Allah’s blessing by helping Brother Sabri in his time of need.

For directions to Dar-us-Salaam please visit http://www.darussalaam.org/VisitorsCenter/Directions/

JazaakumAllahu Khayran

_______________________________________________
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News@lists.darussalaam.org
http://mailman.alhuda.org/mailman/listinfo/news

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. My friend was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. He walked up to the fellow at the ticket counter and said, “How much is it to get in?”

The young man replied, “$3.00 for you and $3.00 for any kid who is older than six. We let them in free if they are six or younger. How old are they?”

My friend replied, “The one is three and the other is seven, so I guess I owe you $6.00.”

The man at the ticket counter said, “Hey, Mister, did you just win the lottery or something? You could have saved yourself three bucks. You could have told me that the older one was six; I wouldn’t have known the difference.” My friend replied, “Yes, that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference.”

In challenging times when ethics are more important than ever before, make sure we set a good example for everyone we work and live with,especially our young eyes and ears.

Author: P.F. Adapted and Edited by AL-Islaah Publications

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On the authority of Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) said: “Four traits whoever possesses them is a hypocrite and whoever possesses some of them has an element of hypocrisy until he leaves it: the one who when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks his promise, when he disputes he transgresses and when he makes an agreement he violates it.” [Muslim and Bukhari]

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever says to a child, ‘Come here and take this,’ then does not give him something, this is counted as a lie.’” [Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4991]

Courtesy: AL-ISLAAH PUBLICATIONS