Pearls of Wisdom

In The Name Of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Somewhere within our Muslim community a child will go hungry
tonight. A Muslim Sister and her children will find themselves
forced into homelessness.

Shelter Our Sisters

Solidarity Luncheon

Supporting our Homeless Muslim Sisters

Saturday March 1, 2008

12 - 3pm

Morgan State University

InterFaith Center

4307 Hillen Road

Baltimore, MD 21239

***This luncheon is specifically for the homeless Muslim women in
our communities where ever they are, however, servers, cooks, and
clean-up volunteers are needed. For adequate food preparation
please RSVP if you know of or can bring a homeless Sister to this
special luncheon given in their honor.

GET INVOLVED!
you are asked to participate in these
ways:

Bring homeless sisters so that we can serve them a meal prepared
with love.Make dishes to have available for the guests to choose
from Serve the guests at their tables Transport guests to the
luncheon Be a sponsoring organization

Inshallah Please Donate To This Worthwhile Cause

For More Information contact:
Asma Hanif, Executive Director
(410) 466-8686
Imam Faizul Khan, Islamic Services Director
(301) 879-0930
Imam Hassan Amin, Social Services Director
(410) 448-3371
Sister Jamila Garner, Community Outreach Administrative Director
(410) 262-4740
Ammar Hanif, Community Outreach Services Director
(443) 621-5554
**********************************************************

Muslimat Al-Nisaa Wholistic Health, Education, Shelter and Social
Services Center provides comprehensive services to respond to the
healthcare, educational and housing needs of the homeless women in
the Muslim community; not as a one organizational endeavor, but as a
community wide effort, Inshallah, to assist any sister in need,
regardless of race or Islamic community affiliation.

Do not simply contemplate the question, “whose responsibility is it?”
Donate To A Solution!
Click here or copy and paste the following url into your browser:
http://mnisaa.org/Get_Involved/Donate_Now.html
Muslimat Al-Nisaa
P.O. Box 31529
Baltimore, MD 21207

501(c)(3) Tax ID: 52-1662748

“None of you truly believes until you want for your brother what you
want for yourself.” Reported in Sahih Bukhari & Muslim

Maryland and Virginia Chapter

First Annual Youth Leadership &

Empowerment Conference

Saturday-Sunday, March 29-30, 2008

Hands-on workshops & activities on topics like:

§ Public Speaking

§ Islam & Democracy

§ Our Role in American Society

§ Civic Activism

§ Media Relations

§ Our Role in Shaping Media & Public Relations

§ Message Framing

§ The Art of Interviewing

- Learn from experienced workshop leaders.

- Watch & evaluate yourself on TV with peers & experienced media personnel.

- Two days of hands-on experience that will empower you in your school or work.

Application Deadline: March 24, 2008. Seats are very limited.

Contact: (703) 689-3100 or (202) 439-5432

Location: CAIR Maryland Virginia Offices

585 Grove Street

Suite G-10

Herndon , VA

This is a free workshop, but pre-registration is mandatory.

CAIR Maryland and Virginia Chapter

FIRST ANNUAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT CONFERENCE

Application for CAIR-YLE Conference March 29-30, 2008

· COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS.

· Type into the gray boxes the requested information.

· Please email the completed form to cairmdva@gmail.com

· If you have any questions, please call CAIR at 701 689 3100, or email us at cairmdva@gmail.com

· Cost: There is no cost for this conference

· Applications can be sent via

· Mail CAIR MD & VA

585 N. Grove Street Unit G10,

Herndon , VA , 20170

Fax: 703 689 9858

email:

Name: First: ______________ Middle: Last: ___________________

Address:

Street: _______________________________________________________

City: ________________ State: ______ Zip Code: __________________

Telephone: ( _____ ) ______ - ________ Cell: ______________________

E-mail address: ______________________________________________

Parent or Guardian: ___________________________________________

High School /Univ.: ____________________________________________

Check one: Check one:

­­­ Junior Senior Female Male

1. Why are you interested in the program?

__________________________________________________________

2. Describe your involvement within your community:

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

­­

How did you hear about the CAIR Youth Conference? Please check all that apply:

Youth Group E-newsletter or email

Masjid (specify)

Community Organization (specify) Muslim Student Association

specify organization here Other specify here

E-mail the application as an attachment to cairmdva@gmail.com Please put the term application followed by your full name in the subject line. Applications must arrive at our office by March 24, 2008

As salaamu alaikum Muslimahs!

Masha’Allah, now the sisters finally have a place to work out with real fitness equipment while protecting our modesty!

Flexible Family Fitness is a fitness center with equipment made to accommodate ages 2 to adult. It is located at 5108A Baltimore Avenue (Route 1) in Hyattsville, MD. This is approximately 15 minutes from Al-Huda, and a block away from the Hyattsville Courthouse.

The equipment includes treadmills, eliptical machines, stationary bikes, weight benches, free hand weights, and a few other things. There is also a room for aerobic or floor exercises. The space is very clean. You can view the fitness center at www.flexiblefamilyfitness.com. ; (WARNING: Music on site.)

The fitness center is open to the public daily from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. However, the owner, Joanna, has agreed to allow us (Muslim women) to use the facility every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. She has stated that depending on how many are interested, she might be willing to open on Sundays as well. Unfortunately, we cannot have evenings because the gym is open to men, women, and children during that time.

Membership prices are monthly and include:

Individual: $30.00
Family: $70.00

This opportunity is for women only. Please note that you are allowed to bring your daughters. Girls under 2 are free and must be watched by you. Girls over 2 would need to either sit quietly if you have an individual membership, or you would have to get a family membership if they intend to work out. Again, you must be responsible for the obedience and safety of your children.

These memberships are available on either a month-to-month basis, 6-month basis, or yearly basis. This choice is left up to you.

If you have any questions about the arrangements for the sisters, please contact me (Safiya) at 202-641-5472.

If you would like to schedule a day and time to sign up, which will take approximately 20 minutes, please contact the owner (Joanna) at 202-997-5738. Because Joanna is very busy, please do not contact her unless you intend to set up an appointment to join or have a question about her personal training services. If you just have questions about location, equipment, days, times, etc., please call me first.

Memberships are available starting March, so sign up today. I am insha’Allah!

Note: I just spoke with Joanna, who is out of town today (Wednesday) at a conference, so the gym is closed today and unavailable for membership registration. She will be open again tomorrow (Thursday) insha’Allah ta’ala. Please hold all calls to her until then insha’Allah.

Pass this along to as many sisters as you can. The more sisters join, the more flexible to owner is willing to be about days and times of availability.

See you at the gym insha’Allah!

S~~

‘Sisters Leading a Double Life’, or ‘If You Wear Hijab why do you have pictures all over the place where you aren’t wearing it?’

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Rahim. Amma Ba3ad

First of all I want to make clear I am not judging any particular person; however this blog is just about something I have noticed in general; not just on myspace but on other blogs, forums and social networking sites. Secondly I am no scholar; so am not making any rulings here; just giving some advice.

I’m sure we all know hijab is obligatory; by consensus amongst all mainstream Muslims and from the evidences presented before us in the Qur’an and Hadith; also that niqab is obligatory according to some of the well-known and respected ulema from throughout the centuries (even the majority of ulema according to many). However some sisters seem blissfully ignorant about whom we can uncover in front of. Many a time I have seen a sister who ordinarily wears hijab; and is very passionate about it have pictures on myspace that are public; or ‘private’ but she has unrelated men on her friends’ list; that just reveal everything including showing things; such as the upper chest; thighs and so on; that are not even supposed to be seen amongst other women! And often these pictures will have lewd comments from men as well left under the picture! I have also seen this on other social networking sites, i.e. facebook; forums and blogs on blogger and other similar sites. I am not just talking hijab only; I have seen sisters who wear full niqab with pics not only of their niqab lifted up; but then pictures of them attired similarly as described above! Often the same sisters will have articles on hijab on their page and other Islamic articles and have a very pious sounding intro on their page.

It seems in a lot of communities the emphasis is put only on outer appearances; and that you only need to cover in front of people you know; this is completely wrong; however even if you come from such a community you really have a duty to educate yourself on the deen and that it is a way of life; not just for when you want to keep up with the ‘Ahmeds’!

It makes me feel like a lot of sisters are leading a double life! Several times I have had online friends on yahoo groups and so on; who are very passionate about the niqab and hijab and their other Islamic obligations; then when I have put their emails into myspace or facebook hoping to find them as I have found them to be such an inspiring sister; I have been completely shocked that ‘teen in garb’ or some other similar name on yahoo has pictures of her in ‘daisy dukes’; with guys at the prom and the like. Some of them have really rude rap music on their pages; and some of them it doesn’t even say they are Muslim on their page at all.

Some sisters may say well these pictures are from my past and I am not like that any longer so whats the harm; well if they are from your past; they should be left there; just as I am sure at home you don’t bring out the photo albums with all your old pics of you sans hijab in there; you don’t want to do the same online; where many more people can see it. I run two groups on yahoo on the topics of hijab; and niqab. We have had many a problem with fetishists; and although it is an excuse; a lot of them have an easy ride to stealing pictures of sisters because they are so easily available. A lot of these fetishists see Muslim sisters as a joke because they are so self-righteous about covering yet do not apply it to themselves and post their pics all over the place; yet when a fetishist nicks all their pics; they are in a right panic!

Now I understand some sisters have not yet taken the step of observing the hijab; and this is fine only Allaah can judge and may he guide you to that step asap InshaAllaah. However even for those sisters; posting your pics is still dangerous as what if you did decide to cover properly tomorrow but your pics are still out there? I myself have personal experience of this; Alhamdulillaah I was wearing hijab in the pics but not in the way I do now; so this is why I want to warn you all. The pictures in question were posted when I was married to my ex; especially our wedding picture (Alhamdulillaah this time around I had no wedding pictures) as it was posted at the time quite innocently to accompany my reversion story; now they are on several defunct sites that are freely hosted and not going to expire even the original owners cannot get in there; and there is nada I can do about it; believe me I have tried. My husband knows about it and knows it was a foolish thing in my past; but it still hurts me. Anyone searching for my real name can find them! If you take a picture and post it online; it can be saved and essentially lasts forever. It can fall into the hands of people who don’t know you and; don’t know you don’t want your pictures everywhere! Please sisters take more care of yourselves and stick to the obligations of hijab; if you are leading a double life then ask yourself what benefit does this have and sincerely repent to Allaah and move on! I hope this advice only serves of benefit to my sisters in deen!

Umm Abdullaah

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=122665472&blogID=341400161

Have you ever met someone and instantly said to yourself, “I don’t know why, but I really like that person,” or “There’s something about that guy that bugs me.”

You have just formed an impression of the other person. And most of our first impressions are subconscious — we don’t even know we are making them. We only know that we have an overall, general feeling about this person.

Eight subconscious impressions that happen within seven seconds

Here are eight opinions people generally make of you within the first seven seconds of meeting you:

* How much money you make
* How much education you’ve had
* How much you can be trusted
* Your personality style and how agreeable you are
* How confident you are
* How intelligent you are
* What your work ethic is
* How dependable and accountable you are

Wait a minute! How can someone make all these decisions about someone in the first seven seconds? Good question.

Let’s talk about some tips to make a good impression in the first seven seconds.

The walk

The first thing people notice about you is your walk. If you keep three things in mind, you will be on your way to projecting a more professional image:

* Stand upright. Hold your head up. This shows how confident you are.
* Don’t hide your hands. Don’t put them in your pockets or hold them behind your back. Why? Because if your hands aren’t showing it sends a subliminal message that you can’t be trusted — that you have something to hide.
* Walk with a purpose and with enthusiasm. This shows your personality and confidence. No one likes to see someone trudging up to them, head down, eyes diverted.

The tune-in factor

People want to know that you’re interested in them. You can do that by:

* Maintaining eye contact for four seconds. If you don’t hold the eye contact, you appear to have “shifty eyes” and, therefore, you seem non-trustworthy.
* Smiling strategically. But don’t have a smile on your face as approach the person. As you start to shake the person’s hand, look into their face, and let a smile slowly creep across your face. If you walk up to someone overexcited, the other person may feel as if you want something. In fact, you very well may want something. But you’ll have a far better chance of getting it if you use the “slow creeping smile” technique. (Note: It’s a slow creeping smile; not a slow creepy smile.)
* Showing enthusiasm while greeting people. We all like upbeat people. But there is a caveat here: you should appear enthusiastic — not overmedicated.
* Shaking hands with sincerity. A handshake is a gesture of welcome: the palms interlocking signify openness and the touching signifies oneness.

Courtesy HP Learning Center (Business Etiquette)