My most precious moments

  I don't usually use the vending machin to get something to fuel my storage of energy, but when I sometimes stay for hours in the library, and have no mood to head to the food court I do use it.

Just now I wanted to have some snack. Went to the closest vending machine, Swiped my card and chose a new version of potato chips from a brand that I used before and I know it has the mark ( U ) for Kocher. That mean it is halal and safe to eat regarding animal product. Just make sure it has no alcohol. ( U ) ( K) ( D ) are all signs for kosher friendly food that is made specifically for jewish people, and it is very easy in US to get any food product with this sign, then you don't need to look for all the ingredients, you just look for absence of alcohol, obviously jewish has no problem with Alcohol, so kosher is not free from alcohol, but it is safe regarding everything else.

  Any way, after I bought the chip snack , I looked it over, and ... Oops .. ! there is no Kocher sign. It seems that this new version of this potato chip brand wish is flavored with real cheese is not Kocher friendly. I thought, "you should throw it Enlightened" .... but another voice in my mind said, "it is just a cheese and potato, come'on eat it , no problem" ... the second voice win , I read the ingredients, there is enzymes, of course as there is cheese, so obviously these enzymes might not be of halal animal source ... yet my stomach was crying, so I opened the small bag. Fingers dogged in the bag, grap a piece, then into the mouth and the mouth bit small piece. The whole body rejected it,  I don't know why, but I felt it is no good. I should have listened to the first voice. With one tear dropping down, I throw away the bag in the garbage ... $1.00 lost ...  Went back to the vending machine, decided to buy one bag of the old plain version of the chip brand, just potato chips no flavor, swiped my card again for another $1.00 ... And .... two bags dropped down ... I paused ... I felt him so close and so near ... I felt his love, mercy, and bless showering all over my soul ... 2 bags with the price of one ... As if it was a compensation for the $1 I just throw in the garbage... yes, it is just one dollar, and it is just a potato chips bag , ..... but these special moments I adore the most in my life ... Thank you Allah ... elhamdoAllah

Here I am in the library enjoying the rainy weather and my halal snack ... well I will eat only one bag :) 

Free Rose Event: Who is Muhammed?

  Today in the university an idea from a creative Muslim girl was put into action and it came out so nice. 

Very simple idea, roses were bought , cleaned out from thorns and other extra stuff. A collection of chosen hadiths of our prophet was printed out covered with a clear thin plastic film punched at the corner and tagged with a fine thread to the rose. 
At one side of the tag the question: Who is Muhammed, and on the other side a chosen hadith was adhered back to back.

 A permission to set the table in the main corridor of the university was requested from the University. It was easy to get the permission with the help of a guy from the Muslim association. Money collected before hand in the previous days. Buying the 300 roses cleaning them and tagging them to the post with hadith of the prophet took one day to prepare.

 At 11:00 am the table opened at the main corridor of the university, at the entrance, with some funny ballons in the background to attract attention ... the girls wore T-shirt saying " Get a Free rose "  and started giving away the roses for whoever passes by. Impact on Students  and their responses were very nice over all, of course there were some small percent of people who refused to take the rose. We can't judge them, but hope the cause of the refuse wasn't because the girls who spread the roses were wearing hijab. We usually take paper post and cards from whoever spreading them directly by handing them to you in the streets here, we read them and then throw away if it wasn't of our interest. Easy and simple. But, to refuse a rose, that was awkward, at least to me. Anyway, spreading and handing out the 300 roses took about an hour.

The beautiful thing that those fresh beautiful roses were visible everywhere in the university today. I myself saw two in the library. One was left over a table, and other one was held by a student in the library.

One fact about the preparing for the idea struck me, when the tags were printed out numbers were not counted, because more than one hadiths was printed out in one paper, then was cut and covered with the plastic. But, when they were tagged to the roses the number of the tags turned out to be exactly the same as the number of the roses. Praise Allah, and peace and prayers be upon his prophet.

The idea was great , I am posting it because I wish that it will be applied and spread wherever possible.

First attempts to fly!

  When she was little and light, one of her favorite game was when her father grasp her with his hands and throw her toward the sky .. she always burst out laughing with each throw .. not thinking for a second that those hands will fail her and she might end up falling down in the ground ... she laughed loudly with innocence, with great passion ... She was overwhelmed with joy, free of pain in those free seconds when she was up high in the air, then back to the the firm father's grasp .. She learnt how to break the gravity rules, and how to enjoy those breaks ..  


 Days passed ... accumulated to become years, the little girl grow up some more,. It became harder for father to throw her up in the air, instead they played another game. Father laid down on his back on the ground, and she come lean with her body towards his .. he holds her hands and spread them out and raise her body up in the air with sole of his feet .. hang out there for few moments then throw her forward in the air with a light push, to fly again for few seconds and crash down into the soft mattress with burst of laughing ... She was overwhelmed with joy, with little pain in those free seconds when she was up high in the air, then with the crash on the soft mattress. She learnt that she can't break the rule of gravity for so long, and she can't always be free of pain, but the little seconds of joy worth it. 


 The little girl grow up more, she was riding her bicycle with four wheels. Two main big, and two small one connected to the back big one for balance. Her father came one day and said, we will remove those little wheels in the back, she was terrified, no father I can't do that, I can't keep my balance .. He replied, don't worry I will hold the bicycle from the back to keep your balance. They removed the little wheels. He hold the bicycle, and she was riding slowly while he was running in the back holding and keeping the balance, she drove and drove, hearing his voice in her back encouraging her, don't worry baby I am here ... she continued, after a period of silence, she shouted, father it is easy . He replied yes easy and you can do it ... but his voice was far away, not right in her back .. She burst out laughing with nervousness  realizing she was alone with no support, she felt she was flying for few seconds,  then she crashed to the ground ,  she laughed loudly .. with innocence, with great passion ... She was overwhelmed with joy. Despite the pain, she tried again. She held her balance better with each try. She learnt, she doesn't need to break the rule of gravity to have the joy, she just need to make the balance and put those rules under control. 


  Since then, she was flying wherever she want, taking control of gravity rules adapting them to allow her reach what she want to reach, accepting each fail, looking through things and people reaching out for Allah's support when needed, rising up from  pain, and keep moving forward, hoping for one day when she will fly and reach out to the greatest resource.

Passion

Fairborn, Ohio Winter 2011/12

People come and go in life

We never know when they enter and at what time will they leave

We just know that in some how we had needed them in that particular time

They were just sent by Allah as he knows we needed them

When they leave we shouldn't stay connected to the person

That person was there to serve one purpose 

You didn't call him in there, you didn't ask him to leave

He was sent by the almighty because he knows 

When a dear one leave, don't break down 

Don't cry, don't be stupid and make your life miserable

Be grateful as he was there

Be thankful that you were blessed to have him

Let your adoration to him goes as worship to the one who really cares about you, Allah

He is the one who sent that person for you and he is the one who will always send others when you need them

The only thing you need to do is to keep attached to Allah and you will always find him showing up in the faces around, you will feel his mercy and compassion, you will feel his kindness all around

Not only in people but on anything and everything around

The sunshine, the sunset, raindrops, snowflakes, a green grass, a smiling flower, a refreshing breeze, the silence of a night, a shining star, a flame of a candle, a beautiful scent …

Every where, and any where, just raise your head, open your eyes, dry your tears and look up for him….

 Feel and embrace the faith in every breath and each heartbeat

Awake 2:30 to 5:00 am

TEDxTripoli is here! WeOOo !

     For years I have been on and off following TED events and enjoying their recorded inspirational talks. Never passed my mind that I will live a day that I see an independently organized TED event held in my hometown city of Tripoli! 


       Yes, TED is here in Tripoli but unfortunately I am not "here" to attend their first conference. The positive side of the story is that merely knowing there is a TED event held in Tripoli gave me a tremendous feeling of confidence and reassurance. I know for sure now that there is great people behind the curtains working on making Libya move toward the right path.  


       If you are in Libya, DO NOT MISS THIS EVENT which will be held Feb13th 2012. To apply fill in here .


For more information about the event, you can follow updates at:

• TEDxTripoli website
• TEDxTripoli Twitter account
• TEDxTripoli Facebook page

PS.: Navigate over the red colored words, they are clickable.

هَجَدْ ...

اشتاقت الروح الجسد

بعد ساعات من مفارقته ...

حضرت ..

فلم تُنهر .. ولم تُهجر

استيقظ لها الوعي

يهدئ من روعها 

وجاءت النفس تحاكيها

تنظر لعينيها

مملؤتين بالصمت 

رجفان قلبها المتسارع محسوس بين الأضلع

ماذا رأيت ياهذه لتكوني هلعة هكذا

 أجابتني بسكوت واجم

همست لها

 هوني عليك ولاتهتمي

فقط اذكريه

فلا اطمئنان لقلب إلا بذكره

ولادفء إلا تحت غطاء رحمته

ومن أنس به لم يستوحش لشئ ولالأحد

تذكرتْ 

فذَكرت

اصطحبتها  برفق إلى النافذة

 لنتأمل ليلا مظلماً متلألأ

تبثني شجونها الهادئة

وأفصح لها خواطري الضاجة

ُتَبسمت

فَضحكتْ

ظللت

أسامرها 

وتناجيني

حتى ذهب عنها البأس

وتوارى السهاد

وأتى الهجع

من الثالثة حتى الخامسة صباحا

خَدشْ جُرَح ...

تعثرت بها

وقعت

التفتت 

رأتها

 ضمادة قديمة

مهترئة
خانتها ذاكرتها

نزعتها بخفة وسرعة لترمي بها

...

حادا صاعقا انتشر الألم

تفتقت السماء والأرض

سال  الأحمر القاني

...

كتمت صرخة

ابتلعت ريقا مالحا
لم تحملها ركبتاها

خرت ساجدة

استنجدت
...
رحماك ربي

...

Chasing the Sun !

Chasing the sun

  

Yes, I have been chasing it throughout my day !

Have you ever wished that your day is longer than 24 hrs?  Well, I do all the time, and my wish come true Dec 31st 2011 ... I lived  a day that is literally 35 hours long , riding above the clouds, over the Atlantic, back to US, after a relaxing visit to home. 

The Shy Sun

Whatever was the length of your day, it will always come to an end ... So be certain to enjoy the length when you have happy times , and remember  that there is an end  when you have hard ones. 

Riding over the clouds