Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: August 25, 2009

Another beautiful shot by Mr. Naushad. Click on the picture to view a larger image.
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: May 27, 2009

Choata Kam - Zavia, by Ashfaq Ahmed
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: May 19, 2009
A Friend “Mohsin Lodhi” sent a poem to me today. very touching and how very true. You can follow Mohsin on twitter
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Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
‘Prophet’ by Khalil Gibran
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: May 17, 2009
I found this dua in a magazine. Works for me Alhamdulillah.
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: April 3, 2009
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: April 3, 2009
A very beautiful picture of Masjid-e-Nabvi (PBUH) by Mr. Noushad. May Allah (SWT) grant all of us this opportunity to be there. Ameen
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: April 3, 2009
Ji chahe to sheesha ban ja, ji chahe paimana ban ja
Sheesha paimana kya banna, mai ban ja maikhana ban ja..
Mai ban kar, maikhana ban kar masti ka afsana ban ja
Masti ka afsana bankar hasti se begaana ban ja
Hasti se bagaana hona masti ka afsana banna
Is hone se is banne se achha hai deewana ban ja
Deewana ban jane se deewana hona achha hai
deewana hone se achha khak-e-dar-e-janana ban ja
Khak-e-dar-e-janana kya hai ahle dil ki annkh ka surma
Shama ke dil ki thandak ban ja noor-e-dil-e-parwana ban ja
Seekh Zaheen ke dil se jalna kahe ko har shamma par jalna
Apni aag mein khud jal jaye tu aisa parwana ban ja
Poetry by: Baba Zaheen Shah Taji
Sung by: Abida Parveen
Album: Raqs-e-Bismil
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: March 17, 2009
Asalam-o-Alikum,
I’ve have had a chance to read some of the poetry of Hazrat Bullay Shah and it was inspiring. It makes you connect to Allah (SWT) and it makes you think about your self.
I would love to know about readers of this blog about who they think is the greatest sufi poet of all times and please give some links to their poetry.
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: February 4, 2009
Valentine, a day celebrated on 14th of February is round the corner and our naive believers of Islam, may assign its social importance and celebrate more loyal than the St. Valentine dreamed of, here is its history.
These days, most Muslims who indulge in many alien cultural practices, do not know what they are doing. They are just blind followers of their equally blind cultural leaders.
Little do they realize that what they regard as innocent fun may in fact be rooted in paganism. That the symbols they embrace may be symbols of unbelief. That the ideas they borrow may be products of superstition, entirely in negation of what Islam stands for.
Consider Valentine’s Day, a day that after dying out a well deserved death in most of Europe – but surviving in Britain and the United States – has suddenly started to emerge across a swath of Muslim countries. Who was Valentine? Why is this day observed?
Legends abound, as they do in all such cases: Valentine’s Day began as a pagan ritual started by Romans in the 4th century BCE to honor Lupercus, the ‘god of fertility and flocks’. Its main attraction was a lottery held to distribute young women to young men for ‘entertainment and pleasure’ – until the next year’s lottery.
Among other equally despicable practices associated with this day was the lashing of young women by two young men, clad only in a bit of goatskin and wielding goatskin thongs, who had been smeared with the blood of sacrificial goats and dogs. A lash of the ’sacred’ thongs by these ‘holy men’ was believed to make the women better able to bear children.
As usual, Christianity tried, unsuccessfully, to end the evil celebration of Lupercalia. It first replaced the lottery of the names of women with a lottery of the names of saints. The idea was that during the following year the young men would emulate the life of the saint whose name, they had drawn. Christianity ended up doing in Rome, and elsewhere, as the Romans did.
The idea that you can preserve the appearance of a popular evil and yet somehow turn it to serve the purpose of virtue has survived. Look at all those people who are still trying, helplessly, to use the formats of popular television entertainment to promote good. They might learn something from this episode in history. It failed miserably. The only success it had was in changing the name of Lupercalia to St Valentine’s Day. It was done in the year 496 by Pope Gelasius, in honour of one Saint Valentine. However, there are as many as 50 different Valentines in Christian legends. Two of them are more famous, although their lives and characters are also shrouded in mystery.
According to one legend, which is more in line with the true nature of this celebration, St Valentine was a ‘lover’s saint’ who had himself fallen in love with his jailer’s daughter.
Due to serious troubles that accompanied such lottery, French government banned the Valentine ritual in 1776. It also vanished over the years in Italy, Austria, Hungry, and Germany. Earlier, during the 17th century when the Puritans were strong it had been banned in England, but King Charles II revived it in 1660.
From England the Valentine ritual arrived in the New World, where enterprising Yankees spotted a good means of making money. Esther A Howland who produced, in the 1840s, one of the first commercial American Valentine Day cards called – what else valentines sold $5,000 worth in the first year. (Then $5,000 was a lot of money.) The valentine industry has been booming ever since.
It is the same story with Halloween, which has otherwise normal human beings dressing like ghosts and goblins in a re-enactment of an ancient pagan ritual of demon worship.
The pagan name for that event was Samhain (pronounced sow-en). Just as in case of Valentine’s Day, Christianity changed its name, but not the pagan moorings.
Five star hotels in Muslim countries arrange Halloween parties so the rich can celebrate the superstitions of a distant period of ignorance that, at one time, even included the shameful practice of human sacrifice.
Christmas is another story. Today Muslim shopkeepers sell and shoppers buy Christmas symbols in Islamabad or Dubai or Cairo. To engage in a known religious celebration of another religion is bad enough. What is worse is the fact that here is another pagan celebration (Saturnalia) that has been changed in name – and in little else – by Christianity.
Even the apparently innocuous celebration might have pagan foundations. According to one account, in pagan cultures, people feared evil spirits, especially on their birthdays. It was a common belief that evil spirits were more dangerous to a person when he or she experienced a change in their daily life, such as turning a year older. So family and friends surrounded the person with laughter and joy on their birthdays to protect them from evil.
How can anyone in his right mind think that Islam would be indifferent to practices steeped in anti -Islamic ideas and beliefs? Islam came to destroy paganism in all its forms: it cannot tolerate any trace of it in the lives of its followers.
Islam is very sensitive about maintaining its purity and the unique identity of its believers. Islamic laws and teachings go to extra lengths to ensure it. For example, salâh is forbidden at the precise times of sunrise, transition and sunset to eliminate the possibility that it might get mixed up or be confused with the practice of sun worship. To the voluntary recommended fast on the tenth of Muharram, Muslims are required to add another day (9th or 11th) to distinguish it from the then prevalent Jewish practice. Muslims are forbidden to emulate the appearance of non- Muslims.
A Muslim is a Muslim for life. During joys and sorrows, during celebrations and sufferings, we must follow the one straight path – not many divergent paths. It is a great tragedy that under the constant barrage of commercial and cultural propaganda from the forces of Jahiliya and the relentless media machine, Muslims have begun to embrace the Valentines, the Halloween ghosts, and even Santa Claus.
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Have a blessed day!
Posted by: kkashifkhawaja on: November 28, 2008
http://radioislam.orgza.info/a/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4898&Itemid=49
Olive oil has long been thought to contain healing properties, and has been used for centuries for just that purpose. In recent years studies have shown that olive oil is rich in vitamin nutrients and has multiple healing effects on the body when used both internally and externally.
In countries like Greece, Italy and Spain, olive oil benefits aren’t surprising. These countries know the beneficial effect on high blood cholesterol levels, cardiovascular diseases, earaches, constipation, stomach upset, dry skin and stretch marks.
Although the olive tree originated in Asia, it has been cultivated for over 3,000 years in Mediterranean countries, where much of the olive crop is used to make olive oil. In this process, olives are pitted and ground to a thick pulp. The pulp is then pressed to remove the juices, which are placed in a centrifuge to separate the water from the oil.
Olive oil has long been thought to contain healing properties, and has been used for centuries for just that purpose. In recent years studies have shown that olive oil is rich in vitamin nutrients and has multiple healing effects on the body when used both internally and externally.
Taken topically, olive oil is an excellent remedy for thinning hair, actually re-growing the lost hair, and causing the hair to grow faster and healthier than ever. The same process works wonders for finger and toe nails as well. Using olive oil topically, can help skin problems such as: Sunburn, dermatitis, fungus infections, rashes, cuts and poison ivy.
Another astonishing topical use for olive oil is arthritis. Patients suffering from arthritis sometimes claim that the oil, when rubbed into the sore spot, instantly relieves the pain, and these results are long-lasting ones. Muscular tensions can also be erased by rubbing in olive oil. The results are instant and remarkable.
Olive oil can prevent skin cancer, help you lose weight, prevent heart attacks and strokes, (by thinning the blood) and boost your good cholesterol while lowering the bad cholesterol, prevent ear aches and infections, soften calluses, relieve irritated skin around the eyes, heal frostbite, flatten wrinkles, strengthen weak fingernails, reduce scarring, treat indigestion, heal stomach ulcers, and jelly fish stings, rejuvenate damaged hearing, soften rough skin, and reverse hair loss.
OLIVE OIL AND THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
The human body easily absorbs olive oil. This means that the body absorbs the good ingredients such as vitamin E and phenols, which have anti-oxidizing properties and prevent the oxidization of fatty tissue.
Many physiologists suggest that the easy absorption of olive oil by the body is mainly due to the fact that it is highly monounsaturated. Another important element is chlorophyll.
Olive oil facilitates the cleansing of the gall bladder.
Olive oil is not only easy to digest but it also helps the digestion of other fatty substances because it helps the secretions of the peptic system and stimulates the pancreatic enzyme lipace.
The good peptic qualities of olive oil are also due to its good organolyptic characteristics, which are formed by a large group of volatile ingredients. These volatile ingredients are combined together to give olive oil its particular aroma and distinctive taste.
OLIVE OIL AND CHOLESTEROL
Olive oil consumption has a very positive effect on blood cholesterol. We can distinguish cholesterol in two types: HDL cholesterol (good) and LDL cholesterol (bad). Good cholesterol is transported from the cells to the liver where it is secreted with the help of high-density lipoproteins. Bad cholesterol is transported by low-density lipoproteins into the cells. HDL – good cholesterol has a positive influence on the body especially on the heart. On the contrary, LDL – bad cholesterol has a negative effect and is a cause of artillery sclerosis and heart disease. Olive oil limits the oxidizing of this cholesterol because it is rich in anti-oxidizing agents.
OLIVE OIL FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.
When nutrition supplies the body with the necessary and useful ingredients in the correct balance it has a positive effect in child development but also in the preservation of the health of older people. A major cause for the degeneration of the cells – and their eventual destruction – is the accumulation of free radicals, which are produced by the oxidization of the fatty tissues in the body.
Vitamin E, phenols and other antioxidizing substances protect the human body from the negative effects of free radicals. Olive oil contains a high percentage of phenols and vitamin E and as a result helps delay the aging process.
SOME MORE HEALTH BENFITS OF OLIVE OIL…..
It is often said that olive oil causes problems with the stomach or intestines. This is simply not the case. Olive oil is very easy to digest and mild for the intestines!
You can do a little test. If you spill some olive oil on your hands you can easily wash it off. If disappears fast in the sink and you don’t need a lot of hot water and detergent to wash it away. Because your body is like a glass of water it reacts the same.
If you have eaten some olive oil your body will evaporate it within 1 ½ hours via your pores. This means your body can handle it easily and does not have to waste any energy to digest it.
Olive oil was also used by our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. And has great medicinal value.
It’s an excellent treatment for skin and hair, delays old age and treats inflammation of he stomach.
It helps with gastric and duodenal ulcers.
Olive oil is n excellent emollient and its external application softens the skin and crusts in eczema and psoriasis.
It is good oil for massage and is an important ingredient of many ointments and plasters.
In one Hadith, Prophet Muhammed S.A.W. advised people to use olive oil for food and for massage because it was obtained from a blessed tree.
A few quick serving ideas.
YES U CAN FRY IN OLIVE OIL….
Olive oil, as with any fatty substance, deteriorates during the frying process especially if it is used over and over and if the frying temperature is very high. High temperature destroys the good ingredients of any oil while it creates harmful agents for the liver, the arteries and the heart. It is important however to take into consideration that these harmful agents are less likely to be created in olive oil than in all other known vegetable oils and this is because olive oil has a different composition. It contains a high percentage of oleic acid, which is much more resistant to oxidization than the polyunsaturated acids, which are found in large amounts in seed oils. But more importantly olive oil contains natural anti-oxidizing agents such as phenols and vitamin E. Of course it should be noted that during frying olive oil smokes at lower temperatures than is the case with seed oils. The reason is that olive oil is a natural fruit juice and contains a certain quantity of olive pulp. This disadvantage can be dealt with if we keep the frying temperature low. This practice should be followed regardless of which type of oil we use. This analysis should be convincing enough to help us revise our conventual wisdom as to the suitability of olive oil for frying purposes.