Ramadan Mubarak!

Ramadan Mubarak to Everyone... I've definitely been MIA for some time, but I am also determined to keep going with this project, inshaAllah.

Ramadan puts an extra emphasis on the Quran and worship in the middle of the night. (aka, stop watching movies and TV right now and focus on Allah)

In the coming days, I will be posting several good readings that will be beneficial during Ramadan compiled from both the Rihla and ALIM programs this year, inshaAllah.

A good book,used as text at the Rihla program this year, is Purification of the Heart , with the translation and commentary by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.

The second appendix in the back of the book talks specifically about Ramadan and how this is the perfect time to focus on getting rid of all these diseases of the heart.

Even if we have been unable to focus in the past week, we should really make our intention and strive to make it our best from now on.

Shaykh Hamza writes "Without effort and sincere trust, Ramadan can easily be just another 30 days in a year, no special moment. Even for those who fast, who mechanically deprive themselves without striving to reach deep into their souls for spiritual lessons, replenishment, and climbing , the month comes and goes with only the sense of inconvenience and then a celebration at the end. Then life goes on as it did the months of the year before. One cannot help but notice a tragedy in this: God so generously opens portals in time, truly special opportunities for us to grow, learn, and build for our Hereafter, yet people turn away from it with casual notice and perfunctory interest" (Pgs. 187-188)

May Allah strengthen us to make this our best Ramadan yet. ameen.

With that said, some good people to follow on twitter this Ramadan is Halal Boy .Add him on facebook and read his hilarious diary entries as he writes about his adventures during Ramadan.
(more on why his name is "Halal Boy" here).

Another project going on in New York City is 30 Mosques in 30 Days led by Aman Ali & Bassam Tariq .

Enjoy!

UK Muslim Youth

I recently attended a MYNA Leadership conference as a counselor and was able to meet an amazing sister, Sr. Faridha Karim, representing from Muslim Youth Helpline of the UK. Great organization, mashaAllah.

The organization also has a website for youth, Muslimyouth.net with campaigns to get Muslim youth in the UK active.

One of their documentaries on Muslim youth involved gang violence, titled Second Chance is especially interesting and brings awareness to a really important issue in the Muslim community.

Why we need an American-Muslim Tyler Perry

Hands down, Tyler Perry is cool.

The first Tyler Perry movie I saw was Diary of a Mad Black Woman. While I watched the making of the movie, I realized that this was Perrys’ first film ever. And in my opinion, his best one yet. It was a combination of a drama, comedy, love story and family movie all in one. At the same time, he promoted the idea of the ideal Black Christian family.

Perry's movies make it clear that he knows what he wants as far as portraying the ideal Black Christian community – and using his movies to give people that positive image of what to attain. Besides his TV sitcoms, I have yet to see a Tyler Perry movie without a church scene in it – which is usually the same scene where the family’s troubles all unravel and fix themselves – all because they had trust in God.

No matter what the problem is, in the end, the church is where their problems are solved.

So basically Perry is legit because he's proud of who he is and he is using movies to affirm his identity, and that is something that we, as American Muslims can learn from. This is so we don’t not push away our identity, but to embrace it.

-ScreenRighter with help from FilmMaqam