LOL! I love the captions

Oh yeah, and just for clarification on my presence at the AlMaghrib reunion. I was invited to come and I have taken 2 AlMaghrib courses (II took Light of Guidance (seriously, i did!) and Fiqh of Love, which btw is an excellent class).

mashallah the Al Maghrib reunion looked geat…their were some incrediable session…unfoirtunantly i could not go…bu their should be some audio around…keep us all in ur duas MM u guys r doin a great job. salaam

Chilling with the shuyookh at 1am at ISNA in middle of the crowd was by far one the most fun experiences I had!!

Or seeing Imam Zaid Shakir stop by to say salaam to Sh. Birjas and Sh.Qadhi and seeing the adab they had each other really showed me the beauty of islamic brotherhood.

Nice photos Saqib, masha’Allah… The Dark Knight one was especially… dark.

And who are these “internet Muslim controversy-lovers” you keep referring to? Show yourselves!

P.S. Fairuza Hamza Yusuf has an entire lecture on tossing the TV out of our homes and he mentions it quiet often in his lectures but i guess he finally gave in to the fact that most muslim households are not ready to do that …

How about another post on what was discussed at Almaghrib reunion?

Conventions are now all about celebrities.

Dave Chappelle was there Murphy. But you were too busy trying to learn about fiqh of Ramadan and blunts…

Might I add the Shaykh Hamza bought a CD set from ILMQuest called Economics and Banking. Despite what Abdullah Aikens may say, I initiated and completed the sale ;)

For those of you who have never met brother MujahideenRyder, all I’d like to say is that he is nothing like you’d expect him to be.

You can call him at edited

Masha’Alalh those pictures are very nice. I was at the almaghrib booth and wasn’t expecting Hamza Yusuf to come and talk to us. For some reason we didn’t think he would come but he came and talk to us for a min and we gave him a little gift :-)

He came to our booth and was there for about 20 minutes looking at most of the binders. Masha’Allah he was very nice and had a conversation with me and another sister.

More pictures from almaghrib, eman rush and ilmquest booth you can check here http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=28465

Wassalam

Im surprised at how shocked people are that… scholars from different organizations are friendly and respectful with each other.

anyways, alhamdulillah, ISNA was amazing. Such a diversity of scholars, topics, people… Very spiritually uplifting and rejuvenating!
This was my first ISNA conference (after attending many ICNAs, RIS, Zonal Conferences, etc.) – and it wasnt nearly as bad as people complained (fitnah, etc.)

I took notes of many of the sessions and will iA post them on my site within the coming days, for now u can check out Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s Ramadan Advice (from his final session at the main session) here!

Yes, Abu Ameerah and Sh. Chao? Where they at?!?

اللهم إني صائم
Oh Allah I am fasting :)

As for the photos…one statement:

mediocre camera lenses.

Ex-Ex back with a BANG, pwning all in his way

Stay tuned for an Exclusive Ramadan UPDATE on this post.

Lol hey I like Columbus, don’t get me wrong. But walking around on a Friday at 10:30pm and not finding a restaurant open was kinda sad ;-).

But, ironically enough, I like Columbus and other small cities way better than Chicago. Go figure.

Before this whole “Columbus is somehow comparable to Chicago” rhetoric gets out of hand; let me say that as someone who had a home residence in Columbus for 20 years and have spent the last 6 months in Chicago….it’s a no-brainer, Chicago takes the cake. I can’t believe it’s even a debate. I’m never moving back to Columbus…insh’Allaah.

Isn’t this supposed to be a Muslim unity event? Shia Sunni we all believe in the same Lord , Allah , Azza wa Jall

The same Prophet Muhammad , peace and blessings upon him and his family

the same Quran Al-Hakeem

the same Qiblah Ka3ba

the same day of judgement

so whats the problem?

sA i went and i feel like needed more like a week to get through that whole bazaar/Islamapalooza alone! I def did not get through all the booths/exhibits. Alhamdulillah, I think this was my 2nd ISNA conference(last DC one was in 2002, I believe), went to East Zone earlier this year, SubhanAllah, I did not expect it to be this BIG. All the speakers were inspirational and REAL, I really enjoyed the whole weekend, Alhamdulillah. Can’t wait until DC next year, iA : )

if there were no problems then we wouldn’t have a different name for u (shia). don’t be naïve. no one wants to unify with the shia. u asked so I told u :)

maria, I believe mr. yq is of pakistani origin. not that it matters, just setting the facts straight.

Hassan said:
Who is Altaf Hussain? Unfortunately its hard to do google on him, all results are MQM Altaf Hussain.

If you don’t know who DR. Altaf Husain is then you’ve missed out on a lot in the national Muslim scene :)

Amad (Author) said:
Altaf Hussein was the ex-MSA National President. He does speak quite a bit around the conference circuits.

Masha’Allah his work goes far beyond his years leading MSA National (though he is still a mentor to so many MSAers).

May Allah Bless Br. Altaf and his family for all of their hard work for His Sake.

I have to admit, I didn’t even think about going to ISNA this year because…com’on…it was in OHIO…OOOHHHIIIOO!!! You don’t get any discounts for traveling-while-Muslim, so if I’m going to shell out the dough to take a flight and stay in a hotel, the city has to be on point. So, I’m glad to hear that next year’s venue is rumored to be D.C.

That being said, it does seem as if I missed out on some good times :/

Yalla. Next year, inshAllah :)

Chicago is overrated, I’ve got to be honest. Here’s how it breaks down.

It’s a great city to visit/have conventions at/take vacations to. Other than that, it’s overrated. If you plan on living in the suburbs here, then any other suburb in any other medium-large city is comparable.That’s the way suburbs were meant to be…the same no matter what city you were in. You have your banks, your restaurants, your grocery stores, etc. Suburbs here and in Ohio are super similar, I’m sure.

Now, as far as the city goes, nothing compares to the city of Chicago, downtown specifically. The skyline is beautiful, the food is great, especially Devon street for all you Desis. But it comes with a price. A standard 1 bedroom apartment downtown is at least $1000 a month, and that’s literally for a hole-in-the-wall, toilet-in-the-kitchen apartment. If you’re making a lot, and I mean A LOT of money, then downtown Chicago is a great place to live. If you’re not a multimillionaire, then it’s overrated.

Expensive prices are also reflected in the suburbs as well, houses and apartments are much more expensive in Chicago’s suburbs than they would be in…oh I don’t know…Memphis, let’s say :-).

P.S. if you’re a nature person, Chicago is not your town.

MYNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AbdelRahman said:

Chicago is overrated, I’ve got to be honest.

………………………………………………………………………

Expensive prices are also reflected in the suburbs as well, houses and apartments are much more expensive in Chicago’s suburbs than they would be in…oh I don’t know…Memphis, let’s say :-).

P.S. if you’re a nature person, Chicago is not your town.

I think Wasat will disown you now…

what happened to brother suhaib webbs azhar gear. first time i see him without it

Regarding YQ’s family origins.. I have heard so many things from so many different people.

For what its worth, he told me himself that he originally hails from Lucknow, India.

I’m sure we can always ask him to explain to us the strongest opinopn in this messy Ikhtilaaf.

All other places are good to visit but if you want to be with the Muslims u gotta live in or near a big city (chicago, NY, LA, etc).

I don’t know about that. I think it’s the opposite. With super-large Muslim communities, everyone is so focused on different groups or ideas. With small communities, the moderate size keeps everyone banded together, You saw yourself when we went to Windsor for A Heart Serene. Has Chicago put together a youth center like that? Library, game room, video game room, basketball court, computer lab – all attached to the masjid? Nope. In Windsor, there was no shortage of brothers alhamdulilah.

Even from an Islamic point of view, Chicago is quite overrated, now that I think about it.

windsor feeds off of detroit. its very hard to get knowledge in small towns as well. chicago has so many people to learn. same with ny and houston and la. ur better off as a Muslim in a larger city.

a friend I have used to live in rhode island and u ask him which he likes better, big city or small city. mahin is evidence enough :)

u can ask bros from indiana as well.

I don’t know, I disagree – I think knowledge is anywhere if you find it. I’ve always been a bigger fan of small communities because of the close-knit feel. And Siraaj, I feel you can do a lot more in terms of activities for the masjid. Sometimes I feel we focus on organizations and dawah to the point that we forget about our local masaajid. We should be establishing these faculties THROUGH our masaajid insha Allah. Locally grown Muslims, keep it organic.

Siraaj, you think that’s blacklisted? That’s how our masjid is, *no one talks to one another*. Ever since I started coming to that certain masjid 7 years ago, I haven’t felt more than an ounce of brotherhood. Everyone’s too concerned with their bureacracy and board membership to have effective programs. That’s the baggage that comes with large communities that identify with even larger labels/groups – you have to deal with all the drama that comes with them.

Trust me, you haven’t been blacklisted. I’ve seen people get blacklisted, they can’t come pray anymore. Yeah, you’re not blacklisted, alhamdulilah.

Hey Saqib, let’s go to Devon.

bismillah, laughing with hayaa, Amad, as much as i love my home, may Allah preserve it from the storm, i love madinah more, and i would probably rather live in most any saudi city than here.

and as for how good/pleasant/religious life is here, all you haters keep your hasad to yourselves! but send us more of your best halal restaurant concessions like OC’s Jamilah Gardens! ;P