Comments on: Ramadan Sin-O-Meter: The Results http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/ Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:17:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Muju http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27997 Muju Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:56:08 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27997 Mashallah its a great article! Subhanallah this article applies to me so well! I alhamdullilah used to watch enough TV and never realize how many I wasted away in my day just watching that devil box. Ever since I stopped watching TV, things like lowering my gaze have become easier, and I have become slightly more immune to the evils around me, especially at university. It also allowed me to find more time for quran and taraweeh. Now, that shaitan has been unlocked the challenge lies in if we can actually persist in doing these so obedient acts, and I have already subhanallah felt shaitans attacks at me!...."its ok keep sleeping, pray fajr when you wake up", "its JUST sunnah salah", "just sit and loaft around on the internet, its so HALAL, and CHILLING". Like subhanallah, his attach is full fledged. May Allah make it easy for us to fight the dreaded shaitaan for the rest of the year, and maintain the taqwa and piety that we attained during ramadhan. Mashallah its a great article!
Subhanallah this article applies to me so well! I alhamdullilah used to watch enough TV and never realize how many I wasted away in my day just watching that devil box. Ever since I stopped watching TV, things like lowering my gaze have become easier, and I have become slightly more immune to the evils around me, especially at university. It also allowed me to find more time for quran and taraweeh. Now, that shaitan has been unlocked the challenge lies in if we can actually persist in doing these so obedient acts, and I have already subhanallah felt shaitans attacks at me!….”its ok keep sleeping, pray fajr when you wake up”, “its JUST sunnah salah”, “just sit and loaft around on the internet, its so HALAL, and CHILLING”.
Like subhanallah, his attach is full fledged.
May Allah make it easy for us to fight the dreaded shaitaan for the rest of the year, and maintain the taqwa and piety that we attained during ramadhan.

]]> By: iMuslim http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27935 iMuslim Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:23:34 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27935 Thanks everyone for your interesting comments... I have to say, my personal problem now is how to prevent myself wasting time online. Most of my work is computer/online based, and so I don't even know how to differentiate between useful and wasteful activities half the time! Plus it is so easy to be distracted by new e-mails, and people coming onto IM... argh. I think I should only have my necessary applications open - leave the Mail and IM apps closed until my dedicated "break" time. Plus I hate sitting in front of my laptop for so many hours straight... not good! Thanks everyone for your interesting comments… I have to say, my personal problem now is how to prevent myself wasting time online. Most of my work is computer/online based, and so I don’t even know how to differentiate between useful and wasteful activities half the time!

Plus it is so easy to be distracted by new e-mails, and people coming onto IM… argh. I think I should only have my necessary applications open – leave the Mail and IM apps closed until my dedicated “break” time. Plus I hate sitting in front of my laptop for so many hours straight… not good!

]]> By: Organica http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27908 Organica Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:47:43 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27908 MashAllah! What an inspiring post :-)! MashAllah! What an inspiring post :-)!

]]> By: Ramadan Entry - Losing Track! « iMuslim http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27879 Ramadan Entry - Losing Track! « iMuslim Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:35:17 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27879 [...] Spiritual I forgot to mention my follow-up entry to Ramadan: The Ultimate Sin-O-Meter, titled: Ramadan Sin-O-Meter: The Results. Check it [...] [...] Spiritual I forgot to mention my follow-up entry to Ramadan: The Ultimate Sin-O-Meter, titled: Ramadan Sin-O-Meter: The Results. Check it [...]

]]> By: asad http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27868 asad Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:50:38 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27868 I sold my PS3 at the beginning of Ramadhan on ebay to stop myself from playing on it- its that addictive. I sold my PS3 at the beginning of Ramadhan on ebay to stop myself from playing on it- its that addictive.

]]> By: AbuAbdAllah, the Houstonian http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27825 AbuAbdAllah, the Houstonian Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:28:13 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27825 bismillah. so after thinking about my last post in this thread, i promised myself not to return to MM until i had done something good. and alhamdolillah, i did a few things including reading two pages from the mushaf. shaykh waleed basyouni mentioned in his friday khutbah at the end of Ramadan that one of the things that makes doing good deeds easier in Ramadan is that all the Muslims are doing good deeds at the same time. fasting is easier, for example, because everyone is fasting. alhamdolillah, we do not need to join the people of bidah who make difficult-to-fulfill pledges and burden themselves with ibadat that are not fard already. so i am not encouraging anyone to make bayah or to make a pledge to do extra fasts, etc. that would be wrong. but i will encourage everyone to think about the extra good deeds they did in Ramadan, and think about how to keep up with those good deeds now that Ramadan is gone. for me, for example, that means reading more Qur'an outside Ramadan. alhamdolillah, i am grateful to Allah that He puts it in my heart to read much more Qur'an in Ramadan. and i pray to Allah for steadfastness so that, even if it is less than in Ramadan, i still read a significant amount every day, inshaAllah. and i think that setting a personal benchmark each day would be good. as would increasing that goal from time to time. and i think that treating my time on this site as a reward for meeting my daily goals would be better than letting my time here delay me. and i will try to keep that in mind with other distractions, though i pray that Allah will keep me steadfast in avoiding TV and similar wastes. the difference between MM and TV as distractions is like the difference between a ripe and crunchy apple on the one hand, and a processed-milk-and-cocoa-byproduct-chocolate-bar sweetened with refined sugar on the other. one as they say will keep the doctor away, and the other is a prescription for diabetes. bismillah. so after thinking about my last post in this thread, i promised myself not to return to MM until i had done something good. and alhamdolillah, i did a few things including reading two pages from the mushaf.

shaykh waleed basyouni mentioned in his friday khutbah at the end of Ramadan that one of the things that makes doing good deeds easier in Ramadan is that all the Muslims are doing good deeds at the same time. fasting is easier, for example, because everyone is fasting.

alhamdolillah, we do not need to join the people of bidah who make difficult-to-fulfill pledges and burden themselves with ibadat that are not fard already. so i am not encouraging anyone to make bayah or to make a pledge to do extra fasts, etc. that would be wrong.

but i will encourage everyone to think about the extra good deeds they did in Ramadan, and think about how to keep up with those good deeds now that Ramadan is gone. for me, for example, that means reading more Qur’an outside Ramadan. alhamdolillah, i am grateful to Allah that He puts it in my heart to read much more Qur’an in Ramadan. and i pray to Allah for steadfastness so that, even if it is less than in Ramadan, i still read a significant amount every day, inshaAllah.

and i think that setting a personal benchmark each day would be good. as would increasing that goal from time to time.

and i think that treating my time on this site as a reward for meeting my daily goals would be better than letting my time here delay me. and i will try to keep that in mind with other distractions, though i pray that Allah will keep me steadfast in avoiding TV and similar wastes.

the difference between MM and TV as distractions is like the difference between a ripe and crunchy apple on the one hand, and a processed-milk-and-cocoa-byproduct-chocolate-bar sweetened with refined sugar on the other. one as they say will keep the doctor away, and the other is a prescription for diabetes.

]]> By: Bint Bashir http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27801 Bint Bashir Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:32:51 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27801 I think the main difference is when Ramadan arrives we think of what we are going to do to improve ourselves that month and Alhumdulilah we do it, but when Ramadan finishes we start to return to our old habis, although i have never been a big fan of TV, the fact it is there i should change. I would like to try to have it so that, not watching tv etc is not a new thing for me, but that i never do it, not that when ramadan arrives we change it but only for a short time, so that it becomes the norm!! May Allah make this easy for us inshaAllah. I think the main difference is when Ramadan arrives we think of what we are going to do to improve ourselves that month and Alhumdulilah we do it, but when Ramadan finishes we start to return to our old habis, although i have never been a big fan of TV, the fact it is there i should change.

I would like to try to have it so that, not watching tv etc is not a new thing for me, but that i never do it, not that when ramadan arrives we change it but only for a short time, so that it becomes the norm!!

May Allah make this easy for us inshaAllah.

]]> By: Faraz http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27798 Faraz Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:41:43 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27798 I don't even know why I have a tv, except for watching hockey (which is only half the year). I went through seven years without one, and the one I have now rarely turns on for anything other than sports... news, weather, and anything else somewhat interesting and informative is all available through the internet now, so I really think it's only a matter of time before I can break away from tv ownership again. Of course, internet is an even bigger waste of time if we let it be, so perhaps it's not the medium that's the problem but ourselves.. I don’t even know why I have a tv, except for watching hockey (which is only half the year). I went through seven years without one, and the one I have now rarely turns on for anything other than sports… news, weather, and anything else somewhat interesting and informative is all available through the internet now, so I really think it’s only a matter of time before I can break away from tv ownership again. Of course, internet is an even bigger waste of time if we let it be, so perhaps it’s not the medium that’s the problem but ourselves..

]]> By: sister_in_islaam http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27783 sister_in_islaam Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:43:27 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27783 Music was not made haram by scholars but rather by Allah azawajal. Please see here inshaaAllah, jazaakallahu khairan for your good intentions and willingness to learn about the Deen of Allah: The End of Music by Kamal ElMakki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RthlUOYkI7M Music was not made haram by scholars but rather by Allah azawajal. Please see here inshaaAllah, jazaakallahu khairan for your good intentions and willingness to learn about the Deen of Allah:

The End of Music by Kamal ElMakki

]]> By: Ikram http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27782 Ikram Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:26:38 +0000 http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/04/ramadan-sin-o-meter-the-results/#comment-27782 In the name of Allah, I do not have a TV and I do not listen to Music obsessively. But usually after an hour or two of work I listen to a piece of music by the composer Yanni. I do not think music in itself can be called haram. You can waste your time listening to music or browsing the web, so why is music haram while browsing the web not? Also, why is it not haram to watch a movie that stimulates an awful lot of negative emotions within oneself and contains murder while it is haram to listen to some peace-bringing and inspiring music? I think our scholars should first understand the thing they want to make haram. Most things can be used for good and for bad. I rarely watch movies because most are stupid or boring, or they contain Zionist propaganda. And alhamdulillah I have made it my personal rule to read one Juz' of Quran everyday, no exceptions. And I think that everyone who calls himself/herself a Muslim should do the same or more. In Surah Al-Muzzammil there is a mention of how the Prophet (saw) and his friends used to stay up one third of a night, or half the night, or two thirds of it, praying and reading Quran. Who does that these days? In the name of Allah,

I do not have a TV and I do not listen to Music obsessively. But usually after an hour or two of work I listen to a piece of music by the composer Yanni.
I do not think music in itself can be called haram. You can waste your time listening to music or browsing the web, so why is music haram while browsing the web not?
Also, why is it not haram to watch a movie that stimulates an awful lot of negative emotions within oneself and contains murder while it is haram to listen to some peace-bringing and inspiring music?

I think our scholars should first understand the thing they want to make haram. Most things can be used for good and for bad.

I rarely watch movies because most are stupid or boring, or they contain Zionist propaganda.
And alhamdulillah I have made it my personal rule to read one Juz’ of Quran everyday, no exceptions. And I think that everyone who calls himself/herself a Muslim should do the same or more. In Surah Al-Muzzammil there is a mention of how the Prophet (saw) and his friends used to stay up one third of a night, or half the night, or two thirds of it, praying and reading Quran. Who does that these days?

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