To understand corporate America's view of its employees, read Execution:  The Disciple of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan.  You are not the intended audience for this book; it was written primarily for consumption by C-level executives and Senior VP types.  A better title for this book would be, How to Treat Employees like Disposable Trash 101.  It teaches you that employees are assets, resources, but certainly not people worth caring about.  The attitude it conveys is unfortunately found all over the corporate world – toss your employees out, even well-performing ones, if you are unable to use them in the  future, or you can find a way to drive down costs by doing so.

In my personal experience, I find most people don't understand this.  They expect to be rewarded with further benefits, bonuses, and at the very least, continued employment for pouring blood, sweat, and tears at the direction of upper management.  When friends and co-workers learned I had been promoted and given a raise not once, but twice in a two year span, they would say, “Looks like your job is safe, you're doing really well.”  But I knew better – positive performance appraisals were no indicator of continued employment potential.

And so it was after 6 years of employment at Motorola Mobility, on the heels of the successful launch of what is now known as the OG Droid (the first phone to truly challenge Apple's three year iPhone dominance) and as mentioned earlier, year-over-year promotions, I was laid off (along with the rest of my team).  The reason?  Mobility wanted to grow staff without growing cost, so it was more cost-effective to lay off staff domestically and outsource to China.

I spent six months in unemployment and wanted share whatever insights, tips, or tricks I found beneficial on my path back to employment.

Rule #1:  Success Begins within You

My heart pounded loudly in my chest, and I could feel my face and neck heating up, as though my body was about to implode from within.  It was a Friday, and my last day official day was Monday the following week.  I had known this for two months, but the realization of it finally hit me full force.  What would I do after my severance ran out?  How would I support my wife and 3 kids?  Did I have the skills to find a new job in the current market?  What if I didn't?  Could I re-train with a new skill set?  Where would I get the money for this?  On and on, the questions kept coming, like a badly timed game of word association, unemployment edition.

Until that moment, I hadn't understood why people lost their confidence and self-respect from losing a job.  An internal battle was taking place, and I was losing ground as I moved in the direction of trying to fight it myself.  Within an hour, I was able to shift this dynamic with the following “tweaks” in my thought process:

1.  In the End, It's All Good for You

The Prophet  said:

“How amazing is the affair of the believer. There is good for him in everything and that is for no one but the believer. If good times come his way, he expresses gratitude to Allāh and that is good for him, and if hardship comes his way, he endures it patiently and that is better for him.” [Muslim]

From my perspective, Allāh had taken me out of what appeared to be a good situation and was preparing me to move on to bigger and better things.  There was a treasure out there somewhere, and it is implicit that a truly valuable treasure requires effort to find.  My effort in this case would be my plan of attack in finding a new job.

2.  Use Personal Anxiety and Fear to Your Advantage

There's nothing like the adrenaline rush generated from procrastinating until a project is about to fall off the edge of the cliff into the abyss of no return, only to be saved by pushing through an over-caffeinated night or two, with the fear of failure hovering inches over your shoulder.

The same feeling may occur to you, except that instead of one project with a definite deadline, you may feel an inward attack of multiple tasks and projects to complete to get employed again, and no definite date in mind except “right now”.

Take a deep breath, focus, and write down everything that comes to mind down.  From that list, pick the two tasks that you feel will have the most impact on your job search prospects, and focus relentlessly on them until they are complete.  If you're feeling anxious about the remaining list, use that anxiety to propel you to finish the first two tasks.

3.  Give Your Best and Leave the Rest to Allāh

If you were to take advice from either career experts, your family and friends, or even people in your work industry, you might find yourself confused about what direction you should take.  Evaluate however many options you can, and then take action in some way.  Predicting the future and knowing what is best for you is beyond your capacity.  It may be your time off has some benefit that would not be available if you returned to work immediately.  It could be to ward off some harm.

Whatever the case, take action, pray istikhārah, and keep moving forward.  It may be two months or two years before the right job falls into your lap, so be patient.  Take advantage of this time to benefit yourself in other ways, such as spending more time with family, taking care of your health, or learning new skills to enhance your résumé.

One note, I must say that I'm always confident in turning to Allāh because I make it a point not to fudge experience on my resume.  I always try to present my best self and stay truthful.  There remain many who lie about their qualifications (or lack of them) on the resume for a paycheck.  I don't understand how people can do this and expect blessings with income that's taken daily based on lies.  I would be afraid that just like the disbelievers, on a lesser level I was given something that be a blessing up front and a major curse later, either on me or my wife and kids.

Rule #2:  Get Smart with Your Money

I was given two months of salary post-employment and unemployment checks on top of this, so I was making more in unemployment than on the job.  When the two months expired, I turned to other means for either gaining income or saving money.

1.  Create a Budget

Without a doubt, you won't do anything meaningful with your money if you don't know how or where it is spent.  I admit I don't have the patience to collect every receipt, write down my spending, and balance a checkbook.  For people like me, there's mint.com (this is free).  I've hooked up my two bank accounts on there, so any transaction I run through my debit card (I live on cash only) shows up both in my online bank statement and on Mint.  I can categorize each transaction according to a category (it can be either automatically categorized or manually) and I can quickly see how money is spent.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of REALLY seeing how you spend versus how you think you spend.  You can use the tool to create a budget for different items and track whether you stay in or out of budget.  If you'd like to start, you can set aside budgets using the categories I use:

• Gas and Fuel:  self-explanatory
• Bills and Utilities:  Electricity, Gas, Internet, Cell Phone (some may also need water, trash, and sewage)
• Business Services:  Subscription fees for internet services, online software like Turbotax, etc
• Education:  My wife's budget for kids homeschooling subscriptions and purchases
• Entertainment
• Monthly Savings:  Meant for anticipated future expenses
• Groceries and Eating Out
• Shopping

2.  Find Alternative Sources of Income

One means of income was collecting unemployment insurance.  It wasn't enough, but it covered rent and some expenses.  For extra food costs, we were able to get food stamps on a special debit card (about $300 worth) and WIC (women, infants, children) vouchers because two of our children were two and under.  If you ever go to a grocery store and see a label that says WIC next to the price, it means that food qualifies for trade in with a WIC voucher.

Another way to get income is coupons.  Coupons for the food you buy regularly is essentially free money, so if you're tight on budget, make sure to get coupons.  Related to coupons, I picked up the book Coupon Mom and found I was able cut my grocery bill tremendously by implementing her tips.

Yet a third way is getting part-time or temporary jobs (because your other “job” is finding a permanent job that pays to the standard you expect).  I worked for one organization writing their advertising copy.

Finally, look within your local community for resources.  At the county level, you may find grants for studying (I actually acquired a $7000 grant which I was unable to use as I found a job before I could use it).

3.  Save Money on Expenses

The two expenses that have the most impact on your finances will likely be your rent or mortgage with utility bills, and your eating expenses.  Others might be car and health insurance, credit card debt (if you have a high monthly minimum), and random hits (like unexpected required car repairs).

One of the best ways to cut down on costs is rent/mortgage costs – if you can, move back in with your parents or your in-laws temporarily until you're back on your feet.  I don't normally advocate moving back in with mom and dad because of the strain this often puts on a marriage, particularly if it's the husband's parents, but in the case of layoffs and the potential for extended unemployment, I think it's a good idea (I think parents moving in to live with kids is great once they can' take care of themselves any longer).  If you can't do that, then consider if it's possible to move to a cheaper home.  If that's not possible, look for ways to cut utility costs – some agencies have programs for people who are unemployed, often via the city or the county you're living in.

Another big way to cut costs is reducing your grocery bill, utilizing the methods taught in the book Coupon Mom (there are other books and programs written by people into saving via couponing, that's the one I read).  One tip which reduced my bills greatly: looking at the per ounce or per unit cost of an item, and compare it with others around.  This will tell you if something is truly on sale.  You'd be surprised to find buying in bulk or buying generic is not always the cheaper way to go.  Another tip is to pay attention to sale cycles, as the price of many items will rise and fall regularly on a cycle.  For example, recently I bought 20 boxes of oatmeal because the price dropped from $4.79 a box to $2.50 a box.  Over the amount of time it will take me to consume that much, the next cycle will hit and I can buy it dirt cheap again.

For health care costs, I personally opted not to go the COBRA or single payer route once my group insurance ran out, and took Medicaid instead.

Rule #3:  Communication Skills are the Essential Job Hunting Tool

1.  Networking is King

When I searched for my first job out of college, a headhunter gave me this piece of advice – get an expensive suit, clean your shoes, and go to all the companies in your area, offer your resume to the receptionist, and tell them why you're there.  He told me most people are trying to find jobs in their PJs and underwear through Monster.com, and that you had to go out there and really go after it.

I have to admit, I haven't been successful in job-hunting via search engines, so I have no tips to offer about writing keyword friendly resumes, or creating high hit profiles.  Every single interview I received or job I've worked in the past 10 years came about as a result of networking with people who knew of positions that were about to open (but had not yet been communicated to HR).  That seems to be the reality of job searching – someone wants to hire, checks around internally with co-workers, interviews that person, then opens the position to meet HR requirements, then hires the person.

Given this, I recommend networking with everyone possible (trading phone numbers, emails, business cards, etc), both in person and on social media (including Facebook and Twitter, not just LinkedIn).  One phone interview I received was through networking I had done with professors I knew from Purdue (my alma mater), and when I posted a note on Facebook asking for du'aa for an upcoming interview, I was messaged by multiple friends asking me to send over my resume, and in this manner, I received future phone interviews.

My list, in no particular order of importance, goes:

1. College Associates (professors, fellow students, TAs, RAs, etc)
2. Family (cousins, siblings, in-laws, uncles, aunts, etc)
3. Friends (via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+)
4. Previous Co-Workers
5. Recruiters on LinkedIn

You can double, triple, and quadruple your list by recruiting people who have a stake in your getting a job (wife, kids, parents who are also professional and/or networked).

When you give your resume to others, don't wait for them to follow-up with you. Ask them when you can contact them for follow-up, and keep doing this after each follow-up until that lead is closed off in some way.

I also highly recommend making the effort to network with people who are top performers.  When top performers give recommendations to management, it's taken more seriously and the chance for an interview rises dramatically.

After all that, the most important networking you can do for yourself is, as the clever cliché goes, sending du'ā's in the form of knee-mail during the last 3rd of the night in qiyām'l-layl.

2.  Speak with Confidence and Integrity During Your Interview

The job interview can be an intimidating experience if you're unprepared for it.  The only way to get good is to practice giving interviews.  I would suggest checking Amazon for the top-selling interview questions book (I'ved used the Knock 'Em Dead series by Martin Yates) to get a feel for some of the questions you'll be asked on a general level (tell me about yourself, tell me one weakness you have, what are your strengths, etc), and start practicing those answers.

If you expect a technical interview, then research online and try to find the questions you'll be asked.  If you're interviewing with a specific company known for strange questions and interviews (Google, Microsoft, etc), then check online for these types of interviews; you'll find message boards and websites dedicated to listing the experiences of past interviewees.

For general questions, have a family member or friend take you through a mock interview.  For technical questions, see if you can do a mock interview with a colleague or someone in your field.  Ask for feedback on the content of your answer, your delivery, and non-verbal cues (looking down or away, fiddling, shaking legs, slouching, not smiling, and so on).

If you feel uncomfortable doing this with your family and friends, there are services in the state unemployment offices that will do this with you for free.  You may also find post lay-off  that your company has services to support you in preparing a resume and doing mock interviews, so take advantage of this.

Practice often, and make sure you don't exaggerate or lie.  The most confident interview you'll deliver is the one where you don't have to second-guess yourself or keep track of half-truths or full-untruths you told the interviewer.

3.  Communicating with Dress and Personal Hygiene

Dress well (laundered and pressed clothes, no holes, no stains, shouldn't be faded or threads hanging out, clean shined shoes), smell good, and see the dentist if there's visible crud in your teeth when you smile.  If you came from the East and were not taught to wear deodorant (no offense), start wearing some.  While you may not realize it, everyone can smell you (I say this as a person raised in the West who suffered this ignorance in my younger teen years).  And please don't use Axe, it doesn't last more than a few hours!

Conclusion

This article is by no means exhaustive. It's just a jumping off point, beginning with my own experiences as someone who has primarily (only) large enterprise corporate America experience.  Please use the comments area below to share your own insights, tips, and tricks.

Another reason for my reticence was that getting on the khutbah circuit was an immense time drain, especially since many times the khutbah planning chairperson would try contacting me (or others) when the scheduled khateeb would bail out at the last possible moment (seems a bit common), leaving me to prepare an ad hoc khutbah on Thursday night.  I remember one time the khateeb didn't show up, and I was asked to give one right there.  I asked for a minute to think about it, and then delivered a khutbah on Uthmaan (RA) and the lessons we could take from his life and characteristics.  How did I come up with that khutbah?  I didn't – it was the Islamic Sunday School class I had taught earlier in the week!

I returned this week because the UC Berkeley MSA was organized enough to have scheduled me four months in advance, giving plenty of time to think and prepare.  During that time, I returned to reading books on public speaking, and re-thinking what I had liked in the past and what I liked now.   It was also great for reflecting with a fresh set of experiential eyes on what was really important for the community-at-large, rather than pseudo-student of knowledge ankle-biting.

So here's my question to all of you – what makes an awesome khutbah, and what makes a disaster khutbah?

For example, awesome khutbah for me was a couple of months ago when Imam Tahir Anwar visited and spoke about what the differences among Muslims to amounted to for him, and how we should deal with it.  Disaster khutbah was a fresh student of knowledge getting on the minbar and running as through a marathon refutation of something he read online for 90 minutes.

Allāh says: “And those who came (into the faith) after them say: Our Lord! Forgive us and our brethren who were before us in the faith, and place not in our hearts any rancour toward those who believe. Our Lord! You are full of kindness, most merciful.” [SÅ«rah al-Hashr: 10]

The four imams — the leading scholars who founded the four canonical schools of Islamic Law — never allowed past disagreements to cause them to disparage or raise suspicions about the people of an earlier generation who held divergent views. Likewise, they never called for an inquest of their contemporaries who disagreed with them and they never got involved in their affairs except in a positive way.

The four imams certainly disagreed with one another and with other jurists of their day, but they always maintained their calm in debate and disagreed respectfully. They never permitted others who spread their ideas to use their teachings as a source of conflict or as a means to cause division.

It could possibly be that the principle they developed, of coexistence in the face of changing political and social circumstances, came as a result of their engaging with the substantial societal changes they witnessed during the era in which they lived. They recognized a need to develop a clear and precise approach to respond to such changes.

It can be observed that none of the four imams ever accepted an official political post, not as judge nor magistrate nor anything else. At the same time, they also never constituted themselves as a political opposition. They never gave their support to the government’s political opponents, even though all four imams times suffered government persecution on account of accusations that they did. However, a close examination of the imams’ historical circumstances shows that such accusations were baseless. Instead, they were victims of the old idea: “You are either with us or against us.”

Their insistence on intellectual autonomy is what brought such suspicion upon them, along with how unscrupulous people would sometimes manipulate their statements and interpret their juristic verdicts for various political ends.

In truth, the four imams represented a third way: neither aligning themselves with the interests of those in power nor with the political opposition. This allowed them to carry out a vital leadership role of their own in maintaining social stability in a society made up of a number of contending factions: between the ruling class and the populace, as well as between a bewildering array of ideological factions and intellectual movements, not to mention ethnic and tribal differences. After all this, we can understand how they were so good at tolerating the disagreements of their colleagues among the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence!

They all kept a measured distance from the various contending elements in society while remaining fully connected to society. This made it possible for them to be a point of stability and balance, which protected Islamic civilization from a great deal of conflict, strife, and social disintegration.

The role they played in their times is all the more needed today with our widening social and class disparity and a weakened culture of tolerance, conditions that promote conflict whenever conditions are ripe for it.

The presence of an autonomous knowledge-based mediating authority is needed to act as a a source of strength for the weak and a moderating influence on the strong, to arbitrate in matters, and to impart to society the values of tolerance and mutual understanding. There is a need for those who can speak out for justice and the inalienable rights that are needed to ensure peace and security in any country, and which can prevent violent factions and extremist movements of whatever persuasion from developing.

The world contains nations where you find a strong government and an equally strong civil society. They are held together by organizing principles and their vital, political, social, and charitable institutions. This is what makes the government strong through its people and the people strong through their government.

Most Muslim countries do not enjoy this balancing of institutional power, essential for stability and continuity, which comes from the presence of mediating institutions that are widely recognized and accepted on both an official and popular level, institutions whose role is often only appreciated when their loss leads to the erosion of society.

Ideological and partisan disagreements, religious differences, and other potential sources of division do not inevitably lead to conflict and strife. Allāh says in the Qur’ān: “It is He who has spread out the Earth for all His creatures.” [SÅ«rah al-Rahmān: 10]

Within the sphere of Islam, matters are referred back to universal principles and the legitimate needs of life that Islam upholds. When such a reference becomes impracticable due to the severity of the disagreement tor disparity of the parties involved and the matter cannot be brought to a resolution through dialogue, there still remains a broader circle for coexistence: the one of: “knowing one another” referred to in the verse: “O humankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may come to know one another.” [Sūrah al-Hujurāt: 13]

This coming to know one another, this mutual and reciprocal knowledge of the other, is the foundation for social relationships necessitating goodwill, justice, and kindness.

It is possible that through such relationships you will realize your own best interests as well as those of the people you disagree with at one and the same time. We see this in so many aspects of life: commercial dealings, in public administration, health, development, and industry.

Returning to the four imams, it needs to be pointed out that the disagreements between them in Islamic Law were nothing compared to the disagreements that existed among the Companions and Successors. Moreover, they introduced through their own juristic efforts a number of opinions that were new to their generation. Therefore, it is wrong for anyone to claim that their views abrogate the views of their predecessors and exclude all views other than theirs.

The later scholars who worked within the framework of one of the four schools of law, though they did not usually go off in an entirely independent direction, never ceased to engage in choosing between different opinions and deducing new rulings on the basis of precedent. I have studied the legal preferences of the preeminent Hanbalī jurist Ibn Qudāmah, and found that he sometimes adopted a position that was at variance to what was adopted by all four schools of thought. He did so after acknowledging and discussing all of their received opinions. His judgments in these cases are often quite erudite and impressive.

We can find similar cases among the jurists of all four schools of law. This is because the views of the Companions, Successors, and other jurists are no less important than the views of the four imams. They were also from the earliest Muslim generations and theirs is a rich and valuable legacy which has been preserved for us in works like the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzāq, the Musannaf of Ibn Abī Shaybah, and the writings of Ibn Mundhir.

When we look at the magnitude of the changes taking place in the world today, we can appreciate the value of there being such a broad spectrum of opinion during the earliest days of Islam. Their contributions should not be ignored, since they enrich our understanding of Islamic Law. Though there may have been times in the history of Muslim civilization that such a plurality of opinion was unnecessary for society to function, our present age is certainly not one of those times.

Much can be said about the antics, hysteria, and dare I say it, fanaticism that surrounds sporting events like cricket and football (either version).  Pakistan's state-sponsored nawafil prayers for the team is easily fodder for condemnation and ridicule.

Yet, I must admit I was disappointed less in the cricket fans and more in some of the posts, tweets, and facebook messages from the religious class, if you will, calling out cricket fans and I say this as someone who cannot sit through sporting events easily any longer and didn't watch even a minute of the cricket tournament.

I was disappointed because very honestly, as difficult as life has become for Muslims around the world, and as spiritually bankrupt as we are often pronounced to be, we still need to relax from the day-to-day grind of life when we can.  While I don't think sitting through many days worth of matches is worth my time, I think the fun and excitement others get from it is important for their own life, and helps to recharge their batteries to get back up and take care of their other daily obligations.

But then that begs the question, where's the balance?  What's the balance between too much time having fun and unwinding vs too little?  In my mind, if you're doing well with your life's highest priorities (taking care of your responsibilities, and doing it well) then your free time is yours to do with as you please (within reason).

What are your thoughts on balance?  What truly is a balanced lifestyle, and where do you see other recreational activities like sports fitting into the whole equation?

Siraaj

The day began with chanting, moving on to speeches, and then to marching around the city of San Francisco, chanting against Mubarak and his policies, demanding that he leave, and demanding that the US government stop their imperialist policies which empowered Mubarak so long as he played ball and kept good relations with Israel. The rally organizers announced towards the end an estimated turnout of 7000 rally-goers.

What follows below are photos and videos from the event. I'm placing a big disclaimer here, stating clearly that not all of what you'll see, you'll find agreeable. Take what good you can find, leave what is harmful (or wacky, this is San Francisco), and make du'a that whatever the best outcome is, that it occurs, and we ask Allāh to forgive us our shortcomings, sins, and misunderstandings, and as always, we earnestly ask that He guide us to what is most pleasing to Him.

The following is a playlist of video footage from the event, covering some of the speeches and the march. There are 21 small videos, you can scroll from one to the next by clicking the forward and back arrows on the left center and right center of the video area:

However, disagreement and conflict should never lead to backbiting.  I'm not talking about the type that happens when students from one organization attack another because of differences in aqeedah orientation or fiqh perspective – those, alhamdulillah, seem to be getting better (or maybe I'm avoiding more of those discussions, so it's at least getting better for me =) )

The disagreement I have in mind is when an organization chooses a business model and others disagree with it to the point of backbiting the individuals behind the organization, questioning their intentions, and mocking them explicitly or implicitly on a regular basis. Whenever I encounter these types of individuals, I consider them to be plague-carrying zombies out to eat the flesh of others as well as spread their disease to them.  Give them a chance, and they'll probably eat your flesh as well when you turn your back on them (pun intended).  I have three ways of dealing with these iman-draining freak shows:

1.  Limit Your Interaction with Zombies

The best company to keep is those who speak well or keep silent.  If you can find those individuals, alhamdulillah.  But anyway, we're speaking about the polar opposite.  The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith – the perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace.”

Keep away from regularly socializing with zombies to the degree that is possible for you (in some cases, it's just not possible).  When someone is in the habit of flesh eating, it tends not to just be organizational leaders, but it also goes to regular, everyday individuals as well.   Oh sure, they'll share their meat with you – they want for their brother what they want for themselves, after all, and it is sunnah to share from the same plate.

The danger in their company goes beyond eating non-zabiha meat (no matter how many times you say bismillah over it) – the more you expose yourself to them, the more likely they will find a way to rip chunks out of you when you're not looking.  See, when people show themselves to be untrustworthy to others, then you can never be sure of when they'll come after you next, if they haven't already.

I repeat, avoid the company of zombies.

2.  Advise Them (If You Can)

Offering advice on backbiting is an interesting problem.  You already feel awkward advising someone about backbiting because you're essentially tasked with calling out that person, often in a public setting with multiple individuals present.  And when that happens, the backbiter naturally defends himself or herself, and most of us would just as soon avoid conflict.

With the best of manners, try to first hint that the discussion is moving in a problematic direction.  Make an excuse for the person being attacked.  Say a quick “May Allāh guide / help / give them some khayr,” and let the tone of your voice and non-verbal cues from your face and body language let the person know it's time to move on.  If that doesn't work, try telling them nicely, yet directly, to move on.

3.  Fight or Flight

If they don't want to listen to reason, then you have one of two options – get up and leave or kick some zombie a**, Resident Evil style.  That's right brother Chris Redfield and sister Jill Valentine, it's time to pull out your shotgun and blow their brains off.  Seriously.  Argue with them, call them into question, debase them, yell at them, and make their life such a living hell during the discussion that they either never return to it, or at least they never think of drinking someone's blood in front of you ever again.  You should be like 'Umar to them; when they see you, they should moan and mindlessly hobble off in the opposite direction.

Leaving is also an option, and there's nothing dishonorable about it, after having advised the person gently.  From personal experience, I know leaving isn't always practical, and often it's more practical to talk (or even fight).  If you can leave, props to you.

Advice to Zombies

Many of us have zombie moments, and others eat flesh like they breathe air.  Just remember this – when you go into zombie mode, the only people who like being around zombies are other zombies – everyone else hates being around you and wishes you would shut up.  Seriously.  You make the rest of the people around you fear for their relationship with Allāh because you insist on going 4/3rds full on the blood and guts of others.

My advice to you is to stop talking about people.  As the saying goes, low-minded people talk about people.  Focus yourself on having inner dialogues about your own personal failings, and focus your outer dialogues on benefiting others with good words and beneficial information.

If you have to talk about individuals and their business model, then speak of their good, or just keep silent.  If you have a beef with them, contact them directly, get your thoughts off your chest, and please, for the sake of Allāh, leave the rest of us out of the discussion.

• July 23
• July 24-25
• July 26-27
• July 28-29
• July 30-Aug 1

Comedy Night

Ilm Summit 2010 had THE BEST entertainment session EVER. Sorry ICNA, ISNA, MSA, and any other conferences, you all just got SERVED.

My roommate Nihal Khan posted that on his Facebook status. And yeah, it was pretty hilarious. Except, you had to have been an Ilm Summit student and really ingrained in AlMaghrib student culture AND a student at this year's classes to understand the jokes.

Nonetheless, the sheer talent on display, the scripting and special effects, as well as the participation of Shaykh Google himself (who reminded us that the key to being an optimist is to think of the glass as…a glass) made it a night to remember. Unfortunately, the whole event was Fight Club-ish about keeping a tight lid on event details, but I have to say, seeing Shaykh Yasir Qadhi reveal himself to be Shaykh Google definitely made my Ilm Summit (whoops, did I say that out loud?).

A Visit From Baba Ali

On Saturday, after we had concluded our final classes with Shaykh Yasir, Baba Ali randomly stopped by, and we asked him to tell us about his new project, so check it out below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Saturday Night Banquet

For the second year in a row, Ustadh Wisam MC'ed the Ilm Summit banquet, and alhamdulillaah, for the first time ever, no shady halls to deal with, either in theory or practice. Awards were given out, poetry was read, upcoming AlMaghrib projects were presented, a video of students stealing shaykh Yasir's dissertation from his hotel room, and oh yeah, the return of Shaykh Yaser Birjas.

So Shaykh Love Notes broke down how he was able to escape from his wife who was due at any moment to attend one night of Ilm Summit.  He tells us she told him she felt guilty that he was missing out, and encouraged him to go for at least one day. He was, of course, making a cupcake at the time for them to have breakfast. While his heart said, “Yes! I'm outta here!” he replied, “No, I couldn't do that.”  After his wife insisted he leave, and he put up token resistance to not just cave in so easily, he joined us for the final event of Ilm Summit.

Or so he thought.

The previous year, both Shaykh Yasirs held counseling sessions with students who wanted them, but there were none this year. At least, none until Shaykh Yaser arrived. From 1am to 5am, he ended up holding counseling sessions for 20 or more sisters. And, for those brothers remaining who wanted them, he was willing to give them counseling sessions at 10am, may Allāh reward him for it.

Khatirah Evaluations

You may recall last year, students gave short khatirahs that were followed by critiques from our instructors. This program continued, and the final khatirah was given by our good brother Muhammad Ouyoun (from Chicago, represent!) on the importance of ṣalāh (note:  I started recording this a little past the intro with my Droid [shameless plug] phone):

Click here to view the embedded video.

And here's the follow-up evaluation from Shaykhs Yasir and Waleed:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Conclusion

What's more is there to say?  Ilm Summit 2010 was an experience, and for reasons I'll inshā'Allāh elaborate on in future posts, perhaps even more beneficial in terms of personal growth than Ilm Summits I and II.  Below are the photos I took and one video I did with brother Shiraz on personal development.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• July 23
• July 24-25
• July 26-27
• July 28-29
• July 30-Aug 1

UPDATE

The CNN Interview released on Islamophobia released on September 2nd, 2010 can be found here while the interview CNN interview on Moderates vs Keyboard Jihadists released August 12th can be found here.  A final story from another prominent print news organization remains pending and will be released in the weeks ahead, inshā'Allāh, and once that's posted, we'll link to that as well.

The Media and the FBI

Each year, Shaykh Yasir adds a new wrinkle to Ilm Summit to “raise the bar” so to speak.  This year was no different, except instead of inviting speakers that could tell us all about speaking to the media if in the unlikely event it were to happen or how to speak in a of roundtable discussion that the media was watching and the FBI would be a part of, we were now in the midst of it.

A number of brothers and sisters had the opportunity to speak with reporters from two prominent national news organizations.  The questions raised related to how Muslims felt they were perceived, what difficulties they were encountering, and their take on why the crazy neo-con right hated us so much.

Perhaps the irony of ironies was our beloved Shaykh Jamaal, who we've been looking for forever, was all of a sudden interviewing on TV, showing up on national tv to speak out against extremism.  Shaykh Yasir's elder brother 'Ubaid (a student of Shaykh Jamaal's from back in the day as well) said that if this kept up, he was going to start calling him “diva” from now on =)

As for the roundtable discussion, Abu Noor AbdulMalik Ryan (you've seen his comments on here before), Mohammed Elibiary (the guy rooting for McCain back in '08), 'Iesa Galloway (moderator), sister Rana al-Dabagh, Shaykhs Yasir and Waleed, as well as yours truly sat down with Supervisory Special Agent Brad Deardorff to have a discussion about issues Muslims are facing with law enforcement. There should be a video on it somewhere out there, not sure who has it, but eventually, it'll be an MM video, and you can see for yourself what we discussed, and if it was substantive or touchy-feely fluffy PR posturing (or a combination thereof =)

In all honesty, the media was a distraction for me personally, and I think it was so for a lot of students between Tuesday and Thursday. In the past, Ilm Summit was this isolated iman bubble where we'd disconnect from the rest of the world to focus on just seeking knowledge for two weeks.  Having it abbreviated to 10 days, and then adding the interviews and roundtable on top did take away from the academic experience a bit.

The good thing about the media was that was that they weren't obnoxious jerks looking for gotchas (unless you're Sarah Palin, and asking about what magazines you read is “gotcha-doncha-know?” journalism) and they were in fact the exact opposite – they were empathetic and looking for our perspective from our perspective. So while their presence was distracting, it was most definitely not unwelcome, and I was glad they came, especially one of the videographers (because I was able to talk to him later about his experiences filming the humanitarian crisis in Haiti).

Inshā'Allāh once the roundtable discussion becomes available, that'll be posted as well.

You may remember last year I wrote a post entitled Ramadan Fitness Plan in which I outlined the program I was following for fat loss, a plan which helped me lose 8 lbs during Ramadan '09.  I continued training until my net weight loss was 48 lbs, alhamdulillah.

Since that time, I've both trained people in person and online, and I'm continuing my education in nutrition and training.  While it's obvious that the majority of people don't train, what is less obvious is that the advice you've received over the years from fitness professionals is better geared towards people who are themselves already in the habit of being active.

What about the rest of us who never work out, who start and stop programs every 6 months, who have families, jobs, and kids to take care of, and now have the additional 'ibadah from Ramadan upon us?  I know a lot of you feel compelled to try to lose some weight now because you'll be fasting, and what better time to lose weight than when you're not eating, right?

All wrong. Ramadan is not the time for changing your physical fitness habits.  Your focus and priority is 'ibadah, not fat loss.  A fit and healthy body is will definitely help you with your 'ibadah, but starting a fitness program on top of fasting and late night prayer is a train wreck waiting to happen.  Instead, what I suggest is looking at your level of fitness, and incrementally adding tweaks to your eating and physical activity to begin the process.

The Food Plan

What food plan?  You're fasting, right?  There's just one problem – you're fasting.  Slower metabolism.  And then at night, you're eating more than what you normally would to make it back up.  And, since we're in Ramadan, every variation of samosa and bakhlava is served before and after the main course.  Every night.  And then to add insult to injury, you eat again after taraweeh, and then go to sleep.

Without exception, the most important fitness activity you can do this Ramadan is please Allāh by following the Prophet's advice:

On the authority of Al-Miqdam ibn Madiy-Karib who said: I heard the Messenger of Allāh saying, “No human ever filled a vessel worse than the stomach.  Sufficient for any son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight.  But if it must be, then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for his breath.”

Whenever anyone asks me what training regimen they should do, the first question I ask them is about their eating, and it never fails, they're overeating.  In most gatherings I've attended, I see well-circumferenced plates with food stacked vertically and horizontally.

What follows is a simple system for you to use, according to your level of discipline

Level 1:  No Discipline / Control Over the Menu

For those of you eating indiscriminately throughout the year, let's not talk at all about food quality, and let's focus solely on quantity.  You know best-tasting foods will be placed in front of you everyday, you know you won't resist it, and you know if you try to discriminate and eat one item and not another, someone will harass you about it.

Go ahead and eat a little bit of everything, but make sure the quantity stays low.  Meaning, take slow measured bites, and keep checking if you have that gnawing feeling in your stomach you had earlier when you were fasting.  If it goes away, stop eating immediately and save the rest of your food for later.  Snack a little on dessert, and you're done.  Have some tea, and eat just a little bit after taraweeh.

Make sure you have suhoor in the morning, and make sure it's simply a normal sized meal, and don't worry about stuffing yourself for the day – it doesn't work.  Do make sure you're well-hydrated, though.

Level 2:  Some Discipline / Say in the Menu

If this describes you, then focus on bringing some balance to your plate – instead of piling on rice or naan, take much smaller portions of rice and naan, and add more meat and vegetables.  Don't worry too much about fat, it'll be out and about. Make sure to keep the quantity of food reasonable, as described in Level 1.

Level 3:  Total Control

• Proteins:  Lean, complete proteins from chicken, turkey, beef, or whey protein shakes of your choice.
• Carbs:  Slow carbs like lentils and hummus, fruits, and veggies.  No starchy carbs like pasta, rice, or bread, unless it's within 90 minutes post-workout.
• Fats:  Get at least 5 grams of fish oil as well as olive oil (uncooked), almonds, and peanuts.  Avoid saturated fats and trans fats.
• No Processed Foods:  Foods should come from whole food sources.  Salad dressing and twinkies are not whole food sources.  Samosas are the enemy.

Training Regimen

Before we talk about what to do, let's talk when you do it, and why.  I advocate working out one hour prior to breaking the fast because the body is primed and ready for more carbohydrate consumption (from starchy sources).  There's debate as to whether whether working out in a fasted state is good or bad for the protein synthesis (meaning muscle loss), but I consider it irrelevant, one way or another.

I say this because the proposal of working out after taraweeh prayers is just a tad impractical – in Chicago, 'Isha prayer starts at 9:30pm approximately, so you're looking at 11pm before you get out of the masjid, and 1am in the morning is around when your work, shower, and post-workout meal are completed and consumed.  And then you can wake up for suhoor at…4am, just 3 hours later.  As it turns out, studies also show inadequate sleep is also harmful for muscle-protein synthesis and fat loss.  I would guess most people would not handle that beyond 2 – 3 days tops before crashing and burning.

So while working out an hour before the fast concludes is potentially not optimal, it is sustainable, and more than idealized tweaks that are optimizations at best, I prefer that a person who's training build a program that's sustainable.  A sustainable, consistent program will any day, hands down beat an optimal, impractical program.  This is particularly important for those of you who always get going on a fitness program earlier in the year and are then sidetracked by Ramadan.  Having said that, let's get to the specifics:

Level 1:  Absolute Beginner

Get yourself a pedometer and some Vibram Five Finger shoes (they're funky looking and neat feeling) and work on getting between 6000 – 10,000 steps daily.  Climb the stairs, and play with the kids if you have any.  Set aside 1 – 2 hours before breaking the fast, and work on making that your “training” hour.  If you can build that into your day, and follow what I outlined in Level 1 eating, you can expect to lose a fair amount of weight, provided you're consistent with this on a daily basis.

Level 2:  Intermediate

If you want to do cardio, keep the pace moderate on the treadmill.  For weightlifting, go with heavy weights, and lift them fast.  I would say whatever you can lift 4 – 6 times, aiming for a total of 25 reps on exercises that are compound movements (bench, deadlift, squat, bent over rows, shoulder presses, dips, pull ups, lunges, etc).  By lifting heavier weights, you'll help protect your muscle throughout Ramadan.  Aim to do this at least 3 times weekly.  And make sure you do what the Level 1 guy is doing as well.

Level 3:  Advanced

You'll do what Level 1 and Level 2 is doing, but in one of your workout sessions, choose weights you can only lift 2 – 3 times, and aim to lift it a total of 15 reps.  Or, if you're feeling a little crazy, you can do an all-out athletic training program like P90x (wouldn't recommend it unless you have a death wish).

Workout Template

You can choose the exercises you want to do like so:

1. Upper Body Push
2. Upper Body Pull
3. Lower Body Movement
4. Isolation Movement

For example:

1. Weighted Dips
2. Wide Grip Pull ups
3. Hack Squat
4. Bicep Curls

All of this can be found in greater detail in Chad Waterbury's book “Huge in a Hurry” (which I've used and benefited greatly from).  By the way, the advice above was for sisters as well.  If you don't have equipment, then focus on the moderate-paced cardio and at the very least, Level 1 Eating.

Conclusion

I've tried to keep this program as simple and practical as possible for as wide a number of people as possible.  However, if you have specific questions you need addressed about the program, the comments section below is a great place to start =)  As always check with your doctor first before starting any sort of program.

That's why the prospect of giving up routine meals during the daylight hours of Ramadan doesn't daunt the Muslim convert as much as the sacred mandate to abstain from arrogance, envy and anger.

When the ninth and holiest month on the Islamic calendar starts Wednesday, Kompier will launch her most pious pursuit yet — controlling her temper. She will chronicle her spiritual quest on screamfreemuslims.com, a blog she launched last year after training with the Scream Free Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Georgia that helps parents respond rationally to their children's behavior.

“It blends so beautifully with Islam,” said Kompier, 26. “Our religion already teaches us to control ourselves, teaches us to pardon people, teaches us to forgive people, teaches us not to argue. … It very much coincides with it because the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught us how to have the best manners and the best character.”

During Ramadan, Muslims are commanded to fast from dawn to dusk as a show of patience and virtue. The fast not only prohibits eating and drinking during daylight, it also forbids vices such as smoking, profanity and ill temper.

Families rise before dawn to pray and share a light meal called “suhur” in Arabic. They gather again at dusk to break the fast and share a meal called “iftar.” Muslims who fail to pray five times a day year-round make a concerted effort to do so during the holy month.

But managing one's anger can be especially difficult for parents who are hungry and thirsty from the Ramadan regimen, exhausted from rising early to eat and pray, and trying to love willful children.

“On a normal day, you've eaten, you're well-rested,” Kompier said. “When you're fasting, you're coming from a different place. You're coming from a hungry, lethargic place, so definitely your emotions tend to strike at you much more sharply. … If you learn to control your emotions when you're fasting, you're good to go.”

Avoiding anger is considered a priority during Ramadan based on the “hadith,” the sayings of the prophet, and the Quran, the holy book that Muslims believe was revealed to Muhammad during Ramadan 1,400 years ago.

“Muslims are asked to elevate and have every single part of their body, even their conscience, to fast with them,” said Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, associate imam of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview. “Letting go of food and water should really be the training session for how you connect the other parts of the body to fast with you. Fasting is meant to make you a better person.”

Abdel Azim Elsiddig, an Islamic law expert in Palos Heights who is a life coach for the Scream Free Institute, said he sought out the program as a way to help the Muslim community raise peaceful children. The Scream Free parenting principles, developed by a former Christian pastor, turned out to be a perfect fit.

“For a very long time, we used to think that screaming is a sign of strength,” he said. “But in reality, screaming is a sign of weakness. It took me a long time to find a program that would help calm us down.”

Elsiddig describes a three-step process that can be done on a full or empty stomach when people start to feel overcome by emotion and lose their temper: First, pause. Then, think about consequences. And lastly, don't react. Respond.

“When you pause, that's where God exists,” Elsiddig said. “That's where you connect with God. When you get angry, you lose connection with yourself. You lose connection with everyone around you. You are disconnected from the universe. You are on your own. That is the weakest point when the devil will hit.”

Mustapha said traditional Muslim rituals address that concern and often provide a much-needed timeout. Muslims pray five times a day. But before they do, they pause to wash their hands and feet in a ritual called “wudu,” or ablution.

“We have a reference from the word of the prophet. Anger is from Satan, and Satan is made from fire. If someone gets angry, let him do an ablution wash,” Mustapha said. “It will put off the anger in him. We believe water, when it is being used as a ritual of preparation for the prayer, it helps calm you throughout the whole day.”

Kompier said she has confidence that the scream-free principles will curb her crabbiness during Ramadan. While she has a history of lashing out when her children misbehave, she managed to stay calm even during weekly “practice fasts” last month.

“In light of Ramadan, it gives you the tools to make it easier,” she said. “When I feel irritable and snappy with my kids, I know what to do … instead of having a kneejerk reaction.”

mbrachear@tribune.com

Source:  Chicago Tribune