Anyway, I’ve been reading a lot of moving poetry about the blogosphere this week (one example), so I thought I’d dig through the MM archives and see what we have to offer:

Two short poems that I particularly enjoyed: Consolation & Faces Unveiled

And some much deeper contemplation in store as Abu Aaliyah (another MM Brit - represent!) muses over a Rudyard Kipling Poem.

I now hand the rest of the thread over to you.

Ahem.

As you were…

[Photo Credit: surrealmuse]

As a nice refresher, below are some posts related to fiqh, some of its subtleties and the attitude one should have with regards to it.

We Hear and We Obey
A Simple Matter of Disagreement?
Of Mice and Men: The Cheese Factor

The advent of summer being well upon us, school’s going to be out and kids are going to have a lot more time on their hands - time that can be used in either good, or bad. Insha’Allah, this is our opportunity to give Da’wah to our youth… and here’s how!

The Youth Outreach Program of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)

Youth Outreach - Best Practices?

Children Driving You Crazy? A Sheikh’s Beautiful Advice…

Ressurect the old discussions with new contributions, or be totally random and surprise us all!

So it’s my turn to give the open thread thing a shot. Here’s a few random thoughts and then a look back at some old Quran/Tafseer posts.

The Hussein ‘08 campaign is officially on. I hope Hillary is not the running mate, but I do hope she has input in the healthcare policy. I hope the Celtics win tonight (and the finals for that matter). For all those going for the Lakers .. astaghferullah how can you support a (alleged) rapist?!

As for the ‘old is gold’ posts, I want to take a quick look back at some tafseer related articles we have had,

• Status of the Companions in Light of the Quran
• Ibaadah, Taqwa, and Shukr - a Mindblowing Relationship
• Quranic Incoherence - 2 Miracles Respond

Let’s also keep in mind our relationship with Allah, from oldie-goldies:

• Developing Consciousness of Allāh
• Al-Junayd on the Love of Allah
  
• Ma`rifah: Being Acquainted with Allah

• Quranic Verbs used for Purification and Exoneration
• Expressions for Giving And Getting Help in the Qur’an
• “Alhamdulillah” - A Linguistic Miracle of the Quran
• The Literary Beauty of the Qur’an

Major disasters in China and Burma in the same decade as the Tsunami and Pakistani earthquake. What does it all mean?

Around the blogosphere:

• Marc talks about the trouble with self-proclaimed “Muslim pundits“, reviewing Manji’s speech at Penn. Related post on MM: Tarek Fatah & Muslims 101 for Media
• After the “thugs in niqaab” post on MM, it is only fair to point to Germantown Masjid’s official praiseworthy stance.
• For some reason, you never hear about Orthodox Jews burning Bibles, but you sure would have seen front page news if Muslims were doing it.
• Dr. M points to a great video from Finkelstein on the propaganda channel MEMRI (even then, his words shine through). And recently Finkelstein was denied entry to “democratic” Israel (courtesy MR).

• Jerusalem is My Love
• The Farmocracy Experiment
• Farmocracy Experiment Part-2 (The Gaza Crises)

Another addition to this Open Thread are interesting topics from around the blogosphere:

• How you get raked over the coals if you criticize Israel (H/T to Akram’s Razor)
• Br. Naeem bemoans the “incredibly whiny ummah“
• From the sayings of the Salaf about Truthfulness and Sincerity at “Under Cover Muslimah“
• Shaykh Muhammad Alshareef - Perished Nations - 4 Episode Lecture Series (courtesy MR)
• And for some humor, “Question: When you pop into the disabled toilets…” (asks Abu Easa)
  

Soooo, what’s on your mind??

Share your useful suggestions, tips and tricks… OR share whatever else is on your mind. Here are some past ones:

• Wondrous Cell Phones!
• Muslim Man’s Guide to Style
• Muslim Culture vs. Pop Culture: Halaal Alternatives
• Observing the Sunnah in the Professional World
  

Our favorite reviews from the past:

• Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
• Sarkozy, Muslims, and the New France
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
• A Return to Modesty

Here’s three “Old But Gold” posts for your reading pleasure. Here, we’ll start off with a theme that revolves around the Book of Allah ‘azza wa jal, the Qur’an.

• The Literary Beauty of the Quran
• “Alhamdulillah” - A Linguistic Miracle of the Quran
• The Royal “We”