Spring break is a great time to create some memories. The kids are not only out of school, but they're going into vacation expecting and hoping to be doing lots of fun stuff. It's only natural for them to want to go back and share stories with their friends about what they did on their vacation. Help make it special. Read More »
I do believe that there are lessons that we can draw from the way that non-Muslims celebrate their holiday. These are lessons that we can apply to our own two historically Islamically legitimate holidays - the two Ids. Read More »
Essentially, this will be a few days off like any other few days off in the years before. We'll trudge back to our normal lives with little to show apart from a slightly expanded waistline and the reduced bags under our eyes. But it could all be so different. How? Read More »
To the Christian, Christmas is more than just the birth of their Lord. Events surrounding Jesus’ birth are also given special attention, to the effect that a celebration of Christmas would not be a true celebration without engaging in an enactment of some of those events. Yet these events, whether symbolic or historic, directly contradict the Quranic account of how Maryam (peace be upon her) delivered Prophet Isa (peace be upon him). Read More »
It's liberating to ignore the sales and seasonal hype. When we abandon the idea of acquiring goods, and instead focus on giving, we dump the whole propaganda machine on its head. We change everything. While the frantic buying of "stuff" makes us forget Allāh, gratitude brings us back to Him. Read More »
A large chunk of the world's population celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday, May 08, 2011. The legality of celebration of such days is a issue on which scholars differ and as such I will refrain to comment on it. However, I came across an article on the history of Mother's Day in the US, and this fascinated me as I had never read up on this before. When Anna Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May in 1905, she was devastated. Mrs. Jarvis had devoted much of her adult life to educating other mothers about health and sanitation and in 1868 held the first Mother's Friendship Day to unite families broken apart by the Civil War. Anna vowed to honor her mother's memory by turning Mother's Day into a national holiday. Showing the same determination that marked her mother's service work, the well-educated Anna dispatched a flotilla of letters to ministers and politicians around the country, eventually buying the house next door just to hold her correspondence. And in 1914, the pertinacious Miss Jarvis saw President Woodrow Wilson decree the second Sunday of every May the United States' official Mother's Day. (Babble.com) The story of Anna Jarvis and her devotion to the memory of her mother is indeed heart-warming and touching. However a few years after President Wilson decreed the holiday, it became apparent to Anna that she had created a Frankenstein. Marketing people and retailers decided Mother's Day was just another way to sell their goods and the purpose that Anna had thought of got hijacked to become a Hallmark Holiday. Read More »
Another Thanksgiving Day holiday is upon us, and as most of us have the day off, some reflections on how this day has been a source of contention and contentment within Muslim communities. Read More »
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