Around the Blogosphere…(4.2.07)

• Amir discusses “Paying our Imams“… sort of relevant to the discussions about our responsibilities to the Masjid.
• Sh. Yusuf discusses the challenges for Muslims in the West and the struggle for self-definition.
• Umm Reem points to misogyny problems of a much higher level than what some ‘Muslim feminists’ are worrying about here and here. Umar Lee has his take on this growing phenomenan of “Muslim feminists”, begining with what some may believe is an oxymoronish term.
• Islamic Ink: Marriage: For those of us bitten by the marriage bug, Digital Jewel posts a well-needed reality check. A wonderful summary (from the actual post):
  “Instead of prioritizing on marriage, we should be looking inwards and fixing our flaws, so that when we do get married, we will be able to cope with the responsibilities that are tied to marriage. Rather than looking at all those around us getting married as an excuse to feel down in the dumps, lets use it to our advantage and make the most of our single days by becoming the best Muslims we can be.”
• Izzy Mo comments on the phenomenon of apostate bloggers.
• Sister IlluminatingFaith posts part of 1 of her notes from the al-Maghrib course Code of the Scholars!
• Br. Nuh sets up a 9-point Muslim Inreach Campaign.
• The Translators provide a glimpse into the life of Ibn Taymiyyah. In another post entry is mentioned this beautiful response from Ibraheem ibn Adham, a third century scholar, a teacher and a companion of Sufyaan ath-Thawri, who when asked about the saying of Allah – the Most High:
  ‘AND YOUR LORD SAYS: ‘CALL ON ME I WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER…’ [Surah Ghafir (40): 60]
  “We [the questioners] supplicate and we are not answered”. So he said to them:

*You know Allah, Yet you do not obey Him,
* You recite the Qur’an, Yet do not act according to it,
* You know Shaitaan(Devil), Yet you have agreed with him,
* You proclaim that you love the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, Yet you abandon his Sunna,
* You proclaim your love for Paradise, Yet you do not act to gain it,
* You proclaim your fear for the Fire, Yet you do not prevent yourselves from sins,
* You say “Indeed death is true”, Yet you have not prepared for it,
* You engage yourselves with finding faults with others, Yet you do not look at your faults,
* You eat of that which Allah has provided for you, Yet you do not thank Him,
* You bury your dead, Yet you do not take a lesson from it.