The Best calligraphy Website Ever

http://www.calligraphyislamic.com/index.html

Seriously amazing site. Please check it out.

What's written: (1) and truly you are on a great character; (2) the worker is the love of Allah; (3) and He is al Awal and al Akhir and al Zhahir and al Batin and He is with everything knowledgeable; (4) and let Man look at what he is created from.

Strange Fruit

I was listening to this great Billie Holiday CD I bought for my sister. The CD has short live recordings.

Billie Holiday- amazing. The song "Strange Fruit"- haunting.

The song was first written as a poem by a Jewish teacher, Abel Meeropol, under the pen name Lewis Allan. It became the anthem for the anti-lynching movement.


Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

From "The Disease and its Cure" of Ibn Qayyim 2

Two new quotes:

Quoting an anonymous source Ibn Qayyim says:

“Truly the world is Paradise. Whoever doesn’t enter it will not enter the Paradise of the Afterlife”

Explaining the Verse:

وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
And exalted thy fame (Surat al Sharh – alam nashrah laka sadrak)

Ibn Qayyim says: “And the followers of the Prophet have a portion of this (exaltation of fame) that coincides with what they inherit from their obedience and devotion. Anyone who contradicts them (the followers of the Prophet) is distant from this (exaltation of fame) and his distance coincides with his sins and religious violations.”

Blessing on our Sanad, our Master, our Beloved Mustafa

So You Want to be a Calligrapher?

It's nice to see people trying their hand at calligraphy. But there is little appreciation for the length of time calligraphers spend learning calligraphy and the detail of their craft. The link below has some cool examples of some of these details.

http://www.sakkal.com/instrctn/Instruction.html

It is said that Salat is Dua because it encompasses it - Nawawi's explaination of Muslim

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is Namaz. I've been trying to gain a deeper understanding of what it is I am doing. The Great Prophet said it was the "the coolness of my eyes", and "between a man and disbelief was salat". May Allah's peace and blessing be upon my Master.

I began to wonder if my salat was not like a fine building. With every movement I made I entered into a new room. I would sit in this room enjoy its walls its beautiful structure, its own unique feel and temperature and then move onto another room.

When I raise my hands I would open the door and walk in, closing myself from that which was beyond its walls. When I would say salam to my right and salam to my left I would step out of this building and enter into the world once again.

I wonder over the beautiful palaces I have entered and lament over the many shacks I have raced through.

Oh God all Salutations are for you, all Prayer and Goodness.
Peace be upon you Prophet of God and His Mercy and His Bounty.
Peace be upon us and God's righteous servants.

Picture from Mattew J Stinson, Flickr China Collection. Picture of a breezeway near the entrance to the Great Mosque

From "The Disease and its Cure" of ibn Qayyim

I've started reading الجواب الكافي لمن سأل عن الدواء الشافي of ibn al Qayyim for a second time. (The Complete Answer to the One Who Asked about the Healthful Medicine)

I figured I'd post some stuff I come across that I really like and want to share. The first two items are a couplet by some poet that ibn Qayyim does not name, the second a poem of Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak. The translation is my own. So I guess this is my first translation I'm putting to print, if you will.

It was my medicine but in its essence it was my disease
Just as a drunkard will cure himself with drunkenness

Said Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak,

I see Sins murdering Hearts
Their addiction inherits disgrace

Abandoning Sins is life for the Hearts
Goodness is in their transgression

Has anything ruined Religion except
Evil’s Kings, Bishops and Monks?

First post

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I really like this Hamd. Love the beat that the ism jallala makes. Not only is the language Punjabi but the beat has a Punjabi tinge to it.

http://radio.faizaneattar.net/Hamd/Audio/Audio/H13.ram


"Keep saying Allah Allah
Keep taking the name of the Prophet"

صلى الله عليه وسلم