Children of Islam

A beautiful video about a two-year old girl having very good knowledge about the basics of Islam.

Good news

Allah bestowed us with our third child, a baby boy, yesterday 16th July 2009. Alhamdolillah. May Allah give him the best of both worlds.
He has been named HAMDAAN FAIZ ANWAR.

Dua e istikhara

Quite often people ask about the DUA E ISTIKHARA. On searching the net I found the following from a website which gives the arabic version along with the english transliteration and translation of the dua. I have included the link to the site but would like to add that I am not very sure about the links that the site provides. Jazak Allah khair.
The arabic version is available here: http://www.box.net/shared/7nd9m03dp6
The following hadith is narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah about Salat-ul-Istikhara in Sahih Bukhari (volume 2, hadith number 263 and again volume 9, hadith 487):
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Quran. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two Rakat prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer):
'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa asaluka min fadlika al-'azim Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-l-amra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati amri (or 'ajili amri wa'ajilihi) Faqdirhu li wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati amri (or fi'ajili amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.'
(O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, and Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, and then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me in my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, and make me satisfied with it)."

Cell phone vs Quran

May he be rewarded who sent me the following mail:
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Quran like we treat our cell phone?
Cell phone vs. Quran
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go....hmm... where is my Quran?
Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Quran being disconnected.
Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities?
And no dropped calls!
Trust in the Lord and *ASAP (Always Say A Prayer)

The Holy Quran

I got a mail from my friend Abu Khalid where I got the link to this beautiful site. It is the Holy Quran in designed in Adobe Flash. A site to visit: http://www.quranflash.com/en/index.html#
Jazak Allah khair.

Family Tree

The other day I found a Google AdSense of Famiva. Since I am interested in our family tree, I decided to give it a try. Believe me, it is quite good. I have invited people who are in this tree and have email addresses. If you can send me your email id I shall invite you to it too. Of course, you have to be related to me to get the invite! ;)
The best part of famiva is that each member can edit and thus expand the tree. So go ahead, send your email id and view the tree.

Obituary 2

My friend and ex-colleague of Kuwait Catalyst Company, B. N. Uday Kumar, left us shocked when he left this mortal world, along with his brother Vijay on 11th Jan 2009. Both had gone to a friend in Ahmadi, Kuwait, when a gas pipe burst. Both the brothers were killed.

Uday left behind his wife Parvati and 4 years old son Aditya. 

Uday will live in our memories.

Obituary

Phoopha Abba, as we used to call him, left for his heavenly abode on 6th Jan 2009. 

Wasim Akhter, husband of my paternal aunt, was unwell for the past couple of months. 

Innalillahi wainna ilaihi rajeoon.