However, what about us? What about us sat here in our homes? Well there are two things to consider.

Firstly, Arafah’s bounties are not only for those physically there. It’s a blessed day, the day of Arafah, so we should all seek its goodness and invoke Allah.

Seconndly, the day of Arafah is from the best of days, almost the crown of them if you may. The Messenger of Allah said,” There are no days that are greater before Allaah or in which good deeds are more beloved to Him, than these ten days.” [Ahmad]

What these ahadith suggest is we all need to busy ourselves with doing great deeds today, and not let any opportunity split. With this in mind, I stumbled across something, which I just have to share.

There is an opportunity to help a hafiz of Quran and Bukhari, a sick man in hospital, a father of four children, an Imaam, a husband, a Shaikh, a great gentleman; Dr Dremali. This shaikh who has served this religion enormously is now laying in a hospital bed, struggling to take a breath and looking at a considerable time off work!

The thing about all the ways he is being trailed now is, that like most of his life he has been serving the Ummah, and the source of much goodness, he continues in that way, through actually being in a position to need your help now. He represents an opportunity to spend money for the sake of Allah, to help the oppressed, to support the vulnerable, to support the Alim in his spreading knowledge, to illustrate selflessness, to compete for the doing of good deeds, to loving for the sake of Allah and the list continues.

His situation is such that living in the most expensive healthcare system in the world, with failing health and high commitments through supporting the community, he needs to raise approximately US$50 000. This may seem a lot of money, but in the USA if you have a major illness, like the Shaikh and your not covered by a good insurance policy, such monies go very quickly. Also, it is a lot of money for maybe one of us to stand by this Shaikh, but if we came together is it really?

Please watch this video, and see if your willing to become one of the 100 Ansar required to free this man from his current situation. We need just 100 people to stand up and support him with $500, sorry 99 people to stand up with $500, and say Shaikh we are behind you. As you have served the Ummah, in your time of need the Ummah is with you, and we take satisfaction from the words of habeebana, Muhammad, Alayhe salat wa’salam, who said, Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allâh will fulfil his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allâh will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allâh will screen him on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhâri]

http://www.islamictube.com/100ansar1431.html

“Allâh supports His slave as long as the slave is supportive of his brother…” [Muslim]

Orson Welles, could not have been more right with these words, and this is why the difference between good and bad company is like the heavens and the earth.

In the modern time, we have seen a renaissance in the Islamic spirit, and across the world we see an increasingly visible presence of Islam. By the grace of Allah, we see the rise of Ahl Sunnah, we see niqaab and the headscarf ever more manifest in our societies and we see masaajid and Islamic centers emerging with great ambition and glory.

In and amongst this we have also seen the rise of whole Islamic communities, circles of people who love each other for the sake of Allah. They have no racial connection, no blood lineage to one another and no material benefit to bring to one another except to further one another in god consciousness. And without question this is one of the most beautiful manifestations of the Islamic revival in our time. As an AlKauthar student, I have met some of the finest people in the world, who have changed my world view, and allowed me to experience some of the best times in my life. People I would have not met otherwise, people who I have no connection with, except a zeal for knowledge, from Afghanistan, Kenya, Australia and even Mirpur! It is genuinely something amazing and only those who have the pleasure of such relationships will know to what I am referring.

Only yesterday I came across a brother. A new Muslim who entered Islam less than a month ago, and was homeless. However, he was in a café and met some brothers. Once they found out he was Muslim, and he was new to this Ummah, they immediately offered him a place in their home. They never met him before, did not know him, and yet opened up their home to him, to live and stabilize his affairs. Why? Simply because they understood the ties of brotherhood and the importance of community. Allahu Akbar.

Now, despite this amazing connection between the people of tawheed, there is another reality, which lives side by side to this. It is the most bizarre phenomenon in contemporary Muslim society, and it relates to marriage, or the lack of it.

Despite these great relationships, which have emerged through the rise of the Dawah to Islam, there is one type of relationship, which is struggling to find the light of day, and that is the sacred institution of marriage. We live in a time, where even amongst good, let me rephrase, fantastic, practicing Muslims, there is an inability for people to settle and marry. This amazing institution, which builds the very fabric of any society is slowly slowly being eroded. We are finding that there are so many brilliant brothers and sisters, and so many of them single. So many students seeking knowledge, yet unable to find someone to walk that journey to enlightenment with.

A wise person once said, ‘the most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved’, and she could not have been more right. We, living here in the West, have the best of material wealth. We have nice BMWs, large homes, highflying jobs, and yet we come home, to, well, to ourselves. There is an inevitable emptiness for the single person, and why wouldn’t there be? We know from the prophetic example the true value in this life of a righteous partner. Walk through the corridors of the Sunnah, and you will find narration after narration calling to marriage and its blessing. Consider the hadith, of the Messenger of Allah, when he, habeebana, said, “This whole world is an enjoyment, and its best enjoyment is a righteous wife” [Muslim]

Gentleman, will the 5 series upgrade, fill the void, will the Cabrio, ever be of more meaning than what the messenger himself identified as the best enjoyment? No.

Sisters, consider the statement of our beloved, said, “Any woman dies while her husband is pleased with her, she will enter Jannah (Heaven)”.
[At-Tirmidhi]. Allahu Akbar. Jannah. That is right, Jannah on the back of this amazing institution of marriage.

So here we are dearest brothers and sisters, and I write conscious many of you are single. As am I (well not for long, wAlhamdulillah), and therefore I call you to something special.

For much a time we have been conscious of this issue, and by Allah, many of you have come to us, questioning about what we are doing about this issue and physical crumbling of this gift from Allah, marriage, before our very eyes. I put before you today, the latest venture from your Mercy Mission; Pure Matriomony. This is a project founded upon the ayat, “women of purity are for men of purity and men of purity are for women of purity” (Qur’an 24:26).

The focus of this project, simple, to bring together the god conscious in the most noble relationship on the planet. Therefore dearest brothers and sisters, if you are single, make some time from your lives, and take active steps to end your solitude. Free yourself from the shackles of loneliness, complete half your faith and find yourself someone to pursue a road to Jannah on. Pure Mat is a great place to continue your journey, so sign up, and make dua to Allah jala fi’ula to send you a righteous partner who will be the one who takes you by the hand, and treads the path that ends at Firdaus Al Aala.

http://www.purematrimony.com/

One of the things that struck me, while chatting with some of the people there was just how much it takes to maintain and build a career in the top flight. The extremely long hours, the stress, the responsibility, and the out of work demands too made for good understanding for why the offices were so plush!

I guess, even if we are not working a highflying city job, I am sure most can relate to the realities of the modern working environment. Its simply one thing after another, and if your unfortunate enough to be ‘between roles’ right now, I am sure the stress is even greater. With this reality, the words of Allah, could not ring more true:

“Wealth and children are the adornments of the life of this world.” 18:46

As without a doubt it is our attraction to them which makes us busy in paving the way to them. So here we are, struggling on, pursuing the fruits of this world, which have been aptly described by their creator himself:

‘The life of this world is but a delusion’ – 3:185

With this reality for many of us, when I saw a great opportunity to escape all such things, yet in a way not to compromise your careers or families needs or requirements, I felt I have to share this. As surely we could all benefit from a break from the working life we are in?

Vodafone have a program in place to support people to escape dunya (the irony of it, I know) and work with a registered charity for either a period of 2 months in the UK or 12 months abroad, and I think every single Mercy Mission member who has the ability to take such time out should consider it. Its a great opportunity to do something really good without too much sacrifice, what more could you want?

Alhamdulillah, this year, Allah has blessed this organisation enormously. Having had the pleasure to play some little role in some of the great projects that you have all made a reality, I would love to welcome a new full time team member, even if it was for a period of 2 months. Our UK full time team would welcome you on board, so if your hungry for a break from the daily grind, feel you can add some value to MM, and have the hunger to put a couple of months into helping create a world where every Muslim is able to live faithfully to their belief, building an exemplary Islamic community that benefits humanity, fill out the application, win a place, and join me.

http://worldofdifference.vodafone.co.uk/

So to proceed, what is it that takes me into the early hours of Friday? Well, aside from an inability to sleep, I have to tell you I have something annoying me. Its basically a video I saw today, which despite being really islamaphobic, the thing that annoyed me most was its element of unfortunate truth in the message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkRRdth8AHc&feature=related

Now with this video, the issue they are essentially raising is one with much truth. The message is clear, Muslims are a people that take, and not give. And when you look around you, and I mean this at a very general level, its actually quite true.

Consider the hadith reported by Ibn Umar. While Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was on his pulpit, he said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand, the upper hand is the one which gives and the lower hand is the begging one.’‘
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Yet, as a community, we are typically found only using the system. I guess this is manifested most embaressingly via the welfare state. There seems to be a whole class of people completely content with a life on benefits, both for themselves their spouses and even their children! How do we reconcile that with the hadith?

I had an interesting conversation with someone about Mercy Mission’s National Zakat Foundation (www.letusbelieve.com -plug intended) and they made the case that Muslims in need (typically those with failed asylum status) here do not need our zakat because they could get emergency benefits from the state or other charities. Now, the fundamental problem I have with this is, even if they could, which typically they cannot, is that befitting a Muslim? Is it befitting for us as a community to leave our people, who are at their most vulnerable to the whims and conditions of other than the mil’la?

Personally I just cannot see it. I hate the advert which sparked this in my mind, but what I hate more, is a contentment from elements of the Ummah in this country to just take, take of the system and think nothing of it at all.

Maybe I have lost it, maybe I need correcting. Regardless, let me know, if the spidy senses have gone haywire!

Now, these are questions I am sure many of us entertain, and I guess, some of us may delude ourselves that we would be missed. Why is that? Having thought about this a great deal, I realise, that this stems from a fear of facing the realities of one’s insignificance. When we walk through the pages of history, we find the example of people, which lived lives which are so far from our own that they actually seem like fairy tales to us. We reconcile ourselves in a way, pardon the parallel, like the disbelievers in Makkah, when on hearing the revelation, they would say;

And whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, “We have heard [all this] before; if we wanted, we could certainly compose sayings like these [ourselves]: they are nothing but fables of ancient times!” Quran, 8:31

Is that not frightening, is this not our inner most response when we here about the example of our beloved companions; Harith Ibn Hisham, Iqrima Ibn Abi Jahl and Suhayl Ibn Amr? Let us remember them here, as in the Battle of Yarmouk, Harith Ibn Hisham, Iqrima Ibn Abi Jahl and Suhayl Ibn Amr all fell to the ground severely wounded. Harith Ibn Hisham asked for water to drink. One of the soldiers brought water to him. When he saw that Iqrima was looking at him, he said, “Take this water to Iqrima.” As Iqrima received the water he saw that Suhayl was looking at him, and he declined the water, saying, “Give it to Suhayl.”  But Suhayl died before the water could reach him. At that the water-bearer ran to Iqrima, but Iqrima had also died. He ran over to Harith, but he had expired, too.

Allahu Akbar.

What would we do? Hmmm. I think we know, and that is why in our time these example are seen as stories of the ancient. Allah Al Musta’an.

So here we are, with our self centered, ego driven and self-deluding outlook, we have convinced ourselves that we are important. Today, I realised that myself, when I pondered over my own significance – or the lack of it. Convinced of being a superhero, I saw a true superhero on a video, and was humbled.

Check the video, meet the hero, and join me on a journey of reformation, and building a significance to benefit humanity.

This is a hadith I guess some of you will know, and we are typically reminded of it, when seeking to manage a very particular case or tragedy. However this morning as I read this hadith, I thought to myself, is this not at the essence of our World House Party Day endeavour too?

Now you maybe thinking, are my spidy senses all confused but genuinely brothers and sisters, just take a moment to explore the rise in hate crime against the Muslims. Take a moment to see the rise in number of our noble sisters being attacked for observing their hijaab, our brothers and sisters being assaulted for nothing but than being examples of the people who testify to La illaha ilAllah.

Just search ‘hate crime, Muslims’ and you will see the situation:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7809537/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/28/hate-crimes-muslims-media-politicians

With this reality, it is critical brothers and sisters we ensure that the masses do not fear Islam, and stay silent to the small (but growing) fringe of anti-muslim bigots.

We as a people, have to be of those that stay focussed on showing the beauty of Islam, Allah has said, clearly in his book, ‘Let not the hatred of any people move you away from justice.’ (translation of Quran, 5:2). And as we know we carry the responsibility of showcasing Islam, it is critical we take forward this message in a way that responds to the needs of our time.

I am not suggesting here, that World House Party Day is the soul means, never, all I am saying is this event of ours, surely has a role to play in challenging the Muslim stereotype and generating the resources required to showcase Islam in a way that it deserves.

We must be a positive people with high aspirations, we must be a people who confidently stand as Muslims and confidently call people to righteousness, as what can be better than this faith of ours, that Allah has chosen for his creation.

Look forward to seeing examples of your great parties this coming weekend, and if your yet to organise one, Organise One! And if you are unable, feel free to attend mine: http://www.justgoparty.com/jjevent.php

Today has been a long day, as I went to London to meet some key stakeholders, and found it got longer by the minute.

I had a good meeting with our brother Jalal Ibn Saeed, and we set down a challenge. As many of you know he established the MV&D Fellowship to reach out, support and reward people in the Dawah. Well today, we decided to test the effectiveness of some of that support, and its ability to keep people energised, by laying down a challenge, and it was to see if the winners for all the prizes available through World House Party Day, could be won by people accessing support and development through the MV&D.

Now I am sure you would all agree that is some challenge.

Therefore let us see how we all fair.

To be honest it was great to engage someone on competition for doing good deeds, as unfortunately in the contemporary Dawah seen, ‘competition’ and poor cooperation are currently stifling the realisation of the potential of our communities. Lets see this as the start of something founded upon genuinely and sincerely living to the ayat, ‘cooperate in righteousness and piety’. Quran 5:2

The journey continues as this train finally draws into leeds at 0050. I guess better late than never, even though if my spidy senses have been really tried!

brothers and sisters, as you know we are at the moment working hard to raise the funds to deliver the World’s Largest Islamic Awareness campaign this Ramadan. Our chosen vehicle to make this real is by creating an opportunity for all the Muslims to play a role, to put their hand to a unique campaign, to essentially participate in World House Party Day.

Now as someone who is living this campaign, it is proving a bizarre experience, as despite the model being quite simple, i.e. invite at least ten friends, and ask them to donate £10 toward the campaign and send in the money, many, or should I say too many Muslims, that even like the idea are reluctant to sign up.

Therefore I thought, let me see if I can help address that.

Dearest brothers and sisters, there are a few things we should maybe keep in mind when looking at this causes, campaign, opportunity, call it what you may.

1. Our intention is purely to please Allah Subahana Wa’tala. We are seeking to use the party concept to build a fund to showcase the beauty of Islam in a way it has never been done before. This should be the primary intention for registering a party, we want to put our hand, and have our name recorded against thousands of people reading the ahadith of the messenger of Allah, Upon whom be peace, we want thousands of people to break their fasts with the dates that we source for them, and we want men, women and children, Muslim and Non Muslim to consider Islam with the positivity it warrants.

2. This is probably one of the best, if not the best, opportunities to engage your wider families and friends, that may not necessarily be heavily into Islam and seeking knowledge. Through this you can show the benefit of the time that you sacrifice for them, by involving them in the campaign. Enabling them to see the new and smart way of challenging stereotype, by inviting them to your party and talking about the project. mashAllah we now have people right around the world coming together to support a campaign in the UK, is this not one of the greatest signs of brotherhood and sisterhood? So lets use this as an opportunity to bring our friends and families together, and show them the value add of being a practical Muslim and having a genuine concern for our communities, and having no clash of civilization issues in our mind.

3. Finally, respected brothers and sisters, who I love for the sake of Allah, use this as an opportunity to revive a Sunnah, that we seem to have lost in the West. And that is inviting your friends/ family for food. Having guests in your home is a source of amazing Barakah, and being good with them is a key element of the Prophetic tradition.  As we know the hadith of the Messenger, who said “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let them treat their guest generously.” Al-Bukhari, so lets act upon it, and become great hosts!

That is me done brothers and sisters, I hope this is sufficient a motivation to encourage you to register a party and put your hand to this unique campaign, and enable us to achieve something truly amazing. Mail me or tweet me if you have any questions. 

Lots of Spiddyness.

SpiderDan

p.s. If your one of those people thinking why there is a £25 registration fee, this is simply to ensure that the 1000 parties that register actually happen. All hosts are expected to deduct the £25 from the amount they raise at their parties as a refund to themselves inshAllah. Have a great weekend! And remember, www.justgoparty.com

My consciousness of this, led me to use my spidy sense to search out any brothers and sisters who were eager to do some good, engage society and showcase the beauty of Islam, with honesty and integrity. Within seconds I identified the Mercy Mission team working on an innovative project to raise awareness of Islam and the Muslims and do so in an approachable way, and thus I signed up as a volunteer, and it is brill.

Me and the team are now pulling together a great little project which in 2010 is going to:

• Distribute 10 000 Packs of Dates Across The UK To The General Public Through City Centre Events

• Cater For Up To 5000 People (Muslim & Non Muslim) To Break Fast Together In 3 Major UK Cities; Including Trafalgar Square, London!

• Distribute Eid Gifts at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital for Eid Ul Fitr

• Billboard 3 High Streets With The Ahadith of The Messenger of Allah, Upon Whom Be Peace

• Decorate 150 Buses With The Ahadith of The Messenger of Allah, Upon Whom Be Peace

This is clearly only going to be possible with the help of Allah, and then the slaves he chooses to help make this happen.

Some of those slaves have come up with a novel idea of how to do this, and so I am helping them make it real, and that is World House Party Day.

Yes, that is what I said, me, and all my spidy senses are being invested into making World House Party Day, a day through which we can raise £100 000 for this campaign. And its sooo easy. 

Here is the plan;

1. You decided you want to help do all that cool stuff I mentioned at the beginning in Ramadan.

2. You visit www.justgoparty.com and register a party.

3. You invite your friends over on 15th May, with a view of winning their support and a £10 donation toward the Ramadan campaign, and have a great time enjoying their company.

4. You wake up early on 16th May, donate the money you have raised online

5. You give yourself a nice pat on the back, and take comfort from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, 

“The recompense of one who directs somebody to do a good deed will be equal to the reward of the latter.” (Muslim)

as you prepare for a national campaign to be initiated this Ramadan brining together a diverse partnership of Muslims and Muslim organisations to showcase the beauty of Islam.

Me think this is good….

…follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/thespiderdan