I Am Superman - Ramadan 2011 Kindness Contest Theme Song

The Prophet said, "Nothing ascends to Allah except good."

Allah's Apostle said, "If somebody gives in charity something equal to a date from his honestly earned money ----for nothing ascends to Allah except good---- then Allah will take it in His Right (Hand) and bring it up for its owner as anyone of you brings up a baby horse, till it becomes like a mountain." Abu Huraira said: The Prophet. said, "Nothing ascends to Allah except good." 

(Bukhari :: Book 9 :: Volume 93 :: Hadith 525)

"I have been all things unholy. 

If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."

~ St. Francis of Assisi 

The Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

(found in  AA 12 Steps and 12 Traditions)

Zikr and Chechen women making zikr...

Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance (zikr) of Allah: 

for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.

(Quran 13:28)

Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, 

and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, 

(With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! 

Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.

                             (Quran 3:191)

But those will prosper who purify themselves,And glorify the Name of their Guardian-Lord, 

and (lift their hearts) in prayer.

(Quran 87:14-15)

Feed the World

There but for the Grace of The Beloved go you and I.

“There is no Them. There are only facets of Us.” 

John Green

Bread for the World Institute

You can make the difference!

What Is Ramadan? An Explanation by Yusuf Islam

Ramadan Information from About.com
Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens)

image from Top Beautiful Islamic Wallpapers

Ramadan for Kids

Best Ramadan Crafts for Kids

My Ramadan Daily Journal

Ramadan Coloring Pages

More Ramadan Coloring Pages

Crayola's Ramadan Coloring Pages

Islamic Word Scramble

Ramadan Word Search Puzzle

Ramadan at Primary Games

Ramadan: Daily Lessons

5 Ramadan Books For Your Early Reader

Ramadan Books for Children

Popular Ramadan Books For Kids

I Can Only Imagine (Ramadan Re-mix)

MC Yogi - Give Love

Women As Imams

...Antonia Toni's Call to Prayer...

*

*

*

...Women Imams in China...

*

*

*

...Women Imams in Morocco...

*

*

*

...Brother Shabir on women leading prayer...

*

*

*

...Hamza Yusuf says women can lead the prayer...

*

*

*

...Amina Wadud on gender equality in Islam...

Ibn Arabi's Twofold Perception of Woman

Woman as Human Being and Cosmic Principle

Rumi Tuesday: A Gift of Love

My People Are Rising by Mohja Kahf

El-Farouk Khaki interview

Salaam Canada

By Thy Grace by Snatam Kaur

Allah, Jehovah, Rama, SatNam

Names of God

Allah

Jehovah

Rama

SatNam

Waheguru

Ganesh

Saraswati

Elohim

Ahura Mazda

Great Spirit

 The Loving

Ar-Rahman

The Friend

The Truth

The One

The All

Ma

Alla

The Most Beautiful Names belong to God.

Quran 7:180

<3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3

It is said that Allah has 3,000 Names.  1,000 of them are known only to the angels.  1,000 are known only by the Prophets.   300 are found in the Torah, 300 in the Psalms, 300 in the Gospels and 99 in the Quran.  The sum of these names is 2,999.  There is one name that is hidden by God, the Ism Allah Al Azam.

Ya Dhat! Ya Sifat!

There is the essence of God and there are the attributes of God. 

 The essence is impossible for us to understand. 

 We can begin to understand the attributes.

 In fact, part of a Sufi education is to understand those attributes in yourself.

 God has said, "My servants will find Me as they see Me." 

 This does not mean if you think of God as a tree or as a mountain 

that God will be that tree or mountain. 

 If you think of God as merciful, or loving, or as angry or vengeful, 

 that is how you will find God. 

 ~ Sheikh Muzaffer


<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3


Everything will perish, save the Face of God.
--Quran 28:88

<3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3 ::: <3

The Seven Name Prayer

by Meher Baba

Hari, Paramatma,

Allah, Ahuramazda,

God, Yezdan, Hu

Say: "Call out to Allah or by the name of Ar-Rahman (The All-Compassionate).
It is all the same because to all the Most Beautiful Names belong to HaShem.
When you pray to The One Who Goes By Many Names,
pray neither too softly or too loudly.
The moderate way is best so seek a way in between."
(Surah al-Isra 17:110)

Sheikh Kabir Helminski of the Mevlevi Order discusses zikr

The Threshold Society: Mevlevi Order of America
One Through Love

And remember your Protector and Sustainer,
O beloved Muhammad,humbly and with awe.
Use then a gentle voice, the words carried softly on your breath,
to praise Me in the morning and evening.
And do not be negligent in your remembrance.

--Quran al-A'raf 7:205--

Helping Afghan women who are victims of domestic violence

Women for Afghan Women

And among Allah's signs is this:
that S/He created mates for you from yourselves
that you may find rest and peace of mind in them,
and S/He ordained between you love and mercy.
Certainly, herein indeed are signs for people who reflect.

(Quran 30:21)
<3 <3 <3 ooo <3 <3 <3 ooo <3 <3 <3 ooo <3 <3 <3 ooo <3 <3 <3 ooo <3 <3 <3
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"The most perfect of the believers is the best of you in character, and the best of you are those among you who are best to their wives."(Tirmidhi)

Love Poem by Irving Karchmar

Love Poem

Gladly then did the world arise
By that one mighty word of power… Love!
From any other word quite apart
It rejoices in the willing heart
And binds the planets to their skies
And shines in You the brighter to my eyes

Night, come bring the dippers and Orion’s belt
To gird the firmament and bind us to His boundless will
That my heart, which has never felt such sentiment
May feel it then the deeper still

Give it not to chance then, nor say instead ’twas fate
That we have met in time who might have met too late
In the understanding of two hearts that may for earlier years amend
As our time flows like a river, unfelt til journeys end

– Irving Karchmar, 1986

Master of the Jinn, a novel by Irving Karchmar. 
Irving is a Sufi from the Nimatullahi Sufi Order
 His blog is Darvish.  

The Gayatri Mantra

The Gayatri Mantra is a prayerful Sanskrit chanting of a verse from the Holy Vedas, one of the Sacred Texts revealed to the people of India in ancient times.

Here is the Prayer in Sanskrit

ॐ भूर्भुवः॒ स्वः ।

तत्स॑वितुर्वरे॑ण्यं ।

भ॒र्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि। ।

धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त्॥ ।

and now a transliteration:

Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt




In the Gayatri Mantra, the seekers ask the Creator of the Universe to enlighten us, to guide our intellects toward wisdom and the ability to behold a deep understanding of Truth.

One of the more literal translations would be:

May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the god:
So may he stimulate our prayers.
---The Hymns of the Rigveda


Among the many beautiful interpretations:

O Creator of the Universe! 
We meditate upon Thy Supreme Splendor. 
May Thy Radiant Power illuminate our intellects,
destroy our sins and guide us in the right direction! 

O Divine Mother,
Our hearts are filled with darkness.
Please make this darkness distant from us
and promote illumination within us.

May the Supreme Light
that illuminates the three worlds,
illumine our intellect also, fully,
and direct the rays of our intelligence
to the path of virtue 

We meditate on the Divine Light
of that adorable Sun of Spiritual Consciousness.
may it illumine our intellect just as the
splendorous sunlight dispells our darkness. 

Earth, sky, heaven.
Let us meditate on these
and on the most excellent
Light of that adorable Sun.
We pray that they may
guide our intellect.

Wikipedia includes some of the following interpretations:


Let us adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the god-head who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress toward his holy seat.
(Sir William Jones)


Unveil, O Thou who givest sustenance to the Universe, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, that face of the True Sun now hidden by a vase of golden light, that we may see the truth and do our whole duty on our journey to thy sacred seat.
(William Quan Judge)


We meditate on the worshipable power and glory of Him who has created the earth, 
the nether world and the heavens (i.e. the universe), and who directs our understanding. (Sivanath Sastri)


We meditate on the glory of that Being 
who has produced this universe; 
may He enlighten our minds.
(Swami Vivekananda)

We meditate on the effulgent glory of the Divine Light; 
may he inspire our understanding.
(S. Radhakrishnan)








O Lord, you are the Almighty, the Omniscient, the Omnipresent one. You are imperceptible, exists beyond the peripheries of mind; but present in earth, in cosmos, in all the galaxies. You are all pervasive. Your luminosity sustains the life of all the living beings on this earth. You are the source of light. O my Lord, bless us, so that our intellect may get illuminated.


From Wahiduddin.net , several other translations are found:


We meditate on the glory of the Creator;
Who has created the Universe;
Who is worthy of Worship;
Who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light;
Who is the remover of all Sin and Ignorance;
May He enlighten our Intellect.
(Swami Shivananda)

We meditate upon the radiant Divine Light
of that adorable Sun of Spiritual Consciousness;
May it awaken our intuitional consciousness.
(S. Krishnamurthy)

Mothers of the Nur Ashki Jerrahis

 Mother Maryam and Prophet Isa, peace be upon them  

They immediately recognize Perfect Wisdom

as the sole teacher,

the very principle of Buddhahood

the tender Mother of the Buddhas.

- Lex Hixon, Mother of the Buddhas

Love, intimacy, and constant remembrance are the glorious way.
Essentially, love, love, and more love.
- Shaykha Fariha al Jerrahi

 

The mystery of motherhood shines in Mecca. Mother of Holy Places, radiates as the Glorious Quran, Mother of Scriptures and illumines the entire universe as umma*, the spiritual community, Mother of the Lovers of Truth.  The mystery of motherhood sparkles secretly as the primary Divine Names, Rahman and Rahim which derive from the single Arabic root meaning womb. The mystery of motherhood glows delicately as the spiritual pregnancy of the heart of both men and women along the mystic way.  This rich spiritual mystery manifests in a special sense through all women.

O Matrix of Existence!  

O Birth Giver, Educator and Protector of All Worlds.

O Glorious One!

amin amin alhamdulillahi rabbi-l-alamin

 - Lex Hixon, Nur al-Jerrahi, Atom of the Sun of Knowledge, p. 168

God does not fit anywhere but the human heart.
The heart is the locus of remembrance of God.
- Shaykha Amina al Jerrahi

The Arabic of the Qu'ran is already much more gender inclusive than any translation.  For instance, even though the word Allah is grammatically masculine, the One's essence (Dhat) and attributes (Sifat) are both gendered female.

Neil Douglas Klotz, foreword to The Heart of the Q-uran by Lex Hixon

Interview with Halifa Ayshegul Ashki from TheButterflyGift.com Videos on Vimeo   

O Mother, I throw myself on Thy mercy;
I take shel­ter at Thy Hal­lowed Feet.

- Sri Ramakrishna - ...............................  Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, "Paradise lies at the feet of the Mother." .................

Where Is the Love by Black Eyed Peas

What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma

Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK

But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah

Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate

Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love, the love, the love

It just ain't the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace are so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong

Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone

So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong
In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin' in
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover

The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)?
Where is the love (The love)?
Where is the love, the love, the love?

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' our wrong direction

Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema

Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity

That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found
Now ask yourself

Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?

Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love?

Sing with me y'all:
One world, one world (We only got)
One world, one world (That's all we got)
One world, one world
And something's wrong with it (Yeah)
Something's wrong with it (Yeah)
Something's wrong with the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got
(One world, one world)
That's all we got
(One world, one world) 

(Black Eyed Peas, Where is the Love?)