Leaking from the Eyes

by Syed Adam Alhabshi


Tonight is the 23rd night. Who will be waking up when the rest of the world is asleep to call upon their Lord? Here's a tip on how to make effective and meaningful dua.

The Prophet SAW taught Aishah RA this dua to be recited in the Night of Power:

اللْهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ

O Allah, You are Pardoning,

 تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ

And You love to Pardon,

 فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

So, pardon me…

I guess because this dua is very common in Malaysia as it is recited at the break of every 4 raka’ah of terawih prayers, most of us seem to have memorised it. So Insha Allah, most of us can recite it during the last ten nights when we are searching for the Night of Power.

Here is my advise on how you read this dua. It works for me and I hope that it will for you.

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Random Facts about Prayers - Part 2

by Syed Adam Alhabshi

This is a simple series on some interesting facts on our obligatory prayers. For all of the articles in this series please click here.

Fact 3: Qasar Prayers

In general, subuh is two raka’at, zuhur, as’r and isya’ is four and maghrib is three.

When we are travelers, the Prophet SAW taught us that the number of all the four prayers can be shortened to only two raka’at and we can combine the prayers as well. This is called, Jama’ wa Qasar (to combine and to shorten).

This is what I learned early this year from my spiritual teacher.

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Random Facts about Prayers - Part 1

by Syed Adam Alhabshi

This is a simple series on some interesting facts on our obligatory prayers. For all of the articles in this series please click here.

Muslims are obligated to pray 5 times a day. Most of us know the necessary information related to prayers as we are taught in school. We are also taught that we must have khusyu’ or focus in our prayers. Unfortunately, the little knowledge that we have about prayers will never be sufficient for us to truly understand prayers and enjoy it as how the Prophet SAW and his companions did.

There are numerous websites which explains in great details about prayers (see the award winning The Salah Series and also this post). Read the articles at SuhaibWebb.com, seriously best.

For today, I thought I’d pick 2 random facts about prayers which I had learned from various teachers and learned people - the niah (intention) and the takbiratul ihram. These 2 random facts gave me different perspectives to prayers. Let’s begin.

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Faith Fridays - Inspired by Muhammad - Environment - Kristiane Backer [VIDEO]

This week's Faith Fridays and this week's Open Circle is on the environment. As Allah's Khalifah on this earth one of our responsibilities is to make the physical world clean and beautiful. As Muslims we find it easy to perfect ourselves and to help others perfect themselves but we push the environment and the world we live in to the back of our minds.

There are many verses in the Qur'an that talk about nature and how they are all Blessings from Allah. In Surah Ar-Rahman (The Most Gracious) Allah mentions fruits, dates, corn and other sweet plants and then asks mankind "Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?" It is undeniable that nature and the environment is an important part of our existence. As such at YMP we felt it was time to introduce this topic. While not particular popular or attention-grabbing we believe discussions about our environment are pertinent during these times.

So join former MTV presenter Kristiane Backer in her promotional video for the brilliant Inspired by Muhammad campaing as she talks about Islam and the environment. And don't forget to join us this Sunday!

Facebook event page here.

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An American Volunteer at YMP's Soup Kitchen

by Crystal Corman

YMP got to know Crystal through some mutual friends a year ago. She's a graduate student in Washington, DC at American University and Wesley Theological Seminary. She was in Malaysia as a Boren Fellow. In addition to studying bahasa, she conducted research on the participation of Muslim women in Malaysia's various Islamic institutions. She regularly joined us at talks, events and charity projects and the bonds she has formed with YMP will last even though she is now all the way in Nebraska, US. This is her account of volunteering with YMP's Soup Kitchen.

Even though I knew I’d only be living in Kuala Lumpur for less than a year, I was excited to join with YMP’s service to feed the poor and homeless. I’m an American graduate student in Malaysia to do fieldwork for my master’s degree. Though poverty is not part of my research project, I do want to meet a wide variety of Malaysians to gain a broader perspective of the country and society. But at a deeper level, it is my faith as a Christian that compels me to feed the hungry.

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