Get Up and Do Your Thing

Life has been challenging lately. In July I've faced some financial
setbacks, and also some personal setbacks that have hit me hard, and
drained me emotionally to the point where sometimes I just sit in my
padded computer chair and don't feel like getting up. I feel like I
hardly have the energy to get up and prepare some food to eat, let
alone pray, work, go to class, care for my daughter…
And yet I do get up. I go out and teach a 2.5 hour martial arts class
and I do itwith vigor, because my students are looking to me for
guidance and inspiration. I get up and domy volunteer job at the
Muslim community center. I get up and take my daughter to the lake or
themasjid, and have a tea party with her, and read her the latest
chapter of "Fish Face". I laugh with her and love her with everything
I've got, because she needs me. I don't have time for self-pity.
I get up and do my thing, because that's what it is to be a man (or
woman), to be a father (or mother), to be a Muslim, to be a friend, to
be alive! You get up anddo what you have to do. You pick your foot up
and take a step, then lift the other one and take anotherstep, and
before you know it you are moving ahead, and time has passed and your
problems have diminished and don't hurt quite so much, or maybe you
have overcome them entirely, because you are experiencing the joy of
life.Your love for Allah, and your gratitude, and your attentiveness
to the beautyand blessings around you, all wash the pain away likea
river.
That's what it is to be alive.SubhanAllah.
So, to all those reading thisnow, I send you light and love, and I
know that no matter what physical or emotional aches you are
experiencing, you will rise each morning with gratitude, you will take
a step and move ahead, you will love and laugh, you will push
self-pity to the side and live your lives with commitment, in the
short time that we all haveon this beautiful ball of brown and blue.
One last note: Eat healthy foods, drink water and – very important –
get enough sleep. These are all critical to maintaining an emotional
balance and moving forward in life witha positive attitude.

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Allah guides those who struggle

Allah guides those who struggle. "And those who strive in Our cause,
We will surely guide them to Our paths." – Al-Ankaboot, 29:69.
Struggle may seem like something to be avoided, but the alternative is
to walk in dim light, seeing nothing clearly. If our lives consist of
sitting on the sofa watching TV, doing jobs without passion,
shruggingour shoulders at the suffering of others, and accepting the
unreality that is pushed at us by advertising and the media, then we
are living in shadow, even when the sun shines.
Yes, we all have bills to pay, and sometimes we work jobs that we are
not passionate about, in order to support our families. I have a
website about money transfer services, and another about paying bills
online. They are boring, but I spend time onthem because they earn
money. In my free time I struggle to do work that is important to me –
this website being a notable example. Even a short article might take
me two or three days to write, because of the limited timeI have to
work on it. Longer articles can take weeks. And yet people sometimes
tell me that my writing has changed their lives.
We can all find a little time every day to pursue what we love, and to
make a difference in people's lives, even in a small way. Beyond that,
we must strive to represent truth in everything we do: in our family
lives, our work, our entertainment – everything.
Imam Jamil Al-Amin wrote in 2006:
"In the heart there is an emptiness and a need which nothing can
satisfy except for the remembrance of Allah (swt). The only proof of
faith is in struggle, struggling in word and deed, in body and soul.
Thelack of faith will crush you far more than defeat ever could. 'And
what will explain to you the path that is steep?' (90:12). Conscious
struggle is the path that is steep. Struggle where bitter hardship and
misfortune and difficulty becomes sweet tasting to the soul."
There is no road to success except through the struggle for truth and
righteousness. This is actually good news, because if you're a seeker,
if you've got a nose for truth, if you care about justice, then you're
already struggling, walking a hard road. It's inevitable. Those who
pursue truth and speak it out loud are seen as strangers and
subversives. You might wonder sometimes if it's worth it, or if you're
moving in the right direction.
Don't worry. The fact that you're struggling means that Allah is
guiding you, and you're on the right road.

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I Get The Best... I get the best feeling in theworld when you say hi or even smile at me because I knw, even if its just for a sec, that I've crossed ur mind

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14 killed in violence, firing incidents in Karachi, Pakistan

At least 14 people were killed in several incidents of firing and
violence in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday.
The firing incidents started early in the morning when a political
activist was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the city, the attackers
fled after the attack and police could not find any clue about them
yet. Police said that the attack on theactivist seemed to be
politically motivated and they would arrest the culprits soon.
Later, eleven more people were killed in various incidents of firing
across ofthe city, meanwhile two bodies with eminent marks of violence
were found by the residents in the restive Layari area of the city.
Tension gripped the areas where killings took place and schools and
business activities were closed.
Earlier on Tuesday, 14 people including two political activists of the
Karachi's influential political party Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM)
and four members of a religious group were killedin the city. The
fresh wave of violence rose at the time when the relation between two
major political parties, the leading Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) and
its coalition partner MQM became tensed over the structure of local
body management system.
Local media reported that president Zardari, the co-Chairman of PPP
called MQM's leader Altaf Hussainon late Wednesday night and assured
to remove hisgrievances. The MQM's leader also appreciated the
president's move, and the situation thawed between the two political
parties.
Karachi remained under the menace of target killing on ethnic,
religious and political basis since the beginning of this year.
According to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an estimated 1,406
people have been killed in separate incidentsof target killing across
the city since the beginning of this year.

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