Healthy tips for DIABETICS~ (simple natural tips which can b followed easily)

1. Eat food at fixed hours.
2. Do not eat immediately after a workout.
3. Do not overeat.
4. If you are on insulin, make sure you have three
proper meals with light snacks in between.
5. Do not eat fast; masticate and munch yourfood well before you swallow.
6. Drink a lot of water that will help flush the toxins
off your system.
7. Make sure the gaps between your meals are
short.
8. Avoid fried foods and sweetmeats.
9. Include fresh vegetable salad in every meal.
10. Have at least 20 to 25 grams of raw onion daily.
11.Do atleast 1 hour exercise daily.
12. Add wheat bran to your wheatflour (50%
wheatflour + 50% wheat bran). This helps increase fibre in your diet.!!

--
- - - - - - -

Mohammad Mertabanis a volunteer matchmaker who helps observant young Muslims searching for a modern path to marriage that stays true to Islam.

The one-line email that greeted Mohammad Mertaban came straight tothe point.
"Mertaban, find me a husband, k? I await your list of potential
suitors," wrote a woman who liveson the East Coast.
Mertaban was not surprised, although he knew the woman only slightly.
"If it comes from a brother or sister whom Idon't know very well, I
know that she would do it out of frustration, desperation or a strong
desire to get married," he explained later.
An information technology project manager who lives in Fullerton,
Mertaban, 30, has grown accustomed to urgent requests — by phone,
email and in person — since he began dabbling in matchmaking for
friends and acquaintances about eightyears ago. Those he helps are
observant young Muslims searching for a modern path to marriage that
stays true to Islam.
American Muslims regularly speak of a "marriage crisis" in their
communities, as growing numbers of Muslims reachtheir late 20s and
early 30s still single. Young religious Muslims tend to avoid
Western-style dating, but many also reject the ways of earlier
generations, in which potential spouses were introduced to one
anotherby family.
Traditionally, in South Asia and the Middle East, older women — often
called the "aunties" — and parents recommended matches by drawing upon
their extensive networks of family, friends and acquaintances.
Marriage criteria were typically limited to religion, ethnicity, jobs
and looks. But in the U.S., their little black books of contacts are
significantly thinner and many second-generation American Muslims see
such methodsas decidedly old-world.
So, many turn to young volunteer matchmakers like Mertaban, who have
connections in their hometowns, college circles and vast online
networks.
Muslims gather for the special Eid ul-Fitr morningprayer at the Los
Angeles Convention Center on August 30, 2011 in Los Angeles,
California.
"The aunties don't really know people very well and I think they're
just shooting in the dark," saidMertaban, whose parents emigrated from
Lebanon. "I think people have veered away from that."
Amir Mertaban, Mohammad's younger brother and a matchmaker as well,
said the goal was "to keep thisas close to Islam as possible. I'm
trying to get people hooked up, but we're trying to do this in a halal
(permissible) manner."
::
What is and isn't allowed is debated within the Muslim community. But
those who seek a matchmaker's help tend to steer clear of anything
resembling dating and to avoid meeting one another without a
chaperone. And even though they may see their parents' methods as too
traditional, they are still more comfortable seeking help from a
go-between than online matrimonial sites or singles' events held at
mosques under the guise of "networking."
Mertaban, who is lively with a quick laugh and a wide, almost
Joker-like smile, says he didn't choose to be a matchmaker but fell
into the role after he helped a number of friends.
He grew up in Diamond Bar and has lived in Los Angeles, Irvine and
Fullerton — where he is now a youth mentor at the area mosque —
whichhelped him establish a wide Southern California Muslim network.
In his senior year at UCLA, Mertaban was president of the campus'
Muslim Student Assn. and the following year he was president of
MSA-West, anumbrella group covering much of the West Coast. With
chapters at universities nationwide, ithas jokingly been called the
Muslim Singles Assn.
He was well-liked and known for making other students, especially
freshmen, feel welcome. Many turned to him for advice about their
problems.
"He's a leader… everybodytrusts Mohammad," said Lena Khan, 26, an
independent filmmaker who attended UCLA with Mertaban. "If you need
something at 2 a.m., you know Mohammad is happy to help you."
In a community that observes a certain level ofgender segregation,
Mertaban, because of his leadership roles, interacted regularly with
both men and women. Soon, students began asking him for help finding
potential mates.
His first attempt involved one of his best friends, of Palestinian
descent, and an Indian woman the man was interested in. It didn't
work, partly because of their different ethnicities — a cultural
lesson Mertaban now keeps in mind when suggesting pairings. He
organizes his lists of single men and women by nationality.
The "Single Sisters" directory on his laptop begins with a
28-year-oldAfghan woman and ends with a 25-year-old Syrian.

--
- - - - - - -

The Reaction to the Khutba

Normally, two or three people will approach me after a Khutba to thank
and compliment me for it.This time, ten times more people came over,
appreciating what I had said, Alhamdu lillah. That'sone of the most
positive instances of feedback I've ever gotten in years of giving
Khutbas! Although I have yet to hear the response from the leadership
of the Masjid, this gives me hope that the community is ready for
change.
A few board members also spoke very positively about the points I
raised, including one of the founding members. The question is, who is
stopping the change?
Current Chicago Masjid Spaces for Women
In Chicago, I estimate thatin about ten percent of the Friday prayer
locations, there is proper space for sisters' participation. In these
places men and women are in the same location without a curtain or
wall separating them. In termsof the remaining 80 percent of mosques
that do have a space for women, these are often cramped and
inconvenient. By inconvenient, I mean that women cannot see the Imam
or do not know what is happening in the congregational prayer. In
about 10 percent of the Chicago-area mosques there are no spaces for
women.
One Muslim sister in the city related to me her experience after
visiting one of the largest mosques in Chicago that had an
inconvenient roomfor women. When she entered the women's area, a group
of sisters was standing in line, thinking prayer had started because
the recitation of the Quran could be heard. Taking Quran recitation as
a cue for congregational prayer,the sister joined the others in line.
After several minutes, when theman ended his recitation without
calling for the next step of prayer, Ruku, the women learned that
itwas not a prayer. Needless to say, the women were humiliated and
upset about this confusing situation. This isjust an example of the
practical problems this segregation in prayer places causes.
An additional problem in mosques where women cannot see the Imam is
the fact that the noise level often becomes unacceptable. This tends
to be because most men dump the responsibility for taking care of
their active children on their wives when they go to the men's section
of mosque. Also, since women can't see what's going on, they end up
talking to each other. Thisleads to the Imam asking women to "be quiet
please," furthering tension and exclusion.
When women are out of sight, it's also more likely that they will be
out of mind. That means their discourse and participation are ignored
on a Masjid and community level. Moreover, few women have easy access
to the Imam, which worsens the problem, since the Imam is the one man
who can make a significant difference in bringing women's issues and
problems to the attentionof other Muslim men in the community. This
perhaps explains why youdon't normally hear manyKhutbas on women's
challenges here in America or abroad.
Negative Dawa
The situation becomes worse when non- Muslimsvisit. They see there are
hardly any women present in the mosque. Or,if there are a few, they
areconfined to a small and less ceremonious corner. What kind of Dawa
is this? What kind of impression does this give in our current
context, where the battle against stereotypes is ten times harder than
it was pre-9/11 America? This visual impact is far greater and far
more lasting then tens of bookslauding the status of women in Islam.
Since Shahadah (witnessing) is the first pillar of Islam, this
obstacle to outreach must be dealt with.
Of course, women, unlike men, are given a choice by the Prophet to
pray at home or in the mosque. But the Prophet was categorical in
telling men "do not stop women from coming to the Masjid." Friday
prayers are also optional for women. But considering that Friday
sermons are the only Islamic educational opportunity available to most
women in the North America Muslim women should attend Friday prayers.
Thisis especially important because we do not yet have a widespread
tradition of female teachers, as is the case in the Muslim world. I am
pretty sure Caliph Omar would have encouraged Friday prayer attendance
by women if he was alive today in the United States,may God be pleased
with him.
Who is stopping womenfrom the Masjid
Knowing both of these Masjids, their volunteer leadership, and the
fact that women are on their boards, I don't think either of them
stops women from attending and participating. The firstMasjid's
president did make an announcement twice in front of me inviting women
to visit the new location to help determine the sisters' space.

--
- - - - - - -

The Importance of Making a Good Space for Women in the Masjid

Last Friday, I was all set togive a Khutba about the need for Muslims
to plan ahead on an individual and community level. My notes were
ready and I was in full "Khutba mode". But before sermontime, I
decided to change the topic completely — totalk about the exclusion of
Muslim women from the mosque and community life.
It wasn't an earth-shattering event that made me change the topic. It
was an email. Andit proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the
camel's back. It was one of five emails I received last week about
Islamic events with a clear"brothers only" statement. One notice for a
regional conference even stated categorically that there was no space
for women and children under 15 at the event.
But the emails were only part of the story. A week before, I had given
a Khutba in another, brand-new mosque in the heart of Chicago. After
the prayer, while in the elevator, I overheard four Muslim sisters
speaking angrily about their experience in the Masjid.
"If I wanted to watch TV, I'd stay home," said one of the women,
disgusted. I asked them what was wrong, and they told me how they
could only see the Imam through a TV system set up in the women's
section. Moreover, the space was inconvenient, uncomfortable and was
changed twice that day. This was despite the fact that months ago, the
leadership of this mosque had promised me that they would involve
sistersin decision-making about how the women's space would be set up.
The Khutba
I was speaking in Chicago's oldest mosque where the main prayer hall
accommodates about a thousand people. It has a small, curtained off
space in the corner for about 40 or so women. Due to the sensitive
nature of my topic, it did occur to me before the Khutba that I might
not be invited to give a Fridaysermon there in the future.
Nonetheless, I made the following points and asked these questions:
Who decides how women's space in the mosque is allocated and organized?
How many women sit on the Board of Directors of our mosques?
If women are part of the Board of Directors, are they elected, chosen
by women, selected by both men and women or are they simply the wives
of male board members?
I also reminded the audience that in the Prophet's mosque, women could
hear and see the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings are upon him,
and later, the leaders of the Muslims (Khulafa) when they spoke from
the pulpit. Actually there are reports of interaction with the Prophet
when women raised questions. Caliph Omar even went back to give
another sermon to withdraw his opinion when a women from the audience
gave him critical feedback after his Khutba.
Moreover, when the Prophet felt that the women were too far away to
hear or he had specific points to make, hewould walk over to their
section and present a Khutba for them.
Examples from Islamic history
Women in early Islamic history were active not just as "mothers and
wives" but contributed as individual Muslim women in all aspects of
the community.
On a scholarly level, there was Aisha, may God be pleased with her.
She is credited with disseminating the knowledge of Islam and
information about almost all aspects of Islamic life. Today, nearly
half of the Islamic jurisprudence of the Hanafi school of thought
(which is followed by about 70 percent of the Muslim world) comes
through thestudents of Aisha alone.
On a political level, there was Umm Salama. During the signing of the
Treaty of Hudaibiya, when none of the Muslim men agreedto forego Hajj
due to the demands of the pagan Meccans, the Prophet consulted Umm
Salama. Her advice to him was to perform the rituals indicating that
they would not be performing the pilgrimage, and the Muslims would
follow. He heeded her advice, and as she suggested, the Muslims
accepted this.
After the death of the Prophet, one major issue was how to preserve
the authenticity of the Quran. Although the Quran had always been
committed to memory and writing, the written pages were scattered.
When a master copy was put together at the time of the first Khalifa,
Abu Bakr, that copy was not kept with him or any other Muslim man. It
was kept with a woman — Hafsa (may God be pleased with her).
Finally, in Madina during the leadership of Omar (may God be pleased
withhim) Al Shifa Bint Abdullah was made in charge of trade and
commerce in the city.
These are just a few examples of the dynamic role women played in
early Islamic history. But they are of no use if the inclusion of
Muslim women in the mosque and community is reflected only in theory.

--
- - - - - - -