The Dissonant Violin

I am a violin

and today I am untuned

the sounds from my strings are discordant

from sitting too long in my case

or from the long winter coldness

the musician draws the bow again and again

stops and starts then stops again

the music coming from me

will not improve until my strings are restrung

until i am warmed up and practised

then my master will pick me up with joy

my cadence will perfume the air

in the place where everything is music

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She Plays With Dolls

girl hugging baby doll by Sarah Rypma Aisha (ra) was noted to play with dolls. Aisha reported: I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and my girlfriends would play with me. When the Messenger of Allah would enter, they would hide themselves but he would call them to join me and play with me. Source: Sahih Bukhari 5779 Aisha (ra) stands out as a model wife and is often noted as being Prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) favourite and therefore worthy of close study of the qualities that made her such. A popular fact about Aisha (ra) is that she played with dolls. The purpose of hadiths are to transmit the sunnah for the benefit of mankind down through the ages. “Whosoever followed the Messenger, has indeed followed Allah.” (Surah an-Nisa, 80) What can we learn from a hadith describing a young girl at play? Doll play is more than a fun pass-time for little girls. It has multiple developmental and psychological benefits. Pretending...

Why Marry?

I've been trying to create characters for a piece I'm working on and like any writer, I've been digging deep into some personal questions. One of the questions my main character asks is “Why can't I find a good woman to marry me?” This is a tough one. I've been soaking in the tub of hopes and fears, lathered with a scrubby sponge of psychology and finally rinsed off with religion to answer this. The response came to me in the form of another question: “Would you marry you ?” Without becoming egotistical or slipping on the wet floor of self-loathing, what would his answer be? Probably a mixed bag of yes and no. And it's true we have our faults. Looking for that “perfect” person will probably mean he will never get married because there is no perfect person out there. My main character is clearly not willing to settle for just anyone, and so he shouldn't. Neither should the women that he encounters. Standards should play a part in this very import...

Dignity and Social Reform: An Islamic Perspective

dig·ni·ty ˈdiɡnədē/ noun noun: dignity the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect. Islah or Al-Islah (ألإصلاح ,إصلاح, al-ʾIṣlāḥ ) is an Arabic word usually translated as "reform", in the sense of "to improve, to better, or to put something into a better position." Humans are imbued with an inherent dignity. We have the responsibility to nurture the sense of self-respect inherited since the first man and woman walked the earth. The United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights state that recognition of the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation for freedom, justice and peace in the world. For centuries moral and ethical codes were rooted in the fiber of civilization. Rules and standards of conduct like Chivalry, Victorian etiquette and 1950s post war manners give examples of codified moral conduct...

Bliss In Practice

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