Data for smart Muslims: What laptop brands are the best?

by Ikram Kurdi on Friday, November 20, 2009 12 Comments

Some of you might be in the market for a new laptop. I am not. But for those of you who are, here is some information that will help you make a smarter decision when choosing a laptop.

Recently Engadget (a popular gadget blog) released a chart that shows the durability of many popular laptop brands.

Worst laptops
According to the chart, HP, Gateway, and Acer laptops have the highest rate of failures after three years of operation. Stay away from these.

Best laptops
Asus, Toshiba and Sony come on top of the list as the best laptops. They had the lowest rate of failures after three years of operation.

Front page photo source. Chart source.

Intense supplication, no answer!

by Sonnet on Friday, November 20, 2009 6 Comments

Photo source.

If you make intense supplication

and the timing of the answer is delayed,

do not despair.

His reply to you is guaranteed;

but in the way He chooses,

not the way you choose,

and at the moment He desires,

not the moment you desire.

More about supplication on QuranClub:

Dirt in a water-jug [Ibn Al-Qayyim quote]

by Ikram Kurdi on Thursday, November 19, 2009 2 Comments

Photo source. Quote source.

Deeds without sincerity are like a traveler who carries dirt in his water-jug. The carrying of it burdens him and it brings no benefit. -Ibn Al-Qayyim.

The reason they want you to fit in...

by Ikram Kurdi on Thursday, November 19, 2009 5 Comments

Photo source.

is that once you do, then they can ignore you. -Seth Godin

QuranClub Video: Suratul Fath

by The Soul Of A Rose on Thursday, November 19, 2009 2 Comments

As Salamu Alaykoum dear brothers and sisters!

This is our second video on the QuranClub YouTube channel. Please do feel free to leave your suggestions about what type of videos you would like to view on our channel InshaAllah.

Expect better sound quality in the future.

48.
Victory
In the name of God, the Mercy-giving, the Merciful!

1. We have opened up a clear victory for you so God may forgive you for any offence of yours you have committed previously or whatever you may do later on, complete His favor toward you and guide you along a Straight Road, and so God may support you in a mighty success! He is the One Who sends down Serenity on believers' hearts so they may add faith to the faith they already have.

God [commands] the armies of Heaven and Earth; God is Aware, Wise, so that He may admit believing men and believing women into gardens through which rivers flow, to live there for ever, and to cancel out their evil deeds for them. That will be a supreme Achievement with God, so He may punish hypocritical men and women as well as associating men and women who conjecture such evil about God; on them will fall an evil turn of fortune. God has become angry with them, and has cursed them and prepared Hell for them. How evil is such a goal!

7. God [commands] the armies of Heaven and Earth. God is Powerful Wise! We have sent you as a witness, herald and warner, so you may (all) believe in God and His messenger, and revere and honor Him, and glorify Him morning and evening. The ones who swear allegiance to you merely swear allegiance to God. God's hand rests above their hands, so anyone who breaks his word, only breaks it at his own peril, while We will pay a splendid fee to anyone who fulfils what he has pledged [to do] before God.

10. Those desert Arabs who have held back will tell you: "Our property and our families have kept us busy. Seek forgiveness for us!" They say something with their tongues that is not in their hearts.

SAY: "Who controls anything for you against God, if He should want to cause you any harm, or wants to offer you some advantage? Rather God is Informed about whatever you are doing! Instead you (all) thought that the Messenger and believers would never come home to their families. That [conduct] seemed attractive to your hearts while you thought such evil thoughts and were a worthless folk."

13. We have reserved a Blaze for disbelievers, [such as] anyone who will not believe in God and His messengers. God holds control over Heaven and Earth. He forgives anyone He wishes and punishes anyone He wishes; God is Forgiving, Merciful.

15. The ones who held back will say, once you have set out to take some prizes: "Allow us to follow you!" They want to change God's word. SAY: "You will never follow us! God has already told you so." Next they will say: "Rather you envy us." Instead they only understand a little.

16. Tell those desert Arabs who have held back: "You will be called upon to fight against a folk who are extremely violent; you will fight them unless they surrender. If you obey, God will pay you a handsome fee, while if you turn away just as you turned away before, He will punish you with painful torment." There is no objection for the blind nor is there any objection for the lame, nor any objection for the sick [if they do not fight]. He will show anyone who obeys God and His messenger into gardens through which rivers flow, while He will punish anyone who turns away with painful torment.

18. God was pleased with believers as they swore allegiance to you under the tree. He recognized what was in their hearts and sent down Serenity upon them, and compensated them with a nearby victory as well as many prizes they still may take. God is Powerful, Wise.

20. God has promised you will take many prizes; he furnished these promptly for you and fended men's hands off from you so it might serve as a sign for believers and guide you along a Straight Road; God has already included other things you do not yet have in your possession. God is Capable of everything. If those who disbelieve should ever fight you, they will still turn their backs [and run away]; then they will not find any patron nor supporter, according to God's practice which has occurred before.

24. You will never rind any change in God's practice! He is the One Who fended off their hands from you and your hands from them in the centre of Mecca after He let you vanquish them. God is Observant of anything you do. They are the ones who disbelieved and blocked you from [reaching] the Hallowed Mosque so the offerings were hindered from reaching their destination. If it had not been for some men who believed and some women who believed whom you did not recognize and would have trampled down, an outrage would have afflicted you because of them without [your] even knowing it, so that God will show anyone He wishes into His mercy.

If they had dispersed, We would still have punished those of them who disbelieved with painful torment. While those who disbelieved were setting up fanaticism, the fanaticism of Ignorance in their own hearts, God sent His serenity down upon His messenger and on believers, and obliged them to respect the formula of heedfulness. They were truer to it and much more entitled to it. God is Aware of everything!

27. God has indeed verified the vision for His messenger, so you may enter the Hallowed Mosque safely, if God wishes, with your heads shaven and clipped. Do not fear: He knows what you do not know and grants besides that, a victory nearby. He is the One Who has sent His messenger with guidance and the True Religion so He may have it prevail over all (other) religion. God suffices as a Witness!

29. Muhammad is God's messenger while those who are with him should be strict with disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You will see them bowing down, kneeling, craving bounty and approval from God, Their sign [shows] on their faces from the trace of bowing down on their knees [in worship].

Such is their description in the Torah, while their description in the Gospel is like a field crop which puts forth its shoots so it swells up, till it grows thick enough to stand straight on its stalk in the way farmers admire, so that disbelievers are exasperated by them. God has promised forgiveness and a splendid fee to any of those who believe and perform honorable deeds.

WasSalaam

How to attain Allah's mercy [Tips]

by Ikram Kurdi on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 6 Comments

Photo source.

The Quran has a lot of simple, yet profound, advice for us that we tend to ignore.

Do you find yourself in need of Allah's mercy? Here is how you can get it:

اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

"Be conscious of Allah so that you may be given mercy." [Holy Quran, 49:10]

We have to think about Allah every now and then if we want to be conscious of Him. If you forget His presence for hours on end, you'll know you are not that conscious of Him.

To improve your consciousness, read more Quran and make it a habit to thank Allah for everything that happens to you during the day.

It might be hard at first not to forget Allah, but as Allah says, your solution is to improve your remembrance of Allah during the times that you DO happen to remember Him:

وَاذْكُرْ رَبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ وَقُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَهْدِيَنِ رَبِّي لِأَقْرَبَ مِنْ هَذَا رَشَدًا

"And remember your Lord if you forget Him and say: May my Lord give me better guidance than what I already have." [Holy Quran, 18:24]

Cleaning up KimDonesia's mess

by The Soul Of A Rose on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 38 Comments

Photo source.

As Salamu Alaykoum dear brothers and sisters!

What is going on?
Two YouTube users, KimDonesia and TheVintageGoth, left Islam. We don't know much about TheVintageGoth, so here we'll talk about Kim.

Why did Kim leave Islam?

In her last video its evident that she was just tired of Islam. She didn't have an understanding of the Quran and she wasn't ready to give up her previous life for Islam.
She couldn't come to terms with the fact that her 'disbeliever' family would go to hell (this is what she says in the video). But according to Islam her family isn't destined for hell. 'Disbelievers' in the Quran are people who know for sure that Islam is the truth, yet they reject it. Her family is not in this category since they don't know much about Islam and have no reason to consider the religion. So if we believe her own words, she left Islam because she misunderstood the term 'disbeliever'. If she doesn't come back to Islam after this issue has been clarified for her, we'll know that this is not the true reason why she left Islam.
Or she just entered and left Islam to harm the religion, as mentioned in this Quranic verse.

What should we do about her?
Nothing.

Let's say peace be with her and get over it. Allah is needless of humans, so it is Kim's problem that she left Islam.

And we'll end this with this beautiful verse from the Quran:

"The (faithful) slaves of the Beneficent are they who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the foolish ones address them answer: Peace." (Surat Al-Furqan 25:63)

وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا

WasSalaam - Peace be with you all

The End

by The Soul Of A Rose on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4 Comments

As Salamu Alaykoum dear brothers and sisters!

No one knows when their end is, but will it be a dark end or will it be the beginning of our real lives?

"Every soul will taste death. Then unto Us ye will be returned"
(Surat Al - Ankabut 29:57)

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ

WasSalaam

Why you should nurture your ideas [Rumi poem]

by Ikram Kurdi on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 2 Comments

Photo source.

If an ant seeks the rank of Solomon,
don't smile contemptuously upon its quest.
Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft,
wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?

-Rumi

The importance of the Quran

by The Soul Of A Rose on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 8 Comments

As Salamu Alaykoum brothers and sisters!

I wanted to share this amazing reminder with all of you. The importance of the Quran is somewhat indescribable in words, every word should make us feel closer to Allah (swt).

The Quran is the food for our souls, it provides us with all the essential elements we need for existence.

"And when the Qur'an is recited, give ear to it and pay heed, that ye may obtain mercy"
(Surat Al-Araf 7:204)

وَإِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْآَنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَأَنْصِتُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

WasSalaam