just before Ramandan update

I have been a bit poorly and totaly lost my daily mojo. Not in the least bit intrested to do anything. I hope I regain better days soon especially with Ramandan just a few days away inshaAllah. The school hols have been hard for the kids so far, with no break away planned due to lack of cash funds. They are lumped at home, I have told them, just makethe best of it and occupy yourselves. With my health not so good. I have not been able to take them out and about London Town. I did however invest in a big trampoline for the kids and its now set up in the garden, they love it. I myself have been out at least once per week so far,invited to lunch and even managed to host a lunch at mine with about 9 ladies. It was Italian food, I did not manage to take any pictures sorry.

Now with Ramandan only days away inshaAllah, the pace is changing slightly in the home. Goals are being openly dissuced and targets are being set. We are all aiming for a spirtual uplift and a good gain of good deeds inshaAllah.

I have not done no new crafting for some weeks now, I wanted this summer to be about finishing of WIP. Then I want to try some blankets in bright colours.

My oven is still broken, cakes have been off the menu for months now. I do miss baking and hope a new cooker is on the horizen soon inshaAllah.

Visiting an friend after 8 years

Today was an early start for me, I headed into Sussex to visit an old friend who came into my live 8 years ago and stopped for 2 years and then moved cities then countries. We remained in touch best we could, by telephone, email, shortly by face book. Every time we spoke it was like had never left each other for so long mashaAllah.

This lady came into my life when I was expecting my 3rd child, at a time when the rejection of my family was still very raw. At a time I longed for a true sisterhood, a friend that really cared. My dear friend filled this description and more mashaAllah.

I recall the happy days hanging out together at her flat, the endless cups of tea we drank, the social lunch's we organised for other sisters, the Islamic talks, the fundraising, the laughter and tears we shared will remain in my memory for time to come. The support this sister showed me when I gave birth to my daughter, she made sure I had an endless stream of visitors and cooked meals mashaAllah. She never let me feel the void of my family, its almost like she replaced it in other ways. She soon became my family. Then a chance came for here to make hijrah and off she went, we cried as we parted, exchanged gift and words of wisdom but her love never left my heart. So today after 8 years I headed out of London to visit her, I got the added bonus to meet her mother and sisters mashaAllah. She had talked about them so much during those years and now they were all here in the same room. Gentle and kind mashaAllah. We were treated to a special lunch on a lovely table presented just for us mashaAllah. It was lovely to meet my friend’s family and all her new additions, 3 new children who have inherited the very kind nature of their lovely mother mashaAllah.

We exchanged stories and descriptions of our host countries of hijrah (emigration). On another note the area of Sussex was a breath of fresh air for me compared to London, its greenery, cool breeze and village like feel. Roads seemed deserted compared to London's bumper to bumper traffic. We parted on the note ''when will we meet again?'' Holding back my tears I said I don't know another 8 years?
There was a resident henna artist and my daughter had her henna done.

Almost Ramandan

As we are nearing to the blessed month of Ramandan .i have been busy getting my mental state and home ready for the arrival of this wonderful guest who comes just once a year and only stops for 29 days but sometimes 30 days. I have painted my sons bedroom as a surprise for him while he is away its my first major DIY project mashaAllah, I must add it was hard work and i got very frustrated at times but all is well in the end alhamduilah.


I have been delayed this year getting myself in order due to Ramandan's arrival in the summer hols but have motivated myself to get on top of things..........i did a little food shopping last night at our local supermarket and was surprised to see TESCO noting the arrival too. The had signs up reading 'Ramandan Mubarak' for consumer reasons ofcousre but it felt nice to me.
I will try to spend less time online while i engage in more worship inshaAllah but i will come to post recipes and pictures.

I am alone for the first 15days as my DH and daughter and son are still on hols just me and the little one but i will be having a friend over for some of the time inshaAllah. I am feeling really excited about it and me and my DD 7yrs old are going to make charts later tonight and discuss what we aim to achieve this month spiritually and try to attain it.

I ask Allaah, the Exalted, the Almighty, to help us all to do that and to help us to fast and pray qiyaam, and to do acts of worship and to avoid doing evil. Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds Ameen!

The Beauty and Blessings Contained Within the Month
> of Ramadan
>
> The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
> addressed his companions on the last day of Sha'ban,
> saying, "Oh people! A great month has come over you; a
> blessed month; a month in which is a night better than a
> thousand months; a month in which Allah has made it
> compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by
> night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of
> the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the
> same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other
> time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this
> month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy
> obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience,
> and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of
> charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is
> increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break
> his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved
> from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward
> as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished
> at all." [Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah] It was said:
> "O Messenger of Allah, not all of us can find that
> which to provide for the fasting person. He said: Allah will
> give this reward for providing a fasting person with a date,
> or a drink of water or a drop of milk. And it is a month
> during which the start of it is Mercy, and the middle of it
> is Forgiveness and the end of it is Salvation from the
> Hell-Fire. Collected by Al-Bayhaqi.
>
> In another hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon
> him)) says, "Ramadan has come to you. (It is) a month
> of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He
> sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. In it,
> Allah looks at your competition (in good deeds), and boasts
> about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from
> yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in
> (this month) of the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the
> Exalted." [Narrated by Tabarani]
>
> "In Paradise there is a gate called al-Rayyan. Those
> who have fasted will enter by it on the Day of Resurrection.
> There will be an announcement asking, "Where are those
> who have fasted?" Then they will get up, and none but
> they will enter by that gate. As soon as they have entered,
> the gate will be closed and no one else will enter that
> way." (Sahih Bukhari)
>
> Verily, paradise decorates (beautifies) itself from one
> year to the next for the month of Ramadan. When Ramadan
> begins, Paradise says "O Allah grant me within this
> month inhabitants from amongst your slaves".
>
> Abu Huraira related that the Prophet (peace be upon him)
> said: Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking
> his reward from Allah will have his previous sins forgiven.
> Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and
> seeking his reward from Allah will have his previous sins
> forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with
> faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his
> previous sins forgiven (Bukhari, Muslim).
>
> Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him)
> said : "The time between the five daily prayers, two
> consecutive Friday Prayers, and two consecutive Ramadans are
> expiations for all that has happened during that period,
> provided that one has avoided the grave (major) sins."
> [Muslim]
>
> The Prophet (peace be upon him) would say when Shaban
> begins "O Allah bless us in Shaban and let us live
> until Ramadan.
> 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr reported that the Messenger of
> Allah, (peace be upon him) said: "The fast and the
> Qur'an are two intercessors for the servant of Allah on
> the Day of Resurrection. The fast will say: 'O Lord, I
> prevented him from his food and desires during the day. Let
> me intercede for him.' The Qur'an will say: 'I
> prevented him from sleeping at night. Let me intercede for
> him.' And their intercession will be accepted."
> [Ahmad]
>
> Allah's Apostle said, "When the month of Ramadan
> starts, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of
> Hell are closed and the devils are chained."
> [Bukhari]
>
> When Ramadan begins, a caller calls out O seeker of
> goodness come forward, and O seeker of evil stop, and Allah
> will save people from the Hell-Fire in Ramadan, and this
> will occur every night.
>
> Ibn Majah related from 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn
> al-'Aas that the Prophet, (peace be upon him) said:
> "A fasting person, upon breaking his fast, has a
> supplication that will not be rejected"�.
>
> Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet reported that Allah
> (SWT) said in a Hadith Qudsi:, 'Every good deed of the
> son of Adam is for him except fasting; it is for Me. and I
> shall reward (the fasting person) for it. Fasting is a
> shield. On the day you fast, do not use obscenity, nor yell
> at others, nor act ignorantly towards them. However, if
> anyone abuses you verbally or attempts to draw you to fight
> with him, say 'I am fasting, I am fasting. The Prophet
> (peace be upon him) then states: By Him in Whose Hand is the
> soul of Muhammad, verily, the smell of the mouth of a
> fasting person is sweeter to Allah than the smell of musk.
> There are two occasions of joy for one who fasts: one when
> he breaks his fast and the other when he meets his
> Lord" (Muslim).
>

Random Pictures

Just some pictures i have snapped for one reason or another to share ..........
A Bed of Marigolds Orange and yellow looked really stunning at our local park!



I love this picture how the little girl took it of her shoes but didn't realise her image showed in the mirror i love the big and small effect here subhan Allah.

The same little girl taking Random pic's after touching her sisters make up!

Some childhood faves i have been enjoying!

Last Saturday as the football supporter were leaving a riot broke out we were caught in it !

Bikes a passion for the men in my life!

Devastating as the snail population ate my dd's (7yrs old) sunflowers!

Only A Mum?

A mum is a carer, a cook, a cleaner, a house keeper, a nurse, a doctor, a psychologist, a secretary, accountant, an entertainer, a organizer, a teacher in many fields. She is devoted in all her jobs and above all she is the best friend, the one who never lets you down.
She is always eager to get more skills herself in order to be better mum.
The only thing she needs to keep her going ahead is to see the pleasure and happiness in her family ; with just a smile o a simple I love you and she feels overpaid subhanallah!!

Ladies never say I am "only" a mum and underestimate yourself.

This is the job that Allah (GOD) gave to us and nobody can do it better than us and in my experience, I think this is the best of the jobs. InshaAllah (God Willing) with our efforts and Allah's help we'll create a better society.


I came accross this written by a dear friend and it got me thinking about all the stay at home moms/housewives, that don't feel their worth or are looked down upon. I am a stay at home mom of 16yrs and don't regret a moment infact i praise Allah that i had been given this chance to do just that especial here in the west!

A celebration of motherhood is on my mind today! I wear my apron proud ladies!

Getting Life on an Even keel............

never is an easy task is it? As time goes on we change life circumstances change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the not so better. Iam a great believer in DESTINY and i believe this is shaped out for me by my CREATOR, Allah. Sometimes we want things and we don't get them. Some days things didn't go our way..rather than feel down hearted did it occur to you that Allah removed It to replace it with something better? At the time we may feel disappointed , sad and heart broken but as time heals these emotions we think back and say alhamduilah its was not good for me anyhow. As a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend and al the other things i am i am making decisions that effect others esp those close to me , hoping its the right decision the right choices for i will be accountable to Allah for them.

Moderation is a key word in my life i try to be moderate in all aspects avoiding extreme and lack off. This i hope will give me a healthy balance hence the even keel.

Driving Around

The morning started of with my son poking me to get out of bed, as i had made a mess of my tahjud and fajar salat, i think i were half asleep and misread the clock and ended up praying them both out of time slot subhanAllah. So I was alil worse for wear at 7am, in the end i crawled from the bed at 7.30am and we headed of to the school, once finished there myself and Prof K headed to the market to pick up a gift for the Aqiqah cermony we were invited to later that afternoon. After that we headed to the port and sea front of La Madrak, in Ain Benian as the car park was pretty empty i told prof K , move over i want to drive your left hand drive as i have never driven a left hand drive (in the UK we have right hand drives) , so for the first 2 gear changes my left hand was automacticilly headed towards the door and looking for the gear stick there after abit all was ok mashaAllah , alhamhuillah the pedals are the same. This was nice driving again after 2 1/2 years realising not all is forgotten and i am rusty on the reverse gear otherwise mashaAllah looks promising and it also made me determined to get a car inshaAllah a left hand drive soon Allah willing.

Family Ties

We all need family in one way or another…………the care, love and support of family members so vital to ones well being and existence. For someone who was raised in an extended family atmosphere in the West, who grew up knowing what the extended family meant. I spent most of my 6 weeks hols from my British school at various aunties’ homes, where in turn I learnt to cook, clean and baby-sit and all this from the age of 10yrs old. It also gave mum a break and we came back refreshed, that was the idea. As I got older and the work load and tasks became harder I began to see it more as a slave labour! You know what? Now I don’t knock it for a second as I learnt very important life skills that I apply today and this really was a very important aspect in my growing up! It is a common practice in the Asian culture and I see it here to in Algeria and it is something I like and value as a part of family life with the extended families.

Now soon after my conversion to Islam I lost all my family for 10yrs (i am talking about no contact at all, mum, sisters ,brothers, aunt’s, uncles the whole clan , inafact after 10yrs all I have contact with is my mum and sisters. The relationship is not so wonderful but alhamduillah its better than the lonely 10years of emptiness on that side of the very relationships that make you. This was and is a very painful period in my life , I feel sad for my kids as they don’t have cousins to hang out with , sleep overs, days out , again the very things that helped shape you during thoses tender years and early adulthood. The sleep overs were best, midnight feasting and shopping trips. One of the reasons for making hijrah to Algeria was to be with family so that my kids can have the cousins and aunts, uncles and family ties that I lost.

When we first arrived in Algeria for hijrah suddenly the family I knew on the holidays was no longer the same, maybe I was naïve , maybe I didn’t read between the lines, maybe it was mainly necsities on their part and I didn’t see the real deal? Anyhow whatever , I just want to remind myself we are all sinners and no one is perfect , we can strive to be better and do better , so in no way am I putting a family down that I care for despite and I loved and still love! A family that if I need them will come whatever the time of day or night, wherethier they do it because I am the wife of their brother or son Allah knows beast! I would prefer it if it was for the sake of Allah and because I am seen and taken as a daughter or sister by them inshaAllah. The last two years have been empty of family and this has had a tremendous effect on my mental wellbeing as well as my children but we got on with it , I mean at the end of the day I offer you family ties for the sake of Allah and because I love and care for you as a sister/daughter/aunt ect does but I can’t force you to return that very love back. I can’t force you to like me and love me back; I can only be at my best for you! Just recently I am going through some very hard hitting issues alhamduillah and I felt I was reaching the end of my ability to cope, almost giving up. I decided I can’t do this alone anymore and I need the support of the family and love, I am talking about genuine love! I presented myself upon them this weekend with the kids in tow. Alhamduilah they were very welcoming and very kind mash Allah just like the family of the holidays before I made hijrah. This meant a lot to me and my children and upon arriving at the head of the households home , many members of the extended family were there , having the exact sleep overs I talked about and supporting one another and learning and sharing task most of all caring and loving because they want to. This weekend was very positive and had a great effect on my children’s well being as well as my own, knowing I don’t need to carry this load alone alhamduillah. I am a great believer in moderation and the middle path, so I would not impose myself and my kids on them too often but enough to maintain a healthy relationship inshaAllah. We all came home feeling we need this , we are missing out, I have also come to realise life in Algeria functions with the family, one who is an orphan or an immigrant to Algeria like myself with no maternal ties here will suffer a great deal of loneliness esp. if the in-laws are not accessible for various reasons. As life in Algeria functions with the family , the extended family play a very important role in the functioning and living life in Algeria subhanAllah I didn’t realise just how much until lately. An example when the wife needs a break from the martial home and life she will go and stay with her maternal family and her mum and sisters, brother and father will support her in so many ways. This is repeated throughout the year many times. She will also if she does not already live with the in-laws spend time with them in a similar fashion. By going away form the marital home it gives her a break and a change of scene to come back refreshed inshaAllah. As I do notice there is not much going out here in Algeria for the women folk as the men do the shopping and most out door dealings, womenfolk stay at home , manage the homes and children, the exception would be for students and working women.
I noted 2 things that are very important for life in Algeria regular outings as a family on the weekends, example would be picnics, drives, walks, short holidays even but an annual one is defiantly a must. The second being family ties, good strong family ties or at least with sisters who really care and are not superficial and offer a fake and temporal love or sisterhood. That when they address you as sister they really understand its meaning and are not superficial about it. If these sisters are going to take the place of family ties then they need to consider the kind of relationship and what it entail they are offering or lack off and the effect this will have on the recipient.

Well what I have decided is we all need family one way or another , I have decided to make the family here more involved in our lives and be involved in theirs more to a limit naturally, we need each other , I have a very big void and my children also, they need to be accepted and loved by their extended families inshaAllah. Sometimes learning to forgive and forget is better than destroying and being resentful. This is what I intend to do inshaAllah but at the same time I don’t want anyone to think I have MUG written upon my forehead and walk over me and my emotions and take advantage of my nature and profit form me in whatever way they want and dump me , relationships work both ways efforts have to come from both ends.

Taking Wealth For Granted

Allah clearly states, And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sābirin (the patient ones, ...

Having money and spending and taking it for granted, not thinking about i could loose this at any time, then its all gone.........I grew up in poverty alhamduillah. my parent are 1st generation immigrants to the UK , economic migrants, that in turn settled in the UK for a better life than the native land they left behind. Purchased a home , both worked night and day to pay the morrgage. The home was very basic , there was no bathroom , the tiolet was outside, we had a tin bath that was hanged outside in the garden and we used this every friday in the kichen for bath nights, there was no boiler , no fixed heating, times were bleak but they managed and i never recall a day when mum didn't have a meal on the table even in times of severe hardship. Now my own kids , i have based them on a modest model but i don't belive in horrding wealth, its should not sit accumalating and you go without , spend wisely ,yes , save for futre goals , yes but enjoy your blessings too.

I think over the years i have compensated for the kids not having access to certain things in life with material gain i.e. spending , i called it treating them , alhamduillah they are not greedy kids or spoilt but i feel they could do with a self check esp after making hijrah to a 3rd world countary , its may come as a very rude wake up call for them.............so this week funds have been low , rock bottom infact, so we have be coping and had to produced meals ect with little , at the same time showiing them that some people in algeria don't even have this and other places no safe drinking water..........this has made them think and has an inpact on there asking and spending. i also wanted them to take better care of the blessings they have been blessed with, in turn making them last longer. Most importantly i wanted to show them that one day they may have no wealth or there maybe times to come in their own adult lives when money is tight and they have to make ends meet. I felt cruel at first but NO!!!!!! They need to understand money does not buy happyness and we need to respect it when we have it. money does not grow on a money plant in the back room (although i wish it did sometimes lol). When in the UK my kids used to say to me when i told then i had no money on me , ''umi go to the machine in the wall , put that card in and get some from there!'' sound familiar? well that does not happen in Algeria. Wealth is a true blessing especially when you witness those without , in the Western countries it is wasted , wasted so much , this is something i was aware of but became more aware when i came to Algeria. Now i understand why these 3rd world countries say the 'Streets of London are paved with gold'' looking into the west from this life view yes i can belive it too, wealth is a very important blessing that we take for granted when we have it and respect it when we dont !!!! striking the balance is the best way to deal with this blessing inshaAllah.