Suhaib Abbasi is a 21 years old nasheed artist living in Toronto.  He started his nasheed career by first covering various artists’ nasheeds but focusing specifically on Junaid Jamshed, Zain Bhikha and Dawud Wharnsby.

In March 2010, Suhaib Abbasi released his first nasheed album titled, ‘To Remember’ which features nine meaningful tracks. Suhaib is well known in the Muslim community and he has performed at Muslim events all over the GTA. Some such notable events are: Muslim’s Day at Canada’s Wonderland 2010, Muslimfest, Muslim’s Day at Ontario Place, Reviving the Islamic Spirit, Ryerson’s Fast-a-thon and the Islamic Foundation of Toronto etc.

Through his nasheeds Suhaib Abbasi hopes to convey the message of Almighty Allah (s.w.t.), alert his audience about the importance and the status of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and to educate about Islam and issues connected to it. Through his melodious, harmonious and beautiful voice, Suhaib presents a simple message which is ultimately one of praising one’s Lord and giving remembrance, hence ‘to Remember’.

If anyone wants to purchase Suhaib Abbais’s nasheed album they can do so at the events where he performs as well his album will be up for purchase on his website shortly. You can also visit his website to keep updated on his awesome work as he is currently working on his second album!     http://www.suhaibabbasi.com/

The weather is an awesome force. It has no sense of responsibility, no consideration for what anyone wants, and no amount of accountability. It cannot be tamed or controlled. More often than not, it can't even be predicted.

Despite our manmade labels, we can see all kinds of weather at all times of the year. It can snow in the summer, and it can be plus 10 in the winter. The weather is not a conformist.

So sublime are the qualities of nature. No one can deny that the winds and rains of the universe are much beyond any human  being's control. We can spend decades building skyscrapers and light- at- night cities, but these have no impression upon hurricanes and tsunamis. They will carry on as they please.

Toronto is a magnificent showcase of nature's glory. With four seasons and still much variation within those, one can truly witness the beauty of the changing weather. Each day is a new story, and weather is a perfectly apathetic backdrop, unshaken by the human sphere. As we stand in admiration of the glowing sun, or in fear of the striking lightning, we must wonder... If we're not controlling them, who is?

Praise be to God, the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper, the Sustainer of all things.

Raw sugar, a natural product, like many natural products, needs to be cleaned up before it is ready for consumption. Crafting sugar involves a series of steps designed to remove everything which isn't sugar, like plant residue, impurities and waxes, from the sucrose crystals.

First clean

First the crystals are softened and then a layer of residue surrounding the crystals is removed. The raw sugar is mixed with warm, concentrated sugar syrup and then centrifuged to separate the crystals. This removes a lot of impurities there and then, leaving behind only some color, very fine particles, gums and resins from the cane plant.

Filtering out the small stuff

Next tiny particles of natural chalk to the liquid sugar are added. These chalk particles then cling to the even smaller residue particles still left in the sugar, making them large enough to be filtered out by large cloth filters.

After the chalk has been taken out, all remaining waxes are removed by using even finer filtering methods, leaving behind nothing but pure, liquid sugar.

This liquor, as it is called, is now ready to be turned back into crystals.

Boiling sugar

The sugar syrup is boiled in sugar pans until the sugar boiler (vacuum pans) decides that conditions are right for sugar crystals to grow. To initiate crystal formation, some very fine sugar is dusted to the sugar pans. Once the crystals have grown the resulting mixture of sugar crystals and liquid is spun in a centrifuge to separate the two. The crystals are then given a final dry with hot air before being packed.

Different Sugars

 Many different variations of sugars range from granulated white to ultra fine icing sugar and dark brown sugars. Once the machine has packed them all up, they will be delivered to their final destinations. 

Home and professional bakers as well as food and drinks manufacturers in Canada and all over the world use these kinds of sugars.

Summary from YouTube:

Reflecting on your life

So,

As another school year has passed.

Now,

You can take time and reflect on your life.

Take some time to really sit down and ponder on your life.

The choices and decisions you have made.

And sometimes you will feel scared that time is moving too fast.

Waiting for no one, but itself.

Think about,

What you have accomplished.

What you wish to pursue,

And how you will get there.

Where do you see yourself in the future?

How can you make your life more harmonious?

Remember to utilize every opportunity given to you.

Because,

That will make your life better.

Are you successful?

I hope you become your own definition of success.

Remember the hardships you have overcome.

Remember to Trust God because there maybe hurdles ahead.

But remember God tests you because He loves you.

While reflecting,

Remember to do zhikr and make du’aa.

I hope you learn to love all those who care for you all over again.

See the blessings growing in your life as the flowers bloom outside.

Remember your experiences,

What did you learn from them?

Resolve your conflicts better.

Next time while making an important decision consult those who love you.

Use your life to change the negativity that people have of people like you.

How will you become a change agent?

Smile more, simply because it looks beautiful on you.

Hold more hands because it will give you strength.

Strive for a good life.

You can do this by remembering the special moments in your life and praying to God for more.

Take more conscious chances.

Dare yourself to do something crazy, yet cool.

So I ask you,

What matters the most to you?

Why?

Change your negative thoughts to positive ones.

And in every hard time remember to hold on to HOPE.

Because, you are wonderful,

And amazing.

You have the ability to do anything and everything.

But you can only do that if you remember to take some time to reflect on your life.

Think about what you want.

List all of your short term and long term goals.

Then follow them.

And remember that life is just a journey.

A journey that keeps moving,

So remember to keep moving with it and reflecting on your choices.

Always make sure you are striving for the path that will lead you to the best way.

Groups, some people love them and some people hate them. But, in this day and age more and more work is centered around groups -especially campus group work. Groups have their benefits such as more diversity of opinion, providing expert leader support, and decisions being more widely accepted.

But when it comes to numbers, a group too large can be detrimental. Groups larger than ten are usually counterproductive. When it comes to groups for action-centered tasks, the smaller groups perform better.  And with problem solving tasks groups that are larger - but no larger than ten- perform better.

There are also two phenomena to be wary of when working with groups, group shift and group think. Group shift is when the decisions of the group are more conservative or more risk taking than if the decisions were made individually by the group members. Group think is when a certain idea is thought to have reached consensus without actually discussing other ideas critically in order to minimize conflict.

Realize that groups are not perfect and that they may not always be the preferred method to do work. Utilize them with discretion, but don’t avoid them completely. 

Information is based on Organizational Behaviour concepts. 
Book: Robins & Judge. Essentials of Organization Behaviour, 2010.

L'été approche, Youuupiiii ! Les vacances approchent, Houraaaaaaa ! Les examens approchent aussi a grands pas, Hooooooooo ! Malheureusement on ne peut pas jouir ni de l'été, ni des vacances sans avoir durement bosser pour nos examens avant. Eh oui, la vie des étudiants n'est pas si simple que ca l'en a l'air.

La fin de l'année scolaire est sur le point de se terminer entrainant avec elle les examens finaux. Un poids lourd sur les pauvres petites épaules des étudiants. Plus les jours avancent, plus la pression monte.

Sur ceux,j'ai ceuilli quelques petits conseils afin de vaincre ce vilain stress qui nous térorise:
 
1- Mieux préparer : Il n'y a pas mieux que d'avoir une bonne préparation et maitriser la  matière afin de vaincre l'angloisse des troux noirs qui peuvent surgir a n'importe quel moments lors de l'évaluation.
2- Se mettre dans conditions de réussites : toutes nuits blanches ou travaux a la derniere minute est déconseilés cela ne vous fera que stresser encore plus.
3- Avoir de l'information sur l'événement : chaque etudiant doit etre alerte du lieux, de l'heure et les conditions de l'examen.
4- Le sommeil : Accordez à votre corps le sommeil indispensable de votre réussite. Le corps a véritablement besoin de se régénérer.
5- L'alimentation : Ne négligez pas votre alimentation. Faites des repas complets et équilibrés en privilégiant les vitamines et les sucres lents.
6- Douaas : Demandez a vos ami(e)s et proches de vous aidez avec leurs douaas :)
 
Bonne chance a tous et a toutes, et que notre Dieu ALLAH le tout puissant vous aide.

All these revolutions in the Middle East are for the right to have democracy. And what is the one fundamental thing democracy gives it people? The right to choose, the right to VOTE.

We have this great honour here in Canada and yet our last election had the lowest voter turn-out and we ended up with a government that many would say didn’t represent the vast majority of Canadians. So, while people are dying to vote, we are sitting at home caring less on Election Day.

As students we carry about 3 million votes and that’s a lot of votes. We complain about tuition fees being too high and our unbearable loans. We’re quick to put on ‘Drop Fees’ buttons on our backpacks and occasionally go to a rally and hold a giant sign screaming at the top of our lungs. But, all this gets us very little.

BUT, if we voted things would be different. We would have all the party leaders promising us better education at lower costs. Why? Because they need our votes to have a job.

We are Canadian STUDENTS and we are sick of not being represented! On May 2nd we will vote!

Souvent, on s'habille pour que les autres disent du bien de nous. On étudie pour un diplome élevé ou pour avoir un bon job afin que les autres nous respectent et disent du bien de nous. On parle de telle ou telle maniere pour que les autres ne nous voient pas d'un mauvais oeil. On ne melange pas telle couleur de chemise avec telle couleur de pantalon pour que les autres disent: Wawww, superbe !!!!
 
Tellement de choses qu'on fait mais qui n'ont pratiquement aucune validite ni logique à part le fait qu'en agissant de la sorte nous faisons que satisfaire les attentes des autres et non pas les notres. Des actes  que l'on continue de faire et refaire encore et encore juste pour que les gens ne disent pas du mal de nous, pour qu'ils nous voient d'un bon oeil, tout en oubliant notre propre bonheur,et en sacrifiant notre propre bien etre.
 
Cette ignorance que nous avons tous en soi nous livre à une existance soucieuse nous laissant incapable de voir nos propres compétences se développer jour apres jour et les partager avec le personne qui nous entourent, car en tant que Homme et en tant qu'âme nous avons tous besoin de reconnaissance.

Comme tout le monde, on est ici pour nous battre, pour imposer une présence et aller de l'avant malgré toutes les probabilités d'échec et tous lesrisques qu'impliquerait cette initiative. On doit essayer d'affronter le regard des autres et se dévoiler enfin en concrétisant notre rêve. Parce qu'apres tout, on vise tous l'exception dans ce monde perplexe ou reigne facilité et rudesse, force et faiblesse, bonheur et tristesse.

There’s this picture in my family album.

It’s a picture of my brother; it shows his expression of shock, excitement and admiration.

There are people around him; all are looking in the direction of the TV.

Its 1992,

England verses Pakistan: competing for the cricket World Cup.

Pakistan wins.

I love how cricket brings people together and puts a smile on everyone face. There is a sense of passion, excitement and energy which bounces freely like a smile, the energy is contagious. The match between India and Pakistan probably came around the busiest time of a student’s life as we were swamped with assignments and some of us even had exams. But, this diversion from our daily stressful lives was nice and became a sense of release. It’s most amazing aspect was its ability to bring people together.

People suddenly became more patriotic as they began supporting their desired teams. Our Facebook profile pictures and statues were so keenly dedicated to the teams we were following. I know this spirit was contagious because even someone like me who finds the concept of sports completely foreign became enthused by it. This was partly due to my friend’s interest in the game. I became so patriotic that I painted my cheeks green, wore a green hijab and was plotting to steal a quarter of the moon just to show my support (JOKE!!!!!). I think it would be accurate to say that we were excited to see the intense skills the cricket players have.

So I guess what I really want to highlight is that this game connects people far more than it disconnects them. We become ONE because we carry the same enthusiasm and the same passion even though we support different teams. It’s truly amazing to see the energy people harbour and the unity.

 It’s as if this spirit cannot be broken.

And once it comes around, it comes like a wave.

And you simply become submerged within it.

Good game India!!

Wave those flags.

Save this memory, forever.

Take pictures.

Enjoy the happiness

Be the champions.

But, next time Pakistan will win!! : P

It’s almost that time of year again. Time to hand in those final assignments and take those last few
tests before we’re hit with exams. This time of year just has a way of creeping up on us. I don’t know about you, but for me it feels as though the term started only a couple of weeks ago. As such, I thought it would be beneficial for us to share tips. I’ll start, and you guys can leave your suggestions in the comments.

Start studying for exams: Yup, I’m serious. I know some of us might be overwhelmed with the sheer number of assignments and papers that we have to do before exams start, but I think we can all agree that no matter how hard you try, you can’t learn months worth of a course in only two days.

Don’t procrastinate: I don’t know about you, but for me it’s far too easy to put something off, especially when that something has to do with school. “That paper that’s due in two weeks? Uh, yeah I’ll get to it… after I catch up with The Office or something.” Yeah, no. It’s crunch time fellas. Time to finish whatever you can ahead of time so that everything isn’t left to the last minute.

Don’t hibernate: Don’t feel the need to lock yourself in your room or the library without a break. Your
brain needs some rest. There are studies that show you can only learn so much; after a while, you stop taking in information.

You’re here to learn: Instead of cramming and memorizing, remember that the most important
thing for you to do at any educational institution is to learn. Understand what’s happening instead of memorizing a definition word-for-word. In the end, it’ll be easier for you to grasp what’s happening. There’s no point of cramming for an exam and forgetting everything the week later; I mean we do take all of these courses for the sake of learning.

In conclusion, I hope we all ace our finals and that we can maybe even have a little fun while doing so insha’Allah.