Line ups around the Apple stores and stores of service providers such as Rogers and Fido were endless on July 30. Apple’s latest iPhone, the iPhone 4 was launched over a month ago in the US, a few weeks ago in the UK, and finally this week in Canada.

The iPhone craze does not seem like it is something that is going to end anytime soon. Despite there being issues such as antenna and reception problems with the phone, it is still in great demand. The massive price tag that comes with the phone is not something which is stopping buyers from lining up and eagerly waiting for the product.

Some may think these technology lovers are nuts, others might be one amongst many of them. The iPhone 4 has made headlines as it is expected to have many added features which cell phone users are attracted to, but at the end of the day we all know it is more the brand associated with the phone than it is anything else. Whatever the case, it has attracted millions of users/buyers around the world, and after more than a month of being launched, it is still making headlines today.

Millions of people spending $600-800 CAD on a cell phone, who says we are in a recession?

So it’s that time of year again! The local stores have sales on frozen samosas, the aunties are calling one another booking iftaar dates at their respective locations and KIH has their Ramadan countdown up. All of this means one thing, “Ramadan is coming people!”

All of the above mentioned are obvious signs that Ramadan is just around the corner, but we also need to keep in mind the true essence and importance of Ramadan. It is the month in which the Quran was revealed and it is the month that should ideally, recharge us as Muslims and strengthen our emaan. The gates of Jannah are wide open and shaitan is tied up. We need to remind ourselves that we are fortunate enough, inshAllah, to see yet another Ramadan.

Since Ramadan is approximately ten days away, we should start preparing ourselves for it right about now, if we have not already done so. Some useful tips are to set (realistic) goals for oneself. Realistic does not mean that it should not be challenging, realistic means that you should put on your plate only as much as you could achieve in a certain time period. Goals can range from things such as eating in moderation, finishing the Quran a certain number of times, going for tarawih each night or even starting to pray your five daily prayers on time.

Ramadan is also a month which conveniently brings the family together. Since we live in our own busy lives, many of us do not even get to eat a couple of meals a week with our families. Ramadan is such a time where during suhoor, everyone sits and eats together, and during iftaar, everyone joins the dinner table once again. This is amongst one of the many blessings that Ramadan brings, and I pray that inshAllah this Ramadan is beneficial for each and every one of us and that we achieve more in this month than we think we can, inshAllah.

 

Note: feel free to share Ramadan goals in the comments section of this article, inshAllah it will be beneficial for all of us if we can also take on those goals!

“A fresh taste of Afghanistan” – indeed it is. This Afghan restaurant opened up in my Mississauga neighborhood earlier this month and it offers a great variety of foods and flavours. The menu is made up of four meats: chicken, beef, lamb and fish, and there are many vegetarian options available as well. Pamier Kabob serves rich tasting foods and also provides many options for spicy food lovers. All of the meals are served with naan and salad and give you the option of adding rice. They also have excellent family combos which offer a variety of different dishes in their platters.

Some of their most famous dishes are the shahi chicken kabob, sultani kabob and the mazari lamb kabob. There are many more options to choose from to suit your own taste.

Pamier Kabob has two locations, one in Mississauga and the other in Brampton. The restaurant offers a pleasant environment for dining in, and they also offer delivery services. Their service and staff are satisfying and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to all those who like Afghan or Lebanese style food or those who are simply looking to try something new.

And best of all, it is HALAL! :)

 

Mississauga: 3355 The Collegeway Unit 6 & 7, Mississauga, ON L5L5T3

Bramption: 200 County Court Blvd. Unit C, Brampton, ON L6W4K7

www.pamier-kabob.com

Although I successfully avoided physically being in Downtown Toronto last weekend, I could not ignore the ruckus and the hoopla that went down in the heart of our city. Many events have taken place in Toronto, but in my 22 years of living in the GTA, I cannot recall a single one that caused as much commotion and uproar. The G20 summit took place in the heart of one of the largest urban centers of the world, and disrupted millions of residents. The government spent an immense amount of money hosting the G20 and setting up security and police to monitor activities of the public.

Along with the G20 came millions of dollars in government expenditure, disruption to the city which no cost can be put on and numerous protests. Protestors came out to exercise their rights and show that they were not in agreement with the choice of the government to host the summit. In response to this, the government increased the powers of the authorities and this meant that the civil liberties of citizens were greatly limited. Numerous arrests took place for activities which were not illegal, and as a result of the anger that protestors had, many local businesses were also vandalized. The government refused to compensate the businesses, and refused to acknowledge the loss of civil liberties.

Throughout the last few weeks of June 2010, Toronto proved to be a city that failed its people. The animosity that swept the city along with the road closures, U of T being closed for a week and cell phone signal disruptions were no doubt a horrible start to the summer of 2010. One can hope that this horrific occurrence is taken as something that lessons are learned from, and one which prevents anything similar from occurring in the future.

The infamous case of the 2007 murder of Mississauga teen, Aqsa Parvez, has made headlines yet again. Last week the father and brother of Aqsa pleaded guilty to second degree murder. The sentence they received was life in prison with no chance of parole for 18 years.

It is debatable whether the sentencing is reasonable for the charge they plead guilty to, but that is not the point of focus of my analysis. What strikes me most about this case is the media attention and the interpretation of the case by the greater community.

There is no doubt that the death of Aqsa Parvez was one that shocked the entire community, and I can speak for myself and say it hit really close to home, literally. She went to a neighboring high school and was a Muslim girl of Pakistani descent (like myself). I would say that we had enough factors in common for me to take the case to heart – and I’m sure that is the case for many other girls a similar position as mine. She was a teen, like many others, who was having problems at home and was uncooperative with her parents. There could have been many reasons for the disagreements and arguments, but teen trouble is not a new story.

The angle that the case has taken through the media is the one that has been largely portrayed to the public over the past few years. All headlines surrounding the case never failed mention Aqsa’s religious or ethnic background. In the eyes of many, she was a Muslim, Pakistani teen who was murdered by her father and brother who took her life to protect their ‘honour’. This somehow was affiliated with their family being Muslim, and the media rolled the whole ball into immigrant families having the adjust to the culture and life of Canada. Where this case makes me uneasy is that the media repeatedly put out there how her being Muslim or Pakistani played a role in the male members of her family killing her. This was simply a case of a troubled family, like many other non-Muslim or non-South Asian families, but the media found it necessary to link her death with her religious and ethnic background.

I feel that this is all a part of the process of tainting and stereotyping certain groups. To prove this, there are many cases of family abuse, and even murder which may make their way into the news, but it is never mentioned whether they are Caucasian or African, Christian or Jew. With this case, the affiliation that is most often linked with Aqsa was Islam, and this is where I have a great level of concern.

As multi-cultural as Canada is, and as tolerant and accepting as it seems, there are still many areas that need work and still a lot of minds that need to be broadened.

Acceptance, or at the very least, tolerance of difference is something that we would think is widespread. The more I think about this, the more I feel that we under-appreciate the value of difference. As I was reading Quran a few days ago, I came across the translation of aaya 13 of sura Al-Hujurat:

"O mankind! We created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know and honor each other (not that you should despise one another). Indeed the most honorable of you in the sight of God is the most righteous." (Quran, 49:13).

I felt that this aaya alone held the answer to innumerable problems that exist in our society today. The wise words written in the Quran are, unfortunately, often limited in context when it comes to application in our daily lives, but what we fail to realize is that the words in the Quran are written to be applicable in our lives – today, and every day. We ignore that humanity is a factor that unites us all, but we constantly remind ourselves of the small differences we have between ourselves and others.  These differences can vary in contexts that range from social status to race and from gender to culture. Some attributes such as race and gender are innate, and others such as social status and cultural ‘tribes’ are man-made. All are given some level of importance in the societies we live in, or the values that are held in some of our countries back home.

We as human beings are often keen on emphasizing the differences between ourselves and others, whether it be to make ourselves feel superior, or to distinguish “ourselves” from the “others”, whoever they may be.  What we do not realize is that like it is stated in the Quran 49:13, Allah has created different nations and tribes not so we make some superior and label others as inferior, but so that we could learn from one another. We should always take the good from anything new or different to us and leave the bad. The last part of the aforementioned aaya emphasizes the fact that the most honourable of you (us, humans) in the sight of God is the most righteous. This makes it clear that people are judged according to their righteous deeds and the emaan, not from which nation or tribe one comes from.

We can make as many differences as we want between one another, and we can claim to be superior or make others inferior, but we need to keep in mind that Allah swt is the one who is ultimately going to judge us, and the ones that we may knowingly, or unknowingly oppress. Issues relating to this are visible in so many spheres including those of international politics, wars, and on a different scale, when it comes to building families (ie: marriage) and creating social ties. These are unfortunate affairs which are a sad reality in our world today. The more I think, the more saddened I am. I pray that Allah swt gives us all hidayat (guidance) and makes us all better human beings. We should love the creation of the Creator, the Almighty, and this will make us one step closer to strengthening our emaan and improving our character.

Tolerance and acceptance of what may be unappealing merely because it is different is something that we must reconsider next time we come across it.

With the advancement of technology and the vast methods of communication introduced in the past centuries, it is not difficult to say “it’s a small world after all.” Flying south of the border last week got me reflecting on the greatness of Allah swt. A simple action like looking down from the airplane window does not seem like a huge deal when one thinks about it, yet when you look at it from the perspective of being the creation of the Lord who created the rest of this earth, and the heavens above, you cannot help but praise Allah swt. Looking down thousands of feet and seeing how small homes and buildings look, let alone the invisibility of human beings, it makes you realize how insignificant we are on the scale of the physical world.

What forces me to further think about Allah’s creations is the fact that there are billions of people in this world, and trillions of animal and plant species, all of which are the creation of Allah swt. All the places in this world that we travel to, from East to West and North to South, different kinds of people, the various species of animals and nature’s secrets are all the creation of the Almighty. This world is a treasure that Allah swt has given to us to live in, discover and learn from. Races are broken down into various cultures and within cultures there are many sects, but what unites us all is that we are Allah’s creation. The poor, the rich, the proud and the humble are all innately the same creation to the creator.

Allah swt has blessed us with endless resources and a world of treasures to utilize and discover, and above all, appreciate. It is difficult to comprehend how anyone could deny the existence of the Almighty, let alone not praise Him endlessly. My heart could not fail to say SubhanAllah whenever I looked down from the plane and around my new surroundings.

To end off, I’ll quote an aaya from the Quran, Sura Ar-Rahman, which summarizes my feelings beautifully, “Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?” (55:13). This reiterate s how much we have to be grateful for, and reminds us of the greatness of Allah swt.

Living in a world full of fitnah and constant hardships, we must never fail to remember that our existence on this earth is a means of us being tested. In numerous suras throughout the Quran, mankind is reminded that we are all to be tested through various means.

In sura Baqarah, it is stated, “Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere” (2:155).

Another clear indication of our test is in sura Kahf "That which is on earth We have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that We may test them--as to which of them are best in conduct" (18: 7).

The last example I will illustrate, is another one of the many ayat in the Quran that discuss the virtue of patience. In sura Muhammad, Allah reiterates that we will be tested: “And We shall try you until We test those among you who strive their utmost and persevere in patience; and We shall try your reported (mettle)” (47:31).

All of us may come to some point in our lives where we are sick and tired of the trials and tests we constantly face, and start to have negative impulses. We may face problems relating to finances, family, health or education and may feel that everything is going wrong for us. As believers, what is most important for us to remember is that whatever we are being put through is occurring in accordance with the Will of the Almighty. Instead of losing hope or being pessimistic, one must remember to exercise patience (sabr), and expect reward (ajr) for it if not in this world, in the hereafter.

Allah (swt) says in sura Baqarah “On no soul does Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) “Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which You did lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us.  You are our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith” (2:286).

I would like to close with a verse from sura Hud which promises great reward to those who are patient in adversity, “Not so do those who show patience and constancy, and work righteousness; for them is forgiveness (of sins) and a great reward” (11:11).

The Quran is a treasure given to us by the Almighty that we often fail to discover. It is made for all people of all times, and is a guide that will take us through both high and low times. The ayat mentioned above are a few of the many in the Quran that are revealed on the issues of being tested and having patience. We need to constantly remind ourselves that our Creator, the Almighty, Allah (swt) loves and tests his creation. The harder our test, the stronger the faith is required…and having said that, we must remember that the stronger our faith, the harder our test will be. We may not always be able to see the check and balance system right away, but we must remember that the Allah (swt) does what is best and that as His creation, we must strive to be our best and live in accordance with the commands of the Almighty.

The infamous case of ‘homegrown terrorism’ in the GTA, also known as the ‘Toronto 18’ has finally come to trial. The long overdue trial, which took four years to reach, has now started and information that had never before been publicized is now surfacing. The media is relatively silent on the trial proceedings as compared to the news coverage the story received when the arrests initially occurred back in June 2006.

The latest developments on the story are that one of the defense lawyers, Denis Edney, representing 25 year old Fahim Ahmed, has brought light to issues with the crown’s star witness, Mubin Shaikh. Shaikh is a key part of the government’s case against the arrested men as he was paid a hefty amount to act as an informant. It is now being revealed in court that Shaikh worked as an undercover agent to infiltrate the alleged ‘Toronto 18’ terrorist group and also trained some of the men and boys to use a 9-mm handgun.

Shaikh’s credibility has also been attacked at the witness stand and he is especially known for his previous illegal conduct such as molestation and drug abuse. It is also revealed that he hid certain information from his handlers, namely CSIS and the RCMP, and this can greatly affect the outcome of the case.

The outcome of the trial will ultimately be decided by a jury made up of ordinary Canadian citizens. The trial is expected to last approximately three months, and once all of the evidence is revealed and the facts are weighed, we will be able to better judge whether or not justice is truly served.

You can continue to follow the story on keepingithalal.com in the local news section inshAllah. Always remember to make dua for the oppressed around the world and pray that Allah swt softens the hearts of the oppressors, ameen.