TMI!

I'm not THAT old, i think! Afterall i grew up in the age of the internet - the reason for my very lame email ids; which i have not changed simply because i wanted to keep the contacts, etc Anyway, so although i'm not THAT old biologically but i think i may be aging faster mentally. I feel in this day and age, there is simply too much information - I dont know how one person can feel anything but overwhelmed; but maybe that was the purpose. There was a time in middle school (long long time ago); we had to do a write up on TV: boom or bust? As in, is the television really advantageous or has more cons. An argument which may be totally redundant now. I argued in favor of TV, saying parents could always control content on it (see told you im not THAT old), etc etc. The internet however, is a whole different monster. It is so vast and there are so many glitches with privacy sharing - i cannot wrap my mind around it. I apologize for this rant, but there is nothing you cant look up on the internet. I have an investigative nature, i try not to cross that line into "poking my nose in your business" type, and i am a self-proclaimed Google Queen. My friends and family come to me if they want to research anything and i usually find what they are looking for, which they couldn't find in that place and hence the title. Thank you. Anyway so since im so investigative, I just click and click and click and sometimes find information i should totally not have access to. I manage to pull myself back but I wonder do those people realize i know and can know so much more about them?! Technology has its advantages, i think those are apparent and i dont need to discuss them. The cons, however, are not discussed that often. My husband is an IT guy, and he is the most paranoid person when it comes to privacy and he wouldn't trust the internet for a second.
During the khilafa of Omar RA, once on a routine walk around the city, he chanced upon a house where people were drinking. His companion was outraged and said how dare these people transgress while you are khalifa. Omar RA was a no-nonsense kind of guy and one would expect him to be even more outraged than his companion. His response, instead was lets ask forgiveness from Allah for we have witnessed what was none of our business (not verbatim). You see where im going with this.
A picture is worth a thousand words - ummmmm, not true entirely. Imagine someone took a picture of you and posted it on facebook - and the scene was not appropriate. It could be one of 1000 things, you could have been exiting the place, you could have regretted that event and ask for forgiveness from Allah, you could have just been snapped at an angle which makes it look like that, you could have been there by mistake, you could be changed person since then... but what will the viewer think? Not the best, thats for sure.
So although i have related Omar RA's character, we must protect ourselves too. The internet is a vast and complicated monster and in envelopes you in ways you dont know; and with so much floating around, you dont care.
With access to technology, comes responsibility. Check yourself, limit exposure if you feel you cannot control yourself, be aware of whats out there. As muslims, we must look out for one another. Defaming and backbiting, both are prohibited so its beside the point if someone did something or not. Find ways to "halalify" your usage, do not blindly forward content without checking its source.
Yeah im definitely ageing faster mentally! But i genuinely care about muslim youth (and some not so youthful) who are so ignorant of the prints their actions leave :(
May Allah protect me and you from TMI!

Post Ramadan Planning

Ah! another month of mercy just passed and i am left wondering, did i work hard enough? May Allah accept from us our ibadah and istighfar! How can i ensure my next Ramadan will be better or if i actually did reap something from this one? That's where post-ramadan plan comes into play. If you had set some goals for yourself during ramadan, are you following through with them? If you hadnt set goals, get setting now. Think of one good habit you want to adopt (from the sunnah is a good point to start) and one bad habit you want to drop. Mind you, these need not be ambitions of mammoth proportions. It could be something as easy as ensuring you always read the dua for entering and exiting the washroom and using the correct foot for the same. Imagine, thats ibadah!! As for dropping a habit, you could think of something similar. We dont place value in these things but not only are they super-important, Allah rewards us for it AND they improve our quality of life without us even knowing it. Here are a few examples of goals you could set for the rest of the year:
Good Habits:
1) Ensuring you begin everything by Bismillah. i mean EVERYTHING
2) Saying salams everytime you enter the house or meet other muslims. Make sure you say it properly and not let your cultural twang distort the diction. Its suppose to be Assalam 'alaikum (wa rahmat ullahi wa barakatuhu)
3) Fasting 6 days in Shawwal
4) Fasting Mondays and/or Thursdays
5) Taking up using the miswak
6) Elongate your sujood and ruku' in Salah
7) Make niyyah for Hajj/Umrah

Bad Habits
1) Stop backbiting
2) Stop lying - all types even those we tell little kids!
3) Stop sleeping face down, on our bellies
4) Stop talking in the washroom
5) Stop judging people
6) Stop being disobedient to your parents/ disrespectful to your spouse
7) Stop all means of haraam income or consuming haraam food.

Some of these may seem menial but every little step counts and it helps you become a better mo'min Inshallah. In a summary of the Surat Taaha, verses about prophet Musa AS, i learned Allah expects Obedience, Courage and Tawakkul (faith) from His servant. I believe, each of these are inter-connected as in when we are obedient to Allah, He blesses us with courage and tawakkul; when we have tawakkul, we are definitely going to be obedient and courageous... you get the idea.
So, what are you taking up and what are you giving up?