Dear Sketchbook

In the Name of God, Allah The All-Mighty.

Since staying here in the UK , I've been curious of the Days celebrated by the people here. Whether they are related to their religious celebrations or not. As practicing Muslims we should be alert and aware of their 'hidden agenda'. We should know what is good to be done or celebrated by Muslims as Islam has guided us.

For example, the previous celebration day here was Halloween.
Alhamdulillah, we had discussed in our Sister's Circle that it should not be celebrated by Muslims.

The link we were referred to was:
http://saifulislam.com/2013/10/persaudaraan-syaitan-bersyiarkan-halloween/

The other Days I searched for is the following:
(mostly from Wikipedia)




1. Black Friday

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black".

-- Ok just a shopping day.

2. Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It became an official Federal holiday in 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens" (-- Oh dear!), to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.

Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.

The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

3. Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day (BND) is an international day of protest against consumerism. it is held the following day, which is the last Saturday in November. Buy Nothing Day was founded in Vancouver by artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by Adbusters magazine, based in Canada.

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption." In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called "Black Friday", which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States. In 2000, advertisements by Adbusters promoting Buy Nothing Day were denied advertising time by almost all major television networks except for CNN. Soon, campaigns started appearing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Norway.

-- not so important I suppose. but a good intention. hehe..

4. Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States. The term "Cyber Monday" was created by marketing companies to persuade people to shop online. The term made its debut on November 28, 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year"

The term was first used within the ecommerce community during the 2005 holiday season. According to Scott Silverman, the head of Shop.org, the term was coined based on 2004 research showing "one of the biggest online shopping days of the year" was the Monday after Thanksgiving (12th-biggest day historically). Retailers also noted the biggest period was December 5 through 15 of the previous year.In late November 2005, the New York Times reported that "The name Cyber Monday grew out of the observation that millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work Monday and buying what they liked." The idea for having such a holiday was created by Tony Valado, in 2003, while working at 1800Flowers.com and coined White Wednesday to be held the day before thanksgiving for online retailers.

Cyber Monday is also used as a marketing term in the United Kingdom however the U.K. is more commonly using the term "Mega Monday", instead, Germany, Portugal and France.

-- It looks like everything is closely related to Thanksgiving Day and Shopping. Hmmm..
 
5. Boxing Day

Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts from their bosses or employers, known as a "Christmas box". Today, Boxing Day is better known as a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws.

The exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear. There are several competing theories, none of which is definitive. The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It is believed to be in reference to the Alms Box placed in places of worship in order to collect donations to the poor. In ancient, pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia was a Roman celebration during which slave owners would switch roles with their slaves. Gift giving was a part of Saturnalia and benevolence to slaves was a practice which may have influenced the later December tradition of boxing and presenting of gifts to people of lesser status.

Boxing Day is a secular holiday that is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day, which is also St. Stephen's Day, a religious holiday. In the UK, Boxing Day is a bank holiday. If Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, the following Monday is given as a substitute bank holiday.

-- So is it OK to shop during this time??

6. St. Stephen's Day

St. Stephen's Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, celebrated on 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian calendar and mark St. Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Gregorian calendar used in secular contexts. It commemorates St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr.

-- Opps! on the same date! An obvious relation to their religion.

7. Christmas

Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by millions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide, which ends after the twelfth night. Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians, and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.

-- Yes! InsyaALLAH we are informed right?



Only Allah s.w.t Knows!!

There are questions on whether or not we celebrate these Days. The big problem is when our children are told about these days and they are even special activities on these 'special' days. And another problem is hilarious sales related to them which we can benefit from.. Hmm..

My opinion is:

1. Preserve your intentions



2. When shopping - buy something not because of the Sale but because your really need them. Isn't it smart to plan you shopping and buy with a discount price?

3. Be alert of the issues brought by the Media.

HUSH LITTLE BABY

Hush little baby, pure and small, He created you he created us all.
Hush little baby, don’t you feel, We are never alone when Allah is so near.
Hush little baby, breathing so calm, He protect us all and keep us from harm.
Hush little baby, still and serene, you are a Muslim, Islam, is your deen. 

Source: http://www.aussiemuslims.com/forums

Complete Song....


Hush little baby, pure and small
He created you, He created us all
Hush little baby, don’t you fear
We’re never alone when Allah’s so near
Hush little, breathing so calm
He’ll protect us all and keep us from harm
Hush little baby, still and serene
You are a Muslim, Islam’s your din (x2)

Source: Zain Bikha

BismiLlahir Rahmanir Rahim

Strong Boy have been going to playgroups and preschool in UK. This is our third week here. Alhamdulillah. I adore their early childhood education that utilizes their playing skills. They say "these children will be in school and learning for a very long time." - so let them play while they can, I suppose. Strong Boy loves going to preschool. But.....

I'm really worried of his aqeeda. Even though it seems that I still have time to re-polish it but currently he remembers the nursery rhymes sung at school rather than the Al-Faatihah read to him every night since he was small.

Allahu Akbar! May Allah protect us. InsyaALLAH I plan to collect as many of the Muslim Nursery Rhymes as possible here. Also as a preparation of the next Baby F coming..



Source: http://www.aussiemuslims.com/forums

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.


PRU 13 - Pengalaman mengundi yang kedua. Alhamdulillah.


Allah SWT masih beri kesempatan dan usia untuk melaluinya. Cume kali ini berbeza dari PRU 12 kerana saya mengundi di tempat yang lain dan bersama orang yang berlainan ^^.

Alhamdulillah semuanya lancar walaupun kali ini kami terpaksa mengundi di petang hari untuk mengelakkan kesesakan di tempat mengundi. Sedihnya anak kami yang tidak layak mengundi lagi tidak di benarkan memasuki kawasan mengundi. Kami terpaksa patah balik rumah mertua. Masak dan makan tengahari dulu. Alhamdulillah anak kami tidur lena ditemani Atoknya (Atok dah berjaya mengundi awal2 pagi lagi) seletah hampir Zohor.
Kami terus dirikan Solah Zuhur dan terus berjalan kaki ke tempat mengundi.
Alhamdulillah semua berjalan lancar. Dah tak ramai pun..... TQ ALLAH for everything ^^


Keputusannya seperti berikut PRU 13/ 2013,


Nak lagi detail kat sini, http://www.myundi.com.my/

BN Menang.
Alhamdulillah.

 "Ajaibnya perihal seorang mukmin itu. Sesungguhnya semua urusannya baik-baik belaka. Dan tiadalah memiliki ciri yang seperti ini melainkan hanya kepada seorang yang mukmin. Sekiranya dia diuji dengan kesenangan, lalu dia bersyukur. Maka syukur itu adalah yang terbaik baginya. Sekiranya dia diuji dengan kesusahan, lalu dia bersabar. Maka sabar itu adalah yang terbaik baginya." 

Allah kn MAHA LEBIH TAHU keperluan dan kehendak Hamba2NYA. Serah padaNYA.

"Apabila kerja-kerja Islam dapat diteruskan maka sebenarnya kita MENANG!" ulasan kata-kata Al-Marhum Ustaz Fadzil Mohd Noor.

Islam akan tetap MENANG nnti dengan kemenangan yang hakiki. Kita yang RUGI jika tidak bersama kemenangan itu.

waALlahu'alam.

BismiLlahir Rahmanir Rahim.

I found the cover images of this book series. MasyaALLAH tickled my Little Heart ^^,


And here,
Happy Reading....
waALlahu'alam.

“Ya Allah , Wafatkanlah aku dalam keadaan Islam dan gabungkanlah aku dengan orang-orang yang shaleh.” (QS. Yuusuf: 101)

Doaku dan harapanku juga begitu.

Buat mereka yang baru sahaja dipanggil pulang, semoga Allah menghargai setiap kebaikan yang telah mereka lakukan dan golongkanlah mereka dikalangan orang-orang yang SOLEH.

Arwah Pak Usu Sabirin sekeluarga - Adik bungsu Mama.
Arwah Makcik Sipah - jiran rapat Mertua.

Al-Faatihah.