He stared down at the ground as he gathered his thoughts on this beautiful sunny day in mid-April. It had been months now that he had been falling asleep and waking up with nothing else than the thought of her on his mind. This once timid soul, who had lost all courage to love another, was learning what it meant to love again, not just what it meant to love another soul, but what it meant to love himself. At one point in time, he had given up hope in the thought of finding his one true love, his soul-mate that he had been searching for all his life. The dream was gone, but not forgotten, and as he stared down at the ground, he realized how lucky and blessed of a man he was to have found that one special person that made his dreams come true.

He was sitting on a park bench waiting for his loved one to arrive. He wanted to tell her something that he had not told another person in a very long time. He had spent days, if not weeks, building up the courage to open his heart up to the emotions which had been tucked away in the safe recesses of his heart, far away from harms way. Now the time had come, however, in which this man, knowing he had found his one and only, to open up and pour his heart and soul out for the one woman he would love for the rest of his God given life. His heart was beginning to fill with all kinds of emotions and feelings of joy, happiness, and excitement, yet at the same time, he was nervous and curious as to how she would react. Their relationship had come to a point where he felt that it was necessary to share the inner workings of his heart with her, and do that he will.

His mind was wandering off with these many thoughts when she came and sat down next to him. ‘Hi darling,’ she said, ‘Is everything alright?’, she asked. She could tell there was something on his mind, and she still was not sure why he had called her to the park on this day. She herself was feeling a bit nervous and worrisome. This man had become so dear to her, and she was beginning to develop such strong feelings for him that she had never felt for anyone before in her life. She knew that she loved this man, and that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Never before had she met such a sincere, honest, and hard-working individual, and she knew he would treat her like she deserved to be treated. She wanted to make him happy, and she wanted him to make her happy, but she still wasn’t sure if their relationship was going the direction she was hoping for. She tried to wipe away these thoughts, and she looked up at him to see if he had a reply.

‘Everything is fine,’, he replied, ‘I just needed to see you… I have something that I have been wanting to tell you for quite some time now, and I think you deserve to hear it from me.’ Now she wasn’t sure what to think. Emotions flooded her mind, as her thoughts raced as to what he could possibly want to tell her. It sounded serious, and, although she was worried, she expressed concern, and asked him what it was. He looked away for a minute, off into the park at the kids playing on the playground. A thought quickly ran through his mind as to how beautiful it would be one day to have kids of his own with this amazing woman sitting next to him. A smile crept onto his face, and he knew he was making the best decision of his life with what he was about to say.

He turned to face her, and he looked down at her beautiful hands. He slowly clutched her hands in his, and he lifted his face to look into her eyes. He could see a sense of worry in her eyes, but he had already built up enough courage to tell her, and he was not about to back down now. As he stared into her eyes, and he held her soft hands in his, a smile came to his face again, and tears began to well up in his eyes. He quickly blinked so as not to let his teardrops worry his loved one, and he opened his mouth to say, ‘I have something very important I have meaning to tell you, and now is the time I must say it.’ She, honestly, was not sure what to think, and she could only wait to hear what he had to say. He caressed her hands gently for a few more moments, and glanced away at the fields of grass only to gather up a moments more courage before he could tell her those words. He looked back into her eyes, and without a second of hesitation, he said ‘I Love You.’ A smile appeared on both of their faces, and in their eyes they could both see a confirmation that this love was real, and would last for a lifetime. With only three small words, he had captured her heart for the rest of his life, and she knew she was with the man who would cherish her till her dying day. With that, she spoke the words he had also hoped to hear, ‘I Love You Too.’

For those who have not had a chance to attend yet, this year marks the third year that Islamic Relief will hold its Evening of Inspiration tour in the United States. Previous years consisted of acts such as Sami Yusuf, Hamza Robertson, Nazeel Azami, Native Deen, and Allah Made Me Funny. This years show showcases some awesome acts never before featured on this tour, including Zain Bhikha, Seven 8 Six, and Baba Ali. Check out the video below for more info:

As a fan of hip hop music since my young days, I have heard the best and worst in hip hop over the years. Included in that, is middle eastern hip hop artists who attempt, and mostly fail, at combining east and west in hopes of acheiving a hip hop sound that will attract both new and old. Desert Heat seemed to be one of those who would try and fail like many before them after their debut single ‘Keep it Desert’. However, they have impressed me with their newest single ‘Under Her Feet’. I am now looking forward to finding a way to pick up their debut album when it drops this year, and checking it out. FYI, Desert Heat is a rap duo based out of Dubai, UAE. Find out more about them at http://desertheatarabia.com

One of my favorite songs from the past few years. Watch out for Kumasi, he is going to be big inshAllah!

I have found the love of my life…. the best thing to ever happen to me in my life…

The first feature lenght short film from Ummah Films productions. I loved this video, and look forward to seeing what comes next!

I can’t say that I love this video that much. In fact, this is Lupe’s third video from his album “The Cool”, and I must say that I have enjoyed the video for ‘Hip Hop Saved my Life’ best, which I will also post below the ‘Paris,Tokyo’ video.

I love the song for the above video, but not feeling the video that much. However, I love both the song and the video for ‘Hip Hop Saved my Life’ below:

Peace,
* AM *

Obama 08…

Yesterday I went with my Imam to the regional medical center to visit a brother who is dying of pancreatic cancer. I have visited a lot of individuals in hospitals over the years with my Imam, and it is something that is considered a good deed in Islam to visit the sick. However, most visits to the hospital are visiting individuals that I don’t know that well, or people who are temporarily in the hospital and are to get better and be discharged. Yesterday’s visit was very different however. Memories came flooding back to my mind of when my dear friend Nabeel Khan (may Allah have mercy upon him) passed away, as for the second time in my life, I was visiting a friend (or family friend) whom I had known in better times, and was shocked to see what the cancer had done to his health.

Seeing this brother in the hospital was not easy for me, and it really made me feel ashamed of myself. It seems like every day of my life, I go throughout my days worrying about things. Whether it be worrying about school, work, or other things, I realized my times are consumed with things that really don’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. The day will come when we will all be lying on our death beds, and all the day to day activities will have been a speck on the glass of our lives. This brother really made me want to cry when we visited him yesterday, because his spirits were so high, and he kept praising Allah (swt), and was so strong in his faith that I felt meager in comparison.

Later on in the day, I talked with my friend E about this, and he had told me it had been on his mind a lot lately as well. E made a good point as well, saying that death is the one thing that is certain for every human being on this earth, and we all know that we are heading in that direction, however it is the hardest thing to be prepared for. This made me begin to think why this was. What makes it so hard for us, as human beings, to always live our lives with death in mind. To me, it would seem, that if we did live each and every day as if it were to be our last, then we would probably be more productive, worry less, and take advantage of each and every opportunity that came out way. But, for some reason, this is a major challenge, and one I am struggling to figure out.

* AM *

I found these videos on YouTube showing how Shaitan (the Devil) uses tricks to make us turn away from prayer, doing what is right, and remembering Allah (God). Check them out below.