Masjid-E-Noor

assalamualaikum warahmatullah and hi...

masjid-e-noor in old trafford is one of the most well-known mosque in manchester. located on stamford street, it is only 5 minutes walk away from my house. there are 2 other mosques nearby; 1) masjid imdadia (also 5 minutes walk away), and 2) masjid-e-hidayah (10 minutes walk). all three masjids are operated by muslims originated from gujerat, india, thus observing the rules of the hanafi mazhab in their prayers and other daily chores.

masjid-e-noor is a new building, about one-year old. it is about twice as big as the old masjid-e-noor, which is still standing next to the new one. the old mosque, or "e-noor lama" as it is famously known among the malaysians, is now part of a madrasah, where young kids are taught subjects pertaining to the religion, just like "sekolah agama petang" in malaysia. the old masjid is also a place where the malaysian brothers gather for events, like yasin recital, solat hajat, spiritual talks, etc. usually organized by the malaysian community of old trafford (MCOT).

when the end of each month approaches, the mosque admin will distribute prayer time-tables for the next month. the jamaat times, or "waktu solat berjemaah" for all prayers during the whole month are printed on a piece of A4. the same practice applies to both masjid imdadia and masjid-e-hidayah, and also to most, if not all, of the community mosques all around the uk.

i collected the prayer time-table for june 2005 this evening after maghrib prayer, and as usual, there are excerpts from the prophet's tradition (hadith) on it. i like to take this chance to share a couple of them, which are simple and quite well-known. enjoy them both, and do digest them as well.

"Every day the sun rises, charity (Sadaqah) is due on every joint of a person; you administer justice between two men is a charity; and assisting a man to mount his beast, or helping him load his luggage on it is a charity; and a good word is a charity; and every step that you take (towards the mosque) for prayer is a charity and removing harmful things from the road is a charity."

Bukhari & Muslim

"O Muslim women, never belittle any gift that you give your neighbour, even if it is a hoof of a sheep."

Bukhari & Muslim

Al-Fatihah

assalamualaikum warahmatullah and hello to all...

i received a sad news from my mother this afternoon. my grandma on my dad's side passed away on wednesday. allahyarhamah rokiah binti abdullah died of natural causes, age approximated to be around 74. may Allah places her soul among those who are Blessed.

"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, Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return" "

Al-Baqarah 2:155-156

Salaam Imtihaan

assalamualaikum warahmatullah and hi...

"Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false."

Al-Ankabut 29:2-3

exam's approaching for most of us mancunian students... although my own exams coincide with the university's exam period but the system, generally, is different... uni's exam period is from monday, may the 16th until friday, june 10th... the current term ends there, or in other words, summer break begins after june 10th...

whereas for me, i'll sit for my first paper, the Progress Test, next monday, may 16th, and the other paper, the OSCE, on wednesday, june 8th... there is no study leave in between, its just class as usual... well, there might be a few days break before OSCE, but not a specific one-week study period, etc like what students from the other courses had... and on monday, june 13th, i'll start my 4-week student selected component (ssc) period, where i will be attached to a ward/gp/consultant/firm/etc. and submit a report at the end of the fourth week... ONLY THEN will my summer break kicks off, which is on friday, july the 8th... and after a good 7 weeks (hopefully...), i'll start my 4th year... mark that date: TUESDAY, 30th AUGUST 2005...

anyway, no need to complain, for Allah is with those who have patience... thanks to Allah for all His help (alhamdulillah), and may He guides and strengthens us all with the necessary knowledge and motivation to face the upcoming exams... amiin...

Walk Run & Jog

assalamualaikum warahmatullah and hi everyone

yesterday i jogged.

full stop.

hmm...

hmm...

ok ok, let's talk a bit about it... i always wanted to start jogging but the motivation was hard to find... earlier this week, on bank holiday monday, i've decided to jog thrice weekly and i was determined to start on the same evening, but it rained... so i postponed my 'noble' intention to yesterday morning after fajar prayer, but again it rained... it was the same for the earlier part of the evening, it rained since i was still in hospital...

however the rain stopped when i reached home after asar... i drove first around the intended 'jogging course' to measure the distance, which came up to a good 2.3 miles... then i get changed to my running gear, and planned my exercise carefully... i decided to brisk-walking first along ayres road towards the chorlton road junction for about 0.2 miles, then jog along chorlton road up to the stretford road junction for 0.4 miles, walk again along stretford road for 0.4 miles, jog on for a further 0.5 miles up to trafford bar, then turn left into seymour grove and walk 0.3 miles until i reach the other end of ayres road, turn left, run 0.3 miles and finally walk home for another 0.2 miles... so, i started the regime at 7pm, stay 'loyal' to it, and alhamdulillah i safely reached home within 25 minutes, shortly before the liverpool vs chelsea game kicked-off on itv1... in short, i jogged for at least half the total distance...

the difficult part now is to stick with this regime for a number of sessions, until i feel like increasing my jogging distance... at the moment i have marked thursday and one of the weekends for my 2nd and 3rd session of the week respectively... barring any weather difficulties, i have the luxury to decide whether to jog either after fajar prayer (around 6am) or in the evening (7pm)... i'll try tomorrow morning first insya Allah, and we'll see what happens from there...

the rugby season is now over, i mean for the medics and sale rugby... there will still be some more football sessions though, including one this afternoon... and also a friendly match against the Chinese Society this sunday, hopefully i'll be picked to play for the team...

"ya Allah, please forgive all my sins past, present and future; grant Your Mercy on me; and please make me consistent with this exercise plan for i need the strength to work and live only for You; for You are the Most Strong, Most Loving, Most Forgiving..."

Amin.