Eat Thy SUHOOR

RAMADAN MUBARAK!!!!!!!!

OK. I'm sorry. I know I should have posted this earlier today, or, technically, yesterday. (It's 12:26, so, it's the 21st now). But, as it is, the first day of Ramadan always (Astaghfiruallah) catches me off guard and so I was too lazy to post anything. And I'm posting now because I just finished my taraweeh. (long story. couldn't pray with Jamaa'ah because I was too busy taking care of little brothers while trying to get my dad to get the other brother's car out because it was in front of us and my mom couldn't drive home and......)


But it's Ramadan!!! Time to forgive, right? So, let's see. This is how my first day of Ramadan 2012 went:


Suhoor: I was the first one to wake up! Just like last year!! Poor Baba, he was so stressed out and tired, especially having to wake up in the middle of the night to give Ibrahim (1.5 years) his chocolate milk because he had no dinner, Baba didn't go to work today. Oh well. I guess a day won't hurt. (YES IT WILL!!!!)


But, I wake up, then I wake up Baba, then I wake up Mama (not mom, as you should remember from one of my old posts, but uncle) and then Baba wakes up Ammi (this one is mom) and then Mama wakes up Nana (grandpa) and then they all walk to the kitchen like zombies with bad breath and bad moods, and I'm all stirring the meat and acting all cheery, like, "AsssalAAAAAAAmualaikum!!!!!!!!! It's suhoor time!!! Nana, would you like some juice? Here Mama, let me heat up that bread for you. Ammi, do you want meat?Baba, aren't you gonna eat anything else?" and basically acting like an old Nana, trying to keep all the zombies in good moods.


I had some bread and meat, 2 glasses of water, a glass of juice, half a glass of chocolate milk, and then another glass of water. But of course, all of that liquid was unfortunately out by 10:00 am. 




Well, I did my Quran, finished up some cross stitching, and then slept for 3 hours. And was I in a bad mood after that. I'm not used to taking naps, so if I see that the sun is about to go down when I wake up, and get MAD, which explains why it took me half an hour to pick out a matching hijab for my purple anarkoli (kind of like a knee length dress with matching pants.)


We were late to the Masjid, so the samosas were already gone, but we had lentil soup and tabbouleh. And after praying Maghrib, we had a dinner of rice, meat, and carrots and string beans. (not what I expected, but the meat and rice was mashaAllah, really good).


And so I take my plate and sit at my friends' table, and we're like talking and everything, and then the topic of  mathhabs come up. I don't consider myself to be of any particular mathhab, I just follow whatever is in the Sahih sunnah and Quran, so, I didn't really say much. And so one of the girls are talking, and saying, "there is Sunni, and Shafi, and Maliki, and Hanbali, and Sufi" 


And then I said, "OMG, Sufi's are creepy. They do all these stuff like stick kni-"

"I'm Sufi" says the girls talking about the mathhabs.

And let me tell you, I was SO EMBARRASSED. I mean, I'm not the type of person who'll suck up and say, "Oh, I was just kidding, I love Sufis," or something like that because I do believe that Sufi's are a deviated group of Muslims (no offence to anyone out there). So, instead, I said, "Really? Well, what I was saying was that you see videos of them sticking knives into there heads and electrifying themselves and stuff like that."

And then, she was really cool about it, alhamduliAllah, and went on to explain how "they have to lose their minds in order to get close to their heart to become close to Allah" and I just looked at my other friend J  and shared a "meaningful look". But, thankfully, the girl said that she's not "that kind of Sufi" and that she would "never do things like that". AlhamduliAllah. Cuz' I didn't want to think I was hanging around with a lunatic. And AlhamduliAllah she's not that far into all that Bid'ah.

The girls on our table were HORRIBLE about food. They literally left they're plates heaping with rice and meat. When J and I asked them to finish it, one of the girls replied, "I don't like the meat"

OK. Why did you take it?

"I forgot"

(How do forget things like that??????)

OK. Why don't you at least take it home?

"No one's gonna eat it."


I had enough. So did J. And we just left them, and I ended up telling my mom, who's a biggie of food wastage, and she went and totally told them off. When she was walking (more like jogging) towards the girls, I was like, "ooh, they are so busted. My mom's gonna TELL THEM OFF!! And J was like, "Can I watch?" and so we ended up watching them get chewed out by my mom from behind the wall.

Then J and I decided to clean the tables. And then suddenly I'm all:

*Just with a hijab and a sparkly dress on.

 So we get soap water and rags from the kitchen and wiped all of the tables clean. Just when we were doing the last table, my mom came, saw us, and then went to go and get the "I don't like the meat" girl. You could tell she was really steaming about my mom now. But oh well. You gotta do what you gotta do. And so J and I made her wipe the tables all over again. Which she finished faster than the two of us could. Hmmmmmmm.........




Well, that's enough drama for one day, I guess. This post is getting too long anyways. Salaams! And have a wonderful Ramadan!!!

Ramadan Day 2

Yesterday was fulfilling mashaAllah. As I said, I wore my blue skirt, a light blue top and a blue hijab. I also wore a sliver bracelet with hearts dangling on it. I wonder if you liked it.

I liked yesterday a lot mashaAllah. The only thing was that Ammi and Ibrahim didn't come. Well, first we go there. And then I hear something about a contest. I was itching to find out what. I am always one of the first to enter a contest. I love challenges. Well, sooner or later, I forget about it and get food. Today, for appetizers, they have watermelon and this soup with all these vegetables. It's really thick, and it doesn't look really good to me, so I just fill myself up with water instead. Then I go to pray.

After Salah, a man says something about the contest in the microphone. I get that itch again, but I can't find the paper you need, so I just ignore. But, I ask a woman, "Do you know what the contest is about?" She hands me a paper. Here's what it says

Name two other names for Surah At-Tawba (Other than Tawba):
Name:
Number:
Email Address:

Now, I have memorized Surah At-Tawba, but I never thought of checking if there were any other names for it. When I come and sit on my table, there's a different woman talking to one of my "Aunties". She's talking in Arabic  AlhamduliAllah I can pick up bits and pieces of it, and then I make up that she knows what the answer is and she's telling "Auntie" what it is. When she's done, I ask, "Can I do it too?" She gives me the answer and I write it down on the paper!!! Yes, I know that's not right, but there were no rules. So then I ask her were to put it and she tells me in Arabic that it's ________.  Just before I leave the woman's sister asks me if I know Arabic, in Arabic. I reply a little in Arabic. So I go and put mine and Auntie's paper in the box. What they'll do, is they'll not look and just pick one paper and if it has the right answer the person gets a prize. I don't think I got it, because then my father would get a call on his cell phone.

I didn't notice, but by that time the line for food and grown REALLY long. Oh, well. I didn't really mind. The woman who gave the answer and her sister are standing next to me.When we were half way to our destination, the woman's sister asks me what my name is, in English. I answered, "Samiha." Then she asks what my last name is. I say, "Shaheed." Both she and her sister go wide eyed and she says, "Your name is Arabic!" I just smile.

For iftaar, they had good food mashaAllah. They had:

• salad
• rice
• meat (with lots of meat)
• a bean side dish
• spaghetti and meat sauce

They have extra today, so I bring home lots of food for us and Ammi. I have a little when I come home, and then I pray. Then I have some cherries.

For suhoor, I have the leftover suhoor. Because I had no milk, I "substitute" it with about 4 and a half glasses of water. I'm still not sure if that was good or not, because after fajr, I had to wake up 5 times to use the restroom.

I'm not hungry now. Just a little thirsty. I hope you don't think my post was to long

A Few Nice Recipes

A few Nice Recipes

With foods from the Quran and Sunnah

Healthy Fig Dessert

Enjoy figs with the sweetness of honey and the tang of Greek yoghurt in this light, refreshing dessert. Almonds add crunch as well as goodness.

Ingredients

·        4 figs

·        6 tbs Greek yoghurt

·        2 tbs flaked toasted almonds

·        Runny honey

·        A few pinches of cinnamon

Methods

Cut the fig in half and arrange on two plates. Dollop the yoghurt over them and sprinkle with the almonds and cinnamon. Drizzle with the honey and serve

Also Try

Use strawberries in place of figs and omit the cinnamon.

Replace the figs with oranges and use pistachios and raisins. Omit the almonds and cinnamon.

Breakfast Smoothie

The addition of oats in this wonderful smoothie may seem odd at first but it gives it a lovely, creamy texture and a great slow-release energy boost. Perfect for suhoor or a rushed breakfast.

Ingredients

·        1 banana, chopped

·        1 handful of dates

·        100ml milk/yoghurt

·        1 handful of oats

·        Desired amount of honey to sweeten

Methods

Put all ingredients (except honey) in a blender and whiz until smooth. Drizzle with honey until sweet.