Lost N Translation: September 2012

Thursday, September 27, 2012

I got it covered (Muslimah Fashions)

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Sunday, September 9, 2012

I realize I talk a lot about nothing

I don’t act as much as I should

I make a lot of excuses for myself.

And still you look up to me.

But I’m not who they pipe me up to be.

And it isn’t fair that you take me as a role model

When times get hard, I roll that’s my motto.

Never standing up for what I believe

Just taking advantage of your hope.

Like a drug dealer serving dope.

I give you just enough to keep you hooked.

And I know what I’m doing is wrong but I’m into deep.

See if I backed out now they would call me a coward

See I’m really not in power I’m just a face of a dream that we all been visioning for to long

And we all know that when you dream something for so long over and over again

You begin to find it hard to distinguish reality from fantasy.

Or imagination, see how can one person rule this turmoil nation.

How can I make a change when selling all types of wars and discord make me so much change?

If you thought I wasn’t affected by the root to all evil.

You were naive to juvenile and immature to believe,

That this was all a set up .

And I know the truth hurts I find it hard to accept myself

More power more wealth, I’m beginning to loose myself.

And I know in the mist of all my lies

Lies a pile of broken hearts, tanks un fueled, ammunition on low

To ready and willing to fight for what you don’t know.

Well know that I am only human and I make mistakes.

I’m just sorry if my mistakes left you all at stake

I wasn’t ready for this relationship

I’m not fit for the position or mission but in all honesty I don’t know anyone who is.

So don’t blame me because that’s what they want you to do

Just know that I was made up to be something I couldn’t possibly be

The shoes needed filling and I was to ready and willing

But I couldn’t fit them no matter how much I stuffed them with hope, the job was to complex.

Read between the lines the government has and always will be corrupt.

It doesn’t matter if the head of state is black, white, democrat or republican

Politics don’t judge than. And I’m sorry for so much I don’t know where to begin.

But I don’t see an ending to this horrid nightmare that leaves me stuck in between

A rock and a hard place, I find it hard to face.

The faces of millions who believed me

I didn’t intentionally deceive any of you

I just don’t know how to make your dream come true.

And don’t think it’s not something I don’t want to do.

Just know I’m not the bad guy

And I can give you a million reasons why

But I would be lying if I said I tried my best.

And even if I did it would be too late for the souls already put to rest.

I’m so stressed because of my foolishness

So I stand before you with my deepest sincerest apology

Because at the least you deserve that.

And I don’t know if it matters but I am waiting as you, for that change to come

-Dayona Aisha Evans

Ibn Taymiyyah’s Letter to his Mother from Prison

Ibn Taymiyyah’s Letter to his Mother from Prison (Ibn Taymiyyah’s Letter to his Mother, in which he apologises for his stay in Egypt. A stay he felt was necessary to educate the people.)
In the name of Allaah, Most Merciful, Dispenser of Mercy From Ahmad bin Taymiyyah to my dear and honourable Mother, may Allaah bless her amply, and grant her peace and comfort, and make her amongst the best of His servants, Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh. We praise Allaah, the most worthy of praise. There is no deity worthy of worship but He, and He has Power over all things. We ask Him to bless the Seal of the Prophets and Imaam of the pious, Muhammad His servant and Messenger (salallaahu alayhi wa salam). Indeed the bounties of Allaah come abundantly, and His aid is never ending. We praise Him for it, and ask Him to increase His favour. It will not escape you, my contented mother, the fact that our stay in Egypt is for an important issue. The abandonment of such a task leads to the corruption of our Deen and of our life. Yet it was not our choice to be far from you. Had birds been able to carry us, we would have come to you. But the absent one has his reason; and had you been able to look deeply into the affairs of the Muslims, you would not choose for me another place to the one I am in now. Nevertheless, I had never intended to reside here permanently. Instead, I pray to Allaah to guide you and I to the right choice, and I pray for your well-being. I ask Allaah to bless us and the rest of the Muslims, with His goodness and what that goodness encompasses of safety and benefit. Allaah had opened for me His gates of blessings, mercy and guidance in a way I have never conceived of before. Yet I am always considering travel towards you, making the prayers of Istikhaarah. It is inconceivable for me, if given the choice, to favour any of this life’s mundane issues or of the lesser obligations of the Deen, to being close to you. Yet there are great issues which l cannot abandon for fear of their general and personal dangers (1) – and the witness sees what the absent does not. I beseech you to supplicate to Allaah profusely. Ask Him to guide us to choose our best paths, for He Knows and we do not, and He is able and we are weak. The Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu alayhi wa salam) said: It is from the happiness of the son of Aadam to practice lstikhaarah and be pleased wîth what Allaah had ordained for him. And it is from the misery of the son of Aadam to drop the Istikhaarah of Allaah and be displeased at Allaah’s decrees. (2) Indeed, the travelling trader might fear the loss of his money, so he resides at a place until he is able to travel once again. The matter that we are in the middle of is too great to describe, but there is no power or ability but through Allaah. Finally, convey my salaam to the entire household, young and old, and the rest of neighbours, friends and relatives one by one. Wasalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh! Praise be to Allaah, and may His Blessings and Peace be upon Muhammad, his family and companions. ————————————————————————— Footnotes 1. Shaykh Muhammad Aboo Zahrah comments on his book Ibn Taymiyyah: the general danger is the corruption of people. The personal one is that as a Scholar, he has to fulfil his obligation of guiding the people to the right way. There is also another danger which, is that Ibn Taymeeyah came to Egypt whilst accused in his belief, and that he has a right to defend and vindicate himself. 2. Shaykh Hamed al-Faqi commented of this hadeeth by saying that it was related by at-Tirmithee and he called it hasan ghareeb; and it was also narrated by Ahmad, Aboo Ya’laa and al-Haakim who said of it: Saheeh allsnad. (al-’Uqood ud-Durreeyah, p257)

Early(Natural) Birth Control Methods.

1. Lemon Citric acid is said to have spermicidal properties, and women used to soak sponges in lemon juice before inserting them vaginally. Mentioned in the Talmud, this was a preferred method of birth control in ancient Jewish communities. The sponge itself would act as a pessary—a physical barrier between the sperm and the cervix. The great womanizer Casanova was said to have inserted the rind of half a lemon into his lovers as a primitive cervical cap or diaphragm, the residual lemon juice serving to annihilate the sperm. Lemon- and lime-juice douches following coitus were also recommended as a form of birth control, but this method was likely less effective, since sperm can enter the cervix—and hence out of reach of any douching—within minutes of ejaculation. Incidentally, some alternative medicine practitioners today suggest that megadoses of vitamin C (6 to 10 g a day) could induce an abortion in women under 4 weeks of pregnancy, but there’s no evidence that citrus fruits were used in this way in ancient times. 2. Queen Anne’s Lace Queen Anne’s Lace is also known as wild carrot, and its seeds have long been used as a contraceptive—Hippocrates described this use over two millennia ago. The seeds block progesterone synthesis, disrupting implantation and are most effective as emergency contraception within eight hours of exposure to sperm—a sort of “morning after” form of birth control. Taking Queen Anne’s Lace led to no or mild side effects (like a bit of constipation), and women who stopped taking it could conceive and rear a healthy child. The only danger, it seemed, was confusing the plant with similar-looking but potentially deadly poison hemlock and water hemlock 3. Pennyroyal Pennyroyal is a plant in the mint genus and has a fragrance similar to that of spearmint. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it as a cooking herb and a flavoring ingredient in wine. They also drank pennyroyal tea to induce menstruation and abortion—1st-century physician Dioscorides records this use of pennyroyal in his massive five-volume encyclopedia on herbal medicine. Too much of the tea could be highly toxic, however, leading to multiple organ failure 4. Blue Cohosh Blue cohosh, traditionally used for birth control by Native Americans, contains at least two abortifacient substances: one mimics oxytocin, a hormone produced during childbirth that stimulates the uterus to contract, and a substance unique to blue cohosh, caulosaponin, also results in uterine contractions. Midwives today may use blue cohosh in the last month of pregnancy to tone the uterus in preparation for labour. The completely unrelated but similarly named black cohosh also has estrogenic and abortifacient properties and was often combined with blue cohosh to terminate a pregnancy. 5. Dong Quai Dong quai, also known as Chinese angelica, has long been known for its powerful effects on a woman’s cycle. Women drank a tonic brewed with dong quai roots to help regulate irregular menstruation, alleviate menstrual cramps and help the body regenerate after menstruation. Taken during early pregnancy, however, dong quai had the effect of causing uterine contractions and inducing abortion. European and American species of angelica have similar properties but were not as widely used. 6. Common Rue Rue, a blue-green herb with feathery leaves, is grown as an ornamental plant and is favored by gardeners for its hardiness. It is rather bitter but can be used in small amounts as a flavoring ingredient in cooking. Soranus, a gynecologist from 2nd-century Greece, described its use as a potent abortifacient, and women in Latin America have traditionally eaten rue in salads as a contraceptive and drunk rue tea as emergency contraception or to induce abortion. Ingested regularly, rue decreases blood flow to the endometrium, essentially making the lining of the uterus non-nutritive to a fertilized egg. 7. Cotton In the ancient medical manuscript the Ebers Papyrus (1550 BCE), women were advised to grind dates, acacia tree bark, and honey together into a paste, apply this mixture to seed wool, and insert the seed wool vaginally for use as a pessary. Granted, it was what was in the cotton rather than the cotton itself that promoted its effectiveness as birth control—acacia ferments into lactic acid, a well-known spermicide—but the seed wool did serve as a physical barrier between ejaculate and cervix. Interestingly, though, women during the times of American slavery would chew on the bark of cotton root to prevent pregnancy. Cotton root bark contains substances that interfere with the corpus luteum, which is the hole left in the ovary when ovulation occurs. The corpus luteum secretes progesterone to prepare the uterus for implantation of a fertilized egg. By impeding the corpus luteum’s actions, cotton root bark halts progesterone production, without which a pregnancy can’t continue. 8. Papaya In South Asia and Southeast Asia, unripe papaya was used to prevent or terminate pregnancy. Once papaya is ripe, though, it loses the phytochemicals that interfere with progesterone and thus its contraceptive and abortifacient properties. The seeds of the papaya could actually serve as an effective male contraceptive. Papaya seeds, taken daily, could cut a man’s sperm count to zero and was safe for long-term use. Best of all, the sterility was reversible: if the man stopped taking the seeds, his sperm count would return to normal. 9. Silphium Silphium was a member of the fennel family that grew on the shores of Cyrenaica (in present-day Libya). It was so important to the Cyrenean economy that it graced that ancient city’s coins. Silphium had a host of uses in cooking and in medicine, and Pliny the Elder recorded the herb’s use as a contraceptive. It was reportedly effective for contraception when taken once a month as a tincture. It could also be used as emergency birth control, either orally or vaginally, as an abortifacient. By the second century CE, the plant had gone extinct, likely because of over harvesting. 10. Mercury Civilizations the world over, from the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians to the Greeks, were fascinated by mercury and were convinced that it had medicinal value and special curative properties, using it to treat everything from skin rashes to syphilis. In ancient China, women were advised to drink hot mercury to prevent pregnancy. It was likely pretty effective at convincing a woman’s body that she wasn’t fit to carry a child, leading to miscarriage, so in that sense, it worked as a contraceptive. However, as we know today, mercury is enormously toxic, causing kidney and lung failure, as well as brain damage and death. At that point, pregnancy would probably be the least of your worries. BTW ABSTINENCE IS 100% EFFECTIVE, UNLESS YOUR THE VIRGIN MARY ;)

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Diy tack shoes