Goaltenders in the NHL have all kinds of cool designs on their helmets. If I was a goalie in the NHL, I'd have the word "sex" printed all over the mask in big red letters so that when the opposing team looks at me, they'd be too distracted to take a shot. I'd put it on a black backround so that it would stand out. :D

I'm not writing this blog post for the purpose of sharing the message of Islam; rather, I'm going to use it as an outlet to vent some frustrations and to motivate myself. This is going to be quite personal at times, which may be intruiging to people who want to know about some of my struggles (for whatever reason). This way, you won't have to picture me as a faceless personality on the internet. I think it's important when a person, whether they're muslim or not, acknowledges their shortcomings. This rant'll be a long one, so I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

Of all the things I'm tempted with, sexual immorality is by far the most potent one. Almost every day, there's an assault from a number of different areas. You can get up in the morning to drive to work, but you know there'll be billboards on the way there that have inappropriate pictures on them. When you go to the grocery store, you know there'll be a bunch of magazines [like Sports Illustrated] with very provocative covers. Turn on the TV and you're bound to find a commercial for Victoria's Secret within a few minutes. Go to the mall and even more billboards will be in store windows.

There's a hadith where Muhammad [p.b.u.h] was reported to have said "It would be better for you to be stabbed with an iron needle than to touch a woman that's unlawful for you to touch". Because of this, there's an understanding amongst devout muslims that, unless it's with a family member or your spouse, muslims should not be involved in things like hand-shaking, hugging and holding hands with the opposite sex. There's another hadith that says "When a man and woman are alone in the same room, Satan is the third-party"(or something to that effect).

This would mean that dating, as far as the western culture understands it, is prohibited in Islam. When courting, muslims have to [somehow] develop an attraction without any physical contact, while also avoiding being alone with each other (if possible). I've even heard that, when a muslim man wants to marry a muslim woman, he must first ask the woman's father or brother. I'm the only muslim in my family, so how am I going to convince them that I'll be a reliable husband/father if I don't come from an islamic backround? These are such alien concepts to someone like me-- it's totally contrary to western culture.

I feel as though there's a war going on between the culture that I was raised in and the etiquette that I have to have as a muslim. I want to get married because I have so much love to give, but with these rules, it's borderline impossible for me to pursue this desire for marriage in a way that's halal. If I'm called to stay single for the rest of my life, why do I have such a huge desire for marriage/intimacy? I'm in no position to find fault with God; I just don't understand what He wants from me. :(

As a 22 year old single male muslim, I feel like I'm constantly being attacked with sexually illicit things from all sides. I understand that it's considered normal in western culture for women to show off cleavage and to wear skirts, but it's very
difficult at times to 'lower my gaze', as the Qur'an says. I don't want to look at any woman in a way that's dishonorable,
even if I come across one that does want that kind of attention. Sex ought to be for people who are married, so by looking at a woman and lusting after her, I'm dishonoring her because I'm treating her body as though it's an instrument that ought to serve the purpose of fullfilling my carnal desires. How am I going to get married some day if I can't even respect the opposite sex?

"Ok, so what? everybody does that!" you may say. Well, if something is common, that doesn't necessarily make it right. I
want to live a life in which I glorify God in all areas of my life, but I find myself dishonoring him with my eyes. Lust can
give place to things like internet pornography, something that goes even further in the direction of dishonoring God and the opposite sex (or the same sex, if that's your thing). We all know why someone watches porn; doing this sexual act while watching porn will only make things worse because it feeds your desire to sin. As I said in my blog post about prayer and taqwa, a lack of taqwa is going to cause sin to grab you by the throat and take you down.

I'm tired of not giving women enough respect. I don't come from a muslim family, so a big part of me wants this life to continue because I want them to find God. Another part of me is totally ready for Judgment Day to come because I'm so fed up with battling sexual sin; we won't have to worry about any of that in Paradise. Just so that I'm not misunderstood, I don't believe that sexual desire is inherently evil; humans are sexual creatures by nature. I also believe that sexual passion within a marriage is wonderful because it helps strengthen the relationship. Regardless of how you took this rant that came from the bowels of the mind of a frustrated young man, thank you for reading it (even if you found it funny or weird). :)

This is a rhetorical question that I've heard when non-muslims are talking about events in which our prophet Muhammad [p.b.u.h] is publicly mocked. They're thinking "Why was there a huge protest after that Danish newspaper drew a picture of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, but nobody protests if God/Allah is publicly mocked?". It's a fair and important question, so I'd like to give an explanation.

Muslims certainly don't worship Muhammad [p.b.u.h]. Despite his wonderful example, he was but a human and, apart from God's grace, he never would've had a chance at being saved from Hell. God is far, far greater than any human could hope to be. We believe that God is more than capable of defending Himself, but someone who's not alive [on earth] anymore cannot defend themself. There's a consensus, even among those who don't like Islam, that dead people should not be dragged through the mud and I can prove it. Years before Michael Jackson died, there were jokes about his alleged child molestation acts; virtually everywhere, people were making them. When he died, everyone held their peace and suddenly all the closet Michael Jackson fans were raving about how amazing of an entertainer he was. Why? because they knew how dishonorable it was to drag a dead person through the mud (metaphorically).

Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort are two famous christian evangelists who regularly try to expose the supposed evils of the theory of evolution. A while ago, they took Origin Of Species by Charles Darwin, wrote a big introduction to the book in which they slandered him and his theory and passed out thousands of these books across campuses all over America. See this link. The atheists on Youtube went berserk because they knew how dishonorable it was to drag Darwin, someone who couldn't defend himself from these allegations, through the mud.

But when something comes up that slanders someone that theists hold dear, like say, shooting a picture of Jesus in a jar of urine or drawing a picture of Muhammad [p.b.u.t] with a bomb in his turban, suddenly it's theists that need to stop silencing free speech and stop belly aching over nothing :roll:. Where were these so-called arbitors of free-speech when it was Darwin's reputation being pissed on? So when someone you like is being dragged through the mud, it's morally reprehensible, but when it's someone you don't like being dragged through the mud, it's perfectly OK and we need to shut up? :roll: Why didn't we see atheists supporting Kirk and Ray's mission to promote "free speech"?

With this hypocrisy aside, I'm not about to let the muslims who passed death threats, broke windows of stores and other terrible things off the hook. Two wrongs don't make a right, so by getting all hysterical, they are going against the Prophet's example. Did he lose his cool when some poets wrote terrible things about him? Did Joseph [p.b.u.h] break a bunch of windows after his brothers abandoned him? Did Mary [p.b.u.h] threaten people's lives when a group of jews accused her of adultery? Come on! The answer is no! The people who were involved in these things after Muhammad [p.b.u.h] was mocked were definitely in the wrong, but I'm not going to say that they're apostates because, for all I know, they could've sincerely repented to God by now. Their sin is between them and God, so I have no authority to presume upon their souls.

Dawah is the act of preaching Islam to people; it's something every muslim must do. Surah 103 of the Qur'an says "By (the token of) time (through the ages), verily, man is in loss, except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of truth, and of patience and constancy". You don't necessarily have to go to a busy intersection and make dawah with strangers-- it can be as easy as answering a question that someone asks you about Islam. It can be as simple as asking someone "do you think morality is objective?", "what do you think the purpose of life is?", "If God exists, what do you think He'd be like?" etc. I'm far from an expert, but I'd like to share some tips on giving better Dawah.

1. Make them feel included. Don't just have a one-way rant and expect them to listen to all of it and still be interested. Show interest in what they have to say and try to avoid a lot of yes-or-no questions.

2. Don't be an idiot. Oh, how often I see people thinking that they've got the intellect to "save people". A change of heart is the work of God, as surah 25:70 says.

3. Be patient. Your duty is only to share the message. Although it's possible, It's unlikely that a sinner will hear one or two verses of the Qur'an and then dive into Islam. Let God convict them of their sin.

4. Learn how to address common questions. They'll inevitably come up, so be sure to learn how to answer things like "Why do you guys worship a moon god?" or "What does Islam say about terrorism?".

5. Admit when you don't have an answer. If you're asked something you don't know, thank the person for their question and tell them you'll get back to them. Obviously, you should follow up with finding that answer because it'll help you if you get that question again.

6. Be honest. Don't let your spine turn to jelly when the topic of Hell is brought up. Be honest about what the Qur'an says about who will go there, what happens there, why people go there, etc.

7. Be mature. Provided that someone is being sincere, don't treat a question as though it's foolish. You never know when someone's curious about what Islam says about things like masturbation anal sex, friends with benefits, etc.

8. Pray. This is the most obvious one. After you finish making dawah with someone, pray that God will guide them to the truth. Surah 2:153 says "O ye who believe! seek help with patient perserverance and prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently perservere."

There are a lot of words and sayings that are used by muslims on a regular basis, so I'm going to put together a list of all of the words/sayings I can think of.

Bismillah- "In the name of God". This is said before a muslim eats or before things like giving a speech/lecture

Jazakum Allahu khair- "May God reward you with good". This is just a way of saying "thank you".

Wa iyyakum- "And to you". This basically means "you're welcome". It's said when someone says to you "Jazakum Allahu khair"

Astaghfurallah- "Forgive me, God". This is said after comitting a sin [big or small] or for expressing disgust.

Asalam 'alaykum- "Peace be unto you". When a muslim meets another muslim, this phrase is always used as a way of greeting them. There are two variants that are even better to use; "aslam wa'alaykum wa rahmatullah" which means "Peace be unto you and God's mercy" and "asalam wa'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu", which means "Peace be unto and God's mercy, blessings."

Wa'alakum salam- "And upon you be peace". This is the return greeting of "asalam 'alaykum". The two variants are "wa'alaykum salam wa rahmatullah" which means "And upon you be peace and God's mercy" and "wa'alaykum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu", which means "And upon you be peace and God's mercy, blessings". When returning one of these greetings, it should be equal or greater to the one that was said to you.

Inshallah- "God willing". A muslim ought to say this when talking about something that he/she intends to do in the future. So if it's Thursday and my mom asks me if I'm going to the mosque on Friday, I should say "Yes, Inshallah". Death can occur at any time, so by saying "Inshallah" in these situations, you're acknowledging that you can do nothing without God.

Masjid- "Mosque". An islamic place of worship.

Halal- "lawful/permissible". This is a word that's used to label anything that's permissible under Islamic law. For example, posting this blog post is halal because I'm not violating anything and the Qur'an calls muslims to share Islam with people.

Haram- "unlawful/forbidden". This word is used to label things that are forbidden under Islamic law such as sex before marriage or eating pork.

Shirk- "Idolatry/Associating partners with God". According to Islam, this is the worst sin one could possibly commit because it's a kin to spiritual treason. Shirk is when you worship something other than God or worship something in addition to God. I could easily write multiple blog posts on shirk alone, but perhaps I'll save that for the future, Inshallah (you get a cookie if you remember what 'Inshallah' means without having to re-examine my list!). By the way, I'm not referring to the english word "shirk"-- I'm referring to an arabic word that's being transliterated with the same spelling as that english word. The two words have nothing to do with each other.

Alayhi Salam- "on him/her be peace". This is said when a muslim mentions the name of a prophet of Islam or saintly person other than Muhammad. You'll often see me use the acronym "p.b.u.h", and this is stands for "peace be upon him/her".

Salla Allahu alayhi wa'salam- "May God honor him and give him peace". This is said when a muslim mentions Muhammad [p.b.u.h]. It's sometimes condensed into the acronym "s.a.w", but I prefer the "p.b.u.h" way.

Before I became a muslim, I didn't understand why Islam makes it an obligation to pray five times a day, every day. I suspect that a lot of people wonder the same thing, but may be too embaressed to ask. Today, I'd like to explain why I as a muslim believe that performing five daily prayers isn't excessive and why it's necessary to living a righteous life.

Prayer is mentioned countless times in the Qur'an for a reason-- it's extremely important. It's one of the keys to having something we muslims call 'taqwa', which is God consciousness. Taqwa draws someone closer to God because it causes their faith to increase. If a muslim were to go a week without doing things like prayer or reading the Qur'an, he/she would find themselves beginning to drift away from the taqwa they may have once had.

Any person who denies that their faith goes up and down is extremely ignorant of his/her own humanity. At no point [in this life] will you have all the faith you'll ever need, nor will you be at a point in which you never sin or struggle with something. The way of the world is to see how little you can get by with, so if I were to go a week without praying or reading the Qur'an, my desire to avoid sin and live a godly life would start decreasing. Living like the rest of the world is a quick way to have sin grab you by the throat and throw you to the ground; establishing regular prayer is a way to fight against that. We're less likely to fall into sin when we regularly stop whatever we're doing in order to spend some time with God (in prayer).

When a muslim sins, the greatest grief is not "Oh no! now I'm gonna go to hell!"; he/she feels sick to his/her stomach because they offended the Lord. When you love someone, you don't want to do anything that displeases them, so imagine how much worse is it to sin against God (someone who's holier, more loving and forgiving than any person ever could be).

Why is it that when someone drops a brick on their foot or gets their finger caught in a door, they only use Jesus Christ's name as a cuss word? in China, do they say 'Oh, Confucius!'? in Saudi Arabia, do they say 'Oh, Muhammad!'? in Utah, do they say 'Oh, Joseph Smith!'?

That's a noodle scratcher for sure.

Vague Spirituality essentially pushes God out of the picture and makes him into "the big man upstairs". With Vague Spirituality, one can convince himself/herself that they don't have to worry about putting God first in their lives. His purpose is to not ask anything of you and to run in there to save the day whenever you need Him to; it's the ultimate form of wishful thinking. No longer is it about putting Him first and living a life of holiness that's made possible by Him transforming your heart-- it's about recieving a get-out-of-jail-free card by fasting and/or praying once in a while (ya know....just in case). Surah 30:33-36 of the Qur'an says "When trouble touches men, they cry to their Lord, turning back to Him in repentance: but when He gives them a taste of mercy as from Himself, behold, some of them pay part-worship to other gods beside their Lord-- (as if) to show their ingratitude for the (favours) We have bestowed on them! Then enjoy (your brief day); but soon will ye know (your folly). Or have We sent down authority to them, which points out to them the things to which they pay part-worship?".

By my count, the Qur'an mentions repentance 41 times; it's not something that's only somewhat important. Islam is about submission to God, so if you think Islam is a kin to a test-drive that you can try once to see if it reaps you any benefit and then decide if you want to be a muslim full-time, you don't understand what it means to submit to God. Part of this spiritual act is acknowledging that you need Him more than anything and that, without Him, you're lost. The day you submit is the day you give up on your own efforts and rely on Him as your source. Repentance is one of the keys to submitting yourself to The Lord; surah 25:71 says "And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to Allah with an (acceptable) conversion".

I've been thinking about making this blog post for a few weeks. During numerous visits to my local mosque, I've seen some forms of behaviour that are either very strange, creepy or funny. I'm going to have some fun and post a list I put together entitled "10 Weird Characters That Lurk Within The Mosque" *cue the dramatic music*.

1. The Inshallah Guy

"Inshallah" is a term that used by muslims when they're talking about something in the future. Inshallah means "God willing"; so if I say "I'll help you out tomorrow, Inshallah", what I'm saying is that I'll help you out if God allows me to see tomorrow. Death can occur at any time, so it's important to recognize that God is responsible for blessing you with each day. The Muadhin at my mosque uses the term "Inshallah" when it's not even necessary, though. He'll say something like "Asalam alaykum, brothers. Inshallah, if it's possible, can we please tighten up the lines? Inshallah, I can see a few gaps that can be filled. Don't worry about moving forward, though-- it's first come, first serve, Inshallah.".

2. The Loud Whisperer

4 of the 5 daily islamic prayers have portions in which you're supposed to recite something in your head (that means without anything coming out of your mouth). There's always at least a few guys in the mosque who don't understand that silence means without whispering anything. Character #2 on my list takes it a step further, though; this man whispers the silent portions louder than most people speak, causing a big distraction to everyone who's praying near him.

3. The Self Talker/Singer

It creates a creepy atmosphere when, before the prayer begins, a guy sits next to me and begins to talk to himself or sing something. Would it hurt to save that for showering time at home?

4. The Texter/Reader

Character #4's actions are the worst because they're downright offensive. During the Tarawih prayer, which is an extra long one that only goes on during Ramadan, I've seen a few guys abandon the prayer entirely by texting their friends or reading their Qur'an while the imam is reciting something. I understand that it's a long time to just stand and listen to the Qur'an being recited, but if you're going to go to the mosque to pray, at least focus on doing that. If they didn't know that Tarawih was so long, they could've left on one of the breaks; every two rakats has a short break where you can get up to go relieve yourself or whatever else needs to be done.

5. Mr. Fidget

Character #5 is usually a kid, but he still deserves a spot on this list because of his tremendously annoying behaviour. In an authentic hadith, Muhammad [p.b.u.h] said that, when you pray, you should do it as if you're standing right in front of God. As I said earlier, death can occur at any time, so this prayer could be your last. If you stood in front of God and He said to you that you could only pray one more time and then you'd die, would you spend the entire time staring off into space, picking your nose and playing with your belt? I didn't think so.

6. The Buttock Assassin

When you're in a small mosque, the lines can get pretty tight. There's a portion during every prayer in which everyone is in the standing position and subsequently put their foreheads on the ground; this is called 'prostration' or 'sujood'. When some people make sujood, they stick out their butts as far as they can. This can lead to cases where the person behind character #6 will accidentally head-butt him in the butt. I have undergone this head-to-butt collision before and it's not fun.

7. The Social Butterfly

In Islam, we have a special greeting that we say to each other; we say "asalam alaykum", which means "peace be unto you". Once in a while there'll be a person who walks into the mosque who likes to individually greet every person in the mosque with the islamic greeting. "Hey brothers, asalam alaykum! oh hey man, asalam alaykum! you there in the front with the green shirt, asalam alaykum! brother in the white robe, asalam alaykum!"

8. The Sleeper

On Fridays, there's a sermon that every adult male muslim has to attend (it's optional for kids or women to come). There are times where the sermon gets very boring, so it's understandable that some guys would fall asleep during it.

9. The Heart Melter

I once saw a kid that was only 5-6 years old perform the prayer that's done upon entering the mosque (this is done as a way of respecting the House of Worship and to help get focus your mind on God). This young brother knew how to do all the traditional positions that are done during prayer. He knew how to stand properly, bow, make sujood and kneel. I wish I could've gone over to him and given him a hug, but I didn't want to distract him. He was absolutely adorable! :oops:

10. The Coughing Choir

Once in a while, someone will cough during the prayer and it'll create a chain reaction. Suddenly, two more people will cough, and then three more, and so on. It's similar to how a part of a choir will perform certain parts of a song, and then the other half will sing a portion, and will join back in during a loud part of the song.

During Ramadan, I've done my best to read large portions of the Qur'an every day. One of the benefits in doing this is that I occasionally come a cross a verse that I've never read a certain way before. It's been interesting for me to analyze the way the Qur'an describes the Meccan pagans and hypocrites [during the time of The Prophet] and comparing their mindsets to what I see today; there are an alarming amount of parallels! Among those who believe in God, I often see a mindset that is man-centred. More specifically, it's a vague form of spirituality that says that you don't need to live by God's laws to get into Heaven, but that whatever you're presently doing in life is good enough. I intend to make a series of blog posts in which I expose this vague form of spirituality and share what I believe is the alternative (Islam).

When I see someone say "It's not about commandments or doctrines-- all that matters is being a good person" or something to that effect, I get a feeling that that person is implying that he/she determines what is good (and not God). It's not very hard to be a "good person" if you decide what qualifies someone as good. I don't believe that any reasonable person can take a look at their fellow man and just assume that they're better than most, so why assume that you'll be among those who get to go to Paradise? what are you capable of that God hasn't seen a billion times before?

In Sahih Muslim [the second most authentic book of traditions of the Prophet], something very profound is said about Paradise. In Book 40, Number 6780, it says: "Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying that: Allah the Exalted and Glorious, said: I have prepared for My pious servants which no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no human heart has ever percieved but it is testified by the Book of Allah. He then recited 'No soul knows what comfort has been concealed from them, as a reward for what they did' (xxxii, 17)". The Qur'an also says [in many cases] that Paradise will be everlasting. Consider the fact that human beings live for a limited amount of time, so regardless of how much we do, can we ever deserve a place that's everlasting and is too glorious to even comprehend? the only reasonable explanation is that Paradise is given as a result of God's love, mercy and generousity. Surah 40:40 of the Qur'an says "He that works evil will not be requited but by the like thereof: and he that works a righteous deed--whether man or woman--and is a believer--such will enter the Garden (of Bliss): therein will they have abundance without measure".