WorkHalal.com Blog

Source: http://www.lutonmuslims.co.uk

When we consider all of the laws governing the relationship between men and women in Islam, it is clear that Islam forbids any mixing between the sexes that might provide even the remotest possibility of temptation. Scholars of Islam throughout history have fully appreciated this fact. We can see it evidenced in the writings of the great jurists:

Imam Al-Sarakhsî writes: “The judge should try women separately from men since people tend to crowd together in the courtroom. It is quite obvious that the mixing together of men and women under such crowded conditions is conducive to temptation and other distasteful consequences.” [al-Mabsût (16/80)]

Imam Al-Nawawî also writes: “Ibn al-Mundhir and others maintain that it is a matter of unanimous agreement that women are not obligated to attend the Jumu`ah prayers. However, his argument that this is because it brings about the mixing of women and men is not correct. The attendance of women at the Jumu`ah prayers does not necessarily bring about such mixing since the women stay behind the men.” [al-Majmû` (4/350)]

Al-Nawawî further explains: “One of the vilest innovations, that some ignorant people today are involved in, is the habit of lighting candles on Mount `Arafah on the ninth night. This behavior is gravely misguided and is full of improper goings-on such as the mixing of men and women.” [al-Majmû`: (8/140)]

In the law book entitled al-Fawâkih al-Dawânî, there is a discussion of when it is permissible to refuse an invitation to a wedding party. It says: “An invitation may be refused if there is any clear wrongdoing at the party, like the mixing of men and women.”

When scholars warn against the free mixing of men and women, they are not talking about the mere presence of men and women together in the same place. This is something that is definitely not prohibited by Islamic Law. Men and women gathered in the same place at the time of the Prophet (SAW) in the mosque and in the marketplace. They walked down the same roads and public thoroughfares.

The mere presence of men and women in the same area is not a great cause for temptation. It would be wrong to treat this as unlawful mixing, since the reason for prohibiting free mixing does not exist in such circumstances. If someone were to prohibit men and women from frequenting the same public places under the pretext of preventing temptation, this would be taking matters to an extreme and imposing a restriction that is unduly severe. Such a policy is, moreover, unnatural and would impose great hardships on people’s lives.

At the same time, some circumstances are indisputably cases of unlawful mixing. This would include situations where women and men are crowded together so that there is a danger of their making physical contact. Equally unlawful would be any occasion where unrelated women and men are seated next to one another. Under these circumstances, desires are kindled and temptations are greater and regrettable things happen, as is seen time and again in co-ed schools and mixed social events.

The same can be said for any repeated acquaintance between men and women. Repeated meetings break down the barriers between men and women and allow a relationship to develop between them.

We cannot compare situations like these to the general presence of men and women at shops and other open public places, especially when women are accompanied by their family. In such cases, there is no intimacy, no crowding, and no reason for suspicion. Preventing women from public places frequented by men in order to prevent temptation would be taking things to an extreme.

A woman is commanded in Islam not to come too close to men. She is not, however, prohibited from going to places where men are present as long as she does not approach them or place herself in a position where she is alone with them.

There can be no doubt that preventative legislation is an important part of Islamic Law. There are numerous rulings in Islam that are preventative in nature. However, this does not mean that we can legislate against every remote possibility of wrongdoing that we can think of. Doing so would be a violation of Islam’s tolerance and magnanimity and its ease of application. It would place too great a burden upon the believers.

People might differ as to the degree of mixing that is prohibited. We can, nonetheless, get a good approximation of proper limits by reviewing the laws of Islam that govern the relationship between men and women. The sacred texts provides ample evidence about how and when men and women can meet, how women should dress and conduct themselves when they go outside, and many other pertinent matters. It is impossible for free mixing between men and women to occur if Islamic Law is properly observed.

The body of evidence showing that women and men should not mix freely with one another is quite large. We will briefly mention some of it:

1. Allah says: “And when you ask the ladies for anything, ask them from before a screen. That makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs.” [Sûrah al-Ahzâb: 53] For women to go about uncovered in the company of men is inarguably a gross violation of the command given in this verse.

2. It is prohibited for men to join women in one place in the absence of at least one of the women’s close male relatives. The Prophet (SAW) forbade men and women from being alone together. He said: “Never is a man alone with a woman except that Satan is the third party with them.”

The Prophet (SAW) also said: “Do not enter into the company of women.” A man then asked him: “What about her male in-laws?” The Prophet (SAW) replied: “The in-law is the most dangerous”.

This hadîth emphasizes the importance of being wary of in-laws since they are likely to have more opportunities to be alone with the woman and to see her as others do not get the opportunity to see her.

The private meeting between a man and an unchaperoned woman is one of the serious forms of mixing that can take place between the sexes. Temptations are worse when the people know that they are shielded from the sight of others.

Ibn Daqîq al-`Îd makes the following important observation: “We must take into consideration whether or not the man’s arrival at a place brings about a situation where he is alone with the woman. If it does not do so, it is not unlawful for him to go there.” (2/181)

This point was made clear by the Prophet (SAW) when he said: “No man should enter into the presence of a woman after this day unless he is accompanied by one or two other men.” [Sahîh Muslim]

3. There are numerous evidences that the woman may not shake hands with men who are not among her closest relatives.

The Prophet (SAW) never shook hands with an unrelated woman. Umaymah b. Raqîqah said: “I came to the Prophet (SAW) with a group of the women of Madinah to swear fealty for Islam. The women informed Allah’s Messenger (SAW) that they wished to swear fealty to him. The Prophet (SAW) said: ‘I do not shake hands with women. The way I accept the pledge from one woman is the same as with one hundred women.” [al-Muwatta’, Sunan al-Tirmidhî, Sunan al-Nasa’î and Sunan Ibn Majah].

The Prophet (SAW) also said: “It is better for one of you to be pierced by a steel pin in his head than to touch the hand of a strange woman.”

4. The Qur’ân clearly forbids women from being soft of speech while talking to men. Allah says: “Be not too complaisant of speech, lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire: but speak with a speech (that is) proper.” [Sûrah al-Ahzâb: 32].

5. There is evidence that women may not sit with strange men while wearing perfume. The Prophet (SAW) said: “Any woman who puts on perfume then goes and passes by some men to let them find her scent is a type of adulteress.” [Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi]

6. The Prophet (SAW) said: “The best of rows in prayer for the man is the first row and the worst for him is the last, and the best of rows for the women is the last row and the worst for her is the first.” [Sahîh Muslim].

If this advice is being given for men and women when they are in their purest frame of mind and engaged in prayer, then how should they be expected to conduct themselves in other situations?

Ibn `Abbâs(RA) relates that he prayed one of the `Îd prayers with the Prophet (SAW). He informs us that the Prophet (SAW) prayed and offered a sermon, then he went to the women and offered to them a separate sermon, admonishing them and encouraging them to give charity. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî]

Ibn Hajr offers the following observations about this hadîth: “The fact that he went to the women separately shows that the women were assembled separately from the men and were not mixed in with them.” [Fath al-Bârî (2/466)]

7. Once the Prophet (SAW) saw men and women mixing together on the road upon their departure from the mosque. He said to the women: “Hold back a bit. You do not have to walk in the middle of the road. You may keep to the sides.” The narrator of the hadîth commented that after that time, women would come so close to the buildings that their dresses would sometime cling to the walls.” [Abu Dâwûd]

Ibn `Umar related that the Prophet (SAW) said about one of the mosque’s doors: “We should leave this door exclusively for women to use.” Ibn `Umar, until he died, never again entered through that door. [Abu Dâwûd]

Umm Salamah said: “When the Prophet (SAW) completed the prayer, the women would get up to leave. He would then wait awhile before standing.” Ibn Shahâb said: “I believe that he waited for a while to give the women an opportunity to depart before the men.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî]

Ibn Hajr comments: “In the hadîth, we see that it is disliked for men and women to mix on the road. How much more, then, should such mixing be avoided inside of houses.” [Fath al-Bârî (2/336)]

8. It was related in al-Bukhârî that women at the time of the Prophet (SAW) did not circumambulate the Ka`bah along with the men. `Â’ishah used to go around the Ka`bah at a good distance from the men and avoided mixing with them. Once another woman bade to her to go forward with her so they could touch the corner of the Ka`bah. `Â’ishah refused to do so. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî]

One of `Âishah’s handmaidens came to her and said: “O Mother of believers, I went around the Ka`bah seven times and touched the corner twice or trice”.

`Âishah replied: “May Allah not reward you for pushing your way through men. It would have been sufficient for you to you to say “Allah Akbar” as you passed by”. [Musnad al-Shâfi`î]

There are two things that this shows us. First, `Â’ishah did not hesitate to circumambulate the Ka`bah when there were men around, nor did she forbid other women from doing so. She only refrained from crowding into men and mixing with them and this is what she prohibited others from doing. This shows us in the clearest of terms that the mere presence of men and women in the same place is not prohibited.

Second, the mixing and contact between men and women circumambulating the Ka`bah that unavoidably occurs during Hajj under today’s crowded conditions cannot be used as proof that such mixing is generally allowed. Firstly, the practice of the people does not constitute any sort of evidence in Islamic Law. Secondly, what is happening today during Hajj is unavoidable. It is permitted out of necessity and cannot be made into a general rule for all times and circumstances. It would be fruitless for us to try and demand that women avoid contact with men while circumambulating the Ka`bah during Hajj. It would be equally impossible to ask them to delay their circumambulations until the crowds depart, especially since the women on Hajj are always accompanied by the others who came with them who cannot be forced to wait around.

It is pure sophistry for anyone to use these exceptional circumstances to argue that men and women are allowed to mingle under circumstances where no necessity exists. It is just as baseless as taking the other extreme and declaring the mere presence or men and women in the same place to be unlawful mixing.

We will conclude by mentioning a few verses of the Qur’ân. Allah says: “Nor come nigh to adultery”. In this verse, Allah does not say “Do not commit adultery” but tells us not even to come close to it. This means that everything that may seduce a person to fall into adultery is unlawful.

Moreover, Allah says: “Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them.” and says: “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty.” [Sûrah al-Nûr: 30-31] This shows us how men and women are to conduct themselves

Filed under: Adaab, Hijab at work - Men's perspective, Hijab at work - Women's perspective | Add Comment →

Source: http://makkah.wordpress.com

Source: Fiqh-us-Sunnah, volume 2, number 32 and volume 4, number 141.
Often, we have to make major life-changing decisions: whether to undertake a major project or not, whether to apply for a promotion or not, whether to change career or not, whether to invest in a certain company or not, whether to get married or not, whom to get married to, etc.

Istikhara (Arabic) means to ask Allah to guide one to the right thing concerning any affair in one’s life, especially when one has to choose between two permissible alternatives, e.g. a career choice, getting married, etc.  Similarly, a traveller should consult good righteous persons before setting out on a journey, because Allah says, “And consult them (O Prophet) in affairs (of moment),” (Qur’an, 3: 159) and one of the characteristics of the believers is that “they (conduct) their affairs by mutual consultation” (Qur’an, 42: 38). Qatadah said, “Every people who seek the pleasure of Allah and consult with one another are guided to the best course in their affairs.” The traveller should also make istikharah and seek guidance from Allah.

Sa’ d ibn Waqas reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Istikharah (seeking guidance from Allah) is one of the distinct favors (of Allah) upon man, and a good fortune for the son of Adam is to be pleased with the judgment of Allah. And a misfortune of the son of Adam is his failure to make istikharah (seeking Allah’s guidance), and a misfortune for the son of Adam is his displeasure with the judgment of Allah.” Ibn Taimiyyah said, “He who seeks guidance from the Creator and consults the creatures will never regret it.”

Salatul Istikharah is a sunnah. It is a prayer that one may pray if one must choose between permissible alternatives: it is two non-obligatory rak’at (that can be recited separately or in combination with the regular sunnah prayers or the prayer for entering the mosque [...] during any time of the day or night, and to recite therein whatever one wishes of the Qur’an after reciting al-Fatihah. After the two-rak’ats, one praises Allah and sends salutations to the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam and recites the following supplication which has been recorded by al-Bukhari in Jabir’s hadith (see full text below): “The Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would teach us al-istikhara for all of our affairs as he would teach us a surah from the Qur’an. He said: ‘If one of you is deliberating over an act, he should pray two non-obligatory rak’at and say: “O Allah, I consult You as You are All-Knowing and I appeal to You to give me power as You are Omnipotent, I ask You for Your great favor, for You have power and I do not, and You know all of the hidden matters . O Allah ! If you know that this matter (then he should mention it) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then make it (easy) for me. And if you know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, my livelihood and my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then keep it away from me and take me away from it and choose what is good for me wherever it is and please me with it.”

The Fiqh-us-Sunnah scholars maintain that there is nothing authentic concerning something specific (e.g. specific qur’anic ayats, etc.) that is to be recited in the prayer nor is there any authentic report concerning how many times one should repeat salat-ul-Istikhara.

An-Nawawi holds that “after performing the istikharah, a person must do what he is wholeheartedly inclined to do and feels good about doing and should not insist on doing what he had desired to do before making the istikharah. And if his feelings change, he should leave what he had intended to do, otherwise he is not completely leaving the choice to Allah, and would not be honest in seeking aid from Allah’s power and knowledge. Sincerity in seeking Allah’s choice, means that one should completely leave what he himself had desired or determined.”

———-

Please read the rest here

Filed under: Adaab, Praying at work | Add Comment →

Source:  MuslimMatters.org

Interviewer: “So do you have any questions about our company or the position?”

Muslim: “I need off every Friday from 1pm to 3pm. Is there a room I can pray in a couple of times a day? Also sometimes I need to wash my feet in the sink, is that ok? Which restroom should I use? Do you have lotas? Can I borrow the watering jug?”

Interviewer: “Thanks, we’ll be in touch….”

Let’s face it, we are special. We are the strange ones. How do we manage to land that nice job in the corporate world without assimilating and changing our names from Muhammads to Moes and Tariqs to Terrys?

So you have a spiffy new resume, you have been applying to every job you can find online, and you finally get the initial phone call. You get through the preliminaries and now you are set to go interview in person. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Resume Tips

Before getting to the interview, it is essential to have a good resume to help land the interview. Without going into too much details, the most important resume tips can be summarized as such,

• Aesthetically pleasing (don’t use pre-made Word templates)
• Grammatically correct.
• Put accomplishments instead of duties. “Brought GUI application for high dollar accounts to satisfactory completion” sounds a whole lot better than “Write code in C++.” Things like “Caught accounting oversights to help recover $200,000 in lost revenue” sounds a whole lot better than “Accounting and bookeeping.”
• Don’t sell yourself short. Your experience is used to gauge your ability to adapt and learn skills, not necessarily replicate the work you do at one job in another.
• Use buzzwords as much as possible - search job openings online and see the words that are in the title headings and use them. Even though you might not officially be a “project manager”, this doesn’t mean that you haven’t ‘managed projects’ - so include the buzzword.
• Don’t lie. This should go without saying for a Muslim.

Now, getting to the interview.

Appearance

Looks count. “‘Beauty is on the inside’ is just something ugly people say to feel better about themselves” - that is not exactly true, but don’t bank on your internal beauty when interviewing for a job. It is naive to think you can live in a materialistic society and then not be judged on your looks.

Get yourself a nice suit. Wear something conservative. A black suit or dark gray suit should do fine. Don’t wear a loud colored shirt or a loud tie. Make sure your suit is tailored properly and actually fits. If you are 5′6 and 150 pounds, don’t borrow your brothers suit who is 5′9, 200. Spend the extra 20 bucks and make sure it fits right.

Make sure your beard is well groomed. I do not mean that it has to be short. A beard can be short, and still look scraggly or “jungly” for all the desis out there. It can be long, and still look well maintained (Tableeghi brothers have this down). It is important, and it’s the Sunnah, to be neat. This is a direct reflection of your personal hygiene. Anyone who has worked in an IT office knows how people respond to the pungent curry smell that is known to emanate from the break room microwaves at lunch time - when you walk in with a big beard, you have been branded with this type of stigma, so make sure hygiene/smell is not an issue.

Speaking of smell, make sure to put on a nice dab of good cologne. Do not put on your favorite attar oil, or your imitation 3 dollar vial of “CK ONE” - it doesn’t smell that nice, and it’s a bit too heavy for this type of environment.

First impressions count, so make it a good one. I didn’t want to focus too much on appearance, but Muslim men do have style issues. Please see the Muslim Man’s Guide to Style for more information.

—-

Please read the rest here

Filed under: Interview | Add Comment →

Source:  http://www.cair.com

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/13/08) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today warned American Muslims and others concerned with personal privacy of a security procedure recently implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that scans full-body images of passengers through their clothing, revealing intimate body parts to screeners.

According to USA Today, the body-scanning machines are being used on randomly-selected passengers at airports in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque, and New York’s JFK airport. They are scheduled to be installed at airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, and Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. this month.

SEE: 10 Airports Install Body Scanners (USA Today)

The TSA website describes the process through which the machines bounce harmless radio waves off the passenger’s body, which constructs a three-dimensional image that is projected on a monitor in the security scanner’s room. The TSA characterizes the procedure as a “voluntary alternative to a pat-down,” and says it blurs passengers’ faces and does not store the images to protect privacy.

SEE: Whole Body Imaging - Millimeter Wave

However, concerns have been raised over the level of detail shown by the machines, which are capable of projecting graphic images of a person’s body, revealing private body parts and other intimate details.

SEE: ACLU Backgrounder on Body Scanners and ‘Virtual Strip Searches’

“CAIR is working with other organizations to address the privacy issues that this technology presents,” said CAIR Civil Rights Manager Khadija Athman. “In the meantime, it is important that you know that you have the option to request a pat-down by a security officer of your gender in a private room instead of going through the body-scanning machine.”

Athman said CAIR, in cooperation with other civil rights organizations, is insisting that the TSA implement a program of fully informing passengers who volunteer for the scan of its privacy implications.

CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

- END -

CONTACT: CAIR Strategic Communications Director Ahmed Rehab, Tel: 202-870-0166, E-Mail: arehab@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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Contemporary Sisters with Inspiring Stories

By Raza Sulejmanovic

Think back on all the times that you have been sick or injured. Reflect on what your feelings were then. Your motivation, your drive to pick yourself up and say that life goes on so I must as well. Did you go on with your regular daily activities? Did you perform your salat or was that too much of a burden for you in your time of pain and sadness?

Imagine suffering a heart attack. For many women, it’s an excruciating pain in your back that’s so intense that you cannot move—weakness overcomes you. You break into a heavy sweat, lose your bearings and can hardly speak. Then imagine suffering another that requires a surgery because your heart has become weakened. Your life has to change, adjustments need to be made. Alhamdulillah for the mercy of Islam, of the love of Allah, the Most Compassionate, who keeps those who acknowledge Him in mind and does not burden a person more than they can bear. You can no longer pray on the floor, but you can pray in your bed, or in a chair. Allah loves those who draw near to Him. Remember Him. And when there is difficulty those who strive on are rewarded even more for their strength and perseverance.

Now, what would you be doing with your life if this happened to you? Would you even get out of bed? For one woman, one sister named Linda Delgado, she not only got out of bed, so to speak, but she went above and beyond. In her weakened condition she did something significant that many of us who are perfectly healthy are unable to do. She authored a series of quality halal fiction (the Islamic Rose Books) for children with a 5^th-8^th grade reading level, which earned her the 2005 Excellence in Media, Literary Arts award from The Association of Muslim Women in America, Inc. (AMWA). Not only that, but she founded the Islamic Writers Alliance (www.islamicwritersalliance.net ) and an Islamic publishing company (www.MuslimWritersPublishing.com ) that she runs on her own. On her own! Muslim Writers Publishing serves Muslims authors that write quality Islamic fiction. So far, alhamdulillah, sixteen books have been published with four more to be expected this year. In addition, she contributes time and effort to charities that assist in food distribution and the addition of Islamic books to school libraries.

Her latest endeavor is to publish five teacher study guides (TSG) that accompany the Islamic Rose Books and two other works from different Muslim authors. Already the first in the series of study guides has been hailed as a must-have for a well-rounded Islamic curriculum by Sonia Dabboussi, the principle of Al-Hijra School in Canada. She states that, “[The] study guide allows your students to explore the novel in an exciting and hands-on way, and includes activities for cross-curricular integration in Language and Writing, Science, Social Studies, Health, Art, Second Language Learning and Religious Studies.” These study guides have been field-tested and approved by Muslim educators and instructors and are invaluable to schools who wish to provide quality halal fiction to their students. Each study guide includes: key curriculum connections, engaging Islamic integrated activities, critical thinking and reading comprehension, internet research and projects, multicultural themes and vocabulary and quizzes. [For editor: For more information on the TSG visit: http://www.muslimwriterspublishing.com/schools.html]

Let’s switch gears for a moment. Imagine all the times you’ve come up with an idea for something really great, really cool but never got around to doing anything about it. Moving beyond the actual idea seemed like too much work for you, if not just idealistic and impossible. That’s what some would say when it comes to creating a magazine, but not all. The difference between those who are successful and those who aren’t is that the ones who are met with success did what the others wouldn’t do. Na’ima B. Robert, editor of SISTERS Magazine is surely one of the successful. She’s used the gifts Allah has given her—creativity and strong faith—to work in His service. And it started in a very modest and simple way. “When people saw our first issue, they assumed that there was a whole team of professionals behind it. Little did they know that it was just Umm Zakariyyah and I in our living rooms, trying to speak to each other over Skype (free calls!) with our kids in the background,” says Na’ima B. Robert. Now the magazine, which started in March 2007 as an e-publication only, is the UK’s first magazine for Muslim women! Though the story behind the creation of the magazine may seem simple, the magazine did not come about without a cost. The sisters that worked to build it did not just float through the air with everything going their way. As Robert explains, “It has not been without cost – to ourselves financially, physically, emotionally and even spiritually at times – and certainly our families have paid a price.”

Out of generosity and in the name of sadaqah, HalfDate.com, whose motto is approaching Jannah half a date at a time, has decided to dedicate one of their monthly drives (May 2008,
“Sisters Drive”) to helping Linda Delgado see that children get quality education materials. More specifically, HalfDate.com, with the aid of Muslims on the Internet, is raising money for the creation of the teacher study guides. They got the idea after receiving contributor comments during their “Shoutout for Halal Business Drive” that praised Linda Delgado’s Muslim Writers Publishing company. For instance, a comment from Umm Janayd stated, “[MWP is] a one-woman run publishing business that has published over 15 books. Linda (Widad) Delgado (the publisher) is determined to publish quality Islamic books, especially Islamically-orientated fiction (call it Halaal-Fiction, if you like), and does not get a single penny profit from it - she gives 100% royalty to her authors. TabaarakAllaah!” While Saba wrote, “I would like to give a shout out to a Muslim publisher that I have recently bought some Islamic books from…..Muslim Writers Publishing. I was very pleased with the quality of both the service and the books themselves. If you are looking for quality Islamic fiction and non-fiction, this is the place to go.”

While one can donate directly towards the study guide project on the HalfDate.com site, SISTERS Magazine and other sister owned businesses, have been kind enough to add a special way to contribute to the noble cause. When someone subscribes to SISTERS Magazine and they email their receipt to (tamra at halfdate.com), $5 automatically gets donated to the drive. With comments like, “I love these sisters for helping me remember that I’m not just a Muslim- I’m a Muslim woman. Way too often I get caught up in my chores or worries, and I forget the beautiful things about being a girl. They remind me, alhamdulillah!” from UmmAbdurrahman, the cause will, insha’Allah, be a great success. Nevermind what Sofiyah, the editor of RUSH Magazine had to say, “I received a subscription as a gift, alhamdulilah. And I love that SISTERS Magazine makes it a point to be Islamically accurate tabarakAllah, we need more businesses who are not afraid of putting their deen first, but rather proud and happy to do so, and so there is no negotiating when it comes to deen.”

May Allah continue to guide and bless those that work hard for the deen by doing what’s right. Hard work for the cause of Allah reaps great rewards both in the dunya and in the Hereafter. With HalfDate.com’s generous and thoughtful help, not only will strong and intelligent sisters that have done so much be benefited insha’Allah, but children, our precious future generations, will insha’Allah as well. Let the stories of these sisters serve as inspiration for us all. Ameen.

About the author:

Raza Sulejmanović currently resides in Northern Virginia with her very active and imaginative two-and-a-half year old son.  In 2003 she converted to Islam after doing her own research.  She is a published fiction and screenplay writer. She is currently working on creating quality Islamic/Islamic-themed fiction with a unique flare.

Filed under: Business, True stories | 8 Comments →

Source:  http://blogs.zawya.com/sultan/080421092216/

A quiet revolution is taking place in the Arab states of the Gulf, but this one needs no demonstrators, slogans or weapons. It is being undertaken by the pen, the book and the abaya. In what are supposed to be some of the most patriarchal societies in the world, women are taking the helm with and without the consent of men.

Please read the rest here.

Filed under: Business, Hijab at work - Women's perspective | Add Comment →

Muslim prayer facility is being turned into a “multi-faith spiritual centre” in the RMIT Univeristy in Melbourne, Australia.

Austrolabe has written a post about it at: http://austrolabe.com/2008/05/18/on-the-rmit-prayer-room-issue/

Filed under: Praying at work | Add Comment →

This is old news but I wanted to post it anyway in case someone didn’t know. There are atleast two Moto Service Stations, M1 and M6, that have prayer facility, alhumdulillah. They are called “contemplation room”. It’s great news for Muslim travelers and a good opportunity for dawah since it is a multi-faith room.

This story was in BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2732693.stm

Filed under: Dawah at work, Praying at work | Add Comment →

If you don’t know about StumbleUpon, check it out.  It is a “community based surfing”.  If you like a website give it a “thumbs up”, which will help draw visitors to that site, inshallah.

For details check out Egyptian Gumbo’s post.

Filed under: Business | Add Comment →

Source:  The Muslim Observer

By TMO | May 8, 2008

By Ayub Khan, MMNS

A sparkling new halal poultry plant opened in a small town in North America. In the past month more than a dozen new Halal establishments, ranging from butchers to restaurants, sprouted up in Toledo, Houston, Chicago, New York, and Toronto. A decade old Halal wholesale and distribution business in the Washington D.C. area is now on sale for a million dollars. The annual sales of the establishment are a cool $4,500,000. The current owner has bigger interests in mind and is therefore selling it. A cosmetic brand is launching a new line of Halal certified beauty products. All these indications show that there is a demand for Halal products in North America and the businesses are rushing to meet it.

According to latest estimates that current value of US halal market is as big as that of the entire state of Indiana and growing by leaps and bounds. While there is scramble to get a piece of this pie the businesses should note that any attempt to take a short cut to profits will end up harming the entire industry in the long run. Instead of imposing their own “meanings” of Halal they should instead look at what the Halal consumers want.

Recent surveys done in Chicago and Toronto indicate that the Muslim consumers are discerning buyers. Unlike the common consumers they actually take the time to read the labels in detail. Going beyond the labels they would like to know precisely what is in the product that they are about to consume. They are not convinced by products which simply put the Halal label. They would like to know who is the certifying authority and what are its credentials. 84% of those surveyed said that they actually look for Halal symbols on the products they want to purchase. They said that their purchasing decisions are greatly influenced by the credibility and reputation of the certifying body.

In order to market their products successfully the businesses should seek certification from organizations whose standards meet those of the majority of the population and which are the least controversial. Instead of relying on fraudulent desk top organizations from where they can buy a Halal certificate they should do the honest thing and go to established and reputable organizations.

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