DAY NINE: June 26, 2015

It’s Jumu’ah, It’s Jumu’ah

Yaaaaayyyyy, Fridaaaayyyyy!! And, Alhumdulillah (Praise be to God), it was a really good day today. I got proper sleep and had a balanced day, getting tons done. I even made it to my coding today. The thing with the coding is I need to be on top of it. I know I’m not expected to remember all of the rules and functions by heart, but there is a lot of basic things about coding that I should know, at least the concept, if not by heart.

Anyway, as for the acidity and heartburn, I did experience some earlier in the day, but alhumdulillah it faded after a couple of hours. And I also had lighter, less oily and spice-free food for Iftar: chicken tikka with very little spice, butter rice and a side of vegetables, lightly seasoned with salt, black pepper, and lemon juice. Om nom nom!! And for the drink, today I blended watermelon, fruit punch, and gingerale with ice… so light and heavenly. I think I just need to avoid the heavy milk based drinks for a bit. They always fill me up and that decreases my intake of actual food that gives me energy to function. With a light drink, I was able to increase my food intake and had a lot more energy than I usually have. Let’s see, I’m going to try experimenting with that.

Sigh. It’s 2:15 a.m.

Thank goodness it’s weekend. What with all the increase in worship due to Ramadan, Iftar and Suhoor (preps and clean-ups) and my courses, I haven’t been able to give proper time to Saim. With all the things going on, I must stress that giving time to your spouse is just as important as anything. And I have been stinking at that. Don’t get me wrong. Saim has been nothing but supportive, making sure that I have an amazing Ramadan (and getting me ice-cream for yummy after iftar treats!!) But just because it is Ramadan, we are not absolved from being the best husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters , brothers, children and friends. So inshaAllah, I’m going to try and balance my time better this weekend.

 Yup. This guy is totes cool.

People of Quran

So I am listening to this really nice 5-minute long lecture series called People of Quran (click the link to check it out on YouTube.) It is presented by Omar Suleiman, who is currently affiliated with Bayyinah Institute. I have to say, it is really nicely done. Basically it is short blurbs on how the Companions of the Prophet and the later scholars of Islam interacted with the Quran. They are taking each juz (“part” — there are 30 in the Quran) and picking out one ayah (like a sentence) and connecting it with how earlier generations of Muslims reacted to them and how they acted upon them.

This method is really refreshing. Keeping it short and sweet, it gives us a teeny tiny glimpse of the Companions and Scholars that we hold dear. The small narrated interactions with the people around them based on the Quran they had heard and absorbed into their lives. Not to mention, we get a peek into the pages of the Quran, enticing us to pick up the book ourselves and learn further.

DAY TEN: June 27, 2015

Interesting thing about Bowerbirds…

So we were watching Life again the other day and this particular episode that we watched was about birds. Birds are truly interesting creatures. The way they fly, where they live and how they make a use of the air/land/water, how the mate, how they tend to their young all varies from bird to bird.
But honestly, one of the things that I find absolutely beautiful in birds is their mating ritual. The basic of which is the male impressing the female with some sort of beautiful manner — whether it’s a dance, a fight with another male, a song, or, in the case of the Bowerbird, construction and beautification of a den.

Yeah, that’s right. When I saw this, I was super amazed. The Bowerbird uses twigs to construct a gorgeous den on the ground of the forest. After the architecture is complete, the bird then goes and finds things to decorate the den with, like flower petals, berries, shiny bugs, and even deer dung, if that’s the way he rolls.

Then he calls out to the female, mimicking different kinds of birds to show off. The female, if interested, will come and inspects the den. During this time, the male withdraws within the den to let the female inspect to her hearts content. If she likes what she sees, she moves in and if she doesn’t, well, sayonara Mr.Bowerbird.

SubhanAllah (Glory be to God), the beauty of this ritual. I was super impressed by this little creature, who goes out of his way to create such a nice abode, keeping in mind aspects like comfort and beauty.

Bowerbirds, hats off to you!!