Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahamatullah wa Barakatu,
My friend Global Muslima sent this to me and it broke my heart. I just wanted to share. We come from Allah and to Allah we return.

Religious hate seen as motive in killing
Fremont slaying:

Local Muslim leaders on Friday denounced as a likely hate crime the brazen daylight shooting death in Fremont of a mother of six, and police said that they had arrested a parolee described as a "person of interest" in connection with the slaying.
Killed Thursday by a single bullet to the head as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter on a well-to-do residential street, she was distinguished by a hijab, the head scarf worn by some devout Muslim women. The Afghan immigrant had no purse or money on her, family members said.
Stunned relatives and Muslim leaders said the only motive they could see, outside of insanity, would be hatred.
"Whoever did this did not see Alia Ansari, a mother of six children," said Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, one of the nation's most respected Muslim scholars and leaders, who spoke to the media outside of the Ansaris' modest two-bedroom apartment. "He saw a symbol of something that people are taught to hate."
"All that we can assume is that it's a hate crime," said Hassan Ansari, 23, the youngest of Alia Ansari's seven siblings.
Fremont police said Friday that they don't know why Ansari was killed. At about 2:40 p.m. Thursday, she was walking near Central Avenue and Glenmoor Drive with her 3-year-old daughter to pick up two other children from elementary school when a man opened fire before fleeing in a car.
"We still have no definite indication as to motive," said police Sgt. Jeff Swadener, a department spokesman. "Was it racial? Was it a hate crime? Was it a street robbery or a random act of violence? I don't know."
Police said a 27-year-old Fremont man was being held on an unrelated parole violation but remained a person of interest in the homicide. His name wasn't released.
Police detained the man about an hour after the shooting and about a mile away. Officers pulled the man over near Mowry Avenue and Blacow Road because he and his black Toyota Tercel matched the description provided by witnesses, police said.
"We're still up in the air as far as the actual involvement or linking to the homicide," Swadener said.
The Alameda County coroner had planned to do an autopsy Friday, but Ansari's relatives said they want to keep her body intact because of their religious beliefs. A coroner's spokesman declined to discuss the delay but said a decision on how to proceed could be made Monday.
Islam prohibits the desecration of any dead body, said Yusuf, co-founder of the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, believed to be the first Islamic seminary in the nation. In addition, only female relatives are allowed to wash and view a naked female body.
Yusuf said that an autopsy of just Alia Ansari's head, rather than her full body, would be acceptable.
Hassan Ansari, Alia's brother, said family members were planning to take legal action to stop the autopsy, but said they were leaving the decision in the hands of her husband, Ahmadullah Ansari.
Throughout the day, a weeping procession of dozens of relatives and Afghan community members filed into the Ansaris' apartment in the Glenmoor neighborhood of Fremont. It is a short walk from a cluster of Afghan businesses often called Little Kabul, the economic heart of the largest Afghan community in the nation.
Friends and relatives said they could see no reason, other than the head scarf, why a stranger would want to kill Alia Ansari, who was often described as "kind" and "innocent."
Most classical interpretations of Islam require women to wear a head scarf, although only a fraction of American Muslim women wear one, several female Muslim leaders said.
"What happened here is an act of terrorism," said Rona Popal, executive director of the Afghan Coalition, which provides services to the community. "There is no reason to shoot an innocent woman walking down the street, holding her child."
Local Muslim leaders and the victim's relatives attributed blame to an American culture of violence, propagated through movies and video games that reward players for killing. In addition, they said things such as talk radio, politicians and religious zealotry by some Christians had focused on Muslims since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Justice will not be served by merely catching the killer," said Hassan Ansari. "We have to figure out how to stop these kinds of things from happening. ... American society is what feeds people's ignorance."
"Mostly it's the fault of the media, because they show Muslims in such a way that people hate them," said Feraidoon Mojadedi, owner of the Rumi Bookstore in Little Kabul. "People are dying all over the world, but what did she have to do with it? She's a housewife, a mother of children."
Three women at the Islamic Society of the East Bay said they would continue to wear head scarves even if the killing was a hate crime. "Even if they wiped out everyone on Earth, I would not remove the hijab," said Suzanne Azim, 43, a Hayward resident.
Alia Ansari, 37, had lived in the United States since 1986 and had become a U.S. citizen, family members said. Like many Afghan Americans, Ansari was a refugee from the war against the Soviet Union. She came from Mazar-e Sharif, where her sole sister still lives.
She typically drove to pick up two of her daughters from Glenmoor Elementary School, but left home on foot Thursday because of engine trouble. Witnesses said a man got out of a car, approached her and shot her at point-blank range before returning to the car and speeding away.
The young daughter who was with Ansari was unharmed, Swadener said.
When Ansari was shot, her daughter began crying and later told her family over and over, "A man killed my mother," said Hassan Ansari.
Maria Garcia, who lives across the street from where the shooting occurred, said, "I didn't see what happened but I heard the gunfire, and I heard the crying of the child."
The slaying marks the second time someone in the victim's family has been shot and killed in Fremont. In January 2002, Afghan community leader Rahim Ansari, 34, of Union City was shot and killed inside his business, Pamir Travel, in Little Kabul.
The suspected gunman in that incident, upset over a spurned romance, also wounded Rahim Ansari's brother-in-law, Zabiullah Ansari, a second-cousin of Alia Ansari. In an interview Friday, Zabiullah Ansari, 48, expressed hope that the right person had been arrested. But he said, "They don't know what happened.
"You're killed in front of your kid -- how can people do that? They're not human beings. This lady was totally innocent. Why did someone shoot her? "

Eid Mubarak....I think??

Assalamu Alaikum,

I feel like it has been forever since I last posted. Insha'Allah you all had a blessed Eid. But ok, I have got to get some thing off my chest, so this post is for venting!!!!! Ok, I belong to a very small muslim community her in the pacific northwest and I just moved here in March. I moved here from Michigan where I was involved in a larger more active muslim community. But Alhamdulilah we are really trying to get things together, I think. Well I decided that we should have a Eid party for SISTERS ONLY!! And since there may be all of 5 sisters that actually go to the Masjid I attend I thought we should include all the sisters in the neighboring communities....and not only should there be a party, there should be a potluck and not only a potluck vendors and not only vendors and international fashion show!!! (oh and by the way the vendors were not my idea, just the potluck and fashion show) So I made 150 very simple flyers and put my cell phone number on them and passed them out at the Eid prayer!

So at the begining of the idea there was one other sister that seemed excited too and she did help us get a place to have this event. Now, the week of the event, we seem to have to many chiefs and not enough indians! Why do sisters do that? I mean if you didn't have any say in the begining why do you want to send long emails with bullet points to the sisters adding your two cents as if you have been working right along the side of us all along!! And on top of everything else sisters are trying to make this a fundriaiser for what ever cause is important to them at the masjid, some want donation for the masjid, some want donation for the sisters committee and some the sunday school. This is not suppose to be a fundraiser! I just wanted to have some halal fun, eat some good food, and see some beautiful clothes and celebrate! But it doesn't seem so fun anymore:-( and on top of all this DRAMA, my one and only friend here is not going to be in attendance to help me deal with this,(hijabi!!!!! I'm going to get you!!! :-) so I am really stressed out and I really hope this proves to be a fun event for the sisters in the community. I really hope my true intentions are seen and this is not a lot of unnessecary arguing or fitnah amongst us. That is not why I wanted to have this event. I just want all the sisters to come together for the sake Allah and have a really good time. Make dua'aa for us please!!

Allah please help me pratice patience with my dear sisters! Ameen.

patience & persistence

salaams all,

O you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-salat (the prayer). Truly, Allah is with As-Sabirun (the patient). (surah 2:153)

Sunday morning I was getting ready for sunday school, I volunteer there as administrative support and as a bonus, I get to learn to read the Quran in arabic, and I get a call from my friend who is a sunday school teacher there. She tells me how the kitchen is a mess and there is a man that she has never seen before sleeping in the womens room and she was very uncomfortable. now our masjid is tiny and the ummah here in this city is not very big, but insha'Allah that will change, but we have really been having trouble with everyone cleaning up our small place after iftar, so the past few sundays when we have arrived for sunday school there has been a tons of food on the counter and one time in particular the food had started to ferment and smelled horrible, may Allah reward the children and sisters that helped clean the mess up! So I get upset and rush over to see what's going on for myself, and yes there was food and dishes all over this little kitchen and the unknown brother sleeping in the sisters room. ok so now, i'm hot!! i just felt so defeated, like how come no one loves our masjid enough to keep it clean? when I told my husband about it, he said "don't get upset tell someone who is in charge" I told him "WE ARE IN CHARGE THAT IS OUR MASJID". Sometimes i don't feel like everyone in our community realizes that we are all responsible for the Masjid so we all need to do our part! but once I arrived we talked to a brother about the mess and I left to go get prizes and motivational items for the children (TOYS!!!) while I was driving I thought of what I read in the Quran that morning and all of the things that Allah has to say about being patient and that's when I realized I need to stop getting so upset and maybe try some patience and persistence with the brothers and sisters at the masjid. So when I get back to the masjid sunday school is going on now, the unknow sleepy brother had awaken from his beauty sleep and moved and the kicthen was spotless! Alhamdulilah!!! see how Allah works? and I was upset for nothing!

So I thought were else can I apply my new found way of thinking? with my children? but of course. how about with my husband? DEFINITELY (Allah knows that man can work my nerves but Alhamdulillah he's a good man :-) Being patience and persistent can be applied to every where in my life. So I have to decided to do just as Allah has instructed me to do and "seek help in patience and As-Salat(the prayer). Because after all, Allah (swt) is As-Sabur (the most patient) and if he can be patient with me (an sometimes I feel like I can be lost cause :-) who am I not to be patient at all?

gratitude

4 am, i give salams to my husband and oldest son as they head out the door to the Masjid. the babies (ages 1 yr and 2 yrs) Alhamdulilah are still sleeping. the house is quiet as i prepare for salat, before i knew it my eyes fill with tears, i am grateful to be able to come to Allah in prayer, and it's just me and Him!! I make salat, dikhr, dua'aa. now the tears are really pouring. do you ever just get moved by the mercy of Allah? do you ever just get overwhelmed with gratitude? well i did.

i read a book once and the author said that people lie to God everyday in there thoughts, actions and prayers. wow, the thought of that statement still blows my mind. but what really amazes me is that with all the lies being told, Allah (swt) still tells the sun to rise! As ungrateful as human beings are Allah still provides us with air to breath and food to eat. but we don't care we expect that of God, we expect him to raise us in the morning and keep of safe all day and put us to bed at night. how many times do you say thank you. it's amazing to me that Allah, as ungrateful as humans are still tells the sun to rise. He is so merciful. i am so grateful.

i am grateful this moring and every morning that my eyes open, i am grateful, that Allah loves me inspite of my flaws, i am grateful to have 3 beautiful children, to have a husband, to have food and shelter, i am grateful to have people in my life that truly love me, i am grateful to have salat, i am grateful to have hijab to protect me, i am grateful that Allah has filled this world with so much beauty for us to enjoy.

so today insha'Allah i pray that we all are grateful and that we all can take a momment in our day to just thank Allah.

Is Ramadan for me??

ok, I feel so left out this Ramadan. I know how blessed this month is and a person can recieve so many blessings but I feel so left out. I am an insulin dependent diabetic, so fasting for me with out a little something to go along with the 4 or 5 shots I take a day is not happening. Believe me I have tried and gotten pretty sick. But my husband and our oldest son are fasting, Alhamdulilah. The sisters I work with are fasting. The sisters at the masjid are fasting. But me NOT FASTING! It is so frustrating to me. I feel seperated from my family and friends. I feel guilty during lunch at work as I take my shot and eat my lunch. I let my blood sugar level fall too low on the weekends when I'm home with my family cuz I hate to eat in front of them. I know, I know, I know Allah does not want me to get sick, He does not want me to fast if it's a hardship. My husband tells, my friends tell me. I know I can feed the poor or another fasting person instead. But it just doesn't seem the same. I love Allah so much and I want to show it during the month of Ramadan just like every other Muslim. I want to draw closer to Allah too. It makes my cry sometimes, that I can't show my love for Allah like everyone else. The other day at work, a sister asked me"how your fast? oh that's right your not fasting, well how's eating?" I know she was just joking but I still felt so bad, almost guilty.

But Alhumdulilah, I have made some other changes this Ramadan, and I pray that Allah is pleased with them. I have added Sunnah prayers to my life, I have started reading the Quran in the morning after Fajr, I am taking Quran classes with the kiddies during Sunday schoo at the Masjidl! ( I know, but I had to start some where;-) I am working with the sisters at the Masjid for the sake of Allah, more and more. I really do enjoy those things. I have learned this month that I can worship Allah in every thing I do, think and say and ENJOY IT! Wow, maybe I'm not so left out after All.

Let me introduce myself....

Assalamu Alaikum,

I am Naturally-Muslimah. Natural meaning in it's original state. Muslimah meaning female muslim. Muslim meaning one who submits to the will of God. When a living creature is born it is in total submission to the will of God, a human beings natural state in life is to submit to the will of God. As some of us grow we are taught to submit to the will of other things. In my life I was taught and or chose to submit to varies things. But on July 23, 2004 I chosen to submit to the will of Allah (God), thus returning to my natural state. So I am Naturally-Muslimah!

So I have come here to share my thoughts and learn more about Islam. I was told by a friend that blogging is good therapy, plus it's cheaper than a "shrink" so I thought I'd try it out. So insha'Allah I will be able to provide for you a peaceful atmosphere here in this "bloggersphere" So stay tuned.......

Oh and Ramadan Mubarak!!!