Assalaamu Alaykum all,
Had some excellent news today alhamdulillah, I've been accepted onto the TESOL Celta course at my local college to do a years course to learn to teach English as a 2nd language.
The course looks excellent, 2-3 hours observing classes and teaching a week and 2 hours teaching theory. Some Tesol and Tefl (interchangeable course just about) only teach you the theory, or have very little practice on real students or are crammed into a short space of time.
So inshallah this time next year I will be fully qualified English instructor and on my way to somewhere I can here the Azhaan five times a day to teach English and where I don't need to be worried whether I am going to be the next brother doing Da'wah work to be picked up and locked up on false charges.
I will keep you all informed on how the course goes, but here is a hint for you all in case anyone else is applying, the grammar test was the hardest exam I have ever done, far beyond GCSE and A-Level, so swot for the exams like you've never swotted before for an English exam!
Going to be doing a lot of studying this year, with my OU Social Sciences course, my TESOL and of-course my never ending quest to learn arabic! Inshallah I can keep up with it all but if not then other committments will have to be dropped as inshallah nothing is going to come in my way of learning the skills I need to make sure me and my family can do Hijrah.
Assalaamu Alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Birmingham Road Show
Assalaamu Alaykum all,
I am pleased to say I was able to join with several other da'wah stalls from across the UK in birmingham city centre for a da'wah road show, a mega-uber-da'wah stall if you will with 4 stalls, massive banners, information boards, about 30 brothers and about 15 sisters, all giving Da'wah openly and publicly to the kuffar.
This mean't several da'wah stalls from all over the uk converging on Birmingham, combining our efforts, alhamdulillah the heavens opened up and we all got drenched (well I didn't as I brought an Umbrella) but showing the type of quick thinking and adaptability you need in Da'wah one brother with a bit of cash went and bought several gazeebos from Argos, the argos catalogues acting as anchors also to make sure the heavy weather didn't blow away our stalls and new tenty like structures.
You might think rain would stop us from giving Da'wah, but no, only wimps would let a bit of rain stop play. No we continued and what we found was only the sincere truth seekers stopped to talk to us and we were still really busy the whole day.
Amongst the memorable events of the day was one woman and two young men, only 11 year olds, embracing Islam, Allahu Akbar!
I never spoke to the new sister, but I heard one brother saying how he had told our two new young brothers of the exploits of the young sahabah in the fields of Da'wah and striving for the sake of Allah, how two 9yo boys did for the great enemy of Islam - Abu Jahl.
I also picked up an excellent new retort when one woman, remarking on our banner shouted that 'Jesus wasn't a muslim, he was christian.' So one quick thinking brother shouted back, 'Yes, indeed he was muslim and mary wore Hijab, go home and check your statues!'
The people were very curious and despite the rain I must have been busy most of the day, but imagine brothers and sisters probably 30 brothers and about 15 sisters all giving Da'wah, all talking to non-muslims at once, giving the message of Islam to the people, as well as having talks taking place with the microphone.
Unfortunately it had to end, but inshallah we will be back Birmingham again soon as the reception towards the message of Islam was excellent, may Allah swt continue to guide them to the truth.
May the Da'wah work continue to Birmingham, and all over the country so these kuffar can be guided to the truth, that Allah's deen can be made highest, ameen.
Assalaamu Alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
I am pleased to say I was able to join with several other da'wah stalls from across the UK in birmingham city centre for a da'wah road show, a mega-uber-da'wah stall if you will with 4 stalls, massive banners, information boards, about 30 brothers and about 15 sisters, all giving Da'wah openly and publicly to the kuffar.
This mean't several da'wah stalls from all over the uk converging on Birmingham, combining our efforts, alhamdulillah the heavens opened up and we all got drenched (well I didn't as I brought an Umbrella) but showing the type of quick thinking and adaptability you need in Da'wah one brother with a bit of cash went and bought several gazeebos from Argos, the argos catalogues acting as anchors also to make sure the heavy weather didn't blow away our stalls and new tenty like structures.
You might think rain would stop us from giving Da'wah, but no, only wimps would let a bit of rain stop play. No we continued and what we found was only the sincere truth seekers stopped to talk to us and we were still really busy the whole day.
Amongst the memorable events of the day was one woman and two young men, only 11 year olds, embracing Islam, Allahu Akbar!
I never spoke to the new sister, but I heard one brother saying how he had told our two new young brothers of the exploits of the young sahabah in the fields of Da'wah and striving for the sake of Allah, how two 9yo boys did for the great enemy of Islam - Abu Jahl.
I also picked up an excellent new retort when one woman, remarking on our banner shouted that 'Jesus wasn't a muslim, he was christian.' So one quick thinking brother shouted back, 'Yes, indeed he was muslim and mary wore Hijab, go home and check your statues!'
The people were very curious and despite the rain I must have been busy most of the day, but imagine brothers and sisters probably 30 brothers and about 15 sisters all giving Da'wah, all talking to non-muslims at once, giving the message of Islam to the people, as well as having talks taking place with the microphone.
Unfortunately it had to end, but inshallah we will be back Birmingham again soon as the reception towards the message of Islam was excellent, may Allah swt continue to guide them to the truth.
May the Da'wah work continue to Birmingham, and all over the country so these kuffar can be guided to the truth, that Allah's deen can be made highest, ameen.
Assalaamu Alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Country Profile - Yemen
Assalaamu Alaykum,
It seems many people when they make a decision to make Hijrah look at Yemen at some point, some families go there and come back, others have gone and stayed.
So what is good and what is bad about Yemen, why do some people stay and others come back?
Here is my latest country profile, please as always bare in mind these are my personal impressions and if you know any better correct my errors.
1. How easy is it to practice the deen, and to what level, how practicing are the people there.
Relatively easy to practice the deen as long as you don’t speak out against the rulers too much (make your comments against the murtad rulers general, not specific).
Even then there is an active Islamist movement calling for Shariah, from hardcore Jihadis to democracy using Iqwanis and with the president trying to keep both sides happy and pleasing the Muslims sometimes by helping them such as helping the Jihad in Somalia and in other times pleasing the US and West by locking up and sometimes executing those who appose the aims of the West.
This picture is of Dammaj, one of the islamic teaching institutions in Yemen, though this one is one of the best and hardest to get into.
Sheikh Anwar has also now been released and is presently speaking out openly and there are committees to forbid vice and enjoin good in the major cities, making sure people observe the public aspects of Islam.
People are quite practicing compared to many nations, niqab and hijab normal, men tend to wear western clothes and mustaches but this is changing (for the better)!
But some parts of this are cultural, i.e one of my Yemeni friends said even the prostitutes where niqab and walk arround with little bells on their ankles.
2. Whether Autopsy is allowed or not, what are the circumstances Autopsies are carries out.
Autopsies seem rare if happen at all, except in criminal cases but even then relatively unknown due to lack of resources.
3. How easy is to move to that land and how easy or difficult is it to acquire citizenship.
Relatively easy to move there if you can afford the residency visas. Need to investigate how easy or difficult to get citizenship as cannot find anything on this.
4. What are the employment prospects for someone who is a non-native language speaker and doesn’t have a degree.
Not as good as some places due to lack of international business and large scale poverty and unemployment but possible for a determined English speaker to find work, especially teaching English as lots of little colleges and schools which wont pay well but don't advertise internationally either.
5. What are the medical facilities like for both residents and citizens.
Good private system but fully costed on the patient, if you cant afford it you don’t get treatment for some illnesses, but there are charitable hospitals but these tend to be poor and massively over used for use in emergencies.
6. What are the other benefits like for both residents and citizens.
Non Existent other benefits, if you have no money you rely on charity or starve.
7. What is the general culture like there.
General culture is friendly and open, but very poor. Wide gulf between relatively westernised middle and upper class and religiously practicing poor.
Crime rate is small, but some tribes do use kidnapping to publicise grievances with the government and they might not necessary no the difference between one fair skinned foreigner and another.
8. Environmental Factors
Rising temperatures likely to make farming more difficult in the short to medium term and sea level rises turn Adan, the main port into an Island, though the rest of the country is relatively unaffected by sea level rises even at 14m due to a high coastline.
In the long run however, the land should become much more fertile as temperatures rise, as predicted by environmental scientists and in the hadith from the prophet Muhammad (saws).
Yemen, alongside Oman is part of the fertile 'green' part of Arabia but still has water shortages due to Khat farmers illegally extracting water to make sure they have enough themselves, even if other farmers and poor villagers suffer in the long term.
9. General Stability
Have had civil wars in the past, but even though there are still tensions between Sunni and Shia, secular and Islamic, it doesn’t look like there is going to be any trouble soon and good relations and no border disputes with neighbours.
There is an active south Yemen independence movement, but doesn't seem to be getting anywhere at the moment, even though there is a genuine grievence with all the gas and oil reserves in the south and the richer north taking most of the money from these for patronage for the presidents supporters in the north.
Saying all that, there is always potential for trouble in place with slightly more Rifles than people (US readers take note)
Conclusion...
Though not perfect by a land shot, Yemen is much more islamic in character and culture than many other arab or muslim countries and would therefore seem to be a good choice for Hijrah as long as enough money is saved up first incase cannot get a job.
Assalaamu Alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
It seems many people when they make a decision to make Hijrah look at Yemen at some point, some families go there and come back, others have gone and stayed.
So what is good and what is bad about Yemen, why do some people stay and others come back?
Here is my latest country profile, please as always bare in mind these are my personal impressions and if you know any better correct my errors.
1. How easy is it to practice the deen, and to what level, how practicing are the people there.
Relatively easy to practice the deen as long as you don’t speak out against the rulers too much (make your comments against the murtad rulers general, not specific).
Even then there is an active Islamist movement calling for Shariah, from hardcore Jihadis to democracy using Iqwanis and with the president trying to keep both sides happy and pleasing the Muslims sometimes by helping them such as helping the Jihad in Somalia and in other times pleasing the US and West by locking up and sometimes executing those who appose the aims of the West.
This picture is of Dammaj, one of the islamic teaching institutions in Yemen, though this one is one of the best and hardest to get into.
Sheikh Anwar has also now been released and is presently speaking out openly and there are committees to forbid vice and enjoin good in the major cities, making sure people observe the public aspects of Islam.
People are quite practicing compared to many nations, niqab and hijab normal, men tend to wear western clothes and mustaches but this is changing (for the better)!
But some parts of this are cultural, i.e one of my Yemeni friends said even the prostitutes where niqab and walk arround with little bells on their ankles.
2. Whether Autopsy is allowed or not, what are the circumstances Autopsies are carries out.
Autopsies seem rare if happen at all, except in criminal cases but even then relatively unknown due to lack of resources.
3. How easy is to move to that land and how easy or difficult is it to acquire citizenship.
Relatively easy to move there if you can afford the residency visas. Need to investigate how easy or difficult to get citizenship as cannot find anything on this.
4. What are the employment prospects for someone who is a non-native language speaker and doesn’t have a degree.
Not as good as some places due to lack of international business and large scale poverty and unemployment but possible for a determined English speaker to find work, especially teaching English as lots of little colleges and schools which wont pay well but don't advertise internationally either.
5. What are the medical facilities like for both residents and citizens.
Good private system but fully costed on the patient, if you cant afford it you don’t get treatment for some illnesses, but there are charitable hospitals but these tend to be poor and massively over used for use in emergencies.
6. What are the other benefits like for both residents and citizens.
Non Existent other benefits, if you have no money you rely on charity or starve.
7. What is the general culture like there.
General culture is friendly and open, but very poor. Wide gulf between relatively westernised middle and upper class and religiously practicing poor.
Crime rate is small, but some tribes do use kidnapping to publicise grievances with the government and they might not necessary no the difference between one fair skinned foreigner and another.
8. Environmental Factors
Rising temperatures likely to make farming more difficult in the short to medium term and sea level rises turn Adan, the main port into an Island, though the rest of the country is relatively unaffected by sea level rises even at 14m due to a high coastline.
In the long run however, the land should become much more fertile as temperatures rise, as predicted by environmental scientists and in the hadith from the prophet Muhammad (saws).
Yemen, alongside Oman is part of the fertile 'green' part of Arabia but still has water shortages due to Khat farmers illegally extracting water to make sure they have enough themselves, even if other farmers and poor villagers suffer in the long term.
9. General Stability
Have had civil wars in the past, but even though there are still tensions between Sunni and Shia, secular and Islamic, it doesn’t look like there is going to be any trouble soon and good relations and no border disputes with neighbours.
There is an active south Yemen independence movement, but doesn't seem to be getting anywhere at the moment, even though there is a genuine grievence with all the gas and oil reserves in the south and the richer north taking most of the money from these for patronage for the presidents supporters in the north.
Saying all that, there is always potential for trouble in place with slightly more Rifles than people (US readers take note)
Conclusion...
Though not perfect by a land shot, Yemen is much more islamic in character and culture than many other arab or muslim countries and would therefore seem to be a good choice for Hijrah as long as enough money is saved up first incase cannot get a job.
Assalaamu Alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
Thursday, 4 June 2009
A baby Muslimah this time...
Assalaamu Alaykum all,
just to keep you posted on the Dawah front, alhamdulillah we had another shahadah on the stall this last tuesday, a new sister embraced Islam with us.
She already knew quite a lot about Islam as she lived with her adoptive Muslim family but felt relunctant to embrace Islam because of certain cultural practices she had seen from them, even though they otherwise gave a good impression of Islam to her.
Alhamdulillah, we were able to show her this was only culture, she already believed but just needed convincing to take the last step which we did and we took her details and passed them onto a masjid in her own city (she was only in town shopping when she saw the stall).
But I couldn't help feeling that others could have done this a long time ago, talked her into taking the final step, closing the deal to use sales terminology, though we are not salesman unlike some christian missionaries.
But it goes to show, there are plenty of people out there who believe, who want to come into Islam but just need to be invited in the right way, plenty of easy chances to earn such massive reward from Allah as remember whatever good this sister or brother muhammad from last week does, myself and the other brothers on the stall will get equal reward with no deminishing of what they will earn from Allah.
When we are living in darul kufr, it seems such a shame to pass up on such opportunities to please our lord whilst we are here anyway, a criminal waste of an opportunity for which we will be questioned surely on the day of judgement.
Assalaamu alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
just to keep you posted on the Dawah front, alhamdulillah we had another shahadah on the stall this last tuesday, a new sister embraced Islam with us.
She already knew quite a lot about Islam as she lived with her adoptive Muslim family but felt relunctant to embrace Islam because of certain cultural practices she had seen from them, even though they otherwise gave a good impression of Islam to her.
Alhamdulillah, we were able to show her this was only culture, she already believed but just needed convincing to take the last step which we did and we took her details and passed them onto a masjid in her own city (she was only in town shopping when she saw the stall).
But I couldn't help feeling that others could have done this a long time ago, talked her into taking the final step, closing the deal to use sales terminology, though we are not salesman unlike some christian missionaries.
But it goes to show, there are plenty of people out there who believe, who want to come into Islam but just need to be invited in the right way, plenty of easy chances to earn such massive reward from Allah as remember whatever good this sister or brother muhammad from last week does, myself and the other brothers on the stall will get equal reward with no deminishing of what they will earn from Allah.
When we are living in darul kufr, it seems such a shame to pass up on such opportunities to please our lord whilst we are here anyway, a criminal waste of an opportunity for which we will be questioned surely on the day of judgement.
Assalaamu alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
Coca Cola Muslim Generation by Abdur Raheem Green
assalaamu alaykum,
an excellent talk by the Da'ee Abdur Raheem Green, listen and learn.
assalaamu alaykum,
Abu Abdillah
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