Azka's Writeups

Life was normal, and then suddenly one day it was announced that markets, schools, cinemas and all other ‘normal’ activities would be shut down for an undetermined amount of time. We could certainly not survive that way right? Yet here we are. Things are going back to normal, but the thing is, is normal really good? Let’s look into what this quarantine taught us.  It identified for us our needs and wants Reflect, what places were closed and which were open? Cinemas? Shopping Malls? Jewelry stores? Supermarkets? No. The only places open were medical stores and general stores which offered food and water – at least for a month of strict lockdown. You could find clothes and slippers as well but they were not branded. Does it not make it clear what we pursued as our need and which of our common activities are wants? The importance of family and healthy relationships You know who found this quarantine most depressing? People living alone, or people living with their family but not havin...

We are very sorry if this article looks scattered and disorganized. But it depicts our emotions and thoughts on this incident :  scattered and disoriented.    The growing moral problems of our society demand change from every one of us. Each individual must understand his responsibility and play his role in curbing  our moral decline especially in the absence of a fair judicial system.  The increase in the number of rape cases or more specifically of ‘rapists’ is evidence that  something  is lacking in our  T arbiyah. Hence the first change must come from parents.   Salman Asif Siddiqui,  Director ERDC and an educational psychologist,  in his talk ‘Sex education and Tarbiyah’ talks about this issue in detail. He says that m oral decline of a society occur s due to three reasons    Lack of  G od consciousness – the primary reason Lack of connection – the next big reason ;  here we talk about connection with p...

Hello everyone, so this post is pretty late, I wanted to post it on the 10th of Muharram, that is Sunday but I've been busy. Anyway, here it goes... drop in your thoughts in the comments.   As soon as the new Muslim year began my social media was flooded with positive lessons and messages from Hussain (RA) story. The third Muslim Imam and grandson to the Holy Prophet, Hussain (RA) was martyred on the 10 th of Muharram by the tyrant Yazid’s army after he was kept thirsty for 10 long days. 72 innocent people were tortured, their infants and all of their males were slaughtered. But this post will not talk about his widely known and respected personality or his very painful story. Today I will talk about its outcome, how we perceive it and how we can apply it to our own lives. So, most of the posts talked about Hussain’s success, and that word is what I would like to emphasize, ‘success’. I have believed that ‘success’ does not mean material gain, it is the name given to a constant ...

  Book: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Authors: John Taylor Gatto Length: 106 pages Published by: New Society Publishers, USA Year of publication: 1992 The foreword for this non-fiction controversy, by Thomas Moore is enough to tell us about the author; John Taylor Gatto. Moore describes Gatto as his and his father’s inspiration. Gatto an award winning teacher, first worked as a copywriter and it would be interesting for you to read for yourselves what prompted him into school teaching. It is surprising in this case, firstly, that Gatto dedicated the book to his daughter and granddaughter instead of a student or teacher, as usually would have been, coming from a teacher, and secondly that the book is a strict criticism on the schooling system and the fact that it has been made compulsory. ‘…It should be seen as a book that wrote itself’ Gatto reveals in the acknowledgments section. All 5 chapters of this book are based off Gatto’s learn...

The historical play Dirillis: Ertugrul has become a fever for many. It was quoted as ‘a silent ticking bomb’. Even with a high degree of fictional content, dramatization, few things against Shariah injunctions it aptly tries to portray Muslim prestige and their constant struggle for the prevalence of Islam. It accurately depicts major historical events and their outcomes to some extent.  I had not been able to feel the importance of the establishment of Khilafah nor was I able to realize why a large number of subcontinental Muslims would react rashly to its end, when I was studying History as a subject. But this series gave me an idea of the concept, one which I was keen on exploring.  All through the series, we witness Ertugrul’s personal sacrifice. We witness the many people who die in the way of Truth. And from that, from the ashes of many broken states rises yet again a Khilafah, the last one to be- the Ottoman Empire.  The world before the Ottoman Empire was no diffe...

Stop drilling the myth into students' heads that online classes will get u nowhere. It is already difficult for us As teachers to cope with students' unwillingness towards online classes..... Plus that is how the world is working and we homeschoolers have been doing this for a while now. Doesn't mean our Education isn't up to the mark. Cambridge has announced that they aren't having on campus classes for a year so stop doing that. The world is changing and it will be better for those who adapt sensibly to the change. I have been disappointed over this for a while now. Apparently that is what is happening with one  of my students as well. He was performing better in his online classes but then he started being drilled with the same statement. 'Online classes bekaar hain' and his performance has dropped. Online classes are not useless and we have been studying online for a long longtime. Even school teachers usually took all there lesson plans from Google. All...

So this incident occurred yesterday and I blame it all on the little creature we call 'mouse'. It started when I saw it peeking out at me from between the stove and the slab. I didn't freak out, of course, I just started shouting really loudly for help. To my rescue, came my father. Except, that when he went after the mouse, it came right at me. So very naturally, I ran as fast as my short legs could carry me, which was not very fast.  Here's some necessary background information before I continue. The current house I live in was constructed around 70 years ago so the design is pretty circular. My brothers' bedroom has two doors, one of which opens towards the kitchen and the other near the main door. The alternate way would be straight from the kitchen to the main door.  Back to the story, where I am running into my brothers' bedroom from one doorway. I enter the room and instead of closing the door behind me, as was my original plan, I keep running. And this m...

Set in the 13 th century this Turkish series closely follows the activities of Ertugral Ghazi, father of the first Ottoman Emperor; Osman I. I have only made it through the  first –of five- seasons and am hooked.  The reasons are not just the excellent casting, filmography, dubbing and sceneries, but also the fact that I had learnt numerous lessons through only 30 episodes. I feel it is a must watch, especially for young Muslims today and here is why I feel so: It tells us about our history, historic figures and different cultures From the culture of the Turkish tribes, the lifestyle of the Ayyubid royalty to the amazing picturization of historic events, everything is appreciable. It contains powerful historic characters like the knowledgeable Ibn al Arabi and Sheikh Moinuddin Chisti. A character of much interest was the Ayyubid Sultan, Al-Aziz, grandson of the Great Salahuddin Ayyubi. He was indeed a great poet but an unfit ruler which you will be able to see w...

The bat struck the road with a loud thud, missing me by only a couple of micrometers. I had only two more hours of my precious life remaining, if only I could come into contact with any of these boys. The bat struck the ground once again. This time it managed to fling me up onto the player's shoulder. Close, I was very close to surviving, if only I could reach his nose... I sat on his shoulder...waiting. I could see the long stretch of road in front of him, all empty except for some joyful faces bouncing around each other. They were happy, which was weird, considering how close they were to infection. I felt sad for them, we did not want to do this, make someone fatally ill in order to survive. Alas! it was our only chance, it was the only way we could sustain our population. A shout of salutation made me snap out of my thoughts and I watched as a boy ran to hug the one about to bowl. Infected. 100%. He seemed perfectly healthy, but there were friends of mine all over him. Anot...