Azka's Writeups

Every time I came across a commentary on Surah Duha, people only talked about the first 8 verses and not the last 3 ones. And I have often pondered upon this and have reflected upon the need of these 3 verses in the same surah as the first 8.  Why is it that Allah thought to remind the Prophet (SAW), and through him, us, that we should be kind to the beggars and to the orphans, after He counted all our difficult times and then His favours upon us?  After thinking about this for a long time I would like to present my humble reflection on the last verses and why they are included in this surah.  Think about this, what is the one excuse we give to people (or to ourselves) who are harsh, bitter and rude? We blame their circumstances, their past, 'actually, she has led such a difficult life that she has become bitter'. Haven't we all heard statements like this?  This is why Allah is telling us to be kind in this Surah after he counts all the times we have bee in trouble (...

This post is a special one for the all the homeschoolers out there wondering if they are doing the right thing. For all of you struggling or fighting against norms and trying hard to take charge of your own learning. This is to address the question of whether any good university will accept you or not. This is to tell you of my own homeschooling journey.  Let's cut to the chase, I began my homeschooling journey when I was 11 years old. I just straight up dropped out of school and never went back after my summer vacations. It was a mutual decision between me and my parents. Why we opted for this is a story for another time, for now, just know that where I am today after leaving school, I wouldn't be here had I been going to school. I wouldn't have possessed the set of skills I possess now.  When we quit school there was indeed a backlash. People would say to our faces that our parents had stolen our childhood and I as an adult would now like to question them that 'do the...

The past few days have been really troubling for us, what with all the posts on ‘Aurat March’ storming our social media accounts every day. We wanted to write about it, but were slightly scared of making our stance public. Finally, we mustered the courage to write and share our opinion!    There is a good side and a not so good side to Aurat March, and both need to be recognized. It is not a problem if women are standing up for their rights. When the state, society and men of the family fail to protect and empower their women responsibly, we see marches as reactions. Someone has made disturbingly wrong decisions in the lives of these women who have lost faith and any hope for justice. The majority laments that the march is indecent. But we have driven them to a point when the protesting women find honour in something else – mainly for their voices to be heard. We also need to ask ourselves if it isn’t ‘indecency’ when a woman is slapped in public, when she is disgraced by sele...

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...

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...

On Tuesday 28th August 2018, I payed my first visit to a cinema. I wondered what the experience would be like but the film I watched was worth it! I just couldn't get over the movie so I had to write a review.... Title: Parwaaz Hai Junoon (Flight Is Passion) Producer: Momina and Duraid Productions Writer: Farhat Ishtiaq Genre: Patriotism Cast: Hania Amir as Sania Hamza Ali Abbasi as Hamza Ahad Raza Mir as Saad Shafaat Ali as Zaid Sikandar Vincent as Rashid Minhas Yousufzai Kubra Khan as Fiza Shaz Khan as Nadir Kermani Marina Khan as Sania's mother Hina Binat as Hamza's mother Asif Raza Mir as Hamza's father Review: The producers and writer of Bin Roye Aansu 2015 (Uncried tears) reunite once again for another heart warming film; Parwaaz Hai Junoon. As the title suggests the movie revolves around fighter pilots and PAF (Pakistan Air Force) cadets. Like Farhat Ishtiaq's novels Mata e Jaan (My Precious) and Hamsafr (Fellow Traveller/ Life Partener)...

Hi guys! so we've been hearing that sleep is necessary for quite a matter of time now. The question that arises is how does sleep help, what is the scientific theory for this? Being young we need explanations, or else we get bored of the adults scolding us on seemingly petty issues, so I searched for an answer to this question and this is what I found out. When we are awake and our conscious is working, small metabolic toxins develop in the spaces between are brain cells. This does not allow our brain to function properly. This also makes it harder for us to learn or study something. But there is a way to get rid of these toxins which do not let you think. The way is sleep. When you sleep the size of your neural cells automatically decreases, hence increasing the space in between them. This allows a fluid to pass through your brain from the very back of your head. This fluid cleanses your mind so that you wake up refreshed and also so that you are able to think clearly. Withou...

                 “Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ― Apple Inc.  “I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” ― Oscar Wilde  “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” ― J.K. Rowling   “Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of ...

This is not a qoute or a word of some famous person this is just what I think. A person should follow his dreams and wishes keep his perceptions and paradigms but remembering always to follow the rules of his religion his community his Holy Book and whatever is really important to a human being. Whatsoever happens a person shouldn't be inspired by someone else and try to be just like him/her because there might be somethings that are not really good about that person not everybody should be appealing so just be yourself  as Jim Rhon once said and I quote " If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much" So keep your paradigms but be principle centred cause no other centre is life long and effective. Oh! and centres and passion isn't the same in fact they are quite different. A centre is something a person can't live without but passion is something which everybody has...