Did you know that at Planck time (origin of universe-big bang) if the density of mass varied by 1 x 10^-49 (one into ten to the power minus 49) then life as we know it would not be!This quantity had to be specifically that value at that exact point in time and the sequence of events that followed had to occur in that very precise sequence so that the world and life as we know it today , would exist.

An infinite number of elements in our world needs to be fine tuned for life to exist ! How scientists who very unscientifically attribute this immaculate planning to chance is something I will never understand. Science can explain the how of things but not the why of things !

'Shabir ally: Shabir Ally holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, with a specialization in Biblical Literature, and an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Toronto with a specialization in Quranic Exegesis.

He is now in his third year of PhD studies in Quranic Exegesis at the University of Toronto.

Shabir is the founder of the Islamic Information and Da'wah Centre in Toronto, Canada.'

I love this speaker.How he translates his amazing logic into his articulate speech is MashAllah very convincing.That is exactly what he does in this debate with Dr.Atkins, professor from oxford who is a spokesperson for atheism.

The first part of this debate is usual atheist rhetoric but come Shabbir Ally and he leaves Dr.Atkins with his tail in between his legs.Dr.Atkins did admit in the beginning that he didn't know much about Islam so when Br.Shabbir did show to him how Islam is harmonious with science i think he was stumped and was lost for words.

Why this is in my personal10 is because I really love how Br Sabbir Ally throws the case back at Dr.Atkins.He takes the case of Relgion to the scientists and the atheists. He puts the onus on them ' You cannot prove there is no God' . Hope you enjoy the debate.
Salams

Assalumualaikum

We all may have come across many beautiful stories of people reverting back to Islam. Most of the stories have a spiritual realm and an intellectual realm,sometimes one being predominant over the other.

One of my favourites or may i say my favourite is the story of Dr.Jeffrey Lang. Dr. Lang is currently a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kansas in the US. Being a Doctor of Mathematics and an ardent atheist you can picture the intellectual appeal something would have had to have to draw this man to submission.He was guided to the Quran by the Mercry of Allah S.W.T. He inspected and studied the Quran word for word questioning it several times until ultimately he had to submit! SubhanAllah!

The story of our father and mother Adam(A.S) and Hawa (A.S) is something we all know about but have we really studied it enough ?

O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and enjoy (its good things) as ye wish: but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression.” Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them, bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them (before): he said: “Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever.” And he swore to them both, that he was their sincere adviser. So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: “Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?” They said: “Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost.” ((Allah)) said: “Get ye down. With enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood,- for a time.” He said: “Therein shall ye live, and therein shall ye die; but from it shall ye be taken out (at last).” (7:19 to 25)

Here are a few other points that the talk addresses in question form

Assalamulaikum

Seeking religous knowledge is one way of increasing your iman and taqwa.When you realize the significance of something you tend to become more conscious of it.

For example,
'Abu Huraira(radi allahu anho) reported: Allah’s Messenger said: When a bondsman-a Muslim or a believer-washes his face (in course of ablution), every sin he contemplated with his eyes, will be washed away from his face along with water, or with the last drop of water; when he washes his hands, every sin they wrought will be effaced from his hands with the water, or with the last drop of water; and when he washes his feet, every sin towards which his feet have walked will be washed away with the water or with the last drop of water with the result that he comes out pure from all sins.

Sahih Muslim,The Book of Purification '

Now after reading this I'm sure we would all be more conscious when taking wodhu and the significance of wodhu to us would be definitely on another level.

AlHamdullillah we have some excellent english speaking alims these days and if i may say so 'ironically' many of them are from the west.To mention a few Sh Yasir Qadhi and Br Nouman Ali Khan.With the advent of youtube,halatube and other mediasharing avenues it is not hard to gain access to lectures by these talented speakers. Khutbas have adverse effects on us. Some take you a certain distance closer to your religion , some a bit more and some just pierce your heart and shake you up within. These khutbas have the power to be the turning point of your lives , the power to turn your life flipside and make you promise yourself that you are earnestly going to do all you can to become a better muslim.

There have been a few solid sermons,lectures and even debates that have this effect on me Alhamdulillah.Reminded me of my purpose here , convinced me of my deen and appealed to both my emotion and rationale.

With the intention of sharing these lectures with you all , I'd like to start a countdown on this blog of my favourite 10 lectures.All the way from number 10 to my toplist favourite , InshAllah.

I'm going to call this Personal10 , purely for bling bling and marketing reason.may you all and I benefit from it.

Countdown begins

Salams

Assalamulaikum.

I thought i should share this wonderful and informative program with you all.One of my favourite Scholars in one of my favourite programs.What Yasir Qadhi had to write about this can be read here . Enjoy the video Salams

Assalmulaikum

Firstly I'm a bit disappointed that its been about a week between my Pilot post and this but theres just been too much cricket going around and laziness is indeed a dangerous thing.

Anyways AlHamdullillah I've started on this one and hopefully it will carve out just right.

Well, I've already mentioned my long term ambitions with 'The Introspective Den' on my previous post and to give myself some sort of immediate direction with the blog i thought it would help if i list down some of my short term goals here.I've read somewhere (most probably Napolean Hills book) that the first step in achieving your dreams is to write them down i.e to make them tangible.I guess computers were not around back then and I'll take this as the digital semi tangible equivalent of what he meant.

So here goes :

1.Try and maintain atleast 2 posts per week.Bare minimum.

2.Share awesome stuff as frequent as possible.By awesome stuff i mean solid khutbas , excellent articles , nasheed and other matters pertaining to Deen.

3.Post excerpts from a stuff i listen to.

4.Let off some steam.Sometimes the safest way to let off steam is through the net,blogs in particular.Safe i say because you dont know the audience (mostly) and even if you do , response is virtual ;P

5.Diversify my topics.My interests dig into pretty much everything.A convicted ambivalent! sports,books,psychology,politics,food,travel,photography,culture and flies are just a few areas that I'd like to get into InshAllah. (Hope you figured I was joking about the flies)


InshAllah I hope this sets the tone for things to come.

Salams

Assalamualaikum to every one out there.

Hamdullilah I finally managed to get this up and running.This my second blog running and i have closed the previous one purely because it served no sense of purpose for me besides letting some steam off and brushing up my writing skills.However I embark on this particular blog with a much greater purpose InshAllah.

"Has not the Time arrived for the Believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed (to them), and that they should not become like those to whom was given Revelation aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors. " [57:16]

This ayat was recited recently at a khutbah i was lucky enough to attend by Mufti Ismail Menk of zimbabwe during his recent visit to Srilanka.SubhanAllah it moved many of us if not all ! He elaborated on it in such a way MashAllah.To qoute him

'Has the time not come ? Has the time not come ? Has the time not come for the true beleivers,for those who claim to beleive to now turn to the Creator?
Have you not done enough of sin ? Have you not comitted enough?
Has the time not come for you to turn to your Creator?
What are you waiting for ?
How man messages have come to you ?
How man reminders have come to you ?
How many people have to come to you ?
How many situations have come to you ?
How much have you been told ?
How much have you seen in your life ?
How many people have died before you ?
What are you waiting for ?
Are you waiting for the angels to come down to talk to you so that you can change? '

What he goes on to say, is the consequence of not returning to Allah .May we never reach that situation InshAllah.You can download the talk here.Pls include the sheikh in your duas.

These are all questions that honestly pierce our conscience.

Has the time not come? What are we waiting for ?

It is with that intention and motivation that I started this blog.Firstly to serve as motivation,inspiration and reminder to myself. Secondly so that I get rewarded InshAllah for striving to become a better muslim,for spreading the work of our knowledgable ulamah who closely adhere to the Quran and the Sunnah and to benefit from that.


It is indeed common in us that we like to blame most of our problems on others and not ourselves without even pondering how we allowed ourselves to get to the situation.We are first to point fingers at others without looking within. Ignorance and Arrogance!the twin engines of destruction. May this blog also serve as an avenue to myself first and then the readers for the remedy i.e introspection and education InshAllah.May it render the support i seek and you seek from the Ummah at large to strive in the right path InshAllah.

Wassalams