This is one of the most beautiful duah I've ever come across

"اللَّهُمَّ بَاعِدْ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ خَطَايَايَ كَمَا بَاعَدْتَ بَيْنَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ، اللَّهُمَّ نَقِّنِي مِنْ خَطَايَايَ، كَمَا يُنَقَّى الثَّوْبُ الْأَ بْيَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ، اللَّهُمَّ اغْسِلْنِي مِنْ خَطَايَايَ بِالثَّلْجِ وّالْمَاءِ وَالْبَرَدِ"

O Allah , separate me from my sins as You have separated the East from the West. O Allah, cleanse me of my transgressions as the white garment is cleansed of stains . O Allah , wash away my sins with ice and water and frost.

ahh the magic of understanding arabic, Its beautiful understanding what you recite or read of duahs/surahs in your prayer!

(Reference:Al-Bukhari 1/181, Muslim 1/419. )

there's also

Ive always wondered how to thank Allah subhanahou wata'ala.

I knew all about how to ask for forgiveness and how it was quite a process, but i thought, "what about thanking Allah?" saying Alhamdoulillah surely couldnt be enough? wasn't there a set pattern? something specific to do?

then i found this video. and i'm so glad i did. (its less than 2 mins, dont be scared...)

It does seem a lot harder, a lot more complicated. and a more constant thing. But after reflecting, we have a lot more to be grateful for.

Imam Ghazali told story of a man walking in the jungle. A roaring lion ran towards him and the man ran as fast as he could to escape from it. He noticed a well in front of him and he jumped inside hoping to escape from the lion.

As he was falling inside the well, he grabbed onto the rope and saved himself. The man was so relieved but when he looked down he saw a big snake at the bottom of the well. It had its jaws wide open ready to swallow him up.

The man then looked up and saw two mice nibbling at the rope. A black mouse and a white were both chewing into the rope. The scary lion was still prowling outside the well.

I read the other day that the yes campaign for the alternative vote in the upcoming referendum had falled behind the No campaign.

I am not sure which is better, but I have a few issues with the Alternative Vote (AV).

A Major one is that the voters of the least popular opponents will be "double counted" first.

An Example:

Party A: 40%
Party B: 30%
Party C: 20%
Fringe Party: 10%

Since neither party has reached the required vote, the BNP candiate will be knocked off the list and his voters second choices used. The voters who voted for the Fringe Party will in essence have two votes.

(in the above scenario, the voters for Party C will also have 2 votes as with the redistribution of the Fringe Party vote, it will still be unlikely for anyone to have reached 50%.)

Kinda went of at a tangent i think....

Stress Management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

you have the power to either save your brother from the sinking ship, or save all of the other people on the boat except your brother.

discuss.

The Bull Auction
****************

A couple go to an agricultural show way out in the countryside on a fine Sunday afternoon, and are watching the auctioning off of reproduction bulls. The auctioneer announces the first bull to be auctioned off:

"A fine specimen, this bull reproduced 60 times last year."

The wife nudges her husband in the ribs, and comments: "See! That was more than 5 times a month!"

The second bull is announced: "Another fine specimen, this wonder reproduced 120 times last year."

Again the wife bugs her husband: "Hey, that's some 10 times a month! What do YOU say to that?!"

Her husband is getting really annoyed with this comparison.

The third bull comes up for sale: "And this extraordinary specimen reproduced 360 times last year!"

This is the worst form of pride, when you give it a religious justification, you think you can speak condescendingly to other people, you think you have a God given right to look down on people. If You really are concerned work on the brother/sister, be nice....

Nobody in 1400years, has the entire ummah agreed on one way, never, not even in the same time of the Sahaba - so why are you shoving your opinions down other peoples throats and causing disunity and discord in the Muslim Ummah?

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D71Gp96b6gY]

We all think about stuff, worry about the who/what/where/when/why's, sometimes it's rational, sometimes the situation is controllable; changeable.

Other times we can't do anything about it, or we're over-thinking and worrying unnecessarily. Like when you leave the house empty and you think "those people who were watching you get out the house will rob your house" (someone said that to me today! lol)

During those times the best thing to do is stop worrying.

I've said "It's hard to switch off your emotions" and "you can't just stop!".

But that's not true.

You can do things to take your mind off it, keep yourself busy, but that isn't facing the problem.

A lone figure she sits
By the window she gazes
Her story unknown
and the hour comes
The screaming it starts
Throat raw
Eyes glazed
The cries wrenched from within
Her insanity, a shroud
from the cold of evil, the bite of the devil
and the people whisper
Will she ever be sane again...