Around 5,000 British people convert to Islam every year – and most of them are women. Five of them talk about prejudice, peace and praying in car parks.

I'm married to a Muslim and have two children. We live in Lewes, where I'm probably the only hijabi in the village.

I was born and raised in a middle-class, left-leaning, atheist family; my father was a professor, my mother a teacher. When I finished my MPhil at Cambridge in 2000, I worked in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Back then, I had a fairly stereotypical view of Islam, but became impressed with the strength the people derived from their faith. Their lives sucked, yet nearly everyone I met seemed to approach their existence with a tranquillity and stability that stood in contrast to the world I'd left behind.

In 2001, I fell in love with and married a Jordanian from a fairly non-practising background. At first we lived a very western lifestyle, going out to bars and clubs, but around this time I started an Arabic course and picked up an English copy of the Qur'an. I found myself reading a book that claimed that the proof of God's existence was in the infinite beauty and balance of creation, not one that asked me to believe God walked the Earth in human form; I didn't need a priest to bless me or a sacred place to pray. Then I started looking into other Islamic practices that I'd dismissed as harsh: fasting, compulsory charity, the idea of modesty. I stopped seeing them as restrictions on personal freedom and realised they were ways of achieving self-control.

In my heart, I began to consider myself a Muslim, but didn't feel a need to shout about it; part of me was trying to avoid conflict with my family and friends. In the end it was the hijab that "outed" me to wider society: I began to feel I wasn't being true to myself if I didn't wear it. It caused some friction, and humour, too: people kept asking in hushed tones if I had cancer. But I've been pleasantly surprised at how little it has mattered in any meaningful relationship I have.

Taken from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/11/islam-converts-british-wom…

Fast the Blessed Day of Arafaat is on Monday (14th October 2013)

Fasting on the day of Arafaat is a great Sunnah and most rewarding. It is an expiation of 2 years of sins:

 
Abu Qatada (Ra) related that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “Fasting the Day of `Arafah (9th of Dhu’l Hijjah) expiates for two years, one prior and one forthcoming. And fasting the Day of `Ashura (10th of Muharram) expiates for the past year.” [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah]

Subhanallah how merciful and generous is Allah. Therefore we should take advantage of this blessed day and keep this fast.

 
Also recite plenty of the following:

a) Say tahlil:

La ilaha illah Allah

b) Takbir:

Allahu akbar

c) Tahmid:

Alhamdu lillah

d) Tasbeeh:

Subhan Allah

 
Also recite plenty of the following:

Allaahu Akbar
Allaahu Akbar
Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Walahu Akbar
Allaahu Akbar
Wa Lillaahil hamd

 
Translation: (Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, there is no god except Allaah, Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, and all praise be to Allaah).

 
Dua's are readily accepted on the day of Arafaat:

This is also a day where Dua's are readily accepted therefore we should ask of Allah sincerely for his mercy and forgiveness and make a firm resolve to make life changes and renewed intentions in order to devote ourselves to Allah and to obey and serve him until our last breath.

Making life changes:

This may be our last chance as time is not on our side. Therefore we must take this opportunity and not let it slip by otherwise on the day of judgement we will look back and be in utter regret at the opportunities we missed to do good deeds.

 
So grab the opportunity NOW and let us NOT be of those in utter regret saying..."Why didn't I do so and so? I am truly in utter loss."

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yauxNZGKNj8]

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBLn9qAl53Y]

What to recite during the Best 10 Days:

"There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these 10 days." [Bukhaari]

"So say tahlil takbir& tahmid a lot [on those days]."

[Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shakir stated it is saheeh]

a) Say tahlil
La ilaha illah Allah
b) Takbir
Allahu akbar
c) Tahmid
Alhamdu lillah
d) Tasbeeh
Subhan Allah

(note this is one of them)
Allaahu Akbar
Allaahu Akbar
Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Walahu Akbar
Allaahu Akbar
Wa Lillaahil hamd

(Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, there is no god except Allaah, Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, and all praise be to Allaah).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03d0d5d/The_Ottomans_Europes_Musl…

super interesting, a lot to take in, might require a  couple of viewing but its really amazing, looking forward to the  next episodes.

amazing doc

lots of amazing imagery. you wouldnt think the UK was this beautiful
 

Dont worry this isnt a women drivers bashing thread haha.

I just saw this article that was some what interesting:

[h1]Saudi cleric says driving hurts women's ovaries[/h1]

A Saudi cleric sparked a wave of mockery online when he warned women that driving would affect their ovaries and bring "clinical disorders" upon their children.

The warning came ahead of an October 26 initiative to defy a longstanding driving ban on women in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

"Physiological science" has found that driving "automatically affects the ovaries and pushes up the pelvis," Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaydan warned women in remarks to local news website Sabq.org.

"This is why we find that children born to most women who continuously drive suffer from clinical disorders of varying degrees," he said.

His comments prompted criticism on Twitter, which has become a rare platform for Saudis to voice their opinions in the absolute monarchy.

"What a mentality we have. People went to space and you still ban women from driving. Idiots," said one comment.

"When idiocy marries dogma in the chapel of medieval traditions, this is their prodigal child," wrote a female tweeter.

Luhaydan, a member of the senior Ulema (Muslim scholars) Commission and former head of the Supreme Judicial Council, said that "evidence from the Quran and Sunna (the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed) completely prohibit (women's driving) on moral and social background."

An online petition titled "Oct 26th, driving for women" amassed nearly 12,000 signatures, while access to it was blocked in the kingdom on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are banned from driving.

Activists declared a day of defiance against the ban on June 17, 2011, but few women answered the call to drive. Some of those who did were stopped by police and forced to sign a pledge not to take to the wheel again.

Saudi Arabia imposes other restrictions on women, including a requirement to cover themselves from head to toe when in public.

The 2011 call, which spread through Facebook and Twitter, was the largest mass action since November 1990, when 47 Saudi women were arrested and severely punished after demonstrating in cars.

Ive never come across anything that i thought would mean women are prohibited from driving.... maybe i missed that bit.

check this program out.

http://www.ommwriter.com/en/

hope it helps all those wo have essays and other long pieces fo writing to do to focus on quality and not be distracted by the ever so distractful computer world.