faatima's cup of tea

During Ramadhan, as-well as engaging in Tilaawat, Taraweeh and extra Ibadaat, unfortunately  for us ladies ( feel ever so grown up saying that)   there is the usual boring day to day chores that need to be done. During these times it's quite normal to think that it would be amazing if a actual real fairy would spring out of the fairy liquid bottle and magically wave all your kitchen to sparkling perfection...and then maybe stick around for the rest of the house. At other times while your slogging through the dreaded ironing pile, put on a talk and learn something at the same time. I usually tend to listen to theses talks, while I'm ironing, or perhaps doing something in the kitchen that doesn't require too much focus..not only are you learning something, it it helps get the boring job done too. I was first introduced to Mufti Menk (not personally obviously), by my cousins who liv...

Last Friday I happened to be cooking, as one does, and listening to the Jummah bayaan, over the receiver at the same time. (great multi tasker...yeah right) When the Imaam began his talk, he didn't sound his usual upbeat self; he sounded slightly  deflated. " You can tell this guys got 'roza ", I said to my mum, happy I wasn't the only anti social around during Ramadhan. Little did I know the reason he was sounding so down, was the actual subject of his talk. I won't go into the exact details of the talk , but the main point was the shock he had felt upon seeing Muslims, openly eating and drinking during Ramadhan. (As in openly eating outside in the shops). Not ONLY this but people casually asking each if they are fasting or not, really blasie about the whole thing, as if it is not a well known necessity upon us all. During his speech he did mention that back home( in this case, Africa) he had never seen this behaviour; All people...

Looking back to the weeks, prior to my wedding, all I remember is being very STRESSED! I wasn't worried at all about the actual wedding day, my family could deal with all that, but the days after..you know, infinity and beyond! Marriage is for the rest of your life, until the day you die(... and some); it's not something that anyone would take lightly. What would I tell myself in hindsight? Well, firstly, there is not much point worrying about what type of Welan my to be mother in law may or may not use. (Seriously, skinny ones I'm fine with, give me a fat rolling pin and I'm all fingers and thumbs with crazy looking chaps..lucky for me it was a skinny one!)  The main aim for most is to lead a happy, content life with your future spouse and new family. Many people expect marriage to be a constant honeymoon, it isn't. On the other hand, it's not all doom and gloom either. Personally, I believe communication is key. Guys are not mind reade...

Ramadhaan Mubaarak For those of you who don't know, the first time I began "blogging " was at the beginning of Ramadhan last year. Time goes by SO quickly- we're already halfway into 2012 and Ramadhaan is here again- we have come full circle.   Keeping with tradition, here are a few words of advice from Hazrat Molana Abdur Raheem Saab. For those of you who like me, (feel scared of the fasts, or are eating as much as you can today, just in case you wish for it tomorrow) take note. Secondly, as it is a blessed month, please remember me, my family and all the Ummah in your Duaas. Faatima

On my recent trip to saudi, I rediscovered Willy Wonka sweets- and I am glad to say that yes I am still loving Nerds!  Amazing sweets! You may recall nerds are tiny sweets with bucket loads of flavour ( perfect for hiding and eating..) I could go on but that would just be weird- I'm not getting any comission. The "Gobstopper"  not only changes colour but taste too- on the downside when your 2 years old they may just about "stop your gob"- but for me - I'd need a  handful- they are way  too small - to claim to be gobstoppers..(yes..i can hear all the jokes.".with the size of her gob.. finding the right size would be bordering on impossible") I've found that I still love having sweets once in a while- but sadly no longer enjoy the boiled type sweets that I used to like before- namely Werther's original. They used to be my all time favourite sweet- that I would make last forever- but now few minutes of sucking on it and t...

Social interaction has seen a lot of change and keeping in touch with those whom we easily could have lost contact with, is now simple; with modern day technology, we have a huge array of ways to interact with others. I could discuss all the benefits of the internet and social networking sights and the negatives too but that would just be "same old." When typing on  a screen to others sometimes people behave in a fashion that wouldn't be acceptable if a person was interacting with others face to face . It's easy to forget one's manners or to realise that when words are read by others they can be misinterpreted. Or maybe it's just a lack of tact... I don't know. For example, recently I've seen an increase (of what I would class as) " hate" messages towards a lady who owns an online Islamic clothing store. Messaging people " The new Jilbab you designed is horrible I would never buy it " , or "This is not a nice jilb...

I may have been a seriously weird child,and then grown into a weird adult. As a child, I'm talking primary school age. I have so many memories of doing such crazy things so I thought I'd share some of them with you, so you  can : 1. You can run for the hills, screaming "psychopath" 2. Share your childhood memories with me and make me feel slightly better So,hmm..where to start, when I was in primary school I was reading mainly Roald Dahl books, Narnia , The Famous Five.( I don't know, maybe they affected my brain..) So, what do I remember, before I even went to school,I remember telling my then new"chachis"brothers that my mum was not my real mum, but my stepmother, and I was just like Cinderella, and yes they believed me.So, that may have been a bit awkward for the grown ups. My mum still reminds me of it now... So, when you  were small did you think that you had some magical powers of some sort?Or was that just me?! ...

I admit  have really been lagging behind with my blog posts recently,( recently is used very loosely ). So, with the new year, new beginnings (and all that) I thought why not have a good catch up. How are we all? All well I hope.  For me 2012 seems to have crept up so quickly, and already we're a few days into January.When I was young a year seemed so long, an endless amount of time. Now, the years seem  to really fly by. So much can happen within a year, new friendships are made and old friends can be lost. Babies are born while another life is also taken away. People marry,others divorce.Healthy people can become sick,and ill people can recover from illness.  January 2011 I attended my first ghusal, had two deaths in the family, a wedding and a relation with cancer finding out they no longer need to have treatment. The rest of the year consisted of meeting family members I had never seen before and unexpectedly bu...