TIL

from collections import defaultdict
a = defaultdict(int)

a[whatever] += 1 # without ever initializing for any whatever key

Most valuable bayans

Tech Advice from ./

1. Get away from Gmail. Use a privacy-friendly alternative e-mail service like Startmail or ProtonMail. Yes, you will probably have to pay. You are either paying cash or paying with your data.

2. Break off Google search. Use DuckDuckGo to keep your searches private. If you want Google results, use Startpage instead; it will search Google privately on your behalf, preventing it from monetizing you.

3. Ditch Chrome. If you love the UI, then use the open source Chromium instead. Otherwise use Firefox (which is about to get a LOT better with the new overhaul debuting later this month) or Brave. Use your browser with ad blockers like Disconnect, uBlock Origin, AdBlock Plus and Privacy Badger to stop Google and others from serving you tracking ads.

4. If you use an Android, consider running CopperheadOS on your phone. It is built on Android code, but hardened for security and free of Google data mining.

5. Say no to Google cloud storage services. If you want a high security option, use SpiderOak. Otherwise, you can use Boxcryptor to locally encrypt your files before sending them to the cloud so that they cannot be data mined.

Reply to This

Give to a gracious message a host of tongues,
but let ill tidings tell themselves when they be felt.

"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless." - Thomas Edison

Method of Divorce

Reference Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhQpuOAeAUQ


These are the steps one should follow if one thinks divorce is the best solution to one's marriage.

1. One man from the family of the woman, and one man from the family of the man should have a sit down and discuss what the issues are. And who's at fault. And council the one who's fault. Q:"And if they want to resolve an issue, then Allah will put mohabbat in their hearts." This task has to be done by men of the families.

2. Halat e hez main talaq ne di jaye

3. Paki ki halat main shart yeh hai k mubashrat se pehle chore, mubashrat kar li tou is Tuhr main bhi nahin chor sakte

4. Sirf aik talaq per iktifa kia jaye, dusri aur teesri na ki jaye, phir is aik se 3 periods k baad nikah batil hojaye

5. Aur agar wakai bezar hai, tou dosray tuhr ka intezar kare. Phir us main dobara talaq de, phir tesri talaq k liye phir teesray tuhr tak intezar kare. Aur kisi bhi tuhr main ham bistry jaiz nahin.

Imam Ghazali on time management

"Your time should not be without any structure, such that you occupy yourself arbitrarily with whatever comes along.
Rather, you must take account of yourself and order your worship during the day and the night, assigning to each period of time an activity that must not be neglected nor replaced by another activity.
By this ordering of time, the blessing in time will show itself. A person who leaves himself without a plan as animals do, not knowing what he is to do at any given moment, will spend most of his time fruitlessly.
Your time is your life, and your life is your capital: by it you make your trade, and by it you will reach the eternal bounties in the proximity of Allah.
Every single breath of yours is a priceless jewel, because it is irreplaceable; once it is gone, there is no return for it.
So do not be like fools who rejoice each day as their wealth increases while their lives decrease. What good is there in wealth that increases while one’s lifespan decreases?
Do not rejoice except in an increase of knowledge or an increase of good works. Truly they are your two friends who will accompany you in your grave, when your spouse, your wealth, your children, and your friends will remain behind.”
— Imam al-Ghazali

Summary: Why children are disobedient to their parents بچے والدین کے نافرمان کیوں

Summary of this bayan as I undderstand it:

1. Secular education is like Ghiza (food) and Religious education is like dawa (Medicine). We need both of these to live a healthy life. Where food is regular, we become sick, and need medicine. Likewise with education.

2. Everything has a taseer (nature, side effect) — water has an side-effect that it cools one down in addition to quenching the thirst. Spices have an effect the heat one up, though the primary reason is to improve the taste of the food. It's the nature of the secular sciences that they progress. They improve my criticising the previously accumulated knowledge, findings flaws in it, and improving upon it. The idea is newer is better than older. So the kids who are taking secular education subconsciously adopt this view with regards to their elders.

3. Religious education. Respect the elders, love the elders, trust the elders, associate with the elders. Rely on the elders. Religion doesn't "progress", it doesn't improve upon the previous. It only applies what was said earlier, to what's new. Religion progresses not my evolving, not by looking at older things with new perspectives, but newer things with old perspective.

4. Secular education is the science of experimentation. Experiments can be criticised in light of new experiments. Of course. But Wahi cannot be criticised in light of new "knowledge". If we challenge or criticise Wahii, we might lose Emaan.

*args, **kwargs

Inside a function header:

* collects all the positional arguments in a tuple

** collects all the keyword arguments in a dictionary

>>> def functionA(*a, **kw):
       print(a)
       print(kw)


>>> functionA(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, a=2, b=3, c=5)
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
{'a': 2, 'c': 5, 'b': 3}

In a function call:

* unpacks an list or tuple into position arguments

** unpacks an dictionary into keyword arguments

>>> lis=[1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> dic={'a': 10, 'b':20}
>>> functionA(*lis, **dic)  #it is similar to functionA(1, 2, 3, 4, a=10, b=20)
(1, 2, 3, 4)
{'a': 10, 'b': 20}

Bad Big Wolf

From here: https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/05/25/fire-and-fog/

When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his first story, at age 7, “my mother … pointed out that one could not say ‘a green great dragon,’ but had to say ‘a great green dragon.’ I wondered why, and still do.” It turns out that there’s an unwritten rule in English that governs the order in which we string our adjectives together:

opinion
size
age
shape
color
origin
material
type
purpose

In The Elements of Eloquence, Mark Forsyth writes, “So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.”

Another unwritten rule concerns ablaut reduplication: In terms such as chit-chat or dilly-dally, in which a word is repeated with an altered vowel, the vowels will follow the pattern I-A-O if there are three words and I-A or I-O if there are two. So:

tip-top
clip-clop
King Kong
flip-flop
sing-song
shilly-shally

And so on. Interestingly, these rules about precedence seem to follow a precedence rule of their own: The “royal order of adjectives” would require Red Riding Hood to meet the “Bad Big Wolf” (opinion before size). But the rule of ablaut reduplication apparently trumps this, making him the Big Bad Wolf.

“Why this should be is a subject of endless debate among linguists,” Forsyth writes. “It might be to do with the movement of your tongue or an ancient language of the Caucasus. It doesn’t matter. It’s the law, and, as with the adjectives, you knew it even if you didn’t know you knew it. And the law is so important that you just can’t have a Bad Big Wolf.”

I don’t know how this applies to dragons.

(Thanks, Nick and Armin.)

Review: Islamic Guide To Sexual Relations

Islamic Guide To Sexual Relations by Muhammad Ibn Adam Al-Kawthari
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Some non-muslims teased the companions of noble prophet saw. They said, your prophet tells you about how to wipe yourself too.

The companions, not suffering from any inferiority complex, said Indeed he does. And he tells us to do in so and so manner.

Alhamdulillah, Allah has taught us through His messenger about each and every facet of life. And one important aspect of a person's life is sex. Maslow would place it as one of the five most basic human needs. Well above self-actualisation, esteem, love, belonging, intellectual pursuits. In terms of a person's well-being's dependence on it, it's not much different from food itself. As the joke goes. Sex, like Oxygen, only becomes important when you aren't getting any.

Unfortunately, muslim world is too shy to talk about it, or to acknowledge.

May Allah give rise to more scholars in ummat, who are able and willing to talk about the relevant issues with clarity and completeness. This book is by one such scholar.

At the very least, one would learn what how the Prophet, the greatest of men of all time, loved his wives, and treated them.

At the best, it could inspire one to fall in love with Allah and His final prophet once again, for having thought about us, the ummatis to such an extent, and to provide us with a deen so complete in guidance, and so pure in its rule.

View all my reviews

Mumtaz Naseem

Review: The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cannot say anything about this book that hasn't been said before. But I must say that it is a novella that is both humorous and horror at the same. The character in it is find in a ridiculously pitiable state, yet the reader never sympathises with him, reader only thinks of himself. What if it were to happen to me? Kafka throws some satire and social commentary for additional zest.

This is timeless.

View all my reviews

Review: Pride & Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cannot say anything about it, that hasn't been said before.

I just feel very, very fortunate that I myself am married to a woman such as Lizzy herself.

This is an excellent book, very enjoyable, with subtle lessons, and even subtle commentary.

The characters are all so accurately depicted, one can't help but find one family member reflected in each one of them.

Austen, you live on in your books!

View all my reviews

Review: Jaza Ul Amaal

Jaza Ul Amaal by Ashraf Ali Thanwi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Within fifty pages, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi shakes you and clears all the confusions and doubts which necessarily arise as a result of living in a society that's the "singing dancing cr*p of the world".

He proves how our actions affect our this life and the next life; and both lives are, to a perfect, ideal extent, in our power.

He finishes by mentioning five high impact good deeds (1. Acquiring Ilm, 2. Namaz, 3. Socialising less, 4. Self-audit, 5. Repentence) and six high impact bad deeds (1. Backbiting, 2. Opression, 3. Inter-gender interaction, 4. Anger, 5. Conceit, 6. Impure Rizq)

A must read for any muslims who finds himself lazy in DOs and persistent in DONTs.

View all my reviews

On Getting Married

From here.

One approach about How to get married is, first date the person and try to get to know him/her before marrying. Because, otherwise you're marrying a complete stranger. And it may not work out...

On closer inspection, we learn that, a lot of those marriages that are breaking, are not breaking because the couple didn't know one another, but because

When to marry?
As soon as you feel mature enough. Even if you're a student, but there's place for you to keep her, and your parents can feed her, then get married.

After marrying, nobody ever says I married too early, everyone says I should have married earlier.

What can we do to prepare for marriage?
Understand the laws of divorce.
Read a _few_ books on marriage.

It's about expectations. Expect that she will talk back.

There are people who are not interested in marriage.
Some guys think all women are bad, some girls think all women are bad.

Anas ra relates:

Whoever Allah provides with a righteous wife, then He has assisted him in half his deen. Then he should just fear in the other half. 

Although it addresses men, because he (saw.) had male audience, it works for women as well.

... to be continued ...

Review: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I set out to read this book thinking it would be inspirational and life-changing. (I owed my expectations to having read the only Autobiography of Malcolm X — a truly inspirational book!) But it tuned out to be far more interesting and reach.

It's not inspirational, true. But it is informative and instructive. It's a great of book of strategy, wisdom, history, philosophy, even politics. I learned the big Ben's antics that he used throughout his life. He shows like a loving father, how to apply yourself in this world to maximise one's potential as a citizen.

I am tempted to re-rewrite this book as a manual of strategy and power, for it covers a broad spectrum of events an ordinary person might find himself in, and shows him, how to be extra-ordinary.

View all my reviews

A faith not worth dying for, is not worth living for.

A VISION not worth dying for, is not worth living for.

"A person who has nothing to die for, has nothing to live for." —Martin Luther Kind

Characteristics of a Vision

Taken from a talk by Suleman Ahmer of Timelenders.

1. Attainable
2.
3.
4. Clarity
5. Simplicity
6. Scale
7.Nobility
8. Loftiness/Greatness
9. Corrctness

This post is a WIP.

Drink your food, chew your water - part II

Benefits of chewing thoroughly

1. Sunnat
2. Hadees per Amal
3. Sabar paida hoga
4. You will eat less
5. Food will be more delicious
6. People don't judge you as greedy
7. Will get rid of the dangers of eating
8. More engergy

The story of my marriage

Alhamdulillah, summa Alhamdulillah, I got engaged. InshAllah I will be getting married.

I feel like making it a long long story, so I could come back to it, read it again and again, and cherish. But I know, I shouldn't bore the reader with excessive details.

Here's the summary:

I asked my dear friend Faryal Qasim to look for suitable matches for me in her circle. I asked her to use her strong presence on Social Media. She asked me what to post. I thought a lot about it, but in the end came up with this:

Religious guy looking for a girl who puts akhirat over dunya.

She got many responses. She told me about them, I pursed them etc etc. They had a lot of questions. A lot of the girls there wore scarf, and asked me if I was fine with them wearing scarf after marriage, or if I would force them to do niqab. I replied to each one of them, that I didn't want anyone to change for me, I didn't want to force anyone, I didn't want grievances. I just wanted someone, who was already compatible. Who already did niqab, who already wanted to live in Pakistan, etc etc. When Faryal heard my responses, she told me about her friend, who didn't wanna be forced in any way. But who did Niqab. Faryal warned me, she is feminist.

I sent her an email. I discovered, she was not a feminist. But a man hating person, whose reason for getting married was that it was Ibadat, Islamic. After a few email exchanges, and many many consultations, and istikhara, I agreed to go ahead with it. We called her mom.

Then they started doing their background search. They sent people to my village, did their recon. Finally, they came to see me (they live in ISB).

Her dad was not very pleased with a dude with beard and trousers above ankled. But he realised later on, that that's the kind of man her daughter would marry. So they agreed. And in that one phone call, I was engaged.

I haven't seen her. I haven't met her. I have talked to her on text a number of times, and I have talked to her on phone too. But we're not in touch. The Nikah is expected to be in May inshAllah. May Allah put barakaat in this union. I am looking forward to it, from the bottom of my heart.

She looks like a great person to be with :)

Advice for Marriage

Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal’s (rh) advice to his son on his wedding day:

Dear son, you will not attain good fortune in your home except by 10 characteristics which you show to your wife, so remember them and be enthusiastic in acting upon them.

As for the first two; women like attention and they like to be told clearly that they are loved. So don’t be stingy in expressing your love for your wife. If you become limited in expressing your love, you will create a barrier of harshness between you and her, and there will be a decrease in affection.

3, Ladies hate a strict, overcautious man, yet they seek to use the soft vulnerable one. So use each quality appropriately. This will be more appealing for love and it will bring you peace of mind.

4. Ladies like from their husbands what their husbands like from them, i.e. kind words, good looks, clean clothes and a pleasant odour. Therefore, always remain in that state.

5, Indeed, the house is under the sovereignty of the woman. While she remains therein, she feels that she is sitting upon her throne, and that she is the chief of the house . Stay clear of destroying this kingdom of hers and do not ever attempt to dethrone her, otherwise you will be trying to snatch her sovereignty. A king gets most angry at he who tries to strip him of his authority, even if he portrays to show something else.

6. A woman wants to love her husband, but at the same time she does not want to lose her family. So do not put yourself and her family in the same scale, because then her choice will be down to either you or her family. And even if she does choose you over her family, she will remain in anxiety, which will then turn into hatred towards you in your daily life.

7. Surely woman has been created from a curved rib, and this is the secret of her beauty, and the secret of the attraction towards her. And this is no defect in her, because ‘the eyebrows look beautiful due to them being curved’. So if she errs, do not rebuke her in a manner in which there is no gentleness, attempting to straighten her; otherwise you will simply break her and her breaking, is her divorce. At the same time do not let her off upon that mistake, otherwise her crookedness will increase and she will become arrogant with her ego. Thereafter, she will never soften for you and she won’t listen to you, so stay in between the two.

8. It is in the women’s nature to be ungrateful towards their husbands and to deny favours. If you were to be nice to her for her whole life but you grieved her once, she will say, “I have never seen any good from you”. So don’t let this attitude of her make you dislike her or to run away from her. If you dislike this feature of hers, you will be pleased with some other good habits within her, so create a balance.

9. Surely there are times when a woman goes through some conditions of bodily weakness and fatigue of the mind. Such that Allah has relieved her of some of her compulsory worships during that period; Allah has totally pardoned her from praying, and has postponed the days of fasting for her within this break to a later date until she regains her health and becomes normal in her temperament once more. Thus, during these days, treat her in a godly manner. Just as Allah has relieved her of the duties, you should also lessen your demands and instructions from her during those days.

10. Last but not least, know that a woman is like a captive with you. Therefore, have mercy upon her.

Tablīghī Jamā῾at

The Tablīghī Jamā῾at of the Indo‐Pakistan subcontinent, also variously called the Jamā῾at (Party), Taḥrīk (Movement), Niẓam (System), Tanẓīm (Organization), and Taḥrīk‐i Īmān (Faith Movement), is one of the most important grassroots Islamic movements in the contemporary Muslim world. From a modest beginning in 1926 with da῾wah (missionary) work in Mewat near Delhi under the leadership of the Ṣūfī scholar Maulānā Muḥammad Ilyās (1885–1944), the Jamā῾at today has followers all over the Muslim world and the West. Its 1993 annual international conference in Raiwind near Lahore, Pakistan was attended by more than one million Muslims from ninety‐four countries. In fact, in recent years the Raiwind annual conference has become the second largest religious congregation of the Muslim World after the ḥajj. Its annual conference in North America normally attracts about ten thousand, probably the largest gathering of Muslims in the West.

The emergence of the Tablīghī Jamā῾at as a movement for the reawakening of faith and reaffirmation of Muslim religio‐cultural identity can be seen as a continuation of the broader trend of Islamic revival in North India in the wake of the collapse of Muslim political power and consolidation of the British rule in India in the mid‐nineteenth century. In the strictly religious sphere one manifestation of this trend was the rapid growth of the madrasahs (religious educational institutions) in North India, which sought to reassert the authority of Islamic orthodoxy and to relink the Muslim masses with Islamic institutions. The pietistic and devotional aspects of the Tablīghī Jamā῾at owe their origin to the Ṣūfī teachings and practices of Shaykh Aḥmad Sirhindī, Shāh Walī Allāh, and the founder of the Mujāhidīn movement, Sayyid Aḥmad Shahīd (1786–1831). These Ṣūfīs, who belonged to the Naqshbandīyah order, considered the observance of the sharī῾ah integral to their practices. It is in this sense that the Tablīghī Jamā῾at has been described, at least in its initial phase, both as a reinvigorated form of Islamic orthodoxy and as a reformed Sufīsm.

The emergence of the Tablīghī Jamā῾at was also a direct response to the rise of such aggressive Hindu proselytizing movements as the Shuddhi (Purification) and Sangathan (Consolidation), which launched massive efforts in the early twentieth century to “reclaim” those “fallen‐away” Hindus who had converted to Islam in the past. The special target of these revivalist movements were the so‐called “borderline” Muslims who had retained most of the religious practices and social customs of their Hindu ancestors. Maulānā Ilyās, the founder of the Tablīghī Jamā῾at, believed that only a grassroots Islamic religious movement could counter the efforts of the Shuddhi and Sangathan, purify the borderline Muslims from their Hindu accretions, and educate them about their beliefs and rituals in order to save them from becoming easy prey to the Hindu proselytizers.

The Tablīghī Jamā῾at originated in Mewat, a Gangetic plateau in North India inhabited by Rajput tribes known as Meos. Historical accounts differ as to the exact time of their conversion to Islam, but most historians place it between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the formative phase of Muslim rule in India. There is also evidence to suggest, however, that there were several Meo conversions to Islam, followed by reconversion to Hinduism whenever Muslim political power declined in the region. When Ilyās started his religious movement in Mewat, most Meos were Muslims in name only. They retained many Hindu socioreligious practices; many kept their old Hindu names and even worshiped Hindu deities in their homes and celebrated Hindu religious festivals. Most could not even correctly recite the one‐line shahādah (the Muslim profession of faith) or say their daily ritual prayers. Very few villages in Mewat had mosques of madrasahs. Their birth, marriage, and death rituals were all based on Hindu customs.

Maulānā Ilyās, an Islamic religious scholar in the tradition of the orthodox Deoband seminary in the United Province and a follower of the Naqshbandīyah, learned of the “dismal Islamic situation” in Mewat first through his disciples and later through his own several missionary trips there. His initial efforts toward reislamization of Mewati Muslims were essentially to establish a network of mosque‐based religious schools to educate local Muslims about correct Islamic beliefs and practices. Although he was able to establish more than one hundred religious schools in a short time in the Mewat region, he soon became disillusioned with his approach, realizing that these institutions were producing “religious functionaries” but not preachers who were willing to go door to door and remind people of their religious duties. Recognizing the futility of the madrasah approach as a basis for reawakening religious consciousness and educating ordinary Muslims about their religion, Maulānā Ilyās decided to quit his teaching position at Madrasah Maẓharul ῾Ulūm in Saharanpur and moved to Bastī Niẓāmuddīn in the old quarters of Delhi to begin his missionary work through itinerant preaching. The Tablīghī movement was formally launched in 1926 from this place, which later became the movement's international headquarters. After the partition of India in 1947, however, Raiwind, a small railroad town near Lahore, Pakistan, replaced Bastī Niẓāmuddīn as a major center of the Jamā῾at's organizational and missionary activities.

Physically frail and intellectually unassuming, Maulānā Ilyās possessed none of the qualities attributed to many other prominent leaders of twentieth‐century Islam. Neither an outstanding religious scholar and author nor a good public speaker nor a charismatic leader, Maulānā Ilyās was nevertheless imbued with the enormous zeal of a dedicated missionary. His singleminded devotion and determination to reach out to the Muslim masses and touch them with the message of the Qur'ān and sunnah took precedence over everything else. He was persistent, untiring, and wholeheartedly devoted to what he described as “the mission of the prophets”—to call people to the path of God. His message to his coreligionists was simple and straightforward: “Ai Musalmāno Musalmān bano” (O Muslims, become good Muslims!).

The method adopted by Maulānā Ilyās to call people to Islam was equally simple. It was to organize units of at least ten persons and send them to various villages. These tablīghī units, known as jamā῾ats (groups), would visit a village, invite the local Muslims to assemble in the mosque or some other meetingplace, and present their message in the form of the following six demands. First, every Muslim must be able to recite the shahādah (“There is no God but Allāh and Muḥammad is His Prophet”) correctly in Arabic and know its meaning; this asserts the unity of God, rejects all other deities, and emphasizes obedience to the prophet Muḥammad. Second, a Muslim must also learn how to say the ṣalāt (obligatory ritual prayer) correctly and in accordance with its prescribed rituals; this not only emphasizes the need for the ritual performance of prayer in its external form but also encourages the believer to strive for complete submission to God by bowing before him in humility and God‐consciousness.

Third, a Muslim cannot claim to be a true believer unless he is knowledgeable about the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam; he must also perform dhikr (ritual remembrance of God) frequently. For basic religious knowledge, Tablīghī workers are required to read seven essays written by Maulānā Muḥammad Zakarīyā, a reputable scholar of ḥadīth at Saharanpur madrasah and an early supporter of the movement. These essays, now compiled in a single volume under the title Tablīghī niṣāb (Tablīghī Curriculum) deal with life stories of the companions of the Prophet, and the virtues of ṣalāt, dhikr, charity, ḥajj, ritual salutation to the Prophet, and the Qur'ān. Written in simple and lucid Urdu and based mostly on inspirational but historically suspect traditions and anecdotes, these essays also constitute, with little change, the basic source material for the formulaic speech delivered by the Tablīghī missionaries throughout the world. In addition, every Muslim is also encouraged to learn how to read the Qur'ān in Arabic, with correct pronunciation.

Fourth, every Muslim must be respectful and polite toward fellow Muslims and show deference toward them. This idea of ikrām‐i Muslim (respect for Muslims) is not only a religious obligation but also a basic prerequisite for effective da῾wah work. Included in this principle is also an obligation to recognize and respect the rights of others: the rights of elders to be treated respectfully; the rights of young ones to be treated with love, care, and affection; the rights of the poor to be helped in their needs; the rights of neighbors to be shown consideration; and the rights of those with whom we may have differences. Fifth, a Muslim must always inculcate honesty and sincerity in all endeavors. Everything is to be done for the sake of seeking the pleasure of God and serving his cause, and not for any worldly benefit.

The final demand, which constitutes the most distinctive innovative aspect of the Jamā῾at's approach to Islamic da῾wah work, deals with the formation of small groups of volunteer preachers willing to donate time and travel from place to place spreading the word of God. For Maulānā Ilyās preaching is not the work of only the professional ῾ulamā'; it is the duty of every Muslim. People are usually asked to volunteer for a chillah (forty days of itinerant preaching), which is considered the maximum stint of outdoor missionary activity for new members. Those who cannot spare forty days may undertake forty one‐day retreats in a year. Every member must preach at least four months during his lifetime. Maulānā Ilyās believed that this preaching would prepare people to endure hardships and strengthen their moral and spiritual qualities.

These six principles are the cornerstone of the Tablīghī Jamā῾at ideology and are to be strictly observed by all members. Maulānā Ilyās later added another rule asking members to abstain from wasting time in idle talk and aimless activities and protect themselves from sinful and prohibited (ḥaram) deeds.

The new movement met with spectacular success in a relatively short period. Thousands of Muslims joined Maulānā Ilyās to propagate the message of Islam throughout Mewat. Hundreds of new mosques were built and dozens of new madrasahs established for both children and adults. People began to observe obligatory rituals such as saying ṣalāt, paying zākat, fasting during Ramaḋān, and performing the ḥajj. The most visible change was in dress and in the customs associated with birth, marriage, and burial rituals. There were signs of Islamic religious revival everywhere in the area.

By the time Maulānā Ilyās died in 1944 Mewat had come to be seen as the great success of this new approach to Islamic da῾wah. The Jamā῾at now started extending its activities into other parts of India. Since the Tablīghī method of preaching did not require any degree of religious scholarship, formal training, or lengthy preparation, everyone who joined the Jamā῾at became an instant preacher on the basis of his familiarity with the six simple principles of da῾wah. Thus the number of itinerant preachers multiplied quickly, and the Jamā῾at was able to send its Tablīghī missions all over India, from Peshawar in the Northwest Frontier Province to Noakhali in East Bengal.

It is interesting that this Islamic revivalist upsurge was taking place precisely at a time when its political counterpart, the Muslim nationalist movement of the All‐India Muslim League with its demand for a separate homeland for Indian Muslims, was also gaining great momentum. The fact that the Tablīghī Jamā῾at was able to withstand the intense pressures of the Muslim politics of the 1940s and maintain its purely religious course throughout this period of turmoil, communal riots, and eventual partition of the subcontinent emphasizes not only its firm ideological commitment and methodological rigidity but also its ability to operate in isolation from its political environment.

After the death of Maulānā Ilyās, his son Maulānā Yūsuf (1917–1965) was selected as his successor by the elders of the Jamā῾at. Maulānā Yūsuf was a great organizer and an untiring worker. He spent most of his adult life traveling with preaching groups throughout the subcontinent. He extended the movement's operations beyond the northern provinces and mobilized thousands of groups to tour all over India. It was also during, his tenure that the Jamā῾at's activities spread to countries of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. Since Maulānā Yūsuf's death in 1965, Maulānā In῾āmul Ḥasan has led the Jamā῾at and has expanded its international operations enormously. Today the Jamā῾at has become a truly global Islamic movement. Its influence has grown significantly over the past two decades, especially in South and Southeast Asia but also in Africa and among Muslim communities in the West; however, it has not been able to attract any significant following among Arabic‐speaking Muslims. The majority of its followers in the Middle East are South Asian immigrant workers.

The success of the Jamā῾at owes much to the dedicated missionary work of its members and followers, its simple, noncontroversial and nonsectarian message, and its direct, personal appeal to and contacts with individual Muslims. Instead of publishing books or addressing large gatherings, Jamā῾at members go door to door and invite people to join their ranks and spread the word of God. Their program of asking Muslims to leave their families, jobs, and home towns for a time and join in a system of communal learning, worship, preaching, and other devotional activities has proved enormously effective in building a community‐type structure with close personal relationships and mutual moral‐psychological support. Because the basic message of the Jamā῾at is simple enough to be imparted by anyone willing to volunteer, it is ideally suited for ordinary Muslims with little or no previous Islamic education. The Jamā῾at's reliance on lay preachers, rather than on ῾ulamā', has helped it greatly to reach and attract the Muslim masses in rural communities and small towns.

Despite its enormous expansion over the past sixty‐eight years, the Jamā῾at remains an informal association with no written constitution, standardized organizational rules and procedures, hierarchy of leadership, network of branches and departments, or even office records and membership registry. The amīr (chief) is selected for life through informal consultation among the “elders” of the Jamā῾at; he in turn appoints a shūrā (consultative body) to advise him on important matters.

In matters of religious beliefs and practices, the Tablīghī Jamā῾at has consistently followed the orthodox Deoband tradition and has emphasized taqlīd (following the established schools of Islamic law) over ijtihād (independent reasoning). It rejects such popular expressions of religion as veneration of saints, visiting shrines, and observing the syncretic rituals associated with popular Sufism. The Jamā῾at can thus be considered an heir to the reformist‐fundamentalist tradition of Shāh Walī Allāh, with its emphasis on reformed Sufism and strict observation of the sunnah of the Prophet. Jamā῾at workers are rigid in following orthodox rituals and practices and in observing the rules of the sharī῾ah. Unlike modernists and neofundamentalists, Tablīghī workers emphasize both the form and the spirit of religious rules and practices.

From its inception the Tablīghī Jamā῾at has deliberately stayed away from politics and political controversies. Maulānā Ilyās believed that the Jamā῾at would not be able to achieve its goals if it got embroiled in partisan politics. Reforming individuals for him was more important than reforming social and political institutions—a process that, he believed, could gradually come about as more and more people joined his movement and became good Muslims. His later years coincided with a great schism in the Indian Muslim religious circles: most of the Deoband ῾ulamā' opposed the idea of a separate homeland for Muslims and supported the All‐India National Congress in calling for a united India; other ῾ulamā' joined with the Muslim League in its demand for Pakistan. Maulānā Ilyās asked his followers not to take sides with either camp and to continue their essentially nonpolitical da῾wah work among Muslims of all political persuasions.

The Jamā῾at has rigidly maintained this nonpolitical posture since. In Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and elsewhere in its operations, it has scrupulously observed its founder's ban on political activities and has refused to take positions on political issues. Thus, in Pakistan, the Jamā῾at remained noncommittal on major national controversies involving the relationship between Islam and the state. In India too the Jamā῾at has never been involved in so‐called “Muslim issues” such as communal riots, Muslim family laws, the Shah Bano case, and the Babri mosque. This nonpolitical stance has helped it greatly to operate freely in societies where politically oriented religious activities are viewed with suspicion and fear by the government.

In India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, and, to a certain extent in the Muslim areas of Thailand and the Philippines, the Tablīghī Jamā῾at has been an important movement in nonpolitical Islamic revivalism and has attracted a large following from rural communities and small towns. Although members do not participate in partisan politics, they do nevertheless constitute a solid vote bank for ῾ulamā'‐based religio‐political parties. In Pakistan they have consistently voted for the orthodox, Deobandī‐oriented Jam῾iyatul ῾Ulāmā'‐i Islām. In Malaysia, Tablīghī Jamā῾at followers have been a major source of support for the ῾ulamā'‐based Partai Islam Se‐Malaysia in federal and provincial elections. [See Jam῾īyatul ῾Ulamā'‐i Islām; Partai Islam Se‐Malaysia.]

In Europe and North America the Tablīghī Jamā῾at has been working among the immigrant Muslim communities, especially among Muslims of South Asian origin, for more than three decades and has established a large following among them. In addition to the propagation of its standard six‐point program, the Jamā῾at in the West has also been concerned with the preservation of the religious and cultural identity of Muslims in a non‐Islamic environment. Thus it has been active in building mosques and Islamic centers, establishing Islamic Sunday schools for Muslim children and adults, providing dhabīḥah (ritually slaughtered) meat to Muslim families, and organizing Islamic training camps and retreats for Muslim youth. In North America the Jamā῾at has also met with some success in gaining converts among African‐Americans and Caribbean immigrants. Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, and Washington, D.C., are the major centers of the Jamā῾at's activities in the United States.

Most followers of the Tablīghī Jamā῾at in South Asia come from the lower middle class with minimum exposure to modern Western education and from semiurban areas. It has also attracted a considerable following among lower‐level government employees, paraprofessionals and schoolteachers. Its influence on college and university campuses has been minimal. Because of its nonpolitical orientation it has been easy to spread its message in the armed forces of Pakistan, where it has a considerable following among noncommissioned personnel. The Jamā῾at received a great boost during the government of President Zia ul‐Haq, who was concerned to develop Islamic spirit among the Pakistani military; an active member of the Jamā῾at rose to the sensitive position of chief of Pakistan Military Intelligence during 1991–1993 and reportedly directed Pakistan's Afghan operation both through conventional intelligence techniques and through holding dhikr assemblies.

In Malaysia and Indonesia the social bases of the Jamā῾at's support are more diverse than in South Asia. Its initial followers in these countries were immigrant Muslims from South Asia, but during the past two decades it has penetrated the Malay Muslim community, especially in rural areas. Today the bulk of its support comes from urban‐based, well‐educated youth. In Indonesia, where the Jamā῾at has worked in close collaboration with such nonpolitical Islamic reform movements as the Muhammadiyah and the Nahdatul Ulama, its activities have focused on converting abangan (syncretic, Indic‐oriented) Muslims into santri (purist) Muslims. Thus the Tablīghī Jamā῾at in Indonesia, unlike India and Pakistan, has been associated both with the ῾ulamā' and with urban‐based, modern‐educated Muslim youth.

How to use social media?

1. Clearly define the purpose of your usage. Why are you using social media? If you don't define the purpose; then you are not using the media, the media is using you.
2. Set time limit. Set up a time for it, when and how how long you wanna use it. Or else it will suck your time from other important things in it.

How to start a business

Suleman Ahmer gave a talk on what you need, in what order if you wanna start a business.

I took notes of the speech. But infortunately, I have lost those notes. So I am just trying to jot down here what I remember, then I can build the rest of speech from there.

1. You need a Vision
2. You need Leadership, the Vision attracts leaders
3. You need a team who shares the Vision
4. You need resources i.e. Land
5. ?
6. ?

Counting Morsels

Recently I started practising this thing called "Drink your food, Eat your water". The idea is that you chew your food to a soft mushy pulp, that it's almost liquid, and then you drink it. It's supposed to be easy to digest. I get that. But why (or how) to eat water? Well, as it turns out this, maxim isn't based in science (though it has science to it), it's based in Tai Chi. Where they have thing called Chi, which is supposed to by life energy. You keep food longer in your mouth to make it absorb more chi. Like wise, if you need to keep the water in your mouth for longer, you have to swirl it around your mouth, or 'chew' it. So it absorbs chi.

But this chi claim is not as absurd as it may sound. It has a science to it too. You have saliva in your mouth, your saliva. With your genetic encoding and what not. When food or drink is filled with something that the body considers its own, the body digests it and absorbs it readily, it thinks, it's a friend. Otherwise, it treats it as a foreigner, and gives it a harsh treatment.

That's all well and good. And it's my third day chewing food to a liquid. There are many things I have found out.

1. I require less food. Almost half. 
2. I really enjoy food, that's one reason I ate a lot. But now, by eating slowly, I really really enjoy the food, and I don't have to eat a lot of it to do so. 
3. I can't talk while eating! For someone who considered eating a social activity, this is tough. But it's also liberating. In a way. 
4. I now only eat when I am hungry. I ask myself if the urge to eat arises, do you really wanna do the cumbersome process of grinding and chewing? And the answer is no unless I am hungry. 
5. I spend a lot of time eating! A full mean can take up 30 minutes! That also means I am still eating a lot... which is also meant by..
6. I need to excrete twice a day. Earlier I never thought about it, but I am literally spending 2 hours everyday just eating and shitting!

So today I decided to count the number of morsels I can eat in 15 minutes, since that's how much time I can guiltlessly allocate to my meals. As I sat down eating and counting, I thought why not count all the morsels required to eat my normal amount of food. It turns out, the amount of food I eat consists of 17 morsels! That's almost twice the recommended amount! (The recommended amount is nine).

This is very neat actually. I will start eating nine morsels from tomorrow. And ideally it should take 15 minutes. This resolution makes me nervous, since eating less scares me. Hunger scares me. I don't know why though :/

I am assuring myself, that I won't die. That if I feel hungry again, I can drink milk! (We have really good cow milk at our home!) And if even that doesn't help, I can have a fruit. Or maybe nuts. But only if I feel hungry.

So let's see what happens from tomorrow onwards.

You're eating that?

Today, uncle, aunts and sis came to the hospital to visit mom. I was in the cafe, they decided to join there, and asked me to get them coffee. I asked them how many cakes they wanted with it, they said two.

A thin pretty-ish young woman had sat right in front of where I had to come and sit. At first I sat there drinking, then I changed my seat cause I felt uncomfortable. She was having tea/coffee and a pastry.

So I was enjoying my tea, and generally talking, taking small sips from my tea, and "eating" it, and taking small bites from the sponge cake, and "drinking" it. When my Uncle says in Pushto "Look at their size, and look at the cake their eating" — I felt embarrassed, hurt and sad. And said, Okay Shakeel bhai, if you say so, I won't eat it. And I pushed the cake towards other people, to show I had withdrawn, with a smile.

But he wasn't talking me. He was talking about that girl. He meant, look how unhealthy her diet is, and how fit she looks.

But I took it upon myself.

Why? I am thinking about this more and more, ever since I discovered why I eat a lot. I have what they call Emotional Eating or Stress Eating. And there's a lot of symptoms associated with it, one them is negative body image and an embarrassment of eating. A person feels shame, when he/she eats. And to curb this negative emotion, a person eats (more).

Add to that the friends and family who wants to 'help' the individual, and 'motivate' him/her by shaming him, threatening him, embarrassing him, taunting him, making fun, and emotionally blackmailing.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.