Umm Proffessional blogs

My always-on-Islamic-web-browser-Muslimah sent me this link www.outstandingramadan.com. There is a great e-book you don’t want to miss out reading before you start your Ramadan. Here is an excerpt from this book “Recharge Your Faith: How To Make your Ramadan Outstanding”;

“A successful Ramadan is all about planning; you must have a clear vision of what you want to gain and specifically how you are going to achieve it. This is why, as you will soon see, the majority of this book focuses on the time leading up to Ramadan. Whether you are a working professional or a mother with children, you will find that simple strategic planning of your schedule before Ramadan will free up your time drastically for ibaadah (worship).” -Amirah Mauthoor

My friend shared with me how she used this idea to fix her office desk. Here’s what she had to say:  ”I  cleared my computer desk (which is where I spend most of my free time), and created office central where my phone, address book, and other essentials are easily visible on the table top. I created my own Ramadan Reminders Calendar  which is posted on the wall with some ramadan activities I can do everyday with my family.  It’s simple list of deeds that can be done with your family in 30 minutes or less.

I put Muhammad Al-Shareef’s “Ramadan Wheels Chart”, “TJ Ramadan Calendar Activities” , and “TJ It’s Ramadan” up on my  colorful Bulletin boards. Lastly I  printed a copy of Sister Amira’s wonderful E-Book right next to my planner. This hopefully will keep me in connection with my goals this Ramadan.  

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Every Ramadan, I found more and more Islamic Websites creating different Ramadan Advent Calendars. Some calendars have simple dates to check off each day. Others have pockets that allow the parents to place a daily Ramadan task or challenge for the child to complete. Once the task is completed, the child is rewarded with a prize or treat that can be neatly tucked into the pocket.  I featured some of my favorite ones to buy for my children and family. 

Barakah Life: Silk Ramadan Calendar

L-Iman : “Flower in Ramadan” Calendar  

A Ramadan calendar made with textile fabrics in an extraordinary design with pockets. Every calendar is unique and follows either a blue or a pink color theme. 

It might be a little pricey as people in the States will be paying in Euros and it costs 69.95, not including shipping! But if you have multiple kids you can hand it down….it might be well worth it! 

Umm Professional blogs

Assalamualaikum!

Alhumdulillah, we have been blessed with yet another month of Ramadan. Let’s take this opportunity to gain as many blessings as possible and use our time wisely to enjoy and hoard as much thawab as possible this month. Inshallah, it is also a great time to educate our children. Please visit our website daily as we plan to post something for you to do with your children each day. Inshallah.

Umm Proffessional blogs

I just love the fact that there are so many websites now where you can easily get Islamic gifts! I usually like to give my children’s teacher something useful, up to date, and sometimes a Muslim related product. These are just simple gifts that you can give under $20.00, and wrap it up in a gift wrapper or toss it in a nice green bag that your child made (like).

1. Hijabs  are quite inexpensive here, and they have a variety of selections to choose from. View this site.

2. Teachers will love this wonderful magazine from this website (please note: you’ll be paying in British pounds). Sisters Magazine

3. Why not give something to decorate her home or office with these colorful modern Islamic art posters. Here.

4. Present a good Islamic Book like Women Around the Messenger from here with a homemade Bookmark from your child.

5. She may really like the perfume burner ($3.99) with a bottle of firdous perfume.

These are few ideas that I think my teachers will like. Have any suggestions to celebrate teachers and let them know how much we appreciate them? Leave a comment.

Umm Professional blogs

March is Women’s History Month, and what better way to learn about women in our history than rekindle the forgotten life of young Fatima Al- Fihri. Fatima was a well known Tunisian aristocrat in Morocco who spent her inheritance wisely. She built a Masjid and spent her fortune to convert part of it into a university.  The first university that still stands in this world today. Read more about her on http://theurbanmuslimwomen.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/fatima-al-fihri-founder-of-the-oldest-university-in-the-world/. Her story takes me back to my very old friend, Sister Sommieh Flower, the former principal of Islamic school in Michigan, who has now moved on from bringing some food to poor refuge Afghan children in Pakistan to making an all-girls school for these children who have been entirely relying on Allah for some miracle-getting education.

She met them eating rotten apples by the road side, and now they come by her doorsteps looking for leftover dal and rice. Their toys and amusement are hours of playing kitchen with sets made out of broken bowls and branches, making curry with mud. Going to school is a dream for them because they spend their day searching through garbage for plastic bags, batteries, cardboard boxes to sell, so they can buy food (usually a few rotis) to survive.

She decided to take action, and be proactive, “Why should I just feed them, when I can teach them how to not only survive but to grow into productive, contributing, member of society?” She has a plan to open a free school for 30 impoverish girls, and is hoping to expand the school. She ensures all students are given full meals twice a day. And she plans to have teachers teaching urdu, english, and other academics, as well as life and craft skills. She is also planning to have computer classes.

If you would like to support her cause please visit www.sitaraschool.com

You are ready to leave the work, and you didn’t cook yet. You are about to pick up your kids from their afternoon school program, and suddenly you get a phone call. Your husband gives you a heads up that his sister’s family from a neighboring state is in town and is dropping by your home… tonight! And yes, they’re staying over! Don’t worry…at some point or another we’ve all been there….the unexpected house guest.

First of all, take a few deep breaths and remember the blessing. The worst thing to do is panic and begin complaining. Remember that the Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let them treat their guest generously.” (Al-Bukhari) All you need is the right intention… and everything will go smoothly.

Here are 10 tips that will help you keep your calm and bring out the inner domestic diva in you! Oh, and don’t forget to get your kids involved in being good hosts and hostesses!

• When your guest arrives, greet him/her with a warm welcome! Guests bring their own blessing from Allah SWT.  The righteous of the olden days would say that the guests bring their own rizq and leave with the sins of the host forgiven. So be gracious and look at it as an opportunity to get lots of blessings and to reconnect with that person.

• So to begin, formulate a quick menu. You will have to serve meals and snacks, so make a grocery list accordingly and go shopping. Or better yet, if you can delegate the shopping to someone else, you can save more time.

• Next, give your home a quick cleaning. No, you don’t need to vacuum every single corner or clean out your cabinets. Overall general appearance is the key. Don’t waste time trying to make everything perfect. Your home should look neat and presentable and that’s it.

• Do all your cooking prep earlier in the day so that there is less to do when you actually finish making the meal. This will give you less stress when you’re serving dinner, and will also allow you to spend more time talking to your guest than just cooking.

• Always try to keep some yummy and filling snacks handy in the pantry or the freezer. Things like frozen samosas or mozzarella sticks are great, because they’re not only filling and delicious, they’re a snap to prepare whenever anyone drops by.

• It’s a good idea to keep some extra linens and toiletries in the home. Extra blankets, pillows, and towels are great to keep on hand for overnight guests.

• You can have your children create a small basket of basic essentials for your guest by using mini or travel sized products. Be sure to include: toothpaste, unopened toothbrushes, soap, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, and a small hairbrush or comb.

• An extra added touch is to make a small basket of snacks for your guests and put it at their bedside. You can fill the basket with items such as fruits, nuts, chocolates, cookies, and bottled water.

• In terms of preparing the room in which your guest will be staying, a few simple touches can make a big difference. Leave some books or other reading material at their bedside. Brighten up the room with a simple small vase with some handpicked flowers from your garden. Put a scented candle or even a solid air freshener in the room. If you have an extra alarm clock put that there too. And if you really want to add the cherry on top, leave them a little note on the bedside telling them how happy you are to have them in your home and that you look forward to spending time with them, better still, have your children write the note or draw them a cute picture!

Umm Professional blogs

The phone is not the boss of you!  Who ever would have thought that a little bitty piece of plastic could hold so much power? We all have a love- like relationship with our phones.  We want to reach and check with the baby sitter on our children’s status but we don’t want our secretaries to find us to update us with more work.  We adore the fact that we can call grandparents to wish them Eid Mubarak over the miles, but we don’t want the phone ringing and spoiling our intimate dinners.  It’s great that you can read random text messages privately in a conference that your husband sends telling you how much he cherishes you, and no one will know as you blush silently.  Still there are days when the phone can start eating into your time.  Here are some nifty moves to make sure tiny smiles stay put on faces even when the office calls.

1. Make a back up of the numbers you have on your phone or sim card. Should your colleague happen to splash cappuccino over your cell phone while illustrating a point at a meeting, or you drop it in a puddle while getting out of a cab- at least you know your important clientele can still be reached when you need to confirm your next business lunch. There are various ways of doing this; you could download the information directly from your cell phone to the computer (refer to your service/phone providers for specifics), save phone numbers on your sim card (in countries where it applies) or get yourself a blackberry- it allows you to sync your contact list to your email address book.

2. Keeping an extra charger in your car or at the office is a small way to make sure you don’t hit panic mode should your phone run out off juice just before your next presentation.

3. Use the phone to let your child talk to his/her friends and family.  It’s a great way to teach telephone etiquette.  First try doing a trial run by demonstrating how to respond when picking up the call, asking about others, and then being clear as to who you want to speak to.  Ask the child to model your language.  Discuss with them what they want to include in the conversation, and then teach them patiently how to dial.  It may actively stifle moaning if they get involved and don’t feel left out.

4. A good way to maintain peace at home and arrest those rolling eyes is to simply ‘ask’ if you may take the call.  Your husband may not concede every time, but the world will not come to an abrupt stop with one missed phone call.  It may not seem obvious at that time but there may be a lot of stress that could be diffused by simply not answering that call immediately.

5. Leave the phone at home when you’re out with the kids.  I started doing this when my office kept calling me pre and post office hours.  I love my job and I like taking those calls but that means they eat into my child’s ‘Us’ time.  Instead I leave the phone at home while I drop my child to school because I’m not tempted to ‘fix’ things that my office throws at me early in the morning.  Anything important can wait till I drop her.  My 4 year old used this time to memorize mummy’s phone number, tell me about her dreams and learn counting the different colored cars on the way to kindergarten.  On our way back I heard who brought the most interesting lunch, and whose clips were very sparkly. Precious moments like these won’t just happen, you need to allocate time so your child can talk knowing she won’t be interrupted.

6. Use the phone to set an alarm 10 mins before each Salah time, download surahs, and surf the web for Islamic information.  Get technology to help you come closer to your Deen, in your free time.

Tell us of your own techniques to avoid a battle of the babble!

Umm Professional blogs

I have a friend who is a talented graphic designer Mashallah, and he has shared some of his beautiful Eid Card designs with us to download from his website here. He has uploaded some lovely high quality card designs for all to use.

I am sure you will find them very useful now that Eid is literally around the corner and as we scram last minute to get our cards and gifts ready for family and friends!