Somalia Peace Process

In a boring night, and after long azz Mid-term, relaxing and looking around the internet (Youtube of course) i come through with this nice video, picture slides and the most beautiful song I have ever heard and thought of sharing with you. O Allah help us to remake our destroyed inland, and please don't judge us for being inhumane to our women and Children’s in the day of Qiyamah.

Iftiinka Aqoonta

This is the video shown at the Somali Education Awareness Day in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I made this skit for The 1st Somali Educational Awareness Day in Ann Arbor Michigan. Please make sure you tell all your friends and family members about this skit so they can benefit from it too especially if they are Somali origin. The 1st Somali Educational Awareness Day (SEAD) was invented by me to motivate more Somalis to go to collage. The event was 3 hours long event and there were three Somali guest speakers who spoke at the event and me. I shared with the Somalis who come to the event with my personal history/stories and my journey to college. Amazingly, there was more audience than expected. i never expected Somalis will show up in Educational events like (SEAD) but Masha-allah it was a great day for me and those who come and benefited the event. The event was for all Somalis all ages but my main focus was towards the Somali youth and high school/middle school students. I am willing to make this kind of event every year insha-allah. One of the things i promised in the event was that, i will work with all the Somali Students in Michigan so we can make a difference in our community. I also promised and gave out my phone number so in any case if anyone wants to know or have questions about college and how to start experiencing a college live (happy) live could have the opportunity to discuss it with me ONE-ONE. Also, i am inventing/making high school/middle school Somali students mentoring program (HMSSMP), where we (Somali Students Association of Michigan) will mentor and tutor all the Somali young students. I was thinking this mentoring program for a long time and i think this is the best time that i can talk to all the people that i want to associate with and our youngsters. I will start this mentoring program or (HMSSMP)on this coming summer insha-allah so if you live in Ann Arbor MI area please spread the word and tell all the Somalis that you know about HMSSMP and SEAD programs. If you have Questions or concerns about these events or general question about these proposals please don't forget to drop me a line at ridhwanr@gmail.com Thank you so much Rashid Ridhwan

Somali Educational Awareness Event Flier

Please invite all your Somali friends and family member to this educational event that i am planning in Michigan. If we don't have a community leaders that govern or creat educational events for us, we as the youth and Somali students should stick togather and come with a plan to save/educate our young brothers and sisters in all ages, so they be our future educated leaders tomorrow insha-allah.

With Ethiopia as a Friend, Somalia does not need a foe

Abdi Ismail Samatar
University of Minnesota

The Ethiopian Prime Minister has often swanked about the generosity of the Somali people and government to him and his party during their long and bloody struggle against the Mengistu dictatorship. Somalia’s kindness came in multiple forms: Somali passports at the disposal of key leaders of Zenawi’s party (Tigray People’s liberation Front -TPLF), refuge for him and others in Mogadishu, and material and military assistance for their struggle. When the Mengistu regime collapsed and Zenawi’s party took over the reign in Ethiopia, Somalis breathed a sigh of relief assuming that a new era of friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries will be ushered. The Somalis’ naiveté lasted for quite sometime despite the clear evidence that the new regime in Addis Ababa was engaged in a divide and rule tactic with the population in its Somali region. But perceptive observers could also detect Ethiopia’s cunning approach in its attempt to play a seemingly honest mediator of the Somali conflict in 1993 when the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea told the international community that their brand of leadership was best suited to resolve the Somali conundrum. Shortly after this, the OAU asked Ethiopia to lead the charge on Somali peace. Unbeknown to most Somalis and other Africans, Ethiopia finally got the long-desired opportunity to manage Somali Affairs. One keen Somali observer noted in Addis Ababa in 1993 that Ethiopia’s strategy for Somalia was to produce one of two futures: a) help create a compliant Somali government that will be under its tutelage; b) or ensure that Somalia is divided into Bantustans that shall never challenge its hegemony. How telling these incredibly insightful words were!

Read the rest of the Article: http://www.hiiraan.com/op/2006/aug/With-Ethiopia-as-a-friend-Somalia-does-not-need-a-foe-Abdi-Samatar160806.aspx

How Boring is my Site?

Go Spartan

Though, I had to maintain the philosophy and integrity of the site, it is important to note that i am a student and have lots more fun with books than my site.
But now i learned how to post videos to my blog, thanks to youtube and i will be more than happy to share the good stuff with you. Please drop me a line on what ever you think of the site.

~Rashid

yaa baaba - SAABIR

how eva you wann it.... this is the way

It's That Time Again... Summer Vacation!

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem





Farhan,
Ahh, good ole summer vacation. Time to chill, kick back, and relax huh? No more school, no more homework, no more fitnah (well, at least less of it). That time of year when you are counting down the days until school is out is upon us again. Some of us are fortunate enough to witness this time again, while others unfortunately did not make it and had their time come when they were to meet Allah (SWTA), and in His hand is all that is good.
Funny thing is, although we look forward to the end of school so much, it seems, five, six, maybe even 15 days into summer vacation, we are all bored to death, either staring at the television for six hours straight or sleeping for 14 hours a day. It seems many of us get into that mode, sleep, wake up, eat, watch TV, chat online, sleep, wake up.... etc. And you guys know exactly what I am talking about.
So, to avoid yet another boring and wasted summer vacation, here are some ideas that maybe we can try. Because as Muslims, we want to, now more than ever, try and utilize our time as much as possible. One way to do that is to have to have some goals for yourself, both short term and long term.
Once, there were four young men chilling at the Ka'bah talking (by the way, look, the teenagers of the Prophet's time would chill at the Ka'bah, while the teenagers of our time are chillin in the malls and at the movie theaters... Subhan Allah... how times have changed). So, Urwah Ibn Zubair, his two brothers Zubair and Mus'ab, and Malik Ibn Marwan, were talking, and one of them said, “Let's wish for something in the future.” So, Zubair, he said that, one day, I want to be the Khalifah of Al-Hijaz (the area of Mekkah and Medina). Mus'ab said that I'm going to beat you, I want to be the Khalifah of Iraq (May Allah (SWTA) free it and grant its inhabitants patience and victory. Ameen). Malik Ibn Marwan said that I’m going to beat all of you guys, I want to be the Khalifahtul Ard, the Khalifah of everything. Then Urwah said that may Allah (SWTA) reward you guys for your infatuation with this Dunya, but for me, I want to be a scholar who acts on what he knows. So they all had these long term goals in their life, and Subhan Allah, they all got what they wanted. Zubair became the Khalifah of Al-Hijaz and eventually was murdered by the army of Al-Hajjaj. Mus’ab became the Khalifah of Iraq. Malik Ibn Marwan became one of the Khalifahs of Islam. And as for ‘Urwah, he became a scholar. So they had these long term goals and stuck to them and by the will and mercy of Allah (SWTA), were able to fulfill them. So, what’s one quick lesson we can take, we should have some long term goals in our life, where do we want to be 10, 20, 50 years from now?
But also, we need to have some short term goals as well, which is the point of this article. Since summer vacation is near, and we know that we are going to end up being bored to death, set some goals for yourself to utilize your time and accomplish some things. Here are some ideas. Try and set goals for yourself in three areas, we can call them the Three E’s.
The first E is in your Eman. Try and have some goals for your Eman, because we need to consistently watch our Eman-ometer and make sure it’s at a high level so we can try and better our relationship with Allah (SWTA). How? By doing more Ibadaat, or worship. Try and have some specific things that you want to accomplish that will increase your Eman. Maybe one of us, like myself, needs to review the Qur’an we memorized. So, in the summer, say, I’m going to review the 30th Juz’ and make sure I got that down good. Or maybe you can promise yourself that you are going to read one page of Qur’an every day in Arabic AND in the language you understand it. Or maybe fasting every Monday and Thursday. Or maybe praying at least twice a month in the last third of the night when no one is around…there are countless things you can do. The list is endless, so try and choose some things and implement them.
Second, Education. Try and increase your knowledge, both Islamic and perhaps for your school or personal interest. Maybe you can set a goal for yourself that in the summer, I am going to finish reading a book on the Seerah of the Prophet . Or maybe I am going to take some classes to increase my knowledge (there are different summer classes you can take for very minimal cost, like the MAS Summer program for example). It is important to read. Read and learn about your religion, about the history of America, the history of the world… it’s important that we learn about these things.
Lastly, Exercise. It is very important that we take care of the bodies Allah (SWTA) has blessed us with. The Prophet is reported to have said, "The strong is better and more beloved to Allah (SWTA) than the weak believer, and in both there is good." So try to have some exercise program for yourself. Maybe hit the weights three times a week, or some sort of cardio work out, some thing that will keep your body in shape.
Lastly, before I end, I just wanted to say that you may find it helpful to you if you can get some friends with you and have some group goals. Like for example, say you decided you want to learn Surah Al-Nisaa’ this summer, talk to some of your friends and see if you can get any of them on board too, and if you can, it’ll help you stay on track and finish up what you started. And also, since you called them to the good, Insha’Allah you’ll get similar to their rewards, in addition to your own. Same thing applies for working out. Get together with your friends and go the GYM. Those of us who work out know it’s very helpful to have some friends with you. Even with reading a book. Maybe you can meet in a room at the masjid after Jum’ah and read a couple chapters every week. You should be able to finish a couple books by the end of the summer. Start some programs in your masjid and try to get people using their time for a good cause.

Note from Author: A lot of what was mentioned above was taken from different Sheikh Suhaib Webb (may Allah (SWTA) reward and protect him) lectures. I just thought I’d pass the information on.

I am Verry bu$y...

I know i haven't post for along time, but i am sorry. I am very busy these days and I haven't got a chance to post a new stuff as usual. Hopefully, i will post an intresting stuff very soon. I hope you don't fell that my sites sucks as this pic (above) says, that is not the case but only demonstration of something that i cannot even explain right now.

~You'r Hero Rashid