What's new Donate Contact Us Alim Mobile App

Challenge Your Blindness

Date: March 17, 2015

Did you ever think of what is the meaning of blindness? The meaning varies for people, for their thoughts and approach. To some, it will be merely a sickness or defect by birth. To some others, it sounds something unsound or a state of ignorance or passiveness. Often it is a frightening thought or state. Here the thing is something different. Author states that blindness has become a way of life, to be open, a disguising to lead the life. Author recollects his experience from Manipal hospital, near Bangalore, that he was bedridden due to a massive stroke which lead him to a total blindness. His illness transformed him to a blind man physically, but not mentally. Gradually he started to recover his blindness using auditory senses and the mind to be able to overcome the deficiency. And this challenging situation taught him to keep his blindness as an asset. Instead of crying about the vision loss, he found himself taking up the challenges of gaining ground and bridging the gap between being sighted and facing blindness. He read newspaper e copy by software called JAWS (Job Access With Speech). Watched movies by listening the conversation and amazingly he got extra power for his other senses. Author is giving a positive message to the blind people that to keep the defect as a challenge and live life with full of joy and activities.

Precious Gifts a Person Leaves Behind

"The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him."

Sunan Ibn Mājah

Angelic Daily Prayers for Generosity

"Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"

Sahih Bukhari

Related Blogs

Baba; My Soul and My Guide

Hiba Masood a writer, speaker and a story teller talks about her Baba's influence in teaching Quran and its holy threads in her wonderful opinion piece "Baba, The Quran and Me". When she was in her younger age, she had to recite Quran every day, that her Baba taught her to do so without fail. She memorizes her childhood experience in the holy month of Ramadan as well as her Baba's powerful Ramadan experiences. Her Baba looked after all his children with extreme care. She had not faced poverty or any other means difficulties in life. Baba used to talk about his life and his days spent with his eight brothers and sisters used to look like. They were like in abject poverty, splitting one bowl of food for Iftar amongst a family of eleven and so on. Baba used to say that once all the work is done, you should recite Quran in every single possible minute. Every letter you recite during Ramadan has 70 times the regular reward? That means every letter, like saying Alif, gets you seven hundred good deeds. Years passed and with all the impetuous, rebellion of youth, of spending my days in smoke-filled rooms, strategizing with socialist/activists, and my evenings protesting against the Iraq war on the frozen streets of Toronto. Of not praying at all, of not so much as glancing towards the dusty shelf where my Qur'an sat the entire year. Next year Hiba got married and her brand new husband got astonished by her behavior and activities. She never proper placed her shoes and she always misplaced her cell phone. And she blessed with a baby boy just before the month of holy Ramadan. And there have many, many more years filled with anxiety, scary financial strain and a stormy marriage of sickness and grief. Years passed with no changes. Hiba recited Quran verses just as a routine, or just like fasting in the month of Ramadan without knowing the rewards of reciting. At last wisdom came to her brain at the age of thirty and she started to settle in life. Slowly, as an enthusiastically expected reconnection, she started reciting Quran well to Allah to the Qur'an to her childhood, to her father and to herself. Now her beloved father is aging and sick and she is in great agony by thinking about her sick dad. She used to caress his dad's grey hair, press her cheeks to his. She says that she misses him a lot and she is afraid of the future. But most of all, she whisper her gratitude. Gratitude for gifting her so freely all the things, all the lessons, all the beliefs, all the forces of habit and inspiring stories and abiding, enriching traditions that have blessed her life. Ultimately he was the lighthouse when he was able.

Benefits of Fasting

How quickly time flies…just about three weeks ago Ramadan began and Muslims around the world commenced their first fast and today it is approaching its last ten days. Now of course we all know that fasting is important spiritually as it teaches us to be patient, be self-aware, and to have restraint (“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.” al-Qur'an 2:183). But did you know there are many physical and mental benefits of fasting? Let’s start with physical benefits: • weight Loss - Normally, the body uses glucose for energy and keeps fat as “reserve” energy. But while fasting the body begins to use fat as its main source of energy. Why does this matter? Essentially you are burning fat which entails to weight loss. However, keep in mind due to this occurring, the food you eat before and after fasting is absorbed much more quickly and powerfully. So if you break your fast with fried fatty foods, you will gain more weight than you will lose. In the same way, if you eat more nutritionally rich foods, then you will be much more energized. • Giving your body a break - As you fast your metabolism slows down and less of your energy is directed towards breaking down food. 650f your body’s energy is directed towards digesting your food in a day. In a way, you are resting your body by fasting! • Repairing the body – Since less of your energy is directed to breaking down food, the body spends more time repairing the body by producing more white blood cells. White blood cells are the body’s main source of protection against diseases and ailments. This helps tremendously for patients recovering from cancer as during chemotherapy many of the white blood cells are destroyed in the cancer cell eradication process. • Detox – As you fast the toxins stored in your body are dissolved. No special juice or greens needed. Alright now that we’ve listed a few great physical benefits let’s move onto some mental benefits: • General mental well-being – After a few days of fasting, the production of endorphins increases tremendously leading to a happier sense of self and increased alertness. • It decreases feelings of depression – BDNF (Brain-derived neurotic factor) is a protein that interacts with neurons in the parts of the brain that regulate memory, learning, and higher cognitive function and helps to spur synapses (which pass signals from one neuron to the next) and new neurons. Depression occurs when there is a lack of serotonin production as well as a miscommunication between the synapses. Since the brain can focus on functions other than food digestion, it can produce more BDNF. • Aids in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are neurodegenerative diseases. This means that they occur when the brain is not producing enough neurons. Fasting could help mitigate this issue; since the brain produces more BDNF while fasting (which aids in the production of neurons and synapses) then it will be more unlikely for a person to be deficient in neurons. • More Sleep – A study in 2003 by Michaelson et. al. found that after 8 days of fasting those who fasted were much more likely to get better sleep than those who did not fast. Time and time again Islam proves itself as an enduring religion. Whether it is through salat or fasting, Islam continues to show us the many faceted benefits of our way of life. Sources: 1. "Fasting and Your Health." - Live Well. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2014. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Healthyramadan/Pages/fastingandhealth.aspx 2. "Fasting for Mental Health: Does It Work? - Mind the Science Gap." Mind the Science Gap RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2014. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting-brain-function/axzz37MsEbQbn 3. "Fasting for Mental Health: Does It Work? - Mind the Science Gap." Mind the Science Gap RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2014. http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2013/04/10/fasting-for-mental-health-does-it-work/

The Alim Team will be at the ICNA-MAS Convention (Booth 838)

We are excited to announce that the Alim team will be at the annual ICNA-MAS Convention in Baltimore, MD this coming Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-30. Booth 838 We will be sharing many exciting plans, insha’Allah, to optimize our mobile apps and website, to bring you more of what you have come to expect from Alim. The Alim Foundation has been working diligently to improve all of our products and services. As you know, • you have our web portal, which is a one-stop shop of authentic Islamic educational resources • your forums where you can connect with other students of knowledge to share ideas or ask questions • your new versions of Android and Apple apps for knowledge on the go, and much more. • Best of all: These services are available free of charge! Our donors help keep our initiatives alive, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank them and we ask Allah to multiply their rewards in this life and the next. Ameen! Please consider investing in this cause so that it may be a sadaqah jariyah, an ongoing charity, for you by Allah’s permission. Don’t forget to stop by our booth 838 to meet our team and get to know more about what Alim Foundation has to offer. Take this opportunity to ask questions and find out why Alim.org is the most useful Islamic software in the world! Download the free apps for Android and iPhone and personally let us know what you think. Also, please share this information with your families and friends. We will see you at the convention, insha’Allah!