Winter Reds...the opposite of winter blues

Im super excited that the days are getting shorter and the prayer times are changing.....
I could be IN bed by 9.30pm if I read Isha at 9pm! That makes em sound old and sad...but it was so tough during Ramadhaan to be waking up for Suhoor...going to work and not being able to sleep until I had read Isha. I was surviving on very little sleep and physically didnt have strength to do any extra ibaadah like I wanted to.
But soon I aim to make up my 6 missed fasts and keep an extra 6 for my benefit once I am free from exam stress and can handle fasting and working at the same time (inshAllah!)

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilahi Raji'un

I hope everyone had a lovely Eid this year and may Allah bless us with the next one.

I just wanted to give a little shout out to two people who didnt live to see and celebrate Eid this year.
One was an aunty who was battling cancer. She passed away at the starting of the final Roza (Fast). The other was a young cancer stricken boy (at the hospital I work at) who died on Eid day. May Allah grant the a place in Jannatul Firdous and grant their families patience and strength to get through this difficult time.

I also wanted to ask people to please visit the sick. It is something that is recommended by the prophet. It allows us to appreciate our own good health and to thank Allah. It allows a sick person to feel better knowing that people care. It allows us to add to our sawaab (blessings).

Taken from http://ahmed2004uk.blogspot.com/2006/07/virtues-of-visiting-sick.html
Hadrat Abu Moosa (R.A.) reports that the Prophet (pbuh) said, 'Visit the sick, feed the hungry and free the one who is imprisoned (unjustly).' [Sahih Bukhaari]
Hadrat Abu Hurairah (R.A.) reports that the Prophet (pbuh) said, "On the Day of Qiyaamah, Allah Ta'ala will announce: O son of Aadam, I was sick yet you did not visit me. He will reply, 'O Allah, how could I have visited You since you are Rabbul 'aalameen? Allah Ta'ala will say: Did you not know that so and so slave of mine was sick, and yet you did not visit him? Should you have visited him you would have found Me by him. " [Sahih Muslim]Hadrat Ali (R.A.) reports that the Prophet (pbuh) said, 'When a Muslim visits his sick Muslim brother in the morning, seventy thousand angels make dua for his forgiveness till the evening. And when he visits him in the evening, seventy thousand angels make dua for his forgiveness till the morning, and he will be granted a garden for it in Jannah.' [Timizi, Abu Dawood]
Hadrat Anas (R.A.) reports that the Prophet (pbuh) said, 'When a person performs a proper wudhu (observing all its etiquette) and then goes to visit his sick Muslim brother with the intention of gaining sawaab, then he will be kept far away from the Fire of Jahannam by a distance equivalent of Sixty years.' [Abu Dawood]
Our Beloved Prophet (pbuh) also said, 'Whoever visits a sick person (for the pleasure of Allah), a Caller from the skies announces: You are indeed blessed and your walking is blessed and you have (by this noble act) built yourself a home in Jannah.' [Ibn Maajah]

The faint sound of wedding bells

Although I have spoken to Mum on the matter of my marriage, she still seems to think that I will accept a proposal of which she approves. She has taken to mentioning my wedding at every moment we are alone.

How do I convince her that if I marry it will be to someone I chose myself?
How do I convince her without causing a BIG family rift?

I think I am going to be a very depressed woman soon