Eleven Facts & Questions

Dear Reader,

I know, I know. I've been away from the entire blogging scene for many months now, and I apologise to all those who missed me. Sorry. I probably wouldn't have come back either if I hadn't been tagged by my lovely fellow blogger x@hu to answer 11 questions. So, apparently these are the rules:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself 
2. Answer the 11 questions I asked 
3. Tag other bloggers and create 11 questions for them to answer. 
4. Inform those that you tagged them 
5. NO TAG BACKS 

I decided to explain my prolonged absence in 11 facts about me.  

1. Currently I'm doing an MSc in Cardiology which, as you can guess, is a lot of hard work.  
2. As mentioned previously, I spent all of February, and some of March, on a working-holiday in a hospital abroad. 
3. While on this working holiday, I met my fiancée and his family after a very long time. 
4. This was a very pleasant experience and was the perfect remedy for spending long hours with very sick patients.
5. However, since I've been back, my life has been quite an emotional roller-coaster, leaving me with very little time to blog. 
6. Hmmm... I seem to have finished my explanation in only 5 facts. Fact: the rest will just have to random stuff about me. 
7. I'm a very fidgety person and my hands are very rarely completely still.
8. I need the sound of a ticking clock to help me sleep.
9. At the moment, I have more than 300 books in my little 8'x8' bedroom, (physical proof of my obsession).
10. I really want to learn to speak/understand Arabic and will be taking classes soon Inshallah.   
11. Ironically, I started wearing the hijab when I was 11 but didn't really understand what it meant and what it stood for until I was 19. 

And now for the 11 question that I have to answer.

1. Why are you, you? (tee hee) 

Hmmm..... now how do you answer a question like that without going into an philosophical essay .... well I suppose it's partly genetics, but I believe that most of our personality is shaped by our circumstances, our upbringing, the people we meet etc... basically by what experience through out our lives ... and this is actually something that is quite changeable .... So without writing anything too long, to answer your question: I am the product of my experiences.   

2. What was the highlight of your childhood?

Alhumdulillah, I've had a wonderful and brilliant childhood and have too many good memories to pick just one.  

3. What was the one thing about Islam that made you become interested in it?

As I briefly mentioned above, I use to wear the hijab but didn't know why. And so I started questioning and the first place I looked was the Qur'an ... And so once I had started I couldn't stop and carried on reading and learning more about Islam ... and Inshallah this learning will continue throughout my life.  

4. What's the weirdest thing you've eaten?

Years ago I accidentally ate this Lamb's-brain-curry-thing (Siri-pye in Urdu). Hands down, that's the most weirdest and disgusting thing that I can remember ... but my mum has always told everyone that I use to eat paper and magazines as a baby ... I guess I've been I bookworm from the start lol ;-)     

5. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? :P

I use to as child. But when I realised it doesn't make the elevator come any faster, I stopped. :-p

6. Have you ever failed an exam?

I haven't actually failed ... but once I got a low enough grade to make me redo the exam ... does that count?

7. What's something you know you do differently than most people?

Hmmmm ... I don't know what most people do so I'm not sure what I do differently ... but I'm sure there are several things... 

8. What's your favorite book? Aside from the Qur'an of course :)

OMG!!! ... how can I possibly answer that question! I've read so many books, and plenty of them were brilliant, it's difficult to put my finger on just one. But I suppose I could give you, dear reader, a selection of favourites: North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Sabriel by Garth Nix, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman, Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling and Fire by Kristen Cashore.   

9. If you could offer a newborn child just one piece of advice, what would it be?

A newborn child wouldn't understand me ... but this piece of advice would be for any/everyone: always respect and listen to your parents because they always have your best interest at heart, and always remember that Allah (SWT) loves you 70x more than your mother...  

10. Where would you like to be, ten years from now insha Allah?

In ten years time, Inshallah, I will be married, with a child or two, and working on becoming a published author. Insha Allah!!   

11. Lastly, what is your most beloved feature of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)?

Choosing one attribute is very difficult. I've always held much respect and awe for our Prophet (SAW) because he was a Divinely-appointed final Messenger, an Extraordinary Revolutionist who changed the face of not only Arab Society but the entire world in general, a Brilliant Military Strategist, and a Just and Righteous Leader. But when I read about his loving and humble attitude/treatment towards his daughters, family and friends that made me realise how human he  (SAW) was and really made me love him the way, as a muslimah, I should.     

And now for my 11 daunting questions:

1. What makes you smile the most?
2. What is the one thing without which your day is incomplete?
3. What is your most memorable ayah/quote/surah from the Qur'an?
4. Other than the Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), who do you look up to?
5. When was the last time you laughed like crazy?
6. Which food could you eat day-in-day-out, for years?
7. Do you listen to music? if yes, why?
8. What is your opinion on the state of the Ummah today?
9. What's the one thing you really want to learn?
10. What do you like to do in your free time?
11. And (because I'm just me) other than the Qur'an, what is your favourite book/series?

And finally here is a list of people who have to answer my questions. :-)

• Hnia
• Samia
• PotentialHijabi
• Another nida
• KnowGood
• Pearlof Islam101
• Najiyah
• The Sister who Smiles

If any of my readers want to answer these questions, you are most welcome to do so in the comment's below. I always love to learn about other people.

Nida   

Pretty space Pictures

Dear Reader,

I forgot to inform you that I'm currently on a blogging-break until I can sort a lot of things out. And since I'm going on a long working-holiday in the beginning of February, you can imagine that I have many things to wrap up. However, I have been fairly active on my wattpad account, uploading a lot of my favourite poetry. If you, dear intelligent reader, are interested click here, or here, or here or here, (choice is all yours - but you can try all four if you're feeling generous with your time).

Also as a treat before I leave, and as a favour to a fellow wattpad-poet (some of his poems are works of genius, you should really check them out), I'm posting some of my favourite spacescapes here. BTW, all these picture are very real and belong to NASA. Enjoy! (Instructions: click to enlarge and view them in their full cosmic glory.)

This last one came from a page with a poem written my that brilliant poet I mentioned above. He called it a "Cosmic Rose" which I find is rather fitting, don't you think?

Anyway, I'm off now, I've got plenty of packing to do. :-)
Nida  

Qualities

Dear Reader,

As I sat on my prayer mat today, after praying Zuhr (the midday prayer), my thoughts lead me to an examination of my own qualities. And I realised I have many, many flaws. For example: 

• as my rather perceptive mum would tell you, I'm far too loud at inappropriate times, 

• somewhat selfish when it comes to sweets/fruits/foods I like (Saag-paneer!! All mine muhuha haha haa), 

• I spend far too much money on books and particular clothes I take a fancy to, 

• writing a blog-post when I have a assignment deadline tomorrow and final exams in 3 days time shows I have obvious issues with procrastination,

• I get easily distracted when I'm not reading or writing - facebook can be my arch nemesis at times! (the struggle between us sometimes turns ugly)    

• I can be rather impatient at times, especially in things concerning my brothers,

• unfortunately, I take a bit too much pride in my appearance

• I can't sit absolutely still for more than 5 mins - either my fingers are perpetually fiddling with something or my feet are swinging/tapping (pen-tapping haters beware)

• and the list goes on...

Image from:  http://rosekate.me/2011/03/12/introspection/  

But there is one quality that I rather like about myself: ever since I was a child, I've not been very judgemental or prejudiced, especially when it comes to physical appearance, race, religion, culture, wealth, gender, sexuality, social status etc... (Aside: of course if some strange man was lairing at me at, lets say, a tube station, then I would probably pre-judge him and avoid him like the plague. But that's actually the difference between judging a situation and actually being judgemental.) Anyway, I truly and heartily believe the Islamic teaching that everyone is created equal, that we are all equal in the eyes of God. Being completely omniscient as He is, only He has a right to judge between us; only God knows what's really in our heart of hearts and how humble and pious we actually are. Besides, I think that physical appearances, race, gender, wealth, social status etc... are very shallow and superficial criterion on which to judge a person's worth. 

However, there's a flip side to this coin. While meditating on the prayer mat, I realised that the prejudices that I do hold (because no one is completely without them) stem from two things that are rather inter-linked. The first, and foremost, is arrogance. I hate it, cannot stand it and will not abide by it. Especially within myself. And the vast amounts of arrogance I perceive, is probably the cause of my abhorrence towards the "hip-pop" culture. Also, if I'm meeting a person for the first time and I detect true arrogance, then I can't help but take an instant dislike to them. Unfortunately, this has happened to me often enough, the most prominent case in my life being the brother of one of my beloved, old friend, whom I've known now for almost 17 years now. 

The second thing is disrespectfulness. It annoys me without end, whether it be towards older people, children, other religions/cultures, racism, being disrespectful in jest/mockery or disrespectful language used in films, songs and even books. As hard as it is to believe, there are actually books that I can't read. Those are the book that have a lot of swear words in them. I've tried reading a few that are well known "bestsellers" but I never seem to get past the first chapter. *Sigh.* I think that disrespectfulness in itself is caused by three things: 1) a very bad-temper 2) a disregard of other people's feelings and 3) thinking of yourself superior or better than someone else i.e. arrogance. Most of the time it's a vile combination of all three.      

...

Few! I'm glad I got that off my chest. But I should be getting back to my work now, before my mind finds more ways to procrastinate...

Nida

Quick List

Dear Reader,

My winter reading list is now three weeks overdue. :-( I had planned to write a review to go along with this reading list, as is usually the case, but I'm afraid that I have many other commitments pressing in on my time. (Aside: I've noticed that my posts of late seem to beginning on this very same melancholy, apologetic tone. I'm going to have to do something about this, sooner rather than later.) 

On a more positive note, I have quite a few intriguing posts planned for the near future, so that is something for you, dear patient reader, to look forward to. I also thought I might as well get the tedious matter of my winter reading list out of the way first, so I won't have to worry about it later one. Some of the following books actually form the last part of my 2011 Reading Challenge and it would by unfair if I bid adieu to the year 2011 without some mention of them. So without further preamble: 

1. Strait is the Gate by Andre Gide
2. Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman
3. Pretty Persuasion by Olivia Kingsley
4. Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
5. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
6. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (Confession: This very tempting book has been waiting on my bed-side shelf for well over a month now. I haven't touched it yet because I'm waiting for the holidays to begin before I become completely consumed by it, as will inevitably happen as soon as I touch it.) 
7. Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
8. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
9. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
10. The Once and Future King by T.H. White   

Now I must go fetch myself an essential cup of tea. Being British, and knowing very well about all the stereotypes, I truly believe there is no problem that I can't solve without having a cup-o-tea first. So a merry winter to all, and to all a good-night. 

Nida

Perspective, Passion & Purpose

Dear Reader,

Though I only have nine days left before the deadline of an assignment and two exams, I thought I'd take some time out to share this video with you. Mashallah, I was really blown away by the confidence and talent of this sister. I hope she impresses you too and inspires you, as she has inspired me, to change and be the change towards a greater cause. Enjoy:

   

I'd love to read your thoughts on this. Leave them in the comments section below.
Nida