New Diary 2012

Siratt in collaboration with Productive Muslim

I love any type of stationary and I cannot get through a day without the use of my diary and notebook mainly due to my gold fish like memory, I need to make notes in my diary all the time especially when I have moments of inspiration about craft products etc. When I am out shopping I always end up stock piling on well-made and beautiful notebooks. At the start of every year I always shop around looking for two diaries one for work and one for home. I have always thought that wouldn’t it be nice if there was a diary geared to the Islamic calendar with inspirational Quran and Hadith quotes so every time I looked at my diary to check my to do list I could get a Iman boost.

Well Alhamdulillah, what can I say it’s like the people at Siratt and the tremendous Productive Muslim team were listening to my thoughts, because they have come up with this fabulous desk top Lifebook, they call it a Lifebook rather than a diary, its available in various colours and its size is just perfect approx 24.5 x 17.5 cm.  I paid £13.95 and though they call it desktop Lifebook it’s not too big to carry around, not for me anyway as I am hooked on rather large handbags !

The Lifebook is covered in a lovely soft to the touch matt material, I decided to buy two a pink one for my sister, which she adored and one for myself, I wanted the purple one but they sold out so I bought black which is the colour I normally always buy so I wasn’t that disappointed that the purple was out of stock.

I came across Siratt through the Productive Muslim website, I have been visiting there site and facebook page since Ramadan and I can honestly say that there articles have really helped me focus more and basically be so much more organised and productive, anyway I digress (save that for another post).

I was just so impressed with the Lifebook I can’t recommend it enough, It incorporates some fabulous short and concise thought provoking chapters to read at the start of the diary, the beginning of every month has a section called ‘My Habit List’ which you can use to make or break a habit, on the actual week to view diary page it has a weekly hadith and a tip to improve your productivity, it includes all the basics for a diary but covers 7 days rather than 5 days like most standard diaries and it  also has a section for your most important tasks for the day at the bottom of the page, and a small section on the left hand side for quick notes and brilliant thoughts etc. Which is rather nice as I don’t need to carry a separate little notebook for my little light bulb moments ! Oh and I almost forgot to mention the beautiful vivid photography of mosques from around the world at the start of every new month. I am as you may have been able to tell very impressed on how much they have managed to pack in to this Lifebook.

If you visit the Siratt website you will find a list of all the chapters in the reading part and more detail of the diary sorry Lifebook, my only criticism and I probably wouldn’t even call it a criticism, it is more of a preference, is that rather than starting the times at 8:00 and finishing the daily time at 18:00hrs  it would have been better to not have the time filled in and maybe little boxes to fill the time you wanted to start your day as I have control freak OCD and don’t like the fact my tasks don’t fit next to correct time – but this is a minor detail the life book is brilliant for people who like me want to incorporate Islam in everything they do. The people at Siratt and Productive Muslim have done a fantastic job,  so far I love using this Lifebook and I have never seen anything remotely similar, so inshallah they now have my custom for the next year as well.

http://www.siratt.com/
http://www.productivemuslim.com/

Dhikr

Allah (SWT) has commanded us to remember him always. He says: "Remember Me, I shall remember you." (Qur'an 2:152) So it is very important for us, as Muslims, to perform dhikr, or remembrance, of Allah (SWT).

I feel the most at peace on the days when I am reading my Salah on time and taking time out to do dhikr, I know you can do dhikr at any point in the day as you are going about your daily activities but i like i need to allocate some time in the day that I feel is my way of being thankful to my creator by remembering him. I am ashamed to say that I have been slacking a little, however at the start of this week, I made sure that I became refocused and Alhamdulillah it has been going well so far I make sure I take time out and really reconnect with Allah (SWT).

The purpose of dhikr is to purify our hearts and souls and uplift our spirits. All words of praise and glory to Allah (SWT), whether spoken out loud, or silently in one's heart, are known as dhikr. So when people do dhikr, their hearts turn to the highest ideals and are free from the temptations of sin. Obviously this is true only if the words come from the heart and not just from the tongue.

The Quran says;

"And establish regular prayer, for prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds, and remembrance of Allah is the greatest thing in life, without doubt." (Surah al-Ankabut 29:45)
In other words, dhikr has an even greater impact in protecting us from shameful and unjust deeds than regular prayers do. This is because when a person opens his heart to Allah (SWT) and utters words in His praise, Allah (SWT) fills him with strength and inner peace, comforting his mind and his heart. The Prophet (PBUH) once said, "When any group of men remember Allah, angels surround them and mercy covers them, tranquillity descends upon them, and Allah mentions them to those who are with Him." (Reported by Abu Hurairiah)

This quote from the book “Fiqh us-Sunnah” by as-Sayyud Sabiq. The saying if lbn Abbas;

Ali b. Abi Talha relates that Ibn Abbas said, "All obligations imposed upon man by Allah are clearly marked and one is exempted from them in the presence of a genuine cause. The only exception is the obligation of dhikr. Allah has set no specific limits for it, and under no circumstances is one allowed to be negligent of it. We are commanded to `remember Allah standing, sitting, and reclining on your sides,' [Qur'an 3:191] in the morning, during the day, at sea or on land, on journey or at home, in poverty and in prosperity, in sickness or in health, openly and secretly, and, in fact, at all times throughout one's life and in all circumstances."

Dhikr is a very blessed practice, praised in the Qur'an and hadiths.  May Allah help bring us satisfaction in our hearts through remembrance of Him. As i mentioned i like to take some me time out and do dhikr quietly with my little dhikr companion pictured below, as its helps me focus and reflect on my creator, though I am aware that It is better to count the phrases on the fingers than counting beads or electronic calculators, because the fingers will be questioned and will speak on your behalf on the Day of Judgment and I always ensure that after Salah I perform dhikr on my fingers but this little digital counter really does help me so I continue to use it, I hope that Allah gives us ALL the ability to continually remember him at every moment in our life’s.

Bag love

Unlike previous years when I have spent a fair bit in the sales this year I have not liked anything that I wanted to buy - ok that’s not strictly true, I have treated myself to a couple of perfumes and maybe two skirts but thats it, because everything else that I have liked has been full price. Therefore I have only allowed myself a few treats, the two I have bought so far are bags (typical me – do without the other important stuff as long as I have a nice handbag, I am good to go).

I have never been one to pick a small handbag, and only time I have gone a little smaller is for a a cross the body bag or maybe for a evening clutch, I still try to apply the bigger the better rule. So when i spotted these gorgeous large tote bags this season it defnitley made my heart happy hehe.

1^st bag is from Warehouse £38

2^nd is from Zara £79.99

The Noor Collection

The Noor Collection has been around just over a year, it initially started as a hobby which quickly changed to a little business thanks to the encouragement of friends and families. I love any type of craft and Alhamdulillah I have quite a creative mind, whether that be regards to  clothes, accessories or home décor. So when there were times when I had a need for a particular thing, and I couldn’t locate it, rather than giving up I tried my upmost to come up with an alternative and that usually lead to, making it myself. This is how I started to make Hijab Pins after sourcing beautiful stones to complement my outfits.

I had a lot of interest from friends and family so I started making these hijab pins for them, they encouraged me to sell them and I did, this got my creative juices following and I then added other items aswell  like rings and bangles to my accessorises range. I also have a passion for stationary and homeware so this Inevitably followed. I have listed some of the items that are available, I wish I had photographs of all of what ive sold but as I have been selling by word of mouth I’ve not needed them but bear with me i am in the process of updating Facebook with everything.

Accessories

·         Hijab pins

·         Brooches

·         Rings

·         Bangles

Stationary

·         Cards

·         Notebooks

·         Pens

Homeware

·         Cushions

·         Wooden letters i.e Eid, Allah, Mubarak, Baby, Milad 

·         Islamic Canvas

·         Children’s framed Alphabet decor in English/Arabic

Faith

·         Fabric Ramadan Calendar- Reusable every year

·         Bunting

·         Baby cards

·         Eid cards

The website is in the process of been launched, until then I’d like to say that photography isn’t my strongest point so you will have to excuse the quality of the photographs I upload. In a nut shell this is how the The Noor Collection was born.

I have uploaded some pictures on Facebook so please go and browse and like my page,The-Noor-Collection.