May Peace and blessings of Allah be on you dear reader!

ever been browsing the net and scrolling up (or down) and suddenly instead of scrolling your webpage just shrinks (or grows bigger?)

never fear, LtS here in a moment of procastination paused her lecture, went of tribby and this particular scenario described above occured to her for the "once-too-many" time and so she did what anyone of her generation would do.

yes ladies and gentlemen..

I googled it.

According to Google it is Ramadan in 4233600 seconds...... Just 7 weeks.

The companions used to prepare 6 months before, so you can say this blog is 192414 minutes late. Oops.

This is the one and only Ramadan 2013 blog where you can say anything and everything up until the month is over. (That's why I made sure I got in there before anyone else did )

Ramadan is a MASSIVE deal because its just amazing all year round. The physical, mental and spiritual peace is just surreal. We shouldn't take this opportunity for granted, so strive to capture as much benefits as possible!

in your everyday life, are you more of a dreamer, your feet touching down on reality every once in a while whenever needed but you're mostly up there in the clouds thinking about places to be and things to do?

or are your feets firmly rooted in reality and you know exactly whats going on around you all the time?

whats the opposite of reality? is it dreams?

I think i qualify as a dreamer, theres nothign to qualify for, and ive never been in anyone else's mind so I dont know if there's an opposite or different state of mind to the "dreaming" one I'm in most of the time. so really, the first two queston i asked are not the only category that exists probably. If you know more about state of minds then please do share.

TAFSIR OF SURA AL-ANKABUT {1-11} - BY IBN QAYYIM

1. Alif Lam Mim.

2. Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: "We believe," and will not be tested.

3. And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars, (although Allah knows all that before putting them to test).

4. Or those who do evil deeds think that they can outstrip Us (i.e. escape Our Punishment)? Evil is that which they judge!

5 .Whoever hopes for the Meeting with Allah, then Allah's Term is surely coming. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.

First hadith explanation is taken from Fathul bari by Ibn Hajar and rest of the hadith explanations from Jami’ al Ulum wal Hikam by Ibn Rajab.

Hadith 1 :

Abdullah bin Al zubair Al humaidi narrated to us , he said Sufyan (bin  ’Uyainah) narrated to us, he said Yahya bin Sa’eed Al ansaari said  Muhammad bin Ibraahim Al taimi informed me that he heard  ‘Alqamah bin Waqqas Allaithi say that I heard ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab  radhiallahuanhu on the pulpit (minbar), he said :

Just like any other day of this week, I sat at home, doing some productive things and some not so productive things. But today was definitely special for me.

A young man knocked at my door. From what I vaguely understood of his weak English, he wanted some money to buy food. 

Instead of giving him some money, I thought it would be best to give him food instead. So i asked him 'Would you like me to get some food for you?' and I pointed in the direction behind me. His face beamed with joy and happiness, so away I went.

Whilst i did that, i realised that this young man at my door was genuinely hungry and wanted some food. You could tell that he wasn't after money at all. 

so theres a little thing in my life, that ive blown out of proportion and its really beed bad.

then someone said something abt writing a poem abt it.

i frown and thought:

a poem? i wouldnt waste time writing a poem about THAT?! poem requires energy and focus and attention and ENERGY and thinking about the rhyming and the way you express your ideas and the idea order and all those other things I associate with poem writing.

i just thought, i'm not wasting my time on THAT for THIS!

-

then i remembered texting a friend about what to do with destructive energy. i dont know if you've ever had a moment where you just want to destroy something.

-

Total awesomeness.

I think they should win, without a doubt.

PS: Turn down the volume if you want.

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Fv98jttYA]

A friend of mine shared this video, saying: '17 minutes of your time. I promise you all that this will have a profound, emotional effect on you. Please, I urge you to watch this without hesitation.

I know that we're all busy revising, or going about our lives... but this really gives you a beautiful glimpse into Jannah, SubhanAllah - It will inspire you. It reminds us of what we could have waiting for us in the Akhirah, it will move you and really make all of your worldy worries seem really insignificant. 

I am confused by the phrase: 'of whom He (swt) wills'

Does that assume that we do not have free will?

Does that assume that Allah (swt) picks and chooses? (Sorry that way of asking this question doesn't sound polite, but please see through that).

Help!