TAWAKKUL

If we metaphor the life, it is no more than a roller coaster ride. What I mean is that life is a combination of both blessings and bad things. It has ups and downs, sometimes it feels right and sometimes it doesn't. We cry and then afterwards we rejoice and then finally we feel guilty that why we had cried in the very first place.

To me every belief has four phases i.e. tabeer, tadbeer,  takdeer and finally tawakkul.

We are tested in this duniya and we are tested with joy, blessings and hardships but what defines our imaan is how we have tabeer of the things, how we rely on tadbeer , how we believe in takdeer and finally how much tawakkah we have and these are crux of handling every situation we are in.
I recently had a dream of fishes in water and it was strange to the fact that new fishes were eating the older ones and the process continued.

Dreams as we know have tabeer . From the tafseer of  Mohammad Mustafa al jabaly the fishes represent wealth but talking of  the tabeer of the dream I thought it may have meant that whatever is in present will be changed by future. (I was lately sad that things were not working out for me)

Well that made sense. In life everything is decreed and even though there are good times but there are bad times too but what matters is that how we see both, if things are good we must not be proud and if things doesn't work out we must look it as an opportunity to see and renew our thoughts for new and better things.

The best part of the dream was that there was no change at all , the number of fishes remained same.

Same is the case with our life , worries don't leave and even if old worries end (like old fishes eating the new ones ), new ones will be born and at the end it wont affect our life , cause worries wont leave but what will leave is our time in worrying.

So what affects life, well that is our belief.
Talking of the next phase is tadbeer, a plan that affects life in different ways.

We plan as humans for our studies, for our job and what not. The best of maakareen (planners) is ALLAH swt (khairul maakareen)

And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners. [Surah anfal]

The tabeer is the knowledge you have but tadbeer refers to the knowledge ALLAH swt has.

You think that something is good for you but actually it isn't and you think something is bad for you but that is actually good for you. The knowledge of the things of this world and in the Akhirah is known to ALLAH swt and He knows what is good for you and He knows when will that happen. The sabr is the epitome of the tabeer, if you know ALLAH swt plans best , then have sabr and know that when time is right , things will work out the way that is good for you.
From the dream I thought it was wrong for the fishes to eat other older fishes , but do I know the best ( well no ). The tadbeer of the dream was to keep the balance in the pond (for the number of fishes to remain the same , and for the older ones to reach their fate), just like bad and good things balance our life.

The next phase takes us to takdeer

Takdeer is destiny that how things will work out and that all is in the hands of ALLAH swt.

The fate of all is pre decreed, even the food that enters the stomach of long lost birds who don't know of their provisions.

Hadith: Umar bin Khattab said: I heard Muhammad pbuh saying, "If you all depend on Allah with due reliance, He would certainly give you provision as He gives it to the birds who go forth hungry in the morning and return with full bellies at dusk." (At-Tirmidhi)

In that dream if we see in the pond, no provision of food or anything was there but still the fishes were alive, they lived from the lives of older fishes (that was their provision , and that was their takdeer )

Finally the supreme form of imaan is tawakkul. Tawakkul is belief and trust that all lies in the hands of ALLAH swt. Tawakkul is the belief on ALLAH swt's tadbeer, it is the belief of trusting that the plan and knowledge of ALLAH swt is supreme.

It is what Moosa A.S had when there was sea in front of him and the soldiers of pharaoh were behind him and he put trust on ALLAH swt and ALLAH swt made a way for them.

"And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out, And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion."
(Surah at-Talaq 65: 2-3)

I used to think that tawakkul was making dua for good to happen in your life and expecting good to happen with certainty (no matter how uncertain the situation may be).  I now realize that tawakkul is a belief , a belief in the Grand Plan of Allah swt and that, in the worst times of your life when you think you have been abandoned, when you are tested, tawakkul is to also believe there is good in the test that you are going through, and even that test is a mercy of Allah swt. Remember Allah swt loves you more than your mother does and, although you cannot imagine doing this, one day you will thank Him for giving you that test because through it you gained so many blessings.

“And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know.” Qur'an(12:20)

Tawakkul is what our beloved Prophet Hazrat Mohammad pbuh had when his own people denounced him and even then ISLAM rules as the second most predominant religion now.
Tawakkul is what Hazrat Yusuf A.S had when he was left in well , abandoned by his brothers and he still found a way to meet his beloved father.
Tawakkul is what Moosa A.S mother had when she put him in water , but still she got back to her son.
Tawakkul is what Hazrat Abraham A.S had when he had to abandon his wife and son in desert without provisions, and still he saw them alive and well after a long time.
Tawakkul is the belief that my soul , my existence is by Allah swt to whom I have to return , that all my matters are in HIS hands , the best planner and that whatever happens , happens for good.

Do not cry for the agonies, come trust in Allah
For know that crying about the misfortunes is a great error.
Find misfortune’s sender, and know it is a gift within gift, and pleasure.
So leave crying out and offer thanks; like the birds in their provisions .
If you find Him not, know the world is all pain within pain, transience and loss.
So why lament at a small misfortune while upon you is a worldful of woe
Come trust in Allah
Trust in Allah, Laugh in misfortune’s face; it too will laugh.
As it laughs, it will diminish; it will be changed and transformed.Know that starry nights in the clouds too transform in days of shine , know that
pain has end , know that life is healed by Allah's belief
Tawakkul is my imaan and my imaan is all the treasure I have

THE HARSH REALITIES OF LIFE

How to start up and write about the comedies I see everyday is a tough task indeed. Everyone is in depression and everyone is living as if being old, weak , lost human beings. What has happened to us.

Well because bhai sahib (or behan ji)  we THINK. We think so many things and so many absurd things and so many negative things that we almost kill ourselves in our imagination.

As I can quote "we die everyday in our imagination while forgetting the real life which indeed could be awesome if we learn how to live".

Where is the fault??? Well the fault is we are astray, we have made our lives so much dependent on technology that I consider living without air is possible nowadays but not without INTERNET.I consider a person strong , even a superman or a batman if he can live without internet. But no we have that chrat chrat in life which wont go, we do early morning salam to Facebook first and then to our parents. We are bound to Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, Gmail messenger, twitter, instagram than we are bound to our responsibilities. The fact is we are dependent on people on social networks so much that if we don't get a reply we feel life ended. The number of affairs a kid has nowadays is more than the number of words he knows and that's the fact as soon he/she enters the crèche the very chrat chrat of live starts.

We are awake all night, we rarely sleep, we call our friends and they have the same story to say that kya yaar life is hell. Family relationships are nowadays only about money, kids get money from parents and parents are busy earning it.We are so hopeless that even if we achieve what we want we will still say am still not happy. A human is never satisfied and he will never be.It is just like a hunger , a hunger of fame, wealth , money , status and all are running towards this world like a beggar.

We youngsters are facing challenges of proving our worth, people with higher degrees are sitting with bobas and people with sifarish are earning in thousands.We are living a life of hell, while our life should be simple we have made it complex, people fill your minds with so much negativity that if they say you are a loser we too feel a loser in ourselves .

I can only say STOP, STOP just STOP living a life of hell.

The world is not meant for the things we are doing right now, and it was not made for the happiness, it is a struggle and everyday adds a new struggle to your life. I say yes my life is mess but Alhamdulillah I am perfect in my own mess.

The first thing is stop complaining and be thankful to what you have, people are buried and wishing a moment on this earth and yet you are alive and still you are not doing anything.

Be brave to handle your life and no one else will ease it for you, know that even your parents leave you at times and that is life.

You be dependent on anything else ALLAH swt and He will show you how dependency will make you suffer. Wake early , read salah ,ask forgiveness, give time to your family and know your worth. Allah swt has made us so much precious that we are called ashraful makhluqaat. He made angels bow to us. Masha Allah and still everyday we are degrading ourselves so much that I feel ALLAH swt would be laughing at us. As Iqbal R.A quoted Farishton sae behtar hae insaan banna magar lagti hae usmay mahnat zyaada.

We have lost our morals, we have lost how to respect elders, we have lost the value of trust and relationships and we are all busy seeking haram and then we still say why we are not happy. It makes me laugh at times.

Contentment wont come through money, status or your achievements it will only come when you have such ikhlaq that ALLAH swt is pleased with you, and when you are so much engrossed in pleasing ALLAH swt that people don't matter to you.

I know one thing don't sell yourself for the wishes of people, ALLAH swt has made you beautiful , praise yourself every morning. Help people and seek those who need your help, listen less to the negative people around and say to them "you said it cant be done and now see how it is done".

Be your favourite and  know only you can understand your worth. Work hard and expect less even if you have thousands of failures don't let that be part of you quitting. Quitting is more dangerous than failures. You know how people are successful???

Because they never quit and they accepted failures, they too started from zero and that's the thing that needs to be realized. Leave all the things that are source of your sadness and seek those who make you happy and who know your worth.

Trust me this world aint easy but say to it TRY ME.

THE ENIGMA OF FATE

Life as we know is all about fate and from the very beginning we have seen life working as per Allah’s will. But the question is if all is destined then what are we here for? How much is destiny and how much is our free will? Are we living the life as per Allah’s will and if that is so then why will we be questioned in the Akhirah?? Why do we pray and what is the concept of the dua. Can dua change the takdeer if it is already written?

The questions still continues that why is that some are blessed and some are not? Why is that some are having tough life while some don’t have much troubles in life.Allah swt has written our fate in Loh e Mahfouz and whatever we turn into may that be good or bad is also predestined.

Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets.[ surah Baqarah 2: 177] Indeed, all things We created with predestination. [ surah Qamar 54: 49]

This takdeer, dua, fate, destiny, will paradox is much complicated than Schrödinger’s cat. In Schrodinger's cat paradox we know that we have the conclusion that either the cat is alive or dead but in life we are having different scenarios where we don’t know how much is our destiny and how much is our free will.

To start up let me start with our course of life. As we are born we are being raised by our parents and our parents are our first school. We learn from them, we learn good and we learn bad. But is this what makes us good or bad?? Well no sometimes good parents have bad children and sometimes bad parents have blessed children. So fate is not determined by our upbringing. So what determines the fate?? Well again as we move on with life we get our friends and our friends make most of our lives part .As we are so are our friends. But what kind of friends we get is this also destiny or our will. The next phase is our spouse and what kind of spouse we get we don’t know. Sometimes marriages are successful and sometimes it ends up with divorce. Same is the case with our career and job. So the life as we see is unpredictable.

Well let me slap you, and if I slapped you and you will definitely claim that why I did so and yes I will say it was destined and it was all Allah’s will and not my action. Will you agree??? Well you won’t because deep down you know that it had my intentions too . ALLAH swt has given us free will like jinn's but our will is subject to Allah swt's will, it is ALLAH swt has pre knowledge of what will happen. He knows all but what we do is our free will which is subject to ALLAH swt's will.

You cannot will except as Allaah wills.(Soorah al-Insaan, 76: 30).

The world saw its beginning with Hazrat Adam A.S and Allah swt made him dwell in heaven. But iblees (the Satan) got jealous and made him eat the forbidden fruit.  ALLAH swt had the knowledge of this sin and ALLAH swt had already made the duniya for that. But here Hazrat Adam A.S knew that his intentions too were involved (though provoked by iblees ) and for that he repented in this duniya. He didn't say that it was destined and I shouldn't be punished. Iblees on the other hand was engulfed in arrogance and claimed that ALLAH swt shouldn't have made him bow the one made from clay. This makes the difference if we submit our will to the will of ALLAH swt , we are blessed while if we don't we are astray. In life ALLAH swt tests and puts us in trails and tribulations and what we will do is all based on our intentions but of our intentions and our will ALLAH swt has all of the knowledge (which is predestination).

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." [ Surah baqarah 2 : 30]

In life Allah swt has given us options to work. Now you can ask what options.

In our daily life we see that our actions are more or less affecting our destiny. Like our spouse as Allah answers in Holy Quran that for good men there are good women. If we are good we will get likewise so if we make ourselves into a better character we will get a better character but that too is subject to ALLAH swt's will. Sometimes you don't get someone who feels right for you , and sometimes you get the bad spouse. It is ALLAH's plan and knowledge and we as humans cant get to the fact that what , why and how that happened.  Rather than thinking about these things we must know whatever happens , happens for good.

No servant of Allaah will truly believe until he believes in the good and evil of  Qadar  and until he knows that what has befallen him could not have missed him, and what missed him could not have befallen him.[ Sah eeh Sunan at-Tirmithee,  no. 1743]

Misfortunes are trials and every trial is a way to get close to ALLAH swt , sometimes we have a trial in the form of marriage, trial in job , trial in health and these all are ways of ALLAH swt getting close to us and that is the greatest blessing.

Surat Ash-Sharh [verse 6] - Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.

So Allah plans and his plan is best and our actions are subject to His plan. It is as how we will work will lead our destiny. No doubt there is a secret or divine help from Allah but it comes only to those who work for it as Allama iqbal rightly said “Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har takdeer sai pehlay khuda banday sae khud poochay bata teri raza kya hae”.

Now what is the dua and does it change the destiny. Yes it does and our dua has the ability to give us what we have asked for. But here also Allah sees if it is beneficial for us, he gives what is best and the duas which are not accepted become source of our deeds in Qayamah.(Masha Allah).

So let me conclude that ALLAH swt knows all and we as humans cant presume on takdeer for our knowledge is limited. We should submit our will to ALLAH swt for this is what ISLAM stands for. Let us focus to win the Akhirah for this duniya is only a test and seeking destiny, takdeer or happiness in this place wont suffice till we plan on gaining the Akhirah.

MY UMRAH

It has been a year since my umrah and never along this time I could write about how the journey was and how was its experience. The words are so many but the emotions are tough to be expressed.

We all know Allah swt gives us trials and sometimes He gives us the blessings and if we look closer the trials which we face are actually the hidden blessings.
The day was ending December 2014 and there was a blessing standing in front of me. I had to perform Umrah and my parents were accompanying me.

I all along the journey saw new customs and the life was altogether surrounded by our deen. People in cars with tasbeeh, all along praising ALLAH swt and I was there witnessing all kinds of miracles.

We reached the Holy city at midnight and the first thing I heard was the ADHAAN and to be honest it shook my existence for the voice was beyond mesmerizing. I was held by mama and abu and with the crowd all around I kept thinking of the dua I would say on my first glimpse of the HOLY KAABA. One would not believe that the moment I saw it the only thing I could remember were my sins. I cried  for the sins ahead of my eyes. I cried that OH ALLAH my sins are many and still you made me enter this Holy land. Ya ALLAH how could you bless me so much, YA ALLAH forgive me, for my sins are many, Ya ALLAH forgive me.

I saw people crying and asking forgiveness, crying their pain and asking for the blessing.It is a human weakness that even if he claims he is fine there are pains and sorrows beneath the smile. I never had seen my abu, my mamma crying so much. Wallah the moment was divine. I did the tawaaf for the first time and all along I felt as if there was a guidance in every path, I saw the dark sky up ahead and I knew that ALLAH swt was seeing me and he was seeing me taking the steps to what HE ordered hundreds of years ago.

The aab e zam zam took my thirst, the steps towards safa marwah took my pain. The salah I had there, I never had such salah ever before. I felt peace and contentment. The peace I search everyday but I don't get the same peace. I saw the mountains and saw them again and again for these mountains were witnessed by our beloved PROPHET pbuh. The mountains so blessed indeed.

After the nimaz abu and mamaa took me towards babul salaam gate As we walked along, mamaa showed me the hamaam of men and said it once was the house of abu jahal (an ibirat for the wrongdoers).

At the end was the blessed house that once our beloved Prophet lived in ,which is now made a library so that people wont consider it as place of worship.The time was of khuftan (late night prayer) and all were looking inside but I kept looking at the stars and I thought maybe some angels might be there and maybe they might be guarding the place. It was as if I wanted to see the miracle and yet I felt miracle wasn’t anywhere else than in front of me and I felt no cold and the breeze there brought peace,the breeze that felt was reading the tasbih.Masha Allah.

We went back to hotel and as we walked we checked the market place. All the shops had prayer rugs, abayas and the prayer hats and it was as if this place was only meant for the submission to ALLAH swt, the lights glittering across and the people heading for prayers.Our hotel had mostly Indonesian people and our room was at 8th floor, the trip to that room was even more interesting, people of varied cultures in the same lift heading for the same destination. The Indonesian government pays to the pilgrims and makes the umrah more affordable than the rest of the countries,so it was as if more Indonesian people formed the crew of pilgrims. After dinner we slept and it was the most peaceful sleep and by the late night we had to head back to HOLY KAABA for the beautiful tawaaf and the tahajud.

My mother never missed early morning tahajud and fajr and she was very particular about that. Papa and me had to hear scolding's everytime for waking up late, and the late waking up there was 3 am. The early morning had indeed the magic and moreover there was no time early or late. Every time people made the tawaaf and only during the nimaz tawaaf stopped. One of the uncle I met during the blessed journey (may Allah bless him) asked me that why we make the tawaaf in an anticlockwise direction. Though it was every time I saw and even I did the tawaaf I had no answer.

Let me question you people that is why we do tawaaf anticlockwise???

That time there were huge number of people all praising Allah and doing the tawaaf clad in mere white cloth and papa said it was because the month was of rabbi awwal (the month of birth of our beloved prophet).

All along there was not a single moment when I felt that I was being dragged along, I felt as if I was walking a peaceful journey amidst the crowd and amidst the huge gathering. While walking I saw  birds doing the tawaaf like they knew it and like they knew it was to be done anticlockwise...the view bought so many thoughts ahead of me that yes all the living beings are divinely connected and yes the surroundings give us the indication that there is ALLAH, the one who created all...as we know from surah ar rehman kis kis naemat ko jhutlao gay ( of what of the bounties of ALLAH you will deny of ??? the bounties of prayer and the bounties of emaan.

Soon my papa said that he wanted to touch the hijr e aswad (the holy stone from heaven that takes all of your sins as you touch it).That area was the most crowded and it felt impossible. We drew closer and closer and reached the muqaam e Ibrahim. I touched it and again I felt as if my existence was a miracle and right there I saw the imprint of hazrat Ibrahim’s feet, the view was amazing for people all around in white were prostating before it the nafal rakah.As we reached to the hateem (hijr e ismaeel) I was dragged by a Palestinian lady and she made me offer the salah inside it.

The salah there is equal to the salah read inside the HOLY KAABA.I could not stop my tears for indeed I never deserved this. I never deserved to be among those people who were witnessing the miracle, the miracle of being in a place which was blessed by Allah swt and our beloved prophet pbuh. Wallah I felt as if I was seeing a miracle, especially the time I touched the HOLY KAABA.We got more closer and i could see papa moving ahead to touch the holy stone but that moment he reached just close but couldn't touch it, he missed it but back during Haj he claims and yes indeed he did touch that.

As the day ended we headed back to our hotel as the next day we had to travel to the places of mount Arafat and gaar e hira.It is place where our beloved prophet pbuh received his first revelation. We then headed to jab le noor, and it was said that at this place our prophet pbuh stood from fajr till khouftan and cried in istighfaar ( masha allah ).What it would have been we only could presume, even if I imagine it I cry a thousand sobs.The next day we had to travel to the city of peace.....al madinah...it was a travel from mekkah to madina...just like the hijra which our beloved prophet pbuh did hundreds of years ago.

As the hijra of our journey started I felt a calmness in me and so was everything around, we reached madina by night and it was all cold as compared to the climate in mekkah.We got our room and as luck our room had a small space of connection to the veranda as you can say and the view of whole city, it was a dream space.We had our dinner and laban (the curd) and headed to masjid e nabwi , and during fajr we headed inside the masjid e nabwi to have the glimpse where our beloved prophet pbuh is buried ( may Allah bless his soul and bless him and bliss him  till eternity) ,that time all the women of all the ethnicities were waiting around, the crowd in immense, to have one gaze,the graze of which took my breath away.We had salah on the jannatul baqi ( the rug from heaven) there.

During the next days we had the cold phase associated with the journey to masjid e quba and masjid e qiblatein. Of the masjid e quba it is revered to be the first masjid to be in existence and one salah there is having the same ajar as that of one umrah (masha allah). The masjid e Qiblatein was referred to be of more than one qiblaah one point of time when the qibla was still Jerusalem( where now stands Masjid e Aqsa) and not Masjid e Haram ( holy Kaaba).

The moment that made my life was when we travelled to maidan e uhad where the muslim first war ( jang e uhad) took place, and the moment I saw the place where Hazrat Hamza is buried ( the place without any dome or any stone for a reference), I saw it stood as lonely as a human life.It showed me how we are here, travellers and how this life has no importance lest we understand and lest we repent.

We headed back to miqat of medina called dhul hulaifa for our next umrah back to mekkah.We  reached back on Friday and that was our last day of stay, we did umrah and headed towards final tawaaf , tawaaf e vida and that tawaaf was my last tawaaf and a last view of holy KAABA.
In the last view I just realized that I don't want to go back , that I want to stay there and ask forgiveness for my whole life, that I am being separated from my soul, that this place brought me peace, that I want to die here, that I found my ALLAH.

To write about the experience in mere words is unjustified and beyond my scope, I hope I did some justice,errors if any accepted.May Allah swt bless all and bless all muslims and bless them to perform the haj and umrah before they die.

AMEEN

A GIRLS STORY

The day came on, a day different indeed! Somber, gray, rainy, cold, but the little girl was eager to dress herself in her new garb brought by her parents and to see herself in her new outlook of “A school going child”. Eagerly awaiting the day she had set forth all her arrangements including the picture books, arithmetics,Rhyme stuffs ,Color boxes, Crayons , Pencils, Erasers to mark a few, all neatly set in her new school bag. Cuddling her Papa she set forth ahead of her dreams waiving him “A Sweet goodbye” and quickly grabbed her Mother awaiting her in the kitchen with the lunch especially made for her.

Her mother could be called “A world to her” but now she was leaving her mother to see a new world “A World of her own, and a world not known to her”. Taking along with her the umbrella she along with her Mother set forth towards the bus stop, alongside the clinic nearby. Excited over the new adventure, the girl had initially ignored her fear, her joys had known no bounds, but fearing indeed she was! Fearing the unaccustomed environment her little eyes were being subjected to. Boarding the bus with her little feet she took the seat alongside the drenched window and waived her mother “A Sweet goodbye”.

She sighed and blushed when she saw that the other students were looking at her with an unaccustomed approval. She wanted to cry and run back towards her mother but she had to adjust, for the sake of her own self and for the ones who cared for her. Half an hour later after looking alongside the picturesque view of green vale, the bus halted and all the students unboarded along with their burdens including their soaked umbrellas. She too followed the crew and marched towards her class. Her class was painted in green and had maintained the warmth inside.

“May! Maaaey I com….Commme inn mam!!”Said the somewhat quivering little girl

“Come in dear!” was the reply from her new guardian….

“Good Morning, Madam!” restored the little girl half fearing now.

“Good Morning Child! You a new comer! Good, Good! Sit down and be at your ease,

What’s your name child?”

Now gentle warmth suffused her, a natural color came into her cheeks which had got blushed initially, a change in her Countenance indeed.The girl replied with a little confidence.

“Good, take your seat and next time say “Present ma’m” when I call your name. Be ready for the prayer outside in the Playground, quick!” ordered her guardian.

Pointing towards another girl in the corner, the guardian asked the girl to accompany the newcomer rightly to be now called her desk mate. Hardly aware of the outer world she gasped with fear and went ahead. Her "self" saw something new indeed. “Thousands of Students garbed in neat and clean uniform enchanting the hymns of the Mighty Allah, the drenched stage with multifaceted flags all around, the cemented walls soaked in the newly drizzle, teachers with a grim face, commanders engrossed in their duties , the greenery around and the smell of the mustard flowers”. The quivering little girl with her dreams and inspiration in her eyes got a new world infused deep within her heart forever and ever! Now she wanted to share it with someone…someone there for her... !!!

It was eighteen years later watching her old shinning chum from her window that the old memories rushed through her mind. On the window sill garbed in her fancies she looked at the moon, the moon she was fond of and with which she would spend hours listening and searching for her unanswered question. But today she didn’t want to listen and neither to be answered but she wanted to talk……

“Oh! Dear Moon…Listen to me dear, Ye know me and I know thee, more than anyone knows thee and more than anyone could ever know me! Promise me not to leave me for I see the MIGHTY in you … Crept within me and take my soul …OH! Thee why the world is Selfish and not like you??? Life needs me and I need a friend within you…! So listen to me and be there always!!!!

BRANDING OF HOMO SAPIENS

Its an attire,a covering and a person’s countenance

But why is it fake, immodest and lacking any sense

Its deteriorated, pampered and held responsible

For the fashion,dignity and a pretense.

Fake world,Fake dresses and fake people to come

Do we need them for our defence or just to make us tense

Its an attire,a covering and a person’s countenance

  The first thing we see when we look at a person is the way they are dressed…Dressing show significance, esteem, persona and dignity of a person…Dressing represents half of the persons outlook. We call a person pretty, adorable, fashion icon, an average, a branded and a disaster by just looking at the attire one wears…Sometimes I wonder that, Will the next generation classify humans based on the dresses one wears…The higher class of branded Ed Hardy, Lee Cooper ,Puma ,Calvin Klein, the next class of Adidas,Allen Solly and then the lower class ( which I don’t want to mention otherwise they will kill me).The fact I want to mention here is that, has this changed our minds? I mean cant one just simply wear anything rather than get in troubles finding a branded one just to grab attention and confidence. Well let me say that depends on a person. How much that matters to him.That age was good when clothes represented just a way to safeguard from the bad weather conditions and not the class.I don't say dressing up good is bad but dressing up to extreme just to please people isn't good.

In Kashmir the trend has taken quite a pace. People are now conscious of the brands. The thing that I want to mention and the reason I came up to write is that I don’t understand why modernization came up here in terms of clothes and not in came up in terms of intellect. I am concerned of those guys and girls who have so much put fashion in their minds that they have lost the sense what is right and what is wrong and what our religion says. A state was there when girls wore salwar kameez , then another state came and the salwar kameez lost its length, then another state came and girls started wearing jeans, then an era of hijab came which got revolutionized to hijabs with styles and then see through hijab and flicks got promoted. Guys too had the same type of revolution,they started with kameez shalwar,then jeans that got first torn then got tight fitted and now got promoted to different shades apart from its being held at waist and now residing at the cliff of waist begging the owners to let them hold them, hair got fist trimmed then a new shade of style came that represented spikes like leaves on a pine and now long hair holds its trend.What are we turning into ? Fashion icons or comedy of errors. The thing is we are revolutionizing, yes we are, but we are turning back to being homo sapiens.If an ancient Australopithecus or Meganthropus Erectus stands up before us we will say a trendy person is standing before us.

The question that comes to my mind : Why is fashion a concern and not our education,why brands have a priority and not our deen. Why youth want to please people and not want to enhance their souls?

People let me tell…A person is successful if he satisfies his soul and not what people think,our life is determined whether we feed our body or feed our soul.The fake world is nourished by people's happiness, and also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one's soul is a person's only real obligation. All things are one. And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it (Poelho Coelho) and for us the goal should be the Akhirah and not the fake duniya and the fashion world it has build up.Its just an illusion and it wont fulfill our soul neither it will do good to us...Rest Allah knows and let He give us Hidayah  ...Ameen

A GHOST STORY PART ONE

Vampire bats lingering on the roofs of a hazy old house of quaint description with beams and panels teeming with woodwork of Deodar, certain mystery lurking in the deep pools of dark water at night, an unusual figure with a weird appearance haunting around the house materializing into a human and then disappearing again into the “SPIRIT WORLD”.....A HAUNTED HOUSE AND A GHOST…

Whew!!!! Do they exist????? Everyone gets horrified when something unseen, unnatural and something eerie happens. While some people won’t admit it openly but the fear grips everyone at times though how much we try to conceal it…!!!

But what is humorous is that some are even frightened by the mere glimpse of a cockroach…Me among them. The cry that emerges is uncontrollable Eeeeeeeeh!!!!!!!!! And then if someone is around then it can become the “Joke of the day”.Hah! Why doesn’t anyone understand that a person like me can even fear a COCKROACH……… !!!!

The very word “ghost” fascinates our imagination and at times can produce such a fear that it can leave a human half dead. It is a truth that many people have confessed to their having come across such experiences in their life that were beyond their understanding and their realm of reasoning.

While I remember one night I was sitting alone in my room and suddenly a strong breeze swept around and caused the windows and the door to bang horribly. Dark shadows of something moving around made me nervous and awestruck. I tried to recollect every Holy verse but what then, somehow my conscience woke me up, “You silly, C’mon stand up and unveil this ghost, don’t be a Coward!!!” My brave self stood up and clandestinely came out of the room with a torch and began searching the ghost…..What I saw was a SHOCK……….. Guess what??

Well nothing that eerie, it was that “notorious breeze” that caused the grapevine in our backyard to swing along making those weird shadows…Poor me!!! Trying to find a GHOST!!!!
Anyways there is one more interesting incident when I found a GHOST…..

About 6 years ago in my school days it was heard that a Ghost has been located and that that Ghost had a proof!!! Ghosh! A Ghost………………

(To be continued…)

A GHOST STORY PART TWO

"I am almost afraid of the wind out there.

The dead leaves skip on the porches bare,

The windows clatter and whine.

With the clock that ticks and the books that stand.

Wise and silent, on every hand.

I am almost afraid; though I know the night

Lets no ghosts walk in the warm lamplight.

When I open the windows and go to bed,

Will the ghosts come In and stand at my head?

But, oh, if they came on the wind to-night

Could I bear their faces, their garments white

Blown in the dark around my lonely bed?

Oh, could I forgive them for being dead?"

Ya!! A "GHOST WITH A PROOF" ....It was being said that a young boy along with the school had gone to Yusmarg for the picnic. The boy with his friend had gone inside the jungle and had started taking the snaps. Suddenly near a tree while taking a snap the young boy fell down and died. Later when the snap of the boy was developed a ferocious witch could be easily located. The witch was fierce with odd facial getup red eyes, cunning teeth with long white hair and no hands and feet. Ehhh!!! “A very wild and fearful picture indeed”.

Everyone at school became curious and horrified and pitied the unlucky boy. I came home awestruck and gathered my entire valor to sympathize myself, just sat in the kitchen and didn’t even stirred from the place. I feared everything around the house and the picture of the young boy saddened me even more. If I managed to go out of my room I made it a necessity to take someone along with me. Everyone got suspicious about my unusual behavior and started laughing calling me “A COWARD!!!” Gosh! Only my poor self did know what Chaos it was facing at that time.

The horror was burking me and the picture of the boy along with that witch came to my mind again and again, no matter how much I tried to deviate my attention!!! After some days I gathered my scattered conscience “C’mon, Wake up and unveil the ghost…this chance wont come again, Get up, be brave and go to the spot, see the fear to overcome it…. Give it a try!”Next day I made my mind to go to the spot and unveil the ghost. But fate had written something different. At school someone said that “IT WAS A HOAX, A PRANK made by some mischiefs and the picture was graphically designed and nothing was true”. Ehhh!!! Poor me again trying to find a GHOST!!!

How could anyone prank in such a way and break someone’s inspiration to see a ghost…? Next time if someone wants to see a ghost just switch on to horror movies… that’s a ghost with a difference!!!!

BUT DO GHOSTS EXIST?

THEY NEED OUR CARE

The physically challenged people need an immediate attention of the government and people alike.

Look over to the darkness once…..

Even though the world may seem to be in its glamour…

They still are mighty’s creatures which ought to recover…

Ever noticed how to see when there is no vision,

How to walk when there is no opportunity,

How to speak when there are no words to empower…

People they do it every time….

Oh Thee! Why you took away their valor, when you still made them to struggle

in the same race which commoners are facing…

They still have a hope…Let us enlighten it somehow and before it dies, Lets save

And work for it. It is our duty and still our responsibility….

I had thought that the world is so blissful and so vibrant that it never felt to me that it was gruesome or even elusive. But I still pity those people who know it but still put their hands on their eyes…Should one call them the anti-Gandhian monkeys? There are still thousands of  people in Kashmir who are physically challenged i.e. they either are deaf, blind, dumb, or physically challenged suffering from leprosy or even mentally retarded people which may be the people suffering from cerebral palsy. The people suffering from cerebral palsy are not necessarily mentally retarded but suffer from some physical deformities. I usually come across beggars in buses who have lost their legs or have their hands amputated…and every time I see them I pity and try not to reconsider it again…Have you ever thought how it would be for them to be in such a condition and then to survive. Just think once. Maybe my article isn’t that interesting nor it has any gossip but still I feel the best kind of achievement of this article over my others. You people know why??? Because it shows me the truth and a fact of life which is not deceptive. Kashmir has one such institution called as Social welfare organization and many other hospitals and training centers for such people. They truly are working for their upliftment. They are showing them way to survive but what I want is that government should make an initiative which besides them showing them the way to survive should also show them how to move ahead to progress. You are just making dependent people more dependable. Done any favor? They don’t need a mercy, they just want an opportunity. They don’t want sympathy, they just need empathy.

It was 20 Jan 2010 Mumbai that Bajaj Allianz IBN 7 along with Dainik Bhaskar newspaper made an initiative and the best held award function for these people. It showed the ways that the government should take for their proper development as well as their advancement. There were 18 disabled people whose efforts were so miraculous that it paved a new way and inspiration for the disabled people. The chief guest Aamir Khan had made his presence quite well and envisaged his social work a way to progress. I truly admire him because for me it is very difficult in these times to see a philanthropist star. The Editor Chief of IBN 7 Rajdeep Sardesai well stated that “I think that there is much negation in the media, unless these kind of positive things are not brought into focus, how come then we move ahead”. While Aamir Khan just encouraged these people by calling them the real Jahapanas…Jahapana tusse great ho.

For me there are three main ways of their development. The first one is the education. It would be an initiative if any free organization is being set up of people of different sectors opting for social reform for educating and training these people in different fields. The second is to build up their conscience. These people loose all their hopes and feel that the world is all a source of pessimism. They need to know that the world has not ended up but still paving a new way of life. The third one is the digital perspective. Such softwares could be developed which will help them to better understand the computer technology and then to work in this sector. Another thing which I don’t consider much important is the economical dependence. Anyone can donate money for their uplift. The Ability foundation is the best held charitable trust that works to empower the disabled. These are just the little ways I felt over so that these people don’t get discouraged anywhere. We have the way which they have lost and still we have their hopes which could get shattered lest we don’t work for it at the right time.

At last I state a quote of Samuel Johnson “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do absolutely no good to him”

AM I A LIVING SOUL OR A MIRAGE

Everyday I come up with new experiences and new rendezvous...that I fail to recognize my self everyday. May be the world wants me to see the illusion as a real perception...I perceive! Yes I do...I make the perception every time… Why am I alive and who am I? These questions may sound illogical...but these are worth a million enigmas...Say I ask you? What have you planned for your future...Oh I just want to be a doctor… Or an engineer...or I will end up with a blissful family...STOP!!!! I am asking of future....It will take some time for us to analyse our future. As for me and me-like students, we are just entrapped in moment-full bliss...Waking in the morning, sipping the tea...getting ready for the college…and meeting your friends…Studying for the exams...coming back…having the sumptuous meal...and then sleep...Done any favor??? No not to me and not even to you...We just miss something in the so called rat race world. I just recall what Paulo Coelho says: 

 “Everyday if you have a work instead of a job ...then everyday is a holiday”

What that means is that we have to look for the job and not for the work...and the Allah (SWT) has already ordained a job for us…and I know that most of the people know what job I am talking about. And it should not be coveted.

 Al-Hasan said: “O son of Adam! Life is only days, so if your day passes, your life becomes shorter...One of the wise people once said: “I am amazed at the one who feels grief over the loss of his wealth but yet he does not feel grief over the loss of his life span, which in fact occurs daily.” 

 So strive hard in worship of Allah (SWT), weep over your sins and flee from the punishment in the Hereafter. The victorious one is he who directs his hopes toward that which is everlasting and cuts off his aspirations for that which is temporary. 

 May Allah (SWT) show us the Siratul-Mustakeem...Ameen

Take a Look and thee don’t sigh...

Over the perseverance of a human soul .....

It may not then plead ,lament or cry before you oh Thee....

It may not be able to retrospect.....

For it needs you and your amiability and it needs a friend in you.....

See you enlighten the strength of a mighty though you don’t reveal...

It is known by the soul who agrees you...but even though never agree to you..

Take the souls words, decipher them and don’t conceal....

Pave the way and favour not like the other souls who don’t understand this phase..

Right here in the heart of the soul, there are myriads of moments and dreams ....

In every breath it believes you, time flying but for sure it needs you...

DRUG DEBATE : MEDICINE AND ITS SERIOUS ISSUES

The pharmaceutical industry is essential to the global economy and is subject to a high degree of regulation. In addition to the production of drugs, which involves a lengthy research and development process, the selection –  and protection – of brand names is crucial to success and requires detailed knowledge of a wide range of both national and international requirements. This guide is designed to help busy practitioners to navigate the regulatory maze by allowing for a quick and easy international comparison of the respective practices and procedures governing pharmaceutical marks. To achieve this, Pharmaceutical Trademarks – A Global Guide is written by industry experts from leading firms across the globe. Recently there is now more work done on providing the generic name to the medicines than providing a pharmaceutical name. For me this could be a set back as it won’t help public. Public is now more familiar with trade names.

We all know Medicines have more than one name, a generic name, which is the active ingredient of the medicine and the a brand name, which is the trade name the manufacturer gives to the medicine.When a pharmaceutical company discovers a new generic drug to treat or prevent a condition, they put it through a series of clinical trials in order to gain approval for marketing from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).Once the license has been granted by the MHRA, the pharmaceutical company can then market the generic medicine under a brand name.

This whole process needs a well known and thorough examination. Providing public the generic name will confuse them. There will be increase in medicinal costs. Price hike will altogether affect the poor and the district hospitals won’t come up to take the medicines to the poor. Public discussions should be there. Before going on for this process, public should be interacted and discussions should take place. If generic name will take action, public won’t be able to judge the right and the wrong drug or whether it is substandard or whether it is spurious (i.e. fake). There are a handful of medicines that a doctor must prescribe by the brand name because the inactive ingredients do affect the action of the medicine. These include:modified-release theophylline for asthma, eg Nuelin SA, Slo-phyllin,Uniphyllin continus modified-release aminophylline for asthma, eg Norphyllin SR,Phyllocontin continus modified-release diltiazem for angina and high blood pressure, eg Adizem-XL, Slozem, Tildiem retard. Also there are some anticancer drugs. If generic name is provided in them we might not have some of the important information of the medicine and this might turn to many diseases including glaucoma. In addition we might not be able to guess the side effects of the medicine or if there are some sub standards in the medicine. Generic name will provide the legislative approval and thus would have low preferences of doctors and patients altogether.

Roughly half of all neurologists have had a patient lose seizure control or some other new adverse reaction after switching from brand to generic names in america. Up taking this process will affect the people here. Summing up, my point is that the basic is always the need of hour and switching to the platform which is unknown may turn fatal particularly in health concerns and we all know how much health means to us.

THE JOYS AND SORROWS OF BEING A TEENAGER

"Tweenage, a trying transition"

Yippee what a fun to be in teens, to be independent, notorious, sloppy, and noisy. Comes the teenage, and we begin to act like hellions, poking fun at younger and older siblings mercilessly and then listening to all kinds of 'dhishum dhishum' from our elders. 'Devil' is the name they often give to us. Secrets, codes, passwords, gossips and pranks rule our life. Be it from our clothes, hairdos or accessories------"bade log" believe we cock a snook at them. Whatever we call stylish, they find it clownish.

A warm, enduring and enthusiastic bond is forged between friends. Friends provide a sense of belonging and a bridge of support for us and our secrets. That's perhaps why we prefer being with our friends more often than being with our family.

We are filled with enthusiasm and energy that exudes from our pores. Though there are some exceptions of teenagers being shy, most of us are outspoken and courageous. While boys try to be sporty and energetic, some girls become tomboyish and some turn into divas. A strange restlessness characterizes us____our hands are constantly in motion---- picking, pulling, scratching, and twisting. Much of these actions are aimless.

We sleep less but dream more___often with eyes wide open. Lucid dreams are the weapons to elude the boredom. We see ourselves dancing, acting, receiving awards and styling ourselves. We experience being with our favorite actors or actresses, being rich, beating our enemies like superman ----- all kinds of fabs which in reality are impossible. All this wastes our time. Agreed. But isn't it wonderful being in the Utopia? Oldies never enjoy this bliss!! How many of u agree?

We enjoy playing with our cell phones, listening to music for hours together, shopping, and chatting with friends; watching TV serials, cricket and football matches, reality shows, action movies and automobile junks.

We are much more emotional and sentimental and become angry over small issues. "Bade log" never seem to understand us.

Some of us strive hard to win in debates. Some want be at top ranks in exams and study whole day and night making themselves look like skeletons while others turn allergic to books. Some are constantly under exam stress. Others simply don't care and often make fun of nerds.

In food, teens and greens don't gel well. We hate those tasteless veggies. Junk rocks.

I am living this age but it still is a mystery for me. I find myself changing everyday. Each day presents things differently to me.

Give us a chance to prove our worth, to apply what we have learnt from you and vary it as situations demand and make our choices. Isn't this a preparation for adulthood?

BEING A GIRL

A girl to be known…so meager and so subtle with myriads of dreams…

In her own world she is a meek fairy and yet so a stubborn human…

Naive and so flawless…she is a daddy princess

Brother’s chum and mothers hope…she is a garland of regards
P.S

Its wonderful to be a girl…Is it??

25 Jan 2011…my mind ran across my past to have the glimpse of my life…and yet managed to recall it till I knew my existence from 14 June 2 decades back…I have lived up the life being a girl from past two decades and its being wonderful. Being held with humbleness and care and regarded as a fairy with affection. “BEING A GIRL ”.Does that mean anything…Yea it does..it means you have a different existence, responsibilities and yet a different life…I have been living as if I didn’t thought it was different but now I do feel the difference…Difference that I want to share and the differences I want to amend..People I want your feedbacks in my this article…I need a voice over this issue…Help me in a way…Tell me if my views are wrong or if they are right. It’s an article about an issue and about the life of a girl in a Kashmiri society…
Let me start up with a theme back past 30 years…a story of a girl…a girl considered to be a responsibility, a girl being provided less rights and then till she got married by her parents, a girl being trained and scrutinized ..After marriage a girl to be PROVEN, whether she could cook, or whether she could do household job well, cleaning paths,utencils,clothes and yet held up by the jibes of her in laws..DID THEY WANTED THE SERVENT OR DID THEY WANTED THEIR SONS WIFE??? What does ISLAM SAY:
The study of women in Islam investigates the role status of women within the religion of Islam. Sharia (Islamic law) provides for differences between women's and men's roles, rights, and obligations.A woman can do the households if she wishes but has not been addressed to do so.The obligatory is that she should be religious and that she must be well skilled to make her children to be pious.The fact still remains that she has to maintain a good life may that be pre marital or may that be post marital.From past few days I have been listening to many cases of girls being harrassed and tortured at very steps., whether they are highly educated girls in cities or whether they be the uneducated girls at villages.The cases came out as :
A girl who got selected for her MD in surgery being stopped by her inlaws because they thought it might lower the status of her MBBS husband. A lecturer being burned because she couldn’t fulfill her dowry requisition. A girl being stopped to persuade education outside.Though in cities we get all the facilities but does most of the girls get?What is happening and why is it happening? We have a society held up with a different ideology of being so reserved and yet being held up with interferances.We tend to make notions due others, filled with hatred, jealously and killing a person almost with the indirect talks. WHY DON’T WE LIVE AS SUCH THAT HAS BEEN PRESCRIBED IN ISLAM AND LET PEOPLE LIVE AS SUCH CONCENTRATING ON OUR OWN ISSUES? Why is living turning to be a hell?
You are being constantly told to guard your modesty, constantly put at views and then forbidden from most of the things like going outside for studying or planning to visit the places. You are being constantly reminded that you have to go to other house; you are constantly being told that you will be examined and then put to task. JUST LIKE THE LIFE OF A GIRL IS: READY STEADY GO. No doubt a view on activities is must; a parent must be well sure about their children not giving much liberty to their children as such. But shouldn’t these rules be applicable to boys as well? Why such restrictions on a GIRL.
The thing is I can’t judge up what is right, what’s wrong and if its right how much it is right. We are held up with many issues but the life of a girl is much so confusing and tiresome. Let me finish up this article to make you think about the life of girl and the different aspects she is held thereof. I am neither favoring nor opposing. My very this article is yet supposed to make you people just analyze. People give me your thoughts as well in the feedback…
Rightly awaiting….

THE BURNED WAY

I got Up Waking with me in ecstasy...

I Followed the Burned Way, Deep in the Slumber I made a Moment so Clumpsy......

Oh no...

I wont let the moments be wiped

As Long I am Alive...

We all Are forsaken identities following a strange way towards an eternity...

and I face a Final Judgement......

not known to me...

In the midst there is a game of Trails....and me in dilemma...

One To Hold on and the other to leave it in the script of my Life...

I am trembling and Shivering and my life is overtaking.....

And there is a lost blissful moment...

Together let us work for a while, set up the dreams and go on...

That's what am I doing ...

Following a strange way in an unknown soul...

Chanting hymns and there is nothing to conceal...

My life all a trial...

There is someone in the garb of white hue......

I am afraid of, Let it turn to be a stoned moment ...

and be it a still...

Don't want to follow, or plead or say anything ......

JUST ME WITNESSING THE LAST MOMENT ....

THE MOMENT I DONT WANT TO BE SHARED.....

BEENISH

ALL ABOUT NICK VUJICIC

They say when God takes away everything he gives much in another form.Nick Vujicic was born with no arms or legs - but he doesn't let the details stop him.He is a Serbian Australian evangelist and motivational speaker born with tetra amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of limbs.As a child he struggled mentally and emotionally as well as as physically,but eventually came in terms with his disability and at the age of seventeen started his own non profit organization.Life without limbs he presents the motivational speeches worldwide on life with a disability hope and finding meaning in life.He also speaks about his belief that God can use any willing heart to do his work and that God is big enough to overcome any and all disabilities.

The brave 26-year-old - who is mainly torso - plays football and golf, swims, and surfs, despite having no limbs.

Nick has a small foot on his left hip which helps him balance and enables him to kick.

He uses his one foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his toes.When I get in the water I float because 80 per cent of my body is lungs and my drumstick acts as a propeller.Due to his faith as an Evangelical Christian, Nick has chosen to remain a virgin until marriage although he has had long-term girlfriends in the past.He's very modest but he gets marriage proposals from women all the time, said Nick's friend and publicist Steve Appel, from Los Angeles.

He would love to get married and start a family but he's waiting for the right girl to come along.

When Nick was born his father was so shocked he left the hospital room to vomit. His distraught mother couldn't bring herself to hold him until he was four months old.

His disability came without any medical explanation - a rare occurrence called Phocomelia - and Nick and his parents spent many years asking why this cruel trick would happen to them.

My mother was a nurse and she did everything right during pregnancy but she still blamed herself,' he said.It was so hard for them but right from the start they did their best to make me independent.

My dad put me in the water at 18 months and gave the courage to learn how to swim. 

Initially, a Victoria state law prevented Nick from attending a mainstream school due to his physical disability in spite of a lack of mental impairment. However, Vujicic became one of the first physically disabled students integrated into a mainstream school once those laws changed. But soon enough his lack of limbs made him a target for the school bullies, and he fell into a severe depression. Following this depression, at the age of eight, he contemplated suicide and even tried to drown himself in his bathtub at the age of ten. But then after the love for his parents prevented him from following through.He also states in his music video "Something More" that God had a plan for his life and he could not bring himself to drown because of this. 

Nick prayed very hard that God would give him arms and legs, and initially told God that, if his prayer remains unanswered, he would stop praising him indefinitely. However, a key turning point in his faith came around when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with a severe disability. Vujicic realized he wasn't unique in his struggles and began to embrace his lack of limbs.After this, Nick realized his accomplishments could inspire others and became grateful for his life.

Nick gradually figured out how to live a full life without limbs, adapting many of the daily skills limbed people accomplish without thinking. Nick writes with two toes on his left foot and a special grip that slid onto his big toe. He knows how to use a computer and can type up to 45 words per minute using the "heel and toe" method. He has also learned to throw tennis balls, play drum pedals, get a glass of water, comb his hair, brush his teeth, answer the phone and shave, in addition to participating in golf, swimming, and even sky-diving.

During secondary school, he was elected captain of MacGregor State in Queensland and worked with the student council on fundraising events for local charities and disability campaigns. When he was seventeen, he started to give talks at his prayer group, and later founded his non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs.

Vujicic wrote that he keeps a pair of shoes in his closet due to his belief in miracles.

In 2005 Vujicic was nominated for the Young Australian of the Year Award.

Vujicic currently lives in Los Angeles, California, United States.On 12 February 2012, he married his fiancée, Kanae Miyahara, and on 13 February 2013, their son Kiyoshi James Vujicic was born weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces.