Review: Fazpies for a Cause

If you have not tasted Faizah’s pies, then you are really missing out! They taste heavenly and are made fresh with lots of love, intentions and selawats. MasyaAllah.

Last weekend, Faizah was selling her mini pies to raise funds for the people and the traditional Islamic institutions of Tareem, which she will be visiting next month inshaa Allah. On Saturday, she sold her pies at two all-ladies events and they were sold out in less than 10 minutes. Alhamdulillah!

A few mothers and children helped Faizah over the weekend to make the pies. The Na’al piping on the pie that Little A was holding looked extra cute and we found out later that it was done by one of the girls. Just so heartwarming. Selawats and prayers of innocent children cannot be underestimated. 

We had ordered whole pies from Faizah for birthdays and other events and never been disappointed. MasyaAllah. My husband told me that we should seriously just consider ordering her pies to replace birthday cakes for future celebrations. And yes, that dark choc pie with rainbow Na’al tasted as beautiful as it looks. 

The pies come in these flavours - banoffee, choc cheese, mint choc, dark choc and banana choc. They will be sold at another all-ladies event on Saturday, 23rd November, inshaa Allah. Check out fazpies on IG if you want to get a whole pie for birthdays and other events!

Review: A Sip from the Beauty of Mawlid ad-Daiba’i

“When one stands before an immense sea of beauty and perfection, where does one begin in trying to describe it? In trying to experience it? In trying to encompass it?”

How true indeed. The text is taken from the back of the book and above it is a prayer upon the Prophet ‎ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) written in both Arabic and English. Together, the prayer upon the Prophet ‎ﷺ and the excerpt above forms the shape of the na’al, or the Prophetic sandal. MasyaAllah such beauty.

The book itself is a beautiful compilation of the Mawlid ad-Daiba’i by the team behind Be Loved by the Beloved ‎ﷺ. It includes the biography of the Imam ad-Daiba’i, intentions and merits of attending a mawlid, and 40 merits of sending salutations upon the Prophet ‎ﷺ. 

And amongst the merits listed are:

* Compliance with the Command of Allah ﷻ 

* The person who sends it once attains ten blessings from Allah ﷻ 

* Ten good deeds are written for the person who sends it

* Ten sins are erased for the person who sends it

* Du’a that is preceded with salutations will ascend to Allah ﷻ 

* The person who sends it attains the Prophet ‎ﷺ’s intercession

* The person who sends it obtains forgiveness from Allah ﷻ 

Following the introduction is the complete Mawlid ad-Daiba’i in Arabic text with English translation. What took my breath away was the commentary after each section of the mawlid and nasyid, complete with verses from the Holy Quran, Hadith, stories and lessons. 

One of the shorter commentaries is below, from Section 13 of the Mawlid:

Throughout Sayyidatina Amina’s pregnancy, many amazing signs occurred. Among them were:

* She did not feel the heaviness of pregnancy that other women would usually feel.

* She kept having dreams or visions telling her that she was carrying the Master of the nation.

* She kept having dreams or visions that what was in her womb was light. As she described: “I kept following that light with my eyes, but it kept advancing forward till it lit the East and the West of the Earth.”

Lesson: All of these were signs felt by Sayyidatina Amina from Allah ﷻ to indicate that the baby she held in her chaste womb was not a normal child. This beautiful baby would come unto Earth in total humbleness to his God, shining the Earth with the light of guidance. 

SubhanAllah

As I’ve said earlier, the book is a beautiful compilation and the love, longing and sincerity of the writers shine through in the closing prayer at the end of the book. MasyaAllah. And as we take a sip from the beauty of the Mawlid ad-Daiba’i, one cannot help but to long for a sip from the well of our Prophet Muhammad ‎ﷺ. 

“For even a sip of such greatness overwhelms. Even a sip of such purity cleanses and elevates. Even a sip of such love extinguishes the raging fire of Hell.”

 اَللهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ 

To get a copy of the book, please place your order here or buy from Wardah Books.

The New Bottle

I remember looking at my bottle lying on my picnic mat and thinking how the colours and prints matched so perfectly. Yet I had not planned it at all. Neither had I bought both the mat and the bottle myself.

Before I received the bottle as a gift, I was using another bottle. It was made of glass. It was a tad heavy to carry around but I was happy with it. Previously, I had to throw away another glass bottle as a child had dropped it from a height and it had cracked. When I got the new bottle, not only was I happy that it was lighter, but I realised it could hold both hot and cold drinks for 6 hours. Alhamdulillah! So now I can bring cold water on a hot day out and drink it chilled, or bring my hot tea out and drink it later while it’s still warm. How wonderful! MasyaAllah.

And looking at that bottle, and how perfectly it looked on my mat, and how much I needed it without realising it before, reminded me about Life itself. Our life is perfect the way it is. We are exactly where we are supposed to be. What He gives us is better than anything we could have asked for ourselves. What we need is to have more trust in Him and His Plans for us. Allahu Akbar.