Take a moment to ask yourself, 'Who do I hang out with the most?' for the majority of us the answer will be 'my friends' (consisting of students or colleagues). We share the majority of our life with these people. It's human nature to adapt to the lifestyle of those that we spend most of our time with in order to fit in. Unfortunately, many times we tend to adopt the negative habits of these friends. For this reason, it is important to surround ourselves with friends who will make us better people, not worse. This takes me to the following Hadith:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was reportedly asked: "Which of our companions are best?" He replied: "One whose appearance reminds you of God, and whose speech increases you in knowledge, and whose actions remind you of the hereafter."



In another Hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "A person is on the religion of his companions. Therefore let every one of you carefully consider the company he keeps." [Tirmidhi]

I've slowly come to realize the influence people who strive towards Allah and the people who don't, have on me. As well as, the impact I have on these people. In the past, I've had groups of people who I've considered friends, who've had no connection with Allah through any religion. It was such people that made me feel like religion wasn't important. Unfortunately, I was too interested in having friends, then caring about their religious background or character. Looking back now, I realize how lost I was and how drawn to the world I had become. Slowly, my group of friends changed to girls who had a strong love for their Creator, consisting of: A Hindu, A Buddhist and two Muslims. It was their positive and pious vibe that increased my love for Allah. Hanging around such people made me understand their faiths, as they understood mine. I no longer had to make up excuses of 'being busy' to avoid parties and mixed gender hangouts. Only because they knew my comfort level and reasoning, as I knew theirs. Just as they impacted me, I was constantly told by them, the impact I had on them. I had one Muslim friend, who wasn't overly consistent in prayers, nor did she aim to have a better relationship with Allah. However, she noticed me saying things like 'Be right back, I have to pray', 'I read in the Qur'an that...' and the simple words: InshAllah, Alhamdulillah, MashAllah and Subhanallah. Once she realized the positive impact Islam had on my life, she strived to do the same. Sometimes I would receive a message from her saying, 'Guess what? I read all five prayers today!' Seeing this excitement within her, made me glad to have been a minor influence on her bond with Allah.

Some of you may not have a tight-knit group of friends who guide you to the path of Allah. But this does not mean that you will never be able to achieve the tranquility of your heart. If we find that our companions are unable to influence us to be more mindful of Allah, then we must take on the responsibility of changing this atmosphere. We should also seek for ways of finding company that will guide us to Allah. Whether this be friends from local Masjids, religious conferences, or community groups. Make the effort!

"The believer sees his sins as if he is sitting at the foot of a mountain fearing that it might fall on him, while the sinner sees his sins as a fly that lands on his nose, he just waves it away." [Bukhari]

One-third of the total food bought in many developed countries ends up in the waste.

WEALTH
By thinking it's a norm to spend money and follow society, it can be quite wasteful of our wealth. When in reality, the permissible limit of expenditure is not the same for everyone in a given society. You may copy others in the extent at which they prepare their meals, when in reality they may not be exceeding their limits, whereas according to your income etc., this could cause you to exceed yours.

PHYSICALLY HARMFUL
Overeating (exceeding our limits) in eating is known to be harmful for our health, leading to many health problems, illnesses and diseases.

POVERTY & DESTRUCTION
When you make it a habit to waste the reasources that you've been blessed with, you're naturally inclined towards destruction. By always wanting more than you have, you are destroying your bond with Allah (by being inappreciative of Him), and you may also spend more than you have, leading to poverty.

As Ramadan approaches, I'm sure many of you have already decided of all the good you wish to accomplish during this month. Whether that be finishing the Qur'an, doing good deeds and staying away from bad, being regular in prayers, or memorizing a bunch of Surah's. However, I also know that a lot of times we think that we have a lot of time during Ramadan to get all of this accomplished, forgetting that 30 days isn't a lot of time. So, for your ease I've created two calendars: Basic and Advance.


BASIC
The basic calendar consists of Prayers, Ahadith, Stories, Attributes of Allah, History of Islam and more. It is made for the younger kids who may not be able to finish the Qur'an during the month of Ramadan, but you still want them to get the most out of this Ramadan. It can be downloaded by clicking here.

ADVANCE
The advance calendar consists of longer Surah's and Books for those who intend to finish the Qur'an this month, but still wish to gain lots of extra knowledge during this month. It can be downloaded by clicking here.

• Most people are not thinking about you at all. They probably didn't even give a second thought about your presence. 
• What someone else thinks of you, is not your problem, it is theirs. 
• Question if their opinion matters. Is it of someone valuable in your life? If not, it doesn't matter what they think.

• To give excellent moral upbringing to all Muslims so that they grow up to be upright, just, moral, kind and loving people who never disrupt the peace of others.
• If the peace is disrupted, sincerely pray for the evildoers to change their ways.
• If all reasoning fails, join forces with all good people to combat those who do mischief until the peace has been restored but always keep the command of justice in view.

THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY
The Ahmadiyya Community has had to deal with not being accepted as a religion or as Muslims in many countries. Sadly, many Ahmadis are losing their lives, only for being an Ahmadi. However, we have not lost our faith in Allah, and we continue to promote peace. These martyrs are making us a stronger community as a whole. We don't require the need to kill or disturb the peace in order to prove our strength, abilities and truthfulness.

The present Khalifa (Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah strengthen his hands)) stated in the Friday Sermon delivered on May 23rd, 2014 that:

"Ways adopted by worldly people are violent rallies and protestations and riots, they respond to persecution with oppression because they have not been given Divine promises that the ultimate triumph will be theirs. Whereas we have been promised that in spite of state sponsored persecution God has decreed that we will be given those blessings which are bestowed upon true believers through God's special grace. We have been promised that the sacrifices given will never go to waste and the ultimate triumph will be ours. The greatest formula for this triumph is of course prayer. The more we will turn to prayers and the more we will devote ourselves to our Lord, the sooner He will show extraordinary signs in our favour."




and peace can never lead to war."

• Hadhrat Hakeem Noorudin (ra)
• Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad (ra)
• Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad
• Headhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad
• Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba)

For more information regarding Khilafat, please visit: www.alislam.org/topics/khilafat

We live in a world where the importance given to appearance is far greater than it has ever been before. And from here, it's only increasing. Whether it be the media, and it's flawless display of celebrities, or posters showcasing the 'Most Beautiful Female 2014' or 'Most Attractive Male 2014'. This portrayal of beauty and looks has a huge impact on the young girls and boys of this generation.


WHERE DO OUR LOOKS COME FROM?
When we were born, we had no idea how we would look. Would we be tall? Would we be short? Would we be dark skinned or light skinned? All of these things were granted to us from the passed down genetics of our parents. Let's just say that if you have the qualities that media calls 'attractive' you may have just been the lucky winner of a genetic lottery. As well, Allah made us the way we are, and without Him, we would never look the way we do. So if anything, we shouldn't be giving ourselves credit because even more than our parents, Allah deserves it.

EGO
I think we all can agree that ego and looks go hand in hand. The better you feel about your looks, the higher your ego gets. But the Holy Qur'an states: "And turn not thy cheek away from men in pride nor walk the earth haughtily; Surely, Allah loves not an arrogant boaster" (31:19). We shouldn't think highly of ourselves because we feel that we look better than someone else. This pride is of no use. In fact, why would you take far more credit than you deserve on something that you didn't have a hand in? For example, if your father bought you a car, would you walk around with a sense of achievement, showing it off? If yes, why? Was it purchased with your money? Then why are you taking credit for it? We shouldn't feel a sense of achievement, because the credit should go to our father who earned the money and then spent it on the car. Similarly, why should we show off about something like our height, skin colour or weight when so many of the times its purely genetics?

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
If we get complimented for our looks, our first reaction should be to thank Allah and make the person (who has complimented us) realize that it is all thanks to Allah (say Alhamdulillah). Next, we should never brag about our looks or a certain aspect of ourselves that we are so luckily blessed with. I think a lot of times we forget that these characteristics that we have are all thanks to Allah, so being complimented can easily boost our selfesteems. However, we must remind ourselves that we did nothing to be blessed with many of the characteristics that we have, which should prevent us from growing in terms of ego.

MY REASON FOR BRINGING THIS UP
Constantly, I see mothers who are searching for a wife/husband for their son/daughter keeping things such as height, weight and skin colour a priority. It bothers me that such an unimportant aspect is given so much more importance than it needs to be given. We must remind ourselves that these things are not what's important. When things that are unchangeable are given importance, then I begin to question people's priorities. How can we assume that just because someone has a certain aspect (in their physical appearance) that they will overall be a better person?

Basically, this is just a friendly reminder to everyone that, yes, you may be beautiful and attractive, and yes you should embrace that. But, thank Allah for making you the lucky winner of a genetic lottery. Stop taking all the credit for it and be thankful that you have been given these characteristics. Overall, let them make you a better person, not a bitter person.

May Allah enable us all to do so, Ameen!