About Furqanhub Book Club- Phase 1

The Furqanhub Book Club is a year-long programme that mentors participants in reading books and sharing ideas on various topics for free.

The maiden version comprises a group of ten males between the ages of 14 and 18, and the first book to be read is “The Sirah of the Prophet,” specifically “The Sealed Nectar” by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri. Other books will cover various social sciences and self-development.

Got Israeled? No, maybe zionized?

The image below is a page from Urban Dictionary, a popular crowd-sourced e-dictionary of English. The actions of the state called “Israel” have led some people to consider the phrase “Got Israeled” to represent an act of stealing, misappropriation, or usurpation.

Source: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Got%20Israeled

Now, we only miss calls

I was travelling with my brother one day, and we noticed we had missed a turn after about an hour. Thanks to Google, we found our way through some farmsteads. My brother, wowed by the situation, was like, “We are lucky to be living in this era; it is just the best era so far.” He went on to praise the communication system, but to me, this is a no-no….🤔

On Boycott and Brands….

Let me share with you a story from my childhood. I was around 8 years old when I heard that the bakeries in my hometown of Ogbomosho were deeply upset. The reason? Bakers from the neighbouring town of Oyo had flooded our market with their bread. The Oyo bakers produced higher quality, succulent, and flavourful loaves. Even as a child, I decided to support our local Ogbomosho bakers, even though many people preferred the Oyo bread. My mom, sweet as ever, bought me my own loaf of Ogbomosho bread separately. Yet, when I tried to evangelise Ogbomosho’s loaves, I was met with the question, “Why can’t they make theirs as good as Oyo’s?”

The Marshmallow of Allah: Patiently Waiting…

As my friend offered me a pack of marshmallows, inviting me to choose some, I decided to pick two. With a smile on my face, I savoured the sugary milky foam as I remember the Stanford marshmallow experiment, a renowned study in social psychology dating back to 1972. This experiment delves into the concept of delayed gratification, particularly in young children.

During the experiment, children aged 4 to 6 years were given a choice: they could either eat a treat (a marshmallow or something else) immediately, or they could wait patiently for 15-20 minutes to receive a second treat. The purpose was to observe their ability to delay gratification. Surprisingly, around one-third of the children were able to resist temptation, display self-control, and wait, while the rest chose the immediate reward.

Perfectly Imperfect: we can all be beautiful

I looked in the mirror and saw my face. Oh, mine! The struggles of studies have taken away the radiance from my face, and it doesn’t look as good as it did a few years ago. Youthfulness is fading, and perhaps all I expect now is grey hair. Not lost in this quick sheepy thought, I said my mirror zikir, “اللهُمَّ كما حسَّنْتَ خلْقِي فحَسِّنْ خُلُقِي” (O Allah, just as You have beautified my appearance, beautify my character).

I once again realized the power of this dua! It is a dua with some positive psychological effects, and I have always prescribed it to people who have complained about their “not-too-good-lookingness.” It makes one appreciate what they have and not whine about what they don’t have control over.

7 Mobile Apps that will make your Ramadan (Arabic, English, Yoruba and Turkish)

As Ramadan approaches, Muslims around the world are busy preparing themselves mentally, physically, and financially for the holy month. We pray to Allah to make us witness the month and accept our worship. It is well-known that Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an, as Allah said, “The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an was revealed”. For many Muslims, Ramadan marks the beginning of a renewed commitment to the Qur’an, be it through studying, reading, memorisation, or changing their attitude towards it.

To aid you in your journey with the Book of Allah, I have compiled a list of helpful Qur’an-related apps. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced reader, these apps will provide you with valuable resources during Ramadan and beyond.

Resources and Games for Qur’an and Arabic learning

This page is designed to be a resource for interested parents, guardians, and teachers looking for tools to assist them in teaching their students Arabic and the Qur’an. I intend for this page to be a repository for various digital aids, and I will be updating it on a regular basis.

Kıraathane: The worst semantic change?

One of the worst semantic shifts I have encountered in the Turkish language is in the word Kıraathane.

The word combines the Arabic word for “reading” Qirā’at and the Persian word for “house,” H̱ane, to mean “reading house.”

Historically, a kıraathane has served as a gathering spot for bookworms, casual readers and coffee drinkers alike. Thus, a kıraathane provides reading materials like gazettes, magazines and books to its customers.
But nowadays, when you hear the name ” Kıraathane,” you probably think of a tearoom where young people congregate at night to play board games and where retirees spend the better part of the day.

Trying to concentrate on a book in a Kıraathane today would take a lot of perseverance with all the clattering of game tiles.

Meanwhile, Kahvehane (Coffee house) is another name for Kıraathane, but ironically most customers actually prefer tea to coffee, and some Kahvehane may not even serve coffee at all.

What’s more intriguing is that the Kahve, the Turkish word for “Café,” is the most common name for these spots. The dictionary defines a Kahve as a place where people gather to consume alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, smoke, and play games.

Kahve, çay, ıhlamur, bira, nargile içilen, hafif yiyecekler bulunduran, tavla, domino, bilardo, kâğıt vb. oynanan yer, kahvehane, kıraathane

(TDK)

Even though the dictionary says that Kahve is synonymous with Kıraathane, you won’t find a book in most Kahves.

More than a semantic change🤔

Importance of learning and understanding the acts of worship in Islām

This is a summary of a lecture delivered at the launch of Mallam Musa Abdulhameed Atanda’s book titled “Voluntary Fasting in Islam” on 4^TH December 2022 (10^th Jumada al-Awwal, 1444) on Zoom.