Non-Muslim Holiday Amnesia

I have NMHA, a common condition that causes me to be oblivious to holidays other than the 'Eid Days, which are the only holidays allowed for Muslims. Once you contract this disease, there is no treatment or cure. You just have to live with it. Today, I kept forgetting that it was Easter. When texting a friend about shopping, she was saying that a lot of stores were closed. I was like, no, I always buy clothes today because they have big sales. Then I realized that's Labor Day. In September. Oops.

This handy chart shows the causes of amnesia. I wish I had made it.

More of my symptoms on the following page ...

Then 5 minutes later I tried to get a coffee before Arabic class and was surprised that the coffee shop was closed. Do baristas even celebrate Easter? Or maybe I am just thinking of the hipster/punk hybrid 20-somethings who worked in the shops I frequented during college... Anyway.

After that I decided today was the day to buy a basketball so we could play H.O.R.S.E. at the little court near my friend's place. But Target was closed and I figured that meant everything was closed. But not Walgreens! So we walked down there and now I am the proud owner of a glow-in-the dark kids' basketball. Holla!!

The water bottle isn't to make me look sporty. It's to show you how tiny the ball is.

EXERCISE
Since it is Easter (oh, yeah!) there were a bunch of kids at the park already using the basketball hoop so we had to just keep walking back home and try to not be too disappointed. But don't worry, I am not giving up. I will be dunking by summer, insha Allah. So just walking today for my exercise. But it was nearly 40 minutes so that's good, right?

Health Tip of the Day: It's probably not the best idea to make a whole pan of brownies with no one else around. And lick the spoon. And under-bake a small ramekin of batter to eat hot from the oven because a friend said it was delicious (it IS). And then eat a fully baked brownie. I'm sure it's loads better than having one of those Brownie Cheesequake Marshmallow Tsunami Mudslide things, but still.

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ISLAM
I started Arabic 8 today. REALLY??? I know I act incredulous about this a lot but it's genuine. I truly can't believe it. I never stick with ANYTHING this long. If I keep this up, it will be longer than I've kept any job, apartment, or husband. I'm pretty proud of that! It's been a long journey but I am so grateful to the teachers, students, and everyone else who has made this possible for our community. The classes are free and after the will of Allah, are really due to a super-duper brother here who just makes things happen through a lot of hard work. May Allah reward him.

Today's topic in the hadith portion of our class was Hadith #10 from Imam an-Nawawi's 40 Hadith. Here's the video with Arabic audio:

And the English translation, since it's hard to read on the screen:

“Verily Allah the Exalted is pure. He does not accept but that which is pure. Allah commands the believers with what He commanded the Messengers. Allah the Almighty has said: "O you Messengers! Eat of the good things and act righteously" [23:51-53]. And Allah the Almighty also said: "O you who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided you with" [2:167-172]. Then he (the Prophet) mentioned (the case of) the man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty and who stretches out his hands to the sky (saying): "O Lord! O Lord!" (while) his food was unlawful, his drink was unlawful, his clothing was unlawful, and he is nourished with unlawful things, so how can he be answered?”

I'll let you reflect on this yourself since it's pretty self-explanatory. Plus I don't want to get into my own commentary and say anything incorrect. I'm sure you can imagine the modern-day scenarios of people violating this command that come to mind. May Allah guide me away from such mistakes.