What's cooking? Tamarind - Chickpea Salad

This is a super easy and delicious salad to impress you loved ones with! A little different from the usual salads, this one brings the tanginess from the tamarind, the softness from the chickpeas and a little sweetness from the onions to create a beautiful side dish that not just easy to prepare but also really healthy!

Ingredients:

1 can cooked chickpeas

1 small onion, sliced and than soaked in salty water

1 small cucumber, diced

1 small tomato, diced

1 potato, boiled, peeled, and diced

1/2 cup of tamarind sauce

salt, pepper

Instructions:

1. Place the already cooked chickpeas into a pot with the tamarind sauce. Cook together until tamarind sauce is evaporated.
2. Slice the onion into thin slices, and dice the cucumber, tomato and already boiled and peeled potato.
3. Once the chickpeas absorbed the tamarind sauce, mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve as a side dish for around 3 - 4 people.

Serve this yummy salad with anything you like. I absolutely adore this on the BBQ table. It also pairs well with rice dishes. 

Workout Review: Les Mills Body COMBAT! ~~ LOVIN' IT ~~

Salam all,

I have just recently got the workout package of Les Mills Body Combat, and I must say after just 2 days I am soooo feeling the difference. I never thought a workout with (almost!) no equipment (all you need is a set of handle weights and maybe a yoga mat) could get you into shape so well.

Les Mills Combat, Stay with the fight, Fitness Guide

So, it was just after day ONE that my muscles in my arms, my core and my legs were sore! I mean seriously sore, i had problems doing simple household chores - now you know what I mean! And this was just the Combat 30 DVD that I am talking about, 30 minutes of kicking and boxing. Really loving the martial arts inspired workouts which make you sweat and leave you breathing heavily. You just know too well that this workout is really worth it.

Les Mills provides three 60 day exercise plans, I am just doing the simplest one - ULTIMATE WARRIOR. It gives one TWO rest days and the rest of the days you have to engage in a at least 30 minute long workout. Their longest workouts take 60 minutes. (Cannot wait to get there!) 

This is not my first time working out, so I am not sure I would suggest these workouts to complete beginners. My sleeping muscles seem to have woken up after just TWO days of Les Mills - that is what I call results :-D. 

So if you are in love with martial arts, you surely will love this workout! I believe it is pretty worth the purchase.

If you want to know more about them check them out here:  

http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/les-mills-combat-workout.do 

Or what their trailer on youtube:

Have you ever done this workout? What were your results?? Please tell below in the comment section.

I will hopefully - inshaAllah keep you updated to the results I am seeing and how it is going for me!

Thanks for taking the time to read on my blog.

Much love

Salma

Why am I empty? by Yasmin Mogahed

Salam everybody!

I wanted to share a very insightful video lecture with you all... I am sure we all have this feeling sometimes, the feeling of being empty! Listen to the amazing sister Yasmin Mogahed and find out how to overcome this feeling of emptiness. 

Feel free to share your experiences or insights on this topic below in the comment section.

Masala Chai Latte - Spiced Chai Latte my way

What is better than indulging in a beautiful hot cup of Masala Chai Latte?Hmmmm.. nothing! Try this easy to make recipe to save you loads of money from spending on ready made chai! You might need to give it a few tries until it comes out perfect, but it is absolutely worth trying it. This recipe yields 2 medium servings, or one big cup just for yourself!

Ingredients

1    cup of water

1/2 cup of milk

1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons lose black tea

1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar (or according to your preference)

Spices: 

1 star anise

1 small piece of ginger

2 black peppercorns

1 green cardamom

1 clove

Instructions

1. Using a small pot or even a pan add the water and heat it a little on medium heat
2. Once the water gets warm - but not boiling yet - add in the black tea and the spices and gently bring to boil. Let it gently boil for a minute or so.
3. Now add the sugar and the milk - do not add all the milk at once but add carefully. Milk is totally according to your preference. If you like it less milky add less, prefer a more milky chai - add more milk. 
4. Let all the ingredients simmer gently to infuse all the aromas.
5. Using a sieve, place the ready Masala Chai into cup(s). ENJOY :) Tip: Leave the star anise in your cup as a cute garnish!

Dessert of the Day ~ Lemon Cardamom Rice-Pudding ~ Kheer

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of rice
• 1    cup of water
• 4    cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 5 green cardamom pods
• zest of 1 lemon

Yields: 4 servings

Instructions

1. Boil the rice and the water in a small pan until the water has evaporated completely.
2. Now, using a big pot put in the milk, cardamom pots and the lemon zest. Bring to a boil and remember to keep stirring the milk to prevent it from burning. 
3. When the milk start simmering add in the sugar.
4. Once the milk is boiling add the cooked rice to the milk, and keep on stirring. Continue cooking on medium heat.
5. Before the milk start thickening remove the lemon zest and the cardamom pods. Do not forget to stir the milk, otherwise your Kheer is going to burn on the bottom. 
6. It will take about 30 minutes for the milk to thicken, once it is thick remove from the heat and place the rice pudding either in a big bowl or into small serving bowls. 
7. You can either eat the kheer hot or refrigerate it at least for 3 hours before serving. Garnish with chopped almonds or pistachio if desired. 
8. Enjoy!

3 Tips for super gorgeous Hair

Beautiful hair is something we all dream of... Try those hair masks and see how easy it is to make your hair look amazing the natural way, no chmical stuff involved here!\

1) Egg mask

eggs

I know, nobody likes a raw e
gg. But believe me if you want super shiney hair than apply one egg (mixed up) on your hair and scalp for about 15-20 minutes and than shower as usual, you might not want to condition thou, because the egg serves as a conditioner. Super shiney hair for a good price :)

2) Yoghurt mask

Having rough hair? Apply some plain (not sweetend!) yoghurt on your hair and let sit for about 20 minutes before showering. This mask has an absolutely amazing mosturizing effect! Make sure you go for full fat yoghurt and not the skinny version, happy no rough hair day!

Infused Oil

3) Oil mask

Not fancying the egg or the yoghurt? Go for a oil mask, u can either use one oil of your choice (olive oil, mustard oil, coconut oil, almond oil) or make a mix. Choose the oil that suits your hair, if you did never try a oil mask before go for my favorite mix and try it out, My favorite mixture consisnts of 1:1 of Olive Oil and Castor Oil, slightly heat the oil up in the microwave. Apply to your sclap and hair, wrap up with an old towel or plastic wrap. Let the magic unfold for about 30 minutes. You will LOVE your hair once you do this mask on a regular basis.

Hope this masks will give you gorgeous hair :) 

Picture Sources:

http://www.teacher-chef.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/7-19-rosemary-infused-olive-oil.jpg 

http://thejoyfuleater.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/half-egg-on-top-of-eggs.jpg 

A reflection on.... Anger

I often used to wonder what anger is, why do people get angry? And more important what is the purpose if getting angry? Ever since i started the studies of my beloved religion - Islam - there was this one Hadith i kept on stumbling upon again and again.

Narated By Abu Huraira : A man said to the Prophet , “Advise me! “The Prophet said, “Do not become angry and furious.” The man asked (the same) again and again, and the Prophet said in each case, “Do not become angry and furious.” - Sahih Bukhari 

WHY did the Prophet (pbuh) repeated this words three times? What is it about anger that makes it.... maybe "dangerous" ? The Prophet (pbuh) could have given the man three different advises, but he did not. Instead he repeated " Do not become angry and furious".
Anger is something we show as a response when something unpleasant or negatively unexpected happens to us. BUT it is not that we cannot control this response, as the Prophet (pbuh) defines a strong person:

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The strong-man is not one who wrestles well but the strong man is one who controls himself when he is in a fit of rage. - Sahih Muslim

So why do people express anger? Even often in a way, that the whole neighbourhood will be listening to the shouting. Anger happens when we let our emotions take over. Remember a situation when you got angry at someone! What happened? How did you handle the situation? Or maybe you did not handle the situation at all and instead just "got angry" to get over with it.
Expressing anger is actually a way to avoid dealing with either a person or a situation. Because when someone gets angry they shout and maybe trash some glassware and then finally smash the door and hide in a room, case closed - and most times never talked about again... sounds weird but that is actually what happens most of the times when people get angry. It's total avoidance. There is firstly nothing intelligent about it and secondly and more importantly the situation is not dealt with, If we rather stay calm and think about how to tackle our problem, we could maybe even find a solution instead of scaring other people with our behaviour.

Another interesting aspect here is: Whom do we get angry with? Would we get angry with our boss? Our teacher? Shout at our parents? NO! We get angry with people who are WEAKER or YOUNGER than us! Now why would we do that? To show how "powerful" we are and that it US to decide what happens and what not? To tell everybody that it is our law that rules?
Let's think here.. is that even according to the Islamic teachings? Did the Prophet (pbuh) teach us to mistreat the weaker ones and to shout as loud as we can to terrify them?
You know the answer... No.

So why was it the prophetic advise to not get angry.... Let's see a few points of what anger does to us:

1) Anger effects our whole body, out heart rate increases and our blood pressure goes higher which is not good for our health
2) In anger people say things they do not mean. They abuse each other, say nasty stuff - words that they can never take back and which always cause a certain kind of distance between them.
3) Innocent bystanders are getting involved. People who are absolutely not related to the fight get involved because angry people do not speak softly, but the SHOUT. Making everything they say very audible to other people in their surrounding.

So what can we do when we get angry?

Narated By Atiyyah as-Sa’di : AbuWa’il al-Qass said: We entered upon Urwah ibn Muhammad ibn as-Sa’di. A man spoke to him and made him angry. So he stood and performed ablution; he then returned and performed ablution, and said: My father told me on the authority of my grandfather Atiyyah who reported the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) as saying: Anger comes from the devil, the devil was created of fire, and fire is extinguished only with water; so when one of you becomes angry, he should perform ablution. -Abu Dawud

Narated By Sulaiman bin Surd : While I was sitting in the company of the Prophet, two men abused each other and the face of one of them became red with anger, and his jugular veins swelled (i.e. he became furious). On that the Prophet said, “I know a word, the saying of which will cause him to relax, if he does say it. If he says: ‘I seek Refuge with Allah from Satan.’ then all is anger will go away.” Some body said to him, “The Prophet has said, ‘Seek refuge with Allah from Satan.”‘ The angry man said, “Am I mad?” - Sahih Bukhari

SO here are two Hadiths which give us an advise on how to behave when we get angry. Do ablution and say " I seek refuge with Allah from Satan".

Now tell me, what is your valid proof for justifying your anger???

Do not let Shaytan take over, and stay calm when in a difficult situtation. Work on your Iman and know that it is Allah who has control over everything and that anger is not an answer to a problem but rather makes it worse. 

Jazak Allah Khairan and Thank you for taking the time to read this article.

Salma

Purification of the heart - Part 3 - The diseases

Love of the world

There are five classical rulings, which determine how loving something worldly is viewed.

1 - Obligatory (wajib)
2 - Recommended (mandub)
3 - Permissible (mubah)
4 - Reprehensible (makruh)
5 - Forbidden (haram)

Example: We should love certain aspects of the world, like the Quran, the Ka'ba, our Prophet (saw) etc. In regards of wealth we should love helping needy with it.
The Prophet (saw) prohibited to condemn the world. He said: "Do not curse the world, for God created the world, and the world is a means to reaching God. - Hadith

Whether loving the world is good or bad for us, depends on what it leads us to. Does it lead to a arrogance and greed? OR does it lead to goodness? Attaining wealth is not a negative thing per se, it is just the outcome that makes it either bad or good. Does acquiring wealth means you are neglecting religious tasks or falling into sinful matters? Then it is considered blameworthy! But if you use your wealth to do good and it does not preoccupy your thoughts and invade your religiosity than it is considered praiseworthy.
One other illness in this world is the love of praise.


"The world is a bridge; so pass over it to the next world, but do not try to build on it." - Prophet Isa (as) 

Envy

Envy (hasad) is a severe disease and even considered the root of all diseases by some scholars.The Quran teaches us too seek refuge in God from "the evil of the envier when he envies" (Qur'an, 113:5).
The Prophet (saw) said that envy consumes good deeds as the fire destroyes dry food. The evil eye is often linked to envy, thou it is not necessary.
Envy is when one wishes that a blessing may be taken away from someone. This blessing can be anything, a house, wife, or even a dress. A blessing (ni'mah) is something that Allah gives us, envying someone for their blessings would mean actually questioning why God has given them these blessings! This makes envy despicable and forbidden.
Imam Mawlud gives us treatments for envy.
1 - Act consciously against one's caprice. Be objective and not let your caprice take over you.
2 - Do something that will benefit the person you envy.
Envy can damage one's sanity, when they keep on thinking about the things they envy in a person.  One must understand that it is Allah who distributes the blessings and gives us or does not give us the things we have or we would like to have,' Allah is all-knowing and wise and knows whom to give which and how much blessings. A key to getting rid of envy is to establish Taqwa, having a sense of awe of God.

Blameworthy Modesty

Modesty is considered praisworthy in Islam. However if the modesty would prevent us from seeking knowledge, because we would be to shy to ask for questions than modesty is something blameworthy. We also should not be modest in term of denouncing tyranny or corruption. 

Fantasising

Engaging in matters that are of no concern to us is a disease, such as fantasising about a persons beauty one is not married to. If an sction is forbidden then even thinking about it is forbidden too. But also thinking about faults and weaknesses of other people is a widespread disease now-a-days. The prophet (saw) said: "There is a tree in Paradise reserved for one whose own faults preoccupied him from considering the faults of others." - Hadith
It is important for us to focus on our own shortcomings then rather focusing on people's faults as time is short and we should be making the most out of our time.

Fear of poverty

"Satan threatens you with poverty, and he commands you to immorality. But God promises you His forgiveness and bounty" - Qur'an 2:268
The fear to lose one's poverty can be very strong, to the point that people deprive the needy of their share and even do not spent on themselves. A person who has this irrational fear is very vulnerable in transgessing laws to secure and increase their wealth. It is important for us to understand that it is Allah alone who gives us our wealth, and who can take it from us again. Contenment is very important so we will not worry too much about losing our wealth. Be content and happy with what you have and expect the best from Allah.

Ostentation

Purification of the heart; page 44/45

"What I fear most for my community is doing things other than the sake of God" - Hadith
Ostentation means showing off - doing something for the sake of telling it to other people and get the praise or fame for it.
Imam Mawlud tells us about three signs of ostentation:
1 & 2 - Laziness and lack of action in religious deeds: Feeling lazy and unwilling to pray or read Quran at home when no people are around you, but praying and reading loads of Quran once in the mosque among people.
3 - increasing one's action when one is praised and decreasing one's actions in absence of praise

The cure of ostentaion is to remove this four things from one's heart: love of praise, fear of blame, desire for wordly from people and fear of harm from people. To achieve this it is important to nurish the certainty that only God can benefit or harm us. An other thing we can do to prevent ostentation is to pray at night alone, to read the Quran in private and to give charity without telling anybody.

Relying on other than God

When we rely on any other than God, it is a sign of not having enough trust and reliance on God. Everything good comes from HIM, and people can never help us, if it was not for God making them able to be helpful to us. It is among the basis of Islam to have Tawwakul - trust and reliance on God. 

Purification of the Heart: Part 2 - The diseases

Diseases of the heart

In order to fight the diseases we must be aware of them, I'm going to dedicate a few posts that summarise the diseases as mentioned it the book "Purification of the heart" by Hamza Yusuf. 

Miserliness

What is miserliness? 

Miserliness has two aspects: 

1) The first is regarding the sharia law (rights due to God and to His creation). Zakat is the annual charity distributed to the needy. Miserliness in not paying the Zakat is forbidden, haram. Also one needs to support his wife and children, even after a divorce the man must pay child support.

2) The second aspect is in terms of valor. One should never create difficulties over paltry matters. A creditor should not be demanding especially if the debtor is not able to pay the credit back yet. An understanding creditor is one who has valor.

The muslim tradition in regards to charity is to give away from what one loves. Generosity is one of the highest virtues of Islam, the Prophet (saw) was known as the most generous of people..

"You will not attain to righteousness until you spend of what you love" (QUR'AN, 3:92)

The ethology of miserliness is love of the material aspects of the world. A miserly person clings to his wealth and hoards it.

How to treat it? 

The treatment for miserliness is realising that it takes a lot of exhaustion to achieve the wealth one seeks. This can occupy a person for his whole lifetime. In the end, life will end some day. Death awaits everybody, old or young, poor or rich.
Also nobody likes a miser, not even misers like each other. This hatred should also help in treating the disease.

Wantonness 

What is wantonness? 

Wantonness is a desire to need and want more. Particularly vulnerable are the world's most affluent societies. Those societies are very pleased with their standard of living and the extravagance. People even live beyond their means to be part of a certain lifestyle. A product of wantonness is that people fall willingly into debt in order to achieve a certain standard of living.


"God does not love those who exult" (QUR'AN 28:76)


How to treat it? 

One should intentionally experience hunger and reflect seriously on death to treat this disease. To experience hunger one can either keep a voluntary fast or reduce the amount what one eats. Traditional medicines also stated that too much food harms the spiritual heart. It was believed that people who eat too much become "hard-hearted".
Scholar of various religions say that hunger is an important factor if one wants to grow spiritually. Feeling emptiness in the stomach is excellent for the body and the soul.
"Remembering" death, does not mean merley recalling it. It means one should reflect upon the state of the grave. 

Hatred

What is hatred?

Hatred in itself in not necessary a negative thing. One should hate corruption, evil, murder and anything that God has exposed as despicable. The disease of hatred is the strong dislike or hatred of a person for no legitimate reason. 

Do you want to see a man of paradise? A man then passed by and the Prophet (pbuh) said, "That man is one of the people of a paradise." So a Companion of the Prophet (pbuh) decided to learn what it was about with this man that earned his such a commendation from the Messenger of God, Muhammed (pbuh). He spent time with this man and observed him closely. He noticed he did not perform the night Prayer vigil (Tahajud) or anything extraordinary. He appeared to be an average man of Madinah. The Companion finally told the man what the Prophet (pbuh) had said about him and asked him if he did anything special. And the man replied, "The only thing I can think of, other than what everybody else does is that I make sure that I never sleep with any rancour (a feeling of hate, resentment, enmity, hostility) in my heart towards another" (Hadith)

How to treat it? 

One should pray for the person towards he feels hatred, asking God to give him good in this life and the next. When you do this with sincerity, hearts mend. The disease of hatred is one of the most devastating forces in the world, but the force that is even more powerful is love. Hate is the absence of love, and only love can cure hatred. 

Iniquity 

What is Iniquity?

Iniquity is defines as "harming anything in creation without just case". The problem is desiring things to the point of transgressing the rights of others to get it. "Love of position" is the main motivator for people to wrong others. It is not allowed to seek the pleasure of people through trickery,  religiosity or hypocritical flattery. Do not expect the pleasure of God when you seek the pleasure of His creation!

How to treat it? 

The cure for this is to "Remember the destroyer of pleasure (Hadith)." Remembering death is a spiritual practise that cleanses our hearts. Always remember that the thing that ultimately counts is how God sees you. Attaining nearness yo God is very important, and it does not involve wronging others. Be a person that is selfless, compassionate and sensitive to the rights of others.

Picture source: http://findyourline.tumblr.com/post/17094757338/cardiovascular-disease-statistics-and-paleo-diet

What's cooking? ~ Pakistani-style Rice with green Peas&Carrots (Sabzi Pulao)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups basmati rice (soak for about 30 minutes)
a handful green peas
1 carrot (in julienne strips)
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 medium Tomato (finely chopped)
1 green chili (optional, do no use if you do not like it spicy)
cooking oil

Spices:
a few whole coriander seeds
cumin seeds
2 green cardamom
2 cloves
salt, red chili powder, coriander powder
a dash of turmeric

Recipe:

1) heat 1 1/2 cooking spoons of oil in a pot, add the finely cut onion to it. after a while add the garlic to it brown the onion (the deeper the color the more beautiful the color of the rice). add whole spices (coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves)
2) once the onion are browned, add the chopped tomato to it. try to get the tomato as mashed as possible. add finely chopped green chili.
3) add the green peas and julienned carrots to it. finally add around 2 1/2 cups of water. add remaining spices. bring the water to boil
4) when the water boils add the pre-soaked rice to it. check the salt now, the water should taste slightly too salty
5) bring to boil, put on the lid and cook the rice on medium heat.
6) once the water evaporates, turn the heat to low and let rice steam until cooked.

Serve this rice with some yummy Kababs and Mint-Yogurt Chutney.

Enjoy :)
(Picture will be uploaded soon :) )

Purification of the heart by Hamza Yusuf

Purification of the heart, by Hamza Yusuf

Signs, Syptoms and Cures of the spiritual diseases of the heart

Translation and Commentary of 

Imam al-Mawlud's Matharat al-Qulbi

This book offers an insightful introduction to one of the most ancient of religious concers: spiritual purification of the heart.

It takes the reader through a well-known text from the Muslim tradition, and gives an important commentary that is relevant to our day to people if a variety of religious experiences.

Salam everybody,

inshaAllah you are all doing very well. I am really sorry i did not post anything so far :D 

It is always like that, when you try to start a blog (FINALLY!) you suddenly get really busy. Anyway, thanks to my dearest friend pushing me to post something ("Hey you know i am waiting to read something from you on your blog :D ) I finally take the time to write something.

I am planning a series of Blog-posts which are going to give you a summary of the book "Purification of the heart" by Hamza Yusuf. I myself am very impressed by the book and its contents which is why I would love to share the knowledge of this amazing book with you. The book is purely based on a poem by Imam al-Mawlud. Hamza Yusuf gives a english translation of it and also comments on the meaning of the poem.

It contains all of the important "diseases of the heart"and explains them. 

Introduction to Purification

Poem Verses 1-8

I begin by starting with the heart of beginnings,

for it is the highest and noblest of beginnings.

Have courtesy with God, the High and the Majestic,

by practicing modesty and humility—

Dejected out of shame and humility

humbled in awe, imploring Him—

By giving up your designs for His,

emptied of covetousness for what His servants have,

By hastening to fulfill His commands, and by being wary

of the subtle encroachment of bad manners.

If you—the spiritual aspirant—realize your attributes of servitude,

you will then be assisted with something of the attributes

of the Eternally Besought.

Courtesy: the heart of purification

Imam Mawlud starts his poem with "courtesy", since courtesy is the portal to the purification of the heart. You first must have courtesy with God (behave properly with respect to HIS presence) if you want to ourify your heart. There are two very important qualities that are associated with courtesy: modesty (haya) and humilty (dhul).

One needs to acquire Haya, an internal sense of shame that includes bashfulness and modesty. Islam takes the level of shame to another level, while other cultures think of bringing shame upon oneself and the larger family, Islam teaches us to feel a sense of shame before God. This is associated with the knowledge and awareness that God is all-seeing of what you do - a permanent reality.

The other quality that is mentioned is to have dhul ( ~ being lowly, abject or humbled), which means being humbled in the august presents of God. 

Freedom and Purification 

Next Imam Mawlud mentions freedom, which is a result of realizing the qualities of shame and humility and therefor removing their opposit qualities (shamlessness and arrogance).

With shame and humilty one can gain true freedom, wealth and dignity. People in today's world claim to be "free" yet they cannot control themselves (be it in regard to food, shopping etc), such freedom is no real freedom. 

Imam al-Ghazali speaks in depth about the desires of our limbs and organs. He calls the stomach and genitals as the two "dominators". Once they are under control, all other aspects of desire are under control too. The tounge also is regarded as a big obstacle, as many people cannot stop themselves from backbiting etc.

If ones heart is safe, so are his limbs and organs, because in the heart lies the inspiration of all deeds.

"When man wakes up in the morning each day, all parts of the body warn the tongue saying, ‘Fear God as regards us for we are at your mercy; if you are upright, we will be upright and if you are crooked, we become crooked.’" (At-Tirmidhee)

The Purification Process

Purifying the heart is a process, not something you do within a day or so. The first step is to understand the necessitiy of having courtesy with God, and trying to fulfill its requierments. The second step is to learn about the diseases of the heart, to be aware of their existence and ailments.
The heart is a spiritual organ that need to be taken care of and looked after. As mentioned in the hadith:

Abu Hurairah (raa) narrated: Allah’s Messenger May peace be upon Him said : “When a slave (a person) commits a sin (an evil deed) a black dot is dotted on his heart. Then if that person gives up that evil deed (sin), begs Allah to forgive him, and repents, then his heart is cleared (from that heart covering dot); but if he repeats the evil deed (sin), then that covering is increased till his heart is completely covered with it. - At-Tirmidhi, Vol 5 , Hadith No: 3334

This means each time we commit a bad deed, we are in danger of "blackening" our hearts if we do not step in immediately and ask God for forgivness. 
It is very interesting that Imam Mawlud says it is impossible to ever rid oneself from these diseases 100%. Therefore the purification of the heart is a lifelong process, something we always have to strive for. 

I hope you are inshaAllah benefiting from this posts.
Till the next time, take good care

Salma

5 Anti-Hairfall Tips

5 Tips to help your helpless falling hair..

Have you ever been through this? Chunks of hair falling out daily..

Frustrating and SCARY! 
Hair is the beauty of a woman, so let's look well after it, 

I have been through one of the worst hair falling experiences of my life and will now share what worked best for me.

1) Get a GOOD shampoo! Yes there is a difference between the cheap stuff and the quality shampoos. I personally have experienced the difference between cheap shampoos and the quality products.  Check the label, which type of shampoo would suit you best.  Dry hair? Oily hair? Short hair? Long hair?

    

2) Oil your hair! No fancy stuff, just apply oil before you shampoo your hair, once a week. Massage your    scalp with the oil, let it sit for at least 15-30 minutes and than shampoo as usual.. Not quite sure which oil    to use? I will be having a post to go into the details of the benefits of certain oils. For falling hair i  recommend especially ALMOND OIL. 

3) Fenugreek Hair mask! Take a hand-full of fenugreek seeds, soak them overnight. The next day grind the   seeds. You could do it by hand but i prefer it with a blender. Add some water to make a smooth paste, this will be way easier to apply plus you will not be left with chunks of fenugreek in your hair after the shower, People usually just grind the seeds ( I tried this too but i felt really awkward to have pieces of  fenugreek left in my hair, with the smooth paste everything will be washed away ;) ) For extra shine I add a   splash of mustard oil to this mix. Apply it on your scalp and hair, let it sit for about 30 minutes minimum. Shampoo as usual. Use this hair mask, once a week.

NOTE: Your hair will be smelling like fenugreek when using this mask. BUT the anti-hair falling benefits are totally worth this smell. I have never had a product/ natural remedy that has helped as much for falling hair as this beautiful hair mask.

4) Take a multivitamin! Hair loss is often linked to a poor diet. A deficiency can often result into hair shedding. Take a multivitamin  daily to get important vitamins/minerals. 

5) Cut out the junk from your diet! Leave out all the junk from your diet and add fresh fruits and vegetables to it instead. You won't see a difference over night but on the long run this is going to give you beautiful and healthy hair! 

Hopefully you'll recover from hair loss very soon :) 

What are your best tips when it comes to hair loss? Share with me, and let me know. xx

Love, 

Salma

Introductory Post

Salam and Hello Everybody!

Welcome to my Blog.

Who am I?

 Just your average girl, with dreams and hopes. I love to cook and bake. (International recipes)

 Enjoy being creative in the kitchen. 

 I am crazy about working out, my favorite type of workout is YOGA. 

 Love experimenting with make-up and to find modest hijab-friendly Fashion. 

What can you expect to find here (in the future)?

 - Articles about natural remedies
 - Healthy living advices (Fitness &Food)
 - Baking and cooking recipes
 - Islamic Articles



Would love to hear from all of you and get your feedback, do not hesitate!

Lots of Love

Salma