Welcome Ramadan 1431!
Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan)!
May Allah accept all of our fasts, good deeds, sincere intentions, ibadah (acts of worship) and du’a (supplications). Ameen.
When trying to find where I can hear Shaikh Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy leading Taraweeh prayer this year, I found this beautiful nasheed (Islamic song) “Welcome Ramadan”. Since he is the Shaikh we listen to most in our house, it was such a welcomed surprise, Subhanallah (Praise be to God), to hear him speak in English and French equally as beautifully, mashaAllah, as his Qur’an recitation.
InshaAllah, you and your little ones will participate in our 99 Names of Allah Challenge, and/or our 2nd Annual Ramadan Qur’an-a-thon Sadaqah (Charity) Drive to help bring us all closer to our Beloved Creator.
And, Please take every opportunity to assure your kid/s get the most out of our blessed month, whil also finding time to enjoy some great Ramadan Activities as well.
Wa salam,
Your sister in Islam Ponn
Ramadan Du’a (Supplication)
Learning the Qur’an for Free Online – QuranExplorer.com and HarfKids.com-Quraan Review
My entire family (Mama, Baba, and our 9, 8 and 6 year old daughters) completely endorse QuranExplorer.com/Quran and HarfKids.com/en/Quraan as easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, easy-to-navigate, fun, interactive sites to learn how to read and recite the Qur’an based on the rules of Tajweed, while learning its meaning at the same time.
1. Qur’an Explorer – Review
Why we love Qu’ran Explorer:
- Tajweed color rules can be turned on or off,
- Multiple shaikhs to pick; such as Mishary and Abdul-Basit,
- Two different Arabic scripts to pick, Usmani and IndoPak,
- Different English translators, such as Dr. Mohsin, Yusuf Ali,
- Translations in multiple languages are also available, such as Spanish and Indonesian,
- The entire Qur’an is available,
- You can choose to search by Surah, Juz, Hizb, or verse (ayat),
- Advanced Options include,
- Verse Repetition [How many times you want to play the verse before it goes to the next one],
- Intervals Between Verse ["Continuous Play" means there are no pauses in between each verse, or "Duration of Verse" means how long it takes the shaikh to say the verse and it pauses that long, or you choose how many seconds you want to "Wait" for the pause in between the verses],
- Auto Play, and
- Colors.
- Audio sound and mute option,
- An option to bookmark the verse range where you are studying oo return back to the exact place you left off,
- Zoom text size, and much more.
- For a wonderful tutorial, click the “Help” button.
2. HarfKids.com Quraan – Review
While HarfKids.com Quraan is not nearly as complete as QuranExplorer.com it comes in a very close second at our home, especially for young children just beginning to memorize our Glorious Qur’an, for the following reasons:
- Everything is on one single screen,
- There is not an “Advanced Options” button to click and review,
- It’s colorful, more fun to look at, and has cuter buttons,
- For a verse translation, you click on “Explanation” for a pop-up box in English,
- Just like in QuranExplorer.com you can determine which verses you want displayed, and if you want a continuous play of the reciter or pause in between each verse,
- Shaikh AbdulBasit is the reciter,
- Made for those just starting to memorize the Qur’an, it lists Surah An-Nas (114) to Al-Qiyamah (75)
CONS
- It often locks up, and sometimes we can not even get it to work at all, and
- Since the Qur’an learning option is only one section of the large HarfKids.com website, the above navigation toolbar and bottom buttons are distracting, especially because they flash and scroll in real-time.
We’d love to hear your experiences with either of these two sites, but if you know of other helpful sites, please share them below.
This post is a part of the Mission: Ramadan 1430H project. For 29 other articles about our Glorious Qur’an, please visit ProductiveMuslim.com today!
Let’s Start Your Week In Peace Rather Than Stress
Please welcome dear sister, Zohra Sawari, also known as “The Most Inspirational Muslim Woman in America”. Sister Zohra is an international speaker, author, coach, publisher, and homeschool mom (Yay! 
). MashaAllah, a beautiful, energetic, equally fast-talking and fast-thinking sister, because she shares all the same views, mission and purpose of American Muslim Mom, inshaAllah ta’ala, you’ll be seeing Sister Zohra around more often. Visit her website today and sign-up for her “Five Ingredients to Happiness” free ereport.
Alhumdulilah (Praise be to Allah), while my To-Do List is extra huge for the next 48-hours due to anticipated family visitations and Ramadan preparations, I feel blessed that the below article was in my inbox for us all to read and reflect. I found Shaikh Mishary’s video recording of Sister Zohra’s first tip, and just covered my desk with tissues.
6 Stress-Busters
In today’s society of fast paced living, who isn’t stressed? Everything must be done in a rush, and there is no time to just sit and relax. We feel we must do more and in a hurry to keep up with the world around us. We also find it hard to refuse people and can’t say no to their requests, which adds more stress to our already stressful life. I have to tell you, if you’re stressed you must continue to read and take action to lower your stress levels, insha’Allaah. The following are some tips to help you insha’Allaah:
1. Listen to the Qur’aan, paying attention to the meaning. This is the most soothing part of my stressful day; I will listen to Surah Ar-Rahmaan; sometimes I will even cry as I am listening to this surah, to let everything out, and yet remember, “Which of His favors can we ever deny”. It just humbles me, and reminds me of my blessings and it calms me down tremendously alhamdulillaah.
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- Pray 2 rakaah nafl. Sometimes we need to stop everything when we’re stressed, make wudhoo, and pray 2 rakaah nafl, and cry it out to Allaah (SWT). It is only He that can relieve us of our stress. Go to Him, and tell Him, and ask Him for mercy and help.3. Make sure you are not dehydrated. Drink lots of water, or green tea. Have at least 8 cups to make sure you’re hydrated through out the day; this alone has been a major stress reducer. Dehydration is also the cause of many headaches. We often forget to take care of ourselves, and water is one drink that many of us do not drink enough of; put sticky notes up everywhere to drink 8 cups a day, to remind you, insha’Allaah.4. Say “No” to extra work. You have to set boundaries. Just let people know kindly that you can’t do certain things, and that you already have enough on your plate. Learn to say “NO”. This has been one of the hardest things for me to do. So I know it can be tough, but after awhile you will realize it’s not so bad, insha’Allaah.5. Stop procrastinating and get things done. De-cluttering helps the mind relax, while mess causes the mind stress As a mom I hate my house to be messy. Seeing it that way stresses me out. When I see it messy I must leave my work and take out 15 minutes to clean it up, and then go back to what I was doing. The hard part is doing it, yet, after I have cleaned the mess I feel relieved, and happy to be back at work.6. 5 times a day. Usually our day is so jam-packed that we forget to enjoy it. We’re always in a hurry to do one thing and then the next. Stop for a moment, and relax. Think of something funny, or go online and sign up for the joke of the day. This way you make sure you smile at least once every day. You know it only takes 17 muscles in our face to smile, and 41 to frown.
“They ask you (O Muhammad) what they should spend in charity. Say: ‘Whatever you spend with a good heart, give it to parents, relatives, orphans, the helpless, and travelers in need. Whatever good you do, God is aware of it.’” –
-The Holy Quran, 2:215
Having a hectic Monday? Did this article help you regain focus and clarity? Please share your experiences below.
