Conversations Special Eid Edition Apr2023

COVERSATIONS - THE THEME!

* DESIGNED for KIDS AND YOUTH (AGE 10-23)

* BE CURIOUS, CREATIVE, COLLABORATE AND ACHIEVE

COVERSATIONS – OPPORTUNITIES FOR:

* Write fiction and short stories

* Join and write on community activities

* Share your original art, graphic designs.

* Share your basketball, soccer and swimming tips

* Share your delicious food recipes

* Use your design skills to put a magazine together

Conversations Editors

Conversations Star Contributor's

Ashar Naser

Fairuz Humaira

Rufaida Ansaria

Rida Hashmi

Anam Hashmi

Hania Hashmi

Haleema Abdulghani

Conversations Sections

Are you ready?

ISLAM4US

Lesson from Surah Abbassa

By - Fairuz Humaira

We often find ourselves getting caught up in the midst of school, work, and whatever we may have going on. It gets harder to take a moment to just breathe. I like to remember the verses from Surah Abbassa 34-36, when I find myself getting too overwhelmed. These verses are a reality check. On that day, every man will be thinking of themselves. Everyone will be engrossed in their own concerns, and by the terror of that day.

On that day, man will flee from his brother - And his mother and father - And his wife and children

Ref : Surah Abbassa 34-36

The terrors and calamites of that day will be so violent that a man will flee from his own family A mom from her own child, friends from each other, and even the most pious of people will be worried about their fate.. At the end of the day, it is every man for themselves. We should allow ourselves to take a step back and ask ourselves how prepared we are to witness such a horrifying scene Exceedingly stressing over a test or a future event is simply not worth it. Indeed, the world is temporary, so we should not worry ourselves excessively with such matters that will mean nothing compared to what is ahead of us. We should have trust and faith that every matter will be disposed in its timely manner and way

ISLAM4US

With Every Hardship comes Ease

By - Rufaida Ansaria

8th Grade

Allah (SBW) sent down suratul Insharrah as a reminder and reassurance for the muslims. Towards the Surah’s end, Allah tells us what to do. “ And turn to your Lord with attention/longing”. He is telling us in this ayah, what we should as Muslims, always turn back to Allah (SB).

Earlier in Ayah (5-6), Allah tells us, So, indeed with hardship comes ease” and continues to the next Ayah where we have this reassurance “INDEED with hardship, comes (more) ease”.

What should we get from this Ayah?

Ease arrives with hardship, so we can generalize that nothing in this life is all bad or good.

During a difficulty, there is something to be grateful for possessing -- Indeed along with difficulty in this this life there is ease and relief in the hereafter.

When you specifically are at a time of ease, thank Allah (SBW) for it, THANK Allah for your health, wealth and family. Thank Allah(SBW) for the blessings he has provided you with.

* Never lost, being humble always thank Allah(SBW) and be constantly grateful.

“HARSHIPS”

* Allah tests us with hardships, trials, and difficulties in our lives. So, we should deal with such challenging situations with a positive mindset, remain patient, and deal with matters with perseverance, strength, and taqwa in Allah(SBW).

ISLAM4US

With Every Hardship comes Ease

By - Rufaida Ansaria 8th Grade

We should know that Allah is always with us, watching, hearing, and looking over us, He will grant you ease as you move along in the path of Isla.

Allah (SBW) reassures us that with every hardship, comes ease TWICE! (with these Ayah(s) Allah (SBW) gives us hop to keep going.

Trials, difficulties and hardships in life further and expand one's capacity of tolerance and increases experience(one may need in life).

Therefore, we should not be sad or carried away by every single occurring problem.

We should face them with a strong character, and keep in mind of the reminders we have been given in the Quran

ISLAM4US

Angels

By - Haleema Abdulghani

In the sacred Islamic religion, Muslims believe in a multitude of factors that ultimately explain our presence in this world, including God’s messengers, the Holy Books, belief in both the Day of Resurrection and the Hereafter, belief in the Oneness of Allah ( هناحبس ىلاعتو), and also belief in the unseen, all of which end up being connected. Now what exactly is the unseen? The unseen, Al-Ghaib in Arabic, refers to those things which are concealed, hidden from the people of this world. The unseen encompasses all of what we cannot see with our eyes, including God, the Angels, the Jinns, Jannah (heaven), Jahannum (hell), and perhaps more beyond humans’ understanding.

To understand the answers to these questions, we must first turn to the most helpful guide of all, the Qur’an. In surah Baqarah, in the very beginning, Allah ( هناحبس ىلاعتو ) refers to the believers.

But why must Muslims believe in Angels? Is it so important to the Islamic faith?

“This is the Book! There is no doubt about it a guide for those mindful ˹of Allah˺ who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and donate from what We have provided for them,” (Surah Baqarah ayahs 1-2). The unseen, as we know, is also a point to the angels, presenting how belief in their presence is essential along with the other orders in the ayat. But what exactly do Muslims believe about the Angels?

Why are they so important?

ISLAM4US

Angels

By - Haleema Abdulghani

Articulating a response to these questions requires the introduction of some important Angels in Islam. One of the most honorable, Jibreel ( ملَسلٱ هيلع ,) was given many important jobs by Allah ( ىلاعتو هناحبس .) One of his key points is that Jibreel ( لَسلٱ هيلع )م was the source of communication through God and his Messengers, meaning he brought down the Revelations of Allah ( لاعتو هناحبس ,)ى teaching them to the Messengers to spread to their people. This means that to believe in the Revelations of Allah ( ىلاعتو هناحبس ,) in His Qur’an and past Books, we must believe in the Angels, as an individual from them was the communicator for passage of

To understand the answers to these questions, we must first turn to the most helpful guide of all, the Qur’an. In surah Baqarah, in the very beginning, Allah ( هناحبس ىلاعتو ) refers to the believers.

the Holy Qur’an from Allah ( هناحبس )ىلاعتوto humanity.

There are also other named Angels with important jobs in Islam, including Mika’il ( ملَسلٱ هيلع ,) the Angel who, under the Command of Allah ( هناحبس )ىلاعتوofficiates the natural phenomena of Earth such as rain, Azra’il ( ملَسلٱ هيلع ,) the Angel of Death, and Israfil ( ملَسلٱ هيلع ,) the Angel who will blow the trumpet on the Day of Resurrection.

ISLAM4US

Angels

By - Haleema Abdulghani

In surah Baqarah ayahs 97-98, Allah ( ىلاعتو هناحبس ) addresses the Prophet ( ملسو هيلع للَّٱ ىلص ) “ Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Whoever is an enemy of Gabriel should know that he revealed this ˹Quran˺ to your heart by Allah’s Will, confirming what came before it a guide and good news for the believers. Whoever is an enemy of Allah, His angels, His messengers, Gabriel, and Michael, then ˹let them know that˺ Allah is certainly the enemy of the disbelievers” (Surah Baqarah ayahs 97-98). These verses alone show how esteemed Allah (( ىلاعتو هناحبس ) considers the Angels especially those with higher positions than other Angels. So if the Angels mentioned above all have these tasks,

To understand the answers to these questions, we must first turn to the most helpful guide of all, the Qur’an. In surah Baqarah, in the very beginning, Allah ( هناحبس ىلاعتو ) refers to the believers.

what do the other Angels do?

To consider this question, we can venture into the words of the Prophet ( ملسو هيلع للَّٱ ىلص .) In a hadith cited by Sahih Muslim, it is stated, “‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Angels were created from light, Jinn were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from what was described to you (in the Qur'an)." Sahih/Authentic. - [Muslim] Muslims believe that Angels were made from light, and have wings, making them pure beings. We believe them to be free from sin, and strictly obedient to Allah Most High.

ISLAM4US

Angels

By - Haleema Abdulghani

To further divulge into this topic, we must again turn to the Words of Allah ( ىلاعتو هناحبس ,) as He is the AllKnowing, and His Book is the Truth. In surah Anbiya ayat 20, Allah ( هناحبس )ىلاعتوrefers to the Angels, “They celebrate his praises night and day, nor do they ever flag or intermit” (Surah Anbiya ayah 20).

In Islam, the Angels are very different from humans, not only because of the materials utilized in our respective creations. The Angels have no bodily desires, with no negative emotion such as anger, no hunger, no tiredness. The Angels do not possess the free will Allah ( لاعتو هناحبس )ى has granted the humans, rather, they

To understand the answers to these questions, we must first turn to the most helpful guide of all, the Qur’an. In surah Baqarah, in the very beginning, Allah ( هناحبس ىلاعتو ) refers to the believers.

strictly abide by the orders of Allah (swt). Many Angels are in constant worship of Allah, as the above ayah presents.

However, there are many other duties Angels may have. They include, recording humans’ actions, which they do, with two Angels assigned, امارك ('ُنيبتاكkiraman katibeen), ‘honorable scribe’, the Angel on the right shoulder recording one’s righteous actions, and the Angel on the left shoulder recording one’s bad actions, which may erased by repentance. There are the Angels of the Grave, ,ريكنوُركنم

the denied and the denier’, mentioned in Hadith, who question the newly dead on their Lord, their religion, and their Prophet.

ISLAM4US

Angels

By - Haleema Abdulghani

While Angels have many jobs, they are not all limited to these engagements all of the time. In fact, Angels may even come to humans (not in a visible form, though some Angels have done so by Command of Allah ( ىلاعتو هناحبس .)) In a hadith from Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ( للَّٱ ىلص ملسو هيلع ) stated, “Allah has mobile (squads) of angels who have no other work (to attend to) but to look for the assemblies of Thikr, and when they find such assemblies in which there is Thikr (of Allah), they sit with them, and some of them surround the others with their wings till the space between them and the sky of the world is filled with them.” [Muslim] This hadith exhibits not only how

To understand the answers to these questions, we must first turn to the most helpful guide of all, the Qur’an. In surah Baqarah, in the very beginning, Allah ( هناحبس ىلاعتو ) refers to the believers.

Angels seek out and surround those in remembrance of Allah (), but also the physical feature of their wings, and their immense size. Moreover, even when the Angels are not occupied with duties for their Lord, they seek gatherings that praise Him. There is much more information regarding the Angels, in many sources around the web, in Islamic books, in Hadith, and especially in the Qur’an, where “Angels” is stated 88 times. This short article could not even pinpoint all there is to know about these beings Allah ( ىلاعتو هناحبس ) created that we are unable to see, but I hope it has brought a sense of understanding and perhaps a yearn to seek more information regarding them and other aspects of Islam.

ISLAM4US

How to lead an Islamic life in the US

By - Ashar Naser

Many people say that being a good muslim is hard in the environment we are in now in the US. This short article will tell exactly how to do it!

A very good strategy to get closer to Allah (SWT) in the US is trying to do all the 5 prayers. A lot of people will probably think, oh, I already pray 5 times a day. However, you might miss prayers, or not do them on time. You might also pray like a robot just saying things. You have to think about Allah when you are praying. All these are as important as praying itself. If you do any of these frequently, you might risk your prayer not counting.

The prophet (pbuh) said that if you say “subhanallahi walhamdulillahi wala ilaha ilallahu allahuakhbar” once, one plant will be planted for you in Jannah.

One other way to lead a good muslim life in the U.S.A is to make lots of Dhikr which means to remember Allah (SWT.) This will lead you toward the path of Allah and keep away from any action that can result in punishment. Another way that you can lead a muslim life in the US is that you can try to stay away from bad things. There are a lot of people who could have a bad influence on you so try staying with the right people. Iblis is constantly trying to misguide us so stay away from haram things as much as possible.sa

Overall, we should try to stay close to Allah in every way possible. There are also a lot of other ways to get closer to Allah that you can research.

ISLAM4US

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STORY/FICTION/POEM

A Waste of Time!

By – Hania H.

It was a warm, chilly day, and Umar and Ismaeel were playing with Legos. Suddenly, Umar closed the box of Legos and sighed. “Legos are boring. Let’s draw, Ismaeel.”. Ismaeel groaned. “I’m so bad at drawing, but okay.”. He spoke. Umar took a piece of paper from the basket and drew a house, but the walls were not straight, rather they were crooked. Umar crumpled the paper and threw it in the waste basket. Ismaeel, watching his older brother do it, copied it and too threw it in the wastebasket. They did it again and again until Umar sighed again. “Drawing is boring. Let’s play basketball outside.”. Ismaeel groaned but nodded. They brought two balls, some cones, and two juice boxes outside and started to play. When they were sick of playing basketball, they left the balls and cones outside and started to drink their juices.

Umar left the juice box on the sofa and stepped up the stairs. Ismaeel followed. “Let’s eat a snack.” Ismaeel said. Umar agreed, and they walked into the kitchen. “Hey Mom, what’s cooking?

Can we have a snack?” Ismaeel asked.

Their mother stirred the stew and turned to face the two. “Sure, what would you like?” She asked. “Trail mix and granola bars” Umar said. Ismaeel made a face. “String cheese and apple slices” Ismaeel said. Umar made a face. “How about this?

I give Umar the trail mix and granola bars and Ismaeel the string cheese and apple slices.”. Their mother suggested. They both agreed and soon they were sitting on the couch, eating and laughing loudly.

When Umar finished eating, he left the bowl on the couch and wiped his face with his hands. Ismaeel followed.

STORY/FICTION/POEM

A Waste of Time!

By – Hania H.

“Let’s go back to the playroom, Ismaeel. Maybe we will find something we like to play.” Ismaeel jumped up and down. “Maybe we can ask Dad to play a game with us!”

He exclaimed. Umar nodded. “Come on!” They ran into the playroom to leave their mom to clean up for them. They found their dad in the playroom.

“Daddy!” Ismaeel and Umar exclaimed at the same time. “Ismaeel. Umar. What is this?” He pointed to the mess in the waste basket. “Um, we were drawing and none of the drawings came out right.”. Umar said.

Dad put his hands on his hips. He uncrumpled a paper. It had a couple of lines and a triangle. He turned it around. It was empty.

“You wasted all these papers when you could have just erased the drawing or turned it around. But you wasted all these papers. Some people don’t have papers to draw on. When you went outside, you left the basketball and cones outside. Some people don’t have basketballs or cones to play with. When you drank your juice, you left it on the couch. Some people don’t have juices to drink. So we should not take our things for granted, because Allah (swt) can take them away any time he wants.”

STORY/FICTION/POEM

The Genius Within

By – Anam Hashmi

It was a beautiful day at Heatherville Academy. Kids played around, adults smiled and talked, and it seemed like everyone was content and happy with their own lives. Well, everyone was joyful except me. I had just flunked a math test, again, and was staring at the result unhappily. I glared at Miss Charm, my math teacher, and her icy stare bore right through my eyes. “Sophia, I would like to see you.”. Miss Charm’s icy glare, and then this? This was not a good sign. Some kids snickered; others made sympathetic sounds. I gulped.

This would not be good. I walked over to Miss Charm’s desk and tried to keep my head high in the air. Miss Charm sighed. “Sophia, would you like to take a re-test?” She asked. I tried to smile, but the truth was, learning math was as hard as learning Chinese. And none of it stuck in my head. It was like number soup. As hard as it was, maybe I’d get a higher grade than what I got on my test. I picked up the paper and headed back to my desk. As I had thought, my brain was completely empty about math. I had Picasso’s nothing about math.

I stared at the paper. 25 times 3 equals what? I was so confused. I thought we were doing decimals. Was the question 2.5 times 0.3 or was it 3.0 ? I didn’t know how to multiply decimals. I racked my brain. The first answer I got was 313. I supposed my brain wasn’t really that bad, and handed the test in. Miss Charm looked at it disapprovingly, and I had a feeling it was worse than my first test. Heatherville Academy only had four subjects. History, Science, ELA, and Math. And if you flunked one of them, you flunked ¼ of the academy. I had a feeling I was failing ½ of the academy already. We had no extracurriculars except STEM, and that was just a hobby. I felt like I was letting down my generation, my ancestors.

My younger sister Amelia was a genius completely. My older brother Jacob was a sportster. I was neither of the above. I was the odd one out, the loner, the outsider. I walked outside, feeling as gray as the clouds storming above. Though the sun shined through, I had no reason to be happy. The sun peered at me, weaving through the heavy clouds. “It’s going to rain. I

STORY/FICTION/POEM

The Genius Within

By – Anam Hashmi

better hurry” I thought. I got into my dad’s blue Toyota and put my hands through my messy brown ponytail. Oh, couldn’t the weekend just hurry up?

“How was school, peanut?” I sighed. Did he have to bring that subject up? “Like always, dad. Awful!” I exclaimed bitterly. My dad put a hand on my shoulder. “Math?”. He asked. I swallowed. “Bad. Don’t want to talk about it.”. Home was just more stressful. My mom and dad had a heated up argument about what I least wanted to hear about: me. Me failing math. At the end, I had dinner and went to sleep, thinking of today’s events.

The next morning, everyone was in a rush. Amelia had to go early, Jacob had to go late, and I had to go at well… the normal time. Today was quite an exciting day. In the morning, the loudspeaker announced that there was a new extracurricular activity: Arts. I was excited, but not because I liked art. It was because I got to skip math for today. I dashed to Room 217, and was dazzled by what I saw. Just scribbles, yet they had so much of a meaning. Just paint on a canvas, but

with true dedication, curiosity, and creativity as your goal. With all these thoughts, I felt lifted high. Not because I was good at art. I doubted it, since I was practically good at nothing. But when the blank canvas was set in front of me, I felt as if… I could paint out my worries.

My art teacher, Ms. Tripod, was wearing a red satin dress with a chain belt. Her earrings were long, wiry, and twisted, and they seemed to portray art. Everything about her seemed artsy. Her boots were long and curved. Her dress was unnaturally shaped. Everything about her sparked curiosity in the minds of her students, especially me. I was amazed by her grace, her steadiness, her humor. But before I had a chance to compliment all I liked about her, she declared the important announcement. “Whoever has the best painting in this class shall go to that painting nationals!”

STORY/FICTION/POEM

The Genius Within

By – Anam Hashmi

I sort of ignored her, because I knew it wasn’t me. Nationals? Hah! Sounded like something Amelia could do. Eventually, I painted. A rising sun, a flowing river, birds migrating with every detail.

I wish I could fly away with my birds, swim and forget my worries in the flowing river, and clear my head in the sunny painted sky. Ms. Tripod came to look at my painting. "Sophia, do you like painting?” She asked. I shook my head. “Well, you sure can make a masterpiece.”

And then was the most important day of my life. She raised up my canvas, so everyone in the class could see the painting, my painting. And it wouldn't hurt to win the nationals, right? And for the first time in ages, I smiled a wide toothy grin. The results will come out tonight. And everyone at the Academy would be watching. Later on in the day, I snuggled in my blankets to watch the results. Ben Brooks was announcing them. “And the winner is… Sophia Jackson!” I stood up in my blankets. This couldn’t have happened. I couldn’t have won. But I did.

The next day was cheerful for me. I was congratulated wherever I went. Unfortunately, my first class was math. I stared at the empty paper, but it was like art connected my brain. If Mary had 6 apples, and John had 4 times more, how much would John have?

I drew 6 apples, and 6 more, and 6 more, and 6 more, then counted. 24. I wrote the answer down, then smiled, for the second time this week.

When I got my test back, my smile was bigger than ever. A 75! My dad was surely going to faint. And boy, was he happy. He whooped with joy, and I grinned. Maybe I never was bad at math. Maybe I just needed a push, to keep going. And in my opinion, that push was art. I may not be a math genius, but I definitely have some sort of genius within, a genius waiting to be discovered.

STORY/FICTION/POEM

The Super Boy

By – M. Islam

There was once a man who was an enemy to Islam. He had three famous questions that no person could answer. No Islamic scholar in Baghdad could answer his three questions...thus he made fun of Islam in public. He constantly ridiculed Islam and the Muslims. One day a small boy, who's age was 10, came along and heard the man yelling and screaming at Muslims in the street. He was challenging people openly to answer the three questions.

The boy stood quietly and watched. He then decided that he would challenge the man. He walked up and told the man, "I will accept your challenge".

The man laughed at the boy and ridiculed the Muslims even more by saying, "A ten-year-old boy challenges me. Is this all you people have to offer!"

But the boy patiently reiterated his stance. He would challenge the man, and with Allah's help and guidance, he would put this to an end. The man finally accepted.

The entire city gathered around a small "hill" where open addresses were usually made. The man climbed to the top, and in a loud voice asked his first question.

"What is your God doing right now?"

The small boy thought for a little while and then told the man to climb down the hill and to allow him to go up in order to address the question.

The man says "What? You want me to come down?"

The boy says, "Yes. I need to reply, right?“

The man made his way down and the small boy, age 10, with his little feet made his way up. This small child's reply was "Oh Allah Almighty! You be my witness in front of all these people. You have just willed that a Kafir be brought down to a low level, and that a Muslim be brought to a high level!"

STORY/FICTION/POEM

The Super Boy

By – M. Islam

The crowd cheered and screamed "Takbir"...."Allah-hu-akbar!!!"

The man was humiliated, but he boldly asked his Second question... "What existed before your God?"

The small child thought and thought.

Then he asked the man to count backwards. "Count from 10 backwards."

The man counted..."10, 9 ,8 , 7 , 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,0"

The boy asked, "What comes before 0 ?"

The man: "I don't know...nothing."

The boy: "Exactly. Nothing was before Allah, for He is eternal and absolute."

The crowd cheered again ………… "Takbir!"...."Allah-hu-akbar!!!!"

STORY/FICTION/POEM

STORY/FICTION/POEM

Love Conquers Anger

Love dances in someone’s eyes

There is a beat in your heart which never dies

Love talks peacefully to you at first sight

If you truly love someone, love will always defeat anger with a good fight Love removes anger from one’s mind

If you forget what passion is, love will be there to remind

Love always helps to make your dreams come true

Anger is always way behind in the queue

Everyone Is a Superhero

Everyone is a superhero, In their own way. No one just stays behind, Watching others save the day. Everyone is a superhero, All day, every day, For everyone is special, No matter what others say. Don’t let anyone knock you down, When you're flying up so high, For it's so pretty up there, When you fly up in the sky. There will always be a villain, Trying to break their way through, There will always be a villain Trying to get to you. Everyone is a superhero, Don’t tell me that’s not true, For everyone is a superhero, And that includes you.

“Hanging in Midair”

A Friendship Poem

By Anam H.

Whenever I talk to you, I feel like I’m flying,

Like they’ll never be a use for crying, Whenever I look at you, I feel lost in the sky,

Like I’ll never ever again need to sigh, Like I’m content with everything you say,

I could listen to you talking for an entire day,

Whenever you looked at me, I was lost in the skies,

Just your speech was enough to make me mesmerized,

I always tried to make you proud of me,

So you forever could see, How much I admired you.

“Just a Little thing for You”

A Friendship Poem

By Anam H.

I know this is too small to show my appreciation for you But it’s the best I can do, Sometimes I think, could it be any worse,

But since I got you, I know I’m not cursed, You are the girl I’ve been dreaming of all those years, You are the girl who can shield me from all those tears, You are the best friend I could ever wish for, You make me feel like I can soar, I did the most I could do, To show how much I love you!

CAREER

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SPORTS/ACTIVITIES

Girl Scout @ YMCA

By – Hania Hashmi

My first trip with Girl Scouts was a sleepover at the YMCA, where there were many activities planned for us, and I was more than excited. After packing for, like, so long, we finally left the house! By the time we got there, a bunch of my friends were there already, so we just sorted out our stuff and waited for our troop leader to assign us a chaperone.

After finally getting a chaperone, we went swimming. We had races and had fun playing around with each other. After swimming for 2 hours, we changed our clothes and sat in a big meeting room, where we played bingo and ate pizza. The pizza was vegan, which was a completely new experience for all of us. After playing bingo, we went with the other troops to a different room, where we ate coconut shaved ice and watched a movie.

Half of us were bored during the movie, having already seen it, so we just chilled and talked. Finally, all the activities were over, and it was already 11 : 30 pm. We went with our troop leader, laid out sleeping mats, and set up our stuff. As we were the older kids,

we didn’t sleep till much later, around 2: 30 in the morning when we decided to actually sleep. The next day, we had to wake up at 5 : 30 AM and even got breakfast. Soon enough, it was time to leave, and we all left. It was a great experience, and I would definitely do it again.

SPORTS/ACTIVITIES

Participation in MIST – A memorable experience!

By – Rida Hashmi (PHS)

While MIST essentially stands for Muslim Interscholastic Tournament, it is a tournament open to all high schoolers. Mist offers high schoolers a fun yet educational experience in which through competitions and workshops, Muslims and non-Muslims alike are given a place to express themselves and foster an understanding of Islam and Muslims. Students from high schools all across NJ competed in a variety of categories at Rutgers University including arts, sports, writing, quiz bowls, and more at MIST NJ this year.

As for me, I competed in Quran Memorization Level 3 as well as the Quiz Bowl. In Quran Memorization, they asked 3 questions and a few tajweed questions and based our places according to that. However, my favorite part was participating in the Quiz Bowl with 4 of my teammates.

Each of us had one topic and were responsible for the information it held. Questions were to be answered by pressing the buzzer and answering within 10 seconds to be counted for credit. While the prep work was difficult, with us often ending up in arguments, it all paid off when we won 1st place.

This is not to say we didn’t have mistakes during the competition itself as well. There were many times when we were unable to answer the question and many times, we pressed the buzzer accidentally. However, regardless of how many fights we had before, we all bonded due to the tournament. We had mistakes during the tournament, but instead of yelling, we were all motivating each other. Mist taught me that anyone can work together if for a common goal.

SPORTS/ACTIVITIES

Participation in MIST – A memorable experience!

By – Rida Hashmi (PHS)

My overall experience at MIST was greatly enriching. I had never seen so many Muslims gathered in one place and just having fun. Through MIST we were able to increase our faith and understanding of Islam. Volunteers and Coordinators made sure everything ran smoothly and everyone participated with their utmost best behavior. If it weren’t for the fact that MIST is only for high schoolers' and I am a senior, I definitely would participate again. While I am unable to participate again, these memories will be one of the fondest I’ll ever hold.

SPORTS/ACTIVITIES

MISCELLANEOUS (RIDDLE)

Guess Me If You Can?

1. Kate’s mother has three children: Snap, Crackle and __________?

2. There’s only one word in the dictionary that’s spelled wrong. What is it?

3. You’re running a race and at the very end, you pass the person in 2nd place. What place did you finish the race in?

4.Which word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it?

5. There’s a one-story house where everything is yellow. The walls are yellow. The doors are yellow. Even all the furniture is yellow. The house has yellow beds and yellow couches. What color are the stairs?

6. I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?

MISCELLANEOUS (RIDDLE)

Guess Me If You Can [Answers]

1. Kate’s mother has three children: Snap, Crackle and __________?

A. Kate, she is Kate's mother after all.

2. There’s only one word in the dictionary that’s spelled wrong. What is it?

A. The word “wrong” it’s spelled WR-O-N-G

3. You’re running a race and at the very end, you pass the person in 2nd place. What place did you finish the race in?

A. You finished in 2nd place (this one is a brain teaser)

4.Which word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it?

A. “Short” adding “er” makes it “shorter.”

5. There’s a one-story house where everything is yellow. The walls are yellow. The doors are yellow. Even all the furniture is yellow. The house has yellow beds and yellow couches. What color are the stairs?

A. There are no stairs, it's a one story house.

6. I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?

A. Seven, if you take away “s” you get even.

MISCELLANEOUS (INFO)

Muslim inventions that shaped the Modern World

World First Flying machine

Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt to build a flying machine and fly using it. In the 9th century he designed a winged machine, roughly resembling a bird like object.

In his most famous trial near Cordoba in Spain, Firnas flew upward for a few moments, before falling to the ground and seriously hurt himself.

His designs would unquestionably have been an inspiration for famed Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci's hundreds of years later.

Abu al-Qasim Abbas ibn Firnas ibn Wirdas al-Takurini, also known as Abbas ibn Firnas, Latinized Armen Firman, was a Berber Andalusian polymath: an inventor, astronomer, physicist, chemist, mathematician engineer, Andalusi musician, and Arabic-language poet. He was reported to have experimented with a form of flight. Wikipedia

MISCELLANEOUS (INFO)

Islamic Calligraphy is a historical and well-known visual art form where artists use a pen, ink brush or other writing tools to design and write a text. Calligraphy had been considered a very valuable skill in society. An ancient Arabic prover says, “Purity of writing is purity of the soul”.

The development of calligraphy shows how important writing and written text has been in our history.

The calligraphy has been applied to a variety of materials including paper, papyrus, parchment, tiles, vessels, carpets, stones and coins.

As Islam spread the culture was adopted by other languages also including Persian, Urdu and Ottoman.

If you are curious how Arabic

Calligraphy looks with different fonts, you can try out a free Arabic

Calligraphic tool on the web.

https://www.arabiccalligraphygenerato r.com/

It allow to write your name in English, then using Yamli, the words are transliterated to Arabic. It allows selection of three different scripts.

Islamic Calligraphy

MISCELLANEOUS (Did you know?)

MISCELLANEOUS (Did you know?)

Fun Facts about Chemistry

1. Why is Mars red?

Mars is red because it contains a lot of iron oxide. These are the same compounds the find in our blood and rust.

2. Can air become liquid?

We see the air around us as gas. But it can become liquid by compression and colling it to very low temperatures. Under normal pressure it has to be cooled to (-310) degrees Fahrenheit.

3. One inch of rain can get 10 inches of snow?

That’s right if temperature is around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, then 1-inch of rains is similar to 10 inches of snowfall.

4. What is special about gold and copper metals?

They are the only non silvery metals. Most metals’ electrons reflect colors equally, so the sun’s rays are reflected as white. Gold and copper however absorb blue and violet colors, with the yellow light remaining. Copper is also the only metal that is antibacterial.

5. What is the “clean” smell after thunderstorms?

Ozone is triple oxygen molecule that provides a protection blanket against ultraviolet rays. It is created in nature by lightening. The smell for ozone is very sharp.