Editorial

By the Grace and Mercy of Allah, after a cold and bitter winter, Allah has blessed us with an early spring. With some cold bouts here and there, we are content. But as summer is approaching, so is the threat of wildfire and floods. For the past few years, we have seen wildfires pretty much throughout the summer. Global warming is a worldwide phenomenon that refers to the spike in the Earth's average surface temperature.A wildfire had engulfed many parts of Fort McMurray, a few years back. Wildfires are still raging in many parts of Alberta. Moreover, last year wildfires engulfed the town of Paradise in California. We pray that Allah protect and save us from any sudden reproachable tests or punishments. Ameen!

Alhamdulillah we were blessed in witnessing the complete month of Ramadan, a month marked by Allah's mercy and forgiveness. Ramadan is a time to reflect and see what’s in our hearts. When we are busy with our day to day lives, dust, grime, ill-will and dirt accumulate in our hearts, just as they gather in our houses and cars. They usually hide from plain sight. Ramadan is an awesome occasion to see what type of unnecessary and unwanted emotions and things we are hoarding inside. It is a time to set up an interview with ourselves - asking what methods we can use to clean, scrub and shine the heart. For this, we will need a conscientious effort to understand which part of our heart needs cleaning, or repair—or is this the time for a total transplant. I hope that our hearts have not become so hardened that w e have become people about whom in Quran Allah says they are ‘deaf, dumb, and blind’ (2:18). ان شاءالله soon we will all celebrate Eid together; a joyous moment for all of us. As Ramadan is for reflection, Eid is the time to be thankful and make دعاء to accept all the virtuous deeds we tried to accumulate during the month of Ramadan. In addition, let’s take a moment to keep our promises made to ourselves to continue the goodness we tried to do in Ramadan. This issue is filled with inspiring pieces. Story of “Dawood (AS)”, the last part of “The Call Home” which concludes the Hajj travelogue. Furthermore, you can indulge in our “Tib-e-Nabvi” piece about Olives, and an opinion about why health education is necessary in our article “Health Education-Hikmah or Hype”. You’ll find beneficial and entertaining pieces in our book review on Hamza Yusuf’s book “Purification of the Heart”, our Humor piece “Nadia’s Dholki”, and serious pieces on stigma around mental health, in “Treating Mental Issues Without Stigma”. You’ll also discover a unique literary style used in “Patience, Hope & Struggle”, where our writer tries to collect inspiration through profound words of Qur’an. Hopefully you’ll find it beneficial to you too! Read, reflect and share, and later leave us with your comments at northwestmuslim@gmail.com We like to have new writers contribute to our magazine. If you don’t know what to write about, ask us and we’ll give you a topic to start! We encourage new and committed writers. Keep us in your prayers. See You Soon ان شاءالله !