Siratt Product Review- Ramadan Edition!

Asalam waliykum, 

Firstly, Sorry I have been so behind on blog posts lately, been enjoying all this lovely weather we are having in the UK. 

On with the show, I will be reviewing a few products I purchased a month ago for Ramadan from the Muslim company Siratt. 

About Siratt: 

Assalaamu Alaykum,

Siratt's determined and dedicated team is driven by a desire to provide our customers with the very best InshaAllah!

We aim to cater for each and every individuals need to obtain high quality Islamic products, which are both exciting, educational and aesthetically pleasing.

Our select product range illustrates our ambition to specialise in the production of totally unique Islamic merchandise.

We have designed each product with a view to increasing and refreshing ones knowledge of Islam hence our slogan - designed to remind.

I will be reviewing 3 products, the Ramadan Booster (£7.95) the Productive Muslim Life Book (13.95) and the Wudu Water bottle (£3.95). 

Ramadan Kareem 1434/2013

Asalam Waliykum Sisters- Ramadan Kareem, Only a few days left now!

I know, I am a little ahead of myself. But, it's just around the corner In Sha Allah, on Tuesday.  Soon nearly 2 Billion Muslims will begin fasting during Ramadan, Wow that's a lot of people...
Subhanallah, the year has flown by and the blessed month is upon us once again. Alhamdulillah, I and my family and loved ones have made it another year to see another Ramadan. In Sha Allah we make the most of this Ramadan, and we are permitted to be blessed by this blessed month. 

Muslimah now on Instagram!!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

I am now on Instagram! I decided to check out what all the fuss was about. It is a great app. I love to take photos and share my snaps, and instagram makes it effortlessly easy to do that. Also brilliant having the ability to enhance my photos and smarten them up a bit. I do post daily on Instagram! 

Please do check me out there and follow me, find me under the name of Muslimah In Solace. 

Hope to see you all there!! 

Wasalam -x 

What every Muslimah should take to Hajj/Umrah- Tips and Tricks

Asalam waliykum, 

In Sha Aallah, I hope to share with you a few tips and what a Muslimah should take when traveling for Hajj & Umrah. I was blessed to visit Mekkah and Medina and perform Umrah in the blessed month of Ramadan last year. Click Here to see my post on my travels there. 
As the blessed month is less then 20 days away I thought this would be a good time to share my experiences, tips and tricks. 
This will not be an exhaustive list, but just what I thought are vital to carry when in Mekkah or Medina. 

Before my trip, I searched online for tips and ideas for what a Muslimah should take with her. There were a few sites given advice to the brothers but not any for the sisters, that I could find anyway. So I did go a little crazy with the preparation and it took me a few days to decide what would be the key items to pack in my cross body bag. 
So, In sha allah this list will help sisters who are preparing to undertake the pilgrimage either for Ramadan to do Umrah or for Hajj. So lets begin! 

"Gamboo3as Revolution" Why, and WTFatwa?

Asalam waliykum sisters, 

Today is a rather controversial subject that I have been wanting to blog about for the last year. God knows I will have a few "polite" words sent my way from posting this. But, at the end of the day it is my Blog and I am free to post what I like, and post things which I believe need to be shared. This blog after all is another platform to express myself to the world and If people do not agree I am happy to engage in a rational debate, and exchange ideas and views in a nice calm way. I am the same in real life and do not cowardly hide behind my screen, I have had many conversations on this topic with sisters.
Also, If people wish to be rude and insulting then I do not entertain their comments and views, so please keep any rude comments to yourselves. 

FOOOOD! Amazing Cheese cake

Asalam Waliykum sisters,

A little post this afternoon, I just wanted to share some photos of a dessert my talented Khelty/Aunty made. Sorry this will not be a step by step as it is a secret family recipe as requested by my khelty, sorry.  

Cheese cake is by far, my favourite chilled dessert. This one is scrummy Oreo cookie base, with lemon filling covered in fresh blueberries and Raspberries  The flavours all compliment one another and because of the fresh fruit I felt a whole lot less guilty eating this. 

I just wanted to share this yummy dessert with you.... well just the photos. 

Now in for the Close up.... 

Islam NewsRoom Last Day Updates - TubeIslam - ShareIslam Video Site

Islam NewsRoom Last Day Updates - TubeIslam - ShareIslam Video Site

M.I.A

Asalam waliykum Sisters,


I hope you are all doing well. Firstly, Apologies for my absence.
Sadly, I have not blogged in 2 months and have missed it a lot and missed my readers. I had so many blog posts lined up. Everything has been put on hold for a while, my life was literally turned upside down within a matter of weeks.

I have been going through a lot of trials lately, both in my personal life and my work life. So I will not be blogging for another month or so. Inshallah things will then go back to normal with regular posts every other day.

Please keep me in your dua, and have sabr with my absence, I will return Inshallah.

Allah is the best of planners, and we can only accept the Qadeer of Allah, do the best we can and leave the rest to our Creator. Inshallah khier.

Wasalam

Salwa -x-

AlKauthar Institute - Home Sweet Home, London - UK

AlKauthar Institute - Home Sweet Home, London - UK

Who will be attending this course?

'Smile Again' Charity

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Charity, Zakat, Sadaqah; what do you think when you hear/read this?
Most peoples response is "giving to the poor".

There are various acts of Charity we can all do. It is not only about given to the poor. There are so many ways you can contribute to the betterment of society.

"Smile Again" is the charity I would like to share with my readers it is relatively new, and I hope Inshallah by promoting it and showing my support that it will flourish. Check out this link HERE to find out a little bit about the charity. Also there is a Facebook group and twitter that provides you with more detailed information on how to help the charity, fundraising being carried out and the its aims. 

"A charity that aims to provide dental care for children

 in rural Morocco who are unable to access health care 

services."

The charity was set up by my Sister in laws brother Ghassan on Sept 2012, he is a dentist working in London. He visited Morocco a few times and upon seeing how little health care is available to kids in rural parts of Morocco he felt inspired to volunteer his skills to help these children. Mashallah, and I would like to add that Ghassan is not Moroccan himself and shows so much compassion and drive that I unfortunately do not see from the Moroccan community. I do hope that this will inspire and kick start the community here to help their own communities back in Morocco.  

This charity means a lot to me for personal reasons, my aunt in Morocco passed away due to a dental condition that was not being treated and left unresolved which turned into something more sinister. Dental treatment and access to dental care is very difficult especially for those in rural parts of Morocco and those living below the poverty line. 

To find out more about the Smile Again charity please check out the Facebook page HERE and to follow on Twitter please click HERE. If you would like to get involved in the charity, volunteer or offer any services please feel free to contact Ghassan, contact details are available on the links mentioned above.

I have a few ideas to help promote the charity. I think a video with a nasheed and video footage of the project itself will help make more people aware, and try and make it viral on you tube . Every little helps. If you know anyone who would volunteer any of their skills; such as being able to make you tube videos, have a good singing voice or anything please do contact Smile Again charity.

Here are a few photos of Smile Again charity at work in Morocco. You can view there photos and more on the Facebook page. 

This is the man himself (Ghassan), at work with a very happy customer

Say aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Another satisfied Customer

• Good deeds go beyond obligatory acts of worship
• Charity goes beyond wealth; even the poor can give in charity!
• Remembrance of God is the peak of goodness, since it sets the stage for other acts
• Helping others is an integral part of our faith: without it, our faith is incomplete.

I do ask you sisters to please, please Share by hitting the buttons below, like, and comment. Show your support for this amazing charity and Inshallah we can help more and more kids Smile Again.

Jazakallah khier

Wasalam -x- 

Want To See a Plane Go Down Your Street?

Asalam waliykum sisters,

This is just a quick and FUN post. Everyone I know, including myself have been suffering from the dreaded flue/cold for the last 2-3 weeks. I thought this would be a nice way to cheer everyone up.

Apparently a while ago, think back in the summer. BA had an advert on TV of a plane going through the streets of London.
Pretty cool eh?! Well if you go to the BA website HERE! you type in your postcode, and you can actually see the plane go down your street.
However, it's literally towards the end of the video for about 2-3 seconds. I tried it on my parents street and that didn't work too well. But when I tried it on my street in London it showed my flat completely and looked really good.

Give it a go, it's a bit of fun to cheer everyone up!

Jazakallah khier


Wasalam -x- 

Hijab Pin Storage

Asalam waliykum sisters, 

If you are a muslimah who wears hijab, I am sure you have experimented with different ways to store your pins. There are so many ways to store your pins and I wanted to share with you how I store mine and the most practical way for me. 

I am totally organised with everything in my home, and everything has its own place. My hijabs are organised and live in a specified place and the same with my pins. I had great difficulty at the start and just kept my pins in little a jewellery box. It was a total pain in the neck, and I had many injuries this way. 

I had a look online and came across different ways to store pins, and the best solution was using some sort of pin cushion. Below are photos of my pin storage methods:

I love henna!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

I want to do a post on one of my most love hobbies!! Apart from cooking, sewing, quilling, painting and photography I also love to henna!!! Firstly who loves henna? Who doesnt? Some dislike the smell, the texture, even the designs are not appealing to some. However, for me, I love everything about henna. I remember from a very young age I always loved henna, and associated it with Weddings, and Eids. Silly as it sounds I remember one Eid not having any henna on my hands and for me it ruined the Eid, I must of been 7-8 years old at the time.

Homemade Washing Powder

Asalam Waliykum, 

Really wanted to share this with you guys. I just watched a programme called Superscrimpers on Channel 4. You can watch the show online on 4OD. Well the one thing that got me excited was being shown how to make an effective homemade laundry detergent. 

I have super sensitive skin, and a few years back my Mama decided to use Daz detergent and 24 hours later I turned into the Michelin Man, for those who do not know who he is, look it up on Google and have a good old laugh. Just shows us how dangerous and toxic washing detergent can be with all those chemicals. And in light of my recent change trying to be more natural and environment friendly with cleaning products, and beauty products this is something I will defiantly try and use from now on.  

What you need: 

- 1 100% vegetable oil unscented soap bar

- 250 mls worth Washing Soda Crystals

- Essential Oil of your choice

- A large pan

What to do:

Bring 1 pint of water to the boil in a large pan.

Whilst the water is being brought to the boil, completely grate the bar of soap add this to the boiled water.

You must make sure that all the soap has been completely dissolved before taking off the heat.

Then add 250 mls of the washing soda crystals, and around 20 drops of your chosen essential oil. Lavender oil is a good option, however, you could use lemon oil, tea tree oil etc. 

This will be more of a gloppy detergent. If you have an old detergent cap fill it with your handmade detergent mixture and place into the drum with your clothes. Store the detergent in an air tight container to prevent it from drying out. Be sure to shake the container before use. 

As far as I am aware you can get these products from many shops in the UK. I hope you guys try this, and do share with everyone and anyone! It is better for the environment, safer to use and also a lot cheaper then shop detergents. 

Jazakallah khier

Wasalam -x- 

Food I make and eat, Home made Pasties

Asalam waliykum all,

I have not done a "Food I make and eat" for a while, so here you go. I actually made this in November! So sorry for the extremely long delay.

I got this recipe for Pasties from Mama, so not sure if you can find the same recipe online or in books. I have not looked up any recipes myself, Mamas one works really well and is quick and easy, if its not broken why fix it. My version will be curry veg pastie, my favorite and the below recipe will give you 11/12 pasties. 

First, you will need the following ingredients:

- 250g Plain/Bread Flour

- 150g Butter 

- One egg

- Pinch of salt

- Tsp of cumin

- 500 ml water

Book Review: Don't Be Sad

Asalam waliykum all, 

Apologies for the delayed review! Lots happening in my hayat/life at the moment. Any-who, lets get into the review!

Don't Be Sad is a book by Dr. A'id Ibn 'Abdullah al-Qarni. For those who do not know him, you can Google him. He is a 'famous' and well respected Sheikh from Saudi Arabia. Mashallah I respect this Sheikh a lot. He speaks with knowledge, experience and sincerity and is very committed to helping Muslims all around the globe. (Dr Al-Qarni Below)

I'm Back!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

How are you all? I hope you are all in the best of health and iman. Some of you may wonder what happened to me.... some probably don't care. I thought I would explain as I miss blogging and have missed out on loads of posts and now I am very very behind with it all.

MIA: missing in action

Asalam waliykum sisters,


Firstly i hope you are all well and in the best of health and iman.
Secondly my apologies for the lack of posts. Basically my laptop stopped working a few months ago and i was using Zawjis, but now his has stopped working... due to an accident i had with it.

Until they are fixed there will not be as many posts as its hard to do them with my phone. It is very tedious to type and transfer photos. Sorry guys, inshallah i will be back soon. :(


jazakallah khier

Wasalam -x-

Product Review: El Hajj Skin Care Range

Asalam waliykum sisters,

I do not know if you remember, at the start of August I wrote a post on 'El hajj skin care range'? This is the link if you want to have a look at it again, click Here! This is going to be a review of the tried and tested products, so please read on to find out how I got on with them.

Firstly I would like to start on the pricing, if you have a look on the websites full range prices are all listed. I think that it is worth it, for this bag I paid £24. Some may think that is a lot, I did think the same at first. However, after much use of the products I changed my mind. I managed to use most of the products on a daily basis and still had some left over at the end of the 3 weeks. So I was impressed they lasted that long.

Farewell Mekkah and Hello UK!

Asalam waliykum Sisters,

Alhamdulillah I am back in the UK and have had a few days of rest. I hope you are all well, in the best of health and iman inshallah. I would just like to mention that all the sisters who contacted me with Duas, they safely reached Mecca and Medina, may Allah accept them from me and may they be answered, ameen.