al-firaushah

Pre-Ramadhan Sale and August Wallpaper

Salaam ‘alaikum.

Firaushah.com is happy to announce its Pre-Ramadhan Sale! Prices for all of our Sparkly tudungs have been cut by US$10 each. With Ramadhan starting next month, in late September (on or around the 23rd), insha’allah, many of us will be rather busy in preparing for Eid. Now is the best time to purchase one of the beautiful Sparkly tudungs, before you begin visiting family during the month of Shawwal.

The August wallpaper is also available for Mailing List Members. This month’s picture is of Costus pulverulentus (and an ant). Sadly, we don’t know what the common name of this plant is, but we do know that it’s a perennial tropical herb distantly related to ginger. The photograph was taken here in Singapore, just outside the new National Library.

New Wallpaper @ Firaushah.com

The July wallpaper for Firaushah.com is now available. Wallpapers are free for our customers and mailing list members, and for those people who have filled out our hijab/tudung survey. So, if you haven’t signed up (or filled out the survey), please take a few seconds to do so now so you can download both June and July’s wallpapers for FREE!

The Firaushah Hijab/Tudung Survey

Firaushah would like to know more about what women look for in hijabs and tudungs. Of course we have our own ideas about what makes for a beautiful hijab or tudung, but we’d like to find out what you think too. Please take a few moments to answer our very short questionnaire. In appreciation for your taking the time to fill out our survey, we’d like to offer you a FREE wallpaper for your computer desktop!

Free Wallpaper @ Firaushah.com

The past week has been somewhat busy for me, in part because I was playing catch-up after the trip Milady and I took last weekend to Kuala Lumpur. The trip was quite nice, alhamdulillah. Milady and I stayed at Le Meridien Hotel, which is just across the street from KL Sentral, the main train station for the city. (Milady and I have always taken the train when going up to KL; while it’s a rather slow trip, it’s comfortable and the price is *very* reasonable.)

Up in KL, we took quite a few photographs at the various places we visited. For this trip, we visited two masjids: Masjid Putra, which is located in Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia, and Masjid Blue (it’s real name is Masjid Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, but everyone just calls it the Blue Mosque because the masjid has a blue and white color scheme). Both masjids were very impressive in their architecture and beauty, although I must say that the Blue Mosque was simply stunning. It is, without any question, the most spectacular masjid I have ever been in to date.

Which leads me to my wallpaper offer: I’ve created what I hope will be the first of many FREE desktop wallpapers available at , insha’allah. All I’m asking is that you sign up for the firaushah mailing list. When you sign up, I’ll e-mail you with a link to a webpage that will allow you to access the current wallpaper (available in four sizes: 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, and 1280×1024), insha’allah. This month’s wallpaper is from one of my photos taken at the Blue Mosque. The wallpaper came out beautifully (in my not so humble opinion ), and gives you an idea of both the size and beauty of the masjid’s dome.

Abayas Turning Trendy

There’s an article from the Associated Press about how abayas in the Gulf states are becoming trendy. (Actually, I suspect that abayas have long been trendy, just that no Western reporter has noticed until now. Anyhoo…) One interesting passage, near the end of the article:

But advocates of fancier versions are convinced they can combine fashion and modesty.

…

Never mind that his elegant consort, sporting an abaya decorated with golden metal and matching head cover, could cause more heads to turn than a less attractive woman in a short skirt.

“Abayas are now both decent and fashionable. Everyone follows the fashion nowadays,” Mohammad said.

This is what Milady and I believed in when we started firaushah, that Muslimahs can wear modest clothing that is beautiful and fashionable.

Strike back at these ignorant non-Muslims who say you are oppressed! Wear beautiful clothing - clothing that’s better looking than theirs - and ask if “oppressed” women wear as fashionable of clothing as your own.

Islam at a Glance

Sadruddin Islahi’s Islam at a Glance (Translated by M. Zafar Iqbal)

Islam at a Glance is a primer on Islam. The book covers and explains intelligently the concept and meaning of Islam by focusing on its fundamental beliefs and practices - such as belief in God, the Afterlife, Angels, Books, Prophets and the fundamental duties known as the Pillars of Islam. Objectives of Prayer, Fast, Zakat, Hajj - the Pillars of Islam - have been explained in such detail so as to integrate their relationship with a way of life which is Islam. It also covers the principles behind…[more]

Imam Ghazzali’s Ihya Ulum-Din (The Book of Worship), Volumes I-IV

Imam Ghazzali’s Ihya Ulum-Din (The Book of Worship), Volumes I-IV

This book, “Ihya Ulum-Id-Din” (Revival of Religious Learnings), is the masterpiece work of the famous Persian scholar Imam Ghazzali who has been honored as “Hujjatul Islam,” the Proof of Islam. This book is classified into four volumes - Worship, Worldly Usages, Destructive Evils, and Constructive Virtues. Each volume has been further divided into ten chapters.

The subjects are well arranged like a law book or a medical book. The first two volumes speak about… [more]

Islam: Faith and Practice

Mahmoud M. Ayoub’s Islam: Faith and Practice

What is Islam? Is it just a set of rituals or does it have a philosophy all its own? Islam and Muslims are often in the news but does the non-Muslim really understand what Islam stands for?

In Islam: Faith and Practice, Mahmoud Ayoub presents the Islamic faith as Muslims understand it. The book is divided into three parts. The first deals with [the] Islamic faith and its basis. The second part of the book is concerned with… [more]

Sale on Firaushah.com

I’m happy to announce that the new and improved website of firaushah.com is up and running. For a couple weeks now I’ve been working on this new version of our website, which is why I haven’t been blogging as often recently. The website has been completely revamped and, of course, I’ll continue to work on it so as to add new products.

Speaking of new products, we’ve started to sell books as well. My ustaz has a number of books he’s asked me to sell for him, and I’m happy to do so. One of the books, “Muhammad: The Ideal Prophet,” I mentioned in a number of posts last year around Ramadhan (in my Dunner’s Learn About Islam blog). It’s a very interesting book, and I highly recommend it. We’ve got lots of copies, so “die die must buy” (i.e., “you absolutely must buy”) as we say here in S’pore. Insha’allah, we’ll also add some Bahasa Malayu books to the website in a few days (my ustaz has the books, I just need to finish writing up the appropriate webpages).

Now, to celebrate the new website, firaushah.com is going to hold a SALE. Here’s the deal:

If you are on any of my blogrolls OR if you’ve already listed firaushah.com on your blogroll, we’ll give you $10 off on any of our Sparkly tudungs. (These are really beautiful - die die must buy!)

If I’m not currently on your blogroll but you’re willing to put firaushah.com on now, we’ll give you the $10 off on any of the Sparkly tudungs as well.

Finally, if you let your internet friends now about this SALE and they put firaushah.com on their blogroll and tell me that you recommended them, I’ll give them the $10 off and you $20 off on any of the Sparkly tudungs.

This SALE is only through the end of June so don’t wait!