Hameedeh

I used to think: Isn't it funny that British news outlets break news from the US that we haven't even heard about yet.
Now I think: US news outlets are hanging back because they don't want to be breaking news that makes the US look bad. 

You are never alone. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) cares about you and is always with you. InShaAllah, things will improve. Keep the faith and be hopeful for the future. 

Of course I like Persian, Arab, Indian, Lebanese and Malaysian food as well.  
Do you mean generically like Italian or specifically like pizza? Those would be my choice. 

They're not laughing now
They did laugh when Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi Minister of Information claimed in 2003 that invading American soldiers were committing suicide in their tanks. The clip is of him making the claim.
https://youtu.be/IZ-T1iiKevk?t=580
But now ...
 
 

Must read thread
American soldier recounts (with pictures) how civilians were killed in one location
 

Clip below provides one example of a trigger happy American soldier. Likely many more.
 

Allahumma salli ala muhammadiw wa ali muhammadin wa ajjil faraja hum
Rabbinee lima anzalta ilayya min khayrin faqir
Allahumma innee urreedu an atazawwaja faqaddir lee minan nisaa-I a’fihunna farjajan wa ah’fadh’ihunna lee fee nafsihaa wa awsa-i-hunna lee rizwan wa a-dhamahunna lee barakatan fee nafsihaa wa maaleee faqaddir lee minhaa waladan tayyiban tajaluhoo khalafan saalihan fee hayaatee wa ba`da mawtee.
Oh Allah! I desire to marry, so arrange for me a woman from those who willingly abstain from what is unlawful and who safeguards her soul for my sake and because of her, not only my means of sustenance will increase, but also make there be in it abundance and also make it sure that she will give me a virtuous son, who will be a noble successor in my life and after my death.
Ya Rabb, help me in finding a good wife in the same boat as me, who also understands and accepts me as I am. May she find peace and be filled with joy wherever she goes. May she have the strength and courage to find me, love me and live with me. May she find and be filled with much wisdom and clarity in her words and from her experiences. May she in her kindness, share these experiences with me and help us grow together. Verily with hardship comes ease. (إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا - 94:6)
Ya Rabb, You alone know what is truly in my heart. You alone know my struggles and pain, Al-Wadud. I feel unbearably lonely and do not wish to incur Your displeasure by remaining unmarried, Al-'Aziz!

At this time (years 24 and 25 Hijri), all the agents of the second caliph were dismissed by Uthman, and some of the Umayyads were ruling the Islamic countries, and the Muslims knew each one of them and every one of them with infamy. In verses from the Qur'an and hadiths of the Prophet ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) about the hatred and enmity of these people against the Messenger of Allah ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) there were some points that were not very pleasing to the government and had no result for them other than shame. With the domination of the Umayyads over the social situation of the Muslims and taking over their religious and worldly destiny, latent protests began with the recitation of hadiths condemning the Umayyads. Anyone who had heard the slightest thing from the Messenger of Allah ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) in condemning them would present it to another by noting  it to the verses of the Qur'an, and he would write it down next to the mentioned verse. The reason for these notes was that there were many verses and hadiths that caused people to make mistakes in "applying the hadith to the specific verse" and if they immediately heard what they heard, in full or in abbreviated form, next to the relevant verse.If  They did not write comments. With the passage of time, they would forget the relationship between the verse and the hadith and could not correctly know that the verse they were looking for was revealed in respect of what subject or person.
This cultural movement in a short period of time, reaped a great fruit. A time did not pass when every Muslim knew a few hadiths about many verses of the Qur'an, which he wrote next to the verse or separately, and when reciting the verses, he was also informed about its interpretation and Tafsir .
With this situation, the best possible time was provided to pursue the project of "separating the Quran from the hadith", but the social and political situation required a new plan that was not similar to the suffocating plan of the past. The best suggestion was the topic of collecting Qurans and making them uniform. By following this plan, all hadiths in people's hands will be collected and destroyed once again, and when time passes, the future generation will not know anything about it to enlighten them.
With this guess, it is better to understand the reason for not accepting the Qur'an of Ali bin Abi Talib ((عليه السلام).) and Abdullah bin Masud and for destroying all the Qur'ans in people's possession. If, in fact, the reason for collecting the Qur'ans and unifying them was the difference in their readings, then it would not be necessary to destroy the Qur'ans after unifying them. Those inscriptions solved many problems and ambiguities of the Qur'an and it was not the case that people could not separate the Qur'anic text from their Mushafs with the text of hadiths. In addition to that, destroying the Quran by burning and tearing up the papers was an illegal act, and the caliph has been blamed for it to this day.
https://hawzah.net/fa/Magazine/View/5211/5566/53538/راز-نگارش-جدید-قرآن-در-عصر-عثمانی

Salam there has been some compiled Quran which compiled book by Imam Ali (عليه السلام) has been most complete compiled one that it has included reasons of revealing of each verse & time of it's revealing & place of revealing of each verse which other compiled Qurans likewise compiled manuscript of Quran by Ibn Masud (رضي الله عنه)
How was the Holy Quran compiled?
Concise answer According to the history of the compilation of the Quran, the Prophet (s) himself chose the verses where to be placed. It was not the companions who arranged the verses or the number of the chapters. The Quran, which is presently in our hands and which is available to every Muslim, is the same Quran which was collected and compiled during the period of Uthman. Given that a group of reciters and memorizers of the Holy Quran were cooperating in the compilation of the Quran, we cannot say that the Quranic verses were arranged by the order and according to the liking and desire of Uthman. In addition, there are many traditions from the infallible Imams ((عليه السلام).) which denote that they sanctioned and approved the compilation of the verses during Uthman’s era.
Detailed Answer
 The compilation of the Holy Qur’an took place in three stages:
1. Arrangement of verses which led to formation of the chapters. This was done during the period of the Holy Prophet (s). It was the Prophet himself who would indicate in which Surahs each verse was to be placed.
2. Collections of the Quran and separate pages (or parchments) and putting them together in the form of a single volume. This was done during during the period of Abu Bakr.
3. Collection of different copies of the Quran which had been written down by scribes and making them look the same in order to prevent variation in the copies. This was done during the period of Uthman, the third caliph.[1]
 
 
 
https://www.islamquest.net/en/archive/fa5375
https://en.wikishia.net/view/Hafsa_bt._Umar
https://en.wikishia.net/view/Hafsa_bt._Umar

I am 99.999% sure that this video was edited to make it seem like he said that regarding this verse. This is a real clip up until the end where he says 'wa ahl Muhammad...' and at that point it looks to me like someone copied and pasted audio (his voice) over the video and connected it with the previous clip to make it seem like he is saying that. This is a common Salafist tactic. His lip movements are out of sync with the audio in that section only. That is what it seems to me to look like. Another Salafi 'hit job' and unfortunately some Shia brothers and sisters fall for it, again and again. 
This video is only linked in three places, once from Shia chat unfortunately because one of the members posted it and the other two are from Salafist media channels. I would edit those posts and take it out, but then I would be accused of censorship and being biased, so I'll leave it in for now, but I am almost certain this is a fake, edited clip. 
The belief in tahreef (distortion of the quran) is held by a tiny, tiny minority of Shia scholars, so few that they are not even worth mentioning. Sayyid Murtada is a very prominent Shia scholar in Iraq and internationally because 3 of his sons are also alim and they live in the US and other places. If a scholar on his level actually believed in this nonsense (i.e. tahreef) it would be front page and a talking point in every Shia scholarly circle in the world. Yet there is no mention of it when you google his name plus the terms 'quran distortion' or other similar terms. No mention of it other than these videos which are posted on Salafist and Salafi apologist websites. We Shia have no control over google. 
I attend Friday prayers in the US and I attend the Masjid where Sayyid Hassan Qazwini (his son) does the Salat. I have also attended a masjid in California where his other son, Muhammad Qazwini does the Friday prayers. I have listened to many lectures from both of them, many on the subject of Quran and a few on the subject of tahreef. They both said this is a false idea (i.e. there is no tahreef) like 99.999% of the other Shia scholars say, and they didn't feel the need to mention anything regarding their father. If their father actually believed in Tahreef, don't you think his sons, who are also alim, would at least mention the fact that they have a different opinion than their father or at least mention that their father believes in this. They never did. What does that mean ? It means their father also doesn't believe in this. 
So I think brothers on this site should be more careful before they post false accusations against ulema. We are all accountable for every word we say and every word we type before Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and we will all be questioned regarding this. If you say a false accusation, knowing that it is false, your fasting is batil. 
Here is a link to a post from brother Abbas back from 2010 which I think is a good summary
 

Tehreef in Quran is a fact that has alot of evidence in Shia and Sunni narrations. Majority of our classical scholars held view that a bunch of verses (parts of verses) went missing from the Quran.
However, whatever is in there, is by Lord Almighty. Theres just too much evidence for tehreef. Can't be denied

The earlier commentaries of Nehjul balagha were written by non shia scholars like by Ibn Abī al-Hadīd, a Mu’tazali, whose commentary has many benefits. This book may be found in Arabic from internet. The following link mentions the information about such work.
https://iqraonline.net/nahj-al-balagha-from-tashayyu-to-tasannun/
https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Eloquence-Nahjul-Balagha-Sermons/product-reviews/1879402343
However the English translation by shia scholar and website can be seen at the given link:
https://www.al-islam.org/tags/nahj-al-balagha
https://www.al-islam.org/articles/commentaries-nahjul-balaghah-sayyid-wahid-akhtar
wasalam

After a long break I finally got back to continuing this interesting series of lectures. 
The value and importance of reflection and contemplation is highly emphasized in Islam and this lecture covers the preliminaries of this act.
Scholars have expressed various opinions on why contemplation is so important. One of the reasons could be the idea that one can change and improve themselves very quickly after reflection, which may not be the case with other forms of worship if they are done as a habit rather than with reflection. Another reason could be that reflection keeps one away from world distractions. 
Some of the important preliminaries to properly benefit from reflection, identified by Shaheed Qadhi Tabatabia, are discussed:
-intolerance/bias: this is like a deafness that will prevent a person from accepting the truth even if it is in front of them
-moral courage: accepting and proclaiming what is true even if it goes against one's previous position or social/cultural/historical conventions.
-truth over desire: wanting to follow the truth rather than what is desirable to the self. This means being ready to discard or reject personal desires if they aren't aligned with the truth.
-keeping away from distractions and pleasures: this protects the soul from becoming vulnerable and slave-like to desires 
-patience: reflection and understanding the truth is not a short term venture, it requires time and patience, especially when it is genuine reflection as opposed to learning/memorizing.
-removing ulterior motives: this means sincerely following the evidences from scratch rather than already deciding which conclusion you want to reach. 
 
As a personal conclusion, while the concept of reflection is well known I appreciated that the preliminaries were identified and discussed in this lecture because these are sometimes overlooked and are in fact a pre requisite to be able to benefit from reflection and contemplation. 

Allahumma salli ala muhammadiw wa ali muhammadin wa ajjil faraja hum

Allahumma salli ala muhammadiw wa ali muhammadin wa ajjil faraja hum
Rabbinee lima anzalta ilayya min khayrin faqir
Allahumma innee urreedu an atazawwaja faqaddir lee minan nisaa-I a’fihunna farjajan wa ah’fadh’ihunna lee fee nafsihaa wa awsa-i-hunna lee rizwan wa a-dhamahunna lee barakatan fee nafsihaa wa maaleee faqaddir lee minhaa waladan tayyiban tajaluhoo khalafan saalihan fee hayaatee wa ba`da mawtee.
Oh Allah! I desire to marry, so arrange for me a woman from those who willingly abstain from what is unlawful and who safeguards her soul for my sake and because of her, not only my means of sustenance will increase, but also make there be in it abundance and also make it sure that she will give me a virtuous son, who will be a noble successor in my life and after my death.
Ya Rabb, help me in finding a good wife in the same boat as me, who also understands and accepts me as I am. May she find peace and be filled with joy wherever she goes. May she have the strength and courage to find me, love me and live with me. May she find and be filled with much wisdom and clarity in her words and from her experiences. May she in her kindness, share these experiences with me and help us grow together. Verily with hardship comes ease. (إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا - 94:6)
Ya Rabb, You alone know what is truly in my heart. You alone know my struggles and pain, Al-Wadud. I feel unbearably lonely and do not wish to incur Your displeasure by remaining unmarried, Al-'Aziz!

Salam- I mean no disrespect, just stating my concerns as a parent.
Of course moral, ethical, and religious checklist is all the same for our future SIL or DIL. It’s just that reversion itself adds a few more things/concerns in the list. Having a born-Muslim person reduce some of the stress, but do add other sort of concerns like @notmementioned. 
Personally none of us in our home is idealistic neither would look for ideal because that doesn’t exist, but also can’t close eyes to legitimate concerns whatever they might be. 
Not naming names, but at least from their SC conversations, I would love to have younger versions of the old time reverts here as my SIL/DIL, but I would take that leap of faith when & if time comes. 

inshallah Kher!! 

Salaam Alaykum,
Welcome to Islam
there are families who would be happy to have you as their son in law. Participation in mosque programs, networking especially with older experienced women, Muslim Congress, MSA-PSG, can help you.
Muslim Congress has match making event on May 26th, this month, in Houston TX. Here is the link to enroll:
https://muslimcongress.org/wp/conference-2023/

Salam. In addition to what Brother @Haji 2003 said above, there are other countries that have hotlines to call them if you or someone you know is struggling with negative thoughts, wanting to harm themselves. See this topic:
https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/235052634-struggling-mentally-with-negative-thoughts/
 

Allahumma salli ala muhammadiw wa ali muhammadin wa ajjil faraja hum
Rabbinee lima anzalta ilayya min khayrin faqir
Allahumma innee urreedu an atazawwaja faqaddir lee minan nisaa-I a’fihunna farjajan wa ah’fadh’ihunna lee fee nafsihaa wa awsa-i-hunna lee rizwan wa a-dhamahunna lee barakatan fee nafsihaa wa maaleee faqaddir lee minhaa waladan tayyiban tajaluhoo khalafan saalihan fee hayaatee wa ba`da mawtee.
Oh Allah! I desire to marry, so arrange for me a woman from those who willingly abstain from what is unlawful and who safeguards her soul for my sake and because of her, not only my means of sustenance will increase, but also make there be in it abundance and also make it sure that she will give me a virtuous son, who will be a noble successor in my life and after my death.
Ya Rabb, help me in finding a good wife in the same boat as me, who also understands and accepts me as I am. May she find peace and be filled with joy wherever she goes. May she have the strength and courage to find me, love me and live with me. May she find and be filled with much wisdom and clarity in her words and from her experiences. May she in her kindness, share these experiences with me and help us grow together. Verily with hardship comes ease. (إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا - 94:6)
Ya Rabb, You alone know what is truly in my heart. You alone know my struggles and pain, Al-Wadud. I feel unbearably lonely and do not wish to incur Your displeasure by remaining unmarried, Al-'Aziz!

Salam dear sister, I asked a representative of Ayatollah Sistani H.A and they gave this answer. If your ex husband needs proof he cannot argue against Ayatollah Sistani


 
As I thought initially, how was it a mutah when there was no fixed duration and therefore invalid... mutah by definition has to have a duration. I wish you the best dear sister.

You may find the following helpful
 
United States
https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/index.html
 
UK
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/help-for-suicidal-thoughts/
 
Canada
https://talksuicide.ca

An ex-American Ambassador (to Afghanistan) tweets

 

An ex-British Ambassador tweets
 

The Ahlul Bayt AS did not found the Lost Found Nation of Islam and they AS would not be racist against white people.

You are never alone. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) cares about you and is always with you. InShaAllah, things will improve. Keep the faith and be hopeful for the future.