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Eid Announcement and Eid Wishes

Eid Mubarak from Wael and Zawaj.com

Eid Mubarak from Wael and Zawaj.com

For the 2011 Eid Announcement, see: ISNA Eid Announcement 2011

ISNA’s Eid Announcement:

“Hajj (Day of ‘Arafah) will be on Thursday, November 26 and Eid al-Adha will be on Friday, November 27, insha’Allah.

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Majlis Ash-Shura, the highest policy making body of ISNA, has resolved to follow the position of the Fiqh Council of North America on the issue of determining the beginning of the Islamic lunar months for North America.

After much careful study and consideration, the Fiqh Council has reached the conclusion that Eid al-Adha will follow the Day of ‘Arafah as announced in Makkah. This is also the conclusion of the European Council of Fatwa and Research.

The Fiqh Council does not, and does not intend to, force its decision on anyone or on any Muslim community. People should follow the decision of their Imam and their Masjid. Moreover, people should do so with great respect and avoiding unnecessary disputes and arguments.”

Eid Mubarak to all our faithful readers, first time visitors, brothers and sisters, and friends.

The last year has been difficult for me personally. But I thank Allah that I am alive to see another sunrise, to see my daughter laugh and learn, to enjoy all the blessings that Allah has given me, and to have another day to ask Allah’s forgiveness, pray, work, and think. Another day to strive to be a better Muslim, a better father, and a better human being.

On this day of celebration and commemoration of the sacrifices of Ibrahim, Hajar and Ismail (may Allah be pleased with them all), may Allah ease the hearts of all who are suffering, replace pain with comfort and joy, sickness with health, oppression with liberation, tyranny with freedom, and fill our hearts with the hope and tawakkul (trust in Allah) that is sorely needed by our Ummah.

– Wael Abdelgawad

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Welcome to the new and improved Zawaj.com

A Muslim couple in the Philippines wait for the start of a mass wedding.

A Muslim couple in the Philippines wait for the start of a mass wedding for both Muslim and Catholic couples. Photo by Luis Liwanag of pitikbulagdokyu.blogspot.com.

As-salamu alaykum dear readers and members, and Ramadan Mubarak 🙂

As you can see, Zawaj.com has been completely redesigned. We have added some exciting new features, and we are in the process of rebuilding the matchmaking section as well.  And how do you like this spiffy new logo at the top, eh? 🙂

The articles and features from the old Zawaj.com website have not yet been imported into the new format, but they are still available for viewing, not to worry, and we will include links to all the old content.

As you may have known, the old matchmaking program was out of date and had a lot of bugs. I had been wanting for years to rebuild the program but I lacked the funds. Alhamdulillah, I now have a partner who has helped me to make the necessary upgrades. The new matchmaking section is a HUGE improvement in my opinion. It’s much easier to use. Of course you are the ultimate judge of that, but I’m confident you’ll find that in design and function it is as good as any other personals or matchmaking site on the web.

All of the old membership information will be deleted, so if you were previously a free member you will have to re-register. The basic service will still be free, so it will still be free to create a profile, view profiles, receive messages, and send short messages to other members, but to send a longer response you will have to upgrade to platinum membership, which is a paid membership.

It was truly my heart’s desire to continue offering a totally free matrimonial service. But what is the use of offering a free service if it is substandard? The reality is that in order to bring you a better and upgraded website, I must charge a membership fee.

I always had the philosophy with Zawaj.com that if I strive to provide people with a quality service – one that improves their lives in some way, helps them and touches their spirits – then the money would take care of itself. With this big step for Zawaj.com, I feel that my faith has been vindictated and that that you – the readers and users of the service – have been rewarded for your patience.

Jazakum Allah khayr for your sabr and your loyalty to Zawaj.com. Your commitment to this website and your support over the years means a lot to me. Ramadan Mubarak to you, and may Allah make the coming year one of renewed faith, ease from hardship, Muslim unity, success and health, for all of us.

– Wael Hesham Abdelgawad, Zawaj.com founder

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Recommended Ramadan Reading

Ramadan Mubarak!

Ramadan Mubarak! Here is some recommended Islamic reading for Ramadan or anytime.

This new version of Zawaj.com is still in development phase and is actually not “open” to the public yet – that’s why the matrimonial search form on the home page doesn’t function yet. We will formally introduce it within a week or so Insha’Allah. I’m thinking of Friday, August 28th as the likely target date.

But the site has already been indexed by the search engines and some of you are finding your way here, so so I thought I would give you folks something productive to do with your time, ha ha.

Here are some excellent books that I consider essential Islamic reading. Any one of them would be great to read a little from every evening after Iftar, or to give as a gift. All are available through the link below:

IslamicBookstore.com

1. An Interpretation of the Qur’an : English Translation of the Meanings : A Bilingual Edition (Majid Fakhry) – I have this and I read it often. It’s an excellent, modern and scholarly translation. If you’re still reading Yusuf Ali’s poetic but archaic translation, it’s time to check out something different.

2. The Qur’an : A New Translation (Dr. Thomas Cleary) – I would have listed this first except that it’s in English only. The language is modern and clear, yet retains some of the powerful poetry of the Arabic. I highly recommend it.

3. Muhammad : His Life Based on the Earliest Sources : Revised Edition : Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din) – All-time best-selling book on the life of the Prophet (pbuh), now the latest revised edition. You may have read some of the briefer Seerahs (biographies of the Prophet Muhammad) such as The Sealed Nectar of The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, but you have not experienced the breadth and depth of Muhammad’s (pbuh) struggle and indomitable character until you have read this book.

4. Forty Hadith, and Forty Hadith Qudsi – these are brief but fundamental. Read one or two each night and discuss them.

5. Ramadan: Motivating Believers to Action – Ramadan is not just a month of fasting, but a month of spiritual healing. Presented from an interfaith perspective as a means to motivate believers to action, the articles by such famous writers as Muhammad al-Ghazzali, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Gilani, Imam Jawziyya, Ibn Sirin, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Maulana Mawdudi and Laleh Bakhtiar include essays on both the Law and the Way.

6. Purification of the Heart : Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart – Translation and Commentary of Imam al-Mawlud’s Matharat al-Qulub (Shaykh Hamza Yusuf).

7. The Fundamentals of Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips – A Muslim should be familiar with the basics of Tawheed, which is the fundemental principle of Islam. This book presents a detailed explanation of the classical Islamic concept of God’s unity as it relates to faith and acts of religious devotion.

Well, as you can see my preference is for more scholarly works, but you can find all kinds of good stuff at IslamicBookstore.com, including children’s books, movies and CDs, and toys. I have been shopping with them for several years now and I’ve always been satisfied.

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Keep your faith

I have received many messages like this. I am only reprinting a few of them here:

Assalamu Alykum,

It’s been six glorious months since I married via your precious site. I couldn’t ask more for the woman I married. May Allah (SWT) shower you with delight; I cannot thank you enough for being the cause in the drastic turn around of my life.

The message to my single sisters and brothers is, keep your faith in the Creator and Sustainer and step up the hunt. It works and is so beautiful!

– Nasser

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I found my soulmate

I love to receive letters like this one from sister Nadia.

Assalamo Alaykum. First, I want to thank you for helping men and woman to find their soulmates. Now i’m very happy because through Zawaj.com, I found my soulmate and we are very compatible. We project to be married InchaAllah very soon, and I would like to know how can I delete my profile, please, thank you again, Allah ma’ak.
-Nadia H.

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Married for five years through Zawaj.com

A letter I received that really touched me and made me feel that this website is important and worthwhile:

Assalamm alaikum wr. wb.
Dear Br. Wael,

This is Emad-ud-deen L… A bit over 5 years ago I used Zawaj.com and found my wife on your site. I traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia and a short time aftwards we were married. Alhamdulilah I am announcing that we are now married for 5 years today! Sometime soon inshAllah, I wish to send pictures of our family. We have a son 2 years of age and another expected inshAllah by the end of January.

Wasalam, Emad.

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Found a nice Muslim lady

A nice message I received:

Dear Mr. Abdelgawad; Thank you for the effort to help us Arabs and Muslims to find our partners. At first I thought it might be a waste of time, but I was wrong, it did help me find a nice muslim lady. Thank you.

– Mohamad

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Happily married now Alhamdulillah

(And they did send their wedding pics later 🙂 )

Assalamu alaikum. I have found a muslim sister throught Zawaj.com to marry and am happily married now alhamdulillah, and this is just a thanking message for you to inform that one more couple is happy thanks to you. I have just deleted my ad as I do not need it anymore. If you want we can email you our wedding pix so that you can advert on your page to show that your web site really works… was’salaam, Merih A.

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Thank you for your good service

A letter I received:

Dear brother: assalamu alaikum. I would like to announce some good news, that I found my soulmate. Alhamdulellah we got married two months ago after corresponding for some time, with an honest and open mind within our Islamic principles.

I would like to thank you for your good service and wish my Muslim brothers and sisters good luck in their search for their partners. May God bless you.

Your sister in Islam, W. Helmy, Canada

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Found my soulmate in life thru your service

Congratulations to brother Ali who sent me this letter:

Assalamualaykum Brothers and Sisters in Islam. Alhamdulilla I have found my soulmate in life thru your service. I saw her ad and responded, we emailed each for a couple of months, then I went to Morocco to meet her family and get her father’s blessings for marriage. Her family is very good Masha’Allah and her father is very strong in Deen Alhamdulilla. Alhamdulilla things went very well. Now I will Insha’Allah apply for a visa for her and bring her here. May Allah bless you for providing this service. Barak’Allah fik. – Ali M.

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Wael Abdelgawad, Founder of Zawaj.com

Wael Abdelgawad is the founder, owner, designer, editor, and administrator of Zawaj.com Muslim matrimonial service.

Wael was born and raised in California, USA. He has also lived in Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Panama, and has visited many other nations around the world.

Wael’s parents, who are of Egyptian origin, are highly respected scientists who taught him the importance of scholarship. His father passed away in late 2012 – may Allah have mercy on him.

All through his childhood, Wael read voraciously. When not reading, he played table tennis and chess, boxed and did martial arts, and consumed Mars bars and Pepsis. He began studying Islam at the age of fifteen. He was a counselor at the Muslim Youth Camp at the age of seventeen, served on the Shura Council of Masjid Fresno at nineteen, and was later active in Muslim communities in Arizona, Texas and California. He attended California State University at Fresno, and he has taught Islamic Studies in several Muslim communities.

Wael later studied web design and webmastering with the Software Training Group in San Francisco. He is now a web developer and “domainer” by trade and is the editor of this website and the founder of many other specialized websites and blogs. He is also a writer, poet, and a student of the martial arts.

Wael is divorced and lives in Fresno, California. He has a beautiful young daughter, ma-sha’Allah. Her name is Salma and she was born in July 2006.

Wael likes marble fudge ice cream, science fiction novels, good Islamic books, windup toys and playing chess; he never goes out without his iPod; he can bench press 300 lbs, and once held his breath for two minutes underwater.

Wael’s most valued personal projects are:

1. AbolishTorture.com, a blog against torture. This cause is very important and Wael hopes to establish it as a non-profit organization and to help mobilize Muslims in the worldwide campaign against torture, both in the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

2. IslamicSunrays.com, a blog in which Wael expresses his personal philosophy of Islam as a religion of hope and inspiration.

In Wael’s Own Words:

I am a young 40-something and simultaneously old as a mountain, or so it feels at times. Trying to change the world & better myself every day. My joys are my daughter Salma, poetry, martial arts, & my faith of Islam. Oh, and banana splits!

I’ve lived in five different nations and visited many more. I speak three languages, two of them poorly I admit. I guess I’ve had about 30 jobs in my lifetime, but I seem to have found my calling with web design and writing. I care about human rights, disaster relief, environmental issues, hunger and poverty, Palestine / Chechnya / East Turkestan and others. I believe in taking personal responsibility for our lives and problems. I’ve seen some of the worst that people have to offer, but I still believe in the goodness of the human heart. I am strong in many ways, unstoppable even… but I’m afraid of heights. I climbed La India Dormida twice and berated myself for it each time, especially the second time!

I love El Valle de Anton, Panama, San Francisco, and Madinat al-Munawwarah. I once powerlifted 500 pounds in a squat. I teach two martial arts and study two others. I have a love/hate relationship with chess. The best birthday gift I ever got was an iPod. People seem to either love me, or actively dislike me. I’ve been told I look like Jamal from House Party 2, a dance instructor, or the guy who owns the mini-mart on Olive Avenue.

My daughter Salma is my joy and pride ma-sha-Allah. I never understood pure, unconditional love until I had a child.

– Wael

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