Qamar Deen iPhone App

The latest revision of iQuran added an option to log your reading. However, it said it needed another app called Qamar Deen in order to do this. So I looked for it, and it's actually a pretty awesome app.

Qamar Deen
by Batoul Apps
Price: Free
http://qamardeen.com/

This little app helps you keep track of 4 things:
your prayers, your fasting, your charity, and your Quran readings.


It's very simple and easy to use, and it can be integrated with iQuran by Guidedways.

Prayers:

The Good: When you do a prayer, you open the app, and go to the Prayers tab and tap the appropriate prayer (choose from Fajr, Duha, Duhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha, Witr). A little menu will pop up and you can pick from 6 options (or less depending on the prayer):
Jama'a + Sunnah, Jama'a, Alone + sunnah, Alone, late or not set.

The Bad: No complaints here. You can even change your gender so that the image is of a hijabi instead!

Fasting:
The Good: It's the same way, go to the date, tap the screen, choose which applies: Fareedah (An obligatory fast, pretty much only available for Ramadan), Sunnah, Qada (for a missed/broken day of fasting), Kaffarah (for repaying a day of fast that one botched by having intercourse (fun tip: it's apparently supposed to be 60 days of continuous fast or feeding of poor people)), and Nazr (a vowed fast).
The Bad: You cannot adjust the hijri date. Today, it is Ramadan the 26th where I am, as well as being August the 26th. The app however believes it to be Ramadan the 27th.

Quran:
The Good: If you are using iQuran by Guidedways, simply tap and hold on the last ayat you read and select "log". Qamar Deen will open and show you the ayat, chapter and number of ayat read since either the last time you logged, or the beginning of the Quran (if you just started). That's for your daily readings, but it also has an option for you to log extra readings!
The Bad: The extra readings can only add full chapters, as opposed to chapters and ayats. It would have been nice if they had made it go: Extra readings: From X:Y to U:V instead.

Sadaqah:
The Good: The format is the same, pick your day, tap the screen, choose the charity. Now, obviously it cannot include every type of charity, but it does include the main ones: Money, food, clothes, other, but it also includes effort and even a smile! You can also select all that apply.
The Bad: You cant specify how much of something you gave, but that's probably a good thing. Charity is charity.

Settings:
Like I said, you can't change the hijri date which would have been nice, but you can turn on and off the extra prayers (Duha and Witr), pick your gender (affects the little icon), turn on password protection so your right hand doesn't know what your left is doing ;), turn on arabic mode, and even choose your Quran app (choose from Quran Reader, iQuran, or Al Mus'haf). Also, I just found out that if you turn your device sideways, you'll get a chart of your progress and summaries of your deeds (total prayers, total charitable days, total ayahs read, and total days fasted)!

The aim of the app is to help people see what kind of deeds they're doing and to hopefully encourage them to improve the quality and number. It's an excellent little app, and it's free, so I definitely recommend checking it out.

Were Your Great^(some big number) Grandparents Zombies?

I was reading in that Islamic library App I mentioned about the story of Ezekiel (Hizqeel), and in it there was a little hadith that went like this:


According to Ibn Abbas, there was a place called "Damardan." It's people were inflicted with plague, so they fled, while a group of them who remained in the village perished. The Angel of Death called to the survivors: "Die you all," and they perished. After a long time, a prophet called Ezekiel passed by them and stood wondering over them, twisting his jaws and fingers. Allah (SWT) revealed to him: "Do you want Me to show you how I bring them back to life?" He said: "Yes." His idea was to marvel at the power of Allah (SWT) over them. A voice said to him: "Call: "O you bones, Allah commands you to gather up."" The bones began to fly one to the other until they became skeletons. Then Allah (SWT) revealed to him to say: "Call: "O you bones, Allah (SWT) commands you to put flesh and blood and the clothes in which you had died."" And a voice said: "Allah commands you to call the bodies to rise." And they rose. When they returned to life they said: "Blessed are You O Lord, and all praises are Yours." Ibn 'Abbas reported that the dead who were resurrected were four thousand, while Ibn Salih said they were nine thousand. 


Now there's no mention that after this sign was finished these people died again. They could have gone on to lead healthy normal lives. Maybe even have kids. You know what that means (according to popular culture) many of us could be part zombie! :D

"I Wonder", a Poem

This is a good poem I came across a long time ago, it was taken from The Modern Religion I  WONDER If The Prophet Muhammad visited you, Just for a day or two. If he came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do. Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room, To such an honored guest, And all the food you'd serve to him, Would be your very best, And you would keep assuring him, you're glad to have him there, That serving him in your home, Is a joy beyond compare. BUT ... When you see him coming, Would you meet him at the door, With arms outstretched in welcome, To your visitor? OR ... Would you have to change your clothes Before you let him in ? Or hide some magazines And put the Quran where they had been ? Would you still watch R-rated movies, On your TV set ? Or would you rush to switch it off, Before He gets upset ? Would you turn off the radio, And hope He hadn't heard ? And wish you hadn't uttered, That last loud, hasty word ? Would you hide away your music, And instead take Hadith books out ? Could you let him walk right in, or would you rush about ? AND, I wonder ... If the Prophet spent A day or two with you, Would you go right on doing The things you always do ? Would you go right on saying The things you always say ? Would life for you continue As it does from day to day ? Would your family conversation Keep up its usual pace ? And would you find it hard each meal To say a table grace ? Would you keep up each every prayer Without putting on a frown ? And would you always jump up early For prayers at dawn ? Would you sing the songs you always sing And read the books you read ? And let him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed ? Would you take the prophet with you Everywhere you plan to go ? Or, would you, maybe, change your plans, Just for a day or so ? Would you be glad to have him meet your very closest friends? Or, would you hope they'd stay away Until his visit ends? Would you be glad to have him stay Forever on and on? OR ... Would you sigh with great relief, When he at last was gone ? It might be interesting to know The things that you would do If the Prophet Muhammad, in person, came to spend some time with you.

Complete Islamic Library For iPhone/iPod Touch

8 Islamic Books

Cost: $4.99

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/8-islamic-books-islam-quran/id402153726?mt=8

Although this app says it contains 8 Islamic books, it actually contains 8 Islamic Volumes of Books including:

"Seerat-un-Nabi" (A history of Prophet Muhammad (SAW))
"Sahih Al-Bukhari" (LOTS of hadith)
"Sahih Al-Muslim" (LOTS of hadith)
"Riyad-us-Saliheen" (Translates out to "Gardens of the Righteous", it appears to be a book on character)
"Fiqh-us-Sunnah" (A general rule book that I personally love)
"Stories from the Quran" (Stories)
"Stories of the Prophets (AS)" (Stories)
"Stories of the Sahaba" (Stories)

The good: It comes with Bukahri, Muslim, and Fiqh-us-Sunnah. The volumes are divided into their different sections, just like in their print counterparts, and they're easy to read. The stories of the Prophets, Quran, and Sahaba are a nice add too. I read through the Story of Ibraheem (AS) and Adam (AS) and Eve (AS), and they were pretty thorough. They were mostly formed using references from the Quran, but included a few additions here and there (but they said "or some version of the story say that..." or "some people think that...") if there was an unsourced bit. For example, in the Story of Ibraheem (AS) they said: "Abraham's father died before his birth and he was raised by an uncle whom Abraham called his father. Other traditions said that his father was alive and was named Azer". At any rate, they go through lots of Prophets:

Abraham
Adam and Eve
Daniel
David
Dhul-Kifl
Elia and Elisha
Enoch
Eekiel
Ezra
Hud
Isaac
Ishmael
Jeremiah bin Hilkiah
Jesus
Job
Jonah
Joseph
Lot
Moses and Aaron
Muhammad (SAW)
Noah
Saleh
Samuel
Shu'aib
Solomon
The People of Ar-Rass
The People of Yaseen
Zacharia and John

Nearly as many Sahaba, and stories from the Quran too! In summary, it's quite extensive, and also features a search!

The bad: no bookmarking, no multi-tasking support. So navigation looks like this:
Series selection (Bukhari, Muslim, Stories, etc), Table of Contents, Page with lots of scrolling. If you leave the app, you lose your spot and have to navigate to it all over again.

Final summary: if you can put up with having to dig through it every time you want to find a particular page in a particular book, it's excellent. I'm hoping they release a version with bookmarking soon, as it is quite a good app. 

Quranic Ratios

From: 

http://www.islamicity.com/science/quranmiracle/Numeric.shtml#From%20the%20Numeric%20Miracles%20In%20the%20Holy%20Qur'an "Credits:  Dr. Tarik Al-Suwaidan From the Numeric Miracles In the Holy Qur'an The Word Meaning #of times Mentioned Dunya This life 115 Akhera The hereafter 115 Allah knows best Malaekah Angels 88 Shayateen Devils 88 Allah knows best Hayat Life 145 Mawt Death 145 Allah knows best Nafee Usefulness 50 Fassad corruption 50 Allah knows best Nass Mankind 368 Russul Messengers 368 Allah knows best Iblis Satan 11 Iste'atha from iblis Ask refuge from Satan 11 Allah knows best Museebah Catastrophe, Calamity 75 Shukr Thankfulness, Gratitude 75 Allah knows best Infaque Expenditure 73 Redha Contentment 73 Allah knows best Adhaloon Misguided, astray 17 Almawta Deceased 17 Allah knows best Muslims Muslims 41 Jihad Struggle for Allah 41 Allah knows best Thahab Gold 8 Taraf Luxurious life 8 Allah knows best Asseher Magic 60 Albarakah Temptation, trial 60 Allah knows best zakat almsgivings, Charity 32 Barakah Benediction 32 Allah knows best Alaqul Mind, Brain 49 Annour Light 49 Allah knows best Allessan Tongue 25 Almawethah Sermon, Preachment 25 Allah knows best Arasghbah Desire 8 Arrahbah Fear 8 Allah knows best Jahr Openness 16 Alaneah Public Ness 16 Allah knows best Asheddah Firm 114 Assabr Patience 114 Allah knows best Muhammad Muhammad 4 Sharee'ah Law 4 Allah knows best Rajul Man 24 Marah (nisa) Woman 24 Allah knows best shahr Month 12 Allah knows best Yawm Day 365 Allah knows best Baher Sea 32 Barr Landmass 13 The word (Sea or Water) mentioned 32 times, and the word (Landmass) mentioned 13 times in the Holy Qur'an, if we add them together we will get 45. Now let us do some calculations... By finding the percentage of the number of the word (Sea) to the total number of the words (Sea and Landmass) we will have:                           (32/45)x100% = 71.11111111111% By finding the percentage of the number of the word (Landmass) to the total number of the words (Sea and Landmass) we will have:                           (13/45)x100% = 28.88888888889% We will find what Allah (swt) said in His Holy Book 14 centaury ago that the ratio of water on earth is 71.11111111111%, and the ratio of landmass is 28.88888888889%, add them together and you will get 100%, and these are the real ratios of the Water and landmass on earth. So what do you think? Could it be a Chance?! Who do you think taught prophet Muhammad all of these? I am just telling you that " Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire " so bow thankful to your Lord for being a Muslim, what you have read is a small part of the Numeric Miracles of the Holy Qur'an, there are big volumes about the miracles of the Qur'an.... And InshaAllah we'll meet again with more. Your Brother Hussain Yunus from Maryol Okrania"