Sasha's Flower Garden

Every year Muslims from all over the world and from all ethnic and economic backgrounds begin fasting from dawn to sunset every day during a most blessed month in the Islamic tradition, known as Ramadan.  But what makes Ramadan a blessed month?  Why do Muslims fast during this month?  What are the spiritual benefits of fasting?  All these questions and more are addressed in this article that introduces you to a month long spiritual journey that over 1.4 billion Muslims engage in worldwide.

The Quran says what means:

“It was the month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed from on high as a guidance for humanity and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and as the standard by which to discern the true from the false.” (Quran 2:185)

The entire month of Ramadan is in essence a celebration of the Quran’s revelation, which is described as a “Guide and Mercy for those who do good.” (Quran 31:3).  Ramadan celebrates God’s Mercy by which He sent a guiding light in the Quran that leads human life towards the path of good and virtue and protects the human soul from evil and vice.

Muslims show their gratitude to God for this guidance by abstaining from eating, drinking and sexual intimacy during Ramadan, as a way of coming closer to God and developing a deep inner awareness of God’s presence in life.  This internal mechanism of feeling God’s presence leads the soul to do right even under life’s most difficult situations, and protects the soul against wrongdoing even when it is the easier or more tempting path to take.

This is why the Quran switches to a most intimate relationship between God and servant immediately following the passage on fasting in Ramadan (Quran 2:183-185).

“When My servants ask you about Me, I am close indeed—I hearken to the prayer of the supplicant when one calls on Me; so let them hearken to Me, and let them believe in Me, that they may go the right way.” (Quran 2:186)

When the soul enters into a station of gratitude and submission to its Lord, through fasting, there is a recognition that life has been given by God as a gift and trust to be used for good works that reflect God’s mercy, compassion, love, generosity and so on.  In fact, the Quran says that the natural inclination of our souls is to submit to God’s Will by having sincere belief in One God and doing righteous acts of worship (Quran 30:30).  As such, the very concept of sin, in the Islamic tradition, is known as an act of oppression against one’s own soul for forcing it into a state that is antithetical to its very nature and created purpose (Quran 3:117, among many other verses).  When a soul persists in sinning, it becomes a slave to its own lower desires, a prisoner of its own passions (Quran 25:43).

Source: http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/1709/

See Also: idul fitri, hamper hari raya, hari raya hampers

A rose is a rose is a rose.Valentine’s Day Roses Or is it? Unbeknownst to most of us, the 1990s spawned a virtual baby boom of rose varieties. Brought on by a fertile production period, today there are close to 120 rose varieties commercially available – up from the few dozen choices found in flower shops in the 1980s.

These new rose varieties have not only expanded the color palette – from extreme lights to bright brights – but have enhanced characteristics such as bloom size, shape, stem length and strength of fragrance. The Society of American Florists offers the following guide on the expanding color families of roses:

Rage for Red Roses

The new reds for roses range from shades of bright raspberry to majestic scarlet to velvety-dark red to orange-kissed hues.

Pretty Pink Roses
Choose roses from the family of traditional bridal pinks or adopted siblings of hip hot pinks. Cousins on this family tree include peaches, apricots, corals and lavenders.

Yellow Roses
Whether crisp lemon, buttery hues, golden yellows or trendy two-tones, the variety of yellow roses cover a broad spectrum of color – and appeal. If you’ve never given flowers to a man before, introduce him to this family of colors. Yellow is the second most popular color cited by men. See Sending Flowers to a Man.

Bright White Roses
The trend toward neutral schemes for home environments makes an arrangement of lush white roses the perfect gift. Shades of white – ultra white, ivory, champagne lineages – are as lovely for weddings and romantic settings as they are easy complements to elegant home decors.

 Roses are like fine wines, a delight to be savored and cultivated. Like an expanding wine cellar -florists’ coolers are now stocked with more choices worth learning about. After all, variety is the spice of life. Ask your florist what’s in stock. For the address to a florist near you, visit our Florist Directory.

Source : http://aboutflowers.com/flower-holidays-occasions-a-parties/flowers-for-valentines/rose-color-trends.html

See Also : idul fitri, hamper hari raya, hari raya hampers

A wildflower is a flower that is able to grow independently, in a natural environment without human assistance. Wildflowers grow and bloom without a seed, and are found in many regions of the world. Each continent has indigenous species, and some also have species that have been introduced from other continents. The first are called “natives”, the latter are referred to as “naturized”, the common element between the both is they can grow unaided.

There are over 20,000 species of wildflowers growing in America belonging to more than 300 different families. The species are identified by their colour, the shape of the flower and it’s geographic origin.
All flowering plants, including wildflowers, are called Angiosperms. These flowering plants appeared suddenly and miraculously 80-90 million years ago, and today they are the most abundant plant on earth.

During the Middle Ages, research was carried out that that identified over 6000 species of Angiosperms, some of them being wildflowers. From the 17th to 19th centuries there was a boom in botany research and more species of plants and flora were classified. One of the famous works was carried out by Charles Darwin who produced Origin of the Species however many other botanists also conducted research on American wildflowers.

In the 1900s the English and Europeans developed a fascination with growing these flowers of the wild. This interest developed primarily from wealthy people who were accustomed to having their garden maintained, and could afford to experiment with new ideas. One of the famous works written in this time was written by Gertrude Jeckyll who encouraged the idea of growing the wildflower in a natural environment.

Today there is a strong interest in growing wildflowers, so much so that it is possible to buy them in packs of seed mixture.

Source : http://www.onlyflowers.org/wild-flowers.html

See Also : idul fitri, hamper hari raya, hari raya hampers