I got a speeding ticket.

The cop who gave me a ticket let me take his picture. He got all happy, haha.

I was going 80 in a 65 zone, whoopty doo right?

At first when he pulled us over, i thought it was cuz we were looking muslim. I was wearing an all white shalwar khameez, i have a beard, and muneeba (my wife) was wearing wearing a scarf... we were coming back from mufti mudassir's class in fremont. (even tho class was cancelled, he had to go to a janaza).

I think the ticket is going to be 200-300 dollars... so basically it'll probably take a nice chunk out of our release-bonus for releasing flash player 9. I dunno how much the bonus will be, but i'll find out at the end of the month, it should be a pretty beefy bonus since flash palyer is very important to adobe's business strategy.

But anyway, here are the reasons why i would think that he pulled me over cuz i was a muslim:

• Cuz me and muneeba were looking very muslim... but our car has no bumper stickers, etc. though.
• Cuz he seemed to be a sheltered straight-edge CNN/Fox News believing white boy.

Here are the reasons that I DO NOT think he was pulling me over cuz we're Muslims:

• He wrote the ticket for going 75 not 81. But it's weird cuz in the ticket both numbers are mentioned, and he said to me that he'll make it out to be a 65-75 ticket, which will make it a little cheaper for me, and that I'll learn my lesson anyway. That was nice of him.
• He told me that there have been a lot of accidents on that road due to speeding, that's why they are tightening up there.
• When me and muneeba drove down the road, there was somebody else pulled over.

So my and muneeba's final assessment was that he was just doing his job.

Lessons learned / Reminders:

• This is a tribulation: the way to show sabr is to not say "Oh Allah why me?", rather say "what did i do to deserve this tribulation" and recheck all your sins, and take it as discipline from Allah. Blame yourself, not Allah.
• Realize that tribulations in this world wipe out bad deeds. Even if you get pricked by a thorn, that'll wipe some bad deeds out.
• Say "inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon" = "to Allah we all belong and to Him we shall all return." See the translation of the ayahs from surah baqarah below.
• Appreciate the fact that there is law enforcement. In under-developped and new countries like pakistan, the cops take bribes and pull people over basically cuz they need money. The traffic 5-0 here is just keeping it safe for all of us. May Allah guide them to the straight path.

Surah Baqarah:

155. Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your hard work), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,

156. Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return":-

157. They are those on whom (Descend) blessings from Allah, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.

It all reminds me of shaykh hamza's state-managent system in life (SMSL)... haha i just made up that name, but here's how it goes. You can be in only 4 states, they can be reduced to 2, then 1, or expanded to n (branches within the 4 states), but its optimally meaningful for the purposes of this blog to keep it at 4:

1. Tribulation - what is required of you is to be patient. The best patience is Sabr-jameel, where you just say it's from Allah, reflect on ur sins and struggle ("jihad") harder to remove them, and not complain at all. A lesser sabr is to complain, but not complain about Allah, just say "it hurts, but it's from Allah so i'm ok".
2. Blessing - This is also a test. Gratitude to Allah is what is required of you. You pass it by using the blessing in any permissible manner. It's best if you use it for good though. So, if you got an extra $10, by spending it on like halaal food you would pass the test in this state. Spending it on, maybe feeding a poor orphan, you'd pass it with flying colors. Both of these would show that you are "thankful". And in order to fail, you would spend it on something like alcohol. Simple examples, but they work. (Muneeba: "why does it always gotta be about food?!?!?!" haha)
3. Obedience - This is ALSO a test. To pass you must not be arrogant, and realize that the obedience itself is a blessing from Allah. If you take credit for your obedience, you are arrogant, and thus fail.
4. Disobedience - What is required of you in this state is to make tawbah. Which is done in these steps: 1. Immediately stop your sins. 2. Promise to never repeat the sin. 3. Express remorse for having committed the sin. 4. If the sin has to do with oppressing the right of another human, you have to restore the right -- so if you stole $10 from X, give the $10 back to X.

Alrighty, that's enough writing.

Aneesa: don't tell mummy/daddy, i'll take traffic skoo and it'll get erased off my record for insurance purposes. I'll also not ever speed again, and stop fully on stop signs.