Mission Statement

Please take a moment to reflect on this powerful hadith:

Hadith 25:

Abu Hurairah (raa) narrated: Allah’s Messenger May peace be upon Him said :

“When a slave (a person) commits a sin (an evil deed) a black dot is dotted on his heart. Then if that person gives up that evil deed (sin), begs Allah to forgive him, and repents, then his heart is cleared (from that heart covering dot); but if he repeats the evil deed (sin), then that covering is increased till his heart is completely covered with it. And this is Ar-Ran that Allah mentioned (in the Quran),

“Nay! but on their hearts is the Ar-Ran (covering of evil deeds and sins) which they used to earn” (83:14)”

At-Tirmidhi, Vol 5 , Hadith No: 3334

As creatures endowed with intellect we can apply our reasoning and derive meaning from these words. As usual the guidance of a learned scholar is always recommended in these cases. Individuals with out a proper background in Islamic studies tend to make erroneous interpretations. I don’t claim to be an Islamic scholar however I do strive to learn from such individuals. I then internalize their teaching and seek greater understanding of my faith in the process.

It is this understanding that I wish to share with my readers. Simply because it excites me and I feel a need to voice this excitement. Can you imagine in your minds eye how your heart may look after committing a sin and the black dot is upon it? As God fearing believers this image should inspire us to seek forgiveness, repent for our sins, and pray that our lord remove that disdainful blemish from our precious hearts.

But what of the second part of the hadith? What if an individual lacks taqwah (the fear of God) his faculties would not respond in a similar manner. He may derive some morbid pleasure from the sin and seek to repeat it. As described if he continues in this manner and fails to seek guidance the covering will grow and grow until the entire heart is covered. This covering has been specifically mentioned in the Quran.

Estagfurallah May we never reach such a dismal state, may our hearts remain soft and pure, may they always be receptive to good teachings and urge us to do good deeds.

Typical durs or religious talks stop here and we go about our way, feeling spiritually recharged. Which is great. But have we done enough? Have we spread this enlightenment to others? And by others I don’t mean other Muslims. Its all to easy to preach to the choir. How about to the unbelievers? Would they be inspired with the same urge to repent? If they are spiritually inclined perhaps they will. They could appreciate the wisdom in these words.

But what of the soul whose heart is nearing Ar-Ran, how do we reach them? Imagine a deviant soul mired in sin, reveling in sin, deaf and dumb it moves about the earth with utter abandon. Heedless to the calls of good and virtue. A monster in human form, sent to deceive and wreak havoc. We dare not walk where it walks, we dare not speak what it speaks. In our silence and inaction it grows strong. With conviction the evil soul justifies heinous acts, genocide, theft and debauchery. Pain and misery falls upon the earth, humanity loses its dignity and the devils claims another soul.

Can we think of examples of such individuals from history, current events? How does this happen? How do people get like that? This is a topic that begs to be studied in depth. That’s why I love this hadith so much. It gives us a glimpse into that process. I would say that black dot could also be thought of as the Dark Seed.  A seed by which evil grows. No one is immune from it, we may be growing it in our hearts as we read these words. Its only the fear of God that can reduce it send it back to where it came from.

Isn’t this fascinating? Do you wish to learn more. Maybe even see this process in action. Enter Reapers of the Damned: Dark Seed. The sequel to my first full length novel Reapers of the Damned. I seek to chronicle a key character’s fall from grace. The series of events that led him to becoming a genocidal monster. This is by no means an original theme, Anakin Skywalker –> Dark Vader anyone? But I am giving it my own twist. My own unique brand of story telling.

Hey man, I thought you were keeping all this top secret and all cloak and daggery? You gave the project a codename and was keeping it secret from everyone. Ya well its such a good secret I don’t know much about the project either. That’s because life has gotten in the way. I never had the “time” to sit down and write. After reading  words written by a wise man, I soon came to realize what my problem was. The problem wasn’t a lack of time it was a lack of motivation. I had plenty of time for TV but no motivation to write.

Where did my motivation go? Its all too easy to say that life dealt me a swift blow and that I am too beat up to go on. To busy feeling sorry for myself to get back up. Well I got back up and I am swinging back. But still no motivation. Why is that? The wise man went on and said that you have no Mission statement. The goal you are achieving can not be communicated in a few eloquent prose. You know what he’s right. The storyline for ROTD:DS was so jumbled in my mind I couldn’t get it out. I was trying to do so much. Sure I did character sketches, plot mapping the works. But it still didn’t come together. It never seemed to work on paper.

I am sure seasoned writers have gone through this and have ways to work through this. But I am no seasoned writer. I am just an enthusiasts. It will take hard work and dedication to produce something worthwhile. But I aim to enjoy the process and grow by it. Join me on this journey. Share your thoughts in the comment thread. In the meantime God Bless and stay safe.

Islamic Entertainment

I am self styled Islamic Entertainer. My chosen form of art is creative writing. I am inspired by Dr Naif Al-Mutawa, creator of THE 99 superheroes, the work done by Yusuf Islam, Sami Yusuf and others. However, no matter how many blog posts I compose, no matter how many hours I put into my manuscripts, no matter how many webpages I design, no matter how many frames I add to my computer animation, no matter how many lines of code I write. I always feel I can and should do more.

I guess I was searching for a way to align myself with the right people. People who “clicked”, people who aspired, people who shared my vision and thus shared the vision of Sadisoft. I have found my tribe. Introducing Guide Us Tv:

A truly worthy endeavor. A chance for Muslims to tell others and to remind ourselves what Islam is all about. Its all to easy for backward minded mullahs to shun TV, internet, radio as Haram, the tools of the devil, as they say. Mindless followers fall in line and deprive themselves of an enriched life that these “satanic tools” had to offer if used in the right way. People this is the right way. We need to embrace this opportunity. Just imagine what we have…A Cable channel for Muslims by Muslims. How many of those do we have in the US?

Just take a moment and view the programming they have to offer. If it appeals to you, then by all means support them. Support them with your money, support them with your time. You will be doing a lot to nurture the fledging Islamic Media outlet. Islamic media itself is in a fragile state. It is easily drowned out by the mega media outlets. Broadcasting their mischievous agendas and far worse, broadcasting a distorted image of our perfected religion of Islam. It is high time that we tell our own stories. Let’s rise to the challenge, let’s take back our religion.

Must Read This

A very gripping article by Saadia Kamal in this month's Message Its a look into how the ruling elite manipulate the masses often times for their own gain. Their main instrument to leverage society is the power and influence of money. This is something we all need to be aware of, if not only to protect ourselves.

I Endorse Thee

Here is a website I fully endorse:

It’s the first ever New York Muslim voter and information club. I want to you to go visit see what they have to say. And if its for you join!

Believe me this is a long time coming. Its about time Muslims became a voice in American Politics. For far too long we have be marginalized. Our interest our values our safety thrown to the side. Often times our community is ostracized made to be the villain in a heinous bid to stir up public fear. Which only serves a select few while damaging the country as a whole.  

I am not saying a voter club will change all that. What I am saying is that we have another outlet. A forum to our voices heard. And why do we need to speak up? Aside from the fact that there is rampant institutionalized discrimination against Muslims (When a prominent GOP Candidate is “not comfortable” with us it’s a problem). But more important it has been established that when a minority population is not allowed to speak and their grievances are not addressed, the situation can become chaotic. (French riots anyone?)

So lets not get sucked into a trap of darkness. Instead of cursing the darkness lets light a fire. Lets capitalize on the resources our community has provided us. God Bless and Be well. 

And while I am at it read Imam Rauf's book: (I have only read the free sample on my nook…but its gooooood)

Changes, changes…

Hey Guys! What’s going on? Haven’t been here for some time. I have been working on other parts of my digital empire. And even then only when I get a break from my day job, social obligations and of course my own lethargy. I know I am really selling it.
So what do I have in store for you guys…my readers my fans? Well to kick things off as previously mentioned I was forced to switch hosts for the sadisoft website. because of that the entire website had to be remade. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. If you have not already seen it its my pleasure to introduce the new and improved sadisoft.org
Once the website loads in your browser you will immediately see the difference. Much more sleek and compact, targeted content, expanded material. Be sure to check out the world map, it will serve as a ready reference for LEO (code name for the sequel to ROTD) readers.

So when do you get to read more material from the ROTD universe? Well not any time soon. You see the writing portion of my digital empire is relegated to this blog for now. I want to do a better job than I did in my first novel. Therefore I am doing extra research, more character development, more planning out things before jumping and writing the story. This is all to put out a better product.
On top of that I can’t ignore the technologist inside of me. So I am also working on the video game. I want to give you guys more than just a splash screen. And you will have a full blown game some time in the near future. You see no one gets something for nothing. I have an ulterior motive to developing the video game. First of all I want to keep my programming chops up to speed. Second of all I need to brush up on my java. This will only help me out in my professional life.
But that’s not to say that I have forgotten about you. Not in the least. I’ve been monitoring sales on smashwords. And I have noticed that AOD has been selling really well. The question was do readers buy this short story because of its message? Or because of the low low price. To answer that question all of stories are at the low low price $0.99. Grab them from smashwords and help me answer my question.
Also folks Ramzan Mubarak…to all those who are fasting I pray that you can get the most amount of benefit from this blessed month. Also to all lovers of humanity keep the burmese people in your prayers. They are going through a dark time as neighbor has turned on neighbor. Let’s do what we can to end this wretched genocide (NSFW).

UPDATE: GET INVOLVED!!!
 The Burmese Muslims need more than our prayers. They desperately need us to be their voices. If you are in the NYC area join others for a Rally at the UN New York: 4 p.m., Sept. 8. Also read up on the Burma Task Force USA, if you can donate your time and/or money to this worthy cause; please do so. Let's show the oppressors that we see them, they can not get away with their crimes. And that they're hate is unfounded the world stands united with the Rohingya Muslims.

They love me! They really love me!

Hey fans, check out this piece of way cool info:

 

Cool, nah? I would love to gloat about how brilliant I am but words escape me. I’ll do the usual thing and thank you, the fans. Can’t be done without you!

Also stay tuned to smashwords I will have some exciting offers for you!

Don’t be alarmed!

If you navigate to sadisoft's website and find unfamiliar text don’t worry the site has not been hacked. Rather  it signals the completion from Microsoft’s small business suite which is scheduled to be discontinued. Right now I have taken control from OSLB and migrated to other entities…which will remain nameless. For readers all this means is that you can continue enjoy sadisoft products as you normally would

Also if you would like to email my alter ego Ravi Chen you still can with the following email address connect at sadisoft dot org

And  of course all my work is still available on smashwords so keep reading and enjoying live long and prosper…

New Horizons y'all

Yo! Yo! Yo! MSA in the house! Maybe you don’t know this about me but I helped organize an MSA at my high school. So when I heard that a consortium of NYC based MSAs were getting together to hold a 3^rd annual convention I knew I had to go. What’s more I had a date! This would be a perfect opportunity for GF to get to know me better. This was a part of my life she hasn’t seen. So we hopped on the G train and made our way to Brooklyn Tech. Overall it was a resounding success we both enjoyed the programs very much. Me personally I found inspirations from the speakers and new directions for my work.

Here’s some photo evidence of our escapades.

I am back!

Hey guys, I know…I know I haven’t been around here for a while. You may be wondering where has he been and why he’s bothering put up this post in the first place. Well a few things. I have started my new life with GF in earnest. Been busy adjusting to family life while at the same time holding down a job, plus I am filling up my spare time studying for a tech certificate. So not too much time to hang out here.

So why don’t you go study? What are you doing here? We were fine in hiatus mode. I know I know…normally I would be studying but circumstances have pulled back into the blogosphere. The main catalyst was the impending closing of the Microsoft small business hosting service. That is kinda important for me as they have the keys to my domain name, which is associated to all my content that I so painstakingly made. So I started working on the transition. Which really got me excited…I remembered all the good times I had maintaining my blog. And writing my stories…so my heart led me back here.

Let’s see where we go from here…

(No this isn't an april fools gag!)

Hate Hits Home

Watch this news report:



Tell me what you think in the comments.

Me personally I am not surprised. In the wake of Obama’s daring announcement there had to be yahoos out there who wanted to relive the glory of taking down the “bad guys”. In their warped minds they saw this place of worship as a terrorist training center or whatever else popped into their pea sized brains. Masjids across the country have been vandalized in one shape or another ever since we started building them. Each time law enforcement and the general public have agreed that they are hate crimes and have dealt with them in accordance.

So why bother mentioning this at all? Well for one thing highlighting the menace of Islamophobia. Muslims used to be the ignored minorities but after 9/11 we are the new blacks. Meaning just like the Native Americans, African-Americans, Catholics, Mexican and any other minority group you can think of we to have been singled out for a hazing. The hazing ritual is an exploratory phase in which xenophobic members from the majority find out what the minority group is made of. If said minority group can endure said hazing ritual for several decades, they will then qualify to move onto the next stage of social acceptance. Sitcoms will be made about “those nutty guys”, your prominence will be made known in political circles, you might even become trend setters, heck one of your kind may even become president. But until that day its best you stay put and don’t make us nervous with your foreign ways.

The other reason to mention this particular case is that my sister’s family attends this mosque. My nephew goes to their Islamic School not too far away. This was an attack not only on my religion, my community, my right to freedom of religion but also my family. Now where do we go from here? I can bitch and moan about how unfair this is. Which would be silly as sadists have done far worse to others family. I can rally the troops and give a call to action. But really that’s not my thing I have work in the morning. Or I can just pray for protection and hope Allah mia guides these vandals to good. Yeah. That will work.

Choice content

Don't let money men tell you which companies to "watch". They're only interested in making a quick buck, with no real effort behind it. If you must watch a company, watch it for the right reason. Here is one in particular: Ihsaan Fusion. Run by brothers with some serious talent. They cater to the Muslim communities residing in the Western world, by providing excellent media solutions. Incidentally they are doing this years YM convention, which is how I found out about them.

Check out what they have to offer. Especially the Torch Bearers:Scholars of Islam, which is a very important app that can run on your IPhone. In this day and age we never get a chance to reflect on our rich heritage. What's more we are constantly on the defensive having to justify our beautiful religion to Islamophobes.  I might have to get an IPhone for the baby name app, yes i m hinting at my future father years, if indeed Allah Tallah has written that for me. (Yes, Yes, more on the wedding in the weeks to come)

These guys also do motion, checkout some of the videos they made:


SimplyAct - Blankets of Hope from Ihsaan|Fusion on Vimeo.

I really like how they help out the homeless. I often see them in my neighborhood sleeping out in the open exposed to the elements and wonder what I can do? It's good to see the brothers from the charity helping them out like this. The guys from Fusion really embody what I am trying to do here. A voice for the voiceless a conscience for a spiritually dead world.

Redesigned for you

Have you visited my website lately? It has been redesigned just for you! I've added a new gaming section to highlight all the wonderful DE I am making. Plus the homepage has been streamlined to feature only choice content. My schpeel about why I do what I do has been moved to a new Concept section which I am constantly refining. So go check it out! This invitation won't be engraved anytime soon.

PS: As always you can go to the bottom of the blog and click on the Sadisoft logo to go to the website at anytime. Enjoy!

Passing of a Comedy Legend

I like laughing just as much as the other guy. Why do you think I don’t take the news too seriously? (Half of it is BS anyway, what with the media pushing its own agenda, brainwashing the masses) My primary news source is John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. What’s more I believe everyone should have a good laugh at least once a day. It’s the best medicine.

If you are familiar with desi pop culture especially the Pakistani comedy scene. You would have heard of Moin Akhtar. He was a talented comedian whose honest insights illuminated our society. Holding a mirror to our faults, he was the people’s man. Often being affectionately called Moin bhai, his cultured comedy was well received by all ages.

I remember spending countless afternoons at my aunt’s house watching his serials, dramas and comedy shows. His mannerism was contagious, we would find ourselves mimicking his dialogue in our daily lives. Even now after his tragic passing as I sift through old video clips of his work those pleasant afternoons are relived.

Pakistan has been given very few towering personalities. All too often they are taken from us much too early. Anytime this happens we are all overcome with a sense of loss. We find ourselves wondering who will show us the way now?

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon. May Allah turn your grave into a heavenly garden. Ameen.

PS: Sorry Kate and William fans no commentary on the royal wedding from me. Mainly because I am too focused on my own wedding plus I am not British so I don't get it.

I am SadiSoft, Hear me Roar!!!

Kewl, eh? Every good gaming company needs a logo when their titles start up. This is mine. You'll notice that I took my logo and made it animated. The animation coincides with a killer soundtrack of thunder rumbling in the distance. This is only the first salvo more game related goodness soon to come!

TIP: Maximize the video for best viewing experience. Otherwise everything will look teeny tiny.

Valley of the Wolves!!!

So every weekend I make it a point to go through all my friends updates on Facebook. They share a lot of interesting stuff and sometimes we happen to be logged in at the same time and start chatting. This past weekend I came across a popular Turkish TV series, The Valley of the Wolves. It's about a Turkish commando that gets sent off on wild and exotic missions 'ala Bonds, James Bonds. But what prompted me to share the fictitious heroics of this dashing spy was of course political intrigue.

You see the producers (Pana Film) were not content with the small screen they had visions of bigger things. And so was born Valley of the Wolves: Iraq. A full length feature film featuring Turkish actor Necati Sasmaz as Polat Alemdar, the swashbuckling spy. The film strings together factual events that took place in Iraq during the time of Bush's so called "War on Terror". Polat who is sent by his government on an unofficial mission into Iraq quickly befriends a local Iraqi girl who just lost her husband, during a fire fight with American soldiers at their wedding. The movie goes on and shows the atrocities committed by US soldiers and their for hire security personnel, black water anyone? Ultimately Alemdar kicks some serious American butt.

The production budget was around $8 million and it shows. There were some places where stunts were in order (e.g. the train scene) but the camera looked away letting you imagine the stunt. However it did have some great explosions and the drama was superb. Plus some well known American actors such as Billy Zane & Gary Busey added to the performance.

For all you Ummatis out there, you can find some sage advise in the sub-titles. Answers to such pressing questions such as Why are we in such a wretched state? or Is suicide bombing permissible? or What is really going on in Iraq? are given by a character who plays a Sufi Sheikh (the nasheed scene is not to missed!). Plus the narrative pulls you in to a larger drama, which is superbly executed.

I love how this move breaks away from the cliche of "America F*** Yeah!" and bumbling Arab terrorist getting the snot kicked out of them by US Special Forces. A myth perpetuated by Hollywood for decades, so they shouldn't be complaining about tasting their own medicine. At any rate the opposition did not like unsettling the status quo and the film drew criticism for being Anti-American. Which is funny as it is anything but. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE liked what we did in Iraq. Good men and women were put in a bad situation by facist war mongers like Bush, Chenney, Rumsfield and their long line of henchmen. Is it so wrong to depict them as the villains they are? I mean come on the past administration was nearly charged with war crimes, it was only their influence and wealth that saved them! Of course I am not here to make up your mind decide for yourself:



This film is reminiscent of Muslim classics such as The Message and Lion of the Desert (directed by the late Moustapha Akkad). In that it gives our perspective. Something that is sorely missing these days. Any serious student of history knows that you can not judge past events without first examining all sides of the equation. If news reports are the first draft of how these times will be remembered then the arts are the second draft. This film goes a long way in crystallizing the other side of the equation. People who are claim to fight for democracy and freedom of speech should find no objections to a balanced equation.