A time to stop, to think, to reflect in the meadows of enlightenment & darkness...

On friendship and ...

2006-09-21T06:07:00.000-04:00

Alhamdulillah in this course of life I have come across many people with different background and have been blessed with such valuable companions who quenched the thirst and hunger of my soul and healed the wounds of my heart. I miss them all truly and miss being around them. Such company have always been a source of rahma and barakah in my life - the fruits of which are still benefiting me. Just being around them was good enough. SubhanaAllah! May Allah protect them all and bless them with the goodness in this world and the akhira. Ameen!

This reminds me the saying of Imam Ghazali (May the mercy of Allah be upon his soul).
He said, in this world you will find 4 types of friends and they are:
1. Friends that nourishes you – who are like food. And you need these friends.
2. Friends like medicine, who are there with sincere nasiha, help etc.
3. Friends who are illness: who weakens you and brings out the disease of your heart. Friends who weakens your iman. Beware of such friends.
4. Friends who are like poison: being around them will kill you and the sure goal of such companionship is painful death. Beware of such friends!

So, today as we have all chosen our paths and returned back to our own countries to get along with our lives – its those precious memories that I hold so close to my heart. We see many instances where long-term friendship comes to an end only because someone said something that shouldn’t have been said. Often times, we say things with the very best of intentions or just to “stay clear”, but such words offer nothing but only elevate diseases of the heart such as anger, grief and outbursts and their words only results in negative consequences in others. Then there’s another category of people who on purpose say things to hurt people. These are the people we have been warned against - beware of them. May Allah (swt) help those people and illuminate their heart with good.

The most important thing in a communication is how we interpret and perceive things and then eventually how we relate the story to others. Different people with very different perspectives and insights can relate the same story and stir opposite emotions in people. I wish we could all comply with the saying of our prophet (saw) who teaches us – Speak well or keep silent. Being truthful all the time may not always be the very best of idea. If situations permit we can simply avoid talking about something, which may be unpleasant to the listener. In case the matter is imperative and needs to be related –we need to be very vigilant as to how we should relate it. And we need to be very careful about using a very small yet powerful organ - the tongue! An organ that is so little in surface area and weight can play such a huge role in our daily lives. It’s an amana (a loan from God) and we must always remind ourselves to abstain from using it in a way that is hurtful to others.

May Allah (swt) guide us all and help us become more cautious and speak only that which is pleasing to Him (swt). May He (swt) forgive our mistakes that we commit being aware and in state of gafla. May Allah (swt) give us the taufiq so that we can be a source of peace to others. May He (aza wa'jal) grant us such friends who nourishes us and heals us and help us become such friends to other. Ameen!

The Day of Judgment and facing Him azza wa'jal

2005-10-24T18:33:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I am sure we all have seen on the television how a criminal court room looks like where the camera is mostly focused on the judge, the lawyers, some family members of the victim/accused, and the victims/accused of-course. But I’m not so certain if a lot of us have had that opportunity to be in such an environment to experience the situation in a courtroom.
Very recently I was in a court room and there were about 50-70 people. It was a small city court of traffic violation. Each individual who were there went to either plead guilty or not guilty or to have a plea bargain done so that their fines could be reduced or eliminated. It was quite an experience and a hard hit to reality.

Back in May, while I was attending the graduation ceremony of some friends, we had to sit in a huge open stadium. The weather was very pleasant that day with cool breeze. It was a nice happy sunny day. The ceremony was from 9 in the morning till 1:00pm. However, I recall after 2 hours of sitting (even before noon), I was like “the sun is too hot” and I was trying to cover my head with a magazine. My beloved friend who I was sitting with, told me, “Faria, can you imagine what it would be like on the Day of Judgment when there would be no shade and the sun thousand times nearer and thousand times hotter and not a single friend to accompany and much more worse.” Subhanallah! I never thought of it that way. Since then every time before I complain of the sun, her words just work as a reminder.

I don’t know how much of a realization I got that day at the graduation ceremony, but the other day when I went to the court room, I saw the judge calling out individual’s name and saying out loud in front of all the people who were present – what individual’s crime is and the options they have. Where the fines or the punishment at most would be couple of hundreds of dollars and may be some points in the license and of-course a bad driving record. And I was not so not comfortable being called by the judge to say it loud where people would hear my crime - that I speeded in a 30 mile zone. Damn! If I was so ashamed in front of 50-70 people and was looking for the judge to lower my fines – how are we going to deal with ourselves on the Day of Judgment when not only our driving records would be exposed but all that we say, do, see, hear, walk on and all that we have done is going to be uncovered? How is it going to be when we would be in front of the Lord of the Universe with all of mankind as the audience of our deeds and it would all be shown on the screen – and where there would be nothing to hide and no more chance to rectify? No attorneys to converse with and no friends to guide and each individual repeating “ya nafsi, ya nafsi.” May Allah (swt) have mercy on us and cover our faults on that Day as He has in this world. Let this be a reminder to myself and others of the Hadith where the prophet (saw) asked us not to do anything in private that we will not do in public.

Come to think of it we do not think of that Day much and for some of us even take this life for granted and can’t even comprehend to think about death. The reality being – nothing is more certain than death. Death is the ultimate truth and there’s no question to the magnitude of its truth. If anything is certain in this life – it is – the grave, the Day of Judgment, and that follows. “Verily, mankind is at loss” – and no wonder we are at a loss, since we are all intoxicated in our own ways (not to mention that the intoxicant industry is the number one industry) – immersed in our dreams, aims, work, family life, school life, friends, pride, arrogance. We all tend to take this dunya, this life, and all the adornments that come with it for granted. May Allah (swt) help us refocus on our real purpose of living. May He assist us to be with Him through our qalb at all times. Let us not be of those who wishes to change at the 12th hour and dies at the 11th hour.

InshaAllah, this is a month of mercy, forgiveness and His immense Generocity. Moreover, starting tonight we are stepping into the last 10 nights of Ramadan – we are to search for that night! The night which is better than a thousand nights – Laylatul Qadr. Let us make use of it – let us seek His forgiveness and His rahma and let us be in His door! Let us all return to Him with full spirit and hope. For verily He will answer – if not in this world then definitely in the Hereafter. Let us not transgress over His rights and let us not do anything that will not make our Rasulallah (saw) proud of us and that will humiliate us in front of Him azza wa’jal. Please include me in your duas so that I am one of such slaves who is freed from the hellfire. Amen.

Ramadhan Mubarak

2005-10-06T12:08:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Another year of the Hijri Calender has approached its most blessed time of the year - Ramadhan! That beautiful month when the good deeds are on sale and when the mercy of Allah (swt) showers more generously than we can imagine - with the doors of the hell closed and the devils being chained. This is the month - that we all look forward to once it has passed and the yearning for which never ends. This is the month when we hope that inshaAllah He (swt) would accept my deeds and grant me salvation. This is the month that we ask for His mercy, forgiveness, and a life in the Hereafter away from the hellfire. May Allah (swt) accept all our hasanat and forgive our sins. Ameen.

I got a beautiful mail from seekingpathtojannah of yahoo mailing list about "Time". Here's a few excerpts from the article which is written by Amr Khaled...

Your Time Is Your Life

Ibn Mas`ud:
I never regretted anything except a day that passed by without having increased my deeds.

Al-Hasan Al-Basri:
Every day the sun rises it calls upon us, “O people! I am a new day; I am an observer of your actions. Take advantage of me for I will not return until the Day of Judgment. O son of Adam, you are nothing but a few breaths. Once one breath goes out, part of you goes with it. In the same way that part of you has gone, soon all of you will go.”

Ibn Al-Qayyim:

Every gulp of air that goes out in a cause other than the cause of Allah will turn to sorrow and regret on the Day of Judgment.
A sign that Allah despises you is when you find yourself wasting your time with trivial matters; in this way you miss your chance of going to Heaven. And a sign that Allah likes you is when you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you have time for.
The devil makes work for idle thumbs. If you want to know whether Allah is pleased with you, then think: Are you busy or idle?

Al-Muhasiby:

I wish that time could be acquired with money. If so, I would buy time from wasteful and ungrateful people so that I could spend it serving Allah.

We waste a great deal of time: For eight hours we sleep and another eight we use for meals and personal needs. That’s two-thirds wasted, and the remaining third is where productivity can be achieved. Imagine that every breath you take is stored away in a locker and that on the Day of Judgment these lockers will be opened. Can you see them empty? Or do you see them full of service, help, invention, and worship? Picture someone throwing a hundred thousand dollars in the sea—he would be considered crazy and be put under great restriction. You do the same if you waste your time, for your greatest assets are your breaths in this limited life.

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Our friend is returning...

2005-10-04T00:19:00.000-04:00

Our friend is returning -- we see him coming from a distance.

Peace be upon you

Oh month of fasting

Month of Qiyaam

Month of Qur’an

Month of forgiveness

Month of security

Month of the glowing lanterns

Month of the sleepless eyes

Month of the scented pulpits

Month of the burning hearts

This friend -- a loving, giving, generous and caring friend -- is Ramadan.

▪ Rasulullah, salAllahu alayhi wasalam, used to fast often in the month of Sha’ban. This fasting was like a greeting to Ramadan, to encourage it to come faster.

- From Shaykh Mokhtar's Fiqh of Siyam Seminar

Niagra Falls - some pictures

2005-09-08T16:22:00.000-04:00

Quote of Shaykh Yaser Birjas

2005-09-03T08:03:00.000-04:00

I found the following from the thread of Al-maghrib institute and it touched my heart deeply. Subhanallah! This is so beautiful. May Allah (Swt) raise our shaykhs and preserve all of them and give them good in this life and the akhirah. Ameen.

"One who has deep Emaan and knowledge usually remains quiet while in times of difficulties. One who has less Emaan and knowledge causes loud noise. Just like the ocean. Have you ever seen the waves of a high tide and how they clamour when they arrive at the beach and strike the rocks? Cause the ocean near the beach is shallow, even a kid can challenge it, while in the depth of the sea it’s quiet, peaceful and full with majesty. The deeper you get in Emaan and knowledge the more peaceful you become." (Shaykh Yaser Birjas)

I hear and I obey

2005-08-02T16:13:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

In the past couple of years – I have faced some changes in my life. Changes that have come gradually and alhamdulillah they have brought much benefit and added a new dimension to the essence of this servant's life. What am I talking about? The role of religion! The role of Islam . And it's the role of this beautiful deen - Al-islam. I always knew I was a muslim and I always knew I follow Islam and I knew this is the way of life but I never knew why or how? It took so long to internalize – so long. Subhanallah! As i recall my past - it looks as if i was in a dark tunnel searching for the way out - to get some light. I’m still trying - i'm on my way. And i see some glimse of sunlight. Subhanallah! Over time I have also realized that as you try to adhere to the right path, there would be a lot of resistance. Resistence from all sides of the society – job, the loved ones - parents, relatives, friends and the list goes on. Alhamdulillah! And this is what I have been facing. Recently, I was complaining about certain things in life to one of my teachers. Upon hearing me, he told me something that I will never forget. He said, “The fact that things are not easy and perfect means you are being tested. Allah (swt) says, Verily with hardship comes ease. So have patience and say Alhamdulillah. The fact that you are complaining, shows that your are trying. So, this path isn’t easy as we might see it to be or would like it to be and there will be a lot of resistance. Never forget your first and foremost duty of being servant of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) is the most generous and the most merciful – He will assist you so stay strong in His path and never compromise your religion”. I couldn't hold my tears as i was hearing those words.

This brings me to another issue that I have heard/faced frequently (specially recently). However, I never knew what to tell them in response. Or may be out of maintaining respect and not to talk back – I just remained silent. Some people say that the sahabas (the companions of the prophet) were different and special people chosen by Allah (swt) – following them is equivalent to bringing hardship upon us. There's never an end to seeking piety - and instead of focusing so much on deen we should rather focus on career and this life. Islam is very simple - pray, fast and fear Allah. Some of the words are true indeed. However, how do we fear Allah (swt) if we do not know Allah (swt). What perfects our worship to Allah (swt) is our love, hope and fear of Him and if any one of these are missing - we are missing something in our ibaadah. How can we attain all of these unless we learn about His deen? So, why is it that learning secular science has preceeded our priority to learning about this deen? Why is it that if a person is learning the islamic sciences and going to school for that - it's not considered education? What can you tell such people who think learning about deen is being an extreme? These people also say that the laws and the commands of the Quran applied only to a certain culture for a certain time. How can/should we possibly respond?
Although, the burden of proof is on the person who makes the claim – yet we do have a role to play. I admist i failed in responding as i didn't know where i could possibly start. So, after pondering on it for a whole i realized how i could respond (learned most of it from Shyakh Yasir Qadhi's aqeeda class =D ). First and foremost, we need to tell such people that our laws are the best of laws and the most perfect of laws. If we are saying that the Quran, which is the last revelation to all of mankind from Allah (swt) was revealed during a certain time to address certain people of some culture – aren’t we questioning the wisdom of Allah (swt)? Are we saying that He chose it to be the last revelation to guide some people of certain time and left the later generations without any guidance and direction? it's not possible that Allah (swt) would create us and leave us without any guidance to spend life on this earth. The claim that sharia (Islamic Law) is outdated and shouldn’t be taken into our everyday life – the dress code, the act of worship, the way of life etc. eventually means Allah (swt) is being accused of not knowing and that person is claiming to know better.

These days we have come to this system of grading Muslims – saying that he is a moderate Muslim, she is an extreme Muslim and so on. Having a combined lifestyle of Islamic faith and adopting some of the practices of western traditions (which are not Islamic) makes us better in the sight of a lot of those who are part of the moderate Muslim groups. Subhanallah! If we are convinced with the kalmia (islamic creed) of La Ilaha IllalAllah (there’s no God worthy of worship but Allah) – we shouldn’t even categorize Muslims. Since, with the kalima comes our conviction that Islam is the middle ground– and following the commands of Allah (swt) as laid down in the Quran and following the sunnah of our prophet (saw) is what should make us moderate Muslims – since that’s the middle path. How can the sharia be changed by the land and geographic boundaries? The problem with a lot of us who question the command of Allah (swt) is that we take Islam merely as a means of religion – just like any other faith who practice on certain days and times or occasions – we have forgotten that it’s a way of life. Unfortunately, the best of the generations – the lives of the prophets, the sahabas, tabe’ins and such righteous people does not appeal to us as role models – we are more enticed by the examples of those who we see in the magazine covers, or on the TV – or who win some world class prize. What about the greatest of the greatest reward of al-jannah? This is the reward that our pious predecessors have been granted. Sadly, al-jannah is not something we desire these days. We are more into the love of this temporary dunya – as long as we are recognized by some people in the society and as long as we can satiate our desires till it’s too tired to seek anymore.

Even I can recall myself being in certain situations where I never understood something – however, over time as things became clear, I realized that our entire problem is with our AQEEDA – how strong is our conviction to this. And how deep its rooted inside of us.
It’s so important that we clarify on our aqeeda – since it’s the tawheed which makes us muslims. We find it so easy and okay to ridicule anything religious these days – that so and so prays too much, so and so is too much into Islam, that person dresses up too conservatively and so on and so forth. And instead of obeying the commands we make fun of it when we see someone following it! Of-course we do not realize when we make the fun (and i hope that's the case instead of intentional mockery) – however, I hope it’s not too late on us and I hope time doesn’t give up on us. So, the problem is in the fact of our submission to the will of Allah (swt). These days we don’t question on abortion rights or any other rights that the society implements and enacts (which are of-course made man and has immense flaws) but when it comes to the issues of following the commands of Allah (swt) and His Rasul (saw) – we have a lot of questions, concerns and even come up with suggestions as to how we can make it suitable for this day and age. Where’s our conviction to our creed? Whenever we are reminded of our duties as servants of Allah (swt), we should say ‘I hear and I obey.’

May Allah (swt) give us the tawfiq to be submissive to His and His will alone and to have a qalb that is free from all desires except Him and Him alone. May He guide us – so that we may be of those who He loves and who He assists. May we be of those who find much sweetness in prostrating to His commands and laws. And may we be of those who hears and obeys! Ameen!

Love of Allah by Shyakh ul Islam

2005-07-29T00:49:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The love of the Beloved
must be unconditionally returned.

If you claim love
yet oppose the Beloved,
then your love is but a pretence.
You love the enemies of your Beloved
and still seek love in return.

You fight the beloved of your Beloved.
Is this Love or the following of shaytaan?

True devotion is nothing
but total submission of body and soul
to One Love.

We have seen humans claim to submit,
yet their loyalties are many.

They put their trust here, and their hope there,
and their love is without consequence.

-- Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah
Excerpted from An-Nooniyyah Quoted in "Al-Walaa wal-Baraa" of Muhammad Saeed al-Qahtani.

Ya 'Aabidah...

2005-07-21T05:47:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

A servant should overcome her soul;
And be continuous in the remembrance of her Lord;
Establishing the Rights of her Lord;
Focusing upon Him with her heart;
The late of fear setting a blaze upon her heart;
Whilst drinking from the vessel of True Love;
And certain realities become unveiled to her;
So when she talks, it is due to Allah;
When she speaks, it is from Allah;
When she moves, it is by the command of Allah;
And when she is serene, then it is from Allah;

She belongs to Allah, is for Allah, and is with Allah

"What indeed can the one who has found Him be said to have lost?"

--Ibn Qayyim Al Jawzy Rahimahullah

Times of affliction

2005-07-06T22:50:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Every human being have their own way of coping with hardships and problems. We say – what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger. Some people on the other hand asks – why me? Some accept it as a decree of Allah (swt). Times of difficulty in our life is a normal phase – that every human being encounters in different forms. When times of calamity befall on us we are agitated and we act in ways that seems inconsistent with our words. Subhanallah! We forget that it is actually the time of opportunity to get closer to Allah (swt) if we choose to be patient and be content with His decree and turn to Him and Him only for His help and guidance. We need not forget that times of tribulations are golden opportunities given to us to prove our beloved that whatever He has decreed I’m not giving up my hope since I know He has something better waiting for me. We need to remind ourselves that it was Allah (swt) who chose to afflict me with this and He will save me from this – whatever be the outcome I’ll be content. Righteous people say that if that’s the attitude during such times – then Allah (swt) have put that bala (affliction) to raise the person in rank; however, some complains in times of difficulty and complains to such an extent that they say that they are being punished and they are agitated. In this case – probably the affliction was meant as a punishment. We get what we perceive and how we perceive after all!
During times of hardships, we need to be patient since its my time to show my Lord that nothing in this world can move my qalb and no calamity can change my love for Him(swt). The bursting amount of love and longing I had for Him at times of ease – I have to have the same at this time of affliction, since, I know nobody except Him, who can save me out of this.

Moreover, this is also my chance to purify and cleanse my heart. This is my chance to remove all that’s in my heart and to cleanse it from all the filth and dirt – until it’s only Him. We burden our heart so much – with so much unnecessary pressures of this world. In the midst of it all we forget and we ignore the purpose behind all that we were doing. Why are we burdening our heart so much? Is it helping us getting any closer to Allah (swt)? Is it helping me in any way get closer to my Lord? Is this helping me have a better and safer place on the Day of Judgment? Is it helping me gain a better maqamat with Allah (swt)? Am i being a better slave to my master? Would this help me serve Him any better? We often ignore these questions and just go along with doing things! Verily! We wrong our souls beyond its need. When I reflect on the state of my qalb I feel so so sad and so pitiful that it has so much in it! And it’s so hard to let go of this dunya – so hard to be in true state of Islam. It's so hard to clean the layered heart that i have. May Allah (swt) forgive me and help me through my struggle to purify my heart for His sake alone.

Times of hardship, difficulty, burden, suffering, trials, adversity, tribulations - whatever we may call it, are times when we are chosen by Allah (swt) to give our test. Just like in order to be promoted in this dunya (be in a job, class etc) we are to be tested – the same way it works with the rules and regulations of this deen. Each one of us are tried and afflicted in accordance to our level of deen. The higher the level of a persons deen – the higher the level of bala’ would be. We complain so much with such little matters! Subhanallah! What hardships have we faced? Our prophet (saw) faced trials in his life more than any human can ever possibly think of – from loosing children, leaving his own land, being rejected by his own people and what not – yet he (saw) was so grateful to Allah (swt) and he would spend the nights in salaah to the extent that his feet would swell. Where do we stand with our level of gratitude? The small matters of this life matters so much to us that we claim to be in times of test and we say that we know what pain is! Subhanallah!

Mawlana Rumi said, “I wonder at the seeker of purity (those who seeks pure heart). When time for polishing comes, they complain from hard treatment. My son, when one beats the rug it is not intended to beat the rug but to beat the dust inside the rug.” Thus, we need to understand and remember that when afflication befalls on us – it’s not intended to treat our heart – but to treat the ills that we have in our heart. The stains and the rust that we have gathered upon our heart and burdened it with. I love the analogy of precious metals that Shaykh Mokhtar mentioned in this aspect. He said, in order to cleanse and purify precious metals when we first extract them from rocks, we need to remove the dust and the rocks in order to get the gold. However, in order to get the purest of the gold we need to heat the gold to such an extent that it looses its shape and that it’s ready to be shaped in any desired shape to get the most pure of gold. So, as long as we are struggling for Allah (swt) in His obedience with truthfulness – the trials are intended to beat the dust off our heart – to melt our nafs, and to get the qalb reshaped in the desired way. Bala weakens our lower self and strengthens our qalb. and indeed without bala there's no sabr and without sabr there's no cleanliness. So, for some bala can be such a reward - such a delight! May Allah (swt) make us one such ibaads.

May Allah (swt) give us patience and help us attain sidq’ in all aspect. May He (swt) help us attain that level where we can’t bear to stay distant from Him so that when bala is afflicted upon us we see it to be way of us drawing closer to Him and helping us establishing a better connection with Him azza wa jal. May we be of those who feel more loved by Allah (swt) when times of affliction befall on us- which is the ultimate feeling of all freedoms and the most peaceful state of all state.

The noises inside us

2005-07-04T00:42:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Have you ever considered shutting yourself out from all the noises around you? No interaction with any human being, no listening to music, no walking down the streets to enjoy the stores or watch people, no phone conversation, no TV, radio - whatsoever? People are constantly listening to lectures, tapes, music, watching TV or involved with some type of conversation be it one way or the other. The point is: a lot of us who do not get much time with themself - they prefer not to be with their ownself and are scared to face their inner being. A lot of us are scared to be alone - to face the ultimate reality of their true inner voice. Some people turn up the music very high thinking that it might be bringing some serenity to the heart but they do not realize that such high music could be distracting some worshippers who prefer some quietness and moments of solitude with their Lord. There are people who are constantly looking to be around people - for them the type of gathering doesn't matter much - all they care about is just to have a company. Do we ever wonder why? What might be preventing some of us to face ourselves? Are we afraid to hear ourselves? Is there so much darkness and so much noise inside of us that its unbearable to face?
For some, the noise inside is so loud that in order to turn it down or to refrain from listening to it - they turn up the sound around them very high & loud thinking it would supress their inner chaos. They are afraid to face the truth - afraid to hear their own voice. Subhanallah! This is what we are getting used to more these days - noise, loudness, gatherings ; and we think of those people who prefer isolation to be mad!

Today we live in a soceity where information intake is considered to be a positive thing. where isolation is considered to be an act of introvert or backward thinking. However, isolation/seclusion or Khalwa (as may be said in arabic) can be very beneficial if applied with a correct understandng and there are a lot of positive effects to it. I would like to share some excerpts on Isolation and its positive effects from a book authored by 'Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni:
~~
Ibn Taymiyah said:
"At times, it is necessary for the worshipper to be isolated from others in order to pray, remember Allah, recite the Qur'an, and evaluate himself and his deeds. Also isolation allows one to supplicate, seek forgiveness, stay away from evil, and so on."

Ibn al-Jawzi said:
"I have not seen or heard of anything that brings repose, honor, and dignity as much as selcusion does. It helps one to stay away from evil, it protects one's honor, and it saves time. It keeps one away from the jealous minded and those who take pleasure in your affliction. It promotes the remembrance of the Hereafter, and it allows one to reflect on the meeting with Allah. In times of seclusion, one's thought may roam in that which is beneficial, in that which contains wisdom..."

Only Allah knows the full benefits of seclusion, for in seclusion, one's mind develops, views are ripened, the heart finds repose, and one finds himself to be in an ideal atmosphere for worship. By remaining isolated at times, one distances himself from trials, from flattering the person who deserves no praise, and from the eyes of jealous and envious persons. One is saved from the haughtiness of the proud and the follies of the idiot. In isolation, one's faults, deeds, and sayings are all secluded behind a veil.

During periods of isolation, one is able to delve deep into a sea of ideas and concepts. In such a state, the mind is free to form its opinions. Isolated from the company of others, the soul is free to achieve a state of rapture and to hunt for the stimulating thought. When alone one does nothing for show or ostentation, since none but Allah sees him, and since none but Allah hears him. ~~

So, khalwa is intended to generate spiritual fruit - and possibly removing all the stains that too much socialization - saying too much, asking too much, listening too much, seeing too much puts in our hearts. Therefore, although it might be hard (initially) to let ourselves be in solitude practising seclusion can bring a lot of benefit to us. Sometimes we do not realize that a lot of information that enters within us through the different channels may not actually have any beneficial or positive impact on our heart. So, one way we can filter out such polluted/unwanted information from within our system is by constantly keeping us under survellience and by reminding ourselves of Allah (swt)'s constant observation over us.

May Allah (swt) give us the tawfiq to have a clean heart - a heart free from all the stains and a heart free from everything except Him (swt). May He grant us a pure heart, may He make all the vices to achieve such a pure heart easier on us, and may He accept our struggle to seek a better station near Him. Ameen...

The creations of my Lord

2005-06-27T19:18:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

These are some pictures showing us few of Allah (swt)'s countless beautiful creations. Subhanallah! The beauty of His creation is enough to raise the beating of the heart or to put it the right way - enough to stop it from beating! The beauty of His creation is enough to keep us in awe forever! Subhanallah! The creator of all that's beautiful in existence! Is there any painter who could paint something better? anything similar? Subhanallah! Who is more worth being Glorified than the mastermind behind these beautiful scenaries?

My journey is far

2005-06-26T20:14:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The following is an English translation of the work (not a formal/published work though) of Ali bin Hasan bin Ali - Zainal Abedin (the grandson of Ali radiAllahu anhu) . All errors are mine.

My journey is far and my provision isn't enough
And my strength has weakened
And death has impaired of me
And I have many many dhunnob left
Some of which i have commited in public
and some of which i have commited in private.
Only Allah (swt) knows!
How forbearing and kind Allah has been to be
Because He has given me respite
While I enduringly sinned and
He continues to cover me.
The hours of my days passed ...
without remorse, without tears, without fear and without grief.

I who close the doors behind the disobedience of Allah,
while the eyes of Allah watching me.
Leave me to mourn my nafs and to shed tears for it.
And let me pass the rest of the time in remembrance of death, in grief.
Let me shed tears of lamentation, uninteruptedly by per chance One might liberate me.

I imagine myself lying down in bed between my family members.
Their hands over me and i imagine around me those who cry for me;
those who mourn me and those who grief me.
They called for a doctor to help me
But the doctor will not be able to help me.

Pain extenuated when death began to pull my soul from every nerve with no gentleness, without respite.
Making the sound of gargle and my saliva inside became bitter in that.
And then they all left, and left me alone and decided to buy shrouds for me.
And the one most beloved to me shoot hastening the washer to come.
And a man from amongst them came - removed my clothes from me, left me naked and left me alone.
They laid me on the boards and the flow of water began to pour from over me - cleansing me.
And he poured water over me and washed me three times.
And called to bring kafan and they made me wear clothes without sleeves.
And my only provision became perfume and they took me out of this world.
Oh! How distressful it is for a journey without enough provision!
And they laid me on the shoulders of four men and behind me those who mourn me.
And they laid me in front of a pulpit and moved back behind the imam - who prayed and said salaam.
And they said salaah for me without ruku, without sujud - may be Allah would have mercy on me.

They lowered me inside of my grave and elected one of them to lay me in my lahab and he removed the clothe to look into my face and see me one last time.
He let a flood of tears and drowned me - let me in the darkness of the grave with no mother, no gentle father, and with no brother to console me.
What shall I tell Him?
The Munkar and Nakeer have concerned and terrified me?
O my hope Ya Allah!
Grace me with pardon and forgiveness from You.
I'm chained with my own sins!

My family members after they left divided among themselves my possessions
Yet my burden remains on my back weighing against me.
Therefore, let not dunya and its adornments distract you.
Look at what it has done to the people.
See the one who possesses all of dunya - what has he taken with him?

Therefore, take contentment and be pleased with it
even if the only thing you have had of it is repose and rest.
Oh my nafs! See from this disobedience and earn beautiful deeds.
So, Allah may have mercy on me.
Ya nafs! Woe unto you, repent and do a beautiful deed.
Hopefully you will be rewarded beautifully.
Verily the stranger is not the one who comes from the land of Sham and Yemen
But a stranger is one in ladhi and kafan...

---------- from a session with Shaykh Mokhtar.

Love of the sahabas (ra'hum)

2005-06-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Continued from last entry ...

Rasulallah (saw) also taught “systems of organization” that breaks away from the kingdom type of ruling. Some of the changes brought by Islam that changed the society are:

1. Absolute obedience to Allah (swt) – but everyone else is to be obeyed within the framework of obeying to Allah (swt). There’s no obedience to any creation in disobedience to the Creator. So, people also learned and needed to know there rights so they know when they are being wronged.

2. Rasulallah (saw) became beloved to everyone in the community and that love became very critical and intense and they were practicing everything willingly and with much energy.
· Rasulallah (saw) in bringing change to the newly established society became the most beloved person of all and the most beloved teacher and leader. Their love was so deep that they were practicing and obeying everything out of their deep respect and affection and thus they were doing everything willingly and with such energy. There’s two types of obedience:
i. Obedience out of fear: Ittiba
ii. Obedience out of deep and complete love: ta’at
· They obeyed him (saw), out of ittiba (obeying out of love & respect), not out of ta’at, loving out of fear.

The obedience of the sahabas were out of total love for rasulallah (saw) as they all realized the importance of the reward of the hereafter and how insignificant this world is when compared to the afterlife.

Some examples of how deeply the people loved rasulallah (saw) ....

Umm Jameel & Abu Bakr
During the early days of Islam in Mecca, once Abu Bakr (RA) defending rasulallah (saw), got beaten up in front of the ka’aba so bad that his face could not be recognized anymore. The severity of his condition was to an extent that his facial features couldn't be distinguished - that’s how bad his condition was. People were very sure that he was going to die out of this torture and they carried him home. At the end of the day, when he gained consciousness, seeing this, his mother was overjoyed with the fact that his son gained back life. So, the mother gave him something to drink and was trying to feed him. He kept refusing to eat/drink and at the end of the day when he was able to speak, the first thing that came out of mouth was, “what happened to rasulallah (saw)? How is rasulallah (saw)?” subhanallah! This was their awareness and this is how deep their love was. When we are in fear or danger - it is not very normal to think of another person's wellbeing when we regain consciousness. However, the sahabas' love for rasulallah was beyond our imagination and comprehension.

So, anyways, Abu Bakr (RA)'s mother told him not to worry and take a few sips from the drink. But he kept insisting and then atlast the mother said, how can I find out how Muhammad (saw) is? So, he (RA) told her to go to sister of Omar (RA), umm Jameel, as she would have news of rasulallah (saw). Remember, this was the time when muslims were practicing secretly and even let alone the quraysh, they were scared of disclosing their muslim identity to even the muslims – that’s how cautious they were. Abu Bakr’s mother was not muslim and so she went to Umm Jameel and asked her – ya umm Jameel how’s Muhammad (saw)? I came from Abu Bakr and I’m his mother and he refuses to eat/drink anything till he knows about rasulallah (saw). Hearing this Umm Jameel’s reaction was, "who is Abu Bakr and who is Muhammad (saw)? I do not know any of them." The mother then tried to explain that Abu Bakr’s situation was very critical and she must tell him. To this Umm Jameel repeated the same thing and said see if you want I can go to your son and tell him that I don’t know him. --- See how smart and cautious they were! So, she was taken by Umm Abu Bakr to their house so she could talk to Abu Bakr (RA). Until she saw him in his condition, she was strong. Once she saw Abu bakr's condition, she couldn’t hold her tears anymore and just broke. She started crying profusely and was saying that, "people who do this to you have no shame and I hope Allah (swt) punishes them for you".
So, Abu Bakr (RA) asked her, how’s rasulallah (saw)? She tried to signal that his mother is listening. To this Abu Bakr (RA) said, don’t worry, I know my mother and she will not be of any harm. With this assurance, Umm jameel then said said, “he (saw) is fine”. He asked, ‘where’s he?’ she replied, he’s in the house of Ibn Arqam. Hearing this he (RA) said, I’m not going to drink anything till I see him. He was so insistent and thus she said, wait till it gets dark. So, then the two women took him to see rasulallah (saw) – Abu Bakr (RA) could barely walk and went putting two hands on the shoulders of them.

Urwah ibn Mas’ud As Shukafi
He was among the delegation of the treaty of hudaibiya from among the quraish. Seeing the loyalties of the companions and their love for him (saw), Urwah upon returning to the quraish told them, “ I went to Caesar, Kisra and Negus, but I have never seen a leader who was so glorified and loved by his people like Muhammad (saw)".

One of the women who lost her father, brother, and husband in one of the battles asked people about rasulallah (saw); that how he (saw) is doing and whether he is safe or not etc. To this the people told her that you have lost your father, brother, and your husband in the battle. She replied saying I know. But I’m asking about Rasulallah (saw). So, she went to see him and found out that rasulallah (saw) was alright and when he heard of what happened to her, rasulallah (saw) tried to console her and to this she replied, “Every calamity beside you is nothing ya rasulallah!” - Subhanallah!

In those days people were ready to sacrifice their wealth, power, family - and all their possessions just to gain the pleasure of Allah (swt) and his Rasul (saw) with only one goal - reward in the hereafter. These days do we see this? Today people are ready to give up iman to fit into the society - for power, for wealth and for anything worldly - only to gain this dunya and in their quest to fulfill their worldly needs, little attention do we pay to the hereafter. Subhanallah! See the change in our mentality! Who's being the looser?
So, this was the change in heart and mind setting and in the behavior of individuals and in the entire community that increased their love for Allah (swt), his rasul and towards dawah.

Story of Khubey
He was tortured by the Quraish in such a way that his skin and body parts were being cut into pieces and he was asked, 'wouldn’t you want to be safe at home while Muhammad (saw) is tortured this way?' His reply was – 'Wallahi! I would not exchange my safety with even a thorn touching rasulallah (saw).'
That’s how much the sahabas and the people of that time loved rasulallah (saw). Talk about love! One man witnessed this event of Khubey and he wasn;t a muslim at that time and he didn't say anything. So, long after Hijra the man moved to medina and accepted Islam everytime he used to recall this and he would not only feel bad since he couldn’t do anything but whenever the man would recall this event he would to faint!

Story of the three men from Gazwatul Tabuk
During the time of gazwatul tabuk, rasulallah (saw) were asking people to come and join the army in preparation for the gazwa (war). There were three men who didn’t go even though they were able to in all aspect. One of them was Kaab ibn Malik, who was the youngest among the three. They went to rasulallah (saw) and confessed that they were able but didn’t go. They realized that they commited a great mistake as no other time they were more able to go and join the war than this time. So, they went to rasulallah (saw) to ask what they should do. That is, how should they repent and what is to be done with them? To this rasulallah said Allah would decide on this matter. Until then, they were isolated for 50 days from the community – nobody was talking to them. Can you imagine a person living in a soceity where nobody was talking to them? Today even if our friends and family would forsake us - we would probably move to another location and start over - atleast we would not be detached from human interaction and any form of communication. However, their dedication for tawba was so great that they stayed back and was dedicaded to seek Allah (swt)'s forgiveness. Not a single person would talk to them or smile at them. Subhanallah!

They were ordered not to approach their wife during this period. To this Kaab ibn Malik asked rasulallah(saw) whether he should divorce his wife. Look at their sincerety! They were ready to do anything for the sake of Allah (swt) – that’s how much taqwa these people had. They realized that they have made a mistake and they were willing to do anything to earn back the pleasure of Allah (swt) and His Rasul. This shows the level of obedience they had – they were ready to do anything. Rasulallah (saw) said – no need to divorce just stay away from your wife and don't be intimate. So, he sent away his wife and asked him not to come back till this matter was settled.
Eventually the verse was revealed and the matter was settled.

Reflection:

How intense is our love for Allah (swt) and His rasul? Are we working on increasing it? We humans have this love inside of us which is very normal and natural. This energy of love when put in improper place and not used in the right way can be very dangerous and bring consequenses which are displeasing to Allah (swt). This love should be channeled only to love Allah (swt) and to each and every way that Allah (swt) chooses for us. It’s an innate nature of every human being to have that energy of love. The sahabas used it in the right place - what are we doing with that intense high energy of love? What did the people before that do? How is it being used these days? Where is that emotion being directed?

o During the jahiliya period, people used that love worshipping idols.

oThese days people are directing this love to either loving power, women, status, position etc.

§ Thus that’s how the love for Allah (swt) and rasulallah (saw) is being misused. There’s no virtue! And this leads the person to be in illusion and replace such high energy in destructive emotions which are not normal. But in the absence of normality – we start viewing abnormal as normal and we end up adopting and borrowing practices that are not part of this deen. The root of all this – lack of knowledge. And even if we have knowledge sometimes we are too arrogant to obey Allah (swt) as we see admitting our fault and shortcoming as something inferior and a matter that losses our dignity.

That’s why the love for this deen includes love for Allah and rasulallah (saw) and the love of the sahabas were unimaginable. May Allah (swt) help us love Him and His last prophet (saw) as did the sahabas. Ameen

~~~
From Imam Djaffar's Halaqa

The change brought by Islam

2005-06-14T10:40:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

During Jahaliya, the Arabs were very arrogant about their lineage and they were very boastful about it. Their respect for people would depend on that person's family background. So, Rasulallah (saw) said: you are from Adam because Adam is from dust and some of you should stop being so proud of your forefathers for something so foolish (being proud of their ancestory and family lineage) otherwise Allah will make you so little (humiliated much less than the insects.)

In front of Allah (swt), there are two types of people:
- Righteous (muttaquin)
- Disobedient: insignificant due to their disobedience to Allah (swt).
There’s no third type. So it’s your choice – you want to obey and seek towards being in first group or be in the second group who disobeys Allah (swt) publicly.
Umar (RA) used to say: we are so humiliated and then Allah (swt0 gave us izza (dignity) through islam. Anywhere else but islam, Allah will give us himulity.

The Arabs were the greatest of the poets and the used poetries in all occasions and also they had poetries for each categories such as for love, description of something/place, people, praising someone, hating someone etc. Al-Fakr (pride) was a huge thing and these poetries used to be taught to kids and that’s how they used to learn about their ancestors and that they are the descendants of so and so tribe. There were poetries for each category: - for love - description of beauty - to praise the kings - to insult other tribes/people - nature - people and so on ...

During Jahliya, the poets of each tribe used to represent their media/spokesperson. They used to fight using their skills of poetries. So, when a tribe would get a poet, people would feel very proud as it would strengthen their power in the society with a better spokesperson.

Banu Anfinnaka (which literally means the descendants of the nose of the camels): During Jahiliya there was a tribe called Banu Anfinnaka and people from this tribe used to feel very bad disclosing their identities. One poet from that tribe came and wrote a poetry saying, ‘they are the nose and the rest are the tail.’ So, after that they became very proud and used to say that ‘min anfinnaha’ – meaning I’m from the tribe of such and such. So, for the Arabs poetries meant a lot and for them the poetries were strong. [“The Sun of God, shinning from the west”, German orientalist female author. Who wrote about the contribution of Muslims in western civilization.]

And this is what Rasulallah (saw) came to correct! He (saw) was changing that attitude and trying to teach people that they should be proud of something good but not of their ancestry to the extent that it makes you arrogant and ignorant, as that’s jahiliya. How did he change that? By replacing it and by trying to teach the people that the tribes do not belong to any other tribe – but we all belong to Allah (swt).

The story of Abu Dharr-Al Ghifari :
Once Abu Dharr (RA) and Bilal (RA) got into a fight and Abu Dharr was so angry that he said to Bilal (RA), ‘ya ibn sauda’ – O you the son of Black woman. Bilal (RA) was very upset hearing this and he was extremely hurt. However, he did not respond and reported this to rasulallah (saw). When rasulallah (saw) heard of this, he said, ‘Look at Abu Dharr! You are a person who is still carrying some of the baggage of jahiliya in him and it didn’t completely go away.’ Abu Dharr (RA) collapsed hearing these words and realized what his anger did and turned him into. So, he (RA) went to Bilal (RA) and put his head down on the ground and asked Bilal (RA) to put his foot on his head so he may overcome that jahiliya and may never forget this. Of-course Bilal (RA) didn’t do that.

The success of rasulallah (saw) was not just changing some individuals; but using the potentials of each individual and working in a collective form. That takes patience and true dedication for the sake of Allah (swt). Every one of us are responsible and everyone is responsible for himself. When we see something wrong, we are responsible to correct that. If we cannot correct that - the least we can do is dislike that wrong from our heart. The orphans, the poor etc. – the rest of the peopl in the society are responsible for these underprivileged; and mostly the rich are in great responsibility when it comes to taking care or ensuring the needs of these people. The rulings of zakaah makes the rich of the nation responsible for the poor. If there are orphans’ not being taken care of – it’s the responsibility of the people who are capable of supporting them - and they would be the ones answerable on the Day of Judgment.

Story of DHULM :
It’s been a concept during the time of Jahiliya, “Give support to your brother whether he is wrong or being wronged” – this was the concept of Jahaliya and once the sahabas accepted Islam their mind set changed. So, one of the sahabas asked – fine we can assist our brother when he is being wronged, but how can we assist him when he wrongs others? “ You support him by stopping him from commiting the dhulm” – was the response of rasulallah (saw). This is how the same concepts of jahaliya were used but explained effectively and given new dimension with the teaching of Islam.
~~~~
From Imam Djaffar's halaqa
Continued in the next entry...

Reflection on DEATH

2005-06-13T08:55:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

“I spent daily for years nights and days just thinking of death” – Shaykh Abdul Kadir Jilani.
Inspite of his daily faraids and sunnah acts – this used to be a part of his spiritual diet. He then said, I used to ask Allah (swt) that nothing and no one takes my soul except Allah (swt). This was the state he was in – always in a state of DhikrAllah. This is the level of muraqqabah he had and he used to think of it until he would fall asleep. We can’t even focus for 5 minutes in a class. If you turn your eyes, you turn your heart and if that happens you are lost.

Shaikh Abdul Kadir Jilani said, one day in between his sleep and wakefulness he saw an old man all in white approaching him through his door. He asked, who are you? The man replied I’m the angel of death. He said, but I have been asking Allah (swt) that my soul is not to be taken by anyone but Him then why are you here? The angel said – ya Abdul Kadir, I’m nothing but a servant of Alllah (swt) – saying this they both started crying and hugged. When he woke up he found himself sobbing from his dream. At one point he told his family leave me all of you – I have company with me.

So, part of developing your muraqqabah is to think of death. Some righteous people even dug their own graves and used to go to sit in there morning and evening as part of their reflection. That’s the level a person is in when they have reached nearness to Allah (swt).They are looking forward to meet Him azza wa ‘jal. And that’s the level we all should be in.

Reflection:
So, how much do we actually consider thinking of Death? Are we preparing ourselves enough to face Allah (swt)? Are we going to be able to stand in front of Him and face Him? Are we in that state?? What if the angel of death comes to me even before i finish this line? Am i looking forward and longing to meet my beloved - Allah azza wa jal? If we do not want to think about death we need to ask ourselves "why". There could be one and only one valid reason - we love this dunya - there's nothing wrong with that - however, that love should not be so intense that it makes us hate the hereafter. If we are not looking forward to face our Lord - the reason could be we have invested much in this dunya to let it go. We have invested in this dunya and are reaping the benefit of it - and we have neglected to make any investment for akhira. So, if we had invested or started working on our hereafter we would not be afraid of the next life. we would actually be waiting and seeking to be in His presence. Can you imagine being in front of Him (swt) Who is not the investor of just a bulb or such and such idea - but Who is the creator and inventor of all that exists in the whole universe? Are we even worth standing in front of His manifestation? The One who has been fulfilling all our needs and providing us - we are going to meet Him - we all should be excited right? Don't we look forward to meet someone who does good to us? What about meeting Allah (swt)? Are we anticipating our meeting Him azza wa jal?

We seek comfort and if we know that our next life does not ensure much of that - we wouldn't we be so attached to that life, inspite of knowing that our final and permanent abode is the hereafter. Let's commit ourselves to invest atleast one penny to the next life if we can invest the equal amount to this world. May Allah (swt) make our final abode a better one than we deserve and may He (swt) replace our worng actions into good one so we have a good end. Ameen.
~~~~
Contents from Shaykh Mokhtar's halaqa

Our attraction to the fire

2005-06-12T19:12:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Istegfar is very necessary in our every day life and we need to make our qalb, mind, and our tongue accustomed to it. For people who commit sin and do not repent and run away – it’s for those that punishments have been reserved.

If you are in the countryside or in a hilly area or even in a wooded area when we light up the lamp outside or even lit fire to get light, insects are attracted to the source of that light. Have you ever thought of what attract insects and moths to the lights and fire? Why do the insects go to that source of light? One simple way to put it is, there are some lights which the insects cannot distinguish to be harmful from those that are beneficial and thus thinking that all are beneficial they run towards that.

Imam Ghazali explains this fact in the following way: those types of moth and insects, they have very weak vision (they see in a very cloudy and blurred way). So, when they are in the dark at night and if there is light, what actually goes on in their recognition is that light is an exit from their world of darkness. They perceive that light/fire as a source or window to the day and thus they run to get to the light (thinking that they are) leaving the dark and the moment they jump into it – they die. They perceive and think their current condition to be a state of darkness and take that light as something for better and keep falling into it.
This is like the human being that are following the shahawa – to fulfill their desires for sexual appetite, excess food, luxury, entertainment – and they are seeking to satisfy their lower self - they seek comfort in these matters. Human beings’ vision is very weak and when they see their surroundings, they take their current situation to be dark and runs to that light (thinking that there’s goodness towards that and there’s better living and satisfaction). Perceive that as the light and they go for it and burns out completely not only physically but with their physical body they also burn out spiritually. Moved by the fire/light of shahawa, we humans, run so fast only to face spiritual death.

Rasulallah (saw) said, "I (that is, the mission of His prophethood) am holding you back from your hujaz (belts) against going into the fire of hell and you are giving yourself up and you are going and cheerfully throwing yourself into it again and again and again, just like the insects jump into fire."

So, we human beings following our desires to go to that light, fire and heat that we perceive, which is being attracted by our shahawa – for some that strength is so strong that the saving call of Rasulallah (saw) cannot take us back and we end up burning badly physically and spiritually in this world and we loose our quloob.

Whatever Rasulallah (saw) saw, he saw Allah (swt) before everything. So, the abd’ of Allah (swt) who seeks to reach the level of salvation, truly seeks through his (saw)’s example. With our limited & bare vision, we are too naïve to distinguish good from evil. We run towards the fire not realizing it is the fire – only to seek comfort from that source, and only to gain some comfort in this dunya forgetting all about our akhira. We only see the phenomena, the physical aspect of the phenomena and that’s where our vision ends.
Therefore, we should seek refuge from Allah (swt) to help us and to protect us from the continuous shahawa. And so we need to take time off from this mechanic life of everyday routine – we need to take time off for retreat. Breaking the habit is an essential tool to help us to release ourselves from the shahawa. The state of mind to break the routine is very difficult and that’s why Allah (swt) gave us five daily salaah – so that we are able to break from our habit to overcome the nafs. The nafs likes the habit of being engaed in this dunya and likes to stay away from remembrance of Allah (swt) and that’s why we need to train the nafs and have it get used to breaking the habit. Initially it is going to be hard but once you have controlled your nafs and got it influenced that’s when you have overcome your lower self.

Develop the dynamic conciousness of breaking the habit so that we are in constant remembrance of Allah (swt). All the habits are actually keeping us away from our original task that we were created for – for udoobiya of Allah (swt), worship Allah (swt) alone. Training ourselves to restrain the hardship of emotions or of physical e.g. hunger etc. is not an easy task. The hardest part is the initial stage – when we get started to develop the strength to break the habit. Once we are able to break from our usual habit – that is when we have strengthened our quloob over our nafs.
In order to develop strength we need to work hard – be it physical, emotional or even spiritual. For example, a person who works in the field and are capable of working in the field in high heat under the sun has the resistance and strength to do so because he has trained much. Initially he was not able to work long hours – but over time he has grown that habit and achieved the resistance. So, the hardship level comes – during the initial level. Similarly, when you are seeking nearness to Allah (swt) through your acts and deeds – it will not be easy initially.

In order to carry the loads, that is, if we make ourselves used to this type of mujahada, we can strengthen ourselves and be strong in times of hardships and face the situation with sab'r and du'a to Allah (swt). When we wait with sab'r and put our total reliance on Allah (swt) – that is carrying the loads and training the nafs. On the other hand, when you are in a rush to get everything done and to find an answer within our limited realm and when we get too agitated and do not try to find answer with patience – that is when we refuse to carry the load.

Two concept of habit: negative and positive. Habits that prevent us from remembrance of Allah (swt) and habits that prevent our attachments to Allah (swt) is something to be broken. If ibada has become a habit – it is something positive. However, we have to be careful that if we are in a habit of attending salaah or halaqa without the presence of our quloob – we need to break that habit and we need to work on our niyaa. We need to get rid of the lack of awareness and bring our habit to strengthening our mind and heart.
----
From Shaykh Mokhtar's halaqa.

Asking Allah (swt)...

2005-06-09T07:01:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Once a sahaba was asked, "Which one is better, to continue to be in du'a without being given or after we gain it?" He rahimahullah replied, " the former. Imagine that you are a begger. You go to a door of a kind person. He opens the door and gives you. Are you going to leave or stay there? Which one is better? "

So, in the same way what would you consider to be better? Asking Allah (swt) and be in constant remembrance of Allah (swt) or be granted of your wish which He grants and gives you just to shut you up? What if He gives it to you becasue He doesn't like to hear you calling Him and supplicating to Him? Du'a indeed implies presence at the gate of Allah (swt). I was reading it the other day, that, sometimes, when Allah (swt) loves His servant, He (swt) deliberately will not fulfill his du'a, so that the 'abd keeps making du'a to Him for He loves to hear it. Subhanallah! Can you imagine the greatness of our Lord? We humans on the otherhand are so opposite. We get mad or loose our patience when someone asks something repeatedly and we get to that stage where we start calling that person a whinner or try to avoid that person. Subhanallah! No wonder we are humans and we are in need of Him azza wa jal. May we be worthy of glorifying His manifestation.

Allah says, " O Jibreel, delay his wish for I love to hear his lamentation to me. O Jibreel, grant my 'abd his request for I hate to hear his du'a upon me." I don't know the source to this but after reading it i thought this is such a beautiful and powerful narration since one of the most wonderful virtures it teaches us and can help us all strive for is to stay away from despair. In Islam, despair is forbidden ( may be in all the religions since patience is a great virture).
One of the scholars in the prologue of Ibn Qaiyyim's abridged translation of " Uddat as-sabirin wa dhakhirat ash-shakirin" mentions:
Patience, or patient perseverance, is obligatory, according to the consensus of the scholars, and it is half of faith (iman), the other half of which is gratitude (shukr). Patience is mentioned in the Qur'an around ninety times. The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body, and the one who has no patience has no iman. ...

It further mentions: ... Allah has told us that He is with those who have patience; this is a special "companionship" (ma'iyyah) which means that He is protecting and supporting them, which is over and above the ordinary "companionship" which applies to believers and disbelievers alike whereby Allah has knowledge of them and is watching over them. Allah has told us:
"... And be patient and persevering: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere." (al-Anfal 8:47) ---- Subhanallah! Doesn't these explanations just keep us awestruck and bring such tranquility in the heart...

May be a lot of us can relate to incidents where our ibadas increased or remembrance of Allah (swt) sky rockted because we were looking to achieve a specific goal be it for - facing a job interview, finding the grades from finals, or even convincing parents, friends into doing something - and when it would be granted we would get back to our routine and even forget to show gratitude to Him azza wa 'jal. We do not even know how to worship Him properly - we are so into our own world! DUNYA! Oh Son of Adam - when will you ever realize?!

On the other hand, when our du'a is not being answered by Him or it's taking longer, with our human mind, we need to think over and over again and we need to convince ourselves that indeed i'm one of the servants He loves to hear from repeatedly. Indeed, He is watching me and indeed something better is awaiting if this is not granted. We need not give up on our du'as and our attitude should rather be : "I love to ask Him again & again," instead of giving up on our hope and du'a - thinking that He is not listening. How can He(swt) be not listening? He's the all Hearing (as-Sami') - we should not compare Allah azza wa jal with out limited human characteristics. Or may be what you are asking for isn't really good for you. Do we ever think of that? when we delight our eyes and mind on something we like it so much that we tend to close one of our eyes and forget to see all the effects it can have on us once we actually get it. He (swt) on the otherhand, is the All Seeing(al-Bashir) - the All Knowing (al-'Alim). How can we compare ourselves, our thoughts, our logics to the will of Allah (swt) - Who does everything for a much higher and far better wisdom than we can comprehend.

May He (swt) make us worthy of worshipping Him, and may we be worthy of His Mercy and His Forgiveness. May He (swt) see us as those servants who He loves to hear from and may we be worthy of Glorifying Him. Ameen!

~~~
Some beautiful quotes from the best of the generations ...

What can my enemies do to me?
My paradise is at my heart, it is with me wherever I go.
To imprison me is to provide me with seclusion.
To send me to exile is to send me away in the Path of Allah.
And to kill me is to make me a martyr. – Ibn Taymeeyah

Subhanallah! This was the level of taqwa and iman these people had - each and every state they go through and could possibly think of to be in the near future was in relation to their station with Allah (swt). Today when we don't find anything to do, instead of making use of that time in remembrance of Allah (swt) or to read beneficial materials we rather engage ourselves in matters which benefits us neither in this world not would it help in the hereafter. We use the term "we are bored" - do we have enough time to be bored or to waste our limited 24 hours a day?

Knowledge is a confronting friend in times of loneliness, it is the best companions during the times of travel, and it is the inner friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is the discerning proof of what is right and what is wrong, and it is positive force that will surmount you the trials of comfort, as well as those of hardships. Knowledge is your most powerful sword against your enemy, and finally it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close companions. – Mu’adh ibn Jabal (RA)

~~~~

The claim of true love

2005-05-17T05:35:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Often times we see people who have been in "long-term" relationships or been engaged or even married for many years, couples who shared a typical "happily ever after" life and who we took for granted and thought to be made for each other, end up silently without a single explanation and we are left shocked trying to figure out why did that happen? They were so happy together and so perfect! Subhanallah! We can only see what our eyes can show us through our visual sense. Being bombarded with hollywood/bollywood love stories, we fall into the illusion of falling in love or being in love. On our expedition to proof our true love we even abandon our parents and set apart for a new life with the person we love! Is that what our concept of love should be? Should we love one another for who he/she is in this dunya - the status one possess, the family one belongs to, the outward appearance/education one has, or may be because that person might have such a great job! Of-course we are human and we cannot ignore these facts that these things do attract us - however, one main component we totally leave out of our equation; this component is to be the primary component and it is: that person's relationship with Allah (swt). One of the thing as been mentioned by Shyakh Hussain Abdul Sattar, that keeps buzzing in my head & have left a remarkable impact in my heart is - "without connection to Allah, you cannot connect to anyone." And that’s exactly what our basis for true love should be.

Our relationship with Allah (swt) would be reflected in all our dealings and all our relationships. Having sincere love for Allah (swt) can help us reach out to His greatest creations – humans. To start with lets think about our relationship with our parents - often times kids become disobedient to their parents and they justify saying that the older generations do not understand. The Qur'an strictly instructs us to obey our parents and love them and take care of them and not a single verse asks the parents to take care of the child. Why? That's becasue its an innate nature of the parent to care, love and nurture their child. So, can we say that a child loves his parent if he is being disobedient? Can we say a husband loves the wife, if he's not being dutiful and not fulfilling the rights of the wife? Similarly, we cannot say we love so and so unless we are there to help that person get closer to Allah (swt) & assist them with what would bring good for them in this world and the next. Therefore, if we claim that we truly love someone we must show it in our act – by showing what we are capable of doing for the sake of Allah (swt) to make that relationship pleasing to Him azza wa ‘jal. What hardships are we ready to face in this world - the reward of which might not be evident in this life? Or are we thinking only of dwelling happily in this life and not caring of the hereafter? How prepared are we to face our Lord on that day? If we are to claim that we love someone then not only it should worry us whether the state we are in is pleasing to the Lord or not and if not we should ask how can we make it pleasing? Moreover, if it is true love as been claimed it should not only gain love from that person but gain Allah (swt)’s love as well – as we have not only found a companion to praise Him (swt) but we also have helped each other and pulled each other to establish better connection with Allah (swt). What type of love is this? This is the love that we have for others for the sake of Allah (swt). That is true love and when we claim that should be our basis of loving one another! There can be no empty promise of loving one unless we help them with what is good & forbid them what is evil, assist them seek the truth, accompany them to seek nearness to Allah (swt). We leave out these important elements when we look for the love of our life and that's the reason in the end we are left with confusion, regret, grief, anger, awe and we keep wondering 'how did it not work?' We forget to keep a strong base from the beginning and start building a huge concrete with a feeble base. The result: just like a huge tall building that is built without a strong base - devastation! Subhanallah!

So, no matter for what other worldly reason we may love someone - the first and foremost reason for loving another person should be for the sake of Allah (swt). The love which is based on the love for Allah (swt) can make us high. In fact, it can make us so high that not only it would bless that relationship but bring contentment and happiness in the hearts of both & help them both achieve a better station with Allah (swt). A relationship where the company helps one another as a source of guidance and where one loves the other inspite of all the shortcomings -that's a relationship which can sustain. It is a love that is based on the love of Allah (swt) and love for His messenger (saw)! If in a relationship we are not able to leave behind our worldly status baggage and not able to submit ourselves to Allah (swt) and just be a servant of Allah (Abdullah) - how can that relationship grow? Based on what ground? Because worldly status are helpful for living in this world and if you can use it to earn some good deeds for the akhira - great! But there's no gurantee!

We might think our job to be the most important thing in the world - but it's not. We might think our so and so degree is the most important thing in this world - it's not! We might think our family values are the most important thing in the world - well it's not! Family values are important but not to that extent when it contradicts with the laws and the commands of Allah (swt). These are just mere vehicles to help us lead a better life in accordance to the law of the sharia. How can one be loved for all such worldly characteristics when the world in itself is a temporary stoppage for us? The first and formost role we must prioritize ourselves with is: abd-Allah - servant of Allah and thus we shall comply by all and everything that is pleasing to Him (swt). Once we have that straightened - other things will eventually fall into peices easily. Often times we are so tight and adamant about holding to some of these values and issues - that we loose track of what are we trying to achieve in the end and sometimes even if it's not the right way - pride holds us back from correcting ourselves. Subhanallah! This is the situation of us these days!

We often share our constrains and put conditions ahead to make love work! Subhanallah! If you truly love - do it for the sake of Allah (swt) - why share your burden when you are not able to bring any blessing? One of the hadith of Prophet (saw) mentions that: "Seven people whom Allah would give protection with His Shade on the Day when there would be no shade but that of Him are: a just ruler, a youth who grew up with the worship of Allah; a person whose heart is attached to the mosques; two persons who love and meet each other and depart from each other for the sake of Allah; a man whom a beautiful woman of high rank seduces (for illicit relation), but he (rejects this offer by saying):" I fear Allah" ; a person who gives charity and conceals it (to such an extent) that the right hand does not know what the left has given: and a person who remembered Allah in privacy and his eyes shed tears."

So, loving one another for the sake of Allah (swt) would give us a shade on that day – when all of the creation that has ever been created resurrects. Therefore, if you love your other significant make it for a better cause so you may not only reap the benefit in this world but may also carry some of the reward for the next world and have it reserved for that day when no matter how much good deeds we have in our account, without His mercy, it will fall short. If you love someone make it for the sake of Allah, help one another abstain from evil and do what is good, if you love someone make it pleasing in the sight of Allah (swt) and gain His immense pleasure & help the other person boost up their iman. If you love someone who you want to be with - then marry that person and give him what's due to each other! If we bring excuses after excuses in order to fulfill the love of a person - that cannot be love anymore - that would only leave us with excuses. Build relationships on strong and firm ground (not excuses and conditions) - since, as been mentioned earlier, a building that has a shaky base cannot sustain. Another important thing we often ignore is the method with which we try to accomplish a task. We might have the best of intention but we should also be careful and suspicious with the means and methods that we are using to accomplish that task. Sometimes our selfish soul would reason us that "all is well that ends well". Well, Not necessarily! Why? For example, in a math problem, if we have the final answer right using a total different method than what was asked - it will not get us full credit but might get us partial (very minimal) credit - if the teacher is flexible and has some mercy! But to get the full credit not only we need to get the final answer correct - the approach we use to solve the problem (which carries the other 50% of the points) also matters & needs to be correct as well. So, the methods of obtaining that objective is equally important as the objective itself.

One last note to this, i remember Shaykh Abdullah Adhami mentioned in one of his talks that - it is haqq (i.e you perform justice), when you give the person what is in full due ; however, ihsan is when you give more and take less from others. Subhanallah! I just cannot begin to comprehend the depth of this statement. I found this to be so true and so beautiful mashaAllah! As muslims, we should strive for ihsan in all aspect - relationships of all types: friends, parents,husband, relatives, co-workers etc. and we should go beyond just paying off and that would surely bring tranquility in both our spiritual life as well as this worldly life. Unfortunately, today even among family members we try to measure what the other person has to offer. We have engrossed so much into balancing the account in this life that we are not thinking much about the stock (of good deeds) we need to have for the hereafter.

May Allah (swt) give us the tawfiq to love one another for the sake of Allah (swt) alone and help us gain ihsan in all our conducts so we may gain the benefit in this world and the next. May He (swt) help us be of those who not even through their ignorance wrongs others and may He azza wa 'jal guide us to seek His path and be on that path that's pleasing to Him. Ameen!

The beauty of submission

2005-05-01T06:48:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

We all hold a vision regarding our future and about our life. We wish and we dream. We nurture those dreams so tenderly and don't even let anything come in between to put even the lightest scratch of doubt in it. We plan for years and we prepare ourselves both mentally and emotionally hoping that our dream is soon to turn into reality. We take things for granted - we try to reason and we use logic as why something should go the way as we want. How can things go wrong after putting so much time, effort and dedication in it, right? Not possible! And we become so sure of our dreams that it almost feels reality. By mistake if we wake up and realize that it wasn't reality we pretend to be in that deep state of r.e.m. We ignore to distinguish between our dream and where we live - the relaity! We pay more attention to our nafs and hawaa. We loose contact with actuality and we loose our mind, we forget all about the decree of the divine will! We forget that Allah (swt) is the one who plans and knows everything. We human can only plan and we can only wish - and thats all we can do. The rest we have to leave up to the will of Allah (swt). This reminds me of the hadith when a man asked the prophet (saw) if he should tie his camel or just rely on Allah (swt). Hearing thing the prophet (saw) replied, 'tie your camel and then rely on Allah (swt).'

Therefore, we can plan and we can sketch our wish according to our convenience and understanding, as to what we think is best for us. We can map out and make arrangements and prepare - but from the very beginning till the end we have to realize and understand the concept of relying on Allah (swt). We need to rely on Allah azzawajaal completely to get the most of our situations in every case. For He (swt) never abandons us. And Allah (swt) states in His glorious book in Surahtul Duha:
--
By the forenoon (after sun-rise);
And by the night when it is still (or darkens);
Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor hated you.
And indeed the Hereafter is better for you than the present (life of this world).
And verily, your Lord will give you (all i.e. good) so that you shall be well-pleased.
Did He not find you (O Muhammad (saw)) an orphan and gave you a shelter?
And He found you wondering and gave you guidance you?
And He found you in need, and made you rich (selfsufficient with selfcontentment)?
--

So, why is it that we human loose track? Why do we forget? We are so naive and so deluded even when we think to be awake. We are so overtaken by our selfish soul! Astagfirillah! We fall into the trap of mixing between our qalb(heart) and nafs (selfish soul). If only we know how to submit properly to Allah (swt) we would stop taking things for granted. We think we are in a state of Islam - we are in this illusion that we have submitted ourselves to the Lord, the owner of the whole world - the owner of the Universe; and we let ourselves fall in the trap of shaytan. We let shaytan whisper and we even let our nafs follow it. We start blaming others when things don't work in our life according to our plan; we regret that we ever planned! Subhanallah!

We get so immersed in our plan and we start relying on people more than on the will of Allah (swt)! May Allah azzawajaal forgive us for such mistakes. We entrap ourselves and rely more on the creation who are eventually controlled by the Creator. See, how we let ourselves cross the boundaries! Little do we reflect on the truth - that our main flaw in the whole process was not in planning or arrangement for that matter. The main flaw lied in the fact that we failed in the process of submission to our Lord. We think we have submitted ourselves if we are doing our salaahs and increasing our ebadahs and elongating our sujuds! But is that truly the case? Did we submit all our wills and our soul ? Have we submitted our intelligence - that uses logic and reasoning? If we really think about it - we don't! Atleast I have failed in my part. May Allah (swt) accept my forgiveness and may He (swt) guide me. We forget that if things don't happen its not becasue its bad luck but becasue that's the will of Allah (swt) and there's khair(good) in it; we can't comprehend with our limited knowledge and wisdom. May be we are not getting the benefit of it in this life. May be there's khair for in the akhirah(hereafter) - or in the future through an unopened, unknown door - which only Allah azzawajaal knows and can facilitate. May be it was His way of bringing you near to Him and giving you the taste of true submission. Once we realize that and once we are able to submit ourselves with all our plans and wishes - we'll find our heart at such ease. We will not feel overwhelmed anymore. Submission to Allah (swt) would not only bring us closer to Allah (swt) but would also increase and strengthen our iman and relieve us of the extra burden - that we have to take care of it all!

Subhanallah! There's so much beauty and so much pleasure in true surrender to the higher power. Once we can submit our whole being - both internally and externally, then only we can be in a true state of Islam and reap much benefit from this deen.

We need to have reliance and tawakkul on Allah (swt) just as the arab poets said:
“Some eyes are restless while others are in sleep.
In meditating that which may or may not occur,
So leave worrying as much as possible,
As carrying the burdens of anxiety is madness,
There is your Lord, who provided solutions to yesterday,
And he will similarly provide for what is to come tomorrow.”

Another said:
“Let events flow in their predestined path,
And do not sleep except with a clear mind,
Between the period of the blinking of the eye and its opening,
Allah changes things from one state to another.” …

May Allah (swt) give us the tawfiq to have total reliance on Him and Him only azzawajaal. May He (swt) forgive us our ignorance and our shortcomings. May we be of those who He wants to bring nearer to Him. May He (saw) help us surrender ourselves in all aspect. May we be of those who He smiles at and are pleased with. May we be of those who follow the footsteps of the best teacher to humanity, prophet (saw), so we may benefit in both the worlds of this life and the akhira. Ameen.

Proclaim the glad tidings

2005-04-30T04:27:00.001-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Those that turn (to Allah) in repentence;
That serve Him, and praise Him; that wonder
In devotion to the Cause of Allah;
That bow down and prostrate themselves, in prayer;
That enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limits set by Allah -
(These do rejoice). So proclaim the glad tidings to the Believers! - AL-Qur'an (9:112)

The above ayah gives us so much hope - subhanallah! In the tafsir of Abdullah Yusuf Ali it is explained in the following way:

We are to rejoice that by giving up such small things as ourselves and our possessions we are to be rewarded with such a great thing as the eternal life of felicity. The truly righteous, whose lives in various aspects are described in this verse, do so rejoice. The good news is to be proclaimed to all believers, including the weakest among us, so that they may profit by that example.

-Subhanallah! What could be a better news from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than this?

This day we live in

2005-04-28T22:56:00.000-04:00

As time passes, we are approaching our death and we are getting closer to the Day of Judgment. If we look at our society, the current state that we are living in, we see that injustice, lies, deception, corruption, killings and such acts have become an integral part of our life. Some say these are all signs that the last day is approaching. But how is it that knowing that the last day is approaching we are still able to indulge in our luxuries like we are already in heaven? People are suffering. They are suffering from diseases, from poverty, from being wronged and from being transgressed upon their rights. What about us- who are not facing any such hardship in this dunya? People who are so blessed and whose fulfillment of basic necessicities have gone beyond and satisfied items of extravagance. What are we doing? Are we even aware of such injustices in our society? How conscious are we? We have been gifted with sight – to see, ears to hear, mind to comprehend and reason. How are we using our capabilities? How are we using the gifts - the loans from Allah (swt)? By minding our own business? Have we confined ourselves into our small bubble? We have responsibilities. Allah (swt) gave us such qualities so we may use them to help each other.

It hurts to see how people are loosing moral values – and they no longer think its worth fighting for justice. We have given up hope! The wrongs in our society have become such a fundamental part of our everyday life that it no longer shocks us anymore! No longer we are surprised when we know that someone is being exploited or that someone has been dealt unfairly. We react to such stories or news as – ah! what can we do? Hopefully things will change!

People say there’s hope and things will get better. I hear people saying there’s hope for betterment and things will change. How will things change if we don't change the structure of our own mind? I’m not convinced. I'm not convinced that things will change for better. I’m not saying that I’m not content with Allah (swt)’s decree – but all the inequality that prevails in our society troubles me much to say this.

I wonder where people have locked up their consciousness. Where have we hidden our human qualities that we were born with – qualities such as affection, empathy, concern, kindness, compassion, sympathy? Why do we consider such qualities to be words of the dictionary and not really to be implemented in our lives so we may use them? Why aren’t we bothered anymore when we hear someone facing such adversity? How can we be so indifferent when people are suffering – suffering from wars, poverty, for the corruption in the land, for loosing morality, for not being human anymore! We call ourselves civilized. Is the definition to being part of a civilized society is not to care anymore? Or it’s to be ignorant? Or which part of the word civilization implies that we are only to live for our own selves and act selfishly? Is this what we are being taught? Where have we buried our mind? Where have we buried our feelings or sensitivity? Why aren’t we concerned anymore? We have killed our conscious! We have killed an integral part of us - the heart! We have supressed our soft part so bad and thus it is easy for us to adopt the attitude “none of our business”.

May be I’m being overwhelmed and I’m distressed. Yes! I am. As I feel that my hands are tied or too weak to do anything against all the forces of corruption that reign. People in power have forgotten that they too have to embrace death – they have forgotten that on that day the Lord of the World and the Universe will ask them how they used their authority. Our society have fallen into a vicious cycle of deceit and we have become too used to this. We have separated moral education from the education of school. We are no longer bothered if things go wrong around us – rather we are surprised when things go right. We need to wake up. We need to integrate morality into our educational system. We need to emphasize on the lessons of how to treat others with kindness, love & compassion in our classrooms. We need to do so much! We need to start at our very individual level and only then we can help our family structure. The society can benefit if we have stong families and communities. Most of all – we need to remember and constantly remind ourselves of our final abode. DEATH. We need to realize that we have to answer to the higher supreme power and that this world is not a place of eternity for us.

May we all purify our intentions and do everything only for the sake of Allah (swt). May we be of those who call others to good and do good ourselves. May we be of those who are God conscious. May we be of those whose conscious pricks when we transgress on our souls and wrong others. May we all have a good ending and may He azza wa jal have mercy on us and forgive us our shortcomings. May He (swt) be pleased with us when we meet Him on that day. Ameen.

The mercy to the humanity

2005-04-18T04:12:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

We are in the month of Rabi-ul-Awal according to the Islamic Hijri calender. This is the blessed month when the best of all the creation and the best of all the slaves of Allah (swt) - Muhammad, sallalahu wa alihi wa sahbihi wa salaam, was born. So, the person who Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sent to this earth as a mercy, the person who brought guidance for all of humantity and who was the chosen one to receive the last revelation from Allah (swt) - such a person's birthday should be celebrated grandly! In fact, not just the 12th of Rabiul Awal but it should be celebrated each month, each day and every single moment in our life. Why? Becasue it was due to God's ultimate rahma that He(swt) sent the prophet (saw) to perfect human character and it was becasue of the prophet (saw), that we have an example to follow that can help us attain a better place in this life and the next.

Allah (swt) didn't have to send guidance to us. Did He? He wasn't obliged to. In fact He is never obliged to do anything. So, why is it that He kept sending prophets after prophets to each nation? And then, how come He not only sent the last prophet (saw) to all of humanity but He also made sure that He gives something that the whole humanity can hold on to and refer to as guidance. So, it was absolutely (no question about that) Allah (swt)'s immense mercy that He sent us prophet Muhammad (saw). And He sent the Quran as a guidance. Its the words of Allah (swt) Himself that was revealed to the prophet (saw) through angel Gibreel (AS). Therefore, if we just for moments think about it, we see that not only is He the most merciful and the most compassionate, but the best planner and the all knowing! Rasulallah (saw) was sent to guide humanity and to live a life so that people may learn. Not only he (saw) was teaching the people about quran but he (saw) also lived a life of the Quran so people may observe and learn and know that its doable. He was a walking quran on earth! Every single goodness that we are familiar with - each and every single atom of our good deeds was taught to us by rasulallah (saw). He (saw) not only taught us to live a righteous life but he (saw) made sure the important components of life such as love, compassion, mercy, modesty, honesty and all such good characters are included in his teaching - so that the whole of humanity may benefit. Who knew that the whole course of human history would take a different course as a result of the Arabian prophet who was sent to the people in a time of ignorance? Subhanallah! Just look at the love Allah (swt) has for us - that he sent us the best muallim so we may perfect our deen.

The teaching of Islam came at a time of ignorance when people were never in peace - fighting among each other; moreover, at that time female infacticide was a common practice as giving birth to baby girls were considered a shame to the family! The teaching of Islam taught the ignorant society - what they knew not! The teaching of this deen stopped the killing of female infants. It was more than 1400 years ago that Islam came and established the rights of women in the society - the rights of inheritence, the rights to seek knowledge, the rights to be loved and respected as a mother, daughter, wife; the rights of equality and such for which the women of this century are having to fight so hard for. Moreover, the high status of women was set clear and affirmed 1400 years ago by Islam. How can we be not grateful for all that when they have been given to us by Allah (swt) in this deen? what could be a more rewarding than being a muslim in this life? Subhanallah!

According to this deen, anyone worthy of our love and respect after Allah (swt) and the prophet (saw) is your mother. I love this hadith so much! Here it goes: A man once asked the prophet (saw), who should i love most after Allah (swt) and you Rasulallah? Rasulallah replied, 'your mother.' The man then asked, 'who next?' Rasulallah replied , 'your mother'. When asked for the third time he (saw) replied, 'and then your father.' Subhanallah! Can you imagine the status of mothers given by Islam? The mercy of this deen comes from another saying of the prophet (saw), where he (saw) says, "Girls are models of affection and sympathy and a blessing to the family. If a person has one daughter, God will screen him from the fire of hell owing to his daughter; if he has two daughters, God will admit him to paradise; if he has three, God will exempt him from the obligation of charity and Jihad." These are just some of the innumerous gifts of this deen and from the teaching of prophet (saw).

So, how can we ever being in our own humble incapable position atleast show gratitude and love for all that he (saw) have done for us? The least we can do is atleast acknowledge that and try to implement in our lives the teachings of the quran and the sunnah. How can we do that? By simply following his footstep. Yes! There are way too many temptations out there and way too many things to sacrifice. The truth? It all boils down to the realization of the fact that we are not permanent residents of this earth. Our feet is way too firmly grounded to even consider revising our life. What is more important to us? The 60/70/80/90/ or at max 100 years of life on this earth or the eternal life in the hereafter? If we divide the number (even if its 100) of years of our life on this earth by the number of years in the hereafter, what do we get? 100/infinity = 0!
So, compared to the next life, the value of this life to a believer should be 0! Subhanallah! Look at where we are! We live as if we are never going to die. I say all these becasue i myself suffer from these diseases. I'm myself struggling - to increase my love for the best teacher, our prophet (saw), to seek nearness to Allah (swt), to be showered with just a drop of his immense mercy, to be accepted by Him (azza wa jaal) - to become a better muslim. When i write - i write based on my deficiencies and my own shortcomings. My aim is to remind myself first and then inshaAllah if others benefit then All Praise is to He, Who owns all thats in the heaven and the earth.

So, back to where I was. Following the footstep of prophet (saw). Allah (swt) commands us to walk in the path of the prophet (saw). Its a part of our faith to love the messanger of Allah (swt). When someone possesses mahabba (love) for someone, he/she often mentions his name and try to follow that person in all aspect of life - both inward and outward. If we love somebody we want to imitate him in every single aspect of our life and would want to do things that would please him. Where are we in our love for the prophet (saw)? Today, we are so far from sunnah - we even have a hard time to send proper blessings to him, his family and his companions - after his name is mentioned. Allah (swt) in his glorious book says, Allah and His angels send blessings to the prophet; O you who believe, send your blessings on him and salute him with the words of salutation. Subhanallah! The prophet Muhammad (saw) have been praised by the creator of the Universe and receives blessings from the Creator and the angels! We feel so good about ourself when we hear someone mention something positive about us. But look at this! Prophet (saw) was not only prasied by his enemies or some random traveller but its Allah (swt) who have praised him and Who sends His blessings. How can we ever praise someone the proper way who Allah (swt) have praised? How can we ever repay what he (saw) have given us? It hurts so much to think of all the sacrifice that he (saw) went through. Why? So that the concept of one God may be established in the heart of all people right? If someone does good to us - its a natural tendency to fall in love with that person. But how much do we think of this? Is it becasue we do not know anything of the teachings or is it becasue we are too arrogant to implement those teachings into our lives? Whats the least we can do to show our gratitude being his ummah (nation)? Well, how about sending proper blessings to him (saw). May be we could start there. The sahabas, the tabe-ein, the tabe-tabe-ein and the people after them - they used to love the prophet (saw) so much that they would even refuse to eat grapes or eat something new. Why? Becasue they didn't know how the prophet (saw) used to eat grapes or that for that matter! Subhanallah! Where are we in our love for the Rasul (saw)? Are we even praying our sunnahs properly (lets not talk about performing tahajjud, as we have so much going on!). Its never to late ... for verily Allah (swt) is the most Forgiving and the most Compassionate! So, a hadith to highlight this point: The prophet (saw) said, "All my followers will enter Paradise except those who refuse." When asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Who will refuse?" He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it)." - Bukhari. Subhanallah! Just this hadith should be enough to bring us to our realization.

Not only the best of creation had taught us all we needed to know but even on the Day of Gathering, he (saw) would still worry about his ummah. There's a hadith on this which highlights this beautifully...

Said Ibn Abbas, 'The Emissary of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) once said, "Pulpits of gold shall be erected for the Prophets, who shall sit upon them. But my pulpit shall remain empty, for I shall be standing before my Lord, fearful that He might send me to Heaven while my nation remains behind. I shall say, 'O my Lord! My nation! My nation!' and God (Great and Glorious is He!) shall say, 'O Muhammad! What would you have me do with your nation?' 'O my Lord!' I reply, 'Make brief their reckoning!' And thus shall I continue to intercede until I am given to release men who have already been sent to Hell, so that Malik, the guardian of Hell, shall say, 'O Muhammad! I have not left any remnant of your nation to the wrath of your Lord!' (Tabarani, al-Mujam al-Kabir)

In a world where we are living with constant bombardment from the media and our surroundings to transform ourself into materialistic beings and to look only after our own back - we need to go back to the teachings of the prophet (saw) & we need to go back to seerah and learn about compassion, love, mercy - we need to lead a life with all the necessary components to live. We need to learn how we can love others and have a compassionate and merciful heart towards others - which makes this life even more beautiful and worth living for. After all, in the end we all return to our Lord with nothing but just a peice of cloth and the good deeds we have earned in our account.

Truly, praise is for Allah, for not only has He made us followers on one of His Prophets, He made us followers of the greatest of His Prophets, the mercy to all of creation, peace and blessings be upon him, his family and his companions.

The healing power of the divine words

2005-04-10T00:56:00.000-04:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

One of the many attributes of the Holy Quran is As-Shifa, which means the healing. Subhanallah! For every situation every subject matter and related to every separate occasion there is always something to refer to and soothe your heart from the book of Allah (swt). Whether you hear to the recitation or recite it yourself and reflect and contemplate on the meaning - it sure relieves so much from an ached heart and brings such tranquility. How could something be so beautiful? How could it be so unique to carry so much power - in just words? Thats the magic of the Quran - a book with the words of the Allah (swt), the Lord of the world and the Sustainer of the universe! It just shows and makes us realize over and over again that the words of Allah (swt) can be of assistance for all occasions whether we are sad, bored,nervous, happy, gloomy, excited, groovy - you name it! and it truly is the best of medications for the worst of the ailments. No wonder it’s the rising of the Divine light, the link between mortality and eternity, existence and non-existence.

I remember hearing such miraculous stories where comma patients after being bed ridden for 2 months in the hospital bed comes back to life as the book of Allah (swt) were being recited continuously near the person. I also heard from my mother how my grandfather reacted to the recitation of the quran during his last few moments of life, in the fall of 2003, where initially he was being so restless and as my mother started reciting the quran sitting near his bed – she saw the serenity overcome his restlessness. Both my grandparents have been very dear and beloved to me; their presence was such a rahma from Allah (swt) and they have been such a blessing in my life and to all of us in our family. The relationship of blood and kinship are extraordinary even if we may not realize these days and indeed they have always had and will always occupy special place in our heart. Its almost been a decade that I have lost my grandmother and a little less than two years that my grandfather passed away – their memories as to how I used to tease them and have fun with them are still as vivid as that of yesterday. They are in my mind and thoughts very often and by Allah I miss them so so much. I haven’t been comfortable enough to express my feelings of their loss to anyone and may be this is the first time I am actually writing about this. I remember, when my dada passed away I was in Albany, it was my first semester in the masters program; the whole day I was feeling very restless and extremely impatient – I remember having a three hour health economics class in which I could neither concentrate nor understand anything as my mind was preoccupied by the thought of home. I couldn’t wait to call home and find out if everything was alright. Then the moment it was evening here I thought may be I can call as its almost time for people to wake up for fajr salaah. So, I called home and it was around 4 in the morning there and my mom answered the phone. I could hear people around her as if it was evening time – the house full of people; then I realized something is very unusual. A part of me was trying to convince myself that there are people around because it’s the month of Ramadan – so may be everyone stayed over at our house and people are up for suhur. But it turned out that my grandfather passed away few hours ago. Everybody at home were atleast together to console each other and face the loss together. I was here trying to deal with it on my own. After I hung up the phone with my mom, flashback of the old days with my dada came vividly in my mind – how while I was in school dada was my buddy for lunch and dinner; he was my savior whenever it came to escape the scolding of my parents. He was the person who always encouraged me to build a relationship with the quran and not to miss salaah. Little did I understand the value of those advices at that time. Today, after a good one and a half years later- on a Saturday evening as I am sitting on my desk – I reflect on such words of wisdom that were so simple yet carried such insight to be a persons best companion.
Till today it bugs me and the fact that I didn’t see my grandfather during his last moments or the fact that I never expected him to pass away without any prior notice will bother me for probably as long as I live – ‘cause I will not be able to see that person anymore, who has been so dear to me since my childhood & since I can recall. I remember when we were young and would play outside the house in the evening – dada would be reading the quran in the veranda and keep an eye on the kids (at the same time). When done he would show his interest to join us the kids. Whenever I visit home I realize their absence more than anything.

I remember, the time when both my grandparents were alive. I was studying in Dhaka for my O’levels and I used to go back home to Chittagong every weekend. It was routine for me to run to my grandmother’s room first thing as I would step in the house and then to look for my grandfather. Out of that habit, even couple of times after my grandmother passed away, as I went home on the weekends, unconsciously I ran to her room only to find an empty room and the fact that the person is no longer among us. InshaAllah they are in a far better place now and may Allah (swt) be pleased with them and they be pleased with their condition in the hereafter. May Allah (swt) grant them both jannah and make the next world a much better place, and may He (swt) forgive them from the punishment of grave and the hellfire.

Having elderly people in a family can make such difference and brings so much baraka in the household. There are some special relations on this earth that Allah (swt) bestows us with to better teach us and make us understand such emotions as love and mercy – the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is one such type of relation. So, everything and every single person who have come across our lives are mortal and have a limitation to their time on earth - make the best of your time on this earth and make the most of your relationships. For verily, we do not know when the call from the next world comes and we may not have a chance to say goodbye.

I thought I was writing about the quran – and I got derailed from my actual intention. I guess I’m missing home too much these days L It’s all good. I miss them and irrespective of all the disagreements and all our shortcomings – I miss them big time. It always brings joy to my mind thinking about my grandparents and my family. Alhamdulillah! I have been blessed in this world by Allah (swt) – may He (swt) have mercy on me in the hereafter. InshaAllah, I’ll continue on the quran later on …

Letting it out :O

2005-04-05T18:47:00.000-04:00

I just sometimes have a hard time grasping the fact on how can some people simply cannot stick to their words and how they change their mind to justify that act which has to do little with their life and has more affect on the lives of other people with much higher intensity. I get so mad and so angry and so upset. I find myself so helpless and so lost. I don't know what i can do to help myself not to be bothered by these or what could be done to help such people to make them realize the importace of adhering to own words.

We are just too used to and comfortable having secular thoughts and ideas and living a life of pretence. When i look at my own self and my own family i see and find ourselves to have fallen victim of the norms and culture in the soceity (which has more to do with societal values & prestige and how people perceive it) and often we pay attention or even care to think about what is right to be done from the point of sharia; that is deciding on what would help us in our deen, dunya and in the akhira. We are struggling with our own selves trying to fit in with everyone and trying to be accepted in this world in the sight of others for few moments of recognition and thats all we think about. All we think about is how to live today in this world. How can i be popular among others? How can I earn some respect? How can i earn some praise ? Thats all? Is that all we should care about when we have been gifted with the best gift in creation? What about the akal and free will? Is that how we are to misuse our intelligence and free will just thinking of our few days in this world? How could we be so naive? How could we think of the benefit in this dunya and not about our benefit for the much longer life in the hereafter awaiting for us? Why are we so immeresed? How come we do not think about the Creator who controls everything and all thats in creation? Shouldn't we rather focus our attention on things that pleases the Creator? He is the Creator and the owner of all the creation that ever did, does and will exist in this universe - so if we earn the pleasure of the Creator we are sure to own the creation as well. Its like if you have the king, you own all the treasures he owns as well. But if its only his treasures where you have interest - no matter how much you take (which might seem enough to you), the king isn't yours and you looked at more of a short-term goal. This analogy was actually given in a lecture by Shyakh Husain Abdul Sattar and now when I think of all these, everything just falls into places so well. How come we do not think that way? We are no longer concerned about our situation on the Day of Judgement - we are more worried about our comfort and outlook as it would appear in front of the people around us. Its time we straighten our priorities so we don't prolong our sufferings on that day. I try to be of those who does everything for the sake of Allah(swt); i try and i try. But my efforts fall short and its not easy as it all boils down to who i am - HUMAN. A human who's weak in setting her priorities . I fall and i drown being bombarded with all thats around me. Its hard and its sad... I'm not complaining. However, i haven't given up hope and i will not let that happen for I know what Allah (swt) says, "Verily with hardship comes ease; and verily with hardship comes ease." So, i'll hang in there and be patient and inshaAllah i'll get strong enough to deal with such issues with more wisdom...

I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to sound pathetic by writing about my frustrations. But I thought its important that we understand very clearly that no matter how much we are trying to please the people around us - as long as we compromise our values and our own priroties, putting everything else in our to do list and serving Him to be the last thing in our agenda provided our time and energy permits - will lead us to be owned by this dunya and not owning it. We will fail to be good in the sight of others. How can we be good to others when we are not sincere to our relationship with the Lord? Isn't everything that we own is from His niyaama? So, don't we need to think and set priorities thanking Him for all that we have and in all that we do? But thats another thing if we are not sure of our priorities, and i don't want to get into that right now.

We are human and for each and every action of ours we have to answer to our Lord - are we prepared for that? We do not know when we would face death. Lets say we face death today - are we ready to stand in front of Him? This is a reminder to my ownself... that every second thats passing, its taking me closer to death. I should be happy as I'm drawing closer to the time to meet Him right? But am i truly? Am i prepared to face Allah (swt)? Am i truly longing to meet Him? Or i'm scared and too embarassed to face Him with the burden of my sins? Forgive me yaAllah and have mercy on me; help me be of those who are looking forward to meet you on that day and help me be of those who doesn't earn your wrath... Ameen.

Memorizing the Qur'an

2005-03-31T07:54:00.000-05:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Last night at the Troy masjid there was a celebration, for a brother have finished memorizing the whole quran. So there was a little gathering after salatul isha. This brother apparently has been working full time and finished memorizing the whole Quran in about one and a half years or so, inspite of having other responsibilities such as taking care of parents, wife etc. Then Imam Djafer (who happens to be such a wonderful wonderful man and one of my favorite person in this community being a teacher, guide, guardian) mentioned that there's another brother who is going to college full-time and is down with 25 juz. MashaAllah! Being an engineering major in a private college and then devoting free time to the knowledge of this deen is not something seen very often these days. There are numerous sayings of the prophet (saw) that mention the merits of memorizing the Quran. Like one hadith goes like: On the Day of Judgment, Allah (swt) will tell us to recite and elevate our position in the heaven and the last verse that we recite our place thats where we stop. I know - thinking of elevating in heaven is too much when we can't even think of passing the test of the grave - let alone being promoted to the higher heaven. But inshaAllah! we all can try and try our best to seek His(swt) pleasure and mercy. The story on memorizing Quran that impressed me the most is that of a friend's mother, who memorized the whole quran during her pregnancy while she was going to college and also had a household with five kids and a husband to take care of! So, she finished the quran memorization in approximately nine months. Now that's dedication! It shows us how careful she has been with using her time - MashaAllah. May Allah (swt) give that tawfiq and dedication to more men and women. Ameen! So, this tells us that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala surely assists and rewards those who intends to do something for His and His pleasure alone.

Another story in addition to be above. This kid was going to regular school and at that time he was in 6th Grade. He was also a part-time Hifz school (quran memorizing school) student, then one day his mother took him away from school and admitted him to the hifz school full-time. She knew there would be hardship and it won't be easy to catch up with the class and that he might fall back - but she was determined to make her son memorize the book of Allah (swt). Not only the mother did want it - the son also wanted to do that out of his own will. Thats really unusual for a kid of 6th grade to have such feeling. MashaAllah! ANyways, the kid finished memorizing the quran in two years and when he returned back to regular school, his class mates were two years ahead of him. He started off in grade 6 and within a year of his school time he was doing so well that he was given double promotion. Not only that eventually, he graduated high school ahead of his class and with distinct honors! Subhanallah! This is how Allah (swt) helps you when you do something for His cause. This just shows us how Allah (swt) can assist a person if the true intention is there and if we are willing to take one step towards Him. If we sincerely with our pure intention take one step towards Him, He (swt) will facilitate other doors for us and open such doors that we never ever expected. Its very important we keep asking ourselves every once in a while - why are we doing this? What do i want to get out of it? Who am i trying to please? Am i doing it for the sake of Allah (swt)? We need to check our intention... and inshaAllah He (swt) will assist us.

How many of us today actually devote our time to such noble acts as memorizing the quran or taking leave to learn about deen? We do not even think it's important. Sadly, we all have been so materialized that we hardly think of our profit and loss account in terms of the long-term goal. Moreover, in some countries the educational system has been made such that, people who does the worst in the standardized examinations, they are the ones who go to learn islamic history. Students with good grades go for med school, engineering school and we even look down on people when we hear that so and so person is studying Islamic History. Subhanallah! Look at the history and a little glimpse will make us realize that great scholars in Islam such a Imam Ghazali, Ibn Sina and you name it - they were the best of the students in their time. Their teachers realized their potential and directed them to the study of deen. Islam flourished not becasue of the mollahs who thinks women are not to drive cars and women needs to stay home and take care of the household - thats the only work of women. No! Islam flourished becasue over the centuries and over a period of 14 centuries it has produced the best and the best of the physicians, mathematicians, philosophers, poets who were so attached to their spiritual aspect as well. Unfortunately, these days, we have become more short-term goal oriented, where we cannot think beyond this world and are happy as long as we have a car, a house, a job and some money in the checking account (not to mention the credit cards and the bills due). Why are we all in this state inspite of having the QUran and Sunnah as our guidance? We can't blame the west! That's just wrong to hold this society and its global influence responsible for our weak soul. We have forgotten how to feed our soul - rather we engage in feeding and satisfying our sight and mind. As our prophet (pbuh) said, as the day of judgement comes nearer, the sun will rise from the west! A lot of scholars say that this means that as the Day of Judgment comes nearer, transmission of knowledge would be from the west to the east rather than what has been the usual practice in history. Isn't current situation of the world telling us exactly that? Going to the conference last weekend made me comprehend this matter - as so many young people went to the conference to learn about their deen and gain sacred knowledge from the scholars instead of just spending their spring break weekend going for some tracking or skiing lesson or going for some movies or the disney land - to HAVE SOME FUN! I'm not against all those activities - we all do need to have some relaxing time, but i guess we also need to prioritize our objective as to what really counts and what should count? Are we going to taste death in a state of peace and iman or we are too attached to this dunya to even think of death? Are we preparing ourselves and looking forward to meet our beloved - Allah (swt) ? Do we think about these issues at all? We are so far from what we should be as muslims - we need to work on our inner beings first before taking care of anything else. But khair inshaAllah, Allah Himself is in charge of spreading His own deen and as we disappoint Him in fulfilling our duty to serve Him, He(swt) will raise another nation that can do that job. May Allah (swt) guide us all and save us from the hardships of this dunya and the akhira. -Ameen

Yeah... its time to get ready to head out for work...!

Monday morning after the EZ

2005-03-28T07:02:00.000-05:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The messages conveyed by the speakers at the EZ 2005 was not just mind blowing but very reflective and very stirring! It was truly an awakening experience and that makes me kind of sad when i realize that my contribution in this deen to serve Allah (swt) has been zero or probably negative. It made me realize that I'm not doing enough to my true potential and probably i'm even unaware where my potential lies. I'm feeling so sad thinking about that; the words from Shyakh Husain Abdul Sattar's sessions are still echoing in my mind as to how negligent i have so long been to my relationship with Allah (swt). Fatima (RA) in her life of 29 years earned jannah in the hereafter & was told by Allah (swt) - the lord of the universe, to be one of the four women in creation who have attained perfection! Subhanallah! Its one to be told by your peers that you have attained perfection. Then its another thing that your elders and your teachers tell you that. But it was the lord of the whole wide world and what exists in this universe - Who said that she (RA) have attained perfection! Can you imagine?

Hearing their stories and reflecting on their lives, full of struggle in this dunya yet their heart- full of taqwa and iman, can only do two things - bring tears in my eyes and an ache in my heart. The ache so deep and significant and it arises as we compare ourselves and our achievement in earning nearness to our Lord; it arises becasue no matter how much we strive and how much we plead we can never attain that level of perfection. We have wronged our soul enough and we are so grounded in this dunya that we do not even think about the grave, let alone the day of judgement and the consequences to follow. We are so much drowned in the luxury of this dunya that hearing about the hearafter doesn't have any impact on our heart - and within minutes of discussion we are at ease to get back to our laughng and joking, thinking that "oh! the day of judgement is far and not to be thought about in this dunya. Or may be - we are too young to think about it.We have enough time to repent; we are syill young to devote ourselves to the path of Allah, we'll do that when the right time comes; at young age we should act like young people and have fun". The sahabas used to cry profusely in fear of the next world and just thinking about it they would shiver - and they are the ones who were the most perfect in this deen and indeed Allah(swt) is pleased with them and they are will Allah (swt)! And look at us- what are we doing? How many times do we think of the punishments that are awaiting in the grave? How many times during the day do we seek refuge from the punishment of grave, from the hellfire, from the fitnah of this life and death, and from the fitnah of Dajjal? How many times do we even think about our Lord and His bounties in our life and are grateful for His provision?
No matter how much good deeds we have in our account it will and will definitely fall short on that day. Its time we become God conscious even though we know how very merciful He is and how Forgiving our Lord is. The message of Islam will never be weak and it will reach each and every corner of this world and every single household as promised by Allah (swt) Himself - as He Himself promised that and mentioned that His deen will be taken care of. If we are afraid that Islam is getting a bad image and that its under attack - we are so very wrong! Its the muslims who are in that positions as their words and actions are not in coherence. We do not need to worry about taking this message to the whole world - what we rather need to worry about is whether Allah (swt) would choose us to be among those who would be blessed to represent His deen.

May Allah (swt) give us the chance to be among those who He loves and not of those who earns His wrath. May He (azza wa jal) forgive our misdeeds and accept out isteghfar. May He(swt) make us of those whose hearts are soft and God fearing and may He guide us all so we are able to make the most of our remaining days of this temporary staying in this world and earn His Mercy on the Day of Judgement - Ameen!

Good Friday & EZone conference

2005-03-25T15:55:00.000-05:00

Although I get this urge to sign-in and add entry at times when i go through the extreme swings of my mood, i end up coming and actually adding an entry when I do tend to stabilize myself from being extremely happy or satisfied with a situation. Sometimes a part of me have wanted to come when things bothers me and makes me very upset , but i ended up not talking about it or try to pretend that everything around us is perfect!

Almost everyone left work early today and i happen to be one of the three left in this floor (i'm leaving in approximately 12 minutes though)! Its good friday - the friday before the Easter, and that happens to be the reason for people leaving early for home. Taking that into consideration i get the advantage to leave an hour early as well! But hey! I have a reason too! I'm heading out for the greyhound bus station to catch a bus with my buddy Dian- so that we can attend the MSA East Zone conference 2005 in NYC. Yaaaeeee!!!

So, i'll update my blog once i return and settle down inshaAllah! Gotta go now... masalaama=)

Weekends Over =(

2005-03-07T03:16:00.000-05:00

The weekend passes by so quickly=( When sunday evening comes you end up asking urself - O its over? Back to school/work tomorrow? No!!! So, i had fun in my own way - reading articles and watching movies like Hannibal and Red Dragon. I just love the performance of Anthony Hopkins! Every role he plays, specially in the Dr. Lecter's role, he's so unique, stylish, and charismatic and this character suits him so much! I can't think of anybody who could be this brilliant as Hannibal Lecter. Even though he's the cannibal in the character, you cannot hate him even for the split of a second and you just got to admire him and never get enough of his dialouges!

In between the commercial times i was reading articles and this new book(which is so so good:) ). Came across several hadiths & traditions of the Prophet (saw) that i just have to share. The following are some sayings of Rasulallah (saw) that has been read over and over - yet when we come across them in books or articles they always bring such enlightenment and freshness to the heart as if are being read for the first time...

1. In relation to faith and morality:
"The man who has these three habits is a hypocrite even if he observes fast, offers prayers, performs umra (pilgrimage), and calls himself a Muslim: when he talks he speaks untruth, when he makes a promise he does not keep it, and when he is given something in trust, he commits dishonesty." -( Muslim ).

2. Poor man on the Day of Judgement:
Who is poor ? One day the Prophet asked his dear companions whether they knew who was poor. They answered that poor was one who had no dirham or dinar (money)' He said:
"In my Ummah, the poor is that man who would appear on the Day of the Judgment before Allah; he had offered prayer; he had paid Zakat ;he had observed fast; but he would have abused somebody, he would have falsely accused some one; he would have unauthorizedly taken some one else's property; he would have murdered some one; would have hit some body. All his virtues would be given to his victims. If his Virtues are finished before his wicked deeds are finished, then the errors and sins of the victims would be given to him and he would be thrown into the Hell.'' (Muslim)
Such a man is really poor. His condition is like that trader who has goods worth one thousand rupees but he is a debtor for two thousand rupees. How can such a man be called rich ? Source: http://www.islamfortoday.com/character.htm

3."Charity (sadaqah) is due upon every joint of a person on every day that the sun rises. Administering justice between two people is an act of charity; and to help a man concerning his riding beast by helping him on to it or lifting his luggage on to it is an act of charity; a good word is charity; and every step which you take to prayer is charity; and removing that which is harmful from the road is charity." (reported by Abû Hurayrah (radiyAllâhu 'anhu) )
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"They were youths, yet mature youths, their eyes fresh and free of evil, their feet refrained from approaching falsehood and futility. They sacrificed and expended themselves in worship and in withholding themselves from sleep. They sold their souls which were to pass away for souls which would never die. Allâh saw them in the latter part of the night, bending their backs, reciting the Qur'ân. Whenever one of them came to an Ayah mentioning Paradise, he would weep, longing for it. Whenever he came upon an Ayah mentioning the fire he would groan out of fear, as if the Hell-fire were directly in front of him. The earth devoured their knees their hands and their foreheads. They joined exhaustion in the night with exhaustion in the day. Their colour becoming yellowed and their bodies emaciated through standing long in prayer and frequent fasting – whilst they regarded their own actions to be negligible before Allâh. They fulfilled their covenant with Allâh and attained Allâh's promise." - Jamarah Khutabil 'Arab (2/475) of Ahmad Zakiyy Safwat.

May Allah (swt) help us become one of them and let us all hasten to resemble them inshaAllah.... Ameen!

Thank you Allah...

2005-03-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Sometimes i just wonder about the way my life and my values in life have changed at different stages of my existence. Today when I'm almost quater of a century on this earth, and being thousands of miles away from home & family, as i reflect on yesterday, I realize that I'm glad and grateful to Allah (swt) for each and every single thing that He(swt) has blessed me with - my parents, family, friends, and most important of all for this deen (AL-Islam: which of-course is complete and "the way of life")! Therefore, I strive to be the best in every role that i have to play and be at my best behavior and at my best level in all that i do.

I love my parents so very much - when i think of the mercy and love they have always had on me, it only brings tear in my eyes, out of joy and gratefulness to Allah(swt). The other day i learned (which i thought interesting and reflective enough to share) that of the three main reasons mahabba (love) arises, one of them is "when someone does good to you and when they sacrifice for you." How can we count and even keep track of the good that our parents have done for us and the sacrifice they have done just so that they can provide the very best to us? Not easy and can't even pay back a millimeter of the khair they have done to us! Even today when we are grown ups they worry about your welfare and all they want for you is "khair" - we keep thinking its not hard. Well, I don't know! As i don't see kids( i recall myself being one of those) sacrifising even the weekend gateaway with friends for their parents (so that they may spend time with parents for the sake of Allah (swt)) .

As it is, being away from them is not easy and its something i had to get used to. I hope i can be forgiven for all the wrongs i have done to them and for all my ignorance. I thank Allah (swt) for providing me with such wonderful parents - who are simply the best in the whole wide world. Theres so much to learn from them - yet we think they are backdated and we try to teach them! May Allah (swt) forgive us for our shortcomings! Thank you Allah (swt) for blessing me with your deen (al-Islam) and the best parents in this world:) May You grant them a long healthy life with strong iman and may You increase their love for You, the Prophet Muhammad (saw), his companions and his family.

First Blog - Jummah day =)

2005-02-18T17:41:00.000-05:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Salaam:) So, here's my first blog entry! Diary in the world wide web (a diary to share with the whole world)! Wohooo! Not all technology is cool, and sometimes it might be devastating. No privacy and people even feel good about sharing horrible things online. Well, not everyone writes about their pathetic life - and i guess i will try to avoid being one.

Anywayz, today is Friday, which happens to be my favorite day of the week - the best day. It's Jummah - a very special day - a day i look forward to! There's a special feeling about this day - it brings a happy feeling inside and brings so much energy. Usually here people's week ends on friday and that's why they are joyful this day. For me - i like this day not only for the fact that i get a chance to listen to the Friday Sermon which is delivered prior to the friday prayer, but it also means attending the weekend study circle, cooking, doing laundry, and going back to sleep after fajr=) All of which makes this day extraordinary!

Apart from the above facts, for Muslims, this is a very important day. Why is the day of Jumu’ah so important? The reasons being: 1. this is the day Adam (may peace be upon him) was created; 2. this is the day when he (AS) and Hawa left paradise and started their life on earth; and 3. This is the day when the universe will come to an end! That is, the Day of Judgment would be on a Friday. It is related that on this day the whole of creation – insects, animals, plants etc. are very scared as they understand that this could be that Day! Being the best of creations – humans do not even find this day to be of that significance. It’s sad if we think of the fact that how we prefer to spend our time and hours doing things which helps us in no way – neither in this world nor would it be beneficial in the hereafter, and specially Friday we use mostly as a day to start our weekend – to party, eat, socialize and such type.

We are also in a very special month of the Islamic calender. Today is the 9th day of Muharram, 1426 A.H. Just 9 days back we stepped into a new year in the Hijri calender and here's another year ahead of us.

Hmm... well have been trying to call a childhood friend in the morning, but wasn't able to get her through. Thought it would be a good idea to catch up and inshaAllah remind each other of this special month. After all that's why we are all here, right? To remind each other! There's a very old saying - Time and tide wait for none. There's another saying in Islamic tradition; it's a hadith (saying of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sahbihi wa sallaam) which says, "There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) health and free time for doing good.” (Bukhari). I guess we realize about time (may be?) when we think of our childhood and it feels just like yesterday. But if we actually count the number of years then it is another story. Very often we postpone things in our life - and we take time and our health for granted. We tend to have an attitude that we know where and what state we would be tomorrow. Subhanallah! When will we, human, realize?
May Allah (swt) help us make use of these two resources more effectively and efficiently.

InshaAllah I'll try to make use of this blog wisely and not make it all about I, me & myself! Since, this is my blog and i get a chance to shout out, therefore, the entries would obviously reflect my thoughts and concern; however, issues that I'll touch upon would be more relevant to my own need. What i mean by that is: if i write something it would be so that I can help myself understand and remind myself of my own shortcomings so I may work on them and correct them. And inshaAllah if people have patience to read then hopefully they'll reap some benefit. I would not care to pay much attention to grammars as I usually tend to type out as it comes on my mind.

May Allah (swt) give us the tawfiq to improve ourselves, see our shortcomings, give us the ability to correct them and achieve a better state in our relationship to Allah azza wa jaal, increase our love for the best of the creation - Rasulallah (saw), and get better each day in this deen. Ameen.