If only..

‘…And, verily, a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon’ [al-Hajj 22:47]

Let that sink in. Let it marinate within your soul and creep into your pores. A thousand years of ours is one day in the sight of Allah.

Now ask yourself: How much could you accomplish in the span of 24hrs? If you wake up at 8am, go to work or school until 4:30pm, come home and do your housework. Before you know it; its time to prepare for bed. That was your day and tomorrow will be the same. Now imagine a thousand of those equaled to only 24hrs with Allah.

Stop and realize that none of us will ever live a thousand years. None of us will ever live to see 1000. None of us will have ever even lived for a day with Allah. How scary is that? Does it make your stomach drop to know that the same dunya you clung to and chased after, the same dunya that you sacrificed your deen for could not even amount to one day for you? That’s why on the day of judgment when we are asked how long we remained on this earth we will reply ‘’a day or part of a day’’ and Allah will tell us that we stayed ‘’only but a little; if only you had known’’

Known what? If only you had known to not take off your hijab to please other people. If only you had known to tell your friends to turn off the music. If only you had known to stop wearing tight clothes. If only you had known to stop talking to guys. If only you had known to read the quran more. If only you had known to make better friends. If only you had known to practice your religion. If only you had known to pray salah. If only you had known to stop back biting. If only you had known to be good to your parents. If only you had known to call others to the truth. If only you had known solitude was your best friend. If only you had known the reward of paradise and the beauty of it. If only you had known the punishment of hell and the terrors of it.

If only you had known the beauty of your Lord and the extent of His forgiveness. If only you had known the love your Lord had for you and his vast Mercy. If only you had known your existence was merely to worship Him. If only you had known He wanted the ocean for you but you were amazed with a puddle of rain. If only you had known that everything would perish except for Him.

If only…

If only you had known this world was only but a day or part of a day.

The concept of time

Asalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu,

I’ve been thinking lately. About the concept of time. Its something that I just can’t seem to understand. Where does it go? Why can’t we see it leaving?

Have you ever sat down and thought about the concept of time? Have you ever dreamed of a day and waited for it to happen, unable to imagine that day actually approaching? But then that same day passes you by without you even taking notice? Think about it tomorrow morning you will have already read this post, meanwhile you are just at the beginning of it right now. You would have gone to bed and woken up. But you can’t imagine that right now can you? You are stuck in the present.

Where does the time go? When I think about it in detail it makes my heart race and leaves me with an unspeakable sadness. The other day a friend and me were discussing the concept of time and it left us speechless. More or less in about 60 years from now we will no longer be on this earth. We will be a mere memory at the least. Someone people mention in passing, or maybe someone none mentions at all. This very moment, me sitting in my living room typing away at my laptop will never be the same. I will never get to relive that moment. Doesn’t that scare you?

It scares me to the core of my existence that I am but an hourglass, and with each particle of fallen sand my life is withering away. Life is in the now. You cannot go back and change it once your time runs out, and the funny part about life is that you do not see it coming or going. Doesn’t that scare you?

We spend our lives in search of this world, and the goods within it. Every awakening moment is spent trying to better our careers, our homes, and our friendships. But the hourglass is still going. Yet we are caught up in the delusions of this life unaware of how much time we have left. Imagine if you had an hourglass above your head with your time remaining, how then would you go about the land? Any second could be your last. Doesn’t that scare you?

We don’t get it do it over again, we don’t get a second chance. When your time is up, that’s it- shows over. Your account is between you and Allah. And the life you lived, tell me what was it worth? Was it worth all the fun and games? Do you really believe we were created for mere play, and to Our Lord we wouldn’t return? Did you believe your sole purpose in this world was to build yourself a home in this temporary enjoyment? What did you think we were here for? For if it had been anything short of a test, then Allah would have allowed us to have fun in heaven. We were sent to this earth as a test. Doesn’t that scare you?

When you think about the concept of time. Try to imagine eternal; day after day after day. Can your brain really imagine that? Think of all the things you can do, sleep, eat, play, talk, whatever your heart desires—without an hourglass above your head. This will go on forever. It’s hard to grasp the concept of forever isn’t it? But that will be our final outcome. Isn’t it hard to grasp the fact that although now you are reading this, one day you will be standing infront of your Lord? One day you will be gathering for reckoning? And I swear to you By the Lord of the Kacbah that day is approaching while we still don’t understand the concept of time. Doesn’t that scare you?

Oh my brothers and sisters in Islam, take advantage for the days are short and numbered, and one day we will be from amongst the people of the grave. I beg of you to all return to Allah with a beautiful repentance and start paying attention to the time slipping between your fingers. We were not made for this world, our home is in the hereafter.

 

I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the last and final messenger… There are 3 groups of Muslims. 1) Those that sin. 2) Those who don’t sin and warn others. 3) Those who don’t sin but don’t warn others. Ya Allah do not write me amongst the first and third group of Muslims. To anyone this message reaches, know that it is obligatory upon the Muslim to enjoin good and forbid evil wherever it may be.

Friend or Foe?

Have you ever thought of the term ‘friendship’ and what exactly it denotes? Have you ever taken a look at the people that surround you on a daily basis and asked yourself are these my friends?

I have, and guess what? They weren’t my friends. Till this day I’m not really sure what they were but they existed and they were good people. But I want to make one thing clear; good people do not always equate to good friends like were lead on to believe and the beauty in life lies in knowing which hands to shake, and which hands to hold.

There was a time in my life where I was very well known and had a lot of friends; fortunately that time is no longer. When I pass by people on the street and they greet me with, ‘’omg you’ve been MIA where were you’’ that is the greatest compliment I could ever be given. The truth is that I’ve witnessed a lot of things and I never understood the whole concept of being friends for the sake of Allah, because the ones that I did have couldn’t be trusted or weren’t really a friend to me when it mattered most. I overlooked flaws and mistakes times and times again but came to a conclusion that we were friends, yes, but not for the sake of Allah.

I longed for a friend that I would come to and depart from for the sake of Allah. By Allah I had no relationship like this, solely built on the sake of Allah, because every friendship would lead us to eventually rarely bringing up Allah. I would make a friend and we would begin only involved in khayr together and spreading khayr together but we would eventually get into the comfort zone, which I call the dunya over deen zone. We would no longer study and review with each other, rather we would only laugh and enjoy with each other. And all of those friendships had something in common; they eventually ended.

I learned what being friends for the sake of Allah was from a sister in Kitchener. In which between her and me was only Allah. We met in the way of Allah and departed in the way of Allah. We studied together and cried together. It was beautiful and I loved every bit of her. Due to Allah testing her I wasn’t able to see her for about 5 months, then finally one day I seen her randomly and jumped on her, almost immediately she began sobbing and at first I didn’t notice it but then it became very noticeable as it was loud now. So I asked her, ’’why are you crying?’’ and her reply is what will stick with me forever, she said, ‘’because I think of how we met and how we used to study together and it makes me sad in a happy way and I miss those days.’’ She then excused herself and went off in a corner to cry by herself. Right before then I had no idea what being friends for the sake of Allah was but she taught me a lesson I will value forever.

Your true friend is he who reminds you of Allah 24 hours of the day. Your true friend is he who rejoices upon seeing you due to your mutual love of Allah. Your true friend is he who you sat with in circles of knowledge and benefitted with. Your true friend is he who doesn’t allow you to slip up and is there for you like training wheels on a bicycle. Your true friend is he who worries about your akhira the same way he worries about his own. Your true friend is the student of knowledge. May Allah enable us to be such friends.

We ask Allah to make us of the righteous ones and give us companions that will take us away from His Wrath and lead us to His Pleasure and Paradise.

O Laila, you are officially dead.

Dearest Laila, You are dead.

My most beloved, Laila, with a heavy heart I am saddened to inform you that you are dead. You are no longer referred to by your name but they call you the body. You are no longer beautiful but you are slowly fading away. Your skin is pale and you have an uncomfortable smell coming from you. You lay there lifeless as a couple people whom you are unfamiliar with begin washing your body. Where is mother? Where is my family and loved ones? You cannot speak or turn yourself over as you were just able to the day prior to this. You weren’t even expecting it, we had plans for tomorrow! A white cloth is brought and wrapped around you, and you are placed in a fridge until it is time for your funeral prayer. It is called, ”bring the body” on the day of the funeral, everyone comes in the room to say there last words. But wait—where is everyone leaving me to? No! Stay with me, come with me, don’t leave me all alone. Please anyone? anyone? None can hear you, and your scared, I know. But this is only the beginning. You had time to prepare but you delayed and for you today is no happiness.

My dearest Laila, you knew this day would come for us, why were you so heedless? Why did you waste countless hours that we must now answer for? Where was your youth spent? and How was your health and wealth spent? What will we answer to Allah? Oh Laila, what will we answer to Allah?

How did he look? The angel of death? Was he happy to see you or did you regret your whole existence at the very sight of him? Where did he meet you Ya Laila? Were you doing the deeds of the people of jannah during your last breaths or were we amongst the greatest losers? What did he say? Was it the greeting of the people or jannah, or were we greeted with punishment eternally? Ya Laila, how could we have expected the greetings of bliss when our whole lives were based on corruption?

What did we say O cherished soul? When they questioned us in the grave? Did we know who our Lord was? Did we know our religion? Did we even know our prophet? Ya Laila, how could we have possibly known these answers when we spent our whole life in neglect towards them and delayed learning about them?

How was your grave? Was it comfortable? Did we have a window to jannah opened up for us? Was it as far as the eyes could see? Or rather were we amongst those with the view of hell fire? Ya Laila, how could we have possibly been given the view of jannah when our whole life we chased after hell?

Where was your final abode O dead one? Were you given the glad tidings of paradise? Or were we amongst those whose faces were scorched by the fire? Ya Laila, what else would have been the outcome for doers of evil? Did you expect to be amongst the prophets? the righteous? the martyrs? and the truthful?

Which hand were you given it in? Your book of deeds, that now you must read? What did it say? And how did you feel reading it? Ya Laila, how could you have expected to read something of beauty? When for 20 years you did nothing expect fill it with bad?

How was it? The standing in front of Allah? When He asked you about everything you wish He hadn’t? When your body parts began to testify against you when you began to lie about the deeds in your book? Ya Laila, how did you expect Allah to pardon you when your whole life was in disobedience to Him? When all you did was walk further and further away from Him each passing day?

The bridge. You were always scared of it O regretful soul, did you fall over it? Did it cut you? Did you walk or crawl over it? Were you in pain? Ya Laila, did you really think you would be given the reward of passing over it with ease when you never deserved it?

Everyday it is said: so and so has died. And there must come a day when it will be said: Laila has died. May Allah grant us all the ability to prepare for death before our graves are prepared for us. This is a reminder for myself of the outcome that will happen if I don’t strive in the way of Allah. Death is a true reality and we are all promised it. If you don’t prepare for it who will do it? You are the carpenter of your home in the hereafter build it perfectly and with precise measurements and make it as comfortable as possible because remember, you’ll be there awhile. 🙂 

The single story..

Asalamu ‘alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu,

I pray that everyone is in a good state of imaan and health as those are the two main important factors in life. I’d like to quickly apologize to my followers for my lack of blogging, inshaAllah in Ramadan I hope to be able to post more, but thank you all for continuing to follow me.

Bismillah,

Recently I was given the worst advice of my life. Although the sisters who gave me this advice might see this I would like to sincerely say that by no way shape or form is this a means of disrespect, instead I wanted to break the cycle of this single story that troubled me.

A single story is story that gets told over and over again until that becomes the only story, what I mean by this is say for example the single story of Muslim people is that we are all terrorists and it has been told over and over again to the extent where that is now our image. Just like a stereotype it is something that sticks with people and is nearly impossible to break. See the problem with single stories is not that they are untrue but it is that they are incomplete. Incomplete and broken down to choose the side of the story that the person would like to be told leaving out all other aspects.

As I sat on the stage of my wedding a sister approached me and began talking to me, being in a daze it was only after the wedding that what she said had sunk into me, what this sister had told me was, ”don’t do everything for your husband, he will never appreciate it and will walk all over you because of that.” I was stunned. Furthermore prior to my wedding another sister advised me against, ”giving my all to my husband” and trying to be the ”super wife” doing chores that he could do himself and was possibly doing prior to getting married, I was continuously told not to make my world revolve around him and not to go above and beyond for him because someday, somehow he would turn around and become ungrateful and everything I would have done would have been done in vain. I was told that I was 20 years old and possibly did not understand any of this but if I didn’t listen to this advice I would regret it a couple years down the line. I was told I was young and naive and was probably going to be taken advantage of by my husband due to my carefree nature.

Out of respect and love for the sister I took her advice respectfully and didn’t really bother going into depths of how I really felt at what she had said to me. Now I hope somehow that this post will reach someone who is oh too familiar with this single story and will decide to put an end to it.

What I didn’t understand was where this mentality had stemmed from? Where the ideology that you do something in order to get recognition and thanks from someone came from? Where people thought it was okay to not do your best because MAYBE just maybe the person might be ungrateful 10 years down the line? This post is not about marriage it is far beyond that and I ask of you to open your eyes and hearts to this message.

Allah tells us in the Quran, ”Truly man is, to his Lord, ungrateful” the nature of human beings is ungrateful. If we are ungrateful to our Lord then what do you think would be the case with the common folk? The beauty in this is that although we are ungrateful to Allah he does not stop providing for us, granting us what we ask, taking care of us, although He knows that we might never thank Him for giving whatever it is to us, He does not hold us accountable for that in this life, He does not tell us because we are ungrateful He will do nothing for us. There is beauty in that. Think of your mother, you probably come home to a clean home with food cooked everyday, now you might remember to say thank you for the first month, but after a month it becomes a routine, something that you are used to so you begin to forget the favours she does for you and don’t remember to say thank you for it. Keep in mind though, that does NOT mean you do not acknowledge what she does because everyone takes a mental note of what is done for them, you just might not vocalize it anymore. Your friends they probably sacrifice hours of there time listening to your seemingly pointless stories and supporting you over and over again even when you mess up and they never ask from you a thank you and you probably never give it, now tell me does that mean that you don’t love that friend?

Now with marriage, the advice the sister gave me might just possibly be true, I might sit there 20 years down the line and reflect over when the last time I was given a thank you was, I might feel unappreciated and taken for granted. But why is something that is not guaranteed (i.e, my husband being ungrateful down the line) be the justification of how I approach my marriage. And that is the problem with the youth now a days, now I know this sister thought I was young and naive but trust me I am wise beyond my years. I will never use someones actions as an excuse for mine. What ever happened to doing things solely for the sake of Allah? Why must we receive something in return? Is your reward that is with Allah not sufficient for you? Or would you rather get all your rewards in this life and return to Allah with nothing in store for you? There were people who asked me, ”oh what did so and so get you as a gift, what did so and so do for you to help you?” and if the answer was in the negative I was told, ”don’t worry who’s going to help her when the roles are reversed and it is her big day.” How is this okay? What has blackened our hearts to the extent that we don’t do good just for the mere sake of doing good? What has made us a nation of benefit? So what if someone doesn’t thank me? That is none of my business but if I can help them I will help them with every bit of strength I have left in me. So what if I strive to be the ”super wife” and in exchange gain Jannah due to the happiness my husband has with me? So what if I go above and beyond and it is not mutual? Are we not aware of the ayah that Allah tells us in the Quran that Our Lord does not forget? The Human may or may not forget but Allah will never forget. Always be in service, be the volunteer at the conference who worked extra hard with no recognition, be the guest at a party who does the dishes, do the jobs that are least valued and under thanked and do it for the sake of Allah and I promise you nothing but happiness will evolve from this.

Let us change this and go back to the way of the sahabas and salafs who did good for the sake of doing good and would prefer nothing be done in exchange for them. Let not the actions of others affect the way you treat them. Let us strive to become individuals with clean hearts who are so worried about for filling the rights people have over them then worried about the rights that we have over people. Let not the single story affect you, change it, thank someone today, and help someone who can do nothing for you and watch the benefits it reaps in your life.

Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you! Remember that always. I leave you all in the care of Allah, as nothing is lost that is in His care. May Allah reward you all for reading and reward the sisters for the advice they had given me wallahi it was with good intentions that they had given it to me with.

Braille

Braille.. I titled this braille because I want you to feel what I wrote. I want it to sink into the depths of your skin until you feel it in your bones; I want it to enter your heart, mind, body and soul. I want you to feel each word just as if it was written in braille and you were a blind person.

Bismillah, with the aid and assistance of Allah I begin, this is too my sister in Islam, with love. Today during our conversation I became sad, I started thinking of ways to help you, started of thinking of things to say. And although I may not be good with words I hope that this may someway help you. This is the least I can do.

I remember when I first met you, I remember the exact day, the room, the setting, we hit it off right away although we are both not the type to hit it off with people right away. We talked and laughed with each other as if we had known each other our whole lives that day. I knew then and there that you were someone special and you reminded me of the hadith that when Allah loves someone He makes His whole creation love him or her. Today you told me that you were struggling with the Salah, and it was difficult for you to pray it. First let me start off with saying do not despair at the Mercy of Allah. I remember a time when I was younger I struggled with the same thing for many years, I would begin to pray and everything would be going good and eventually would find myself at square one again, but it is something I overcame and InshaAllah you will too.

This is my advice to you, my dear know that this world is two days and our departure is soon, we pack our bags before going to the airport so why don’t we pack our deeds with good before going to the grave? One thing that is never promised is a long life and a good ending so we must strive for that. My beloved, change does not always happen over night but it can, don’t wait for tomorrow begin today, what would happen if you woke up in your grave tomorrow morning instead of your bed and you hadn’t prayed isha and even worst hadn’t intended to pray fajr? My qalbi, what will become of us when we are bones and a thing forgotten about? Will we have our beautiful good deeds keeping us company or our bad ugly deeds keeping us company? My sister, do you desire this world and all that it contains? Or do you hope for a meeting with your Lord? Why do we go to school 5 times a week but can’t pray 5 times a day? What does that say about our heart and the condition of it? My love, do not forget that the shaydan had made a promise to Allah to misguide us all, so who’s side are you choosing? Will you assist the shaydan in his evil plot? I remind you of a verse in Surah Ibrahim, ”And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, “Indeed, Allah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves. I cannot be called to your aid, nor can you be called to my aid. Indeed, I deny your association of me [with Allah ] before. Indeed, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment.” I beg of you to not become of those people whom the shaydan will give that speech to on a day of great regret where we will bite our hands and wish we could go back to the dunya for a day. Start the change within yourself, cut out any bad people in your life, listen to Quran more until it becomes the coolness of your heart, listen to lectures, read books, do deeds that will bring you closer to Allah, learn about Allah. And most importantly remember that Salah is not a sunnah, it is a wajib. We do not have the choice to pray it or not. It is what makes us different from the kafir people, Salah is the first thing you are asked about on the day of judgment if that is good, everything else will be good, if that is bad everything else will be bad. Ask Allah sincerely to make Salah something easy for you, schedule your life around the timings of Salah so you never have to miss it. Know that if you straighten out your Salah your life will also become straightened out, without Salah in your life you will never truly be happy because Allah has promised us that if we forget Him, He will cause us to forget ourselves. Work for the akhira and watch how the dunya begins to work for you.

I leave you in the care of Allah as nothing left is the care of Allah is harmed. I sincerely pray that this is a battle you overcome. Salah is a problem that a lot of people struggle with for years and don’t get help with it so you seeking for help shows your love for Allah. I pray that you find coolness in Salah, and that your days and nights are filled with happiness due to longing for Allah. I pray that your last deed is your best deed, and you die on the kalimah. I pray that Allah increases you in beneficial knowledge. I pray that everyone else that struggles with Salah overcomes this and realizes the importance of Salah. I love you solely for the sake of Allah and will keep you in my dua’s. ❤

”…And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them.”

As-salamu ‘alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu,

I hope that you are all in a good state of imaan and health, and if not that you are working towards that. I wanted to share something that I’ve been thinking about since yesterday. I’m sure your all aware of the condition of habyar Habiba as I always blog about her but I thought I might update you all. On Saturday I took my mom and sister to meet her for the first time ever, I always talking about her and they were always interested in meeting her but we all never had a mutual moment of freeness if that’s what we may call it. But Alhamdulilah on Saturday afternoon as we were all laying around the house with nothing to do, I said, ‘’how bout we go visit habyar Habiba?’’ and to my surprise my mom said, ‘’perfect well go after maghrib.’’ Wallahi I was so happy I automatically jumped up and got dressed before anyone could back out of the plan. My sister was more hesitant to meet her because she was scared of how she would look and the situation that she would be in. Once we got there she was sleeping but upon our arrival she woke up and I told her that we had come to visit her and I introduced her to my mother and sister…We then began reading quran on her and my sister moved to the corner because she couldn’t stand watching her in that condition. I looked towards my mother and she was in tears standing over her making dua for her, I guess me explaining her situation and my family witnessing it was two different things. I then began to play with her hair and massage her head for her as she listened to her favorite reciter (Shaykh Ali Sufi, woot woot!!!) and she began to cry, but this time unlike any other time she began to cry hard and the tear dropped all the way down, so I reached to wipe her tears and she moved her hands towards the direction of mines, so I assured her that everything was okay. My mom began to cry harder and said, ‘’wallahi she is crying due to the gentleness of the way you are dealing with her and the kindness that you are showing her.’’ She kept looking at me and staring at me and I would smile at her and tell her how beautiful she was. Wallahi as Allah is my witness she began to try and speak and I cried harder because it was the cutest thing ever, she started making a noise from the throat and was trying her hardest to say something so my mom told me to tell her to take it easy and not push herself to talk but she kept looking at me wanting to say something. I then showed her my mom and she looked towards her seeing her. We then recited Quran on her and said our salams before we left because she was getting tired. My family left the room but I stayed back for a couple of seconds and kissed her knees and told her it was one of two things, her health back or jannahtul firdows and that was that and each of them were two good outcomes. I bid my salams to her but before I left I realized that in her room there was a lady missing that used to be in the corner bed, I looked for a nurse and when one came in the room I asked her, ‘’there used to be a black lady on that bed, where is she?’’ and the nurse seemed shocked that I cared and that I was asking, and she informed me that she had passed away and when I asked when she told me about a week ago, wallahi my heart was filled with sadness.

I did not know this lady, I had no personal ties with her, but all I kept thinking was; for majority of her life she was on a hospital bed, and now she has returned to her Lord…and the bed she used to occupy was replaced by a lady who has a similar condition. Wallahi this is something we should reflect on, we are given health in abundance, the most we suffer from is a minor headache or some cramps, and we do not thank Allah as He should be thanked, we do not pray as He should be prayed too. Wallahi Allah had spoken the truth when He mentioned that mankind was ungrateful. We need to learn to give thanks to Allah not only verbally but also by our actions. If your thankful to Allah show Him by abstaining from sins, by striving hard, by reading quran, by studying ilm, by helping other Muslims, by remaining steadfast on your deen, by being birr to your parents, by eating halal, by gaining a halal income. There are so many simple ways to show Allah that you acknowledge His blessings and that you in return would like to please Him and make Him happy for all He has granted you. If the Prophet of Allah (salalahu alayhi wa salam) sometimes didn’t know where his next meal would come from or when it would be but your fridge is full and you have 3 meals a day, and we know the Prophet (salalahu alayhi wa salam) strove night and day to please Allah, what about yourself aren’t you ashamed that you are granted all that you ask for while you sit on your bum and do nothing in return? It’s like not working but expecting to get paid every 2 weeks. Our health is something we should thank Allah for night and day in our actions and our sayings. Do not waste your time and health as those are things you cannot get back once they are gone they are gone for good. There are so many people out there that are suffering and sick and we are at home in comfort and do not even know about the conditions of such people.

Last but not least if you are having a bad day think about all the people in worst conditions then yourself, if you are sick wallahi there is someone sicker then you. If you are poor there is someone poorer than you. If you are depressed there is someone who lost everything they’ve ever had. If you are unhappy there is someone who’s having it worst. Never look to those above you but look to those below you.

And I leave you all in the care of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) please keep me in your dua’s.

La tahzan innAllaha ma’ana

As-salamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu, I hope and pray that you are all in a good state of Imaan and health. I pray that this post falls upon the eyes that need it most, and that someone somewhere benefits from it.

This morning I woke up and the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘’ la tahzan innAllaha ma’ana’’ (Don’t be sad; indeed, Allah is with us. [Qur’an 9:40]) Little did I know that this ayah would play a big role in my day.. As I kept repeating it, it began to sink in. I felt goose bumps on my skin when I came to the conclusion that a believer could never be sad upon remembering that he has Allah by his side. With every time I repeated it I would begin to smile, it was as if this ayah was all I needed to be satisfied in life. Then after maghrib I got some news that made me sad, something I would have never expected to happen, happened. As I made my way home the ayah dawned upon me again, and I began to repeat it, only this time feeling like it was the first time I had read the ayah. I looked at my mother as I walked through the doors and after greeting her with the salam said, ‘’la tahzan innAllaha ma’ana’’ and she began to smile affirming that what Allah said she had found to be true.

As I sit down now contemplating about this ayah, I decided to write this piece of advice to anyone who may see this. Although the situation in which I was informed about was a minor one, nonetheless it made me sad. But what we as Muslims have to understand is that in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. Do not look for the solution to your problem outside of Allah and Salah, do not turn to people for people will turn from you. Instead turn to Allah the One whom is shy to not answer your supplication. If anything bad happens to you, the first place you should find fault in is yourself, you should look to yourself and say, ‘’what have I done, to be put in such a situation? Verily Allah tells us in the Quran that whatever happens to you it is because of what your hands have earned, so what has my hand earned to put me in this ordeal?’’ You should automatically begin to strengthen your Imaan because a person who is filled with an extreme emotion is sometimes quicker to give in to the whisperings of the Shaydaan meanwhile someone in there right mind would avoid his temptations and whisperings. Avoid the situation, which makes you sad, take yourself out of that environment, go talk to people—not about the problem, but talk about things that make you happy. You control your emotions do not put it in the hands of worldly affairs or people. Keep yourself busy, as an idle mind tends to wander, don’t give your mind the chance to wander until you know you are completely free from that emotion. Put your trust in Allah. Do not get upset, whatever befalls you was meant to befall you and the ordainment of Allah shall never miss you. Do not blame your problem on Allah, for maybe He is testing you to see how patient you will be, or maybe He has something better for you in store. Avoid hard feelings, as these are things that will never allow you to recover or grow from a situation, whatever it is forgive and remember, as I like to say. Forgive whoever or whatever it was that caused the situation, but remember it so that you never fall into the same predicament ever again. Remember an emotion only lasts for a certain amount of time, there will come a day in which today would have meant nothing to you, and you might even laugh at it, or there might come a day where you will thank Allah for that calamity that befell you. There is wisdom behind everything, learn to accept that even if you may not understand it at the moment. Be patient for how beautiful are people who are patient during the hardest times of there lives? How beautiful do they become in our eyes after hearing their stories of hardship and how they endured it, how light then does their soul shine? I advise you all to not be sad as Allah is with you, and Allah’s promise is nothing short of true. If Allah is with you and the whole world is against you what have you lost? All you need in this life is Allah, and all that is promised to you can be broken except for the promises of Allah. So do not sell your relationship with Allah for anything, for there will come a day when you desperately need Allah, and you would will for Allah to respond to you right away so start building your status in the eyes of Allah today. Walk towards Allah so that He might come running towards you. May Allah bless you all with happiness and delight.

And c’mon most importantly your beautiful; sadness is not your best emotion, honey.

Ropes of Allaah..

As-salamu ‘alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu, 

I pray that this all reaches you in a good state of Imaan and health. For the last little bit I had writers block, haha every time I tried to make a post I’d end up writing a whole blog then discarding it at the end but Alhamdulilah after hardship comes ease..so here goes nothing.

Have you ever looked at someone, locked eyes with a person and found yourself within the depths of there pupils? Have you ever felt complete around someone, like there was something you were missing within yourself that you found in someone else? Have you ever walked beside someone and felt a peace of mind? Felt like it couldn’t get any better? Has all of this ever been due to One reason? Has it ever been based on feesaabililah?

Wallahi there are some people that when I look at them I see Jannah through there eyes, there are people that whenever I’m around I can only imagine racing them to the doors of Jannah so we could achieve the ultimate goal together. There are individuals that by Allah I make dua for them to attain a higher level of Jannah than myself. There are people that I know when I’m around Allah is happy with me because the love Allah has for these people is so evident through the way they walk, talk and carry themselves. There is nothing that fills my heart with joy more then someone telling me that they love me for the sake of Allah, because what better love then for the sake of the one whom created love? 

I remember when I first started practicing I still hadn’t grasped the concept of loving someone for the sake of Allah, but once I did I realized that everyone, everything, that I had loved prior to this had been an illusion and was something that was bound to shatter. And I finally opened my eyes and grew based on the concept of loving someone feesabililah.

I hope and pray that whoever reads this, that whenever they catch a glimpse of me that they instantly remember Allah, and if they don’t that they stay far away from me. I hope that I push you every single day until you feel like your about to reach your breaking point to strive for Jannah. I hope I encourage you to do good and stay away from evil. I hope I act upon what I say and I lead you by example. I hope that whenever your low you can lean on me for support. I hope that when you lose your way that you can count on me to help you and be there for you. I hope that when you feel like you can’t, you look up at me and remember that you can and you will. I hope that when your around me you cannot wait to reach Jannah together, hand in hand, walking through the doors with the rest of the righteous people (hopefully sufyaan ath-thawree) I hope that when you look at me I become the coolness of your eyes and you find peace within me. I hope that within me you find a happy place, somewhere you run to, to escape insanity. I hope that in me you find a friend, for eternity.

If in me you do not find these things be the first of people to stay away from me, because someone who does not remind you of Allah is not someone who you want to be raised with on the day of judgement. Someone who does not remind you of Allah night and day is someone who does not have an ounce of goodness within them.

I leave you with this, may Allah allow us to become helpers of one another in our common goal of attaining jannah as He the Most High says in the Quraan, ”and hold firm to the ropes of Allaah and do not become divided.” may Allah strengthen us all and keep us firm on the truth. May He unite you with your loved ones in heaven, in which there are arrivals but no departures. May He grant you the patience to deal with all you have endured, and may He protect you from all evil and hasid.

One last benefit: Let us all take advantage of this blessed month of Dhul Hijjah, in which the rewards for your good deeds are weighed more heavy. Let us try and fast for the first 9 days, and not miss fasting on the day of arafat as that erases the sins from the previous year and year to come. Try and abstain from sining as much as possible this month and continue to pray Qiyam every night. The people before us used to tighten there belts (an expression which means to get really serious) and take advantage of this month! Wallahi do not be amongst the losers who miss out on the great rewards of this month as this is the month in which Allah completed His favour upon us (Al-Islaam) ❤

The other day my mom came to me and said, ”Hoyo, I was at the masjid and a couple of sisters were talking about your blog and I was so shocked that so many people read it and go on it.” Lool it was such a weird moment but jazakaAllahu khayrn to everyone who keeps updated, (y’all know who you are #stricklyscarlett!) may Allah raise you all in ranks and honour you all ❤ 

A day well spent..

Eid Mubarak to everyone, taqabalAllahu mina wa minkum! I hope you all enjoyed your Ramadan and that it continues for you all year long,

For Eid, me and 2 sisters decided to go to the hospital and stay with the aunt I’ve previously wrote about (habyar Habiba) and it was so cute. We got her cards and hung them around her room, then began reciting Quran for her. Our initial plan was to stay with her for a little then leave to have fun but once we got there our mood changed and we all felt sick to our stomach knowing that we would leave and she would remain on her bed. So we stayed with her for majority of the day only leaving too go eat shortly. As we sat by her we started to recite Surah Hashr and we got to the ayat where Allah says, ”Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise – they are the attainers [of success]” and subhanAllah this is where I broke down, I just began to repeat that ayah and started to cry because as I was looking at her I was thinking, wallahi she is someone who deserves a house in paradise beside Allah, someone who has been tied down to there bed for 5 years not able to speak or do anything for herself. I felt so sad knowing that we would leave her to herself on such a joyous day so we discussed and decided we would stay with her and recite Quran on her all day, and we weren’t prepared for what happened next. 

 

I began to play with her hair and massage her scalp and she turned her head in my direction and began to come close to me sitting up. One of the sisters dropped to the floor and bursted into tears because this is something the aunt has never done before, she does not move around nor get up by herself. And she sat up for a long period of time, holding herself up. We began to recite Juz Amma from the bottom up and we noticed more of a reaction towards the shorter surahs then the longer ones (baqarah) almost as if she knew these surahs. After about an hour of reading Quran we asked, ”habyar should we continue reading the Quran?” and she nodded her head yes, so we continued, and she would keep sitting up and diverting her gaze looking at each of us. Then she began to look at random parts of the room like corners and her eyes would widen and mouth would open so much so that we swore there were angels in the room with us because of the way she was looking around, then she would squint as if there were light in her eyes although there wasn’t. All in all this was probably the best Eid I’ve ever had due to how much khayr came out of it, staying at the hospital for Eid made me realize how lucky we are for the health that Allah gives us. A lot of times people forget that Eid in itself is a day of worship so you should keep up your acts of ibaadaah that day as well, so going to the hospital reciting Quran on Eid was the most fun I could have ever had. Then the second day ended up buying Toys for our Eid Toy Drive for sick kids hospital and dropping it off to them, and the third day the actual Eid event with all the sick children at the hospital. 

 

I just wanted to share that with you all, may Allah make us of those people who use our health to worship Him while we can. May Allah also cure the aunt who has been sick for so long, and may He grant my sisters jannah-tul-firdows for being so beneficial ❤