The moon that taught me a lesson

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “Allah the Most High said, ‘I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

Ibn Hajar (may Allah have Mercy upon him) said regarding ‘I am as My servant thinks I am’: “meaning, I am able to do whatever he expects I will do.” [Fath al-Bari] SubhanAllah, us, as human beings, forget day in and day out that Allah is capable of all things. In Surah At-Talaq verse 12, Allah (azza wa jall) tells us, ”indeed Allah is able to do all things…” (please note that sometimes the same ayah may have different wording when translated, but the basic meaning is always the same) But how often, when we desperately need to remember this do we? When we feel like there is no hope, no way out of the situation we are in, how often do we remember that Allah is capable of all things? How foolish do we look in front of Allah doubting His Power and His Highness. Ya Allah I ask you to forgive us.

One day as I was walking home from work, I called my mom to keep me company on the walk and to my surprise there was no answer, I proceeded in calling my sister and she told me to beat it she wasn’t going to keep me company, called a friend and there was no answer. So I gave up on calling people and just started staring at the moon, I was amazed at the moons beauty and I was remembering how Jabir ibn Samura described the Prophet saying, “I began to look at him and at the moon, he was wearing a red mantle, and he appeared to be more beautiful than the moon to me.” (Al-Tirmidhi) SubhanAllah standing there and staring at the moon while reflecting on this gave me goosebumps, as I continued to be amazed with the miracle of Allah (the moon) it became really cloudy and rainy, up to the point where you could no longer see the moon, I became a little saddened because that moon had apart of my heart I was so in love with it. Now when I say cloudy, I mean like C-L-O-U-D-Y! You couldn’t see that moon even if you had a telescope, it was covered by the clouds and the darkness of the sky. Continuing on, I was thinking about the hadith, ”Ibn Hurairah (radiyallahu anhu) narrated that the people asked: “Messenger of Allah, will we see our Lord on the Day of Judgement?” The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalaam) said, ”Do you dispute with one another about seeing the moon on the night of the full moon?“ They said: “No, Messenger of Allah.” He asked: ”Do you dispute with one another about seeing the sun when there are no clouds?“ They answered: “No, Messenger of Allah.”He said: ”You will see Him like that.“ [Sahih al Bukhari] And I began smiling, thinking about the day, where people will actually get to SEE Allah, (may Allah make us amongst those lucky people) I looked at where the moon had been and made the following duaA, ”Ya Allah, show me the moon now, as you will InshaAllah show me Yourself on the day of Judgement, Ya Allah allow me to see the moon in all its beauty.” As I looked at the place where the moon was I noticed no change, the clouds were still blocking the moon. Wallahi may Allah forgive me but I had said to myself, ”this is impossible, it can’t be done. Its raining Laila, it can’t be rainy with no clouds, so why would you make such a duaA that you know can’t happen.” SubhanAllah. After saying that I looked at my phone for a split second, not even a full second, half a second, until I seen a light from the corner of my eye, I looked up and to my surprise there was nothing in the sky except the moon. And the moon looked even more beautiful then before, all the clouds had parted from the side of the moon and had disappeared. Wallahi I just stood there crying, I cried my eyes out even though there were people around me staring at me like I was crazy. I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t think straight. At that moment I said the shahada with more certainty and sincerity then I had my whole life. As I proclaimed the shahada through my sobs, my heart began to hurt, because I had doubted Allah.

I had doubted the power of Allah, His Strength, His Will, His Might, ya Allah I will forever be in your debt. I cried all the way until I got home, then cried for hours later until my eyes couldn’t take it anymore and my sister had to calm me down. Even remembering this now, wallahi brings tears to my eyes, because the sad reality is we doubt Allah so much, we doubt Allah will provide for us, we doubt Allah will make us successful, we doubt Allah will forgive us, we doubt Allah will find us righteous spouses, we doubt Allah will give us kids, we doubt Allah will cure us…Whatever it is, we begin to doubt Allah. To believe Allah cannot do such a thing.

My beloved brothers and sisters, I advise you to place your full trust in Allah. To know Allah is the best of planners, because you don’t get what you want that exact same second does not mean Allah will withhold what you want from you. I advise you to always remember Allah IS capable of ALL things. Anything, you think of it, He can do it, with ease. That experience I went through might have been minor but it changed my life, never have I ever doubted Allahs Power over things, this world belongs to Him and Him alone, do you not think that He who created it, cannot change matters in regards to it? How foolish are we. May Allah forgive us all and enable us to be amongst the blessed people who will receive the honour of seeing the Face of Allah on the day of judgement. May Allah grant us all understanding and steadfastness in this deen!

[side note: when I began to leave the clouds started reappearing going back to covering the moon, but I got this picture of it before I had departed to always remind me of this day <3]

Lost & Found <3

I begin with praises of Allah and for Allah only. I begin with attesting to the Oneness of Allah, and the truth in al-Islam. I begin with and end with my heart yearning to be close to Him. I begin with apologizing to Allah, for the insincerity in my actions and words daily, and ask Allah to bless us all with clean hearts who strive to please Him and fear the displeasure of Allah.

One of the first pieces of advice I tend to give people who have fallen into a problem, whatever it is, is to trace the problem back to its origin. To hold yourself accountable for what has happened. To sit down and retrace your steps of that day, or the previous day, to sit down and acknowledge that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us in Surah Ash-Shura verse 30, that, ”Whatever misfortune happens to you is because of the things your hands have wrought and for many (of them) He grants forgiveness.” This is Allah, King of all Kings, telling us that whatever happens to you it because of something that you have done, and He is the most forgiving.

SubhanAllah, its easy to give advice but how easy is it to put that same advice into work? Just this Friday, I lost my phone at the masjid. As you know when someone loses there phone, everyone starts looking for the item, people will get up, forget about there sunnah prayers, or the Quran they were reciting to assist you in finding that item. As soon as I lost it I remembered this hadith: Abu Hurairah (radiallahu anhu) narrates that the Prophet of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) said: “Whoever hears a man announcing in the mosque about some objects which he has lost, let him tell him ‘May Allah not return it to you for the mosques are not built for that’.” (Sahih Muslim p.210 v.1 – Kitabul Masaajid) so I pleaded with everyone to stop looking for it but it was way to late lol it was like a search for a missing person SubhanaAllah may Allah reward them all. The masjid got turned upside down, and the phone was nowhere to be found, and the phone had not been moved from where I had put it, it literally just disappeared. 

While everyone was busy looking for the phone, I was walking around making istikhfar, trying to retrace my steps and find out where I went wrong for this to happen, and since Allah is the Most Forgiving, all I had to do was find out what it was in which I had erred and ask Allah for forgiveness and I’d get the phone back. The hard part is finding out what it was exactly that caused this because the son of Adam (alayhi salatu wasalam) are naturally sinners. But after a lot of thinking I tracked down and pin pointed a couple things that I had done. So I asked everyone to stop because there was no point in looking for it because I had caused this upon myself. Wallahi I swear to you by Allah, I was happy, not because of the fact that I had lost the phone, but because Allah loved me enough to punish me in this world for what I had done wrong, then save His Wrath for me on the day of judgement. Ya Allah to you belongs All Praise. 

On my way home, me and my friend were discussing what had happened, and how the saddest people in the world are those who grieve over items that you don’t depart the dunya with, especially to grieve over a stupid phone when there were Muslims all over the world without food to eat or a bed to sleep on. We had trust in Allah, that He would give my phone back, or replace it with a better one. I sat there asking Allah for forgiveness, for Allah to forgive my sins, and I didn’t care if I got my phone back or not, because if I hadn’t had lost it, I probably wouldn’t have remembered that sin, or had the chance to repent to Allah for it. Alhamdulilah always. 

As soon as I got home, I told my mom that I had done something, and Allah in return had punished me for what I had done. She listened to my full story, and then started smiling, and told me my phone was found in someones jacket hood (lol, I know talk about random place for my phone to be) wallahi I didn’t know what to say, I called my friend and we just were overwhelmed. Allah is just. Allah is fair. Allah would never punish you, or take something away from you without a reason or a cause. Allah taking my phone away from me for 24 hours was a way of me drawing closer to Him, in everything there in a blessing. Good or bad. 

(I ask Allah to grant Jannah to the mother who looked through the garbage for me when even I didn’t want the phone bad enough to look through the garbage, I ask Allah to grant Jannah to the sister who almost fought me for not accepting to keep her phone, I ask Allah to grant Jannah to the sister who didn’t put her hood on and send my phone flying to the floor, I ask Allah to grant Jannah to the little girls running around the Musalah searching every inch, I ask Allah to grant Jannah to the sisters who left me with too many missed calls to count, and for the sisters who were laughing at my phone-less jokes, may Allah increase your sense of humour. Alhamdulilah by the will of Allah I am no longer wifi reliant, it was a tough 24 hours but we made it.)

“How remarkable is the case of the believer! There is good for him in everything, but this is not the case for anyone except for the believer. When the believer receives any good, he is thankful to Allah, and gets a reward. And when some misfortune befalls him, he endures it patiently, for which he is (also) rewarded.” (Muslim)

The story of Musa (alayhissalam) and Al-Khidr!

The story of Musa (alayhissalam) and Al-Khidr is mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf.

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَاهُ لَا أَبْرَ‌حُ حَتَّىٰ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَ‌يْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا

“And (remember) when Musa said to his boy-servant: “I will not give up (travelling) until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travelling.”

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَا مَجْمَعَ بَيْنِهِمَا نَسِيَا حُوتَهُمَا فَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ‌ سَرَ‌بًا

But when they reached the junction of the two seas, they forgot their fish, and it took its way through the sea as in a tunnel.

فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَا قَالَ لِفَتَاهُ آتِنَا غَدَاءَنَا لَقَدْ لَقِينَا مِن سَفَرِ‌نَا هَـٰذَا نَصَبًا

So when they had passed further on (beyond that fixed place), Musa said to his boy-servant: “Bring us our morning meal; truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey.”

قَالَ أَرَ‌أَيْتَ إِذْ أَوَيْنَا إِلَى الصَّخْرَ‌ةِ فَإِنِّي نَسِيتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَا أَنسَانِيهُ إِلَّا الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ أَذْكُرَ‌هُ ۚ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ‌ عَجَبًا

He said:”Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock? I indeed forgot the fish, none but Shaitan (Satan) made me forget to remember it. It took its course into the sea in a strange (way)!”

قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ مَا كُنَّا نَبْغِ ۚ فَارْ‌تَدَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِ‌هِمَا قَصَصًا

[Musa] said: “That is what we have been seeking.” So they went back retracing their footsteps.

فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَ‌حْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا

Then they found one of Our slaves, unto whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us.

قَالَ لَهُ مُوسَىٰ هَلْ أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلَىٰ أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُ‌شْدًا

Musa said to him (Khidr) “May I follow you so that you teach me something of that knowledge (guidance and true path) which you have been taught (by Allah)?”

قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرً‌ا

He (Khidr) said: “Verily! You will not be able to have patience with me!

وَكَيْفَ تَصْبِرُ‌ عَلَىٰ مَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ خُبْرً‌ا

“And how can you have patience about a thing which you know not?”

قَالَ سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاءَ اللَّـهُ صَابِرً‌ا وَلَا أَعْصِي لَكَ أَمْرً‌ا

Musa said: “If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught.” 

قَالَ فَإِنِ اتَّبَعْتَنِي فَلَا تَسْأَلْنِي عَن شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ أُحْدِثَ لَكَ مِنْهُ ذِكْرً‌ا

He (Khidr) said: “Then, if you follow me, ask me not about anything till I myself mention it to you.”

فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا رَ‌كِبَا فِي السَّفِينَةِ خَرَ‌قَهَا ۖ قَالَ أَخَرَ‌قْتَهَا لِتُغْرِ‌قَ أَهْلَهَا لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا إِمْرً‌ا

So they both proceeded, till, when they embarked the ship, he (Khidr) scuttled it. Musa said: “Have you scuttled it in order to drown its people? Verily, you have committed a thing “Imra” (a Munkar – evil, bad, dreadful thing).”

قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرً‌ا

He (Khidr) said: “Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me?”

قَالَ لَا تُؤَاخِذْنِي بِمَا نَسِيتُ وَلَا تُرْ‌هِقْنِي مِنْ أَمْرِ‌ي عُسْرً‌ا

[Musa] said: “Call me not to account for what I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you).”

فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلَامًا فَقَتَلَهُ قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيْرِ‌ نَفْسٍ لَّقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُّكْرً‌ا

Then they both proceeded, till they met a boy, he (Khidr) killed him. Musa said: “Have you killed an innocent person who had killed none? Verily, you have committed a thing “Nukra” (a great Munkar – prohibited, evil, dreadful thing)!”

قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرً‌ا

(Khidr) said: “Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me?”

قَالَ إِن سَأَلْتُكَ عَن شَيْءٍ بَعْدَهَا فَلَا تُصَاحِبْنِي ۖ قَدْ بَلَغْتَ مِن لَّدُنِّي عُذْرً‌ا

[Musa] said: “If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me.”

فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَتَيَا أَهْلَ قَرْ‌يَةٍ اسْتَطْعَمَا أَهْلَهَا فَأَبَوْا أَن يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَارً‌ا يُرِ‌يدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ فَأَقَامَهُ ۖ قَالَ لَوْ شِئْتَ لَاتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرً‌ا

Then they both proceeded, till, when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found therein a wall about to collapse and he (Khidr) set it up straight. [Musa] said: If you had wished, surely, you could have taken wages for it!”

قَالَ هَـٰذَا فِرَ‌اقُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنِكَ ۚ سَأُنَبِّئُكَ بِتَأْوِيلِ مَا لَمْ تَسْتَطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرً‌ا

(Khidr) said: “This is the parting between me and you, I will tell you the interpretation of (those) things over which you were unable to hold patience.

أَمَّا السَّفِينَةُ فَكَانَتْ لِمَسَاكِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الْبَحْرِ‌ فَأَرَ‌دتُّ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا وَكَانَ وَرَ‌اءَهُم مَّلِكٌ يَأْخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ غَصْبًا

“As for the ship, it belonged to Masaakeen (poor people) working in the sea. So I wished to make a defective damage in it, as there was a king after them who seized every ship by force.

وَأَمَّا الْغُلَامُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَا أَن يُرْ‌هِقَهُمَا طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرً‌ا

“And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebellion and disbelief.

فَأَرَ‌دْنَا أَن يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَ‌بُّهُمَا خَيْرً‌ا مِّنْهُ زَكَاةً وَأَقْرَ‌بَ رُ‌حْمًا

“So we intended that their Lord should change him for them for one better in righteousness and near to mercy.

وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ‌ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَ‌ادَ رَ‌بُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِ‌جَا كَنزَهُمَا رَ‌حْمَةً مِّن رَّ‌بِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِ‌ي ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرً‌ا

“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town; and there was under it a treasure belonging to them; and their father was a righteous man, and your Lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of those (things) over which you could not hold patience.”

[Surah Al-Kahf (18): 60-82]

 

SubhanAllah this story alone has many, many lessons we can draw from it. Here are the lessons derived by Imam As-Saadi (rahimahullah) from this story: http://attafsir.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/sadee_moosaa_khadir_en.pdf

[Please note that there is a dispute as to whether Al-Khidr is a Prophet or not.]

Advice to my sisters:

My dear sisters I want to touch on a topic that many of us tend to avoid due to the fact that none wants to face the reality, my dear sisters, please pay close attention to this as it may one day come in use;

A lot of times, I will have a sister come to me for advice, which usually tends to be the same story time after time, ”you see..theres this brother…and well.” This sister has put down her barriers for this strange guy, and has let him into her world, through texting, emailing, twitter, Facebook, whatever it may be. Whether it started with little ”reminders” as most cases do, the sister and brother are too emotionally attached with each other to even remember Allah, to step back from it all, to take back all the damage done. My beautiful sisters I will give you some advice as to how you can avoid being in such situations.

1) If you are already a victim of the ”love bug” if thats what we may call it, I advise you to discontinue talking to the brother (vise versa for brothers) not only does absence increase value, but the more you stay away from someone, your feelings will go away with the help of Allah. 

2) Make Dua’A sisters, Allah is the turner of hearts, ask Allah to remove all feelings from you that aren’t halal for you (yet). (side note: I understand feelings are controlled by Allah by it is what you do with those feelings that make it haram)

3) If these social networking sites are causing you grief because you find yourself on there page, stalking them, first and foremost unfollow/block them off everywhere possible. If that doesn’t seem to work, then deactivate these networking sites until you are completely in control of your feelings.

4) Get rid of everything and anything that reminds you of him. Delete all conversations, stop watching tv shows that remind you of this person. Stay aware from spare time, keep yourself busy for the first few months, busy your time with learning about Allahs attributes, reading Quran, learning hadiths, these things will increase your love for Allah decreasing your love for this person. 

5) Be aware of Allah. Know that Allah has made it haram for the mixing of men and women without purpose. Sisters stop falling for this ”I’m interested in marriage” talk, if the brother is interested he will respect you enough to go to your parents or let you know his intentions directly. If the brother rather keep it on the hush while you guys ”get to know” each other then this, my dear sisters, is a red light. Stop immediately. This is known as the run around where the brother isn’t really ready for marriage but he just wants someone to converse with. Know that the ”I don’t have money / I didn’t finish school” excuses are lame and played out, if the brother doesn’t understand that Allah will provide, then what good is he?

6) Have standards!!! I can’t stress this enough. Sisters who are practicing will marry a brother, just because he says he prays 5 times a day and thats all he does. My sisters where is your worth? You need to marry brothers whom are regulars at the masjid, who seek ilm, who give sadaqah, who are kind to there parents, who follow the sunnah, who protect there gaze. Now I’m not saying that you need someone who’s perfect but sisters marry someone who is on your level or higher than you.

7) Stop falling for every guy. Sisters, no guy that has an ounce of self worth, will look twice at a girl who has talked to every guy for marriage or whatnot. Brothers this goes for you as well. This is a very big turn off. Know your value, and don’t sell yourself short. 

8) Dont befriend males. This is where it all starts, the casual talking, whether at school or elsewhere…They claim to be ”family” or whatnot. Unacceptable. Doesn’t matter the age of the male or female stop making excuses they are forbidden for you, and you for them, keep it that way. 

9) Be strong! I know, it may be hard at first, but wallahi, I personally promise to you it will be worth it, Allah will raise you in ranks in this world and the hereafter for protecting yourself. Keep going. If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. Don’t let others around you influence you, especially those with non-muslim friends who have boyfriends/girlfriends. Protect your honour. One of the only things a girl has is her name, don’t ruin it.

10) Last but not least. A support team. This seems to help people the most, talk to one of your trust worthy friends about this, so whenever you feel the urge to talk to this person they will help you overcome it. If you don’t find one, know that one who has no friends has Allah, and Allah will always be there for you.

Sorry for making this post long I’m sure your tired of reading this, but just as a closing note, I salute everyone who is going through this, May Allah reward you and help you through this. The heart always inclines towards Allah more, take that first step, walk to Allah and watch as He runs towards you, (not literally) this is not something easy to deal with. Love is something that is strong…Feelings are something controlled by Allah, so if you have feelings for someone it is not your fault, it is okay to think that a sister or brother is pretty/handsome, but it is what you do with your feelings. Brothers and sisters keep these feelings to yourself, fight your soul, fight it day and night. Protect yourself, if I could repeat that a thousand times I would, protect yourself. If you are interested in marrying a brother or sister, let them know directly don’t beat around the bush, get it over and done with. Brothers stop lying to sisters if you know you don’t want to marry her then respect her enough to let her go before too much damage is done. May Allah protect us all from this fitna, in a time where this is almost becoming a norm, May Allah keep us all steadfast. May Allah raise us in ranks. May Allah let our heart belong only to Him and only for Him. May Allah make it easy and provide for those who want to get married for His sake. 

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: There are seven whom Allah will shade in His Shade on the Day when there is no shade except His Shade: a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques; two men who love each other for Allah’s sake, meeting for that and parting upon that; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position [for illegal intercourse], but be says: ‘I fear Allah’, a man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a man who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears.’ Narrated by Abu Hurairah & collected in Sahih al-Bukhari (english trans.) vol.1, p.356, no.629 & Sahih Muslim english trans.) vol.2, p.493, no.2248