A blessing or a burden?

Bismilah.

Alhamdulilah. All praise is truly due to Allah. Lately there has been an abundance outbreak of happiness, and what is usually the reason behind this happiness? — you guessed it. Marriage. 

Marriage is something Allah has blessed us with, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) tells us in the Quran, “And among His Signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He put love and mercy between your hearts. Verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.” [Sûrah Rûm: 21] Marriage, and love are both from Allah. It is by Allah alone that this is possible. Now subhanAllah, since marriage is such a blessing, why has it become so hard to obtain? 

This is not due to the struggles of finding a spouse, no, finding a spouse is actually the easy part for most of us. The problem is, marriage became hard. Now by hard what do I mean? Just recently I heard about a sister who had spent 33 thousand dollars on her wedding and bridal shower. Wallahi my heart shattered into pieces. This is not right, I have never nor will ever agree with this. Sisters, do you not fear Allah? What I can’t seem to understand is why people would spend that much money on weddings, when wallahi there are muslims struggling to get one simple meal a day in. When you could send that money to people who actually need it, instead of waisting it for a couple of hours. This is why our marriages now a days have no barakah in it, and why many married people are either getting divorced or struggling to stay happy. It is because we begin our marriages in extravagance, may Allah forgive us. Sisters where in the sunnah are bridal showers talked about? Where are huge weddings mentioned in the Quran? Show me where wedding rings are mentioned in Islam? Wallahi these things must be thought about. 

Many times, brothers can’t seem to get married because they feel they aren’t in the financial situation for it, they cannot afford to pay for all these things the sister has requested of him. Brothers I advise you to fear Allah, Allah has promised you provision. Do you really believe you could provide for yourself better than Allah could? Brothers stop looking for superficial sisters, who would rather follow the norms of this society rather than the sunnah. Look for a sister who is willing to stick to simplicity and abide by the laws and ruling of Allah. Sisters fear Allah, these brothers are holding on by every ounce of strength they have left, fighting off fitna every corner they turn, and your too busy planning extravagant weddings, and holding him too expensive dowrys, that the brother has no choice but to stay enwrapped in this fitna. May Allah forgive us. Marriage is supposed to be a time of happiness and joy, not sadness and depression. There should be no reason that someone is not capable of getting married due to his or her lack of income, who promised you that once you are married you will continue to have this money you have now? My brothers and sisters, before getting married, study about it. Study about the sunnah, learn how Aisha (radiallahu anha) spent her wedding day, how Khadijah (radiallahu anha) celebrated her day, and follow, follow in the footsteps of our mothers. Often times we say we want a love like the Prophet (salalahu alayhi wa’salam) and his wives (may Allah bless them all) so why don’t we strive to copy there married life, from the beginning? It is not right to pick and choose from what you like.

Even writing this post angers me, the fact that people have to be told to take it easy. Why are you drinking from gold cups, while your brothers and sisters are suffering around the world, what makes you think that is okay? To be so selfish that you don’t consider them for a second. The ummah is one body, while they are suffering, you are enjoying? No. This is completely wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that marriages should be celebrated, but only to an extent. And if you can go without this, then I would advise you too because wallahi the times we are living in, what will you answer to Allah, when He asks you about His slaves that were hungry and you didn’t assist in helping them? Will you tell Him you were too busy on your high horse? Throwing money down the drain?Why would you waste every penny you own on a wedding, when your eyes have not fell upon the kacbah? Remember your priorities people. Marriage is a beautiful thing, when followed by the sunnah. Simplicity is beautiful. SubhanAllah there were times when the Prophet (salalahu alayhi wa salam) was alive, in which someone would get married and not inform him of it due to how fast they had gotten married. They never delayed getting married because they had to ”save money” or ”finish school.” Remember that the nikah is a form of ibadah, so do not delay this form of worship because of things which are not in your control. Instead let go and let God. Stay within the bounds Allah has set, and know that from amongst the things which are disliked to Allah is extravagance in itself. 

Ya Allah we seek refuge in you from your anger, we ask your forgiveness. Ya Allah aid all the muslims struggling. Ya Allah, help anyone whom wants to get married for Your sake, and make it easy for them. Ya Allah forgive us for our headlessness in remembering that rizq is from you. Ya Allah we seek your provision and your pleasure. To you is due all praise. ❤

7 feet Under

Jumuah, the most blessed day of the week.

Only today it is the saddest. As I walked into the masjid the smile on my face quickly washed away once I was informed there was a funeral prayer to be performed on someone. It was a man who had gone to meet with his Lord. SubhanAllah I cannot explain the saddness in my heart as I hold back tears, although I did not know the man there is nothing that makes your heart ache from pain more than knowing that someone has reached the end of there appointed time. There is nothing that makes you more scared than realizing you are in the same building as a dead body, a dead body that is either from the people of paradise or from the people of hell fire. As people stood to give there condolences to the family, telling them to remain patient, you could see the pain in there eyes as it took them every inch of strength they had to remain standing and not collapse on the floor. May Allah grant them sabr. The masjid was packed with people, some people who came for the junaza (funeral prayer) and some who came simply because it was jumuah. The atmosphere amazed me. Although there were people who were laughing with each other, majority of the people were in a serious mood, you could see everyone reflecting. The family was asked to enter to see the body, for the last time ever. The way they said ”the body” sent chills down my spine. No longer called by his name as he was just called by his name the day before. The adan was called and for the first time ever it was almost as if you could hear a pin drop. It was dead silent as everyone listened to the adan. Then they said the words again, ”the body” it was said, ”bring the body fourth so we may pray on it.” The junaza lasted about 1 minute and then was requested of the people to follow ”the body” to its final resting place. People continued to hug each other and shed tears. Followed by the junaza was a brother who took his shahada. Happiness and sadness all in one day.

The reason why I decided to post this was because I had been planing to write about death for a long time but I had kept stalling. Today my intentions were not even to go to Jumuah but my mom had told me to come with her so I just went, and to my surprise here was a junaza in front of me. My brothers and sisters, let me advise for you the last half of this post if I may. I pray that this advice touches at least one person if not many.

First and foremost I begin with reminding you that death is guaranteed. You will not escape it. The only thing in life that everyone agrees upon is that death is guaranteed. Prepare for death, by seeking to draw closer to Allah, not only through the mandatory but through doing more than just your average. Always worry about the state you will die in, before you do anything ask yourself, if I died right now, in this state, would I be happy to meet Allah? If not leave what you are doing. Spend your time in the remembrance of Allah, not only will your heart find rest, but you will die the way you live, so through spending time remembering Allah you will most likely die that way. Keep good company, thousands of people have probably told you this already, but the friends that you keep speak volumes about you, they will have an immense effect on how you act, speak, ect. Make duA constantly that Allah strengthens your Imaan and that He takes your soul when He is most pleased with you. Remember death constantly, the person who does this is more likely to avoid doing bad things because he is always scared that might be his last deed. Know that a person dies between two deeds, one that he has done, and one that he has intended to do, do not die intending to commit a sin. Visit the grave yards (mostly for the brothers) for this will give you the wake up call you constantly need. Strive to love Allah before anyone or anything else and your life will revolve around Him. Always keep in mind that one day you will stand in front of Allah and be held accountable for everything you did/said. Don’t even think about forgetting the way your grave will squeeze you, welcoming you inside. How many people before us have died? Wallahi majority of people have been under the earth longer than they have been on it. Where is there wealth? Where is there family? Where is the university degree? The friends? All of this is left behind and it is you and your Lord with nothing to serve as a barrier. Prepare my brothers and sisters, prepare for your meeting with your Lord, time is moving very quickly, and you my friend, are running out of it. 

”O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.” [surah Al-Imran 3:102]

May Allah grant jannah to the father who had passed away, and reunite him with his family in the highest of jannahs. May Allah allow us all to die honourable deaths which are pleasing to Him, and may He strengthen us as we are all weak. May Allah also keep the brother who had embraced islam today firm on this beautiful religion. Ameen. Someone passes away, meanwhile another persons life just restarts. Ya Rab, to you we belong and to you we return.