Experience

It can be a comment or even a gesture that can fill your heart with grief,
Remember O sad soul, this life is nothing but a moment, brief.
You'd find tranquility with the one to whom you belong & to whom you shall return,
Hurtful comments, sad moments are experiences with which you learn..

The reality of this life is nowhere close to perfect,
Nobody is completely good, you'd be a fool to expect
Perfection from the creation, for it is only His attribute,
You go to many sources for it, but when it comes to him you refute

Smile, feel happy once these times pass,
If you remain patient and steadfast..
If you make Him your first source and last
You'd be served tasneem in that special glass

Leave these moments, it's not wise to dwell in them,
Use them to get close to Allah, make them your friend
A friend who wouldn't just help in this life but even the next
Now think which life is more important in your context?

1,2 or... 3?

After getting introduced to the arab culture, the only thing that i haven't really been able to figure out is the arab's way of greeting eachother :P I mean, seriously how many times is somebody supposed to pout the kisses while greeting each other?

So, as a resolution to my problem I started shaking hands with anyone I suspected would go with the kissing greeting. Today, somebody from work went with the cheek-to-cheek greeting and after one pout, she stopped and I leaned in for the second time. LOL, such Great Embarassment :P

P.s. don't get shocked its only the same gender that greets like this ;)

To Know Him, Is To Love Him

قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“Say (O Mohammed) “If you do love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you, and forgive your sins, as Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful”. Surah Imrân (3:31)

These days it seems as though knowing and studying about our Last Prophet, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is only the job of the scholars or rather their responsiblity. Parents hardly care if the kid knows anything about this greatest man or not, As long as the Kid knows how to recite Quran that is good enough, Of course reciting Quran (even without understanding) is important but what we forget these days is that the Quran and the Sunnah go hand-in-hand with each other. We cannot leave one thing for another and it would not create a proper balance.

And what is Sunnah? It is the way and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). People these days are just concerned with what is fard (obligatory) as some of the acts of the sunnah are considered voluntary, they just go around asking ''Is it fard?'' if the answer is ''No'' then they make a mental note and it reads out as ''Okay, so I don't have to do it''. But, what about the above verse from the Quran that explicitly explains the importance of following the way of the Prophet (pbuh).

I am no exception to the category of the people I have mentioned above. I knew more about Enrique Iglesias' habits than Prophet Muhammad's (Pbuh) and yes you all can say ''Astaghfirullah'' in chorus :P But, see here is the thing growing up we all are influenced by the kind of surroundings and soceity we live with. Which is why, I mostly talk about the parenting part and its importance. We can nurture the next generation with the teachings and values of Islam at an early stage so that we do not end up with lost young minds full of confusion.

We have to love the Prophet (pbuh ) more than our families, our parents, our own selves. Why, you ask? Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said : "None of you [truly] believes until I am more beloved to him than his child, his parent and all people." (Al-Bukhari)

Most of us claim to love him, you ask any average muslim about Him, he would immediately reply ''Yeah of course man, I am a muslim, I definitely love him''. You ask him about 10 of his companions then no clue. I also fall under this category and hence this post is acting as a reminder to myself too. But, we know soo much about our favorite, sports star, movie star or even authors of books. The place they live in, the car they drive, their likes and dislikes, their favorite food. But what about the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?? We ''Love'' Him ooo yeah! But, we don't know a thing about Him... This our ''Love''.... There is something definitely missing in this love. Perhaps, The way we love him itself?

So, How do we love him? Love is one of those feelings that cannot be imposed upon a person. Let's think for a moment, How do we love a person and When do we love a person? We love a person when we admire some of their charecteristics, when we have something in common and most importanly we love a person when we get to KNOW him. Which is why we need to know about this greatest man who's ever walked on the face of this Earth, the last Messenger of Allah SWT.

To get a brief insight about the mercy of the Prophet (pbuh) watch this video, it may occur in your mind ''Oh man, it is SO long, I'd watch it later'' and trust me in most probability shaitan will make you busy and forget about it. So, benefit yourself, know about him.

If you would like to initially read a book about the biography of the Prophet (pbuh) then I would totally recommend ''The Sealed Nectar'' in English or ''Ar Raheequl Al Maktoom'' in arabic By :Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri. Here is the link for the ebook. If, you are not the reading ''type'' then Imam Anwar Al Awlaki has done a 50+ Cd's worth of audio lectures upon the life of the Prophet (pbuh) using Ibn Katheer's Al bidaya wa nihaya as a primary source. Ibn katheer has used 2 different sources as his reference to this seerah, Ibn Ishaq's work as well as Bukhari's. You will understand the difference between both the sources once you start listening to the lectures. Where to find it? Here you go .. check out this awesome link

The following are recommended short books list that in my opinion are quite fantastic ;

1. Muhammad - As if you can see Him by A'id al Qarni

2. A Day with the Prophet by Ahmed Von Deffer

3. The Life of Prophet Muhammad: Highlights and Lessons by Dr. Mustafa As-Sibaa'ie (Here's the ebook)

About Ibn Katheer's book volumes, in plain english it means From the Beginning to the End. The compilation i think is of 10 volumes. One of which is about the seerah of the prophet (pbuh), For sure the beauty of reading it in arabic is much more fantastic than reading a translation. Which is why we need to, need to and need to learn the language in which Quran was revealed so that we may enjoy the authentic works of these fantastic scholars. However, we should not take this as an excuse for ourselves, we should try to learn arabic but at the same time use the english books for our benefit, until we reach to that stage.

Thats all for now folks! :)

An - Noor Part 1

As salamualaykum wr wb !

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the late post. The reason being that work, home, and some classes had taken way too much of my time than required. I also thought that maybe I should start the new name's (and attribute's) series once we are done with it in sister E's class. But, I am sure that by the time we are done I'd have too much to post over here, So I am going to begin the series from today and Insha'allah will try to do the promised posts on time :)

Bismillah

Introduction : The Parable of Allah's Noor is explained in the verse 35 of the Chapter An-Noor in the Quran :

Sahih International: Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.

The Name and Attribute of Allah, An-Noor in literal translation means ''The Light''. Now, most of us know about this name and attribute but it is not very often that we ponder upon it. Now, let us take a moment and think about what is it that makes our hearts go ''WOW'', sometimes it is just the new buildings, or sometimes it is somebody looking really gorgeous and even fireworks. Now, if we just try to figure out what exactly is it about these things that make us like it? It's the Noor, the Light. What? Yes.

Come to think of it, when a tall sky scraper leaves us in awe it is the lights on it that do the magic and get that whole effect. Fireworks are also a work of light that make the sky look beautiful, Sometimes we ladies also like to have our faces done at the salon to have the whole shining effect on it, right? Well at least I do :P ... So, all these things that leave us in awe mostly are related to Noor, the light that adds the whole wow effect on them.

Wa Lillah Hil Masa Lil 'Ala (And to Allah belongs the best examples), Think Now about the Light of Allah An-Noor... and it is not just a name it is an attribute as well. So, when asked about his Noor, it is said that Nothing can resemble to his Noor from his ENTIRE creation not the Sun, nor the Moon nor the stars. Nothing of the creation is similar to Allah's Attribute.

Now, as we are starting the study of An-Noor, we must also keep in mind that His Noor is not just of one type, It is of 2 types which we shall discuss in detail in this post as well as the next few posts. Mash'allah as I've mentioned before, knowing Allah is just like an ocean which is shallow towards the dock but as we venture further we begin to realize it's depth.

II Types of Noor ;

I. Noor Al Hissi (The Sensible Light)

i) The Light that we can Feel : It is the real light that we can feel, the light that comes from the sun is also the part of His Noor. Whatever lights we can see around us in the creation are given their light from the light of Allah An Noor. This type of light is the only one that we can see right now. This also reminds me of what my teacher always tell us ''Everything in the universe should lead you to your creator'' meaning his name and attributes. Allah An Noor is the one who gives the light in the Sky and Land. Even the light in the paradise is lit by Allah's Noor. So next time, when we see some fireflies it should not just leave us in awe, it should also lead us back to that One Creator of ours who has blessed this creation with Light too. In our lives, we experience only this category of the sensible light.

ii) The Light on the Day of Judgement : The Day of Judgement will be lit by His Light, where do we get our reference from ?

Surah Zumar, Verse 69. And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord (Allah, when He will come to judge among men) and the Book will be placed (open) and the Prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward, and it will be judged between them with truth, and they will not be wronged.

iii) Hijaabuhu An-Noor (The Veil from His Light) : Prophet (saws) has said with regards to the Noor of Allah (SWT) that : ''No one from his creation can stand looking at Allah's Light while living this life''. Even though, Allah's Light is behind a veil, but the light is so strong that even His veil would shine due to the intensity of this Light. If Allah will uncover His veil, the entire creation would burn as long as Allah's sight can reach His creation. This Veil from His Noor, will be lifted when we are in Paradise. He will unveil after the people enter paradise and enjoy their time. He will and ask them

''Are you content?''

They will reply : ''How can we not be content?'' (Because they would be in so much of bliss)

''I will give you something better, I will always be pleased with you'' and then He will remove His Veil.

II) Noor Al-Ma'anawee (The Insensible Light) : Mashallah there are a number of comprehensive notes, that are there in my book regarding this type of Noor. There was just so much of knowledge that I could jot down all that I could within my attention span. There are different types of Noor that fall under this category and the parable of Allah's noor which is mentioned in the Quran will also be discussed in detail within this category. It shall be discussed in the next post Insha'allah :)

Especially For You.

Last night, As I was falling asleep I was thinking to myself *the best way to fall sleep is to have your childhood blankey beside you* ... Then for a reason unknown I started wondering what makes my blankey so special, Because in reality its like a big warm bedsheet with ducks over it (not even the cute ducks :P ).

I remember, When I was 10 I didn't have the normal usual height an average 10 year old Indian kid could have. So my dad started calling me short duck :P and once when he came to visit us on his vacation he brought me this bigg flannel bedsheet with ducks printed on it. I loved it, so much so, that I could not imagine going to sleep without it so even when it had to be washed my mum would wash it during the day time so by evening it is dry. Even when I finished school and started attending college, this was MY thing and nobody could touch it. I used to study wrapping it around me nights before my exams. Even when I was travelling back and forth between India and UAE I'd always have it in my luggage. So Last night I started wondering what made it soo special that it made me so happy and I realized that It was something that my dad had brought it 'Especially For Me' and nobody else from my siblings.

This thought led me to the 30th verse of the 89th Chapter in Quran which is ;

وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي
''And enter you My Paradise!"

Whats the connection? Here's the thing when we have somebody really close to us, like our close friends and we have just moved into this house and we have specifically taken care of every thing in this house from furnishings to the types of tiles in the kicthen. When your guests enter, you go like ''Welcome to My house'' .. ''This is My living room'', ''My Bedroom'' .. You say all this only if you are close to that particular guest and share a personal connection with them , because they definitely KNOW it's your house, You live in it so its quite obvious.. Yet it even leaves the guest feeling special. If it is somebody else whom you are not close to you just show them around saying ''Yeah this is the living room, the bedroom''. There's no personal connection over there.

So we as human beings, Love attention, Even if we admit it or not. And our Creator Allah SWT obviously knows us wayy better than we know ourselves. Which is why when you actually ponder on this verse, It would make you feel so special, just reading and pondering over it. Imagine, actually entering paradise and Allah SWT asking You to Enter His Paradise (which contains of things beyond our levels of imagination and understanding, a place no ill feelings of misery or jealousy would exist, eternal peaceful abode) ... How would you feel? Special Enough? Definitely.

Annoying People? I've met so many of them today

[Somebody Had to Tell me at the starts of my day, Whatever's written on the picture above]

The only day of the week I look forward to is Friday. My weekend, Time to do Jumuah prayer at the masjid, Attending the khutbah, go out with friends for lunch, hang out at the mall.

So, Mashallah today was the test of my patience. It is a blessing from Allah that I didn't smack some people. So I am gonna just like make a short list of annoying things that people do;

1. People who don't put their phones on silent : Woman, I don't care what type of mobile phone you own, I don't care if you are addicted to it all that I expect from you which is quite normal is to change your phone's profile to SILENT when you are in the Prayer Room. Now, I have once left my phone on normal mode BY MISTAKE during a prayer and I know how ringing phones annoy me so I make it a point to DOUBLE-CHECK my phone when I entera masjid or a prayer room. The reason why I am so mad is because these people who come to these malls do not move out of their homes once a month or something, they come EVERY WEEKEND atleast! and Yes I am quite sure about the fact. Now, if you are Sooo habituated of coming to a mall or a masjid every weekend then you MUST also develop the habit of keeping your phone on SILENT. Why on this beautiful earth would you want to WRECK somebody's concentration during the prayer, I mean lets be realistic many of us have problems with it, and then when somebody's phone starts ringing then then its just!! ..... Icing on the cake! Today, I wanted to break my prayer and smack the person whose phone was ringing in the prayer room , to stop myself from doing it took every ounce of patience in me.

2. People who are obsessed with filling the gap : See, I know we are suppose to stand close when we pray in congregation. I totally get that, but then some people are so obessed with standing close that they make the first row a sanwich of people and when its the time for the prostration then Be Prepared to be UNCOMFORTABLE. I mean seriously, How am I suppose to make a nice sujood while I am trying to fit my body in the narrow space? Those people seriously need to take a deep breath and not try to suffocate people.

3. People who love to talk in the prayer room : The thing about these people is quite nice, they would not use their phones when they pray, but the minute they are done they don't give a damn about others around them and start talking on their phones in the prayer room itself! I just thank Allah many times that I do not understand much of ARABIC if these people are arabs. Today, there was a wonderful woman in the prayer room who was standing at the entrance door and her phone kept ringing, but she does not answer it, thats not the irritating part, the irritating part is the fact that she was NOT PRAYING so all that she had to do was just to take the phone walk out of the room and I wouldn't care at all as to where she heads off!

4. I love it when you whisper so LOUD : I love praying in congregation but sometimes I just end up getting paired with somebody who whispers so loudly that I can barely concentrate on whatever I am reciting. Then, there are some people who like to say the first word of any ayat in a LOUD voice, example, ''ALHAMDULILLAHI, *whispers* Rabbil Aalameen'' ''ARRAHMANIR *whispers* Raheem''. Seriously?

5. People who try to kill others : These people are the angels of deaths on the road. No, seriously they do not turn on indicators while driving, (I even get to an extent its the UAE thing, I guess) but DUDE you've gotta be crazy to change the lane on a road while seeing that there's a car behind you. Not only do you pose danger for yourself but also the passengers in the car behind you. So please, do us ALL a favor and surrender your driving license because obviously you are NOT fit for it.

6. People who want to fight on the roads : They have this stupid ego thing going on. If some small car cuts in front of a Nissan Patrol or any 4 wheel drive they pretty much take it as an insult and cutting the small car's lane and then the small car gets upset so this battle goes on for a while. To those people, get yourself some glasses please because there are OTHER CARS on the road too, Thank you.

I am pretty much done ranting, If I have more I am sure I would write a part 2.

Swearing isn't Cool

Today, I went a little crazy over the fact that one of my friends was very close to swear at me (but she didn't).

Now, I know swearing here and there among friends is okay... but I have stopped entertaining the F word profanity sometime back. It was not easy and I would not be rosy about it. Few years ago, I was with a friend of mine, and I heard her using a very bad word for someone and I was shocked at my discovery that she could use such a word. Not too long after that after few months that very word was slipping off my tongue like butter on a hot toast, very smoothly, almost effortlessly without any little feeling of guilt for using my tongue to utter a really bad word.

I stopped it pretty much completely, when once my friend and I almost had an accident and the word that came from my mouth was 'Shit'! I wouldn't wanna die with that word being my last.And this video here explains alot about my situation.

So let's be clear here there's absolutely NOTHING that is cool about swearing. Now, I know some people who grew up in an environment where it was pretty much the norm and I can see where they are coming from and perhaps even they are struggling to avoid it. Then, there are some people who were raised in households which did not even know about the different types of swear words that exist.

Yet, to be considered 1 amongst them in their peer group, to show people how easy or casual they are, to think its COOL, to think there's no other form of expressing their emotions, Some people start using these words and God knows I'm not trying to be sarcastic I used to pretty much fall under all the categories mentioned above. I realize it's pretty much common on the Media, and anything on TV is bound to be ''cool''. But, Just think about this simple quote ''Would you use a toilet brush to clean your teeth? Then how can you use your tongue with which you recite Quran, to use swear words?''

The above quote made me wonder about how in reality, my tongue, my ability to speak is a gift from Allah SWT and there I was using it for swearing. So I stopped, everytime I felt an urge to say a bad word, I would just replace it ''Astaghfirullah''!

Propeht (Sal Allahu Alay hi wa sallam) said : 'The best amongst you are those who have the best manners and character.'
(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 759)"

So I am sure that swearing wouldn't really be a part of good manners or character.

Alhamdulillah, Once you stop swearing for a long time. You would even feel uncomfortable when others utter such words in front of you. I've had incidents when somebody said something very profane I would just go like ''Don't use bad words man!!!'' till they stop it and make fun of me for being such a baby OR I pretty much start looking somewhere else to completely ignore that person, thats the level of discomfort it would bring to you.

P.s. If it gets hard to leave swearing, try having a swear box. Everytime you use a swear word, you put some amount of money in it as a penalty and perhaps later on you can give it in charity.

''One of Those Days''...

''Bad Day'' or ''One of Those Days'' are the common phrases used for a day when nothing seems to lift your mood, nothing really makes a difference, even when you change your surroundings anxiety seems to haunt you in the back of your mind and it feels as if you are holding a flood of tears behind that ''I am okay'' replies to the people who ask you about how you are. And, don't expect anyone your not close to figure out what you are going through because they would buy your answer. But for people who know you very well will just end up rephrasing the question to ''No, how are you Actually?''

I am having one of them. It is not a nice feeling to say the least.. But I cannot complain I don't have anyone to listen to me because I do. But you know that feeling when you feel like you have overwhelmed so many people with your problems that you begin to feel totally pathetic about yourself? Yep! thats what I am talking about.

On a positive note, as compared to few years ago when I would contemplate about ways to kill myself during these days. I am just crying it all out to Allah SWT. The anxiety has reduced to a great extent.. Alhamdulillah. Hope the low mood disappears soon too because I know for a fact that I am wayy more blessed than people suffering around the globe, but my subconcious is quite selfish so it just ends up caring just for myself.

63 years of terror

They have torn them bit by bit,
Yet, they could'nt kill their spirit!
Yes, 63 terrorizing years it has been
They forcibly occupied falasteen.

10 years of talks but there prevails no peace,
''Negotiations are on''- Don't give me that please!
Nobody speaks about this place or its tragedy,
We remain silent for we live our lives in safety.

I know about this place, its once rich culture and heritage,
Before it got occupied by criminals, before it became the target of rage
Before children were imprisoned for throwing stones,
Before people were afraid to sleep in their own homes.

Before the production of customized equipment of destruction,
Before the rain of bombs that fell on schools for children.

Be patient ya falasteen you will have your day too!
Ask Allah to punish them severly for what they do to you!
I will keep you in my duas and I will cry for your loss,
I do not come from you, yet I will fight for your cause.

A Good Friend?

''No! No! I wanna go home, I'll do it later'' I cried out loud to Amina as we walked out of an Abaya mall and she suggested we pray Isha at the masjid near the parking lot.

''Lets do it now and then you can go home, go to sleep directly! you'd feel too tired to pray once your home!'' she insisted while making me walk by pulling my arm.

This scene between us is quite common, when we are at the mall during the weekend or at the islamic centre or at her home. She just wants to get done with it on time, IT being the Prayer. Allah knows I am a fan of Salah, the only times when I get lazy is during Isha, so I delay it as much as I can, or promise myself to get up in the middle of the night to pray..

Anyhow, looking at her pleading eyes behind her ninja niqab made me feel guilty about what I was begging her for, I was begging her to delay her prayer although we were right in front of the masjid, I felt like Shaitan in person! So I agreed, we went in the masjid prayed isha and when I went back home, I was dead-tired, I hit the bed and every muscle in my body was screaming for some rest because it was a long day!

Then I started to wonder about the kind of friend that I may have been to others even before coming close to religion. I would be the first person to volunteer to go for movies and the last person to pray the friday prayer.. Alhamdulillah, Allah Al-Hadi guided me back so I am trying to be steadfast but the ''old'' me sometimes springs back into action causing emaan problems like the one mentioned above!

Post Prayer common scene between Amina and I on our way out from the masjid or the prayer room goes like this

Me - I love you SOOO much!

Amina - I know you do! Don't you feel so much better?

Me - Yes I do!

Lesson - If you really love your friend, you would save them from hell! :D (or in my case procrastination)

On the authority of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (رضي الله عنه ), the Prophet (صلي الله عليه و سلم ) said:A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace.[sahih al-Bukhari, vol 3, #314 and Muslim]

..For Hearts that yearn for Rest..

"When you have nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware that God is enough"

''I am busy'' or ''I do not have time'' or ''I'll do it later'' are some of the common phrases that we use in our daily lives. Until, a problem arrives and we find our minds being baffled trying to work out a solution for it. Until, we try each and every source of counsel from family, to friends, to acquaintances to sometimes even online forums. Until, we try so hard that we feel that we have arrived at a breaking point and then! as a last resort we go towards what must have been our first resort, we do not even rush towards it, we pretty much debate with ourselves while one side strongly condemns it the other side recommends it, so we seek this resort, unsure and skeptical, wondering if He (SWT) would answer us or not. We go towards Allah (God).

Or if we do not encounter the above mentioned situation then we wait until we feel a deep spritual void (btw those who feel this void are quite special too because many just pass the days of their lives in total ignorance) mixed with the feelings of depression and restlessness. We as human beings, will never be able to fill this void except with that which is made to fill it. What is that? It is the remembrance of Allah SWT.

Oh Beloved,Take away what I want.Take away what I do.Take away what I need.Take away everything...that takes me from you. RUMI

It's kinda late yet this quote kept me awake

''Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.'' Khalil Gibran

I spent most of my childhood years with my mom, my dad or baba as I call him would come and visit us in India once in a year or so .. yet I could never understand how can anyone be afraid of their dad, because with mine I was always hanging around like he's my best bud! As the days passed by I turned from an angry kid to an arrogant teenager. When we had our arguments the house would be practically filled with the noise of raised voices and things breaking little bit (him being him and me being his daughter it was bound to happen).

A particular incident of my childhood was when my baba threw my video game out of frustration because he kept telling me to keep it back in its place and I didn't. When I saw my video game out of my house, broken, I stormed in the house and threw out his suits on the floor! Needless to say it was World War III in my house with my mom being grilled between both of us! :P

My sister and I would never joke with our mom, we were kind of reserved with her plus her sense of humor was not so great compared to my dad's. The Khalil Gibran's quote really makes me think of my dad, because he is the funniest guy i have known in my life, he's a chilled out laid back dude and lets us crack a million jokes on his ever decreasing hair. Laughter plays a BIGG part in his life, and now when we talk about serious issues, and I see the wisdom behind his words it brings tears to my eyes.

With my dad around, nobody really misses any other sort of entertainment! Thats one thing guaranteed!!

Al- Hadi Part 4

Bismillah!

For those of you who are checking out this post for the first time here's the 3rd part that you can check out! In the last post we discussed about the last 2 types of Guidance and in this one we will discuss on how this attribute of Allah SWT must affect our life and the surah which has the abundant Guidance in it.

For starters, lets think about this beautiful qudsi hadith;

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said:

"Allah (mighty and sublime be He), had said: 'I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves, and My servant shall have what he has asked for. When the servant says: 'Al-hamdu lillahi rabbi l-alamin' (3), Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says: 'My servant has praised Me.' And when he says: 'Ar-rahmani r-rahim' (4), Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says: 'My servant has extolled Me,' and when he says: 'Maliki yawmi d-din' (5), Allah says: 'My servant has glorified Me' - and on one occasion He said: 'My servant has submitted to My power.' And when he says: 'Iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta in' (6), He says: 'This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for.' And when he says: 'Ihdina s-sirata l- mustaqim, siratal ladhina an amta alayhim ghayril-maghdubi alayhim wa la d-dallin' [Guide us to the Straight Way ,The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace , not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray. (such as the Christians)] (7), He says: 'This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for.'"

[Muslim (also by Malik, at-Tirmidhi, Abu-Dawud, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah)]
You can check out the translation of whats written above right here.

So now, when we go through this hadith we can figure out that the essence of this surah is in the guidance that we ask from Allah SWT at least 17 times in a day because we are so prone on getting misguided now and then, in one way or another. Now, you and I can't just say 'okay so we recite the surah everyday, yet there are some sins we do on daily basis' because the thing that we must keep in mind is that, how much faith and belief are we sincerely putting in while we recite this surah in our salah? Are we just reciting it on a ferrari's speed? or are we actually trying to read while pondering upon it's meaning?

Now, if Allah SWT does provide us the guidance based on the above Qudsi Hadith then how do we figure about what exactly is that type of Guidance? The scholars have categorized the Guidance in 9 types, which is ;

1. Allah will guide you to acquire knowledge about the right/wrong or halal/haraam : Alhamdulillah many of us have receieved this type of guidance yet we choose to conveniently overlook some of the things which contradict with our whims and desires. so what do we do then? well the answer is in next point!

2. Allah will give you the ability to act upon that guidance : Guidance can also be in form of the ability to do something that pleases Allah SWT. For example, if i have a fractured foot, no matter how much I would want to make a sujood that time I will not be able to do it. So this ability that we have and that we take for granted to obey Allah SWT is also a type Guidance and help from Allah. But what if i know that I have the ability yet i just don't feel ''like it''? Next point for the answer!

3. Allah will make you want to do it : This is the type of Guidance that not many of us receieve because sometimes we do know the right and wrong, and we are capable of following the straight path but the obstacles on it just makes us want to go back to our old ways of life and in short, we don't WANT to go on that path. So Allah SWT is fixing this problem as well by giving us the guidance of wanting to do the right thing, now few of us who do not have this guidance, what do we do? DUA!! Yes, a simple answer for anything!

4. Allah will make you firm on that guidance till you meet him and this will be the complete guidance : Well I don't know about any of you, But I desperately need this type of Guidance because I am like a slippery soap on bathroom tiles when it comes to being firm on my emaan. Sometimes, its sky high and sometimes its 6 feet under! So what any of us would probably want after receiving the guidance is to be firm and stable on it... well some of you might think why?? Next point for the answer! hehe

5. He will protect you from the obstacles: The problem with the world that we live in these days is that when we try to practice the actual islam and disregard the so called cultural islam comprising of many innovations and conviniently slected religious duties (as if its a buffet table) with the excuse of Allah is Ghafoor ur-Raheem (the most forgiving and merciful) forgetting the fact that he is also Shadeed ul Iqaab (most severe in punishment), people tend to create a LOT of obstacles for us. So when we encounter such people or situations in our life we need to have a firmly guided conscious because they were times that I myself have done things contradicting to the Islamic beliefs.

Trust me, it can be anyone as close as your best friend or your own family. I remember once my mom had made a dress for me but the sleeves of it were only until the elbows, she forgot that i started wearing only full-sleeves dresses, when I tried to explain her how I could not wear the dress she prepared for me for a party she got upset at it, but when i stuck firm to my belief Alhamdulillah she understood my point and stopped persisting me about it after sometime.

6. Allah will make your goal i.e. paradise clear for your all the time so that nothing puts you down : As the famous english idiom goes Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, with this type of Guidance we would do exactly THAT.

7. Allah SWT will show you how you are in need of his guidance constantly : Because we know how it is so difficult for us sometimes to maintain the consistency in the deeds that we do.

8. Allah SWT will show the way of the ones who are misguided so that when you look at them you learn from them : Now some people might think that is slightly arrogant to look upon the misguided people, but see we are not supposed to look down at them with the intention of mocking them out loud or silently. Because we need to keep our own period of misguidance in mind, Allah SWT guides us by showing these people so that we don't end up doing the same mistakes that they have done, we learn from their mistakes without being arrogant or boastful about how we are rightly guided because we are so, only by the mercy of Allah SWT.

9. Allah SWT will also guide you in all the matters regarding your worldly affairs : So above was the different types of guidance that we could recieve based upon the Qudsi Hadith. But, Allah SWT's guidance is not just limited to us with regards to our matters in the hereafter, HE SWT will in fact also guide us with the matters regarding this world as well. We've all had sometimes the types of situations whereby we feel that ''this is IT, there's no way out, this is impossible, I don't know how to solve this problem'' and then suddenly we do not even realize it and things work out so easily that we end up wondering ''Subhanallah how did THAT work out so easily?''... It is only done due to the guidance and help of Allah SWT.

As we come to the end of our series of the name and attribute of Allah SWT which is Al-Hadi. We should also study a little bit on how this name must impact our life (i know my posts are too LONG so I will try to keep this as short as possible!) :

- Reflecting upon the functions of the humans and the other creation and comprehend on how each creation is guided towards what is best for them

- Reflect on the previous way of our lives and the current one.

- Realizing on how Allah has guided us and how we should think of the ways to make Allah SWT happy for the blessing of guidance that he has blessed on us.

- When we feel lost, confused and our heart is not sure of our actions, then we do not need to sink into depression because we know where we can obtain our guidance from.

- We also learn that we as human beings can never feel self sufficient for without the guidance of Allah SWT we would not be able to achieve anything. We have to ask for guidance even for a small thing in life.

- Most importantly, we have to become the means of guiding somebody. It does not necessarily have to be regarding their religious affairs, we can guide them with affairs pertaining to this world. We can become a mean of guidance for a brother or sister in islam, we do not necessarily have to search for non-muslims and get their interest in Islam because we have alot of siblings from our own ummah who could use some guidance. When we are trying to be a mean of guidance to somebody, we must also remember that we can only try to be a mean of guidance but at the end of the day it is the decision of that person to accept it or not so we must not feel let down for it is only Allah SWT who can change hearts not us. ''In our hand is to be a mean of guidance for people by delivering the message, we don't have to worry about changing them'' We just need to have the sincere intention and ask Allah for help for reforming the character of that person.

And with this we come to an end for our discussion upon the name and attribute Al - Hadi. I am excited to let you know we have started a new name, and I shall start posting the notes for that name as well, I am just in need of some time management! Ok, so can you guess whats the next name?

Hint : It is something that makes a person's face look beautiful :P

Kids Aren't Kids Anymore

Technological advancements have made many big changes in our lives whether we like to admit it or not. In the midst of all these innovations everyday what is being missed out are the good old things.. like whatever happened to reading books while holding it in your hand? Who needs special tablets to just read ebooks? Who needs a book holder? Or a bookcase?!!

And What About Kids? Just a few minutes ago while I was sitting in a coffee shop I noticed 2 school kids not more than 13 checking out their latest purchase of blackberry while one of them was complaining about how her parent thought that her old phone was in perfect working condition and didn't want her to buy this newer model . Even the way that kids behave today is so much like adults. I know of kids who are less than 13 yet if they are not dating somebody they are considered uncool. Now, I know the drill of blaming the media for all these things but the fact of the matter is that the way kids are shaping up these days is also highly influenced by the way they are brought up and by the environment they live in. Undeniably, we have very little influence on the surroundings because everything in them these days is very much influenced by the media potrayal of whats cool or whats uncool.

When I was a kid, and trust me that was NOT too long ago, when my mom denied me something I would immediately jump to the conclusion that she does not love me but now when I think about it, I would like to thank her because when I grew up and started working there was an altogether different satisfaction of working and buying my own stuff. But, these days parents are so concerned about the type of clothes/gadgets their kid's friends have or wear that they need to immediately get the same things for their own kid. Whats up with that insecurity?

I understand the concept of pampering a kid, but pamper him or her with love not by just buying everything that they point their finger at. Then, there are some parents who were not provided whatever they wished for as a kid, so when they end up having kids then they glorify them by fulfilling the kids wishes as their commands. I do not say that let your kid be left out among their peer group nor am I suggesting to just spoil them by splurging every possible luxury on them.

The trick is to maintain the balance between both. It is to know when to say yes and when to say no. I know I am not a parent but I have a little experience close to parenting because I have a nephew and sometimes as hard as it is to tell him No for something I also have to make him realize that he cannot have whatever he wants.

Monitoring what your kid watches is also very important in understanding their way of thinking. You may think they are just watching cartoons and that it is not a big deal. Really? Sit down while they are watching cartoons, there are many cartoons that make the parent or an elderly person seem absolutely foolish. The Simpsons? The proud family? South Park? The cramp twins? Shin chan? there may be many more that I am missing out on.

But if you are too busy to take care of these things while your child is young because they seem petty to you or if you think that your kid is going to get to know about all these things anyway. Then do not be suprised when your kid grows up and is exactly opposite of what you had thought of..

P.s. You might think you are smart but trust me your kids are smarter!

WHYYYY DO WE HAVE TO DO WHATEVER WE HAVE TO DO???!

I know the title of this post probably does not make any sense! But seriously is there an end to a mind numbing job? Like SERIOUSLY!? Sigh, I know this life is not forever and the drill.

But today, I would like to announce this, my dream job is NOT what I do. Sometimes its fun and challenging but I feel as if an undiscovered-creative-me is being suffocated to death and there's absolutely nothing that I can do about it or rather anyone would allow me to do about it. Yes, I care about others. Life is NOT fair! And NO SIR! I can't or WONT get used to it.

Even If I cannot change it, I am going to use this blog as a platform for my rants! oo yeah!

Dare to Dream?

“Do not lose hold of your dreams or asprirations. For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.” Henry David Thoreau

Dreams and Disappointment are like 2 neighbors who live under close vicinity. Does that mean that I'd stop dreaming? Well I did, actually. For as long as I can remember. When I was in college, all I dreamt of was to get good grades in 3 years of university exams. Did it happen? No. Did I give up? Totally! But, in my 3rd and final year when I was hit by the phobia that I am not going to get through my graduation at one shot, my best friend had hope in me. She helped me to build my confidence again that I can get through it.

Did I? Yes.

Post graduation years, I have been thinking about studying further. But, life had something else in store for me. So I could not do that and I stopped to even dream that I could do it later in life. The possibility had faded off in the back of my mind.. But now I am considering maybe I can try to study whatever I can right now. I want to learn and educate myself consistently in any course of study.

I want to learn on how to paint.

I want to travel to the places I've never visited before yet my heart longs for them as if they are where I belong.

So.. Here's this one to dreams.

Al- Hadi Part 3

Bismillah!

You can find the part 2 right over here

Yes! I am keen on finishing my posts on this name today because Insha'Allah we will be starting a new name in sister E's class today. And I am going HYPER out of excitement. MashAllah her classes are so fantastic, so if you are in Dubai.. Then you know what your missing!

Alright People! In the last post, we have discussed about the 2 types of Guidance from Allah SWT in relation to His name and attribute called Al-Hadi (The One Who Guides) Now, In this post we are going to learn about the remaining 2 other types of Guidance!

Following are the remaining 2 other types of Guidance :

3. Hidayat-at-Tawfeeq/Hidayat-al-Khaassa-til-Khaassa (Specific Guidance/ The Most Special Guidance) : Before we proceed with this post, I would like you all to please visit this link and download the small ebook relating to this type of Guidance which will help you in deeply understanding this form of Guidance along with the ways to achieve it.

When we get to know about the knowledge through Allah Al-Hadi's guidance, we begin to feel that we are prettt special ;) But, here's the thing what You and I need to blessed with in order to actually apply the knowledge obtained into our daily options is Hidayat-At-Tawfeeq or Hidayat-al-Khassa-til-Khaassa.

How do we obtain this? Well, I've attached the link but let's just presume if you guys are too lazy like me, then here are a few tips (I would still recomment to check out the link) ;

1. Voluntary acts - I know we all struggle with the obligatory acts itself, then what about the voluntary? I know if there's a list of people who do it I'd be the last one on it. See, this type of Guidance is sooo special Allah SWT will want to see you work a little bit for it and hey we all know about How Massively merciful He is.

And what about this hadith? Abu Hurairah (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah (saas) said,

“Verily, Allah (swt) said: Whoever shows enmity to a Walee (close, obedient slave, who worships Allah alone without associating partners with Him in worship, performs good deeds, and avoids sins) of mine, then I declare war upon him. No slave seeks closeness to Me with anything that is more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory upon him. And My slave continues to seek closeness to Me through voluntary acts (of worship) until I love him. And when I love him, I become his hearting that he hears with, his sight that he sees with, his hand that he strikes with, and his leg that he walks with. If he asks Me, I give him; if he seeks refuge with Me. I give him. And I have never hesitated about something I do that way I hesitate to take the soul of a believer; he dislikes death, and I dislike his being distressed (or harmed) Related by Bukhaaree (6502)

Okay, now when I was a kid and I got to know about this hadith I used to wonder how can Allah SWT become the leg with which I walk? Or that He would become my hearing? Thankfully, as I started growing up I presumed that I would be listening to the Quran and not music anymore and the likes. But the legs with which I walk or my hands with which I strike left me confused. Alhamdulillah, Sister E made a side note explaining this that When a person receives this specific Guidance through his or her voluntary acts then Allah SWT will guide them in a manner that they would refrain from saying anything bad or displeasing to Allah, They refrain from listening to anything bad like Gossip or backbiting, They refrain their limbs from going to any place where there is ANY haraam taking place, They would not use their hands for any Haraam. Basically, There way of life becomes concentrated on obtaining the Pleasure of Allah SWT and avoiding His Displeasure.

2. Don't put obstacles in the beginning itself - We all know that some of us underestimate ourselves wayy too much when it comes to anything pertaining to the religion. We go like ''Oh I wish I could do that butttt I know I can't'' And what about with regards to the worldy affairs? Mashallah then we are soo confident just like the kid who's drunk bournvita :P hehe! My point being, that do not under estimate yourself to this level. When you know about the Guidance, justt accept it in your heart and make sincere Dua that Allah gives you the strenght to practice it. Thats all? Yes.

3. Truthful Heart - Yes, the above point and this one are pretty much related. Let us Keep our hearts open towards receiving the Guidance. Whenever somebody reminds us about a religious matter lets not get grumpy or go like 'Yeah, yeah I know all that'. If we are truthful in accepting the guidance then Allah will guide us towards attaining Tawfeeq.

4. Repentance - The pre-requisite before asking for anything is repentance. I know many times, Allah SWT blesses answers our wishes and prayers even before we repent out His limitless mercy. But hello? Here we are asking for something totally AWESOME. So We've got to take that step and repent for all our previous sins. Beg for forgiveness for all that we have done till date, a minor sin or a major sin.

We might think, okay thats all good but I have done WAYYY too many sins to ask for forgiveness. Its not like I am just BAD... I am like REALLY BAD. Here's your way out;

Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.[Surah Zumar, Verse 53] (Personally, this is one of my fav verses and this is what really gives me hope)

The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, “The one who repents from sin is like the one who never sinned.” [Ibn Maja (3240)] He also said, “Remorse is repentance.” [Ibn Maja (4242) and Ahmad (3387)]

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Allah will turn towards anyone who turns in repentance before the sun rises from the place it set.” [Muslim]

Plus, we all know about the hadith of performing a perfect ablution and praying sincere 2 rakat of prayer for repentance. InshAllah then He SWT would forgive all the sins.

FINALLY!!!!

5. DUA - Yes, Yes we all know about this weapon of a believer against the Shaytaan. But! when it comes to using this weapon we want to be all peaceful and refrain from it. Sometimes, we DO use this weapon but it is kept in our list as the LAST RESORT. What's the first one? You might ask.. Well we think we can put ourselves into practising a strict time-table and we would be able to achieve anything we want. But the reality of the matetr is that Until Allah wills for something to happen for you it won't. Which is why we must keep DUA as our First resort to any situation and do not under estimate the power of Dua. It was after all the Dua of Ibraheem (AS) due to which we had been blessed with a wonderful Prophet like Muhammaed Sal Allahu Alayhi wa sallam.

P.s. Do not get tired of making Dua EVER. Because I know I have been one of those people who would go like 'I keep asking and making Dua' but things don't work out and I would give up And Allah SWT might have been just about to answer me and I gave up (for those of you who are thinking this sounds familiar... ooh yeah! I was referring to Bilal Assads Talk)

okay, so InshAllah the above mentioned are some pointers for yourself and I.

4. Hidayah-Ala-Bait-Fil-Jannah (Guidance towards our house in Jannah) - THIS!!! MY SISTERS!!! IS THE ULTIMATE GUIDANCE!!!
Yes! I psych out writing or even talking about this type of Guidance! This will the ulimate prize, beyond our level of understanding. Beyond anything we could ever imagine of. This Guidance will of course be given to us if we accept the previously mentioned Guidance and stay true to it. Practice it with all our heart, with sincerity and humility.

This is the Guidance in which Allah Al-Hadi will guide us towards our house in Jannah (Paradise) InshAllah. It is said by the scholars that when people will enter the Jannah they will have the knowledge of where exactly there house is and this what the above mentioned Guidance is about. Allah SWT will put the guidance in our hearts about where precisely will our house be in Jannah Although we have never ever visited this place before. May HE SWT help us in accepting his guidance, staying true to it, striving for his pleasure, avoiding things which cause his displeasure and may He SWT bless us with the ULTIMATE GUIDANCE of showing our houses in jannah. Ameen.


Now that we know soo much about Allah's Name and Attribute Al-Hadi and about the different types of Hidayah. Then there must be some impact that the study of this name should leave in our lives, right?

Inshallah in the next and the last post, we shall learn about the Impact it must leave on our lives, and We will also learn about a Surah which has massive amount of Guidance hidden in it!