POEM - You just don't have a reason to complain

If you are secure in your home and city
If your basic needs don't depend on someone's pity
If your house has sufficient food and grain
Then you just don't have a reason to complain

If you wake up every morning without the fear of being shot
if your neighbourhood hasn't become bomber's favorite spot
Then here's just a crazy wild thought
Be thankful atleast for what you got

Things happen in our lives but with time they do fall into place
Not too far from us live people patiently waiting for days
They still thank god in their praise
While we think ours is the worst case


Let's just wake up it is about time,
Leave behind all that silly whine
If you see what each person is strugglin with
you will love your struggles and begin to adore it

So when you think your life is too sad
Just take a deep breath and rethink that
There's someone feelin it more than you
But they are staying strong and pulling through

If you haven't experienced such agony and pain
Then by Allah you have no reason to complain
Just remember your blessings ; count them again
You will find not even one reason to complain

For if every complain nullified a blessing a huge part will still remain
Now you know why you don't have a reason to complain

People of Syria

O people of syria be patient for your time will come
When the dictator will have nowhere to run
He will pay for everything that he's done
Be it Harrassing you or killing your loved one 

For some people you are just numbers while they live each day normally
Denying your struggles and battles that end brutally
For some people you are their reason to pray
Your blood has turned their worlds grey..

They don't know you yet they cry for your loss
Their hearts anxiously turn and toss
I know it hurts but hold firm to your belief
Allah is witnessing your tears and grief

He knows when the hospitals were turned into torture centres
He will remember even if nobody remembers 
He knows when you have lost your husband or son
He knows the shots taken from the bullets of a gun


He will take account of all those who are unjust
They will beg and plead to disappear into dust
But right now their hearts are covered with rust
Which is why they played around with your trust

I know its been more than a year
Just hold on tight the end is near
When you will have only Allah to fear
Nothing is wasted of you not even a tear

What can YOU do for Syria?

If you are in the UAE then you can donate to Syria through Red Crescent by sending sms on the below numbers ;

Etisalat:
10 dirhams; 6881
50 dirhams; 6885
100 dirhams; 4611
200 dirhams; 5200
Du
10 dirhams; 7110
50 dirhams; 7150
100 dirhams; 7100
200 dirhams; 7200


Remember they are our family if not in religion then in humanity... That's the least that we can do and also make lots of duas fo rthem.

Whoever helps his brother Allah will help him and whoever delivers anyone else from any distress Allah will deliver him from one of the distresses of the Resurrection Day. [Hadith]

Pondering Over Quran : Surah A'raf Part 2

Salamlaykum again here's the part 2 of Pondering Over Quran : Surah A'raf Part 2 and for the newbies who don't know what's going on you can check out the part 1 here 
In the previous post we discussed the initial 2 calls that Allah swt makes to us and in total there are 4 calls that Allah makes. So here's notes for the remaining 2 calls;

3rd Call

Sahih International
O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.(verse 31)


There are 2 commands in this verse
- The first is to cover ourselves and wear best clothes when we are praying. And really, if we ever look at ourselves when we are out to meet some friends or relatives and when we are getting ready to pray in our homes.. When we are going to meet people or even if we are simply going out we ensure the color of the scarf is nice, the abaya isn't dirty and even under the abaya we ensure to wear nice clothes for various reasons - sometimes to just feel good and sometimes because we are going to be at a girly gathering. But when we are praying at our home we just flip on some cover on ourselves standing in our pajamas and a worn out t-shirt covered by the big shawl. Whereas Allah SWT is telling us to wear our best clothes SPECIALLY when we are praying because who are WE dealing with when we stand in prayer - The ONE who is the MOST beautiful and who LOVES beauty! I mean c'mon think about it girls and think really hard and don't be of those who are careless about the way they look just because they are praying!
- The second is to eat and to drink but to not be excessive because Allah does not love those who are excessive. Subhanallah, when we read this verse in the class it was as if someone took this one big boulder and hit me with it because I honestly enjoy food more than anyone I know of so it is only natural for me to get all curious and order different things and the portions are generally large for any average person.. and really even when we look at ourselves when we throw parties - the food is SOOO excessive and once again it's a reminder for me. People come to parties or attend gatherings for the company not for the food. Food and drink is the second part of it and I generally forget that which results in me placing an order for so much food that even when everyone leaves half of it remains and acts as dinner or lunch for the next day. But ofcourse we all have times when we are in the malls and we order something and are not able to finish the portion and we know what happens with the rest of it. So here are the few points of reflection from this command ;

1. Let's not transgress the allowed limit of our stomachs and not eat until it starts to harm our body. Let's not be excessive and luxurious in what we eat. How can you be luxurious with what you eat? By decorating it ALOT by eating only from certain expensive places while other restaurants offer the same quality at a lower price..
2. This also acts as a reminder for few people who serve their food in gold plates to show how filthy rich they are because excessive luxury and show off is not allowed.
3. This also should act as a reflection for the diet-o-holics because Allah IS asking us to Eat and Drink he's just asking us not to be excessive in it. What happens is that girls initially don't care about what they are eating and when they are eating it and then they decide to starve themselves by going on a diet - after reading the above verse it should be clear to us that Allah does not like us doing this kind of torture on ourselves. Then, there are other set of girls who just think that they are eternally fat so even if they are thin they still go on a diet to become so skinny that really looking at them makes you thank Allah for the body you have. The key is moderation - eating healthy and physical activity thats it.
4. Another point to ponder over here is that anything excessive of this world is disliked by Allah. So the verse's command should not just limit to our eating and drinking habits  but we should also think about the areas in our lives where we are excessive. It can be with our houses, the money we spend to build it, the interiors we design, all of it is okay but not to the crazy point of detailing.
Girls, we love to shop - we can go on in malls for hours without really even buying anything. But sometimes when the sales start we forget if we need something or don't and buy it regardless because the discount isn't gonna come back for few months at least. I know of people who buy stuff so much that they don't even know what they own exactly , bags of clothes with their tags still on collecting dust in the closet...

4th and Final Call

Sahih International

O children of Adam, if there come to you messengers from among you relating to you My verses, then whoever fears Allah and reforms - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. (verse 35)


This call is made in verse 35 talks about the people who believed in the message and changed to become pious and how these people will not have any fear or grief on the day of resurrection. In the immediate next verse, which is verse 36 Allah swt then talks about people who disbelieve and what's going to be their deal.
The fact is that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the last and final messenger sent to mankind from Allah swt and there is going to be none after him. So whosoever claims to love Jeasus or Moses or any other prophet (peace be upon all of them) for that matter of fact and still are not muslims are doing wrong to themselves. Because all these prophets also came with the same message that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent with which is to not associate any partners or intermediaries with God and to directly worship him without going through any other agent and have the utmost belief in his Oneness. His superiority and majesty over everything else.
Being a slave of One God is really not even an alien concept, it aligns with our natural disposition perfectly and it also makes more sense than any other philosophy. If we look all around us it is only natural that there is One God because if they were more we would find contradictions around us in his creation. If there were more Gods its bound that 2 parties have difference of opinions and the world around us would not work with such perfection and harmony.
Then there are those who think that God has sons or daughters - This is the misconception which I think is the most easiest to clear because if we think logically we as humans need children to carry our legacy because we are weak and won't live forever. We count on the love of our children to support us during our old age too. But if there is this One God who is the Most Powerful and ever living without any associates then why would HE need a son or a daughter? Recreation a human characteristic and to attribute it to the powerful, ever living and ever perfect God is just simply wrong.

If you are not a muslim and are reading this then know that it's time to think and contemplate on your beliefs , question them and see if you are genuinely satisfied with its teachings, if you don't see any contradiction or grey area in it. If you are a muslim and are reading this then Thank Allah swt from the depth of your heart for blessing you with Islam.

Pondering over Quran - Surah A'raf Part 1

Salamalaykum to all of you lovely readers out there!


I've been meaning to write about my last week's notes for quite sometime but I was running out of time and sometimes I was too tired. So without further delay, what's happened is that currently at Al huda we have this super awesome, amazing, fantastic visiting teacher from Kuwait. She comes here almost twice a year or that's how many classes I've attended of her so far and MASHALLAH she's blessed with amazing ability to teach.


She's started a series called Tadabbarul Quran which translated to 'Pondering over the Quran'. I've missed the first class but Alhamdulillah was able to attend the 2nd one and would love to share some notes now. I am not kididng I've 7 huge pages full of notes, I just couldn't keep up they were so many gems in that class. I felt like a poor person in front of  a treasure and I had to grab all that I could!


She starts off with reminding us for renewing our intention for attending such gatherings of knowledge for the sake of Allah swt and not for anything else such as socializing or meeting new people.. etc. Then she mentioned about how we all need to translate our knowledge into the language of action. Many people may attend classes but where is the effect of that knowledge upon them? Reflect on what you learn. Think. Ponder.


Be grateful to Allah for being able to learn the knowledge of His deen. Because really, no matter what kind of weekend seminar or weekly classes or halaqas we attend we must always remember that had it not been for Allah swt to provide us the health, the means and the guidance we wouldn't be able to attend such gatherings. The most important knowledge is of the quran and the sunnah. Allah gives it only to certain people. Whatever good you do in life your goal should be the pleasure of Allaah swt. Even a small deed should not belittled and should be done for his sake for perhaps this small deed will be highly crucial for your on the day of judgement.


So what is pondering over the Quran?


Introduction


Well it's a lot of things but it does not require one to be a scholar to do it. There are certain guidelines on how to do it but really it acts as a heart softener. Many times we've read the Quran and I know most of the people like myself do not know classical arabic so ... we just read quran and we read it in arabic. So what we need to do is we need to know what we are reading - of course reading and understanding in arabic would be one awesome thing! But, until then You and I can grab an interpretation of the Quran in the language that we best understand and take a start! Here are some tips; 


- Read quran with contemplation, Read it slowly, word by word, repeat a lot, think about what Allah swt wants you to do


- Stop at the names and attributes of Allah and focus on them


- Focus on the stories of the prophets. It is there in the quran to show us how Allah deals with different kind of people


- Focus on understanding the parables


- Try to understand the descriptions of the people .. The pious people who are described in a certain manner and the people of hell fire who are also described in a certain matter. So we can understand the qualities we need to obtain to fit in the description of the pious people so we know what are the kinds of qualities that Allah swt loves in a people and really it's no rocket science we just need to read the quran and we can understand it.


- Be attentive when you are reading about the calls that Allah swt makes to us. Calls? How's that? Well the calls of Allah swt to us are when the verse starts with ''O son of adam'' or ''O you who believe''


So now, we would briefly reflect over the calls of Allah swt that are there in Surah A'raf which is chapter 7 of the quran starting from verse 11 in which Allah swt mentioned the story of Adam (as) and his creation how Allah swt asked all angels to prostrate a prostration of honor and all did except Iblis a.k.a shaitan and how then iblis was expelled yet he asked for a respite from Allah swt until the day of resurrection so that he would misguide the people from the guidance of Allah. Once, the shaitan gets expelled, Allah swt informs adam (as) and his wife (hawwa as) to dwell in the heaven and to enjoy all in it except the one forbidden tree and you know how shaitan goes and tempts them and claims to be a well wisher for both while in reality he was nothing but an enemy.. Eventually they eat from that tree and Allah swt inspires them with the words whith which they should seek his forgiveness and then they both are sent on earth to rest and enjoy for sometime... soon after this verse is the first and the most profound call that Allah swt makes




FIRST CALL - 

Sahih International

O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember. (verse 26)


This is the first call because as we know that once adam (as) and hawwa (as) ate the fruit of the forbidden tree their private parts become apparent to them. In this verse Allah swt talks about how He has created and bestowed upon us means with which we can create clothing as  being covered is an act of modesty. 


But that's not the only covering He talks about - He talks about 2 types of coverings or garments. 1 for the body and 2 for the heart which happens to be the clothing of righteousness.  And really we need to ask ourselves the question about how careful are we for the clean clothing for our bodies while our hearts remain in a state ignorance covered with a dirty cover?


So what is the cover of our heart? It is the garment of piety and taqwa (god consciousness) because just as  the body needs to be covered in few areas ; the same is the case with our hearts. It needs to be covered so no sicknesses, sins can touch it. Allah swt nurtures his creation by making them go through situations to upgrade us in the level of piety and to make us aware of our defects. The heart has two components in it 1 is Desire and 2 is Faith. Well how does these things affect your piety?


Imagine a scenario where someone has just insulted you right in front of you - so in this case you have two options you can either use the component of Desire and knock the life out of that person physically or verbally and show them who the boss is and what a grave mistake they have done by insulting you. 


OR


You can practice your faith which tells you to forgive that person. So In this situation either your faith will win and the level of your piety and taqwa will increase in your heart. Or you can follow your desire and create some sin for yourself while you are giving them a piece of your mind.. 


We have to be careful of the clear sins that we do because when we commit the sins that we know are bad then the heart starts to lose its piety. We can fool ourselves and others by giving excuses for our faults.. but we should remember that if our eman is really increasing then so will our sensitivity towards sins irrespective of if they are small sins or big sins.


One of the sins that enter our hearts sometimes very discretely is envy - we may say Mashallah and everything when we hear about somebody's good news but deep in our hearts a fight can start wondering why hasn't Allah blessed us like so and so? oh how we wish we had gotten it not that person or we may be sad that Allah hasn't blessed us with it. If we have faith then we won't feel that way it would be like a test of our sincerity. Envy is the sin of the heart. we wont realize the sins of the heart unless we have faith in it. 


Did you know that worry is also the sin of heart? because when you worry you are not thinking and believing that Allah swt is AL WAKIL - the best disposer of affairs. Remember, if you are always worrying then you are relying on yourself for your affairs and not on Allah. Entrust everything in your life with Allah. It is very important to check your heart all the time and cover it with piety because as derived from the verse above the covering of the heart is more important than the covering of your body.


Just a thing to notice is that whereas sometimes for necessity we take off our clothes of our body but the garment of piety should always accompany us all the time. Taking off the garment of piety from our hearts leaves us disgraced. As shaykh imam as saadi states ''the raiment of piety accompanies the slave all the time''


SECOND CALL -

Sahih International

O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them. Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not believe. (Verse 27)

Before Allah swt makes the call we can notice how Allah swt forgives and it acts as a reminder for us to seek repentance for every small or big sin or bad deed that we may commit because really with every sin comes a consequence and it will there until the forgiveness is sought for it. Some people like myself might wonder 'Oh well so had it not been for adam as to commit that action we all would be in heaven havin a good time and we won't be on this earth faced by so many temptations now and then' and that's where we are wrong because all that has happened is what Allah had decreed. He decreed that adam as dwelled on earth and Allah created the means for adam as's survival on this earth. 

In this verse Allah swt is basically warning us not to listen to shaytan as he tempted our parents. Shaitan can strip off our bodily  garment or the garment of piety or both. As we can notice all around us the increasing amount of nudity it is really an example of how shaitan tempts us and strips us off our clothing and modesty. It should really act as a reminder to us. 


In the same sense shaitan is also capable of stripping us of the garment of piety and taqwa that covers our hearts. It can in many ways and we all know how shaitan works discretely. It can happen to a person who has started praying 5 times a day but then shaitan comes and you know tries to convince that person how they have prayed all 4 of 5 prayers and perhaps skipping Isha is not so bad because they are tired or because they are still new to this routine. And the next thing you know the person misses fajr and the next prayer and it has a big domino effect but that doesn't even mean that the person should stop trying to keep up with the prayers it just means that they need to increase their level of awareness to make out when the shaitan is whispering to them.


This surah consists of 4 calls that are made to us. While I thought I would write all of them together I don't want the post to be too long as I myself am baffled at the size of it right now, because I've added my own comments too along with the notes it became quite comprehensive. Inshallah the part 2 will be soon updated.