..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!