Strength of my Conviction

I believe. I believe in Allah, the angels, and the messengers. I believe in the message; The Quran, the truth that I have to follow. I believe in them all, but how firm is my belief?

To believe is to accept there will not always be a logical explanation. To accept that you will not always understand 'why' or 'how' and you will not always be able to comprehend everything. And also to know that even so, there is a reason, a purpose and a will behind everything. To believe is to believe no matter what. Even if you're the only one believing.

So I ask myself, how true is my belief and what would it take to alter my belief?

I believe in Allah, the angels and the messengers. I believe in the message as the truth that i must follow. I believe in the commands of my Lord to establish prayers, fast and go for the Pilgrimage. And in His command to obey His messenger and follow his example. I believe in the command to guard my chastity, keep to modesty, speak the truth, maintain family ties, help the poor and needy and deal with everyone kindly; along with all the other words of the Quran. I believe in patience as a virtue that breeds good in the end and trusting in my Lord's will and decree as only He knows and plans our affairs. I believe.

But I ask again, how firm is my belief? What would it take for me to make compromises in my belief and make adjustments here and there? What would it take for me to drop some and pick some and generally alter or go against what I believe in?

"Do people think that they will be left alone because they say; 'we believe' and will not be tested?" [Al-ankabut 28:2]

For as long as I hold on to my claim of belief, tests will come by for me to prove it. How much will it take for me to forget "...and be patient. Indeed Allah is with the patient" (al-anfal 8:46)
or..."...and seek assistance through patience and prayer" (al-baqarah 2:45)

How much trial would make me forget "...so lose not heart or despair..." (al-imran 3:139)
How much influence or desire would make me forget "...and whoever transgresses the limits of Allah has certainly wronged his own self" (at-talaq 65:1) and "Allah loves not the wrongdoers"
 
And yet again, how much wrong would make me forget "seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance…” (al-Hud 11:3)

How much would it take for us to forget what we believe in? The media, society, friends, family, our own selves and desires; what is that which poses a threat to our imaan? How strong is our conviction and how sincere are we in our claim? How easily do we let go of what we so strongly believe in?

For me, I think the first step towards solving any problem is admitting it exists; identifying it, and then making conscious effort to fight it. There is nothing on earth more valuable to us than our imaan (faith). Not even our lives, living means nothing without imaan. And it is what we have of imaan that reflects in our actions.

Some might be afraid to believe because they know what it means to believe. To believe is to act and they are not ready to start acting. But we believe. And we would act; because believing means nothing without actions.

So we would keep doing good till our hearts are purified and they know nothing but good as a result of our imaan. And if we persist in evil then it is only to our own loss. In the end, the success is not measured by the complete elimination of that which shakes or threatens our imaan; no, these are the tests that would keep coming. Rather, the success is measured by our continual struggle, sincere determination all the way through. The strength with which we held on to our grip, letting nothing/no one alter it till the end.

The Humbling Dose

I find it amazing how there is not a single one of us that is infallible. Is it not amazing? There is not one person on this earth incapable of slipping, making a mistake or falling into error.
I think about this and i discover two major lessons.

First, that this is a pointer, a reminder and yet another sign that perfection is not ours, but Allah's alone. As a result, we must not expect perfection from one another, but rather be open to forgiveness, pardoning and overlooking the shortcomings; lowering our wings of compassion to one another.
But this is not the main lesson.

Every now and again, the mistakes we make, the errors we fall into serve as a "Humbling dose" for us. What it means is, we get reminded of our limitations and fallibility. It gives us another reason to turn back seeking forgiveness and it serves to keep our pride or arrogance at bay.

Imagine a situation where you never have to ask anyone for help or anything, you never make a mistake, and you get everything you want and you get everything right? I feel unable to imagine this, nor to imagine the size of ego that would come with it.

But when once in a while, we slip, we have to ask for help, we have to ask for forgiveness, and we have to get let down, then it reminds us of the fact that everything is not going to be perfect until we get to jannah in sha Allah, not life and most importantly not our own selves. And this is the humbling dose. A dose effective enough to steer us to the realization of our own imperfections; appropriate enough to keep us humble and down to earth and moderate enough to keep us grateful despite being imperfect.

So this turns out to be a mercy from Allah, if it makes us do that which is beloved to Him; turn back and seek forgiveness, humble ourselves, and cut down pride and ego. The result of this becomes even dearer to Him because an error that makes us turn back to Him in humility, seeking forgiveness is more beloved to Him than a good deed that turns us arrogant.

And our humbling dose does not always have to be a sin that we commit, it could be something we had sought for and never got, it could be overconfidence that was tamed by a failure or anything that reminds us that we do not own it all and we are not the ones in charge.

And as I mentioned earlier, the purpose of such a dose would only be to steer us back to humility and understanding, and thus is a mercy from Allah even so, as long as we are able to recognize it.

So perhaps subsequently, when we encounter a defeat, or fall into error, we hope to recognize this as a humbling dose for us, smile and say Alhamdulillaah for hopefully through this, we get to stay humble and close to our Lord.

A Cushion For Every Fall

Ar-Rahmaan: One of Allah’s most beautiful names. The name after which a Surah in the Qur’an was named, and with which it had began. A name we mention at least 30 times a day. What does it really mean?

The very fact that it is on its own a single Ayah in the Qur’an, calls on us to give more than just a brief thought. It behooves us to reflect and internalize this word because it is in itself a ‘sign’.

The word Ar-Rahmaan literally does not have a single English word sufficient to describe it. It is from a root word “Rahm” which means the “womb” where a child receives delicate treatment unconditionally; where a mother who doesn’t even know the child yet, already supplies him/her with so much love, comfort and care, a place that represents a source of mercy, love and compassion.

Ar-Rahmaan, not only means “The Merciful” as it is often translated as, but the one who is full of love, compassion and kindness. The one who treats our affairs so delicately as though they were babies in the womb of a mother; constantly being cared for and protected. The one who’s love and concern has no boundaries; at a peak, comparable to none.

More Amazing about this beautiful word is that it denotes an ongoing kind of love, in its present-continuous form. So it means, its not just that Allaah is the ultimate source of comfort, love, care and compassion, but that His own love and care is ongoing and continuous. It means we are constantly receiving them and He’s literally caring for us and having mercy on us right now.

This point is incredible and very important to internalize because it especially has the ability to in sha Allaah (by the will of Allaah) change our attitudes towards the events of our lives. Knowing this, accepting this and constantly remembering this is enough to fill our hearts with enough patience, tawakkul (trust in Allah) and gratitude towards Allaah in whatever situation.

Also, the fruits of simply internalizing this single word are exactly what we need, our pre-requisites to attain Jannah and the pleasure of Allaah, success in sha Allaah.

So Allaah will test us, no doubt, in ways we may never imagine, but even as He tests us, He does so delicately. He does not overburden us with more than we can handle. He takes care to give us only that test which we have the ability to pass.

And as things happen in our lives, one event succeeding another, one phase after the other we  need to remember that He plans our affairs with so much care that we should only pause and be grateful, be a little more patient and trust in Him.

This also means that for every time something happens that seems like a “fall”, hard times and trials, Allaah has placed a cushion right there, He has made it bearable for us by His mercy, He’s right there tending to our needs, caring for us beyond our comprehension, in ways we would never understand. And yes, I mean we would never be able to understand, because our perception is too limited, our insight and grasp are way too little to understand everything He does for us. But when we do believe and accept this, and are ready to be patient even in the hardest of times, to be grateful even at the lowest of lows, then glad-tidings await us, for we will be sure to find more reasons to be grateful for even showing patience and gratitude. In the end, we would be of those who will smile having pleased our Lord, ever so loving, All-appreciative of good.

“O you who are patient! Bear a little more, just a little more remains” 

All I Remember

All I remember, are the tears I saw in your eyes when you knew I was in pain
All I remember, are the days you stayed awake just to make sure I was okay
All I remember are the times you hurt yourself trying to make me smile
All the days you could've done other things but you chose to stay with me
All the sacrifices you made, all the tears you had wiped away from my face
All the times you had picked me up, and pulled me back when I was just on the verge of falling
telling me, "everything would be okay"
All I remember are those times you wouldn't give up on me, making sure I would finish the race
All I remember dear one, are your comforting smiles, love & grace
Yes, that's all I remember, and that's all I need today
to pass on anything and everything that may just come our way
to look at you and smile, and feel all the hurting fade away
Because all I remember, is enough for me today :)

Dedicated to my dear one(s)
may our love grow like the trees and flow endlessly like the rivers, may our hearts be filled with mercy and compassion towards one another, and may the fruits of this love be kindness, forgiveness and understanding, most of all may we live to remember the good memories shared and may this be till Jannaah where we all aspire to be, so we can love, laugh and smile endlessly :)
"love is for giving & love is forgiving"

Ramadhaan Twenty Nine: From the Light of the Quran

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Alhamdulillaah

Today may or may not be the last day of Ramadhaan, but since the Start of Ramadhaan
we have been discussing some Ayaahs in the Qur'an, and I hope we have all been learning from it and that it has helped to increase our interest and motivation to engage more with the Quran and build a better relationship with it.

the prophet SalAllaahu alayhi wa sallam gave us a beautiful advice, He said;

"Ya Ahlul Quran, - O the people of the Qur'an

La tatawassalul Qur'an,- don't be lazy with the Qur'an/don't turn it to a pillow

- wadhluhu haqqa tilaawatihi min aalaahillayli wannahaar,in any hour of the night and day, Read it as it deserves to be read, (follow it as it deserves to be followed)

- wafshuuhu and Spread it

when you love something you spread it until people start asking you about it, and you start giving them a share of it and they begin to love it too.

and He continues,

-wa taghannauhu- and beautify your voices (with the Qur'an)

-wa tadabbaru fiihi- and reflect upon it

-la'allakum tuflihuun- So you may become people of success

may our Ummah grow and become successful through a sustained relationship with the Quran. Aameen

Ramadhaan Twenty Eight: from the light of the Qur'an

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem

[Suratul Asr]

So Allaah tells us not just how to give the advice but what it should be...

He says Bil Haqq - this means we have to give advice Truthfully, the advice has to be true, and not just that but our reason for giving the advice has to be true as well. we don't just give the advice so that we have the feeling of been better or anything, we give the advice sincerely and it has to be the truth.

and He says, Bissabr- To patience/steadfastness, and this also means patiently...

when we see each other slacking, doing wrong we encourage and advice each other to keep on going, "keep moving you can do it" wa Lal akhiratu khayrun wa abqa, the akhira is better and more lasting. we encourage each other to be more patient in trials, and also we encourage each other patiently, we don't give up on each other easily.
Sometimes it requires a great deal of strength of character to say the truth to some people and to persevere in calling them to the truth. but we have to do in order to be successful.

so its --> Believe+ do good deeds+ advice to the truth/truthfully+ advice to patience/patiently

Nothing short of that if we want to be a part of the exception.

And here's the catch, All of these are in past tense although we didn't mention it at first, its "except those who believed, did good, adviced....." till the end of the Ayaah.

have you figured out why yet??

it means we can only be considered an exception from those who are in loss after our death, having done these four while we were alive.
we cant consider ourselves safe from this kind of loss while we are still alive, so its a struggle we must continue till Allaah takes our lives. And then bi idhnillaah it can be said, "they believed, they did good,...etc and hence they are the exception" may Allaah make us among the exception and have mercy on us.

To be continued in sha Allaah...