Get over it – Yahya Ibrahim

And you thought you were strong…

There are times Allah puts you into situations that make you feel in a way that you never thought you would. These are the times you realise how weak, how human and how helpless you are… You have no control over certain things… especially your Qalb – Your heart! You realise then that Allah is Al-Muqallib – Controller of Hearts and it is only through him that you find any strength that you do, everything you feel, everything you experience comes from Him. He put it there for some reason. It’s the contemplation in moments like these that you understand again the necessity of your heart to be with Him, to depend on Him alone and ask of Him alone. Because alone you are nothing, and through Him you gain everything.

You thought you were strong,
You thought you’d now act grown up
You thought you had unshaken faith
You thought you would never feel anxious again
You thought you’d never wait!

You were wrong
You were wrong
You were wrong!

You still wait
You still get anxious

Friends.. by the will of Allah .. for the sake of Allah! :)

About a year n half  back I came across a blog post. It was a review on the items the sister had won in a giveaway! I read the post and hit the ‘like’ button! Little did I know that that one like was a way of Allah swt to send a really special companion into my life! 🙂

A few weeks/months later I found a comment from the same sister on my blog! She told me that she had  recently realised that I had liked one of her posts, so was kind enough to leave a comment on mine! 🙂 MashaAllah!
Little did I know that this was not just a passing comment but the beginning of beautiful bond of sisterhood!

Weeks passed. Once my newsfeed displayed a status update by Sr.Yasmin Mogahed! Her words touched my heart and I was amongst the first to leave a comment. A few seconds later a notification popped up “Nasmira Firdous likes your comment on Yasmin Mogahed’s status”. Little did I notice that this was the same sister who was also my fellow blogger.

The same day she left another comment on one of my blog post asking if that girl was me! I said yes it was..wondering how she found out, since I use my pen name here. (For the sake of my privacy I shall not mention how 😉 but) let’s just say that Allah has His own beautiful unexpected ways of sending in people into your life. So, this was just the beginning of a bond that truly began and continues to be loved and cherished for the sake of Al-Wadood, alhumdulillah! ❤

Over the year, we had loads of conversations! From her studies at IOU to my life as an engineering student… from the love for Allah to the love for His deen.. about life as a muslimah.. about the struggles of this dunya.. about the highs and lows of eeman and ways to get through it.. struggling through the roller coaster of life.. reminding each other of Almighty, The Wise… ! alhumdulillahi rabbil aalameen! 🙂 None of Your favors I deny my Lord. Truly, all praise is only for You. :’)

She’s my most beloved sister in faith, my fellow blogger, colleague at HH (and will be my senior, incase I decide to take up the BAIS course in future, inshaAllah! 😉 )  – Nasmira .. or Nasmiiiii as I love to shout out! 😀  It’s  our long conversations about love for Allah, Islam and everything (halal) under the sun… that really made me survive the lows of eeman mashaAllah! 🙂

Recently my dear BIG sister as she likes to call herself (:P) sent me a lovely gift! (As for my gift for her.. uh .. well.. all I can say is it’s not yet dispatched.. Why? well that’s another story.. we shall keep for some future post!)

Anyway, back to the gift… well.. I think I should just let the gift do the talking 😛 . So, here it is

Beautiful, ain’t it? MashaAllah! Even more beautiful was the message that came with it! 🙂

‘The illusion of this life lasts but a moment..
It’s the journey you carve that makes the path
and the destination whimsically beautiful.

When you think you’ve experienced happiness,
Just remember being given your book of deeds
in your right hand on the Day Of Judgement!

“Words are a pretext.
It’s the inner bond that draws one to another.”
And how beautiful it is when that bond is Islam
between you and me!!‘
–Nasmira

Alhumdulillah, so overwhelmed reading the message! :’) Now whenever I am happy I actually think of the happiness that will come my way if I receive my book of deeds in my right hand on the day of judgement, inshaAllah! And this thought, it reminds me of my bigger goals and keeps me humble and god-conscious even in the times of happiness, alhumdulillah! ❤

JazakaAllahu Khair Nasmi for all the things you’ve thought me, alhumdulillah..! You are indeed an awesome big sister, mashaAllah! 😉

May Allah accept your duas and grant you good in this world and next! May Allah make our friendship and sisterhood a means for us to be amongst the people who meet and part for His sake and who are granted His shade on that day when there is no shade but His! Ameen Ya Rabb! 🙂

 

To Life or To Death….

A big big reminder to self! ❤ and to all those who are in need of this reminder…

Source: HabibiHalaqas.org

by Sister Sunshine Smiles

“Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Rajioon”

Indeed we belong to Allah(SWT), and indeed to Him is our return.

The intensity that this statement offers does not pertain to death alone but different perceptions of loss and intellect that blows my novice mind to amazedness.

A few years back, this phrase came into my existing Dua’ dictionary when my Father introduced me to it as I was unaware on how to react on the news of somebody’s sad demise.

That one unforgettable morning which started with these words on my lips even before the break of dawn, forced my mind to shut down emotionally for the rest of the day.

It is unimaginable how Allah(SWT) finds the perfect reminders to soften our hearts from the deep barriers of hardness that develop around it in the conscious attempt of living up to the ever competing world.

This isn’t another article reminding you that death is inevitable and all that. This one’s about life, creatively wrapped in ribbons of genuineness symmetrically bowed in what we love to call ‘Love’, of which death does hold some significance.

Love, that was initially focused on our parents when we were 4 years old eventually got distributed to, say a few relatives, cousins and friends when we turned 10 and even more friends and relatives as we

The Goodly Life…

Originally published on Oct 2011

“The Goodly Life”
Sheikh Muhammad Mukhtar Ash-Shinqiti
(Transcript Source: Kalamullah.com

Life, is either for a person, or against him
It’s hours and seconds, days and years pass him by
Leading him (by his actions) to the Love and Good Pleasure of Allah
until he is amongst the people of Ultimate Success and the Gardens of Paradise
or they are against him, leading him (by his actions) to the Fires of Hell
and to the Anger of the One, the Just Ruler [Allah]

Life, either it will make you laugh & rejoice for an hour
over which you will cry for an eternity (in the Hereafter)
or it will make you cry for an hour
over which you will laugh & rejoice for an eternity (in the Hereafter)

Life, is either a great blessing for a person,
or an adverse affliction against him

This is a life which was lived by the earliest generations
by our fathers and forefathers
and by all those who preceded us
All of them, returned to Allah with what they used to do [their deeds]

“Life” refers to every single moment that is

Save Me!

One of Yasmin Mogahed’s wonderful poems. Source: www.yasminmogahed.com

“It doesn’t make any sense…”

Read this article a few weeks back and loved it right from the first word till the last, mashaAllah!

Source: SuhaibWebb.com 

By Ruzky Aliyar

‘Why do some things in life not work out the way you want them to?’ said the boy.

‘How do you know that was what you really wanted?’ asked the girl.

The boy momentarily froze. This had never occurred to him. If he got what he wanted, it made him happy. If he didn’t get what he wanted, it made him sad.

The boy looked at the blue lake in front of him. A gentle evening breeze rippled across the water disturbing its clarity. He turned to look at the girl—his sister. She seemed deep in thought. She looked peaceful and he could see the reflection of the pool of water in her eyes. Here he did not see any ripples in the water. It seemed clear.

‘How would I know that?’ he asked her.

‘How would I know that?’ she repeated, but now

How to be a better muslim?

Source: I want to be a better muslim – nonchalante.tumblr.com

What is stopping you? Wanting to be something has never made anyone anything. It’s your drive, motivation, focus, and what you do that makes you what you want to be. If you want to be a better Muslim, do it.

• Write a list of what you want to change. Choose 3 things every month. Do them. It takes a person approximately 21 days to develop a habit. If you start something at the beginning of the month and stick to it for at least 21 days, it should become second nature.
• Get off the Internet and learn from hard cover books. If you don’t have them, then check your local Masjid. If they don’t, then get some e-books. Get a paper and pen and learn. Study the deen.
• Don’t overburden yourself, but don’t underestimate yourself either. If you know you are capable of something, do it. Allaah will help you along the way. ‘Allaah will not change the condition of a people until they first change it themselves.’
• Read. Read. Read. The more you read, the more likely you are to change.
• Listen to Islamic lectures/audios/videos.
• Talk less. It might sound simple, but the less you talk, the more you listen. The more you listen the more you are observing. The more you are observing, the clearer it becomes to what exactly you need to change and how to change it.
• Lower your gaze. Sound silly? Lowering the gaze prevents you from extracurricular thoughts that may fog the mind. The purer the vision, the purer the mind, the cleaner the heart.
• Don’t tell anyone about changing, just keep it to yourself. Be sincere. Don’t even tell yourself you’re changing, just change some bad habits.
• Stop complaining about how changing is hard. Nothing is hard, it’s all about how much you let it overburden you and how much you’re willing to work on it.
• Pray the night prayers. If you’re awake at 3 in the morning and on tumblr, the least you could do is offer 2 raka’t. Allaah descends in that portion of the night and asks His slaves for anything they want. If you want to change, ask for the strength necessary to change.
• Focus on you. Are YOU changing your bad habits? Don’t think about what Clarese or Amina is doing. Do YOU first.
• Take it one day at a time. Don’t think ‘oh, I’ll change forever and I’ll never do this again!’ that alone makes the shaytaan work that much harder against your weak nafs. Just think about not doing it for that day. You’re not even guaranteed a tomorrow so focus on the now. Go to bed and ask yourself: Did I accomplish my goal today? If not, intend on doing it tomorrow and accomplish it.
• Make repentance your everything. Always always always repent. Never lose faith. Never lose heart. Shaytaan wants you to feel so ashamed that you don’t repent, when Allaah loves those who turn to Him in repentance.
• Walking around? Seek forgiveness. Cooking? Seek forgiveness. Whatever you do, make it a habit to always seek forgiveness anytime and everywhere. You never know when Allaah will accept it from you.
• & never say to yourself “I wish I was a better Muslim” no. Become it. Do it. Plus, have wishes ever come true? No. Make duaa that you become so.

That is all.

Source:nonchalante.tumblr.com

“The believers are like one body”

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “The Faithful are to one another like [parts of] a building – each part strengthening the others” and “Every Muslim is a brother to a Muslim, neither wronging him nor allowing him to be wronged. And if anyone helps his brother in need, Allah will help him in his own need; and if anyone removes a calamity from [another] Muslim, Allah will remove from him some of the calamities of the Day of Resurrection; and if anyone shields [another] Muslim from disgrace, Allah will shield him from the disgrace on the Day of Resurrection.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of `Abd Allah ibn `Umar]

In the hectic life of this era, where we are forever running from one place to another, from one job to another, from one goal to another, from one dream to another… we hardly get enough time to think of what is happening around us. Or sometimes it so happens that even though we know about what is happening around the world -be it the good, the bad the ugly, we care less to do something about it. We are SO engrossed in OUR family, OUR kids, OUR job, OUR happiness, OUR problems… OUR life that we forget that there is someone else out there who is in so much more pain than us. Why have we become so selfish and self indulgent that we have NO time whatsoever to think, leave alone care for anything else that’s happening around us; We read about it and forget …no time even to make dua neither for the sake of OUR Ummah – The Ummah of Muhammad (salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) nor for the sake of Humanity. (nauthubillah)

The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said, “The believers, in their love, mutual kindness, and close ties, are like one body; when any part complains, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever.” [Muslim], “The faithful are like one man: if his eyes suffers, his whole body suffers.” [Muslim]

Are we SO busy that we can’t even take time to reflect at how a part of our Ummah is suffering at hands of the oppressor? Are we SO engrossed in our lives that we can’t even give few minutes of our time to stop and make dua for the Syrians?

This article was a wake up call (to self first) to slow down, to reflect and to do atleast that little bit which I can and you can do for the sake of Allah, for the betterment of everyone around and in order that the I may not be called to account for not raising any awareness about it on the day of judgement. And this awakening happened because of my dear sister Nasmira’s article. My words may or may not have made sense of what I was talking about, but it was the least I could do other than making dua for our Ummah(for the Syrians to be specific); so I leave you with her article “Silence: A Form of Acceptance” with the hope that her words do wake u up too to do the least that we can.

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu.

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Silence:A Form of Acceptance – By Nasmira Firdous

No words, no amount of tears can do justice to what’s happening in Syria. This silence of mine is a silent form of acceptance and approval to what’s happening. The least I can do is speak out, but against whom and do what, many would ask. Most of us are probably living continents apart and feel helpless. While the world remains a mute spectator, the silence of the believer is an even bitter pill to swallow.

What makes anyone think that I would not be held accountable for what’s happening? Yet what can I do? I tell you of a

The Uncertainties of Future

Uncertainties of future are many,

My anxious mind doesn’t stop at any.

Life I wish would come at a standstill,

because thinking of what tomorrow awaits makes my heart ill.

It’s tawakkul in Him that keeps me going…

Who knows about tomorrow but Al-Alim(All knowing),

Al-Hakeem(The Perfectly Wise) who has wisdom that none posses.

So it is in His court that I leave the matter,

Because it is in Him I put my trust, for the better.

What is meant to be has already been decreed,

the pen has been lifted and the pages have dried

Long before I came into being.

So, I’ll let the Al-Wakeel(The Ultimate Trustee) do His work

while I deviate my thoughts in building a better today,

knowing that tomorrow is in safe hands of  Al-Wadood(All-Loving).

-Potential Hijabi

Yaa Hayyu Ya Qayyoom bi Ramatika astagheeth
(O Ever-living, O Sustainer, by Your mercy, I seek your help – Ameen)

P.S. That was absolutely random.. I just had to let my thoughts out. Wanted to write an article but my ‘writers block’ didn’t let me and with all the random thoughts running in my head, this was the the final result! Well, atleast I feel better now, Alhumdulillah, what a blessing writing is! 🙂