Category Archives: Yasmin Mogahed

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Webinar: Unforgettable Ramadan – Obedience, Reflection and Change by Yasmin Mogahed

Habibi Halaqas and Igotitcovered present:
FREE ONLINE WEBINAR
Suggested Donation = $5
Donate HERE: http://bit.ly/hereisagiftforyou

Title: Unforgettable Ramadan – Obedience, Reflection and Change

Register HERE:  http://unforgettableramadan.eventbrite.com/ 

When: Tuesday, July 17th 2012 in sha allah at 3:00 pm EST
Who: Yasmin MogahedAfter completing her graduate work, Yasmin taught Islamic Studies and served as the Sisters’ Youth Director for the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Currently she’s an independent media consultant, a writer for the Huffington Post, and an author for Suhaibwebb.com, where she focuses most of her work on spiritual and personal development.

What will be covered in this webinar?

  • Entering the Blessed Month with a Proper Mindset
  • How to Renew Yourself Through Ramadan
  • How to Achieve Spirituality and Tranquility During the Month
  • How to Continue in the Same Mindset Once the Month Leaves
  • … and much more!

I Got It Covered: An online network that personifies women everywhere who willingly respond, with love and dedication, to the command of their Lord in wearing the hijab. Through the stories and voices of these women, IGIC exposes the realities behind covering, correcting stereotypes about hijab and becoming a source of inspiration and support for women who wish to pursue wearing it. Doing so, IGIC hopes to create bridges of education, respect and understanding, ultimately sharing the beauty of Islam with the world. www.igotitcovered.org

Habibi Halaqas is a for-sisters, by-sisters organization that holds online webinars on topics such as Islamic Knowledge, Life Skills specific to Muslim sisters, Social Psychology, Self Grooming and more topics! Our website also includes articles, e-books, videos, wallpapers and now an online/in-print magazine! – www.habibihalaqas.org

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This is a sisters only event
Online webcast with audio and visual presentation
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For maximum benefit, try your best to attend this event live.
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Toronto Time: 3 pm EST
Chicago Time: 2 pm CST
LA Time: 12 pm PST
Egypt Time: 9 pm EET
London Time: 7 pm GMT
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Title: Unforgettable Ramadan – Obedience, Reflection and Change

Register HERE:  http://unforgettableramadan.eventbrite.com/ 

FREE ONLINE WEBINAR
Suggested Donation = $5
Donate HERE: http://bit.ly/hereisagiftforyou  

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On the struggle of life…

On the Struggle of Life – By Sr.Yasmin Mogahed

 

I thought of you today
I thought of you and remembered those words you told me
In the most perfect way
You calmed my beating heart
And eased my breath
You told me those words and I carry them still
They lift me, fill me, undo the wear
Because more than pain, I am worn
I feel like I’ve lived this story for a thousand years
And I’m ready now to sleep
I’m ready to let go
I’m ready for the story to end now
I’m ready to feel your peace
And the sound of your voice
Telling me I’m done, I’ve won, I’m there
But I know I know this place
I’ve been here before
I’m going to sleep now
I’m going to sleep
Please don’t ask
Please don’t ask
Just let me sleep
Just let me sleep with your words upon my tongue:
‘Oh mankind, indeed you are ever toiling towards your lord, painfully toiling…
But you shall meet Him’ (84:6)

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‘Don’t Be Sad’ Series – Remember Allah is with Us!

Bismillah

Assalamualaikum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatahu,

Al-Ghazali said, “If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you as He does with His Awliya’ and chosen elite, and is watching over you, have you not heard His saying, “So wait steadfastly for the judgment of your Lord – you are certainly before Our eyes.[At-Tur 52:48]
 This series was small attempt to spark hope in the hearts of people whose heart are in need of it and to serve as a reminder for us, for the sake of Allah.  The real help though can only come from Allah(swt), the owner of Peace. So establish your Salah and make immense dua and inshaAllah, you WILL see how Allah sets everything right for you and brings you out of darkness to light.

Let’s not forget, this world was never meant to be perfect. There’s no way that our lifes could be a cake walk for us. This life on earth was meant to be a test from Allah, who tells us about the purpose of our lifes in this world in the following verse of the Quran –

“Who hath created life and death that He may try you which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving” (Quran 67:2)

Trials and tests are a part of this life. They are a means by which Allah distinguishes each one of us and provides us with opportunities to increase our level in Jannah. SubhanAllah!

There is no point running behind happiness because by virtue “happiness” is like water, no matter how hard you try to hold it in your hand at some point it is going to flow away.  Instead we need to work on our relationship with the almighty, improve our deen (religious knowledge), do not leave salah and hold fast to our imaan; so that inshaAllah we are atleast at peace. The result of which is that even if something real bad happens with us we do not prolong the sadness, by the grace of Allah. We accept it, displaying true faith in the qadr of Allah, reminding ourselves the purpose of our life in this world and move on.

May Allah grant all of us this peace and help us be content with our lives. Let no storm be strong enough to shake our faith and trust in the Almighty and His plan for us, for He is the best of planners. Ameen.

On a side note, here are some additional suggestions:

I would strongly recommend reading articles by sister Yasmin Mogahed. Her article really give me some sense to why things happen the way they do and what is required of us to find true contentment in dunya so that it may benefit us in the akhira,inshaAllah. She also has a lot of audio clips which can be downloaded too. Please do listen to them.

Secondly, the book “Dont be sad” .. I just got this book few days back, so I cant  really give my opinion about it, but our muslim brothers and sisters around do recommend this book for everyone. So, inshaAllah, it should be helpful. Do get yourself a copy of it or you can download the e-book version from here.

Lastly, Brother Eddie of “The deen show” has some wonderful advises for us! I personally love this audio clip. It’s long but it covers all the good verses from the quran and hadith that will help one feel a LOT better! Download it and keep it with you, so you could listen to it whenever you feel low again!

Love you all for the sake of Allah! 🙂 Fii Amanillah!

Lots of Love & Peace,
Potential Hijabi

P.S. Keep smiling, “La Tahzan (Don’t be sad), Allah is with us.”(Quran 9:40) 🙂

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‘Don’t Be Sad’ series – Questions Answered!

Bismillah
Assalamualaikum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatahu,
Sadness brings along with it a number of questions… The endless “why”s!! .. Here are some questions answered in light of quran, that happened to be posted on page over the internet!
1) WE ALWAYS ASK: Why was I TESTED?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: “Do men think that they will be left alone saying,’We believe’, and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.” [29:2-3]2) WE ALWAYS ASK: Why I never get what I wanted?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: ” It is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing, which is bad for you. But Allah knows, while you know not.” Surah Al-Baqarah [2:216]

3) WE ALWAYS ASK: Why was I burdened this way?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: “Allah does not place a burden to a soul greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.” Surah Al-Baqarah [2:286]& ” So verily, with every difficulty there is relief: (repeated) Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.” Surah Al-Insyirah [94:5-6]

4) WE ALWAYS ASK: Why am I losing hope?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: “So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: For you will be superior if you are true in Faith.” Surah Al-Imran [3:139]

5) WE ALWAYS ASK: How can I face it?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: ” O you who believed! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah that you may prosper.” Surah Al-Imran[3:200] & “And seek(Allah’s) help with patient, perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a humbly submissive (to Allah).” Surah Al-Baqarah [2:45]

6) WE ALWAYS ASK: What do I get from all these?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: “Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and properties (in exchange) for that they will have the garden (of Paradise)…” Surah At-Taubah [9:111]

7) WE ALWAYS ASK: To whom could I depend?
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: “(Allah) suffice me: there is no god but He: On Him is my trust- He the Lord of the Throne (of Glory) Supreme.” Surah At-Taaubah [9:129]

8) WE ALWAYS ASK: But I can’t take it anymore!
AL-QURAN ANSWERS: “…and never give up hope of Allah’s Soothing Mercy; truly No one despairs of Allah’s Soothing Mercy. except Those who have no faith.” Surah Yusuf [9:87]& “Despairs not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives All sins for He is Often- Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Surah Az-Zumar [39:53]

And a few others are answered in these lectures…
9) Why can’t I get what I want?
A wonderful talk on this question by Sister Yasmin Mogahed..!
10)Why do bad things happened to good people?
I’m sure everyone of us have had this question at some point.. this lecture HERE should answer it best!
Lot’s of Peace and Love
Potential Hijabi ❤
P.S. This is such a BEAUTIFUL Dua. “I know you are there Allah. I know you see my tears. I know you hear my prayers. I know you are testing me. And all I ask from you is to strengthen my Imaan so I can handle the struggles in life and have patience. I love you my Lord. My Allah. Please keep me safe” Ameen
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THIS is love.

No words… Sister Yasmin Mogahed at her BEST, mashaAllah!

This is love.

And so there are some who spend their whole lives seeking. Sometimes giving, sometimes taking. Sometimes chasing. But often, just waiting. They believe that love is a place that you get to: a destination at the end of a long road. And they can’t wait for that road to end at their destination. They are those hearts moved by the movement of hearts. Those hopeless romantics, the sucker for a love story, or any sincere expression of true devotion. For them, the search is almost a lifelong obsession of sorts. But, this tragic ‘quest’ can have its costs—and its’ gifts.

The path of expectations and the ‘falling in love with love’ is a painful one, but it can bring its own lessons. Lessons about the nature of love, this world, people, and one’s own heart, can pave this often painful path. Most of all, this path can bring its own lessons about the Creator of love.

Those who take this route will often reach the knowledge that the human love they seek wasnot the destination. Some form of that human love, can be a gift. It can be a means. But the moment you make it the End, you will fall. And you will live your whole life with the wrong focus. You will become willing to sacrifice the Goal for the sake of the means. You will give your life to reaching a ‘destination’ of worldly perfection that does not exist.

And the one who runs after a mirage, never gets there; but keeps running. And so too will you keep running, and be willing to lose sleep, cry, bleed, and sacrifice precious parts of yourself—at times, even your own dignity. But you’ll never reach what you’re looking for in this life, because what you seek isn’t a worldly destination. The type of perfection you seek cannot be found in the material world. It can only be found in God.

That image of human love that you seek is an illusion in the desert of life. So if that is what you seek, you’ll keep chasing. But no matter how close you get to a mirage, you never touch it. You don’t own an image. You can’t hold a creation of your own mind.

Yet, you will give your whole life, still, to reaching this ‘place’. You do this because in the fairy tale, that’s where the story ends. It ends at the finding, the joining, the wedding. It is found at the oneness of two souls. And everyone around you will make you think that your path ends there: at the place where you meet your soul mate, your other half—at the point in the path where you get married. Then and only then, they tell you, will you ever finally be complete. This, of course, is a lie because completion cannot be found in anything other than God.

But the lesson you’ve been taught since the time you were little—from every story, every song, every movie, every ad, every well-meaning auntie—is that you aren’t complete otherwise. And if—God forbid—you are one of the ‘outcasts’ who haven’t gotten married, or have been divorced, you are considered deficient or incomplete in some way.

The lesson you’re taught is that the story ends at the wedding, and then that’s when Jennah (paradise) begins. That’s when you’ll be saved and completed and everything that was once broken will be fixed. The only problem is, that’s not where the story ends. That’s where it begins. That’s where the building starts: the building of a life, the building of your character, the building of sabr, patience, perseverance, and sacrifice. The building of selflessness. The building of love.

And the building of your path back to Him.

But if the person you marry becomes your ultimate focus in life, your struggle has just begun. Now your spouse will become your greatest test. Until you remove that person from the place in your heart that only God should be, it will keep hurting. Ironically, your spouse will become the tool for this painful extraction process, until you learn that there are places in the human heart made only by—and for—God.

Among the other lessons you may learn along this path—after a long road of loss, gain, failure, success, and so many mistakes—is that there are at least 2 types of love. There will be some people you love because of what you get from them: what they give you, the way they make you feel. This is perhaps the majority of love—which is also what makes much of love so unstable. A person’s capacity to give is inconstant and changing. Your response to what you are given is also inconstant and changing. So if you’re chasing a feeling, you’ll always be chasing.  No feeling is ever constant. If love is dependent on this, it too becomes inconstant and changing. And just like everything in this world, the more you chase it, the more it will run away from you.

But, once in a while, people enter your life that you love—not for what they give you—but for what they are. The beauty you see in them is a reflection of the Creator, so you love them. Now suddenly it isn’t about what you’re getting, but rather what you can give. This is unselfish love. This second type of love is the most rare. And if it is based in, and not competing with, the love of God, it will also bring about the most joy. To love in any other way is to need, to be dependent, to have expectations—all the ingredients for misery and disappointment.

So for all those, who have spent their life seeking, know that purity of any thing is found at the Source. If it is love that you seek, seek it through God. Every other stream, not based in His love, poisons the one who drinks from it. And the drinker will continue to drink, until the poison all but kills him. He will continue to die more and more inside, until he stops and finds the pure Source of water.

Once you begin to see everything beautiful as only a reflection of God’s beauty, you will learn to love in the right way: for His sake. Everything and everyone you love with be for, through and because of Him. The foundation of such love is God. So what you hold onto will no longer be just an unstable feeling, a fleeting emotion. And what you chase will no longer be just a temporary high. What you hold, what you chase, what you love, will be God: the *only* thing stable and constant. Thereafter, everything else will be through Him. Everything you give or take or love or don’t love, will be by Him. Not by your nafs. It will be for Him. Not for your nafs.

This means you will love what He loves and not love what He does not love. And when you do love, you will give to the creation—not for what you can get in return from them. You will love and you will give, but you will be sufficed from Him. And the one who is sufficed by God, is the richest and most generous of all lovers. Your love will be by Him, for Him, and because of Him. That is the liberation of the self from servitude to any created thing. And that is freedom. That is happiness.

That is love.

Source: www.yasminmogahed.com

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A message..

To all those suffering from sadness or depression, know that it isn’t your fault. It isn’t because you’re weak. It isn’t because you’re just not grateful enough. It isn’t because you’re just not religious enough. It isn’t because you don’t have enough faith. It isn’t because God is angry with you. To all the well-meaning people who tell you this, just smile. And know deep in your heart that the tests of God come in different forms to different people. And know that, by the help of God, every test can become a tool to get closer to Him. And that, verily, with hardship come ease–and like all things of this world–this too shall pass.
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Take Back Your Heart

Take Back Your Heart – Sister Yasmin Mogahed
Take Back Your Heart

Ocean of Dunya Part I | Part II

No one likes to fall. And few people would ever choose to drown. But in struggling through the ocean of this life, sometimes it’s so hard not to let the world in. Sometimes the ocean does enter us. The dunya does seep into our hearts.

And like the water that breaks the boat, when dunyaenters, it shatters our heart.  It shatters the boat. Recently, I was reminded of what a broken boat looks like, of what happens when you let everything in. I was reminded because I saw someone, just like me, fall in love too much with this life and seek to be filled by the creation. So the ocean of dunya shattered her boat, as it had shattered mine, and she fell out into the water.  But she stayed down too long, and didn’t know how to come back up or what to hold on to.

So she drowned.

If you allow dunya to own your heart, like the ocean that owns the boat, it will take over. Youwill sink down to the depths of the sea. You will touch the ocean floor. And you will feel as though you were at your lowest point. Entrapped by your sins and the love of this life, you will feel broken. Surrounded by darkness. That’s the amazing thing about the floor of the ocean. No light reaches it.

But, this dark place is not the end. Remember that the darkness of night precedes the dawn. And as long as your heart still beats, this is not the death of it. You don’t have to die here. Sometimes, the ocean floor is only a stop on the journey. And it is when you are at this lowest point, that you are faced with a choice. You can stay there at the bottom, until you drown. Or you can gather pearls and rise back up—stronger from the swim, and richer from the jewels.

If you seek Him, God can raise you up, and replace the darkness of the ocean, with the light of His sun. He can transform what was once your greatest weakness into your greatest strength, and a means of growth, purification and redemption. Know that transformation sometimes begins with a fall. So never curse the fall. The ground is where humility lives. Take it. Learn it. Breathe it in. And then come back stronger, humbler and more aware of your need for Him. Come back having seen your own nothingness and His greatness. Know that if you have seen that Reality, you have seen much. For the one who is truly deceived is the one who sees his own self—but not Him.  Deprived is the one who has never witnessed his own desperate need for God.  Reliant on his own means, he forgets that the means, his own soul, and everything else in existence are His creation.

Seek God to bring you back up, for when He does, He will rebuild your ship. The heart that you thought was forever damaged will be mended. What was shattered will be whole again. Know that only He can do this. Seek Him.

And when He saves you, beg forgiveness for the fall, feel remorse over it—but not despair.  As Ibn ul Qayyim (ra) has said: “Satan rejoiced when Adam (peace be upon him) came out of Paradise, but he did not know that when a diver sinks into the sea, he collects pearls and then rises again.”

There is a powerful and amazing thing about tawbah (repentance) and turning back to Allah(swt). We are told that it is a polish for the heart. What’s amazing about a polish is that it doesn’t just clean. It makes the object that is polished even shinier than it was before it got dirty. If you come back to God, seek His forgiveness, and refocus your life and heart on Him, you have the potential to be even richer than if you’d never fallen at all. Sometimes falling and coming back up gives you wisdom and humility that you may never otherwise have had. Ibn ul Qayyim (ra) writes:

“One of the Salaf (Pious Predecessors) said: “Indeed a servant commits a sin by which he enters Paradise; and another does a good deed by which he enters the Fire.” It was asked: How is that? So he replied: “The one who committed the sin, constantly thinks about it; which causes him to fear it, regret it, weep over it and feel ashamed in front of his Lord—the Most High—due to it. He stands before Allah, broken-hearted and with his head lowered in humility. So this sin is more beneficial to him than doing many acts of obedience, since it caused him to have humility and humbleness—which leads to the servant’s happiness and success—to the extent that this sin becomes the cause for him entering Paradise. As for the doer of good, then he does not consider this good a favor from his Lord upon him. Rather, he becomes arrogant and amazed with himself, saying: I have achieved such and such, and such and such. So this further increases him in self-adulation, pride and arrogance—such that this becomes the cause for his destruction.”

Allah (swt) reminds us in the Qur’an to never lose hope. He says: “Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against their souls [by sinning], despair not of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful,’” (39:53).

And so, this is a call to all those who have become enslaved by the tyranny of the self, imprisoned in the dungeon of the nafs (self) and desires.  It is a call to all those who have entered the ocean of dunya, who have sunk into its depths, and become trapped by its crushing waves. Rise up. Rise up to the air, to the Real world above the prison of the ocean. Rise up to your freedom. Rise up and come back to life. Leave the death of your soul behind you. Your heart can still live and be stronger and purer than it ever was. Does not the polish oftawbah remake the heart even more beautiful than it was? Remove the veil you have sewn with your sins. Remove the veil between you and Life, between you and Freedom, between you and Light—between you and God.  Remove the veil and rise up. Come back to yourself. Come back to where you began. Come back Home. Know that when all the other doors have shut in your face, there is One that is always open. Always. Seek it. Seek Him and He will guide you through the waves of the cruel ocean, into the mercy of the sun.

This world cannot break you—unless you give it permission. And it cannot own you unless you hand it the keys – unless you give it your heart.  And so, if you have handed those keys to dunya for a while—take them back. This isn’t the End. You don’t have to die here. Reclaim your heart and place it with its rightful owner:

God.