“The affair of the Muslim is always good.”

We should realize that everything we are sent is from Allah ta’ala and therefore is good. In our limited perception we might see something as being bad or evil, but in reality since this is what Allah ta’ala has destined there is good in it and in reality, this is what is best for us. The struggles and trials in our life, even though it might be tough to recognize at the moment in which they occur, are best for us at that very moment of our lives. It is ultimately our response in these moments and situations that will have the greatest impact and effect on us in both this life and the next. (May Allah ta’ala always make us of those who have patience and forbearance in the face of trials and wisdom to deal with them in the best of ways. Ameen.)

On the flip side of seeing every trial as being only from Allah ‘azza wa jal, we should also know that every act of obedience is a blessing and only from Allah ta’ala. When we do good, we should not become puffed up and proud with our actions but should thank Allah ta’ala for allowing us to complete such an ‘ibadah or good deed. We should thank Him for allowing us to recognize the good in that deed, for granting us the yearning and motivation to perform the act, and for the ability to put our thoughts and yearnings into action. (And I know I missed so many blessings in between. Allah ta’ala states in the Qur’an that we are not able to enumerate the blessings He bestows on us. For every seemingly small gift or blessing we are given, there are layers upon layers of blessings hidden within it.) May Allah ta’ala make us grateful to Him and increase us in our obedience and our desire to be close to Him ta’ala. Ameen.

It is stated that a person is constantly in one of four states and they are…
1) An act of obedience, and the correct response is shukr (gratitude, thanks)
2) An act of disobedience, and the correct response is tawba
3) A blessing is being sent down upon them, and the correct response is shukr and praises to Him.
4) A struggle/trial is being inflicted upon them, and the correct response is patience, forbearance, and resolve.

“Do not say: ‘O Allah, I have worries.’ Say: ‘O worries, I have Allah.’”

May Allah ta’ala forgive me for anything incorrect.

If anyone notices something incorrect, please do leave a comment. I write these only as a reminder to myself first.

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah I was listening to a lecture of Sh. Faraz Rabbani (may Allah ta’ala preserve him, increase him, and allow us to benefit from him. Ameen) the other day, from a Seekers Guidance course (which you should look into if you have not yet) and he made one point among many amazing points that really struck me.  He mentioned essentially that each moment has its Right.  That is, that as each moment comes upon us, regardless of what we would like to be doing in that moment it has a certain act that might be best for it.

I have found this to come up time and time again.  For instance, I might be about to sit down to read some Qur’an and in that there is of course immense good, inshaAllah, but then if my mother were to call on me to ask for something then I should realize that at that moment it would be better for me to respond rather than make her wait on me, and then to sit down to read–plus this would allow for greater peace of mind in reading.  This is due to the great weight Allah ta’ala places on respect and obeying one’s parents.

This reminds me of something we read in a text ”On the Rights of Parents” by Shaykh Muhammad Mawlud al-Musawi al-Ya’qubi.  He states, that according to the Maliki opinion, if one is praying a non-obligatory prayer his father taught him:

If a father calls upon his son, expecting an answer, the son should hasten to finish his prayer and exit from it.  But he should quickly respond to his mother with a tasbih whenever she calls him and also quickly finish his prayer in the same manner.  This is, of course, with the understanding the son’s parents are neither deaf nor blind; if that is the case, then he should abandon his prayer.

It’s written in poem form in Rajaz meter and translated by Sh. Hamza Yusuf.

Allah ta’ala alone knows best. 

Any errors are only my own and I ask for your forgiveness and His.

…Were you to give all of yourself, it would give you part of it. Were you to give part of you, it would give you none of it.” (Arabic Proverb)

Alhamdulillah, Munzareen and I had the great privilege, blessing, and honor to attend a program this past summer. Alhamdulillah.  InshaAllah I am going to start posting some of what I learned as I really do not want it to be lost–so it’s a way for me to review and also share the gems.  A dear sister I met at the program said to me how knowledge is a light that if not shared with others will be extinguished. (She said it much better than me.)

“Knowledge is in the hearts of humans, not in the lines of books.”

BismiLlah.

So one of the things I am doing this summer is working at a summer science camp for middle school girls. The theme this year is computer science and it’s been amazing to watch the girls learn how to use the different programs on the computer. There’s about 6 of us mentors in the program and along with the girls we all learn the programs together. The girls though, often pick up things more quickly than us. We’re about 6-10 years older than them, but our learning curve is slower. We take a while to tinker around, but they start figuring things out better than we can.

Amazing is our youth- but we don’t realize it at all. Our mind’s capacity to do things is so great while we’re young, as is our body’s capacity to maintain routines and habits. Though consistency is always important in action, so is making sure you’re taking advantage of everything you have. When God gives us the capability to do things, we should make sure we appreciate the blessing and make use of it. When we’re younger, we can often memorize more Qur’an, more duas. We can engage in more fasting, in more acts of worship– this is especially important before we start to heap on the number of our responsibilities.

The Prophet (sallahu alayhi wasalam) taught us to take advantage of five before five:
- youth before old age
- health before sickness
-wealth before poverty
-free-time before preoccupation
-life before death
[Bayhaqi]

Insha’Allah we take advantage of these and do not put off for tomorrow what we can do today.

BismiLlah.

One of the things that the Prophet ﷺused to do when heﷺ prayed was to pause in between the verses of the Qur’an heﷺ recited.

This is something we often neglect- we rush through our prayer so mindless and in a rote and repeated fashion. Stand up, recite, bow, stand, prostrate… It’s just this exercise we do, without contemplating and reflecting. One way to encourage a more meaningful prayer is to actually understand what it is we are reciting.

We recite Surah Al-Fatiha (Chapter of The Opening) in every single rakat (unit) of prayer. This Surah is by its very nature, a request, a supplication to God.

In a Hadith in Sahih Muslim, it mentions that when one recites Surah Al-Fatiha, there is a response for every verse that is read.

When one recites:

الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِين
Praise belongs to Allah (God), the Lord of all the worlds

Allah (God) says: “My servant has paid his homage to Me.”

الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيم
The All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful

Allah says: “My servant has praised Me.”

مَـالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّين
The Master of the Day of Judgment

Allah says, “My servant has proclaimed my greatness.”

إِيَّاك نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِين
You alone we worship, and to You alone we pray for help

Allah says, “This verse is common to Me and My servant. He shall be given what he has prayed for.”

اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّين
Guide us to the straight path.
The path of those on whom You have bestowed your grace, not of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who go astray.

Allah says: “All this is there for My servant.-He shall be given what he prays for.”

Every single verse has an answer given by Allah. Yet, we rush through this surah as if it means nothing, as if it is just a something we do by habit and we rob of it its right. Truly though we are depriving ourselves. If we are sincere and earnest in our turning towards Him and in seeking His Help and Guidance, then we should mean what we say. It is not enough for us to superficially understand the translation of the ayah but never mean it.

Many people value sincerity. Sincerity in this sense means valuing and recognizing what we are reciting in our prayers. The first example that comes to mind is when someone asks their child to apologize. When the child says , “I’m sorry” sometimes the parent says “Say it like you mean it.” The child knows what an apology is, but without meaning, it is nothing. Similarly in salah, when we ask Allah for something, we should truly mean it. If Allah says that He will give us what we ask for, but we are wishy-washy in our asking, then what do we really expect of the response?

One of my parents’ friends was sitting at dinner one day, and he said that we were told by Allah to ask Him for what we need and want. But if we don’t even approach prayer and we don’t even ask from the One who Gives, then why should we expect to receive?

BismiLlah.

So after a lot of thinking of closing this blog officially, Lena and I have both decided to re-start this blog. Rather than deleting ALL of the old posts, we’ve kept some that we thought we useful and we hope that some of what we post will be of benefit.

Hopefully, we’ll restart soon and you’ll see us more often.

And if you’ve been watching us blog from the beginning, I anticipate us doing less political science/current event stuff than we used to in our very beginnings (but it’s pretty hard we’re both Political Science majors– well, we were– we graduated undergrad alhamdulillah!).