The Quran never ceases to amaze me. SubhanAllah! It takes my breath away when I'm fortunate enough to contemplate over what I have read. How great must its Writer be!
Ive been over the tafseer of Surah Al Mulk atleast thrice in detail and each time Ive found a new treasure. SubhanAllah that is why the Quran is the book to be read over and over, because there are only 1 or 2 lessons that you will effectively take away/remember/act upon. Each time, a different part of the Surah has spoken to me. This time over, the linguistic depth is sucking me in. May I take heed from its warnings and be guided and kept on the straight path. Ameen
Never be content with going over the Quran or a surah once or twice. Strive to do it again and again and with different teachers. Each teacher and each time, will add value and worth to your knowledge Insha Allah. Ya Allah! Please keep us connected with the Quran. May we never never lose touch with it. May it be in our hearts and on our lips when we begin the journey into "forever". Ameen
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Friday, 22 June 2012
All Praise is to Allah
This is one of those posts where i have just realised something, and i'm so flabbergasted that it drove me to the blog. Alhamdolillah that I was able to see it. Since I have started studying the quranic tafseer and tajweed, I have realised my passion lies in Tajweed. There could be multiple reasons; I am good at it (with the Fadhl of Allah), I'm a mathematical person and Tajweed rules are very scientific much like the Arabic language itself, I have learned that Allah loves beautiful recitation, etc etc. Recently I had been feeling that Im not growing as much as I'd like in the field of recitaion, and I made dua consistently that Allah be pleased with my recitation and that I can take it to the next level. First, I got an opportunity to lead a youth group in tajweed, then I saw a course being offered on facebook and i thought thats my chance! But it was too expensive for me. I had also signed up to volunteer at an Islamic summer camp and today was its first meeting. Part of the course outline was recitation and memorization and it hit me! Allahu Akbar, this is it, my chance to improve. One key thing about tajweed is that it only improves by reciting alot. Imagine, by getting the opportunity to teach children, repeating the ayahs over and over - there's no saying how much I could improve. This just wowed me!
Allah may not give you what you want the way you want it, but you do get that or better in some other way.... its all a matter of perspective.
So today, take out 5 minutes and think of something you wanted and see how Allah has given it to you. Or you could trace back from something you have received, it may be in the shape of a responsibility and not necessarily a favor - but you could work it back to something you had asked for, like i did. As my good friend Winnie would say - fink, fink, fink!
Allah may not give you what you want the way you want it, but you do get that or better in some other way.... its all a matter of perspective.
So today, take out 5 minutes and think of something you wanted and see how Allah has given it to you. Or you could trace back from something you have received, it may be in the shape of a responsibility and not necessarily a favor - but you could work it back to something you had asked for, like i did. As my good friend Winnie would say - fink, fink, fink!
Friday, 8 June 2012
Salah
Salah - Its "the" pillar of our deen simply because its the only we got to do 5 times daily; simply because its the first thing we will be asked about by our Lord; simply because when the people of Jannah will ask people of jahannum what put you there - they will say we didn't pray. Allah has told us it prevents us from "fahsh" (immodest things) and to seek help from Salah. Allah has told us innumerable times to establish Salah. So its a biggie.
Seeing how important Salah is, its not unnatural that its a norm in today's society to label a person who prays 5 times a day as "religious". So here's the tricky part about salah, how many people do you know who pray regularly and have so for years, but nothing from their daily lives has changed, even one bit. With the amount of people praying regularly, we shouldn't see as much "fahsh" in the society as we do, but we do. The problem is though we pray regularly, we dont understand its significance, we dont give its rightful rank, we dont believe it will change us.
People! as important as Salah is - it means nothing if you have not made a connection with Allah SWT in it. It is nothing, if you dont know what you are saying and who you are standing in front of. Its nothing if your day to day life is not changed from it. You cannot reap its many benefits unless you know what benefits to reap from it!
If you pray, and i hope you do; but arent able to make the necessary changes in your life that you know you must - reassess the quality of your salah. Chances are there's something missing there. Dont ever think you pray "enough" or "well enough" - remember Iblees was elevated in ranks to that of angels and then became the accursed.
Our salah is in constant need of improvement, only and only then will we see an improvement in ourselves. Theres an old programming term GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out. Apply that to your ibadah, the more ikhlas and effort that goes into the salah - the better the results. Consider why you rush your salah. What are the reasons you delay your salah or dont pay attention to tahara or the salah itself? eliminate those weeds, like your life depends on it - because it does!
The munafiq of Madina harbored a hate for Islam and Muslims, yet what was one act they diligently performed - Salah! Why? They knew if they didnt come to jama'a, people will know they are not true muslims. SubhanAllah! But what was wrong with their Salah? They were not sincere, as we arent now. Our salah can easily be compared to that of the munafiq because we drag ourselves to the prayer mat; but thats the extent our sincerity reaches.
Whether its hijab you are struggling with, gheebat, anger, tawakkul, discipline or even depression (not the medical kind) - all the solutions are in your Salah. Go back to the drawing board - no frills or fancy and take control of that next Salah that may be your last.
May Allah make me improve my Salah, may you benefit from my post. All good is from Allah and all evil and hurtful things are from my nafs.
Seeing how important Salah is, its not unnatural that its a norm in today's society to label a person who prays 5 times a day as "religious". So here's the tricky part about salah, how many people do you know who pray regularly and have so for years, but nothing from their daily lives has changed, even one bit. With the amount of people praying regularly, we shouldn't see as much "fahsh" in the society as we do, but we do. The problem is though we pray regularly, we dont understand its significance, we dont give its rightful rank, we dont believe it will change us.
People! as important as Salah is - it means nothing if you have not made a connection with Allah SWT in it. It is nothing, if you dont know what you are saying and who you are standing in front of. Its nothing if your day to day life is not changed from it. You cannot reap its many benefits unless you know what benefits to reap from it!
If you pray, and i hope you do; but arent able to make the necessary changes in your life that you know you must - reassess the quality of your salah. Chances are there's something missing there. Dont ever think you pray "enough" or "well enough" - remember Iblees was elevated in ranks to that of angels and then became the accursed.
Our salah is in constant need of improvement, only and only then will we see an improvement in ourselves. Theres an old programming term GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out. Apply that to your ibadah, the more ikhlas and effort that goes into the salah - the better the results. Consider why you rush your salah. What are the reasons you delay your salah or dont pay attention to tahara or the salah itself? eliminate those weeds, like your life depends on it - because it does!
The munafiq of Madina harbored a hate for Islam and Muslims, yet what was one act they diligently performed - Salah! Why? They knew if they didnt come to jama'a, people will know they are not true muslims. SubhanAllah! But what was wrong with their Salah? They were not sincere, as we arent now. Our salah can easily be compared to that of the munafiq because we drag ourselves to the prayer mat; but thats the extent our sincerity reaches.
Whether its hijab you are struggling with, gheebat, anger, tawakkul, discipline or even depression (not the medical kind) - all the solutions are in your Salah. Go back to the drawing board - no frills or fancy and take control of that next Salah that may be your last.
May Allah make me improve my Salah, may you benefit from my post. All good is from Allah and all evil and hurtful things are from my nafs.
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