Allah's best creation

While I was coming back from work today; the car in front me swerved as if to miss hitting something on the road. I saw it was a squirrel crossing the road, except that it was limping. I assumed it had been hit by a car or somehow lost it/broken its legs. It was barely crawling and there were 4 more lanes of high-traffic to cross. The 10 seconds it took me to drive by it; I saw it just standing still at the divider. My heart sunk. One of 2 very bleak futures lay ahead; either it would get run over when it crosses or it will die where it was. Since its the middle of the road with no pedestrian-crossing, no 'person' can save it. My heart broke, but i instantly thanked Allah - Alhamdolillah that He made me a 'person'. I have family and friends who would have cared for me had I been injured like that squirrel. Even if I had been hit on the road, some one would have come to my rescue.
We read it over and over again how the human being is Allah's best creation. We know it is because we have been given intellect and decision making power. Allah has made jannah and jahannum as reward for how we use that intellect and the decisions we make. Sometimes the weight of judgement day is so heavy, we wish were anything but a person. Sometimes, the world is so nasty we cant see the difference between a human and a wild beast. Yet today i saw why it is 'awesome' to be a human being. We take human compassion and the sense of community Allah has instilled in us for granted. We curse the human too easily - we overlook His infinite wisdom and mercy in our creation. Ya Rabb! You have indeed created a masterpiece in whatever you have created and the human being is a testament to that.

لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ فِىٓ أَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيمٍ۬

Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem

I have been so overwhelmed lately that even though I wanted to blog, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Yes i had work but that wasn't what overwhelmed me; rather the realization that my slightest good intention or wish hasn't gone unanswered. Such is the mercy of my Rabb! I believe I don't even put enough effort and somehow things just start working out beyond my expectations. I am so at a loss for words that all I can say is .... Alhamdolillah! I make dua that Allah teach me how to be grateful to Him so as to please Him. Ameen. My shoulders feel so heavy with the weight of this realization - its probably been there all my life I just never bothered to think about it. I'm burdened with His mercy and very afraid  - what if I get my share in the dunya!?! Ya Raheem! Please raise the ranks of my deeds so I may be able to receive in the Akhirah.
One thing is for sure - with this realization, I will strive harder to please Allah and use the opportunities presented to me in the best way I know how. Ya Rabb! Help me. Ameen. The point of this post is 1) to acknowledge Allah's blessing 2) to make myself and you think off all the things that have 'just' worked out for the better. I guarantee you will find yourself being unable to count them. This is just one quality of our Rabb. He is Ar-Rahman - the one who gives without us even asking or trying hard enough.

"I"-dolatory

Summer is here and Canada is abuzz with happy people and even more excited children. Its a time for celebration in this part of the world. Allah's bounties are plentiful in this season and each day is an opportunity to reflect on His infinite blessing, Alhamdolillah.
Another feature of this season are the lush front yards of people's houses. I admire rows upon rows of manicured lawns and the rainbow colored flowers. In addition you see garden gnomes, sculptures, lights and fountains and rock gardens and the list is endless. Its all very pretty but i wonder, how much does it cost? More-so, how much time and effort was put in this? I hear from friends who like gardening that its a taxing task, it requires daily supervision, work and care and you may have to sell a kidney for its upkeep (sarcasm!) People save for an entire season or a year even, to remodel their gardens. SubhanAllah! How hard they try to make their dunya into their jannah, whilst saving nothing for the real Jannah. If its not gardens, its kitchens with remodeling and upgrading from marble to granite and what not! Changing wall colors, furniture, flooring - its really endless! I have never heard anyone say yes! now the house is done, i dont need to change a single thing. When it finally does reach that level of satisfaction, guess what? Its time to sell! And it begins again.
The advent of Islam brought a profound principle to people's lives - There is only one Lord worthy of worship! The weaker sect of the society were amongst the first to accept because they understood what it was like to be enslaved, and they realized what kind of freedom Islam offered them. After being given this precious freedom, we choose to enslave ourselves to worldly desires. We may not be idol-worshipers, but we are worshiping something besides Allah. Worship is not sitting on a prayer mat, it is also not chanting or kneeling down - it is something greater and deeper than all that. Its the sincere love towards your lord which never lets you forget Him, its the fear of losing His mercy which makes you want to please Him. This worship is your everyday life, your every action even as self-indulgent as a good cup of tea that you read Bismillah on. When we indulge in worldly desires, then the love which was suppose to be Allah's alone, is now shared. Our desire for those things occupies our mind, till our days are spent wondering about it, acquiring it, beautifying it - these things become our idols - our existence revolves around them.
As Allah says "Allah hath not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body..." (Surat Al Ahzab v4). We have only one heart and only one sincere love can stay within - dunya or Allah. Dont get me wrong, it is not sinful to appreciate/enjoy this dunya, as it too is the creation of Allah. Just make sure you love the dunya, for the sake of Allah and then that love too will be worship. So in essence, the dunya and all its decorations and all its ties are a subset to the greater love.
You may think I'm being too excessive- just think back to your last remodeling/redecorating project, or even a party that you threw. How occupied was your heart and mind with its preparations? How much of money was spent on it? How much did it remind you of Allah? So, your time, money and love were spent but not in Allah's way.
The beauty of this balance and how you should recognize if you fall within this category, is that such a person would be focused and driven. This person has a bigger goal in life and his everyday is working towards that goal. He cannot afford to divert his attention from this greater goal and hence seems rushed, almost as if he needs to squeeze the khayr out of every second of the day. How can such a person engage in hours of shopping, gardening, remodeling or lazing? He is much too busy decorating his home in Jannah. I have seen such people and I really, truly aspire to be one of them. Ameeen Ya Rabbil Alameen.

The miracle that is the Quran

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

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!

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.

Stranger

From Abu Hurairah RA, he said: Rasulullah SAW said: "Islam was strange when it began and will one day be strange again; Blessed are the ghuraba' (those strange people)". [H.R.Muslim]

I hadn't really thought about the meaning of this hadith, SubhanAllah. I meant to find out what  "ghuraba" meant, but shaytaan got the better of me i suppose. However, in the last year or so, i have been feeling disconnected with my environment; with people i have known for ages - sometimes, i feel i have no one who I can talk to. This is not a constant feeling, it comes and goes. But when I'm focusing and contemplating about intentions, actions and assessing relationships - i feel alone. I'm afraid of expressing my thoughts for I may come off too rigid and I, myself don't fulfill my own standards. Then a couple of nights ago, while feeling this loneliness - it hit me. Its like, to other people, I'm a strange being now - that's what "ghuraba" means! I'm not claiming that I've reached some elevated status in my actions- not in the least because Allah knows my faults and sins. I suppose though, this feeling of being out of place is what the hadith refers to. This strangeness stems from being in an environment so far away from the principles of deen that anyone remotely on it; seems alien. This comforted me in a way, as i don't fear the feeling anymore. Also i recently read that an intelligent person is he who can change his own nature and thinking and through using his skills and perseverance, influence the thinking of others. That's a very high bar for me to reach but I definitely intend to try.