I could say that I’m swamped with work, but that would be inaccurate. Describing my situation as such could imply that the workload is aversive and unpleasant for me. That’s where the inaccuracy arises. I have 3 courseworks due around mid January, but I also have exams early January. I’m having a proper-proper holiday for about 2 weeks in December, and it’s already roughly the 3rd week of November. With all that in mind, that doesn’t really leave me with a lot of time to complete all 3 assignments AND do my revision for January’s exams. Yes, this realisation only occured to me over the weekend. So I had to frantically print out a Nov-Dec 2008 calender from word and plan out the rest of my weeks. Planning, setting goals and WRITING them down helps a lot for me. It’s just so easy to lose focus when there are other competing demands. I’ve digressed. What I’m meaning to say is that, despite the amount of work and the time pressure, I am actually excited to get things done. Weird, I know. I think, doing something that you actually enjoy makes a whole lot of difference to your attitude towards all the work.

That’s secret no.1.

Now, there’s a secret no.2 on how to develop a positive attitude towards work. Checking the niyyah for doing the work helps a lot. A lot, a lot, A LOT! It makes studying, learning and doing work a thousand times more enjoyable. I seek knowledge because Allah and His Messenger S.A.W. has made it obligatory for me. I want to use the acquired skills and training to help my ummah and people in need, as commanded by my Lord. The efforts I put into my work is not for me, but for the sake of Allah. So that whatever I learn could help me in fulfilling my duty as a Muslimah, and bring me closer to Allah. Insya Allah. There is nothing more motivating form me than that. Trully. Alhamdulilah.

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When we love something, it’s hard not to talk about it. Our minds and hearts become so preoccupied with it that sometimes we’d feel we’d explode! The same thing with Islam. When we’ve reached that stage where Islam turns from a common idea, to a common practice, and then into passion, you just can’t help but just spreaaaaaad the loveeeeeeee. So this is where da’wah comes in.

Say (O Muhammad SAW): “This is my way; I invite unto Allah with sure knowledge, I and whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Allah) with sure knowledge…” (Yusuf : 108)

Thus, we all have the responsibility to spread Islam. We don’t have to go knocking everybody’s door, or stand around at the city and preach to the shoppers. For instance, the time after the peace treaty of al-Hubaidiyah. People came to Islam because they were amazed with the Muslim’s way of life.  Hence, all we have to do is become Muslims - as simple as that. Be like the flower and the bees will come to you. So what’s stopping us?

1. “I don’t know enough.”

The Prophet Muhammad S.A.W urged us to relay knowledge from the Quran and the sunnah even if it’s just one ayat, or one word. Surely there’s at least one thing that we know about Islam, if not more than one. So we should relay this knowledge to others, and thus it will become our da’wah.

2. “I’ll do da’wah when I become a perfect Muslim.”

Dearest brothers and sisters, we will NEVER be perfect. Allah has created us human with all humanly attributes who make mistakes, occassionaly forgetful, have desires, etc. Even the state of our qalb (heart) isn’t stable. So we’re going to wait until we’re perfet Muslims, we’ll never come round to doing da’wah.

3. “I can’t get rid of my own sins.”

Hadhrat Anas r.a. relates: “We inquired of the Holy Prophet SAW: “O Prophet of Allah, is it right that we should not enjoin virtue unless we practise all the virtues ourselves, and should not forbit the wrongs unless we ourselves completely abstain from them all? ‘Nay,’ said the Prophet SAW, ‘do enjoin others to practise good deeds even though you do not practise all of them, and do forbid evil actions even though you do not abstain from them all.’”

The shame of not doing something when others are doing it or doing it better, or the shame of practicing what one doesn’t preach might eventually hit us. It could be one of the first things that could turn us into better muslims.

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Our iman wears out the same way our clothes does (hadith), hence there’s a need for us to jump-start it now and again. One of the ways of renewing our faith is through muhasabah (self criticism). I think most of us are well aware of this, but sometimes we just don’t know how to begin. Well, we can always start by…

1. in the morning, ask ourselves, “What am I NOT going to do?”

2. at night, ask ourselves, “What did I do WRONG today?”

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I had two things in my life that was like a yo-yo:

1) my hijaab, and

2) my weight.

Alhamdulilah, my yo-yo hijab days are long and gone. I even try my best to wear it properly, i.e. letting the hijaab cover my chest, not removing it even at home if there are non-mahrams, etc. So now, the only yo-yo-ing aspect of my life is my weight. Why, oh why can I not control my eating during “those” times?

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It saddens me to see those who I love not caring about what’s halal or haram…not trying to live their lives for the sake of Allah…unmoved by the words of Allah and the lessons behind them. Sometimes I wish I could do something, anything, just to make them realise how much we should always love, hope and fear Allah… or make them realise how the rememberence of Allah satisfies the souls of the children of Adam.

…your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder: for behold, there are rocks from which streams gush forth; and, behold, there are some from which, when they are cleft, water issues; and, behold, there are some that fall down for awe of Allah, and Allah is not unmindful of what you do! (Al Baqarah: 74).

 There is hope. There is hope for even those whose hearts have hardened to the the words of Allah, and the beauty of Islam. Let us all give dua to all our muslim brothers and sisters so that Allah would give them His hidayah. We should also play an active part, no matter how small, in helping the rest of our brothers and sisters in reviving Islam in their lives. insya Allah

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In reference to the hadith below:

The Prophet S.A.W. said: “All of my Ummah will be forgiven except those who expose (their sins). Exposing means that a man commits a sin at night and then - after Allah conceals his sin - in the morning, he tells people that he had done such and such a thing at night. He spent the night while His Lord covered his sin and then he wakes up in the morning revealing the curtain of His Lord.” (Al Bukhari & Muslim)

Does that mean that I should not have posts such as  this, this and this? Anybody?

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It’s getting colder by the day. But alhamdulilah, it’s a bit better today. I can still manage without the heater on. With the cold, cold weather in mind, it occured to me that the fastest way to get warm is by having a hot shower. Yes, it felt really comforting to be under the spray of hot water…but then I thought, “How long should I shower? I can’t stay here forever!”. Then the movie Dennis came to mind. I remember his “babysitter” asking him when he’d get out of the bath, then he said, “I’m not even wrinkled up yet..” So, yes…I waited until my fingers were ..just like dennis:)

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Dearest Hanifah,

The next time you’re angry, don’t storm out of that room of yours and start ranting. Don’t go on and further dwelling on the issue. Don’t start saying things that you might regret. Instead, you should’ve…

1. …said Audzubillahi minasyaitaanirrajim to ward off the whisperings of syaitan…because you KNOW syaitan is there when you are angry. So eagered to whisper words of encouragement for you to commit more sins;

2. …make your wudhu with khyusu’, for the water would further extinguish that anger in you;

3. …perfomed a sunatal hajati, or sunatal istikharah and seek for Allah’s guidance and help on the right way of dealing with the situation…because you KNOW that Allah will give and show you the answer.

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Today, I found myself making up stories i.e. creating seemingly harmless scenarios for passers by, and describing the weather as crap i.e. an adjective to describe the rainy weather.

Astaghfirallahalazim.

I might not cuss or swear like most, but what I did are not any better…maybe even worse! We’re not even allowed to make up stories just so that we could make people laugh! What more create stories just for self amusement! And me calling the weather crap just because it was raining non stop? Subhanallah. That’s like me cursing Allah’s blessing…cursing what Allah has given to me…His Qadar. Astaghfirallahhalazim. How could I have been so careless? So unappreciative!

Ya Allah, Ya Ghaffur…please forgive this ignorant, absent minded and ungrateful servant..

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This post will be based on the lecture I had on Monday. May Allah bless him with bountiful rewards. Amin.

 ————-

We often find ourselves looking back at our lives and seeing a once distressing moment in a lighter view. Your little brother accidentally threw away your favourite pair of Manolo Blahnik, and that got you REALLY mad. Borderline insane. But then years down the road, you’d laugh at yourself for being so dramatic about a pair of shoes - Manolo Blahnik or Primark, whatever.  But know this; a true mu’min is one who is patient at the STRIKE of a calamity…and not after.

Anas r.a. said: “The Prophet S.A.W.  said, “The real patience is at the first strike of calamity.”

Whatever state we are in in this life, the situation would only call for us to be sabar or syukur. When we’re blessed with food, a new hijab, or well functioning body, we say our syukur. We thank Allah for giving us His bounties. At times when we’re feeling sad, perfoming our salat or can’t start the car, we must be patient. There is khayir - good - in ever situation.

“Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded” (Al Baqarah:  45)

We should be sabar in 3 things:

1) Sabar in performing the religious obligations

When it’s time for our Fajr prayers, it’s tempting to just stay in our cosy beds and remain wrapped around our duvets. Especially when the weather is cold, and the rest of the world is still sleeping. Or perhaps in our salat. It’s easy let your mind wonder during our salat. What to eat, what happend in the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy, the exams you have to study for, yada yada yada. Sleep can wait. TV can wait. The world can wait while you spend just a small part of ur day to worship The Creator who gave you your life, you bed, your tv and everything else. As Muslims, we must always remember that all our righteous deeds will not go unrewarded. Allah has promised Jannah to the mu’min. To those who strive to seek Allah’s rahmah and forgiveness. Isn’t the eternal life in the Hereafter worth sacrificing those extra minutes in bed, or a few minutes to stop thinking about the world?

2) Sabar in refraining ourselves from committing sins and misdeeds

Living in a Western country, seeing almost naked ladies is a norm..premarital sex is a norm..alcoholism is a norm. It’s easy to say, “Paah~ It’s normal” when we see a naked lady on the huge billboards…It’s easy to share the same bed with our boyfriends just because everybody is doing it. The Quran has already stated what is forbidden to us, and if we study them properly, the reasoning behind them are very rational and is nothing but advantageous to us. For instance, what happens if we become involved in zina? There’s the STDs and AIDS. And what would happen to a baby who’s conceived out of wedlock? Wear protection all you want but Allah has the power to do whatever He wishes. You could be impregnated despite the pills you take regularly and the condom you always use. So we should have patience and lower our gaze; we should take care of what’s between our lips and between our legs. We shouldn’t become too normalised with what are clearly haram until we forget how such mere acts could lead us to Jahanam

3) Sabar with Allah’s Qadar.

As mentioned before, there is khayir (good)  in all Allah’s qadar. Even if we can’t see it now, we might see it in the future, or in the hereafter. The car refuses to start and you’re already 10 minutes late. All sort of thoughts run through our head, “Oh no! My boss is going to kill me! I’m going to lose my job! OH NO! I’ll be late for the meeting!”. But then you found out that there was an accident on the route that you were about to take. You’ve been trying for a baby for years and you’re still not pregnant. Maybe if you were to have a baby at that time, you and your husband might’ve not been spiritually or financially prepared for one. There is always a bright side to everything. But once we become angry and our nafs is ranging, syaitan does a well job in making us think that it’s the end of everything. In every situation, there is always a way out. Even Prophet Yunus was eventually expelled from the big fish.

We’ve seen how the many Prophets and sahaba in the past have been faced with such dire and grave situations. What did they ever do to deserve all the torture and tribulations? Did they deserve to be punished in such and such ways? They were amongst the best of the best ummah who did everything in the name of Allah. Allah tested them because He LOVED them. So do not feel sad or frustrated when something bad happens. Don’t be thinking, “Why does this always happen to me? What did I ever do to deserve this?”…because Allah test us because he wants us to become better…it’s because he LOVES us.

There are 2 ways on how we can instill sabar in us, insya Allah:

1) Know that EVERYTHING was never ours to begin with.

When a business is going well and we’re earning lot’s of profits, it’s common to hear the owner saying, “Oh, it was all my doing. I worked hard for it. I did it.” Sure you had put your efforts in trying to achieve your goals, but it was Allah who made it happen.  Our wealth, our body, our intelligence, our car, our parents, the tress, the buses are all Allah’s. We “have” them because Allah lent it to us, so that he could see how we make use of it…to give us comfort..and to test us with. Are we using the intelligence Allah has given us to help our ummah, or to destroy the society? Are we using our money to buy lottery tickets and go clubbing, or are we using it to help the poor and sadakah to our neighbours? So Allah can take everything and anything he wants in anyway He likes…because they are rightfully His. So don’t be crying if you ex boyfriend has not paid back the $1000 he owed you a year ago. If all that money was meant for you, it will come back…and if it doesn’t..innalillahi wainna ilaihi rajiuun (Verily unto God do we belong and, verily, unto Him we shall return)

2) Life is a journey, and akhirah is the destinantion.

When your driving from Southampton to London, you wouldn’t want to spend too much time at the pit stops, right? If you  stoped to go to the bathroom, or eat a little…you do just that. You don’t take your own sweet time to sit on the toilet seat, to eat the chips. The same thing applies in life. Life is only temporary. It’s akhirah that will last forever. We are aiming for akhirah and in such we should live our life on this earth. Hence, whatever we do, it should be for akhirah and not for  worldly pleasures.  Syaitan just makes you think that this world has everything to offer. Afterall, ibils have promised to prevent us from going on the siratal mustaqim.

“(Whereupon Iblis) said: ‘Then, (I swear) by Thy very might: I shall most certainly beguile them all into grievous error”(A’Sad:82)

May all that I have shared with you be of help to all of us, insya Allah.

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