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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My iman is wavering, and yes it is scaring me. This is what I have been fearing the most. Far from the company of people with iman. Away from other reminders of my faith and the Right way of life. Only moments ago, I delayed my solat Subuh because I was too busy talking with a friend.  To make matters worse, we were gossiping. I might have not contributed much to the conversation, but I can’t say that I’m completely innocent as well. I listened, and I entertained. I made comments and I told her what I knew. It was a total waste of time.

My weakness is showing. In the company of people who have a different way of life weakens me. I need to be strong enough to stand alone and fight these temptations. I need to spend more time with my Creator. I’ve been too busy with settling down at this new place. I haven’t had any time alone, let alone an extra time with Allah. Astaghfiraullahalazim. Astaghfiraullahalazim. Astaghfiraullahalazim.

Ya Allah, Ya Ghaffur…forgive this weak servant for her negligence and half-heartedness in doing what’s right, and staying away from what’s wrong.

Ya Allah, Ya Haq…please give me the strength to fight the evil that’s inside me and the evil that surrounds me. 

Amin…Amin…Amin…Ya Rabbla’lamin. 

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Most of the time, I’m alright. I’d be fine. I’d be ok. But sometimes…just sometimes…I can’t help but feel so much sadness. I’d remember what I went through…I’d remember what I have lost…and I’d be reminded of the battles that I still have to fight for.

So sometimes…just sometimes..I’d feel sad and tired. I’d feel emotions that have become unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that I forgot how to deal with them. At times like these, I’m glad I am a muslim. I am glad I have Allah, the Quraan and the Sunnahs to turn to. I’m glad that the Islamic teachings have provided guidence for us at times like these. Islam just seem to have the answer to all of life’s questions. If only all of us could have realised that.

حَسْبُنَا اللّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ

“Allah is enough for us; and how excellent a guardian is He!”

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Amongst the different radio stations available here, we have one that airs strictly on matters concerning Islam, i.e. Nur Islam. Alhamdulilah. I for one is a frequent listener to this station (and also other radio stations which are labelled as “for the old people” *rolls eyes*). While I was driving back home from a lunch date with one of my girlfriends and her beau, there was this one piece of information on dua that I found really interesting and helpful. The person said that we should always begin our dua with salawat and also end it with salawat. For invocations that do not have this, they are stuck between the earth and the skies. So basically, they do not reach Allah. Subahanallah. Imagine the number of times we forgot to say the salawat before and after our duas.

Below are more information concerning the manners for dua compiled from the books Hidupkan Batin Dengan Berdoa & Berzikir (Liven Your Inner Self with Prayers & Zikir), Al-Ustaz Abdullah Zikay, and Himpunan Doa-Doa Pilihan Dari Al-Quran & Al-Hadis serta Terjemahnannya (A Collection of Selected Duas from Al-Quran and Al-Hadis with translations), Prof Dr. Haron Din & Ustaz Ishak Din:

1. We should begin by praising Allah (Hamdalah) followed by salawat to Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.

2. We must lift both hands up to our shoulder level when reciting the dua and wipe our faces after ending.

3. We much believe and feel utmost confidence that our dua will be answered by Allah.

4. We should pray with khusyu’, humility and full of hope. We should also and soften our voice as stated in Al-A’raf:55 -

                  ادْعُواْ رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ

  الْمُعْتَدِينَ

“Call unto your Sustainer humbly, and in the secrecy of your heart. Verily, He loves not who transgress the bounds of what is right.”

5. Ideal (Ijabah) times:

a) The remaining 1/3 of the night.

b) After compulsory daily salat.

c) When we are free and calm.

d) During sujud.

May we all benefit from this humble contribution from me. Insya Allah.

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I think my biggest challenge is myself. My emotions, my rationale, my behaviour. Some people are tested in the form of situations. My last “situational” test of faith was what had gotten me here. That was when Allah gave me his hidayah, and I finally accepted it. Since then on, I’ve been much quicker in seeing the hikmah in every situation, both good and bad. However, at times my iman wavers. Sometimes, it may not show in my actions, but it would be clear in my salat. Like today, it was just so easy to get distracted while performing my salat. Astaghfiraullahhalazim! I feel very afraid and ashamed each time this happens. I fear that Allah would become angry and not accept my amalan. So after salat, I recited zikrallah to sought after Allah’s mercy and acceptance.

My mistake today was not to ensure that I was calm before performing my salat. I stressed on the word “ensure” because I knew I was not calm, but I didn’t go that extra mile to get rid of it completely. I did my usual rituals and recitations before my salat which often helped me achieve khusyu’, however today it just wasn’t enough. How could it be enough when my mind and heart was still wondering around? Shame on me for my complacency! Khinzab must’ve been really proud with himself. Khinzab is the syaitan who is always with us in our salat. He is one of the reasons why we would sometimes become distracted or doubt ourselves in our prayers. With this realisation, I hope that I will learn from this. I will have to keep reminding myself that I should be 100% calm before I face Allah in my daily prayers. Insya Allah.

Below are a few things that I usually do to ensure kusyu’ in my salat (it works..honest!):

1. When we are performing ablution, there is a syaitan named Al Hulahan who laughs at us. Thawus said that “he is a very evil syaitan. He is the first to arouse apprehension in us. So with that in mind (but was out of mind for me today), we should try extra hard to protect ourselves from the tiny whispers of these troublemakers while performing ablution. I find it very helpful to say it in my heart the different cleansing processes that also takes place with each stage. For instance, when I wash my mouth, I’d think to myself, “I cleanse myself from all the sinful things I have said”. Then, when I was my ears, I’d think to myself, “I cleanse myself from all the sinful things I have heard”…and so on (FYI, today this whole thing slipped from my mind. Sighs).

2.  Say, “audzubillah himina syaitonirojim” and spit 3 times over the left shoulder.

3.  Say “astaghfiraullah” and salawat as many as I can until I am calm.

4.  Recite surah An-Nas to seek Allah’s protection from all things evil.

5. Iqamah.

When I know that there’s too many things in my mind, I do a few things extra such as reciting an invocation specially to calm myself before standing and doing all the things mentioned above. Yes, this is something that conveniently slipped out of my mind today due to my own carelessness. Here’s one that I usually use:

Dua to extinguish the feeling of agitation

U’idzubekaleemaa teellahettammaati nub ghadobeehe waqoo beehewasharee e’baadih, wamin hamazaa tishhayaa teeni wa anyahdoruun.

“I seek protection by invoking Allah’s pen (kalam Allah) that’s perfect and far from His anger, His sufferings, the evil in His servants, from the disturbances of syaitan and when they come to me.” (This is the best I can do with the translation in English. Hee hee)

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It’s been raining terribly around here. Heavy rains, strong gales, thunder and lighting - all of it! I have too keep reminding myself to apply some of that RainX onto my windshields. It’s a horror driving in this weather. Gots to be extra, extra careful (and extra, extra slow). Despite all that, rain is actually a blessing for us Muslims. I once came across a book that mentioned that one of the best times to offer prayers is when it’s raining. Here are a few duas we can recite when it is raining:

 1. Invocation when it has stopped raining

Muthirnaa bifadhlillahi warohmatih

“It has rained by the bounty of Allah and His Mercy”

2.  Invocation to hope that the rain is benificial 

 Allahhumma sayyibann naafi’aan

“O Allah, (bring) benificial rain clouds”

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