Reflections

I wish I can...

2011-02-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

be consistent in my ibadah.
be closer to Allah.
be ready to face death.
be from among those who see Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) in their dreams every night.
have a pure tongue that hurts no one.
have a pure mind and heart that thinks ill of no one.
have pure eyes that see nothing unlawful.
have pure ears that hear nothing unlawful.
plunge deep into the qur'an and uncover the pearls hidden within.
know the qur'an inside out and have it as my constant companion.
practice every good thing I have ever heard.
make Allah pleased with me at every possible moment.
follow the sunnah in every step, moment, and breath.
understand my insignificance.
do things for Allah..alone...
be immune to the dunya

...see the world and my existence for what it truly is: a series of moments which will one day vanish without a trace...

Food for thought:

2010-03-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

"Anger that has no limit, causes terror. Kindness that is inappropriate, does away with respect. So do not be so severe with others, as to terrify them; and do not be so lenient with others, as to make them take advantage of you". [Sa'di (Muslim Theologian)]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where others falter a Muslim remains steadfast, where others tend to weaken a Muslim remains balanced, where others go astray a Muslim follows the right path, where others sell their conscience a Muslim remains un-moved and nobody, no Government, no political party, no individual whatsoever powerful or wealthier he may be, can buy the conscience of these Muslims.” -Maulana Abul Hasan 'Ali Nadwi (rahimahullah)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One with incredible insight, Hadrat Imam Ghazali (May the mercy of Allah be upon him) has written that death is so close at all times that the cloth for one's burial shroud might already have come into the market but the person is oblivious of how close death is. People have forgotten death but death has not forgotten them.

Yearning for Allah

2010-03-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hazrat Thanwi (rahimahullah) would take an oath saying, “By Allah! Anyone who truly yearned for Allah from the bottom of their heart, with sincerity, definitely that person would reach Him.” The sad thing is that we don’t really yearn for Him and strive for Him with sincerity, that is why we are deprived of His love. May Allah Ta`ala grant us all true sincerity for Him.

Our Turn

2008-10-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

The time we are living in as Muslims is hard...but it is not the worst of times for sure. Sometimes people say things like, maybe you should stop wearing hijab/niqab so that you can blend in and people won't bother you so much. SubhanAllah...what is wrong with us? You know, we wish we could have been alive at the time of Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), but how can we make such claims when we can barely survive with our iman today? How can we think we would have been able to put up with all the torture and harrassment the sahabah and our dear Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) went through when we can't handle a few stares and remarks?

This time and situation is a test from Allah ta'ala to see who really is a mu'min and who isn't. Who truly believes from the depths of their heart and who doesn't. Allah ta'ala says in surah 'ankabut:

"Do men think that they will be left alone on saying "We believe" and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false."

This is what everyone before us had to go through, and now it's our turn. Will we be able to do it?

Teray 'Aashiqo Mein Jeena...

2008-03-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,

SubhaanAllah, lately I have been so in love with a poem called "Mera Dil Machal Raha Hein." Its just beautiful, subhaanAllah. A couple of lines in this poem really get to me. One is "Teray aashiqo mein jeena." This line is roughly translated as, "My wish is to live amongst Your lovers."

What a great blessing that would be. To be surrounded with, wake up, sleep with, every single thing amongst lovers of Allah...the ecstasy that could be experienced in such a gathering is unimaginable. I really wonder how people feel in Hazrat Jee's khanaqah. I feel so overwhelmed in the company of Sobia Baji and Humaira Baji for a couple of hours. I can't even begin to imagine how a person must feel in the company of people like these for years and years of their lives. Allahu Akbar...That truly is a fadl of Allah Ta'ala.

Another very beautiful line in this poem is "Meray zindagi ki haasil teyre yaad bangai hain. teyre wasl ki tamanna meray dil mein hain samahi. Mujhe dard dil mila hain. Sunlo ay dunya waalo. Mein Faqir bay nawa hu...mera dil machal raha hain."

That basically means,

"My life's goal has become Your remembrance. The wish of reaching You, wasl, is burning in my heart. I have found the ache of my heart. Listen, O people of the Dunya, I have found the ache of my Heart. I am a Faqir...my heart is beating in Your remembrance, Ilahi. Your Name is a flame ignited in my heart."

SubhaanAllah, I wonder what a state of heart the person who wrote such lines must have had...

When a person reaches Allah Ta'ala and feels His Qurb, what is left to be felt and experienced? What happiness can one even wish for after that? The perfect line in that context is "I have found the ache of my heart. Listen, O people of the Dunya, I have found the ache of my Heart." Allahu Akbaru Kabeera...

May Allah Ta'ala Give all of us the good fortune of being in the company of His lovers. Aameen thumma Aameen...

Here is a link to the poem from Hazrat Jee's website:

http://tasawwuf.org/zambiaitikaf/1426/29thramadan1426_zambia.wma

Was-salam ma'al-ikram

(قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (سورة آل عمران: 31

2008-02-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is an ayah we all know well. ًWe all claim to have love for Allah. However, love is a secret of the heart. It cannot be measured precisely whether a person loves something/someone a great deal or very little. Allah ta'ala tells us in this verse the real criterion of His love. If someone claims to love Him, then how much he/she follows the noble prophet (peace be upon him) is the proof for that statement. The more we love Him, the more ittiba' of His prophet we do. The opposite meaning can also be understood.

Now, we must ask ourselves how much do we love Allah and whether or not we are proving that claim with ittiba' of His messenger. Do we wake up with the masnoon du'as on our tongues? Do we brush our teeth with the siwaak, etc? Do we try to apply the sunnah to every aspect of our lives as our pious predecessors had done before us? Or is it all academic? We all know the many sunnahs there are to follow, but practically speaking, how many do we really follow consistently? Our great imam Abu Hanifa addressed his students one day saying, "this is 'ilm, so where is the 'aml?" We are more entitled to heed this advice because in our time 'ilm is so easy to come by. 'Aml, however, is ever decreasing.

The messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is reported to have said, "the most beloved of deeds to Allah are those which are consistent even if they be little." Even if we follow one sunnah a week, we are a little bit closer to Allah then the previous. In my family we read the sublime conduct of the messenger (ash-shamaail al-kubra) and try to follow it and remind each other when we forget. With this small effort we hope that Allah, out of His infinite mercy, might just look at us with His love, thus attaining the ultimate goal. May Allah give us the tawfeeq to prove our claim of love for Him by following the footsteps of his messenger (peace be upon him). Ameen ya Rabbal 'aalameen.

Lovers of Allah

2008-02-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Let Thy wish become my desire,
Let Thy will become my deed,
Let Thy word become my speech, Beloved,
And Thy love become my creed.
Let my plant bring forth Thy flowers,
Let my fruits produce Thy seed,
Let my heart become Thy lute, Beloved,
And my body Thy flute of reed.
from the Vadan, or Divine Symphony
by Hazrat Inayat Khan

‘O Sari, I created mankind, and all of them claimed to love Me. Then I created the world, and nine-tenths of them deserted Me, and there remained one-tenth. The I created Paradise, and nine-tenths again deserted Me, and one-tenth of the tenth remained with Me. And I imposed on them one particle of affliction, and nine-tenths of those who were left deserted Me, and I said to those who remained, ‘You did not desire the world, nor seek after Paradise, nor flee from misfortune; what then do you desire and what is it that you seek?’ They replied, ‘It is You Yourself we desire, if You do afflict us, yet we will not abandon our love and devotion to You’. And I said to them, ‘I am He Who imposes upon you affliction and terrors which even the mountains cannot abide. Will you have patience for such affliction?’ They said, ‘Yes, truthfully, if You are the One Who afflicts; do what You will with us’. These are indeed My servants and My true lovers’
(al-Hurayfish al-Rawd al-Fa`iq, p.279)

“Whoever (truly) knows his Lord loves Him, and whoever (truly) knows the world does without it.” - al-Hasan al-Basri (May Allah be pleased with him)

The Ulama of Deoband

2008-01-02T18:13:00.000-08:00

Assalamu Alaykum,

Today I was reading an article written by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmed Naqshbandi about the Ulama of Deoband and their sacrifices. They were simply amazing people. It makes me wonder how people like that actually existed. SubhanAllah. They were under so much hardship, but they did whatever they could to spread Islam. We have so much suhoolat and freedom in this day and age. I just feel so ashamed thinking about what they would do if they had the opportunities we had. May Allah SWT Enlighten their graves and Accept their efforts. Aameen!!

Good-bye Ramadan...

2006-10-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

SubhanAllah, I don't know how to describe the way I feel right now; I have this uneasy feeling inside of me...I just cannot believe it's gone. I looked forward to it so much, and it's gone--just like that. This beautiful month with Allah's rehmat everywhere, the shayateen locked up, this month in which the Qur'an was recited so abundantly, the masaajid filled with mu'takifeen, searching for the nights of power...everything and everyone was so different. Ya Allah Ya Rabbal Alameen please help us continue the good deeds we have started in Ramadan and implement them throught our lives...Allah knows if I'll live to see another Ramadan.

Rabbana taqabbal minna siyamana wa salatana wa ruku'ana wa sujoodana wa tilawatana fi shahri ramadan aana allayli wa aana annahar.

A Moment of Reflection

2006-04-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

"A Muslim's humiliation comes from his heedlessness of his religion, not in his lack of wealth or stature." [Uthman radi Allah anhu]

The above-mentioned quote is very true. There are so many instances in my life which I just wish I could go back and fix due to the humiliaton I suffered, and when I really think about it, the reason I was humiliated was because I was heedless about my deen and the awaamr-ullah. Umar (R) once said, "If anyone tries to find 'Izzah or honor by folowing something other than Islam, he will be degraded." So many times, we try to "fit in" in order to act cool or feel accepted, but in reality, we can never please the people enough. They will just want more and more from us. If we make Allah happy, and follow what He comands, we will make Allah happy as well as the people because Allah shows us the proper way to deal with them. Subhanallah...La ni'mata a'adhamu minal eeman...