Its always raining in my mind...
((( Use FireFox to view sidebar correctly )))
Monday, August 28, 2006
insignificant...
Subhan Allah...
This is a forward I got and when I saw it it made me remember the ayah in Suratul Insaan where Allah swt says in the very first ayah 'Has there not been over Man a long period of Time, when he was nothing - (not even) mentioned?'
Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away.
Subhan Allahi amma yushrikoon!
Imagine us, this feeble fragile little creature created from najaasa, not even being able to feed ourselves! Then growing into a being that can stand up, poke out its chest, and reject Allah swt's Power and Might, and to show arrogance though we are merely a dot standing on a dot that ultimately is unmentionable when compared to the heaven in which it is, and this heaven, immesurable to the scientist and considered infinite because of this inability to measure, is merely a dot compared to its superior heaven. Then ultimately, this second heaven and all the heavens put together comprise merely a dot, an unmentionable blip in size compared to the Arsh of Allah swt.
Ya Allah make us among those who are humble, and if we are not humble then ya Allah humiliate us and bring us down into humility. Ya Allah if there is even a mustard seed of arrogance in our hearts then remove it ya Allah, and make the distance between us and this arrogance the distance between the heavens and the earth ya Rabbal Alameen.
Its been a long time since i hit yall with some Maryam Zuberi soooo here she is, 6 months old and 14 lbs masha Allah. Is that not the cutest thugg face ever!! My baby is growing up so fast!!!!
May Allah swt protect her from hassad, keep her upon the fitrah her entire life, and make her among the beacons of light for the future of this ummah...ameen
I know yall are wondering: The camel I got in Madina for my sister and it sings arabic songs so we decided to sit her on it, while the Grumpy Dwarf i got for my sis like 5 years ago on her Bday.
For those who care Gandaghee 2: Return of the Lota has been delayed..........again!
Seems like I am the only one who still had time to do it seeing how the entire crew is either engaged or got married within the last few months. But even i was working too much to get any time to do anything for the movie so...yeah next ISNA insha Allah.
So I went to the local masjid in Bmore that has a gym to play all night just like any other Friday night, but this time was different.
I actually was on a winning team!!
Im not talking just winning one game, but we won 7 straight games and after I took my shoes off and retired from blisters, my team won another one without me.
But in the midst of such good times I had a moment that really grounded me, burst my bubble, and made me reflect on my maqaam with regards to closeness to Allah swt.
Allah swt indeed tests those whom He loves and to elevate our status in the afterlife we go through a purification process here on earth. Each passed test elevates us closer to Allah swt.
I was talking to one of the brothers there and I asked him if he was married, just small talk trying to do some ta'aaruf, getting to know my brothers in Islam. Im expecting a simple answer of yes, no, im working on it, something to that effect yet I get an answer that totally floors me.
This bro, not even 30 years old yet, tells me that his wife passed away 3 years ago and that he has been raising 4 children on his own for 3 years.
Subhannallahal adheem!
I would never have thought that this bro was going to give me such an answer to such a simple question and my expression on my face froze.
What kind of weak individual I am to think that I go through any kind of hardships in my life when brothers are going through struggles so real, that if this burden were to be placed on my shoulders I would crumble under pressure.
Is it because Allah swt has a test waiting for me that I have yet to encounter? Or is it that Allah swt knows how weak I am that He swt has made my life easy to the point that I do not recieve tests like everyone else?
I remember reading in al Furqaan by Imam Ibn Taymiyyah ra the difference between a Prophet/King and a Messenger/Servant. The example of a Prophet/King is Sulayman alayhis salaam who inherited a kingdom with a huge dominion, saw success in this life according to standards of this world, and whose duty was to carry on the Jihad against the idolators and to maintain order in the world with his power and vast influence. Then the example of the Messenger/Servant is that of Muhammed PBUH who never saw material success in this world. He PBUH died in such a state that as he was slipping in and out of consciousness he saw a few gold coins in his presence and asked what it was, and immediately ordered that it be distributed to the needy. This is the man who bled at Ta'if and was chased out by a mob of stone hurling individuals simply because he PBUH called them to Allah swt. He bled until his sandals had puddles of blood, yet he did not curse these people and did not want them to be punished for their actions.
The expansion of Islam came mostly under Umar ra who was the vicegerent of Muhammed PBUH to the rest of the world for the most part, while Muhammed PBUH spent 23 years purifying, sanctifying, and perfecting the people so that they would be prepared to be torch-bearing messengers of the Messenger.
Can you imagine that Muhammed PBUH was only a Prophet of Allah swt for 23 years, yet he made such an impact on the entire world?
This example of struggle and striving without seeing the fruits of it in this world makes Muhammed PBUH superior to all other Prophets and Messengers that ever were sent, and this is a sign to me of the importance of struggle in regards to our station of nearness to Allah swt.
I do not want to pray for hardship, but what does it mean when I am not being tested with anything close to what my peers deal with?
Allah doesnt burden a person beyond their scope, so should I pray that my scope be raised and my shoulders be strengthened so that I can bear a burden of a greater scope than I can right now?
May Allah swt make us all among those who realize that the tests we deal with are absoulutely nothing compared to the tests that Muhammed PBUH went through, and that we realize our trials, as significant and difficult they may seem, are nothing compared to someone else on the earth who is dealing with something much greater than us.
So I have been listening to the Madina Period cds by imam Anwar al Awlaki (may Allah preserve him) and subhan Allah, I am at the story of Badr, a story I know very well, but imam Anwar highlights some incidents that I had never heard, stories that as I hear them my face changes and my heart drops as I envy the Sahabah for being able to be in the company of the greatest man to ever live.
The sahabah were standing in rows as they prepared for battle (as it is mentioned in Surah Saff) and Muhammed PBUH was walking in front of them and making sure they were lined up properly as if they were in salah. He PBUH was using an arrow to straighten them out and he came to one Sahabah who was a little further out than the rest so he pushed the Sahabah back with his PBUH's arrow. The Sahabah's name was Sawaad ra (not Safwan, i got two names confused).
After the Prophet PBUH pushed him back with the arrow, Sawaad ra said "Ya Rasulullah, you have injured me, and I want to retaliate."
Imagine that? This is not only a member of an army, but the leader of the army. He PBUH was not just a leader of any army but he is the leader of the army of the Muslimeen. He is not only the leader of the Muslimeen but he is the Prophet of Allah swt, peace and blessings be upon him. Imagine what a leader of an army would do to a common soldier who said something like this to them in front of the entire army? They would have him taken away and locked in a jail cell or something, but this is Rahmatal lil alameen, the Mercy to Mankind we are talking about.
Muhammed PBUH exposed his stomach and told Safwan ra to retaliate if that is what he wants to do. Safwan ra got down, kissed the stomach of Muhammed PBUH and hugged the Prophet PBUH.
Muhammed PBUH asked him why he did such a thing, and Safwan responded with a response that made my eyes well up.
He said "Ya Rasulullah, you see what is ahead of us (meaning the imminent battle), and I wanted the last thing I touch to be the skin of Rasulullah PBUH", and then Muhammed PBUH made dua for him.
Laa ilaaha illalla!
How beautiful was this relationship between this companion who we barely know anything about and Muhammed PBUH!? Every Sahabah felt that he was the closest to Muhammed PBUH and they loved him so much that they were ready to sacrifice their life for him.
My favorite Sahabah (abu Dujanah ra) at the battle of Uhud, when Muhammed PBUH was injured, stood in front of him PBUH and shielded him by turning and facing him and putting his arms up to the sides, and arrows were being fired at Muhammed PBUH and abu Dujanah ra caught the arrows in his back and didnt even turn around ensuring that Muhammed PBUH was safe.
I just try and imagine that moment before battle, the calm before the storm where anxiety is in the air, this Sahabah still doing something like this to express his love to Muhammed PBUH.
No leader has ever been loved more by his followers than Muhammed PBUH was loved by his Sahabah and is still loved by his followers who have never even met him.
Can you imagine him PBUH standing there on the day of Judgement, with the hawd there, recognizing you as his follower, and calling you over and giving you to drink from his very hand? If that does not make you get tingly inside then you need to check your pulse.
I was talking to my summer camp kids about how we are force fed the definitions for beauty and coolness, and we just take them and run with em. We think a beard is not cool and a shaved face is. We think that emulating some rapper or singer or actor is the way to success when all this will do is land us in deep deep trouble regarding our hearafter. I told them that the only people worth emulating for guys and girls is Muhammed PBUH and his companions. We gotta analyze everything that comes to us that is culture, analyze its ability to conform to the laws of Allah swt and the Sunnah of Muhammed PBUH, and then we accept it and reject it based on this criteria.
We can not allow ourselves to melt into this disgusting culture of lewdness, selfishness, arrogance and greed. We are Muslims and we are far superior to this type of lifestyle.
May Allah grant us the love of Muhammed PBUH which is expressed through action and not lip service. May Allah make us among those who Muhammed PBUH is their most beloved, and who Muhammed PBUH will give to drink from his blessed hands on the Day of Judgement. May Allah love us and forgive our sins for following Muhammed PBUH. May Allah swt protect our youth, keep them on the straight path, and make their Muslim Identity strong.
Its people like this that make me want to confront any terrorist jihadi muslim who thinks that every non muslim civilian living in the west's blood is halaal because they support the killing of innocent muslimeen all over the world.
May Allah guide this man to the truth of Islam as he obviously stands for truth already.
So I havent posted in a while because the last post pretty much sums up everything going on in my life. My brothers and sisters being massacred in Lebanon has not only occupied my thoughts but it has occupied my prayers, it has taken away from my sleep, it has constantly been on my mind and I have constantly been reflecting on the fact that this attack on Lebanon and the imminent attack of Greater Syria is of the signs of last days to come as narrated from Muhammed PBUH (al bidaaya wan nihaaya by Ibn Katheer ra).
One of the main things ive been thinking about is the ayah in the Quran in Surah Israa where Allah swt says:
"17:81 And say: "Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish."
innal baatila kaana zahooqa, verily falsehood by its nature is bound to perish. Subhan Allah, how truthful is Allah swt?
This bubble that we live in known as the US, a bubble that has duped us all to think that this system is the most forward thinking and productive system and a vanguard for the entire world to follow is crumbling from the inside. The morality of the commoner in this country is on average something that is accepting of so many evils and munkaraat that not more than 100 years ago were condemned publicly by the mainstream American. This disintegration of the morality of a nation is one of the signs that this place is set to be implode, as was true of the Persians, Romans, and yes, even the Muslimeen. Of course we know that our leaving our message is what caused us to be in the state that we are in now, but the full embracing of the 'freedoms' of these other societies is what causes them to pervert, and eventually it only takes a slight nudge from an outside force to bring the empire crumbling down.
This concept of the nature of falsehood being that it will self destruct is something that we as Muslims really really need to reflect on. Allah swt is testing us with a really strong test where we have to decide if that which is from Allah is going to be our banner, or if we are going to concede to the apparent goodness of a man made greed based fascism in disguise mirage we know as Western 'Democracy' based on the sheer fact that they have a bigger piece of the dunya than we do. Subhan Allah! As if this dunya is an adequate measure of success! Muslims lost this dunya when we took our eyes of the pleasure of Allah and placed it upon this unworthy mass of fools gold, and the Kuffar won this dunya when they left Allah and focused on hoarding anything and everything on this world and they made every breath they take be for the sake of gaining wealth and status down here in the lowest of low.
ad Dunya...the word itself comes from the root that means the lowest. What a small price we have sold our souls for! Are our souls not worth more than something that is here today and gone tomorrow! Are they not worth more than that which we can not even take into our graves?
I remember once I was sitting outside somewhere waiting for someone to come and it was night time. I was looking at a home and it had its lights on, then suddenly the lights turned off. This made me remember the saying of Ali ra where he stood above a grave and said the following to the inhabitors of the grave.
"Oh dwellers of the tomb! tell us about yourselves or we will tell you about yourselves! The money was divided, the women got married, and others inhabited your houses. I swear by Allah that if they could speak they would say 'We have never seen a better provision than taqwa'"
Here we are faced with a decision between choosing haqq and choosing baatil, and we choose baatil because we see its immediate benefit in the dunya, and the benefit of the hearafter is not something that is tangible to our senses.
A closing thought I have is actually something that i was reflecting on while I was in salaah. I was reciting suratul Ikhlas in my sunnah and I came to the second verse. "Allah is as Samad", The Self Sufficient. How ironic it is that this is in surah Ikhlas, a surah that is extremely short and easy to recite if you wanna just make your salah and bounce without reflection. This surah (unfortunately) is like the surah that you say when you dont have time to pray and you just wanna get it done, and subhan Allah, one of the ayaat is affirmation of the fact that Allah swt does not need us nor does He swt need our prayers. If we think we are just gonna say what we can real fast to escape the responsibilty we have as a muslim to make salah, then we gotta remember that the reward for such a salah will be according to our sincerity. Allah swt is Self Sufficient, and our salah should be done in such a state of humility and need with the constant thought in our mind that we are fuqaraa, that we are needy, and that Allah is al Ghaniyy, The Rich.
May Allah make us among those whom He loves. May He make us among those whose salawaat are based upon ikhlaas. May Allah grant victory to the mujahideen all over the world
