Ayna Jundul Muslimeen Pt 2
As I write this post Israeli ground troops have entered in to Gaza...
The recent news coming out of Gaza has weighed heavily on my mind and I can not help but ache for the pain and suffering my brothers and sisters are feeling.
I'm not writing this to discuss how
illegitimate the Israeli occupation is, and
I'm not writing this to talk about the fact that they are attempting to ethnically
cleanse the region of non-
Jews as these things are factual and are not up for discussion.
What I want to talk about is: What can we do?
Recently there have been many marches and rallies in support of the Palestinians with many concerned citizens and people who have had enough of the bias and unconditional support our country has had for Israel's actions making their voices heard. People who are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people and sending a message that we do care about them and that we do feel their pain and that we do want to do what we can to end this genocide.
But something that has concerned me is that many of my Muslim brothers and sisters who want to help the Palestinian people and are trying their best to make a difference are themselves openly transgressing the laws and regulations of Allah
swt.
I'm not saying this because I feel that I am on some high horse,
wallahi I know how deficient I am and how far away I am from where I should be with regards to my Lord. But with the advent of sites like
myspace and
facebook I see major sins broadcast day in and day out through
news feeds, pictures, wall posts, etc.
I remember reading the story of a famous
Mujahid of our time who went to fight in the '67 war with Israel and during the night time he would notice that the '
mujahideen' were not spending their nights praying to Allah and making
dua as was the example set forth by the true
mujahideen of the past, and when he called them out for it they told him "this is not an Islamic war, this is an Arab war". At that point he said that he knew this was not where he wanted to be and he left them and ultimately the Israelis won.
So as a reminder to myself first and to anyone who may be reading this, lets rectify our selves and re establish our relationship with Allah
swt. How can we possibly think that anything will change in the long term when Allah
swt has promised us in His Book that He will not change a condition of a people until we change what is within our selves?
How can we have pictures posted of us drunk and passed out from New Years partying and at the same time wonder why our brothers are going through these difficulties?
How can we openly commit illicit acts with the opposite gender, be proud of it to the point where we have our
haram relationship status for everyone to see along with pictures showing us engaging in acts that would require serious repentance to Allah
swt while at the same time wonder why our mothers and sisters in
Ghazza are being buried alive?
We need to take a long look at ourselves and ask the question: Am I contributing to this genocide by my lack of a relationship with my Lord?
Before we march on Washington demanding the administration change their policies, we need to raise our hands in
dua and implore our Lord to change the situation of our brothers. And before we raise our hands in
dua to Allah
swt, the All Able and All Powerful, to change this situation, we need to ask ourselves if we are even in a state of being that our prayers will be answered.
As Muhammad
PBUH told us in the famous
hadith which Imam
Nawawi collected in his 40 regarding
dua:
"Allah the Almighty is good and accepts only that which is good. Allah has
commanded the faithful to do that which he commanded the messengers, and the
Almighty has said: "O ye messengers ! Eat of the good things and do right". And
Allah the Almighty has said : "O ye who believe! Eat of the good things
wherewith We have provided you"Then he mentioned [the case of] a man who, having
journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky
[saying] : "O Lord! O Lord!" - while his food is unlawful, his drink unlawful,
his clothing unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, so how can he be answered
!"
Do we fall in to this category as well? Do we openly commit sins which become part of us to the point that when we raise our hands our prayers
aren't even accepted?
I pray that Allah
swt strengthen the defenders of
Ghazza, increase them in
Iman, pour upon them patience, make their feet firm, straighten their backs, and grant them victory...
ameenAnd I pray that Allah
swt destroy the oppressive regime attacking my brothers and sisters, make the ground under their feet shake, cloud their judgement, make their arms futile and inaccurate, and fill their hearts with terror...
ameen
Niqabis 101
Recently, as everyone knows, I became the last single guy left in my click. By last I mean their are guys younger than me who are getting married and i feel like i got the slow car in a go cart race and everyone's lapping me :)
But please hold off on the pity party, I am enjoying my single days walhumdulillah and though Im not really single by choice, I know that its definitely got its benefits like making G2 - Return of the lota (shameless plug) set to be released late this year inshallah, or by proving that I am a geek at heart by comparing looking for a wife to google searching. But before I continue, those of you who are designated my "google bots" I need you to continue to scour the "internet" for more potential "search results" if you know what im saying.
Which leads me in to the point of this post: Niqabis. As my "google bots" bring back their "search results" after I have made my "query" I know better than to try my fortune and declare that "im feeling lucky" just as I have learned that some "keywords" do not necessarily return the best "results". From here on out im sticking with the "advanced search" option as to not attract too many unwanted "spam". So as I was looking in to these results and "noting" them as well as clicking the "similar pages" option, I started getting more and more Niqabis in the mix.
I have never in my life been around Niqabis, interacted with niqabis, or had anyone in my family who wears niqab other than my deceased Daddi (Allah yarhamha) and my Pakistani cousins in the old country who scared me worse than the youtube maze prank when I noticed that they wore niqab in the street but took it off along with their khimar and jilbaab around their non-mahrem family members!!! Oh, and my sister wore niqab for like 37 seconds back in the day. Yeah Saadz, I still remember the good old ICCL days. So needless to say, when any "search result" is a niqabi I am automatically uncomfortable for a number of reasons (sorry, but I exaggerated a little so they might be extreme stereotypes)
1) I cant assume a niqabi is on the deen just based on her niqab.
2) Is the religiosity of a niqabi inherently greater than someone like me who struggles with keeping their iman afloat day to day?
3) What if Im not attracted to em? When would I make that decision? At what point in the determination of the "search result" do I assess the "image".
4) Do I automatically assume that she isnt going to work or shes going to be an Islamic school teacher?
5) What would I look like walking around with a niqabi? Im not talking image or ego here, im talking here is Iboo: Gandaghee 2, goofy, outgoing, talking to random strangers, going to the movies, going out to eat Iboo. How could that match with a absolutely conservative appearance having niqabi?
Theres more too, but I think the above 5 points are enough to make you want to smack me and teach me a lesson or two while (inshallah) knowing that I am just ignorant to niqabis and want to sincerely be enlightened. So here is my niqabi101 class. Anyone who is a niqabi, knows niqabis, is a guy who WAS in my situation, IS in my situation, or just wants the same questions answered themself: SPEAK!!!
BTW: I personally am of the opinion that niqab is strongly recommended, and that I would definitely want my wife to wear niqab outside of the US, but that since its not fardh that in places like the States you do not need to wear one.
Pain...
What is this feeling that I feel inside/ It feels like a piece of me just died/ I used to write poems in tears cuz when I cried I could see it/ 'til the pages dried and then the pain once again subsides/ Now I write em in the blood of my brothers/ my sisters and mothers...
Dont wanna give too much away so I'll stop there. Its the beginning of a rhyme I wrote for a song (no, its not for Gandaghee)
Wisdom of Imam Ja'far as-Saadiq (ra)
Imam Ja'far as-Saadiq was a direct descendant of Muhammed PBUH through his daughter Faatima (ra) and one of the greatest scholars of our Ummah. He had many famous students one of which was Imam Abu Hanifah (ra) who said about his teacher Imam Ja'far that he was the "most learned scholar I have ever seen". Another one of Imam Ja'far's famous students, Sufyaan ath-Thawree, (ra) (one of the people my nephew is named after) once narrated a story about his teacher.
Once, just as Sufyaan (ra) was about to leave his teacher's company he asked Imam Ja'far (ra) to teach him something useful. Imam Ja'far said to him "Sufyan, if you have a blessing and you wish to enjoy it for long, then continue to praise Allah and thank Him for it. Allah says in His revelation '
should you be grateful, I will definitely give you an increase' (14:7) And if you feel that your sustenance is slow coming, seek Allah's forgiveness repeatedly. For Allah says '
Ask your Lord to forgive you your sins, for indeed He is Much-Forgiving. He will let loose the sky over you with abundance, and will aid you with worldly goods and children, and will bestow upon you gardens and running waters' (71:10-12) Sufyaan, when you have a problem weighing heavily on you say, 'no power works except by Allah's leave'. That is key to its disappearance and one of the treasures of heaven". Sufyaan said "These three are awesome indeed!" Ja'far (ra) said "Sufyaan has understood them and Allah will benefit him by them, if He so pleases".
Sex and the City?
Ive been noticing a lot of muslim sisters talking about how they want to go see
Sex and the City in theaters, and so I went on my trusty
www.kidsinmind.com website to see some details of what the movie's haram content was. Anyone who feels that it isnt "that bad" or that its "just a movie", I challenge you to read the following out loud to your parents, your siblings, or even your practicing muslim friends without blushing.
CAUTION: EXTREEEMLY GRAPHIC MATERIAL IN LINK.
http://www.kids-in-mind.com/s/sexandthecity.htmWatching images like this is what desensitizes individuals into feeling like casual sex, homosexuality and other haram behavior isnt "that bad". Wheres the hayaa? Of course the movie was tops in the box office this weekend too! Naudhubillah! A muslim shouldnt be caught DEAD watching something like this, let alone talking about how great it is on facebook!
May Allah swt protect us and keep us far away from disgusting things like this...ameen
The Butterfly Effect...
I graduate tomorrow inshallah...
With today being Eid, my hijri birthday, and the eve of my graduation naturally I feel as though there is no better time than now to reflect on my life thus far, what I hope God accepts as good from me, what I hope God forgives of my shortcomings, and what parts of my personality I still need to rectify if I wish to obtain God's Mercy.
I remember when I was in the local community college I had finally figured out what I wanted to do, I was acing all of my classes, and I was confident that I was on the right track in life. I was introduced to this guy who had been going to the community college for nearly 5 years and still wasnt too sure what he wanted to major in and anyone who knows me could probably guess that I gave the guy a hard time.
"Are you serious? You've been in school how long? At a COMMUNITY COLLEGE?"
After I left the guy I had this weird feeling inside me that made me feel real uncomfortable about what I had done. Though I didnt embarrass the guy in front of people and my conversation with him was private, I truly think that I made him feel really terrible. A short time after that I myself began to doubt what I was doing in school and so began my grueling 7 year career in college where I went through 5 majors and tons of money.
I look back at that day I made that guy feel bad about his time in school and I have to ask myself "did my arrogance with that guy cause me to have such a tough time in college or was it some kind of self fulfilled prophecy?"
Theres to ways that I can look at this incident: The first way is the way that Rabiah al Basriyyah ra, the great Zahida from the early muslimeen, looked at a hardship she went through. Once she tripped and fell and injured herself and when people went to see if she was ok they found her getting up laughing. The people around her asked her if she was crazy and she replied that when she felt the pain of the fall it reminded her of the promise of Allah that he will remove the sins from the believer when they go through any injury.
The second way to look at the incident is through the incident of the people of the Garden from Surah Qalam. Those people had a garden which they would cultivate and they loved and they
decided that they would gather their fruit in the morning, but they didnt want to give the fruit to any needy person. They came upon their garden and they found that Allah swt had destroyed their garden and they realized that they had indeed done wrong and transgressed. They then asked ALlah swt for forgiveness and then Allah swt says "Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew!"
Was it a purification of my sins? A punishment for my evil actions? Or Both?
Now I look at the past few months and I see that my relationship with Allah swt has definitely been on the decline. I have not been consistent nor have I met the level of iman that I was at no less than a year ago. Of course faith is not a static thing and it goes up and down, but lately my downs have gone down lower than I have ever been and I havent been as urgent in trying to get my iman back up. I look at how Allah swt has responded to me and I see that plans which I made which I feel were great plans have disintegrated. I was certain that something was good for me and my deen and my istikhara had yielded a really positive response yet Allah swt took me away from something which I felt was beneficial and took it away from me in the most abrupt and confusing fashion.
What this again a purification for my soul? Was Allah swt punishing me for my inconsistency?
I have concluded that my inconsistency and lack of desire to develop a stronger relationship with my Creator has led to certain totally confusing things taking place within the last month and I am determined to change myself. Of course that is why you ask Allah for guidance and I have trust in Him that if I strive to please Him he will grant me the best in this life and the next, but I am not totally sold that my istikhara is the reason why I am left without getting what I thought was best for me, I think it might be a punishment for the injustices which I committed against myself and did not seriously try to seek expiation from.
May Allah swt forgive me and make easy for me my ascension to maqaamaat closer to Him. May Allah swt grant me that which is best for me and my deen and bring it close to me, and keep far away from me that which takes me away from Him. May Allah swt grant barakah in my life and make me among those whom He loves...ameen
Final Destination...
From God we come and to Him we shall return...
http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_138150629.htmlIn the summer of 2000 I had just graduated High School and me and my homies from school used to hang out real hard having some good old times just kickin it and enjoyin life. Then I went to visit my brother who was living in Houston at the time, and while I was there the homies I would hang out with got in a car accident with the driver dying instantly, and the rest of the dudes in the car having serious injuries...except for Reese. He actually walked out of the car on his own.
A year after the accident, Wali -may Allah have mercy on his soul- , who was riding in the passenger seat of the car, passed away from complications of a follow up surgery on his eye. Now, 7 years later, Reese Johnson is gunned down in a senseless act of violence, now leaving only two survivors of the car crash alive.
This reminded me of the movie final destination, when the characters "escape" death, only to be caught one by one. This is the reality that each and every one of us is living. We narrowly "escape" death every day because these close calls are just reminds that we gotta get on our Ps and Qs and take this life seriously and find our purpose. We have no guarantees as to when we will die and we cant be acting like we are going to live till we're 70 because its not guaranteed and we could be standing outside OUR doorstep and get shot down and murdered in a split second when we least expect it just like Reese.
Its sad to see that this society is so selfish and so cold that they wouldnt think twice before taking a man's life for a few dollars without thinking about the man's family, the man's mother wife or children. Senseless acts of violence like these are what really burn me up inside because the motive for ending a man's existence in this world was material gain of only a few dollars? Its ridiculous to think that now his children will be orphans and his mother will have to mourn her son's passing for something as stupid as a few dollars that Reese would probably have given the robber if he would have had the chance.
I pray that we take advantage of our life before we die as we never guaranteed even a second on this planet.
