Graveyards!

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The silent narrow pathways of graveyards help you to understand the brevity of life. There is very little noise there – perhaps just the wind rustling through some lone trees and the faraway chatter of gravediggers that have taken a break from their work. Perhaps the muffled cries of the deceased’s child or wife. Perhaps your own nervous heartbeat that thuds loudly in your chest and ears.

The graves are full of people who were great conversationalists, talented writers, illustrious cooks and fashion idols. They all met the same end.

Somehow what shade of lipstick matches your outfit doesn’t seem to matter when you walk those lone pathways. Somehow your sharp mind that often wins word-wars with others doesn’t seem to be able to bring itself to say a word as you touch the soil beneath your feet, the soil above their heads. Somehow the expensive shoes that are covered with the dust of that hushed graveyard don’t seem so valuable anymore.

Everyone who existed died. Everyone who exists will die. The breath in your chest as it rises and falls is an indication that time is passing. Every moment gone is a piece of your one chance, gone.

At death you will not wonder – what would my life have been like if I had more things? You will not wish to have made more money or been more fashionable. You will not wish you had more degrees to your name.

You will only wish that you had worshiped Him better. Only that, nothing else.

The angel of death stands by unbeknownst to you as your time nears its end. The angel of death makes mourners of merry people. He obeys the orders of God without fail, without choice in the matter.

One day it will be me under soil. One day it will be my loved ones wiping their tears and walking with hushed words away from where I am. One day I will wish that I had worshiped Him better. I will only wish that, nothing else.

That day it will be just me and my deeds. And perhaps I will not have done enough. Perhaps the angel of death will take me before I am ready to meet my Lord, before I have given away my money to those who had a right to it…before I had decided to give up everything that leads me away from The Path of Truth.

And so restlessness is what I seek. Tired eyes and worked hands. I seek until the day I am deposited into the graveyard, to never rest until I have given everything I can, worshiped God with every limb of my body and carried others through their difficulties.

Restlessness in this life is what I seek. The time for rest will come soon.

 

-Aasma  Hussein

God is with those who Patiently Wait

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

We’re always in a hurry, rushing from one meeting to another. One playdate to another. One phase of life to another. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? We all read it as kids, or at least we all know the famous refrain, “slow and steady wins the race.”

But no matter how much we try to teach ourselves through experience or stories that we’re better off taking small, calculated steps to reach our goals, Allah (swt) says about us, “Man was created of haste.”

We feed off of haste. We are addicted to haste – we want everything to be instant, to be at our fingertips. We want our knowledge to expand the first day we sit in a classroom. We want our bank accounts to overflow the first day we think of a brilliant new business plan. We want our kids to learn the best behaviour the moment they are born. We want results, and we want them now.

“Man was created of haste. I will show you My signs, so do not impatiently urge Me” (21:37).

We aren’t alone in wanting to see results or wanting to know when relief will come to us after difficulty. We aren’t the first people to be desperate for change. It happened to the companions of the Prophet (saw) when they asked him to pray for their relief from persecution. He replied by telling them there were believers before them who faced much more difficult trials…“But you (people) are hasty.”

One of the most difficult things is waiting. Just waiting. Waiting for a phone call about a job you really want, waiting for your heart to heal after it’s wounded, waiting to get pregnant after you’re married, waiting for your “lucky break” or your business to take off. Whatever it is you’re waiting for, the very act of waiting is difficult.

But there is a kind of self-discipline involved in patiently waiting for a result – a self-discipline that elevates the status of our souls and that strengthens us for whatever will come our way in this world.

The Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, “The dua of any worshipper will continue to be responded to, as long as he does not ask for a sin or breaking the ties of kinship, and as long as he is not hasty.” (i.e. as long as he does not become impatient.)

Imagine the elevated status of someone who patiently waits through heartbreak or pain or longing, asking Allah to bring relief, asking Allah to provide sustenance. Then he or she gets up and works hard to heal, to earn his or her way to paradise. And this person waits, no matter how difficult the waiting can be, because he or she understands that what will come after will be worth it.

Imagine the status of someone like this – not because he or she is particularly knowledgeable or extraordinarily generous – but because this person patiently waits. And Allah says He is with those who are patient, those who battle against the most base characteristic of wanting immediate results.

We were created in haste, wanting to know more than we can and to move faster than we’re able. To battle our nature is to understand that patience bears a kind of fruit that is unexpectedly sweet. Musa (as) advised his nation, “Seek help through Allah and be patient. Indeed, the earth belongs to Allah. He causes to inherit it whom He wills of His servants. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous” (7:128).

We are witnesses to the beautiful things that happen all over the world when time and effort are put in. Great masterpieces are created, towering buildings are erected, societies progress piece by piece. Thus we know that it is the patient, consistent, steadfast human being that receives worldly results.

And it is also the patient, consistent, steadfast worshiper that receives Allah’s Mercy.

May Allah (swt) grant us the ability to be patient with ourselves, with our children, and with His decree.

-Asmaa Hussein-Facebook

How do I cry?

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Anonymous asked:

How do i soften my heart, how do i cry?

This hurts my heart. Because there is nothing worse than the feeling of feeling numb unable to cry.

There are many ways. First one is the most important read the Qur’an if you can understand Arabic even better. Reciting it and understanding is different you recite, but you must feel what’s coming out of your mouth, contemplate, go park and read, read whilst you wait for your bus, on the bus, everywhere you can, in shaa Allah read it will soften your heart and without meaning to you will cry even in places you don’t want to.

Secondly wake up early, pray night prayer, light some candles and just don’t rush the isn’t going anywhere, sleep is just another pleasure you can sleep anytime. But first before you pray sit on the floor, gather your thoughts. Think about the most difficult time in your life. And how Allah has saved you, how He comforted you. Think about your deeds, the way you talk to people, your parents. Think about what type of human being you were or are.

The one thing that should make you cry should be the fact that you are tearless for the sake of your Lord.

Thirdly, surround yourself with the fragile, unable and innocent, and the sick. Talk to them, hold their hands. And watch as they wait for their time, struggle of old age and ending of life. Those who still have faith. And Remind yourself “this will be me” slowly your heart will move.

whenever it rains hard, if you are in good health and don’t get sick often. In a secluded area let the rain fall on your hair face and body. If there is thunder look up and with certainty know that if Allah wills He can strike you with it. But in that moment He doesn’t Wallahi that alone should shake you. Rain hides many things, you can cry without knowing whether its the rain or your tears. Don’t be afraid and let every blessing hit your skin. Make duaa for others. Seek refuge and slowly even if you have to pretend cry.

Lastly, always be kind. No matter the situation, help those around you, feed the poor the needy and Allah’s animals. And be careful of what comes out of your mouth refrain from getting angry, let your nature be soft.

May Allah protect you from a hard heart, May He soften you and your nature. May He Love you. Ameen.

 

-Ukhti Fillah Rahimakumulla

 

 

Dua-Anything is Possible!

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

As a kid, when I was asked to make dua, since I was told I could ask absolutely anything and Allah was capable of giving it to me, I used to think of the most impossible of requests. And back then, after much thought, the only greatest dua I could come up with was to be granted a huge house, the walls and interiors made of never ending chocolates, cake and ice cream (imagination courtesy to a story I was told in my childhood days). This concept never died, and several years later, I still believe in the impossible. When I’m told that I dream too much, my only answer is,

“It’s because I know Allah can grant it to me.”

Whether I get what I pray for or I don’t receive it by Allah’s Wisdom, I absolutely love how we’re granted the gift of du’a. And there’s absolutely nothing Al Hayy (The Ever Living) cannot do. He is Al Haseeb (The All Sufficient), Al Lateef (The Gentle, benevolent). He holds the sky without pillars and He gives life to the dead earth. He is The Knower of the seen and the unseen and no request is difficult for Him to grant. Remember that when you make du’a, you’re making dua to Ar Rahman (The Most Merciful), Al Mujib (The Responder of Prayers), Malik ul Mulk (The King of all Universes), and nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible to Him. Because, impossible is only a concept of the mind when you believe that Badi’us samawati wal ard (The Originator of the heavens and the earth) can do it all.

‪#‎RamadanTip : Reconnect with Allah, make Him your best friend, pour out your desires and dreams to Him. He is As Sami – The All Hearing, so never for a moment think that anything you utter is unheard. Not only does Allah hear you, He is The Best of Listeners ♡

 

-HopesPrayersNSmiles-Facebook

 

Get up, your work isn’t done!

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

“You look better now,” she said to me, “Better than before. Before you looked…so broken.”

The thing about loss is that it breaks you. Depending on the impact, it might be a clean break, easily bandaged and healed in a few weeks. Or it could shatter you, sending shards of your essence in directions they were never meant to naturally go in. When you shatter, a simple cast that your friends sign with bubbly get well soons won’t be enough.

You’ll need surgeries. Multiple surgeries. You’ll need someone to open you up and physically push and pull the pieces back together.

And the thing is, even after the operations, the pain, the months and years of recovery, your brokenness will still show. There will still be a part of you that is misshapen – too large, too small, too bent out of shape.

The bones and muscles and nerves of your brokenness contort themselves as though they are living, breathing beings. They are phantom limbs that knock on the door of your consciousness begging to be let back in.

But your face will look less broken. And your heart will feel less broken. And you’ll run your errands with a CD playing in the car and smile because the traffic is light. And you’ll be glad at the prospect of a homemade meal. And you’ll sleep better at night without fearing what you’ll see in the darkness.

But the brokenness is still there, menacing, dangling your scars and stitches in front of you, asking you to keep it by your side and close within your chest. And you will, no matter the cost, because it’s the only way you remember that you were once whole.

Then when a different pain touches you once more, the brokenness is lit up like a match on a starless desert night. It burns your fingertips, it makes your eyes water. It leaps onto everything you’ve held dear and turns it to ash.

And yet beyond the ash there’s something growing in you that other people don’t yet have: the strength to start again. Because while you were in pain, while the pieces of you were being pushed and pulled back together, while the stitches from your wounds were burning and oozing, your brokenness was holding on to you and urgently whispering in your ear:

Get up, your work isn’t done.

 

-Asmaa Hussein- Facebook

Advice!!

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal’s advice to his son on his wedding day:
Dear son,

You will not attain good fortune in your home except by 10 characteristics which you show to your wife, so remember them and be enthusiastic in acting upon them. As for the first two; women like attention and they like to be told clearly that they are loved. So don’t be stingy in expressing your love for your wife. If you become limited in expressing
your love, you will create a barrier of harshness between you and her, and there will be a decrease in affection.
3, Ladies hate a strict, overcautious man, yet they seek to use the soft vulnerable one. So use each quality appropriately. This will be more appealing for love and it will bring you peace of mind.

4. Ladies like from their husbands what their husbands like from them, i.e. kind words,
   good looks, clean clothes and a pleasant odour. Therefore, always remain in that state.

5, Indeed, the house is under the sovereignty of the woman. While she remains therein, she feels that she is sitting upon her throne, and that she is the chief of the house . Stay clear of destroying this kingdom of hers and do not ever attempt to dethrone her, otherwise you will be trying to snatch her sovereignty. A king gets most angry at he who tries to strip him of his authority, even if he portrays to show something else.

6. A woman wants to love her husband, but at the same time she does not want to lose her family. So do not put yourself and her family in the same scale, because then her choice will be down to either you or her family. And even if she does choose you
   over her family, she will remain in anxiety, which will then turn into hatred towards you in your daily life.
7. Surely woman has been created from a curved rib, and this is the secret of her beauty, and the secret of the attraction towards her. And this is no defect in her, because ‘the eyebrows look beautiful due to them being curved’. So if she errs, do not rebuke her in a manner in which there is no gentleness, attempting to straighten her; otherwise you will simply break her and her breaking, is her divorce. At the same time do not let her off upon that mistake, otherwise her crookedness will increase and she will become arrogant with her ego. Thereafter, she will never soften for you and she won’t listen to you, so stay in between the two.
8. It is in the women’s nature to be ungrateful towards their husbands and to deny favours. If you were to be nice to her for her whole life but you grieved her once, she will say, “I have never seen any good from you”. So don’t let this attitude of her make you dislike her or to run away from her. If you dislike this feature of hers, you will be pleased with some other good habits within her, so create a balance.
9. Surely there are times when a woman goes through some conditions of bodily weakness and fatigue of the mind. Such that Allah has relieved her of some of her compulsory worships during that period; Allah has totally pardoned her from praying, and has postponed the days of fasting for her within this break to a later date until she regains her health and becomes normal in her temperament once more. Thus, during these days, treat her in a godly manner. Just as Allah has relieved her of the duties, you should also lessen your demands and instructions from her during those days.
10. Last but not least, know that a woman is like a captive with you. Therefore, have mercy upon her.

 

 

-Open Holder-Facebook

Ramadhan is back ♥!

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

It’s that time  year when the month of Ramadhan is just few days away. A time to welcome Ramadhan and to look back to the year gone by, preparing for my dua list for this year, and planning my to-do list for this Ramadhan.

This is the most special month, very close to my heart, when the shaytan is chained up, time to ask for forgiveness for all our past and future sins, time when all the duas are answered, the most peaceful and serene month, when I find myself most close to my Lord, and most specially for my duas list which I am sure will be answered in this month.

The year from the last Ramadhan to this Ramadhan. As I sat down, I kept thinking about the duas that I made last year, the duas am making since many Ramadhans and not getting fulfilled & I was wondering why some of my duas are not getting answered.

Then I was reminded of an ayah in the Quran where Allah asks the mother of Musa(as) to leave her baby in the waters and trust Allah, and Allah says:

” and that she would know that the promise of Allah is true. But most of the people do not know. 28:13″.

It made me feel like Allah is speaking to me telling that HE will answer MY duas and his promise is true & somewhere I would be wrong that my duas are not being answered. And this boosted my imaan and made me think that for sure my duas also will be answered, when my creator, Al-Samee himself is saying then my duas surely will be answered.

But still leaving a doubt in my mind that why for soo many years my prayers are still not answered. & for this to answer to my surprise I got a message from my friend. The message read the reasons why our duas don’t get answered. the different reasons why duas are sometimes not answered & one reason being we ourselves responsible for it due to our action or some deed.

Meanwhile I came across Maryam Amir’s article where she said that have firm faith that Allah will have to answer.

I wanted something so badly. I kept praying for it, pouring my heart into begging God to give it to me. But every time I did, I would say to myself, “God probably wants to test me. He knows how much I want this, so He probably will give me the opposite of it just because I want it so badly.”

And then one day I realized: God says, “I am as My servant thinks I am.” Why would He give me what I want when all I’m thinking is about how much He wouldn’t? If I don’t even believe He’ll give it to me, if while I am praying for it, I am thinking he will withhold it- then why would I be blessed with it.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us that we should pray for something while we are certain that God will answer us. It might not come in the same way we want it- maybe it will! Maybe it’ll be better, or maybe we’ll get it in the Hereafter or perhaps something evil will be prevented and averted from us because of our prayer.

But in all those scenarios there is one common factor: God will answer. And His answer will always be good.

I went back to begging God to grant it to me, but this time, I was fervently certain that He would. As the months went by, as one year merged into the next, every time a doubt would enter my heart, I cast it away, I screamed at it and I would say: He HAS to answer. He WILL answer. This is Al Mujeeb! The One Who responds! Al Kareem- The Generous! Al Wadud- The Loving!

 “When God inspires your tongue to ask, know that He wants to give.” – Ibn AtaAllah

 

And today as I sat down listening to a lecture I realized that I use to think that I am a sinner but still I am a good Muslim, praying, giving charity, trying to help people in the best possible way I can and being good to people, fasting regularly, making duas on all the times Prophet Muhammad mentioned the times of duas getting answered. But I forgot that I myself also could be the reason why my duas are not being answered.

I realized somewhere Arrogance, Pride, Lies, Anger, Hypocrisy entered me…when I looked deep into myself I found myself drowned into them & yet accepting my duas to be answered. Ya Allah! Forgive me because only you are the one who forgives and loves to forgive. After all these things I was complaining to Allah for not answering my duas, not realizing that for so long he has seen all this in me and still gave me everything that I couldn’t ever have imagined.

The need of the hour is, we need to look into ourselves and see what we are doing, where we are heading. In the Quran Allah says we have tried to make your life easy. Allah is most merciful. He wants all of us to enter Jannah. He has made our religion easy for us by mentioning few things we don’t need to do but only if we understand. This is the best time. Shaytan would be locked up into the chains & we can look into ourselves and make improvements to become a better Muslim, so we can see our duas being answered, Allah’s miracles happening in our day to day life.

Just be strong, trust Allah, keeping asking for forgiveness, keep asking for Duas, and I am sure my duas will be answered this time. For sure He HAS to answer. He WILL answer. This is Al Mujeeb! The One Who responds! Al Kareem- The Generous! Al Wadud- The Loving!

As I enter the month of Ramadhan, I pray to Allah to forgive me & all the Muslim Ummah for all our sins, to forgive us for whatever wrongs we have done and to guide us to the right path. And to answer our duas, because only Allah knows what’s in every heart.

& to give everyone of us a beneficial Ramadhan, so we can reap the most out of it.

Ameen.

Al-Jabbar: The One who restores completely!

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Lifelong I considered myself to be a very strong person. & thinking about suicide is not me. & the reason is more than loving myself or fearing death I have a fear of facing my Allah with such act on the Day of Judgement, my creator whom I love & more than me HE loves me the most & this is the reason come what may I never ever think of committing suicide, but face things till the end.

But sometimes people do choose death over life. Though I consider people who commit suicide as been badly hurt & back lashed by this worldly life, ruined by the worldly stuff of either Love or Money & I no longer hold them responsible for this act, but to their situation,

and I know myself very well I am not one of them. I hold the attitude that Life can’t defeat me.

But there was a time in my life when I myself thought of committing suicide. Yes, I had those suicidal tendencies.

Last 1 year, was like going through the toughest part of my life, a roller coaster ride, where I couldn’t find relief, where all around was tensions & destruction & depressions & negativity in my mind. Reasons for such thoughts were I lost the love of my life, the person whom I loved all my life, needed, wanted, and cared for the most… LEFT me.

Yes, he left me & moved on in his life.

So what’s such a big deal about it? People come and people go but life goes on forever & that’s the thought I have lived my 29 years of life.

Until then. This incidence left me devastated. When the love of your life & the person who you think as your life leaves you, whom you never thought would ever leave you or can ever think about anybody else but you, leaves you. I was in a shock. A sudden grief took over me. Shattered. Stunned. Crushed. As if somebody took my breath away. Though the mistake was mine I was expecting from someone who never committed anything or said anything but within me, I had a very strong ‘gut feeling’  I always felt he loved me.

But then the moment we love anything more than our creator, that very thing we love more will become the cause of our greatest pain teaching us a lesson that Allah is the only ONE who will remain.

When I look back, I know how horrible those times were, how vulnerable I was, I felt dying, I begged in front of this man, I cried continuously, but he didn’t hear me. He didn’t look back. He was long gone & I kept on living in the hope that one day he will turn back. One day surely he will come, a day will come when he will come & call me & say that he loves me & wants to be with me.

Soon he started ignoring my calls, didn’t answered my messages, started ignoring me & my mails & as per him dating other women. How would I have felt might be words can never describe it. Or I can’t ever get that feeling shaped into words to express myself. But all I can say is thinking all that still bring tears to my eyes. This incidence tarnished my soul.

Still my heart loves him & I believes that he was having very strong reasons for doing whatever he did, whatever reasons he gave me & holding me responsible for all this & I don’t judge him on this one decision of his. Because I know he is an awesome human being.

But….

Whatever happened left me wanting to die.

People who come across these suicidal tendencies & who actually commit suicide this is for them.

It took me more than a year to overcome that shock, the depression I was in and still I know & can see the effects in me of that situation, still wanting to reunite someday. It’s not that I have forgotten him or I have lost hopes. But today writing this down is one reason I want to tell myself what this incidence has taught me.

I have learnt many lessons & most important lesson is that everything is temporary in this world. People might not accept it but our parents, our spouses, our children, our relatives, friends all have to leave us one day. We all have to depart.

Attaching our minds & soul to this worldly stuff either money or love will never suffice us, unless it is for Allah. Our desires if they are for gaining the world, the thirst will keep on increasing & nothing can ever quench it, but if it’s for Allah he will surely bring us happiness & comfort. If this intense love, we have for our creator instead of his creation, trust me, we can never be broken. Allah is the only one who keeps his promise.

Allah (swt) is Al-Jabbar: The Mender of broken hearts.

People wonder how I was able to hold myself together in those times. They wonder why I haven’t collapsed or given up hope in Allah or in the goodness of people. I did give up, I did collapsed, I did cried, but to Allah.

I only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah (12:86)

And the biggest relief and the greatest lesson I learnt now came from the story of Prophet Musa’s mother in the Quran. She was instructed to place Musa (as) in the water if she feared for his life at the hands of Pharaoh’s army:

“So We sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses: “Suckle him but when you have fears about him cast him into the river but fear not nor grieve: for We shall restore him to you and We shall make him one of Our apostles.” (28:7).

I often wonder what strength Allah would have inspired her when she placed her child into the basket and pushed him into the water without even knowing what would happen to him. But the help & guidance from Allah who strengthen her heart kept her together as she watched him go away.

Musa was picked up by Aasiya, but he refused to breastfeed from any nurses of Egypt and his sister who had been following him, led them to take him back to his mother.

What was the purpose of Allah (swt) returning Musa to his mother? Musa could have breastfed from any woman without returning to his mother and still grown up to be the messenger of Allah, not decreasing anything from his righteousness or his remarkable journey and story.

But there was a reason Musa had to come home to his mother:

“Thus did We restore him to his mother that her eye might be comforted that she might not grieve and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true: but most of them do not understand.” (28:13).

Allah caused Musa to return to his mother simply so that she wouldn’t grieve, so that her heart would be at ease and that her faith would not waiver.

Allah (swt) cared about this woman. HE mended her heart, not so that the course of history could change or some big momentous event could take place. He mended it because He is Merciful and Loving to the believers. And so that when we read her story, we can know the extent of His Love and Mercy. That is all. And that is enough of a reason.

Allah (swt) doesn’t wish for the believers to grieve, and He wants them to know that His promise is true. I’ve lived it this past year. Every time I was about to reach a breaking point in my despair, or to fall into the darkness of losing hope, I would receive some news that would lift my heart. Someone’s life would inspire me; some lectures would motivate me & kept me going, or some good dream I would see that would keep me going.

My heart was lifted so much in that moment that the tears of sadness turned into tears of joy.

None of these things are coincidences. And none of these things happened because I am particularly good or worthy. They happen because Allah (swt) cares about the hearts of His slaves. I know that He cares about me because I’ve lived in the realm of this immense Mercy this past year…every ounce of pain was met with some inexplicable beauty and serenity that no human effort could produce. And it was from Him. All of it.

If you believe in Allah alone with no partners or intermediaries, and you worship Him alone, and you sacrifice that which you love in order to come closer to Him alone, you will see wonders in your life. Your difficulties will become blessings. Your heartaches will become healing. Your duas will be answered in ways that you could have never imagined. He doesn’t want you to grieve, and He wants you to know that His promise to the believers is true.

It’s not any more complicated than that. It happened to me, and it’s still happening.

I still have hopes, I still pray, I still breather and this time I love my Allah more & the life more than before.

All I know is all this while no human being came for my rescue, no human being was there when I needed a shoulder to cry on or a person to share what I was going through except for Allah. HE was my strength, my support.

He got me through all this. So never in life rely on human beings, don’t attach yourself to humans but Allah & trust me the journey might not be easy but surely won’t be lonely. & never ever think of giving up your life for anybody. This life is a gift from Allah to you. This is HIS Ammanat, preserve it with utmost care so that when you return to Allah  you can proudly say: Ya Allah! whatever difficulties or situations you send my way I faced them strongly & here I am.

InshaAllah as a successful winner in Akhirah & a resident of Jannat-ul-Firdaus.

 

Alhamdulillah.

(-Excerpt from Aasma Hussein)

 

 

“I am as My servant thinks I am.”

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

I wanted something so badly. I kept praying for it, pouring my heart into begging Allah to give it to me. But every time I did, I would say to myself, “Allah probably wants to test me. He knows how much I want this, so He probably will give me the opposite of it just because I want it so badly.”

And then one day I realized: Allah says, “I am as My servant thinks I am.” Why would He give me what I want when all I’m thinking is about how much He wouldn’t? If I don’t even believe He’l…l give it to me, if while I’m praying for it I’m thinking He will withhold it-then why would I even deserve it?

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us that we should pray for something while we are certain that Allah will grant us what we’re praying for. It might not come in the same way we want it- maybe it will! Maybe it’ll be better, or maybe we’ll get it in the Hereafter or perhaps something evil will be prevented and averted from us because of our prayer.

But in all those scenarios there is one common factor: Allah will answer. And His answer will be always be good.

I went back to begging Allah to grant it to me, but this time, I was fervently certain that He would. As the months went by, as one year merged into the next, every time a doubt would enter my heart, I cast it away, I screamed at it and I would say: He HAS to answer. He WILL answer. This is Al Mujeeb! The One Who responds! Al Kareem- The Generous! Al Wadud The Loving!

And you know what? He did. And in a way that was beyond my wildest hopes and dreams.

“When Allah inspires your tongue to ask, know that He wants to give.” – Ibn AtaAllah

-Maryam Amir

“I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah…”

 

بِسْمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

 

“What am I going to do? Why is my life so messed up? Why can’t I find happiness? Why am I alone? Why do I feel stuck? Why do I have these problems?’…

These questions only have meaning if we direct them to Allah. No one else can answer them. Consider the words of the Prophet Yaqub (alayhis-salam, peace be upon him) when his son Yusuf (as) was secretly thrown into a well by his brothers. They then reported to their father that Yusuf (as) had been killed by a wolf.

And he turned away from them and said, “Oh, my sorrow over Yusuf (as),” and his eyes became white from grief, and he fell into silent melancholy.

They said, “By Allah, you will not cease remembering Yusuf (as) until you become fatally ill or become of those who perish.”

He said, “I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you do not know.

– Quran, Surat Yusuf, 12:84-86

“I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah…”

When you feel stuck, when you feel that no one understands your situation, when you’re in pain and you can’t even imagine a solution, only Allah has the answers. You can’t see a way forward, but He can. You don’t see your own worth, but He does. You can’t figure out the road to happiness, but He can show you.

I remember the last 6 years of my life. Since 24 years of age life hasn’t been good to me on personal level. I remember the endless nights when I just cry and cry and cry to Allah asking for the answers to my problems, seeking for solution. How my spirit is tired with the continuous discomfort. How I become hard mentally and physically, with heart full of sorrow and as I lay over every night the only thoughts that came to my mind: “I have nothing in life. I have accomplished nothing” and continuous struggles with my life has led to depression and more recent suicidal tendencies.

This is a bad phase of life I know. I still have my faith intact. I weep to Allah to have mercy on me. I might have given up on myself completely, but I never gave up on Allah. I do cry to Him sometimes saying, “Why, Allah? Why? Why am I here, suffering like this?” But it isn’t despair, only confusion. In my heart I know that He heard me and that an answer would come.

I know the answer is near and what can I say except Alhamdulillah! I know the storm will subside, I know the problems are temporary, I know they will soon end and I know Allah has blessed me with other countless blessing for which I did nothing to earn, but were given to me by my Lord who loves me and cares about me, and wants good for me.

I know Allah will soon answer my prayers as he answered Prophet Yunus (alayhis-salam, peace be upon him) prayer from the depths of darkness of the oceans and the belly of whale when he called onto Allah saying  

“There is no God but You, Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers.”

(Surah Al Anbiya, 21:87)

If I did anything to merit His blessings, perhaps it is only that I directed my pleas to Him. I know that no one else could help me.

Allah is a friend who cares for us deeply who helps us unconditionally. When we’re needy with people it pushes them away, but when we’re needy with Allah He comes closer to us! He never tires of answering our need and forgiving us.

When we’re out of ideas, surrounded by problems, and feeling totally alone… we’re not alone. Allah is with us. If we pray sincerely and strive, He will put light in our hearts and help us from directions we did not expect.

Ask Allah sincerely, open yourself to Him, and accept what He gives you even when it goes against your own desires. The answers to your questions are there, with Allah, I promise you. All those terrible questions that you ask yourself in the silence of your mind, the answers are with Allah.

 

Excerpt from Wael Abdelgawad | IslamicSunrays.com