Reminder

On our road trip back to Kuala Lumpur after spending a few days in Langkawi Island (which was beautiful mashaAllah ... and days there were fun al hamdullilah), we parked at one of the highway rest stops to stretch our legs and grab a light lunch.

I walked through the food stalls at the stop, when my eyes happened to linger on this Quran aya, hanging on the wall of a stall. Took a snap of it with phone camera

{And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out, and He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is ((Allah)) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion}

Surat Al Talaq, Verse 2 and 3.

I stopped short, staring at it ... Subhan Allah and Al Humdulillah it served as a wonderful reminder for me =)

[Links]

As Salam Alekoum!

I am gonna start a new segment on the blog with awesome stuff I've come across during my surfing of the Islamic websphere =) Here goes!

• Productive Muslim have a new segment coming up that will help those of us out there that just need a little push to do our very best during the coming Ramadhan. This will include audio lectures, tips and tricks and support also. Sign up for it right here at ProductiveRamadan.com.

• My Halal Kitchen has written out an article titled (10 Tips for a Productive Ramadan Kitchen) Though I am not incharge of my own kitchen per se, I still found it to be an intresting read and perhaps it will benifit some readers more than others =)

• The July issue of Modest Beautiful Muslimah online magazine is out. It's called (The Family Issue)

That's it for now =)

As Salam Alekoum <3

Beautiful Duaa for repentance

اللهم إنى أستغفرك من كل ذنب تبت إليك منه ثم عدت فيه، وأستغفرك من كل ما وعدتك به من نفسى ولم أوف لك به، وأستغفرك من كل عمل أردت به وجهك فخالطه غيرك، وأستغفرك من كل نعمة أنعمت بها علىّ فاستعنت بها على معصيتك، وأستغفرك يا عالم الغيب والشهادة من كل ذنب آتيته فى ضياء النهار وسواد الليل فى ملأ أو خلاء وسر وعلانية يا حليم

The following is an attempt at translating to the best of my abilities (and with the aid of Google translate =P)

O Allah, I ask You for forgiveness from every sin I repented from to you then returned to it, and I ask you for forgiveness of all that I promised you of myself but did not fulfil, and I seek your forgiveness of all the work I commited to do for Your face only (i.e for Allah only) but it ended being shared amongst Yourself and others, and forgiveness of every blessing bestowed upon me by You that I used as an aid in transgressing against you, and I seek your forgivness, O Knower of the unseen and truth, of every sin I approached in the light of day and the darkness of night, with a crowd of people or alone, in secret or in open, O Most Patient One on the transgressions of his slaves.

Hope

When we aim for a certain career in life, say a doctor or architect or programmer, we need to first go through a learning process. What I mean by this is that we have to be taught the tricks of the trade, make mistakes (no one is immune to this) and if we are truley commited to our ultimate carrier goal, we would learn from those mistakes to not commit them again and continue onwards. We will be given projects and assignments, tests and exams, to measure the amount of understanding we have and wether we need to improve ourselves and learn more.

Our life on this earth is not really that different. We have our teachers, the Quran given to us by Allah Subhanho Wa Taala, and our Prophet, Allah's peace and blessings upon him. No human being is immune to mistakes (ie sins). The difference however between a believer and a weak believer or a non believer is that we first realize and recognize that what was commited is indeed a mistake, and try our best to never commit them again. We move on by doing better, becoming better people. We must not get bogged down witht the shaitan ensanaring us in his doubt trap of making us believe that we will never be forgiven by Allah.

Allah tells us in the Quran:

قُلۡ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡرَفُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُواْ مِن رَّحۡمَةِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغۡفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ هُوَ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surat Az-Zumar, Aya 53

Another aya in the Quran that moved me deeply in regards to this issue if from Surat Ghafer (i.e: The Forgiver)

ٱلَّذِينَ يَحۡمِلُونَ ٱلۡعَرۡشَ وَمَنۡ حَوۡلَهُ ۥ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمۡدِ رَبِّہِمۡ وَيُؤۡمِنُونَ بِهِۦ وَيَسۡتَغۡفِرُونَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ رَبَّنَا وَسِعۡتَ ڪُلَّ شَىۡءٍ۬ رَّحۡمَةً۬ وَعِلۡمً۬ا فَٱغۡفِرۡ لِلَّذِينَ تَابُواْ وَٱتَّبَعُواْ سَبِيلَكَ وَقِهِمۡ عَذَابَ ٱلۡجَحِيمِ (٧) رَبَّنَا وَأَدۡخِلۡهُمۡ جَنَّـٰتِ عَدۡنٍ ٱلَّتِى وَعَدتَّهُمۡ وَمَن صَلَحَ مِنۡ ءَابَآٮِٕهِمۡ وَأَزۡوَٲجِهِمۡ وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِهِمۡۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ (٨) وَقِهِمُ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِۚ وَمَن تَقِ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ فَقَدۡ رَحِمۡتَهُ ۥۚ وَذَٲلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡفَوۡزُ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ (٩)

7. Those who sustain the Throne (of Allah, i.e the angels) and those around it Sing Glory and Praise to their Lord; believe in Him; and implore Forgiveness for those who believe: "Our Lord! Thy Reach is over all things, in Mercy and Knowledge. Forgive, then, those who turn in Repentance, and follow Thy Path; and preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire!

8. "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom.

9. "And preserve them from (all) ills; and any whom Thou dost preserve from ills that Day,- on them wilt Thou have bestowed Mercy indeed: and that will be truly (for them) the highest Achievement".

What is asked of us is that we recognize the sin (admit the mistake), make a reservation within ourselves to never make it again, and ask Allah for forgivness. And even if you do (mistakenly) commit the sin again, do not despair. When Allah, Subhanho wa Taala, created mercy, He created 100 parts of it. He bestowed upon the Earth one part, and left the 99 parts with him. This is the mercy you see between a mother and her child, between loved ones, even between animals with their young. If this is just one part of mercy, what of the 99 parts that will be shown to by Allah to His servants?

Hence, one must not despair at all in this life. In contrast, one must also be mindful of what they need to do in order to be forgiven by Allah. A pearl of wisdom I once heared that explains this quite well is the following:

Fear and hope are like the two wings of a bird. If they are well balanced, the flight will be well balanced. But, If one is stunted, the Right would also be stunted. And, to be sure, if the two are lost, the bird will soon be in the throes of death.

I pray that Allah will bestow upon us all with a mind aware of evil deeds, to bless our hearts with true Eman and to forgive us all for our mistakes.

As Salam Alekoum <3

Update

As Salam Alekoum

Hehe ... well to be honest with you, my dear reader, I am kinda stumped as to how to start this post. My fingers have been lingering on the keyboard for a few minutes as I racked my brain for the best opening, and decided to just talk about what exactly is on my mind right now. I am feeling a bit of shame for having let this place go and get slightly dusty, and so would like to basically tell you a little of what has been going on with me and where I am right now. The past couple of months, I've been juggling three jobs. I will not do that again lol. I came to realize that, even though I do have the skill, love and motivation to do the best in each of them, I still dont have the best time organizing skills nor discipline to complete my tasks as I was supposed to. Also, I ended not doing as well as I know I can in each one of them. I was not very happy with myself. I decided that rather than trying to do as many things as I can at a time, I need to begin to make decisions on what my true capabilites are and hence what I really can achieve in a certain amount of time. Al Hamdullah, it was a good learning experience =)

So now, to the present. I am currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia =) It's my first real holiday for a looooooong while now, and I am really enjoying myself Al Hamdullah! The malls and shopping in KL is amazing haha. And oh the foooooooooooood I have been spending ALOT of quality time with the bakeries here. Everytime we pass by one I have to step in to it xD Cake Sense has yummy Banana Muffins! Do pass by if you're in the city =P The Mosques are beautiful, every mall has a prayer area with a clean place to perform wudhu and also clean head and body coverings available for the ladies (for those who are not muthajbat) I really liked that it catered to them also. I have not visited any other place other than KL so far, but from my browsing of the different areas of Malaysia its a super gorgeous country <3 We will be visiting other areas soon inshaAllah. Also, I'll be spending the first week of Ramadhan here. I am so looking forward to that =D

As Salam Alekoum <3

Ibn Al Qayyim - Paradise

A really good friend of mine typed out the following poem and emailed it to me. I would like to share it with all, coz I really loved it.

Regarding Paradise Ibn al Qayyim said:

That it is only out of fear it should be attained

By any except the one deserving, and your Lord is most knowledgeable of the Creation.

And even if it should be concealed from us with every dislike thing,

And surround by that which troubles the souls,

By Allah, what delights are contained inside

And all manners of pleasure for the soul to enjoy.

And from Allah is the sweetness of life in its pavilions,

Its gardens, and in the meadow which will make one smile.

And to Allah belongs its valley where there is promise of increase

For those who love Allah; if only I could be of them!

In that valley, the lover wanders,

And he sees the wandering to be a great attainment.

And from Allah is the joy of the lovers when

He addresses them from above and greets them with Salam.

And by Allah, when they see Allah directly

Neither shall darkness cover their sight nor shall they tire.

So O what a glance which gives a brightness to the face,

Can the enthralled lover ever forget after that?

There are all manners of fruit which never go out of season.

Bunches of grapes and apples of the garden,

And pomegrenates, all manner of fruits enthralling the heart

And roses adorn its fields

And wine is passed around to taste.

All manners of beauty are gathered together,

O what a wonderous gathering it is.

It has many types of beauty which altogether

Make it impossible to forget.

Remember ar-Rahman who is watching always

So pronounce Tasbih without stuttering,

So that whenever you face the army of despair

It shall turn back on its heals vanquished

And fast the day nearest to you, perhaps tomorrow

You will enjoy the 'Id of Fitr while the people are fasting.

And go forward, be not satisfied with a base life,

No one attains pleasure without effort.

And if the whole world should be restricted for you

And you should have not even a known place to stay.

Then come to the Gardens of Eternity,

For they are our first dwelling places and they contain many pavilions.

We are prisoners in the hands of our enemies; do you think

We shall return to our lands and have peace?

They claim that when the stranger goes out

And his lands are far away, he becomes infatutuated (with it).

What strangeness is greater then ours

For which the enemies have taken every measure against us.

Come to the marketplace where the lovers meet,

That is the place that is known for them.

Whatever you like, take without payment

For the traders have all made advance payments and given up their goods.

And come to the Day of Increase in which

The Lord of the Throne shall visit, that is a holiday!

Come to a valley that is vast

Its dirt is greater than the fragrance of musk.

Pulpits of light you will find there and silver

And of pure gold which does not break.

Mounds of musk setup as sitting places

For those who are beneath the owners of the pulpits.

So while they are busy in their joys

And their sustenance comes to them,

Suddently there is a peircing bright light

Filling the far corners of the Garden

The Lord of the Heavens Manifests Himself and then He speaks,

"Peace be upon You." as all of them hear

With their ears His greetings of peace when He greets them.

He says, "Ask me whatever you wish for all that you

Wish is with me and I am Most Merciful."

They all say, "We ask you (Your) Pleasure

For You are the One who owns all that is beautiful and shows mercy."

He grants this to them and they all bear witness

That Allah is Most Generous.

So O you who would sell this for a measly price hastily given

It is as if you do not know; indeed, you shall know!

So if you do not know, then that is a calamity,

And if you know, then the calamity is greater!

Time, Love, Praise and Encouragement in Relationships - Nouman Ali Khan

Salam Alekoum =)

A new lecture by Nouman, revolving around how to maintain a healthy relationship between spouses and children. Although the talk is mainly addressed to Muslim men rather than women, I found it to be really enlightening in terms of how I would like to raise my children in the future, as well as behave with my husband (if, Allah willing, I am blessed with both these things).



One thing that resonated with me is how Nouman mentioned the fact that your spouse, your parents, your family, is a gift from Allah to you. Not having or maintaining a good relationship to them and being ungrateful to them really means that you are ungrateful to Allah, who gave you this gift.

May Allah forgive me for all my shortcomings before when it comes to my parents and family. I love them with all my heart, no matter how insane it can get at times haha =P

Salam out!