Do I really remember Allah?

Today’s Hadith class was extremely captivating, to say the least. I felt as if my whole life was being put to the test, and each and every action and reaction that I display habitually and repeatedly is being monitored under some huge microscope.
One one hand I was embarrassed to face my mistakes but simultaneously I was curious to know exactly where I stood in the light of this most amazing Hadith.

“Allah says,“I treat My servant as he hopes that I would treat him. I am with him whenever he remembers Me:if he thinks of Me in his heart, I think of him; if he mentions Me in company, I mention him in an even better company. If he draws near to Me a hand’s span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; and if he draws near to Me an arm’s length,  I draw closer by a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.” (Al-Bukhari)

Although I was fortunate enough to spend the whole day in writing notes little by little in whatever time slots I could find, here I will share just one concept that was totally new for me. And that is the meaning of Zikr.
I had always assumed that zikr was to remember Allah with various forms of worship. Like praying salah, reading Quran, making duas and doing tasbeeh… but today it dawned on me that there is also this other form of zikr in which we should remember Allah during various situations of our lives.
The test of life is such that we have to face many unpleasant things and although we do know what Allah has told us to do but when the time comes to deal with unpleasant things then we get overwhelmed by our emotions and so our reactions are not according to what is pleasing to Allah. Why does this keep happening again and again despite having all the knowledge of beautiful akhlaq in the Qur’an and Sunnah? The reason is that we forget Allah. And so the solution is to remember Allah and do what has been prescribed by Him, instead of following our own emotions.
There are times when you want to pour out all your anger on someone but you know that if you can hold back this negative urge, then you will earn a great reward from Allah. Whereas being angry will not solve anything except maybe the problem will get even worse than before… so what will you choose?
Or you get some temptation which is not good… then who will you choose to please? Your self or Allah? Whose pleasure will give you the Satisfaction you desire so much… your own pleasure or Allah’s pleasure?
Obviously you need a strong connection with Allah… a connection of love and hope… also fear of His disapproval.
Without this bond there is no other force in the world that can make you do the right thing at the right time.
So how do we ensure that we will remember Allah at all times?
It is by consciously remembering Him when we are alone and also in the company of others.
The more we do this, the more Allah will fill our hearts with strength to fight all sorts of negativity. And when we are able to think positively about Allah, about people, about our lives and our own selves, then we will experience the sweetness of faith which cannot be felt with hearts that are burning with anger and resentment.
Even a small step in the right direction can be the start of a great journey towards success in-sha-Allah. And whoever goes a little bit towards Allah then Allah will come to him even more.
That’s the beauty of this relationship Alhamdulillah

For the complete experience visit the following link

https://www.youtube.com/live/elNmVF4818M?si=bHfmNsWacxown8Le

Do I fear Allah?

Normally we think of fear as a negative emotion but the fear of Allah is a completely different thing. How is it different? The biggest difference is that when we fear something we run away from it but when someone truly fears Allah then they will run towards Him, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Because the true fear of Allah comes into the heart only after a believer recognizes Allah with all His beautiful names and attributes. Therefore this recognition will make him realize that the only one who can save him is no one else except Allah… and this realization will make him run towards Allah’s mercy and protection.

So if we understand this formula then our most important goal in life will be to learn about Allah, and understand who He really is and how His names and attributes impact our lives. Because if we skip this important step and fast forward directly towards learning about the dos and donts of the religion then it will not be possible to go very far on the right path. You will see that most of the time you will know what is the right thing to do but you wont be able to make yourself do it. Your mind will tell you to move this way but your emotions will push you into a completely opposite direction. So either you will suffer in guilt and shame for lack of obedience or you will start proving to yourself and others that whatever you are doing is actually the right thing to do. In both cases the result will be nothing but loss and regret.

Therefore we must develop a strong relationship with Allah, based on authentic knowledge so that we can have the true fear of Allah which will act as the driving force to lead us towards making the right choices in life so that we can attain the everlasting success and happiness.

Most people just assume that they love or fear Allah but in reality it is nothing more than a wishful thought. The reason why I am saying this is because although we cannot see what is in our hearts but we can feel what we are thinking all the time and what is really most important for us. That’s why when we analyse and realize that our actions are not according to the pleasure of Allah then we must understand that our lives are not being driven by the love and fear of Allah. Because if truly had these emotions for Allah then our priorities in life would have been totally different.

Imagine the Prophet of Allah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam, praying such long tahajjud that his blessed feet would be swollen… when asked why he was pushing himself so hard when all his sins had already been forgiven… his reply was, “Should I not then be a grateful slave?”

Now compare this with our own lives and see how much Allah has blessed us with… and yet how much do we thank Him? Is our talk mostly about our problems or our blessings? Do we worship him more because of something that He has given us more than others? Do we fear Him when we are standing in front of Him in salah? or when we are dealing with people?

Why is there a “No” to most of such questions? The answer is that we don’t think about Allah’s greatness and authority over us, as much as He deserves. And the only way to come out of this state of heedlessness is to start learning about Him with the aim to develop His true recognition and His love and His fear… may Allah help us to overcome all the barriers of this path… Ameen

Right or Wrong?

In Surah Taubah, ayah 71, Allah says:
The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those – Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.
Last night, when I was listening to the tafseer of the above ayah, I got really worried when I realised that if I want to have Allah’s mercy, then I will have to act upon this ayah. Now we all know how people react when we call them to do the right thing or if we try to warn them against the harmful acts. Their ego is fired up, and even if they are too polite to fight back with some negative remark, you can still see from their expressions that they don’t want to hear what you are saying.
But Allah is saying in this ayah that believing men and women will naturally do this thing called Amr bil Maruf and Nahi anil munkar.
Because really if you are sincere about the welfare of others, then how can you let someone be deprived of good deeds that will bring them closer to Allah and will lead them to ultimate success.
Similarly, you can not see someone fall into any kind of failure if you can prevent it. You will definitely try to stop them if you have a kind heart.
This sincerity is the first and foremost quality of any true believer.
But sadly we either don’t want to do it because we think it’s none of our business what other people are doing. Or we know it’s important, but we are afraid of hurting the feelings of others.
The main thing is that we don’t know how to do it in the best possible way.
So I began to think that even if telling others about right and wrong, is not easy but surely there must be some way to convey to them the truth otherwise Allah would not have given us this command. My job is to find out the solution instead of assuming that it’s not possible.
These thoughts were in my mind as I entered the doctor’s office this morning. I had gone there to consult about some treatment regarding the complications of celiac disease. Anyway, the first thing I saw was that she was drinking water from a bottle which she was holding in her left hand. As soon as I said salam and sat down, my mind began to think about how or whether I should say something to follow the sunnah. Because apparently it seems like a harmless thing, but what if we disregard sunnah as a trivial matter and then face Allah’s anger on this carefree attitude about our Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
All the time, as we were discussing the negative impact of my chronic condition and the available solutions, my mind was internally fighting a battle between telling her or not.
Well, after my time was over and I got up to leave, I thought this was the final moment… Will I act on the Quran or not?
So I smiled at her and thanked her for her kindness as a doctor. And then asked her that if she were to see me eating wheat, would she stop me or let me enjoy it? She said, “Of course I will stop you because I know it will damage your intestine.” So I asked what if I didn’t even feel the damage… like there are no apparent symptoms… then why should I stop? She replied that the damage is still happening whether you can feel it or not. So I will stop you. That’s when I said to her that if we don’t follow our Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, then we might not feel any apparent loss, but in the sight of Allah, we will have failed. And so we will be deprived of His mercy and His help. So is it not a serious thing to consider? Therefore please take care that following our Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is as important for us as following all the other principles of living a good life.
Alhamdulillah, instead of the usual negative reactions that I was afraid of, she actually smiled at me and thanked me for reminding her.
Allahu Akbar…!!!
And as I walked out of her office, I smiled to think that Allah helps us so much even in small little things, provided we do everything for His pleasure only.
Telling others the right thing can be done successfully if we stop acting superior. If we talk from our ego and our aim is to prove that I am right and you are wrong… then what can be the outcome except a battle of egos.
But if our intention is to help them, then we will do it out of love… with lots of love… and only for wanting Allah’s love. Surely, when this will be our attitude, then who can refuse something as irresistible as love?
And the other thing is to use our intellect so that we can talk to others in the language which they can relate to.
So I should pray to Allah for a heart that is pure and full of love and a mind that is intelligent and full of wisdom…
so that I can become truly beneficial for others and earn the pleasure of Allah… ameen 🌹

The Miracle

Use your Pen…

Is Allah the Greatest in my Life?

Here”s a glimpse of what I learnt from the chapter on Allah’s names and attributes in Fiqh ul Qulub*

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🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

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This week’s lesson of Fiqh ul Qulub gave me a lot to think about and I realized that the reason why we fail to achieve consistency in our endeavours is that we are focused only on actions, and we make no effort to strengthen our faith in Allah. That’s because we have reduced faith to an assumption. Like we all assume we believe in Allah, and that’s it. Apart from that, our only effort is to do the rituals. We fail to recognise the fact that until and unless the foundation of these rituals is strong and well grounded, the quality of these actions can never be adequate.
And so our hearts remain untouched by the salah we pray. Or the Quran we recite or the zikr we do… hardly makes any impact on the way we think or the way we talk, or the way we behave towards others.
Before studying this chapter of Fiqh ul Qulub, I had always believed that studying the names and attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala was an important subject that we must include in our routine. But I had never realised that it is the very foundation of our faith in Allah. Without having this foundation in place, we can not hope to build any solid structure that can stand the storms of trials.
Without having a clear understanding of the names and attributes of Allah, our hearts can not be attached to Him, and we can not love or fear Him like He deserves. That’s the reason for our extreme involvement with people and things of this worldly life. So much so that even while worshipping Allah, we are thinking of these things instead of feeling the presence of Allah or visualising our actual meeting with Him in the hereafter.
I was thinking that even in these precious days of zulhijjah, while we recite takbeerat in abundance yet our level of obedience does not change. Why?
The reason is that we only obey those whom we give the highest status and authority. And even though we say Allahu Akbar, but without understanding His names and attributes, we can not truly understand how and why He is the greatest?
The other thing is that each one of us has a different way of recognising Allah. Some focus on His forgiveness, and they think that Allah will not hold them accountable for things that are part of their lifestyle. And so they go around saying that we should not focus on Allah’s anger and punishment because that creates a very negative image in our minds. So we should only think of Allah as very loving and forgiving.
Now outwardly, it seems a very convenient and pleasant way to think about Allah. But really, how can we even value His forgiveness without having a fear of His punishment?
So that’s why we see that those who have knowledge of Allah’s names and attributes, they don’t pick and choose because to have a complete recognition of Allah, we need to know all the aspects of His characteristics.
Like if we assume that He only increases our rizq then that will be like denying all the ayaat of Quran in which Allah tells us that He is the one who increases the provisions and He is the one who decreases them too.
So if we are not in fear of deficiency in our rizq, then why will we pray for His generosity?
Same goes for all other names and attributes. And the more I pondered on the words of Fiqh ul Qulub, the more I realized that Allah has not just informed us about His names but also given us proof for all His attributes in His vast creation and also in the way He handles our affairs in our day to day existence.
Similarly, when we understand his names and we believe in His greatness, then that would also be reflected in our actions.
I was simply mesmerised by the words of the author where he says that the sign of the people who know and understand the greatness of their Master through His names and attributes, is that they do not worship anyone except Him, and they want nothing more than His pleasure, and they feel like they are constantly present before Him, and they never complain to anyone except Him, and they rely on no one but Him. Because they are in the gardens of His recognition, and they are constantly looking at the perfection of His attributes.
When they see His Magnificence… they are in awe of Him
When they look at His beauty… they love Him
When they ponder on His favours… they give thanks to Him
When they think of the intensity of His punishment… they fear Him
When they see the vastness of His mercy… they are filled with Hope in Him.
And when they see His miracles and gifts… they praise Him
And when they see His commands and prohibitions… they obey Him
And when they see His call… they respond to Him
And when they understand that He is alone in all His actions… they stop depending on others and only depend on Him.
And finally, when they become aware of His constant watchfullness over them… they feel shy to go against Him.
So they are on different levels of awareness
And those who are the best in their recognition of Allah in this world… Will have the highest ranks in the next world.
As Allah says in the Quran:
That indeed is the great favour of Allah… He gives it to whom He wills. And Allah is the owner of Great Bounties (62:4)
May Allah make us of those who recognize Him and establish His greatness in their lives both in words and actions… Ameen

The miracle of Ears

I had never considered it to be a miracle of Allah that He allowed humans to speak in all these
different languages and their numerous dialects and accents. Like many other things, we just take it for granted. The more I think about it, the more I realize the awesome details by which each and every person speaks the same words differently.
And how interesting it is that our speech is so attractive to one person and totally repulsive to someone else !!
Like Allah has said that only those people understand the miraculous signs of Allah who listen.
So it means that not everybody listens even though they have perfectly good ears… how strange!!
I mean we can close our eyes and not see what’s in front of us. We can also keep our mouths shut and not let anybody know what we are thinking. But nobody can close their ears… and it seems like they will all listen to what’s being said because the sound is loud and clear and there is nothing wrong with their ears. But No… Allah is telling us here that even the act of listening requires our interest and conscious decision to understand what’s being said. Otherwise we can be like deaf… despite having ears.
And sometimes we listen but we don’t perceive the actual point of what’s being told.
Why? Because we are already listening to the voices inside our mind. And so it is human weakness that we cannot listen to different sounds simultaneously.
Therefore while listening to the words of Allah we should turn off all other sounds in our mind, and be truly eager to understand what Allah is teaching us through His signs.
The ears are just a tool… how we use them is our own choice.
The more we tune ourselves to listen to good things and give up the listening of useless stuff… the more our ears will be able to grasp the truth.
May Allah help us to use our speech and ears and everything else for His sake only… ameen

The signs of Allah

It seems to me that the most precious blessing that Allah gave us is the power to think and the ability to make decisions according to what we think. Therefore, the very next thing Allah gave us is guidance. Because our thoughts can mislead us no matter how intelligent we might be. And so we need Allah’s guidance at every step. That is why each and every creation of Allah not only serves its purpose for which it was created, but it is also a means by which we learn  to recognize Allah. And so in the Quran, we see that even though each and every ayah is for our guidance but Allah uses the word “ayah” specifically to direct our attention to some of His most miraculous signs of creation.
Then, the next thing I learned is that the purpose of pondering upon the creation of Allah is not limited to finding its detailed information. Rather, it should remind us of our own purpose of creation. Every big or small thing in this universe should make us think and analyse our recognition of Allah… how much do I know about my creator, my master? Is there any regular effort in my life to learn about His names and attributes? Why is it important to increase my knowledge about Allah? Because I am already on a journey to go back and meet Him. So, how much do I think of that ultimate destination? Do I live that moment in my imagination? At least when I go to bed… do I think that this might be my last opportunity to seek His forgiveness and to pray for a happy ending to this test of my life?
If the answer to these questions is in the affirmative, then it’s a mercy of Allah, and I should thank Him for it.
But if not, then I must do taubah and pray to Him to guide my heart.
And along with duas, I must make an effort to understand His ayaat… both in His book and in His creation. Because nothing can guide my heart except His ayaat.
May Allah help us all to achieve this guidance. Ameen

The Greatest Ayah

I have been attending a weekly tafseer class for the past year, and even though it seems like a very slow journey, but the fact is that this regular dose of Quran gives me the opportunity to reconnect with my purpose of life, and to assess my progress accordingly.
The thing which made me write this article is the lesson I learnt from today’s class, which was about the greatest ayah of the Quran, called the Ayat ul Kursi.
We recite it day and night for our protection and also after every prayer because it is a means of entering paradise.
It is the greatest ayah because it is all about Allah who is the Greatest. In about ten statements within a single verse, Allah has introduced about His names and attributes in such a beautiful way that it captures the heart with its miraculous effects.
Although the whole Quran is a miracle, but if we focus on this one ayah, we can appreciate the fact that its revelation is a miracle in itself. Like you see all sorts of people with different levels of intellect and yet you will hardly find any Muslim who does not know about this ayah. Isn’t it a miracle that millions and millions of people recite this ayah even though they don’t know a word of it. They have zero understanding of what it says but the one message that they fully comprehend is that it’s the greatest word of Allah and they have utmost conviction in the power it has to protect them from all the evil things around them. What a miracle that you understand the value of something with your heart without even knowing what it contains.
So imagine what should be the state of our hearts after we actually look into each and every precious word and understand its meaning and then feel its effect inside our hearts and minds.
So it made me realize that Allah gave us this gift to make us strong. Because the shaitan is always trying to make us feel low and depressed… sometimes making us overly uncomfortable with our own weaknesses and other times making us overly irritated by other people’s mistakes. How much he magnifies for us the problems of our circumstances and all the turmoil in the world seems to be pressing us down and down all the time. But really the fact is that no matter how imperfect we are no matter how sinful or forgetful or whatever injustices are being done to us yet we only need one moment to remember Allah and His absolutely perfect names and attributes by reciting Ayat ul Kursi and feel strong again.
Just imagine what a miracle it is, that He not only revealed this great ayah but also gave us ears, by which we can listen to its words and their explanations. He gave us minds that can understand, and hearts that can feel its impact. Isn’t it His greatest favour on us that He allowed us to be His slaves and also allowed us to recognize His presence and His power.
Therefore we as Muslims should rise above our passive thoughts and instead of dwelling on our weaknesses let’s recite Ayat ul kursi and revive our hearts by focusing on the perfection of Allah.
The purpose of this contemplation is to have yaqeen that we belong to this Perfectly Powerful Creator and one day we are going to return back to meet Him… there will be no barrier between Him and You… So imagine how awesome that moment will be!!
We must keep this meeting in sight and then do everything accordingly so that our meeting with our Rabb becomes something that we can look forward to. That should be our greatest objective and if we can really keep this in mind then nothing can keep us down anymore. Surely we are weak and have the tendency to slip and fall… but the thing to do is to get hold of Quran and use its powerful words to get back up and start moving again… in-sha-Allah

The Most Precious Night

Here are ten short points that can help us attain the treasures of the “Night of destiny!”

1- The Night begins at sunset…
 And with the setting of the sun the race begins, and the counter of the good deeds is turned on!! Watch out and focus with all your senses and abilities… right from the azaan of maghrib.

2- Try to spend the whole night in the masjid (if you are not already in aitikaaf), 
The masjid is the place where mercy of Allah descends, and the niches are the places of gifts and glad tidings.

As Allah tells in the Quran about Prophet Zakariyyah (a.s.)
 {He was called by the angels while he was standing in prayer in the mihrab… that Allah gives good news to you}

3- Do not work without intention:
Breaking the fast and taking a nap during the day or during the night, will also be counted as worship if done with the good intention that it will give strength for worship and dua during the night… and not even a minute will be wasted tonight!

4- Not a moment without dua:
If you are able to do this… then be sure to do so.
In Sahih Muslim:
 “In this night, there is a time, in which whatever a believer has the tawfeeq to ask Allah from the matters of the world and the hereafter, Allah gives it to him… and this happens every night.”

And remember the saying of  Sufyan al-Thawri about Laylat al-Qadr: “Supplication on that night is dearer to me than prayer.”

5- Be extremely passionate for this dua:
Allahumma Innaka afuwwun, Tuhibbul afwa, fa’fu anni… 

Ya Allah you are the source of all forgivness, you love to forgive… so forgive me!

Because it is the most important dua for the Lailatul Qadr, and to be pardoned (afuw) is even better than forgiveness (maghfirah).

6- Boycott  ️
All the Pages and channels (of social media), isolate yourself in these nights from your mobile phone,
Because it is an obstacle in the way of receiving the blessings and miracles of this night!

7- The tears flowing from your heart…
. And expressing humbleness and submissiveness, and crying before Allah, and confession of shortcomings. 
 And the Prolonging of duas in prostration are all signs of acceptance.
 Remember the supplication of the Prophet ﷺ On the day of Arafah in the form of feeding the poor, begging for Allah’s forgiveness, and for His bounties, and Provisions. 

8- Don’t forget your bereaved nation across the globe, in your duas.
 Intend to strengthen your resolve to work to support the Ummah with all your abilities.

9- Your kindness (Ehsaan) in the day is the key to success in this night’s worship.
“Ehsaan” includes staying away from Allah’s disobedience, and lots of good deeds, and acts of faith.

10- “Imaan” (faith) and “Ihtisaab” (expectation of reward):
In the hadith:
 “Whoever stands in worship, in Laylat al-Qadr, with “Imaan” and “ihtisaab”, will be forgiven for all his previous sins.”

 Meaning of “Imaan”:
️ ️ It is to believe in Allah, declaring the truth of Allah’s promise, and having trust in his great reward, and the virtue of standing in prayer.

 “Ihtisaab”:
️ ️ i.e. Expecting the reward only from Allah ta’ala, not having any intention of showing off, or any desire for fame or anything other than Allah. 

Put out that fire 🔥

Alhamdulillah this Ramadan Allah has given us a most beautiful gift in the form of Qasas-ul-Quran in which we learn amazing lessons from the stories of Quran. Literally it feels like with some miraculous effect from Allah, my heart is opening up and looking at things from an entirely different perspective than ever before. Day after day the words of Quran are becoming so vivid and making me stop and think in my ordinary activities around the house. Its like I was suffering from poor eye sight and after a long time finally I have been gifted with a bright new pair of glasses!!
For example today I got really frustrated when I saw that my helper in the kitchen had done exactly opposite to what I has instructed, not because of any misunderstanding but just like they use shortcuts for their convenience. Anyway as I have trained myself over the years not to say anything immediately so I just quietly left the kitchen but my heart started boiling at this injustice. Thoughts like how unfair and ungrateful these people are. No matter how respectfully you treat them, they never learn to be honest etc etc… but something unexpected happened that I began to get angry at myself for thinking like this. Now my nafs started protesting that why am I being scolded when I had done nothing wrong? What is my fault when I had not even expressed my anger? But I was not to be deceived anymore because just today we studied the concept of taqwa in such detail. And how we should read our own thoughts and then make the required changes. So I said to myself: “Look you are wrong because you are not thinking in a sympathetic way. You can easily find excuses for this mistake if you do it yourself or your beloved child does something like this. But just because this particular person does not have the privilege to be your favourite, you are being so judgemental. Where is the sympathy care and forgiveness which you want for yourself? The most important thing to consider is that does Allah like this kind of thinking pattern? If it had been justified then I would have been at peace. But no it is totally the opposite. And the reason is clear… I have to forgive and forget. And pray for the other persons guidance and forgiveness too.” As soon as I reached this conclusion I felt like someone had poured cool water over the fire in my heart… and then I realized what fools we are that in the name of being so righteous we burn fires in our hearts for other people’s mistakes and then we wonder why we are not happy? Why we don’t smile like we should? Why such a sour expression all the time? Well this is just one example of all that I have been experiencing. May Allah really make us learn and apply the lessons the way that makes us better muslims in-sha-Allah