Petty Pity

Its easy to feel pity towards a physically handicapped person. Our hearts will automatically burst out of sadness to see a blind man or a mentally retarded child on a wheelchair. Sometimes, even if he is completely perfect physically, our hearts just couldnt help to have that sense  of pity towards that person for the fact that he is a cleaner.
It came as a surprise for me to see that even in this  country there are people  who waits at the traffic light to clean the cars  windscreen as a way of gaining some income. Of  course, this heart again,  felt sorry for that person.. Under  the hot summer sun, he was willing to just clean any cars passing by not knowing whether the driver will give him any tip for the effort. Poor man..

Of course, its  not wrong to have this feeling because its only human nature to  feel sorry for these kinds of people. But  the thing is, sometimes our hearts fail to feel sorry for those far more handicapped people, those whom Allah, our Creator has promised that their destination will be the Hell fire... forever! AllahuAkbar!
Clean our hearts ya Allah!

As much as we feel sorry for a physically handicapped man.. make this heart even more sorry for those who are spiritually handicapped. As much as we feel pity towards a materially poor man, let this heart burst out of sadness looking at a rich man not practising deen!
As much as we feel sorry looking at a mentally retarded child, let our hearts scream to see an old man without iman!

How far we are from our Prophet Salallahu'alayhiwasallam and his companions!
In a lecture, it was mentioned that, if a survey was to be done on an average man, beyond religious backgrounds, most probably the  2 things in life that he would be scared of are poverty and sickness. On the other hand, our beloved Prophet Salallahu'alayhiwasallam had once stated that  he'd be worried of the state of his ummah when there will be abundance of wealth.When we fear that we would not be able to leave anything material for our children, or when we find happiness looking at our evergrowing money in the bank or investments, our Prophet and his companions were restless with extra wealth in hand!
When we believe that abundance  of wealth is success, the sahabah  was sure that sacrificing all they have for Allah is true success. Be it their money, their children, or even their own lives, they'd rather sacrifice them all to please Allah. And they did all these with pleasure.. not an  iota of doubt on Allah's promise of a business thats sure to profit! These are the people whom Allah had promised Paradise. Truly, this is true success!

Ya Allah, give us the  right worry!
Let Rasulullah Salallahu'alayhiwasallam's worry and concern be our worry and concern too.

Once, someone felt sorry for my children since there is no TV in our house,thus, this person thought that they are devoid of entertainment, like other kids are having...
Some people felt sorry for the niqabis for having to cover their faces all the time.
some felt sorry for those ladies whose husbands are out working for the religion with their time and wealth..
Ya Allah.. from You we came  and to You we shall return.

If only everyone of us have that  knowledge and strong believe of the rewards awaiting those who suppress their desires for Allah or those who hold  on to even 1 sunnah of the Prophet Salallahu'alayhiwasallam or those who sacrifice their time, wealth and family to go out  in His path.. then everyone would then be even more sorry for those who leave their  kids with TV all the time, everyone would then feel sorry for those half-naked ladies walking on the streets, everyone would then feel sorry for those ladies whose husbands had to leave them for the sake of some petty gains in this world.

Suddenly the hadith on tasbeeh fatimah came across my mind, in which, Ali RadiAllahu'anhu requested from Rasulullah Salallahu'alayhiwasallam a servant for Fatima RadiAllahu'anha. To help her with her domestic works. But, instead of giving one to his most beloved daughter. he gave an even better helper- tasbeeh fatimah. Imagine, our Prophet Salallahu'alayhiwasallam who was being sent as a mercy to mankind, look how he treated  his most beloved daughter. On  the surface it may look unfair for some of us but this is the man whom we had all sworn that he is the  messenger of  Allah. A mercy to all mankind.He is the best of man and no man can ever surpassed him in mercy and good  conducts... ever!

Ya Allah guide us all.Give us the right understanding!
We have all wronged ourselves too much!
Bring us all back ya Allah, before we come back to you..

Floating Leaves?!

SubhanAllah, today i got to see one of the many signs of Allah that we seldom notice unless we set our eyes to look for it. Last time when i was a medical student, we, the medical students were always reminded that the eyes cannot see what the mind doesnt know. So when examining a patient, we have to know what to look for, then we'll see what we're looking for. Otherwise, the thing will be 'staring' at you but you just cant see it. Come to think of it, same goes with the signs of Allah. Allah's creations all around us are actually signs of His existence, if only we really observe and ponder over the magnificence of these creatures.

So today, i saw floating leaves! From a distance, it looked as if it was floating but when i looked at it closely, there was a very fine string of spider thread holding it from a branch of tree above!
it was amazing because, it was quite a windy day, the tree branch from where the leaves were hanging from was quite high above and the fact that its not just 1 leaf, but a bunch of it, made the thing even more amazing.

i did heard somewhere, some time ago that spiders silk is truly amazing.
The following are some interesting points i got from harunyahya.com on the spiders thread:

• Spiders' thread is five times stronger than steel of the same thickness, and can stretch to four times its own length.
•  A silk thread stretching around the whole world would only weigh 320 grams
• spider thread, from the point of view of its resistance to breaking and the extent it can stretch before breaking, is a material the like of which does not exist
• Spider silk is stronger and more elastic than Kevlar, and Kevlar is the strongest man-made fiber

In the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to people's benefit, and the water which God sends down from the sky – by which He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind – and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds subservient between heaven and earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect. (Surat al-Baqara: 164)

Living as a Stranger...

 Ibne 'Umar Radiallahu'anhuma narrates: Rasulullah Sallallahu'alayhi wasallam held my shoulder (to draw my attention and to emphasize what he wanted to say) and said: Live in the world as if you are a stranger or a wayfarer. (Bukhari)



i was reading a new book with mus'ab 1 day and i was surprised to find a lady in burqa illustrated here in an australian award-winning children book!



Testing, Tiring... Toilet Training!

Everyone is tested differently with their kids. Some have problem with feeding, some with speech development, tantrums etc. For me..at this point.. i think its toilet training, fiuh!
Alhamdulillah..'ala kulli haal..
Praise be to Allah... whatever it is.

If i could give another name to it, from the trainer's point of view, it would be patience training!
seriously...
they say there are so many different ways of doing this. One of it is to time your kids poo time and then try to put him on the potty around the same time. So i started my toilet training career with this method. But, no, for mus'ab the method just cause delay in his daily poo time and, of course at the same time also caused the abandonment of some housechores, due to the time taken to sit there with him to give support!

talking about support, when i think back of all the 'words of wisdom' i had used in motivating mus'ab throughout this training process.. its kinda funny.
let me share with you some of the words.

-where are you big papa bubu? where are you baby bubu? (once mus'ab answered back- big papa bubu tido!)
-come lets see the yellow waterfall / the yellow fountain..
-lets wait for the big papa bubu to fall into the water, then we can see it swim in the water and then flush it out

Then we moved on to the more aggresssive and nasty method- keep him diaperless!
with the house fully carpeted upstairs, with the precious rugs and sofas as potential victims, i knew that choosing this method means serious business here!
but, as a mother, i have to move on! (especially after knowing 2 of my friends with kids the same age as mus'ab are toilet trained already)

The first few days of applying the method was... i dont know how to describe it... testing and tiring!
each time i put him on the potty, he didnt want to go but as soon as i put on his pants, he would ran away and release it all.. everytime, everywhere!- including...as expected.. the sofa!
so after a few days of failure after failure.. i decided to stop, maybe he is not ready yet.
anyway, i myself need to have a break from this very tensed process!

so i took about 2 weeks to get back into the toilet training mood..
this time i wanna do it right, i  wanna start it right.
in everything that u do, be it as simple as toilet training ( though its not that simple actually) we have to turn to Allah. So really, that very day, on the  11/1/2011.. hah! what a great date!
i was given the opportunity by Allah to wake up in tahajjud in summer! Alhamdulillah
among the things that i prayed for was for Him to make it easy for me to toilet train mus'ab
Alhamdulillah, with His help, it really happened!
on that very day, as soon as mus'ab woke up, i put him diaperless..
then to my 'amazement'.. he did it... he poo... in his PANTS!
and i was just so amazed at the amount of poo on his pants that the first few seconds of looking at it, i didnt now what to do..where to start..
so its ok, i didnt freak out..  i was cool.. as usual ;P
i believe that i've done my part as a servant of Allah: thats to turn to Him i any situation.
thats a success already, Alhamdulillah.
then i didnt give up.. again i put him diaperless..
under very very close supervision... waiting for  the signs
as soon as i noticed it,i brought him to the toilet, he didnt want to  sit on the potty, but was so restless.
so i sat at the door, i knew its coming, so then just when i noticed that the 1st dro is coming.. i put him on  the potty... by force.. and there u go.. a yellow waterfall!
so then i gave him what i promised him... ice-cream!
which, of course, is not a very suitable reward esp when ur toilet training
it just caused him to go to the toilet more!..  by the will of Allah, of course
so to cut the long story short.. since then, each time he wants to go, he does it in the toilet
Fiuh! Alhamdulillah...

suddenly the story of Ya'qoob Alayhissalam crossed my mind..
when he lost Yusuf Alayhissalam and was praying to Allah.. then Allah took Yusuf Alayhissalam's younger brother as  well. Even a prophet's doa, sometimes Allah  just wants to test us. We ask for the black clouds to go away  but then it rained heavily, instead. Allah knows best!
believe that this life is a place of test, all of it.. be it good or bad.
believe that the place of rewards is the HereAfter.
know who we are.
whats our part and do it..

the rest... leave it to Allah.

securing sincerity

Rasulullah Salallahu'alayhiwasallam was once asked what is iman? He replied: Ikhlas..
Alhamdulillah, Allah  has given us iman. A gift that will not only bring us happiness and salvation in the HereAfter but also happiness here, in this temporary world.
Who says a mu'min cant lead a happy life? In fact, there is no other way to attain true happiness in this life other than choosing to be a mu'min. We need deen to live life successfully. Our Creator knows whats best for us and so He gives us deen as a guidance. He doesnt need us to worship Him, but we need to worship Him for our own well-being in this life and the next.

Zaid ibne Thabit RadiAllahu'anhu narrates: i heard Rasulullah Salallahu'alayhiwasallam saying: He whose goal  and objective (intention) becomes this mortal world, then Allah scatters his affairs (he faces worries and anxieties in every aspects); and He places the fear of poverty in front of his eyes; and he receives only that which has been preordained for him  (and nothing more). And he whose intention (goal and objective) is Al Akhirah, then Allah makes all his affairs easy; and He creates contentment and satisfaction in his heart, and the (mortal)  world comes to him in utter humiliation and abasement.(Ibne Majah)

Iman is believing that there is none to be worshipped except Allah, while ikhlas is to do something solely for the pleasure of Allah. SubhanAllah, how Allah guided our Prophet that he gave such a concise and most correct answer.. Iman is Ikhlas.

All deeds are going to be counted based on the intention.
even if its the smallest of deed but if its done for Allah, only, insyaAllah it shall be of great  benefit for the doer. Without ikhlas, even if its the biggest deed, it will be of no value in the eyes of Allah.
So, people, come! check our intentions, in everything that we do.
scholars mentioned that 1 way of knowing whether one is sincere in doing something is that he or she wont be affected by peoples praising or criticising his or  her work. of course, the work has to be in accordance with the shariah.

as a housewife, i found that remembering the fact that even the smallest  of deeds if done with ikhlas is of great value in the eyes of Allah, can really keep you going. Just that sometimes, when things become a routine u tend to forget to make intention and so you'd end up doing it for the sake of doing your daily chores and having it done. So one good idea i found some of my friends did was to put up a sign on the wall which says: FOR THE PLEASURE OF ALLAH.

The principle of tawheed- believing in the Oneness of Allah, that everything we do in our lives is for Him is a great blessing for all of us. If we really hold on to this, then decision-making in life would be much easier. a  true mu'min will lead a dilemma-free life if he or she really hold on to this principle.
problem with us is that, we always want to make everyone happy with us, when , in fact, its almost impossible or should i say its really is impossible to  do so. So remember, as a mu'min, lets choose to please Allah.

Ibne "Abbas RadiAllahu'anhuma narrates that Rasulullah Salallahu'alayhiwasallam said: He who makes Allah angry for pleasing other people, Allah becomes angered and makes people also angry with him; including those he had pleased to anger Allah. And he who pleases Allah by making people angry; Allah is pleased and makes people also pleased with him; including those he had made angry to please Allah; so much so that he becomes virtous in the eyes of those peoplewho were angry and his words and deeds become adorned in their eyes.

May Allah clean our hearts and make us all sincere in all our endeavours!

Amin.

first things first!

Yes, we have to know our priorities.
As a muslim, our first priority is to please Allah.
How to please Allah?
Obey Him in every aspects of our lives.Stay away from sins!
Other people may say this and that but remember that these are peoples view and all of them will in the end return to Allah. So lets turn to Allah...
its impossible to make everyone happy with you so choose to please Allah.
InsyaAllah, Allah will make those u displease to please Allah please with you!
its Allah's promise!
take some time to view this video, insyaAllah, with a sincere heart, may Allah give us the light..
the right understanding of what Allah wants out of us
know our roles  and priorities in life as outlined by our deen...
and... act upon it, May Allah give us the strength, Amin.

wrong & strong

Recently, i was very much disappointed by one article published in one of the most popular islamic magazine in my country. Infact it used to be one  of my favourite mags too!
The article was on how to flirt.. the islamic way...
it was mentioned in the article that the first islamic step is to look/ observe the lady.. then, to smile at her since a smile is a sadaqah!
that was the first article on a mag which i immediately sent an email of critics to..

some thought that i overreacted but i think probably because the thing had been building up in me..
and this latest issue is it!
i had enough!

last time before i came to australia, i came across an article which  says that its easier to bring up children in a non-muslim country  because good and evil, islam and not islam can be clearly distinguished. But when ur in a muslim country, especially so in a modern muslim country, children, even adults actually, can be easily confused. Then again, some are of the opinion that, it is still better to be in a muslim country cause at least, you still have that islamic environment ie the mosque,  religious celebrations etc, so if u're bad, u'll not be as bad as one who live in a non-muslim country and had gone astray.
Anyhow, back to our topic...

the way our muslim ladies are dressing, their make-ups etc. Of course we cant judge Islam by the muslims, its easy to understand that some muslims may not have the knowledge etc but the thing is.. when the word islam is used in public/ on the labels/ front cover.. we as muslims have to be very careful with it!

ironic to see a heavily make-up  lady on front cover of an 'islamic' magazine
and an advertisement entitled burkini/ muslimah swimsuit with ladies in overall-tights/ i call cat-woman costume!
AllahuAkbar.. whats happening  to the ummah!
and the headscarves in-trend nowadays... i dont know where to start!

yes, people say that, at least it is the lesser of 2 evils but the thing is..we have to remember  that its  STILL evil. Unfortunately, most people forget and stop just there... in the evil zone!

Some may say that  you can't be extreme in da'wah..
but we have to realise that the truth is NOT extreme..
to disobey our Creator is extreme.
how can you say one who is trying to take  all measures to avoid punishment / the wrath of his or her creator is an extremist?!
I'm not saying that we have to be harsh in da'wah..
when we are doing da'wah with one person, face to face.. we need to deal with them accordingly,
i mean taking into consideration their backgrounds, personality etc
but when doing da'wah in public/ when addressing the community at large... we have to be very careful..
cause people out there is of different backgrounds and understandings... and especially  those who are just getting to know the deen, they may misinterpret things and thought that they're doing the right thing.
we dont want people out there to end up being wrong and strong..
in a hadith it was mentioned that when Allah intends good to a person, He will give him the understanding of deen.
may Allah guide us all.