Musings of a Servant of Allah
Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. (13:28)Archive for Islam
On Jordan
SubhanAllah. I don’t ever want to leave Kharabsheh. What a blessed neighbourhood! I live directly opposite the zawiya and am therefore neighbours with Sheikh Nuh, and I have never, ever been happier in life. Even the dust on my shoes has barakah (blessings), because this is the land upon which Prophets walked, and that in itself is healing.
The peace in this place is impossible to put into words. Every day, we wake up to the adhan for tahajjud. I never thought I’d ever be this blessed. Alhamdulilah. My days are filled with studying Arabic, Shafi’i fiqh, Hadith, Seerah….going to zawiya for Hizb Al-Bahr and Latifiyyas, visiting Um Sahl for her women’s lessons…subhanAllah. I couldn’t ask for more.
As much as I miss my family and friends back in Sydney…this is the place where I want to be. May Allah bring those who seek Him into the safety of Kharabsheh, inshaAllah.
Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan said this to Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah, in response to the younger man’s various worries and sadnesses:
There are four states of the servant, not five: blessings, trials, obedience, and disobedience. If you are blessed, then what God requires of you is thankfulness. If you are tried, then what God requires of you is patience. If you are obedient, then what God requires of you is the witnessing of His blessings upon you. If you are disobedient, then what God requires of you is asking forgiveness.
Ibid., p.196, read in The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation
:)
Salams world!
So…I’m back. Alhamdulilah. Lots has happened, subhanAllah. Life is an ongoing journey…with ups and downs. What matters is dealing with it with as much optimism and trust in Allah as possible.
The Sydney suhba 2008 was incredible. It was such a blessing to be able to sit in the presence of Shaykh Nuh, and later on, his wife Umm Sahl. Alhamdulilah, they’ll be coming every year now, instead of every two years! We’re so blessed. InshaAllah next year Umm al-Khayr and Sheikh Ashraf will come too.
Gratitude marks my path to the Divine. Knowing that everything I am afflicted with is not ‘by accident’, but through the loving kindness of Allah, because He knows what will bring me closer to Him. He is what I regard Him to be, and in my time of need, He is my Compassionate, Merciful and Generous Lord, who hears my call. Sheikh Nuh’s advice to me is to remain optimistic. Hope is always so very important when faced with the trials of this world.
I’ve reached a crossroads in my life now. What keeps me focused and grounded is the remembrance that Allah Most High, in his Perfection, knows me better than any other, and has placed me exactly where He wants me to be. It’s up to me to reflect upon my situation, and reap the fruits of it.
There is good in everything Allah tests us with. May Allah grant us all patience, steadfastness, and acceptance of His Decree.
Eid Mubarak! (or Selamat Aidilfitri)
Umm Atiyah (ra) reported: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) commanded us to bring out on Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha, young women, hijab-observing adult women and the menstruating women. The menstruating women stayed out of actual Salaat but participated in good deeds and Duaa (supplication). I (Umm Atiyah) said to the Holy Prophet (saw): Oh! Messenger of Allah, one does not have an outer garment. He replied: Let her sister cover her with her garment.” (Muslim)
Eid Mubarak, dear reader! Or Selamat Aidilfitri/Hari Raya 
Words, once cannot encapsulate the radiant joy which this blessed day brings. May Allah protect you and your loved ones, always.
My family and I have the absolute privilege of living 10 minutes away from the masjid….so here’s a snapshot of this morning:
Ahmad: Wake up! Eid prayer starts at 6:45 am.
Me: Uuuuugh.
Household: *General commotion, sounds of last-minute ironing, showering, “Have you fed the cats??”, “Did Mak (mum) already leave for the masjid??”, all against the soothing backdrop of takbeeratul Eid wafting from the radio*
Radio: *live broadcast from the nearby masjid* Allahuakbar!
Boys: Oh no! It’s started! *Ahmad and Abdul Hadi dash off*
Muhummed: Funny how slow it takes to button your clothes when you’re late.
Me: Murphy’s Law.
Muhummed: Where are my socks? Ah. Got it. Ok let’s go.
Me and Muhummed: *Shut the door and start jogging to the masjid*.
Muhummed: So what’s the ruling on running to the masjid?
Me: Well it’s best not to, just to maintain dignity…
Muhummed: Ok. Well they’re still on the first ra’kaat, so that’s a good sign.
Both of us: *We maintain the brisk pace, the sound of the imam’s beautiful recitation grows louder as we draw closer…and the sight of worshippers overflowing from the masjid and into the street tugs unbearably at our heartstrings*
Me: *getting emotional* Ok, maybe you should say goodbye to dignity just for now so you can make it to the prayer on time!
Muhummed: Ok! Bye!
It is absolutely breathtaking, seeing rows and rows of worshippers bowing in unison.
It’s a reflection, once again, of the paradisial reality. Angels scattered throughout the heavens worship Allah throughout their lifespans, so when we mortal humans put the world behind and raise our hands in prayer, we embrace our angelic natures. By the same token, when we recklessly succumb to baser desires, we sink to the level of unthinking animals.
Eid is all about celebrating our angelic natures. For an entire month, during daylight hours, we successfully abstained from all those things which mark our creatureness – the need for food, water, and the act of procreation. By effectively suspending our creatureness, we better orient ourselves towards God, every soul’s true north.
May Allah accept our fasts and bless us with the opportunity to greet the next Ramadan.
*
And when the prayer ends, everybody gets up, and order dissolves into chaos. Ha, another reflection. The trick is to maintain that inner tranquility one feels inside prayer, outside prayer. The state of ‘eternal prostration’ which the realised Sufi attains.
The mad hunt for friends and family begins.
This is part of the fun of Eid at the masjid. Navigating through the throngs of people, prams and police officers. lol.
It’s always great, bumping into old friends from highschool, my previous university, my current university…reminds me of how connected we all really are, despite our different directions in life. We all worship the same God.
How my faith sustains me through medical school
Apropos, the day before my Barrier exam.
1. Keeps me focused on the bigger picture
2. Reminds me of my accountability
3. Helps me view patients as people and creations of God
4. Prayer punctuates my day and gives it structure
5. Earnest supplication keeps my heart alive
On living in the West
“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.” -Albert Einstein
Thank you, spiritualtravelman, for being my muse for this post.
Ironically, I’m better able to practise my faith as a Western Muslim, as opposed to a Middle Eastern one.
However! A Muslim woman living in Malaysia and Iran stands a much better chance at equality than one living in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Certain cultures have more deep-seated, tribalistic, misogynistic roots…while others are forward-thinking, modernised and view women as equal to men. Look at this disgusting example of misogyny in Saudi Arabia.
Strange isn’t it? Muslim women need to flee the country of their birth to be able to practise their faith. In the West, we can observe hijab, get educated, go to work, buy property, drive (don’t even get me started), select our spouses, divorce, remarry, adopt, choose to have children, choose to remain childless….the possibilities are endless. God bless Australia/America/Europe (except France lol)/the UK!
On another note, I read somewhere that spirituality is an intensely private, internalised concept for women…but for men, it’s all about the public sphere of legislative domination and the like. Why do egos have to get into the way of everything??? Heh.
On faith
Spirituality, in our secular day and age, has come under fire.
A very good friend and colleague of mine, Rob, is a devout Christian. He married his wife, Christina, a fellow churchgoer, and they’re amongst the sweetest people I’ve met. He told me that: “Although they say that Australia is a Christian nation….it’s still very popular. People think I’m weird for believing in God.’
Sad, but true. Yes, to each their own, but it seems like atheists are really, really pushing their views upon the rest of the world. I had a neuroanatomy tutor who did just that. We have the infamous “Letter to a Christian Nation.” We have people who claim that religion is all about violence, and the world is better off without it.
Au contraire. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Perhaps I’m biased, but I know that faith is what sustains dying patients in hospital, and faith is what helps their mourning families cope. Hospitals are places of death and dying, and this is where humanity, is in its rawest form. Strip away the distractions of everyday routine, and you’re faced with very mortal, very finite, incredibly vulnerable human beings. And in this state, people turn to God. And He listens.
Unfortunately, there are religious leaders who cause far more harm than good. This cuts across all faiths. We can name disgraced priests, imams, monks….but the point is not to give up on the concept of spirituality all because of a few bad apples.
Shaykh Nuh has been a Godsend. He’s my spiritual guide. I hope I can save up enough to do my medical elective in Jordan at the end of 2008, so I can also spend my evenings learning from him. His very presence is calming. Truly, he is beloved to God. Shaykh Abdal-Hakim Murad is another brilliant scholar. Both are so engaging, and they really speak to me in ways others cannot. And of course, my local scholar, Shaykh Naeem Abdul Wali. Hilarious, witty, and pure genius. He wrote this article Jesus and Muhammad (upon them be peace): Brothers in faith and the challenge of walking in their footsteps in a secular world. I highly recommend that you read it.
So if you’re searching for God, spirituality, faith – don’t give up. Don’t listen to the anti-religion chant that has soaked our angry, bitter world. Listen to that voice within you that is not content with material wealth and chasing this illusionary world. Listen to the stories of those who have found God, and felt inner peace ever since.
Most of all, listen to your heart, and to your soul. The less involved you are with the hallucinogens of Life, the more aware you are that there has to be a purpose to this life. I wish you the best in your journey, and hope you find the tranquility which you seek.
Largely misunderstood
I suppose it’s all-too common now….but I’ve come across a blog post strongly suggesting that I am oppressed. Why? Because I’m a Muslim woman. This is news to me. lol.
It’s unfortunate that so many people think this way. Perhaps it’s because lots of people rely on fabricated media reports. Or movies like ‘Not Without My Daughter’. Or books like ‘Forbidden Love’. Who knows? My responsibility is to clarify those points, because it would be a shame for my pristine faith to be tainted by the ignorance of others.
Trust me, if I ever felt oppressed, I’d be the first to be vocal about it, and instigate change. I’m headstrong, passionate, a 200% go-getter…how else did I survive the med school application process?? I don’t need to be rescued, nor do I need to be labelled. So the next time you hear of ‘poor oppressed Muslim woman’ – think twice. There’s more to Muslim women than meets the eye. Don’t like culture or ignorance fool you into believing otherwise. You owe it to yourself to know the truth for what it is.
*
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Key points of contention
1. The laws of God apply equally to men and women.
2. Men and women are viewed equally in the eyes of God.
3. Men and women have distinct roles, rights, and responsibilities.
4. Men and women must dress and behave within certain divinely prescribed boundaries.
5. Female genital mutilation has no basis in Islam.
6. Islam gave women the right to own property, to inherit, to vote, to divorce, to be viewed as the counterparts of men 1,400 years ago.
7. All Muslims are encouraged to seek knowledge.
8. Women are honoured in Islam. Heaven is under the feet of the mother, the mother is to be loved three times more than the father, a woman who dies in childbirth dies a martyr and is given Paradise, no Muslim woman has ever fabricated a Prophetic hadith (narration of his words or actions), and Muslim women have been amongst the greatest scholars in recorded history.
9. Men and women can reach Paradise, and ask for their hearts’ desire.
10. The arabic word for God’s mercy ‘Rahim’ or ‘Rahman’ have the same root word for the womb, or ‘rahm’
On knowing God
For too long, my practice of my faith was mechanical.
I had the outward trappings of the religious, conservative girl. From head to toe, I was every inch Ms Goody Two Shoes. But I didn’t know God. I didn’t love Him. Sure, I knew of Him and I knew I should love Him….yet the words on my tongue and the logic in my mind were not sinking into the recesses of my heart.
Two years ago, I underwent tremendous personal hardship. The kind of mental, emotional and spiritual agony which you would never wish upon your worst enemy. The end effect of these turbulent months was the most terrifying period of my life – the complete disentegration of self.
Everything I had held dear had been ripped away from me. I was broken, bleeding – a raw stump, open to assault. Every day felt like punishment. I was angry at God. I self-destructed, and would have continued, if it wasn’t for an old friend. She pulled me from the brink of destruction, dusted me off, made me face the reality that behaving like that was not helping my situation.
And so my healing began.
Forgiving myself proved to be the hardest part. I reconciled with my Creator by realising that He cared about me more than I ever did. I put things into perspective, accepting that certain decisions I made caused a lot of the heartache and headache. I forgave what was self-inflicted, and let go of what wasn’t.
End result? A much deeper, more spiritual connection with God. I see Him now, when I failed to, before. Every breath I take is Him sustaining me – I live by His will, and through His mercy.
And for this realisation alone, I am grateful for the suffering I endured.
“Peace unto you for that you persevered in patience! Now how excellent is the final home!”
[Chapter 13, verse 24]
15 Reasons Not to Waste Your Life!
by Sound Vision Staffwriter
We all feel bad “wasting” time. We realize time spent on trivial things makes us lazy and unproductive. However, many of us fail to visualize the long-term consequences of killing time on futile matters, both in this world and the world that awaits us.
The following words of wisdom will help us appreciate how the most productive and influential leaders and scholars of Islam valued time.
1) Time can’t return. Whatever time passes by will not return and cannot be replaced.
Imam Ibn al-Jawzi used to say, “The breaths of man are his steps to death!”. Moreover, Imam Ash-Shafiee would say, “Time is like a Sword. Cut it (wisely), before it cuts you!” Therefore, kill your time productively, before it kills you!
2) Boxes are sealed. A teacher used the following analogy of boxes: Each hour is like a box that is sealed and placed in a shelf. On the Day of Judgement, these boxes (24 boxes/per day) will be opened and their contents will be displayed to us.
If we filled each hour of our day in life with good deeds, we will rejoice. If we filled these hours with useless amusements and sins, we will regret to see the contents of the boxes on that Day. How we fill them these 24 boxes every day is our choice. Only we have control over it. Once they are sealed as the day ends, only Allah has the keys to unlock them on the Day of Judgment.
3) The most priceless possession of man: life itself. An Imam used to remind his students, “Time is not just money. It is more expensive than gold, diamonds and pearls. Time is life itself!”
Hassan al Basri: “O son of Adam! You are but a bundle of days. As each day passes away, a portion of you vanishes away.” Can we afford to lose a portion of our body or soul everyday to hellfire through wastage of time on useless and un-Islamic things?
4) Accountability of youth and life. We will be asked about our youth and life on the Day of Judgment, both of which are related to time.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, warned us, “Man shall not be let go or discharged on the Day of Judgement until he has been questioned about FOUR things:
1- with regard to his Life: how did he spend it?
2- with regard to his Youth: in what ways did he expend it?
3- with regard to his Wealth: where did he earn it from and what did he spend it on?
4- with regard to his Knowledge: what use did he put it to?”
(Al-Bazzar and At-Tabarani)
5) Better to be stingy with wasting time. Hassan al Basri, a renowned follower of the Companions, once said, “I have lived with a people who were more stingy with their time than you people are with your money.”
6) Idle Person: A sign of Allah’s dislike. Imam Ibn Qayyim stated, “One of the many signs that one is disliked by Allah is the wasting of his or her time.” Allah allows a person who is neglectful of His message to be involved in activities that are worthless.
7) Disrespect to Time. Productive Muslims of the past would consider it disrespect to time, if they spent a day without doing any thing beneficial to their community or to themselves. One of them would say, “I do not regret anything as much as I regret a day in which my good actions have not increased.”
8 ) Procrastination and Laziness are dangerous! We are not sure whether we will live until tomorrow to be able to do something good. Even if we live till tomorrow, are we certain that there won’t be any obstacles in carrying out that action. Why put off something good to an abyss of uncertainty? If we procrastinate and waste time today, what will motivate us to spend time productively tomorrow?
9) Ungratefulness to Allah’s gift. Leisure and spare time are blessings from Allah which we grossly undervalue today. As the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, reminded us, “Good health and spare time are two of the blessings of Allah with respect to which many people are deceived.” (Al-Bukhari)
10) Lose time, Lose peace. Some pious scholars used to say that those people who kill their time in unproductive ways would lose peace and serenity from their hearts. They would be so overwhelmed with work deadlines and harmful amusements of this life that they would rarely have time to spend with their family, in remembering Allah, and on causes that matter- the real source of tranquility or sakina in life.
11) Ready for tomorrow? Let’s remember the old Muslim adage, “Work for your world as if you are going to live forever and work for your hereafter as if you are going to die tomorrow.”
12) Productivity shouldn’t die with our death. We should not miss any opportunity to do a good deed even if the world is ending. We are asked to be productive and optimistic even in times of crisis and chaos.
Prophet Muhammad said, “If the day of judgement is about to happen and one of you has a seedling in his hands, he should go ahead and plant that before he is overwhelmed by the day.” (Hadith)
13) Return Allah’s Trust. Time is a trust from Allah, it is our responsibility to use it in the most effective way pleasing to Allah. We all know how difficult and embarrassing it is to face someone, for instance our parent or teacher, after we break their trust by disobeying their instructions. How would we face Allah if we break His trust?
14) Being Productive is Sunnah (Prophetic tradition). As the Prophet advised us, “Every day, for every joint in the body a person should perform a charity; reconciling between two brothers is charity; helping somebody lift his baggage is charity; every step you take towards Salaah is charity; and every time you remove something harmful from the way is charity. (Bukhari and Muslim). This is how the Prophet, peace be upon him, encouraged us to fill our time with such productive acts.
15) Prophet’s Time Management: This is how Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings buwould plan his day:
- He would divide his day into three parts: (1) for his family, (2) for spirituality and Ibadah (worship), usually a time in seclusion at night, and (3) for personal and social affairs (majority of this time would be spent dealing with people’s problems, overseeing, educating, and mobilizing his community).
Tips on How to be Ultra Productive
1. Write down what needs to be accomplished – Use paper, not mind to store this info. Leave your brain for ideas and thinking. Reduces stress.
2. Break tasks down into the smallest unit possible – Determine the next action step. Start Now!
3. Set Milestones & Reward yourself – Let others know about your deadlines to hold yourself accountable
4. Prepare your environment for productivity
5. Use your most productive hours for your most important tasks.
6. Start with the quickest/easiest tasks first – If something takes 2-5 minutes to complete, do it right away.
7. Only work on one task a time – no emailing, MSN messenger, or calling.
8. Organize life on a daily and weekly basis – Treat each day as unique.Plan similar activities around the same time/on same days
9. Carve out time for non-urgent activities- Check your emails/voice messages 3 times a day. Fix time for regular chores.
10. Be flexible- Be willing to accommodate unexpected things for others and for Allah. Learn to negotiate with yourself.
Source: http://SoundVision.com/info/development/nottowaste.asp
