The word Jimas. I love it masha'Allah. It has served as many turning points for me every year i have attended. You never forget your first year there and you never really tire of it years later. Although admittedly i didn't initially have the build up excitement that i usually have every year. But come Saturday morning the Jimas spirit had once again been ignited within me.
Every year is different, every year you come back with a new resolve and personal improvement programme. This year my favourite bit was the Farewell advice from the scholars. Masha'Allah it was very constructive and targetted diferent areas which we could work on. The gist of it was (the lessons i understand and drew from it)
* Have mercy on one another, excuse each other and work towards unity, don't get overly concerned with minor differences, broaden mind but do not trangress the goals of shariah. -
* Fulfill our roles and responsibilities. Women have an important part to play in Islam, educating our children. Correcting the misconceptions of women in Islam. Rise to the status Allah, subhana wa ta'ala has given us.
* Being a representative of Islam, we must show what Islam is through our actions. What we say and do reflects the whole muslim population, lets not be the reason for a person to reject Islam.
* Educate oneself in the Deen. Invest your time and money to learn this religion as (the story of Sohaila and Farook was given) this is an investment for our Hereafter.
* Identify and utilise talents you may have. Don't waste you time in something which does not benefit you. Have high aspirations, work towards them and excel whatever it is you are good at.
* Corruption has entered the land due to our own actions. We must care for this earth and not commit atrocities which harm it. We are vicegerents on earth and we must carry out our duty in protecting it.
* Islam is Universal. Not limited to only East. It must not be a case of Islam and the West. Rather we need to see it as Islam in the West. We must realise the Greatness of Allah. No matter where you are He is All-Knowing, All-Hearing, All-Seeing. Allah is our protecter, our Friend and He loves us.
* Must implement the knowledge we acquire, otherwise fruitless. Perfect our manners and character because we know it pleases Allah above all. Work on our inner dimensions but at the same time our external practise of Islam must be visible and effective. Build yourself and build relations with others. Must follow the best example - the prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam).
I wasn't able to attend many of the lectures as i was doing the creche, but Alhamdulillah i don't mind i got to play Football and jump in the bouncy castle!! The kids are adorable masha'Allah. They would come up to me in the break times and point with their parents 'theres the creche lady!'
There's this one kid i see every year and he's grown so tall now masha'Allah. I look out for him and its lovely to see him and whats more this kid remembers me every year! Very sweet. He's one of the people you just won't forget in your life time. Allah bless him and make him amongst the leaders of the ummah. Ameen.
There's one other particular thing that touched me greatly this year. I was walking an aunty down to the food hall as it is quite far and she uses a walking stick, when this boy about the age of 9yrs did salaam to aunty and then responded warmly to her hug. She told me; the day before he had seen her walking on her own with difficulty and he came to her aid. Nobody pushed him to do this, he acted on his own accord. He carried her chair and kept aunty company the whole way to the food area. And then this boy was with his friends and made the effort to speak to aunty, instead of feeling embarassed or avoiding this old woman he was pleased to see her. When she was telling me this it bought tears to my eyes. I, myself, saw the genuine care in his eyes. I felt so proud of this boy, i felt proud for his parents who have raised such a boy, masha'Allah. He will get so many du'aas and this boy will be honoured bi'idhnillah. When the Day of Judgement comes and insha'Allah if we pass over the sirat, i'm going to look for this boy, because i love this boy for the sake of Allah.
Jimas is usually an emotional experience for me. What really gets me going is Shaykh Suhaib Hassan's recitation in the fajr salah. Masha'Allah, it gives the most serene feeling. I thrive on it every year.
Ok i'm trying to fit my 5 years of Jimas into this one slot, only because i have blog to write about it now!! but i'll stop now and leave the rest to your own imagination or to reminisce the times for yourselves..............
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Vicegerent On Earth
The only way forward is to look back in history. Our whole religion is based on what was revealed 1400 years ago. But this was not the begining, this was the edited, final and complete way. The begining was with the first creation of man - Adam (Alayhi salam). Man came to know his Lord and from there the message spread all the way to present times......
Allah chose particular people to carry this message. He, subhana wa ta'ala looks into the hearts and knows which one would be succesful in carrying that message. Allah knows which one of His servants would be willing to bear the burden of spreading the concept of One God. He knows which of His servants would leave an impact on generations to come. These are special chosen people, these are the Messengers and prophets of Allah.
I have been looking to choose a prophet to discuss. I could very easily go with the best of all to walk earth - the final Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), but his seerah is so vast and i am still in process of studying his life indepth. So insha'Allah i wish to cover the seerah in the future. For now i want to zoom into the lives of some of the prophets. We cannot truly comprehend what these giants of men did for us. The struggles they went through, the sacrifices they made. I really won't be able to do justice, neither can i truly depict their lives, but God willing i will try to relate some stories in hope of deriving some lessons for us all.
Our history begins with Allah informing the angels
"Verily, I am going to place a vicegerent on earth......"
Allah chose particular people to carry this message. He, subhana wa ta'ala looks into the hearts and knows which one would be succesful in carrying that message. Allah knows which one of His servants would be willing to bear the burden of spreading the concept of One God. He knows which of His servants would leave an impact on generations to come. These are special chosen people, these are the Messengers and prophets of Allah.
I have been looking to choose a prophet to discuss. I could very easily go with the best of all to walk earth - the final Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), but his seerah is so vast and i am still in process of studying his life indepth. So insha'Allah i wish to cover the seerah in the future. For now i want to zoom into the lives of some of the prophets. We cannot truly comprehend what these giants of men did for us. The struggles they went through, the sacrifices they made. I really won't be able to do justice, neither can i truly depict their lives, but God willing i will try to relate some stories in hope of deriving some lessons for us all.
Our history begins with Allah informing the angels
"Verily, I am going to place a vicegerent on earth......"
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
SubhanAllah i didn't know this!!
I was listening to a talk by Bilal Assad, called 'Forgive me when i whine.' Masha'Allah very beneficial and of course he recites which is always pleasant to hear masha'Allah.
Anyway he revealed two matters that i never knew but found it to be astounding information.
The first was about Right hand possessed Ya'ni slaves. He was sayin in which religion do you find this concept. However, it is one thing many muslims get confused about and some may even begin to question the nature of Islam due to such an 'apparent' degrading subject. But subhanAllah Allah works as we know only with Hikmah. Slavery existed well before the time of the prophet(salallahu alayhi wa sallam) and Islam came to abolish oppression. Before Islam was established slaves were treated in an inhumane manner, they had no rights. But Islam gave the slave rights. And slavery was monitored through Islam so that they didn't have to face injustice at the hands of their masters. Allah, subhana wa ta'ala could have very well got rid of slavery all together, but then the problems would have arised such as where are they supposed to go? Who was going to take care of those who had no family? who was to look after those with disabilities or learning difficulties? Who was supposed to take in the young female women who had been sold as prostitutes? So it was allowed to keep them as slaves but they had to be treated in a just and kind manner. Hence the term right hand possessed, because the right is a symbol of all that is goood and it is the right hand that is the carrier of blessed acts.
Anyway i was well impressed with this as i use to think why is it called right hand possessed. Also i remember a sister once asked why were men allowed to have relations with slave women during time of prophet(salallahu alayhi wa sallam). I had no answer, i did not know. But i remained on the principle that theres some matters we don't know the hukm behind it but we accept it as part of our faith. Alhamdulillah.
The second thing was the creation of the fly. Now we think annoying buzzing creature which only hangs around in dirty rotten places. But there is a hadith (sorry i don't have the ref) where we are told that if a fly has polluted our drink then we are to dip the fly 3 times into the food bowl/cup and discard of it then continue drinking/eating that food. Put your hands on your heart do we do that? Or maybe some of us do as we act straight from the hadith but if we didn't know or couldn't quite comprehend how that could be even hygiencally possible, check this out!!
The fly for all the bacteria it carries, it also carries the anti-bodies to it aswell. So one wing is full of bacteria and the other wing has the cure for it!! Which is why we dip it back into our food to purify the substance again. SubhanAllahi wa bi hamdihi!
Isn't our Deen great! Allahu Akbar!
Anyway he revealed two matters that i never knew but found it to be astounding information.
The first was about Right hand possessed Ya'ni slaves. He was sayin in which religion do you find this concept. However, it is one thing many muslims get confused about and some may even begin to question the nature of Islam due to such an 'apparent' degrading subject. But subhanAllah Allah works as we know only with Hikmah. Slavery existed well before the time of the prophet(salallahu alayhi wa sallam) and Islam came to abolish oppression. Before Islam was established slaves were treated in an inhumane manner, they had no rights. But Islam gave the slave rights. And slavery was monitored through Islam so that they didn't have to face injustice at the hands of their masters. Allah, subhana wa ta'ala could have very well got rid of slavery all together, but then the problems would have arised such as where are they supposed to go? Who was going to take care of those who had no family? who was to look after those with disabilities or learning difficulties? Who was supposed to take in the young female women who had been sold as prostitutes? So it was allowed to keep them as slaves but they had to be treated in a just and kind manner. Hence the term right hand possessed, because the right is a symbol of all that is goood and it is the right hand that is the carrier of blessed acts.
Anyway i was well impressed with this as i use to think why is it called right hand possessed. Also i remember a sister once asked why were men allowed to have relations with slave women during time of prophet(salallahu alayhi wa sallam). I had no answer, i did not know. But i remained on the principle that theres some matters we don't know the hukm behind it but we accept it as part of our faith. Alhamdulillah.
The second thing was the creation of the fly. Now we think annoying buzzing creature which only hangs around in dirty rotten places. But there is a hadith (sorry i don't have the ref) where we are told that if a fly has polluted our drink then we are to dip the fly 3 times into the food bowl/cup and discard of it then continue drinking/eating that food. Put your hands on your heart do we do that? Or maybe some of us do as we act straight from the hadith but if we didn't know or couldn't quite comprehend how that could be even hygiencally possible, check this out!!
The fly for all the bacteria it carries, it also carries the anti-bodies to it aswell. So one wing is full of bacteria and the other wing has the cure for it!! Which is why we dip it back into our food to purify the substance again. SubhanAllahi wa bi hamdihi!
Isn't our Deen great! Allahu Akbar!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Just The Two Of Us
There are times when i just can't sleep because of the many thoughts that are going through my head. I'm tired and my eyes are closing, but my mind is racing. Sometimes its so annoying!! But sometimes it sparks an intellectual debate in my head.
Anyway there i was trying to think of ways forward for myself. Trying to derive lessons from life. Inevitably the topic of marriage came up. Why oh why does marriage have to be only about love. Like if there was no love then there was nothing much to lose. Like if there's no love then what's the point of being married. Like if you don't love someone disregard them and treat them however it suits you. Whats happened to values such as honour and respect? Why do we find it so difficult to adopt virtues such as sabr and mercy. Why are we so quick to break ties and finalise relations. The superficial love has taken precedence in our hearts and the sincere lasting type is not given the chance to emerge.
I don't say this for all, as Alhamdulillah the ummah of Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) is never a lost cause. I know there are believing men and women who are enjoing the good and forbidding the evil, working for the bigger picture and not just sitting within the cosy boundaries of their homes.
Truth is living in this dunya we get very attached to all the good things around us. Our family, our spouses, our material gains, basically all that glitter and glamour.
We are in so much danger of losing ourselves in the mundane acts of life. But what i am scared of most is that we become too attached to our loved ones that if we were to lose them then we would be completely destroyed. However, unknown to us, we have already destroyed ourselves, if we put our love for others before Allah and His Messenger (salallahu alayhi wa sallam).
Allah says
'Say if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwelling in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision. And Allah guides not the people who are Al Fasiqun.'
{At-Taubah: 24}
It is a very easy pit to fall into. I am very scared for myself. And for that reason alone i would not want to get married. But this is not the solution is it. It is about monitoring and checking ourself continuously. The task is greater and the sacrifice is greater if we lose that which we love or give it up for the sake of Allah, rather than not having anything to give up for Allah's sake. What would be the test in that? Can we take wealth from a man who has none?
We all have desires. There's not denying that and they are very hard to give up. We also have the dilemmas of giving into desires when we're not supposed to. But due to us not giving up when we're supposed to and giving in when we're not supposed to, we have become very selfish individuals and this why the world is in the state it is. We are a very selfish generation on a whole. We're prepared to moan alot but give a little. SubhanAllah.
In all of this, please do not think that i am against love or having the halal pleasures Allah has bestowed us with. No, but i do think we need to wisen up. This is real life here and really love does not make the world go round and neither does money. It is each of our faith in Allah that will make our world. And it's not what we do for others, its what we do for Allah, Lord of all the worlds.
Like i say i'm very scared for myself. When we speak, we can only say it truely because it comes from within us and we have been a victim or the perpetrator of it ourselves.
Anyway there i was trying to think of ways forward for myself. Trying to derive lessons from life. Inevitably the topic of marriage came up. Why oh why does marriage have to be only about love. Like if there was no love then there was nothing much to lose. Like if there's no love then what's the point of being married. Like if you don't love someone disregard them and treat them however it suits you. Whats happened to values such as honour and respect? Why do we find it so difficult to adopt virtues such as sabr and mercy. Why are we so quick to break ties and finalise relations. The superficial love has taken precedence in our hearts and the sincere lasting type is not given the chance to emerge.
I don't say this for all, as Alhamdulillah the ummah of Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) is never a lost cause. I know there are believing men and women who are enjoing the good and forbidding the evil, working for the bigger picture and not just sitting within the cosy boundaries of their homes.
Truth is living in this dunya we get very attached to all the good things around us. Our family, our spouses, our material gains, basically all that glitter and glamour.
We are in so much danger of losing ourselves in the mundane acts of life. But what i am scared of most is that we become too attached to our loved ones that if we were to lose them then we would be completely destroyed. However, unknown to us, we have already destroyed ourselves, if we put our love for others before Allah and His Messenger (salallahu alayhi wa sallam).
Allah says
'Say if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwelling in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision. And Allah guides not the people who are Al Fasiqun.'
{At-Taubah: 24}
It is a very easy pit to fall into. I am very scared for myself. And for that reason alone i would not want to get married. But this is not the solution is it. It is about monitoring and checking ourself continuously. The task is greater and the sacrifice is greater if we lose that which we love or give it up for the sake of Allah, rather than not having anything to give up for Allah's sake. What would be the test in that? Can we take wealth from a man who has none?
We all have desires. There's not denying that and they are very hard to give up. We also have the dilemmas of giving into desires when we're not supposed to. But due to us not giving up when we're supposed to and giving in when we're not supposed to, we have become very selfish individuals and this why the world is in the state it is. We are a very selfish generation on a whole. We're prepared to moan alot but give a little. SubhanAllah.
In all of this, please do not think that i am against love or having the halal pleasures Allah has bestowed us with. No, but i do think we need to wisen up. This is real life here and really love does not make the world go round and neither does money. It is each of our faith in Allah that will make our world. And it's not what we do for others, its what we do for Allah, Lord of all the worlds.
Like i say i'm very scared for myself. When we speak, we can only say it truely because it comes from within us and we have been a victim or the perpetrator of it ourselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)