Simple Yet So Complex

Assalamualaykum Wa RahmatuAllah

From the Wise Sayings of Luqman

“If you’re in prayer, take care of your heart;

If you’re eating, take care of your throat;

If you’re in another man’s house, take care of your eyes;

If you are among people, take care of your tongue.

Remember two matters and forget two matters:

Remember Allah and death;

Forget any good that you have done to another and any evil that was done to you by another.”

The Ultimate DUH! Realisation.

“A Teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops”

“Teaching is not a lost art. But the regard for it is a lost tradition”

Assalamualaykum WaRahmatuAllah;

So whilst teaching the other day I had the Ultimate “DUH” moment …

I’ve been teaching kids for 2 years minus a few weeks now … Alhumdulillah

So one of my beloved little students who’s 5 has been with me since learning the arabic alphabet from Alif Baa, now MashaAllah she’s on Juzz Amma with complete fluent recitation and a good grasp on tajweed, SubhanAllah the amount of effort this little girl puts in is amazing, when she doesn’t know her dars I can just tell, cos she comes in to class in tears.

Now you can say she cries cos she’s afraid I’ll shout, Unfortunately that isn’t the case, I’m apparently the biggest walk over teacher.
But she cries cos she feels she’s let me and her self down. SubhanAllah I love this child!

I ask her why she comes into class crying:

Child: Apa I dont know my dars
Me: Its ok, you know I won’t shout, let me help you learn it.
Child: No apa its not that, Its because I dont like it when I don’t know it.

SubhanAllah! This love for learning Quran is becoming very rare, How the child finds happiness in every page they advance in Quran.

I ask the child, what do you wish to become when you grow older? She says I want to become and Apa like you.

That bought me to tears … such innocence and love for teaching deen!

That bought on the “DUH” moment …
I thought I have taught this child from alphabet through to Quran, now each time she recites Quran, reads salah all the ajr comes back to me. And she wants to go on to teach so the line is infinite … Woooooooooooaaaaah!

SubhanAllah, We all know teaching is a sadaqah jariyyah but this time the realisation actually caught up with me in real time.

Alhumdulillah! I make dua to Allah that he bless’ each one of my students and the muslimeen with the love of deen, love for the Quran. May Allah grant them barakah in their lives so they may grow up to work for his deen.
May Allah instill in me in the correct adaab, so that I may teach them in the correct manner, and May He forgive me for my shortcomings.

Duas Requested for Me and My students.

WaAlaykumAssalam WaRahmatuAllah

HOW TO AVOID STRESS!

HOW TO AVOID STRESS!

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary
purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Quraan with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good “Thank you God.”

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people they probably need it the most.

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before.
GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

The Seeds Are Sprouting

Allah says in the Qur’an:
“When my servants ask you concerning me, (tell them) I am indeed close (to them). I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on me.” [2:186]

The place of duaa is so high to Allah , that the Prophet had said:
“Nothing is more honourable to Allah the Most High than du`a.”
[Sahih al-Jami` no.5268].

He also said: “The most excellent worship is du`a.”
[Sahih Al-Jami` no. 1133]

Assalamualaykum

Alhumdulillah had a roller coaster weekend!
Its started of on Saturday By having to recite in an awards evening organised by the local committee of mosques.
I chose to recite Surah Maryam, the ayaat of the conception of Isa (as) through to his birth.

Alhumdulillah it went really well, its funny I don’t really suffer stage fright but once I actually get up there its kind of daunting.

The evening wasn’t an all an all out dawah event, non-muslims were invited, and I was asked to recite so why miss out on a dawah opportunity! It was received well by the non-muslims as well Alhumdulillah!

There were local muslim female councillors there who spoke about their work in politics and when she asked the crowd (which consisted of mostly under 18’s) who was thinking about going into politics, no one raised their hands! It just doesn’t seem appealing, yet ask anyone if they would want to become Prime Minister it would have been a different matter!

The entire event well Alhumdulillah, and it was beautiful to see the sisterhood between all the sisters, all working together for the sake of Allah :-D

Then today it was the Al Birr Hifz Competition (we were stationed at the girls one obviously!), subhanAllah, some of the contestants were so young, they made me feel ashamed, yet in a way enlightened in the heart, seeing these young muslimahs memorise, showed in reality Allah ’s promise to always protect the Quran. AND it motivated me to pick up memorising again, inshaAllah I’m hoping to enter the competition one day, Make dua for me!!

I met some amazing sisters, friends of a friend, but also sister’s from sunniforum (oh how small is the world!!), I love meeting like minded people and one of the sisters was from Vancouver (Yup my ultimate dream place!), and I could see the mysterious ways in which Allah works, and how meeting everyone is for a reason!

Over all it was such a beautiful weekend, working for the sake of Allah through most of it! You can’t get time spent better than that!! SubhanAllah, and bonding together in the way only muslimah’s can, the power of sisterhood!

May Allah grant us all the ability to carry on working for His deen.

May He accept from us our humble efforts and prayers, and grant us what He befits best for us.

May He keep our intentions pure and only for His sake.

May He increase us in Ilm and bestow on us deeper bonds of brotherhood, as He did upon the Ansaar and Muhajireen.

May He grant us all Jannatul Firdous.

Ameen

Please keep me in your duas in these blessed days and the days to come.

If anyone wishes for special dua’s especially for Ramadan please just leave a comment.

WaAlaykumAssalam Wa RahmatuAllah

So to fulfill our needs and wants, we must call on Him. Making Du’a to Allah , is a recognition of our weakness and His greatness. The Prophet had said: “Ask Allah for everything, even the lace of your shoes. If Allah does not provide, it will never be available.”
Tirmidhi

And let not there be anyone who says: “… my Lord won’t answer my prayer, because of this and that.. or because of so and so..”. No! Indeed Allah is the Most Generous King. Is there anyone who met a king, and praised and glorified him, and then asked, yet the request was not granted? So what about Allah , the King of the Heavens and the Earth - who has total control over your life, your wealth and your future. Why would He not grant you your request? Indeed, our beloved Prophet had said: “Verily your Lord is the One modest and Generous, and when His servant raises his hands to Him in supplication, He is diffident (in some wordings, shy or hesitant) from returning them empty.”
Abu Dawood

Carving The Character

 “The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.”

“A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.”

Assalamualaykum

At times I feel as though teaching has been given the wrong name, ever since I’ve started teaching I feel as though I’m the one learning more and more everyday. Understandably I do teach, hence the occupation, but the lessons learnt aren’t lessons of paper but great lessons of life.

I’ve always lived by the simple rule of “don’t do to others what you wouldn’t like done to yourself”, as the hadith goes “Wish for your brother what you wish for yourself”.

Same when teaching, you often might shout at a student, or punish them for misbehaving, and believe me kids really know how to make some-one feel guilty, the looks they can give! I often just have to harden my heart and keep strict.
I’m not a great fan of being the “mean teacher” but at times you just gotta bite the bullet, and be super strict even if it kills you inside.

In the same way in life people often might seem to just hurt you for no reason, but comes the making excuses for  a person, maybe they had a good intention for doing it, and you misread it, but the essence is as Allah (swt) mentions in the Quran that no hurt can come to you except that Allah wills.

Another of my strongest beliefs is that, experience carves a persons character, either for the better or for the worse. With each experience good or bad is the opportunity to use it to make you a better person or the opportunity to become the opposite. There is no better teacher than experience.

True carving of one’s emaan and character is taking some-thing from everything, no person is perfect, you can sit back and cry over the past or get up and use it to improve yourself and the future.
Live by the constant reminder that we’re nothing in this world … Even if some-one does hurt us, are we some major artifact of perfection ourselves? This world is nothing but a Prison for the true believer, what more do you expect from a prison if not hurt and trials? Take a step back and look have I broken a rule some-where along the line?

Its easy to blame others, the hardest step is to take a step back and look at ourselves, the evaluation of our own actions. We ourselves aren’t capable of reaching perfection, so how can we expect it of others?

“And if Allah touches you with hurt, there is none who can remove it but He; and if He intends any good for you, there is none who can keep back His favour; He brings it to whom He pleases of His servants; And He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
- Qur’an, surah Yunus; 10:107

WaAlaykumAssalam

Hit the note of the heart

Assalamualaykum;

These are two of my favourite nasheeds. They really touch the heart subhanAllah!

Allah Knows - Zain Bhikha

My Mum Is Amazing - Nadira Ali

Will post more time permitting insha’Allah , Busy with Ramadhan preps at home :-)

Duas Requested

Ma’assalam

For The Love Of Diversity

“There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity”

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

Assalamualaykum WaArahmatuAllah;

One of the greatest highlights of my trip to London, was the finding of so many diverse cultures and people. It was amazing Alhumdulillah.

We never spent a day at home from morning to evening we were usually out, the great thing about the city is you meet so many different people (and you never run into anyone you know!). The main thing I loved the most is how everyone is nice to each other but mind their own business, totally unlike up north!
I did at times find the people to be really rude especially when they knock you then say excuse me! or dont even say sorry!

One of the highlights for the trip was going to Regents Masjid for Jumuah, There was some beautiful Qiraat before the khutbah! Also the meeting of so many sisters from so many different backgrounds! Where I live women dont go to the masjid for prayer, and its mostly a desi area, My mum loved it also, it reminded her of the haramain :-)

The trip was a bit of a trialling expereince though … being a claustrophobic person, being stuck on the tube in between people, and battling through crowds really tried my patience, at times I was ready to scream, can’t imagine how that would have gone down as a Niqaabi on the tube.

That was another thing … Me and My cuz are both niqaabis and its weird how no-body would come sit in the same carriage unless they HAD to … I did kinda get tired of people staring though at times, towards the end of the week we actually would ask what they were looking at … Although people try not to make it obvious they’re looking, but I dunno I guess being a teacher you kinda get used to looking in about 10 places at once, so even if you’re looking elsewhere you know some-one is looking at you!

Apart from that, I was limping for my whole stay in London, I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle on the first day, I already had an injury before I went! Alhumdulillah Ala Kulli haal, taught me perseverance!!! And I just about got better then we went Ice Skating … I don’t think I need to elaborate here!

Being born and bought up in town life, city life is chaotic, but the fact that people mind their own buisness and that you can actually go to huge beautiful parks, is enough to make me want to move!

Thats all for now …

Oh yea the queen had a Garden Party when we went … more on that later insha’Allah when I get the pics uploaded. Once again JazakumAllah Khair for all your duas … The weather was great on all days execept when we went to the beach! (class or what!)

WaAlaykumAssalam WaArahmatuAllah

PS: This isn’t the first time I’ve been to London … But this is the first Ive truly discovered it!

Obituary of the late Mr Common Sense

Assalamualaykum

I’m back :-)
My journey went well Alhumdulillah, had an amazing time :-D
I’ll post more later about that insha’Allah … Needless to say after I recover from the many injuries sustained!

Here’s a little some thing I found in my inbox on my return …

 Obituary of the late Mr Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has

been with us for many years.  No one knows for sure how old he was,

since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He

will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;

Why the early bird gets the worm;

Life isn’t always fair;

and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more

than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing

regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 -year- old boy charged with

sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school

for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an

unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job

that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent

to administer Tylenol, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could

not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an

abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; 

and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to

realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in

her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; 

his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is

To Blame, and I’m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Why Don’t You Feel My Pain?

Assalamualaykum;

I’m currently working on project to raise awareness regarding the issue of how Muslim children are put through the foster/adoption system, and the effects this has …

Here’s a poem which sum’s it all up …

You look to me and question, why don’t I smile?
You ask why I look at you with such contempt?
After all who are you to me in the end?

I am just a child, like many others
A child born from the lusts of love
I am child small and insignificant to the world.

Yet I may be a child, but I am well versed
Well versed in the cruelty of the world
Well versed in the greed an heartlessness of man.

Abused under drunken rage
A sponge of harsh words and hurt.
I have no place I belong
I’m just small and insignificant.

Who is to hear my pleads and cries?
Who is to hear my sobs and tears?

So now before you ask why I no longer smile?
Or why I stare at you with such contempt?

Think …

This small child is a Muslim hurt and scared
This small child so insignificant who wonders;

If the ummah is one..
Then why don’t they feel my pain?

Think About It …

Meditation in God is my capital.
Reason and sound logic are the root of my existence.
Love is the foundation of my existence.
Enthusiasm is the vehicle of my life.
Contemplation of Allah is my companion.
Faith is the source of my power.
Sorrow is my friend.
Knowledge is my weapon.
Patience is my clothing and virtue.
Submission to the Divine Will is my pride.
Truth is my salvation.
Worship is my habit.
And in prayer lies the coolness of my eye and my peace of mind.
- ascribed to Ali (radiAllahu anhu)

 

Assalamualaykum

Ever felt the power and strength that you gain from sujood infront of Allah when all else around you seems to be whirling a tornado of chaos?

Think about it ….

Ma’assalam