Du'a On Grief, Trials and Tribulations

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Assalammualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Trials and tribulations. Facing those two are not easy and sometimes, it breaks your heart and tear you apart. However, Allah azzawajalla never ordains anything for no reason. Subhanallah, even the minutest of cells and organisms played its part in the ecosystem and the creation of the sun, the moon, time, air, water and even feelings have its role in this journey of ours before we face Allah azzawajalla on judgement day.

Easier said than done

Allah mentions in surah al-Hadid verse 22-23 and at-Taghabun verse 11 that He (azzawajalla) had specifically put forth what will happen to us in every minute, seconds and breath that we take. This is to make us be humble and are moderate in our joys and sorrows [refer al-Hadid] also for us to have faith in Allah azzawajalla and go back to Him (through repentance). Masha Allah, praise be to Allah the All Mighty, Most High, Most Compassionate.

I would like to share this few du'as on facing grief, anxiety and stress. May Allah show guide us to the straight path. Insya Allah.

Anas r.a. said that when anything caused grief to the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he would say: "Yaa Haiyyu, Ya Qayyumu birahmatika asta-rgeeth" (O' Living One, O' Self-Existent One, by Your Mercy I seek help).

[HR Tirmidhi]

Abu Bakr r.a reported Allah's Messenger (pbuh) as saying, 'the supplications to be used by one who is distressed are: "Allahumma rahmataka arjuu, falaa takilni ila nafsi tarfata 'ayn, wa auslihlii sya'knii kullah, laa ilaha illa ant" (O' Allah, Your Mercy is what I hope for. Do not entrust me to myself for the glance of an eye, but put all my affairs in good order for me. There is no God but You)

[HR Abu Dawud]

Taken from The Noble Words: Remembrance and Prayers of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Ibn Taymiyyah r.h

Insya Allah, there will be more to come but I think that these two suffice as these are the ones that can be memorized easily.

However, I would like to remind myself that du'as are not enough to stand alone on itself. We must make du'a (in whatever conditions you are in) and this must be followed by strong faith in Allah azzawajalla and following His divine Commands. I mean, seriously, it would feel really complete to ask Allah azzawajalla without the guilt-laden inadequacies of being heedless of Him. But, if we are heedless, there are still time to repent and mend our ways and self. Insya Allah.

This is also a reminder for me who are nothing but a faqeer in front of Allah. May Allah guide us to His path, encapsulate us in His Mercy and Forgiveness, cleanse our soul and never let us astray. Allahumma ameen.

Wallahua'lam
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the universe

Just Ask

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Assalammualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

And your Lord says, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.”
[surah al-Mukmin/Ghafir:60]



O' Allah, O' Allah, O' Allah
There are so many things I want to beg from You for I am a faqeer to You

Wallahua'lam
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the World

Dan Sebenarnya

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Assalammualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Insya Allah, in another few weeks, I will be back in school - to teach as a real teacher.

I remembered during our days of practicum, my beloved sisters cum colleagues were excited to spread the message and example of islam to the other teachers & the students. Well, lets just say that Allah ordained us to learn more than what we have bargained and we realized that in reality, spreading islam is not merely through talking and preaching per se. There's more to islam than that and I realized that we learned it the hard way. Alhamdulillah wa syukrillah.

It was different from what we had gone through before.

When we were in the UK, everything came to us like thirst quenching rainfalls where the spirit of islam, the knowledge of the hereafter, the brother/sisterhood of love and compassion, the energy and also the tinkle of opportunities to learn more about islam swept away our jahili ways and scrubbed clean our soul. Though it was hard and challenging to change, we made it. We actually made changes that we had never imagined and were a far cry from our innocent and worldly aims. Subhanallah, those were the days.

Alhamdulillah for the nikmat of islam and iman

But when we came back to Malaysia, masha Allah, the reality of what Malaysia had become (or had always been - wallahua'lam) hit us on the face like a smack of icy cold water. Everything changed. At first, we tried our very best to keep up all our methods of sustaining our iman and some of the most potent thing that worked (alhamdulillah) were constant reminders through our halaqahs (meetings) and making sure that we followed the sunnah (works better after learning and knowing its virtues). However, the wave of enticing worldly comforts were so great that it really hit hard on some of us (actually, most of us) and have its profound effect on the others as well. This is exactly like the sayings of the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on the essence of brother/sisterhood in islam - like a body and if one part is hurt, the other body parts will feel the pain through fever and discomforted sleep. In the will of Allah, all of us faced this harsh brutality of tribulation of sisterhood and iman with great pain and utter discomfort. Thus were the beginning of a great time of tribulation for us, we began to trade some of our precious time for worldly love and materials that the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had put as an analogy as a useless carcass.

How dangerous were one sin that leads to another.

But, alhamdulillah we still keep up with our halaqah(s) though sometimes it became clear that we concealed lots of secrets and sins of our own sisters within the halaqah as if sweeping all those sins under the rug were the best thing to do. Gone were the days of honest reminders. Well, it was not the best thing to do and when we managed to at least be honest to each other (not on sins as there is a hadeeth on concealing one's own sins as Allah had concealed it for him/her) by being open more on what we need from each other to remember Allah, the damage was done. Astaghfirullah.

Zipping our mouth, covering our ears and blinding our hearts towards 'a part of us' that did sins and even our own selves that were becoming heedless towards Allah were the worst thing that we had done and Allah punished us soundly for that.

Let us be true muslims again

Hence, after all the months of thinking and reflecting, I feel that the best manner to approach everything now is through mending ourselves. Yes, true were all the words of our Creator and also our model teacher (peace and blessings be upon him) that everything starts and ends with us. We have to make ourselves as better muslims so that Allah perfects everything around us. Alhamdulillah Allah provided me (and us) the sustenance to learn from our mistakes and corrects it while we can.

Before I end this lament of mine, there is another thing I wanted to write.

I missed my sisters in iman. I will never lie about that (though I am married already) and I really miss them. I missed the honesty from the ex-house 32 residents, the tender loving care and sacrificefrom my ex-house 15 housemate, the constant reminders by our ex-house 19 residents and the thirst for knowledge from ex-house 20's resident. I missed the last-minute preparation to go to 'camps' and also feeling of having to save money for it. I missed the madrasah ramadhan where we had a marathon of tadarus Quran that enables us to understand that the Quran is meant for us to try our very best to follow wholly and not merely following some verses and leaving other verses for 'next time' or 'when the time comes'. I missed those days a lot.

Insyirah & Mujahidah Solehah (embedded)

But, as time passed, I will try to re-live those days with what I have today and may Allah provide me with the sustenance and the strength to do so. Insya Allah.

May Allah forgive us, cleanse us from sins and guide our hearts and body on the straight path that were once trodden by the prophets and the messengers (peace be upon them) also the tabi'in. Allahumma ameen.

Wallahua'lam
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the world

The Beginning of an End

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Assalammualaikum wa Rahamatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Hopefully we are always under Allah's bountiful Shade and Mercy with His Light guiding us through this life. Insya Allah. Subhanallah, after a long hiatus (break), I felt inclined to share this beautiful hadeeth.

Mercy

“…Suddenly, a woman saw an infant in the midst of the captives. She took hold of it, brought it into her bosom, and started nursing it. The Prophet then told the Companions, “Do you think that this woman would throw her child in the fire?” We said, “No, By Allah she would not, if she is able not to.” He then said, “Allah the Exalted is more merciful with His slave than this woman with her child.”

[HR Bukhari]

This beautiful hadeeth moved me to tears. This is how much Allah loves us, more than the love of a mother. When will we take heed of this Mercy from the Most Merciful Creator? Subhanallah walhamdulillah.

Wallahua'lam
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the world

Lament

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Assalammualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Hi there
Have you ever felt that you are scared to die
Or losing someone you love?
Or losing anything that you own?
Or just to lose yourself?

Don't
It's not worth it

Because

If you die a Muslim
You'll go to heaven
If you lose someone you love
He/she will go to heaven
If you lost what you have now
You'll get in in heaven
If you lose yourself for the sake of Allah
You'll go to heaven

But
With one condition
You must live as true Muslims
And die as true Muslims

Wallahua'lam
Segala puji hanya bagi Allah, Tuhan sekalian alam

Fana

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Assalammualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Innama dunya fana

God made the illusion look real
and the real an illusion.
He concealed the sea
and made the foam visible,
the wind invisible,
and the dust manifest.
you see the dust whirling,
but how can the dust rise by itself?
you see the foam, but not the ocean.
[Rumi]

Wallahua'lam
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the universe

Let's Continue This Journey

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Assalammualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Ighfirlana ya Allah
Please Allah, forgive us

O'self, please have patience & passion in this journey to your Creator

Nawwaas ibn Sam’aan reported that the Prophet s.a.w said: “Allah has set forth the following as a parable:

"There is a road which leads straight to the destination. On either side of the road there is a wall in which there are open doors with curtains hanging on them. From the remote end of the road, a voice calls, ‘Proceed straight and don’t turn to any side!’ Whenever someone intends to lift a curtain from the door, another voice calls from above: ‘Beware! Don’t lift the curtain, otherwise you will be lured inside.’

(The Prophet s.a.w explained: ) The straight path is Islam; the walls are the limits (hudood) of Allah (which he has placed on actions); the open doors are the things that He has prohibited; the voice which calls from the end of the road is the Qur’aan and the voice which calls from above is Allah’s monitor in the heart of every believer."

[HR at-Tirmidhee]

Wallahua'lam
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the universe