Let It GO and RECLAIM Your Heart

LET GO. IT WILL COME BACK IF IT IS YOURS

Let go of that which you desire if it competes with your love to Allah. Let it go for HIS sake. Then believe me it will return to you. Allah will bring it back to you in a better form or you will get something better. Be patient. Reclaim your heart from the creation and return it to The One Who Deserves it most- The Creator.

Learn to love Allah most,
Depend on Allah alone,
Given everything, every blessing around you as a mean for you
to love and obey Allah better.
The 'tools' to worship HIM better.
Thank Allah for giving these 'tools' to depend on HIM better.
Not to depend on the 'tools'.
Tools should be hold tight in your hands to be used to its fullest,
not to be kept in your heart.
For the heart should be the holder of your belief, love, trust, hope on HIM,
a side of real attachment to rebuild in its purest form.

And i will say, keep space for fear in there too,
Fear for leaving a place for false attachment to reside.

The more you depend on people,
The more they will shun away from you.
WHY?
Because it's a nature of a human being to be dependable on something or someone,
Allah created you and I and all people such a way.
But it's a great mistake to depend on the creation instead of The Creator.
It is out of HIS wisdom that HE created you such a way,
Because HE wanted you to keep turning and depending on HIM
in all situations..

But remember, depending on HIM for HIS supports requires you to take all necessary means,
to use all necessary tools- to qualify you to HIS support and help.

Use the tools to reach to the source of HELP,
and the source of all help is from Allah.

The one who learns to depend on HIM, learns the true essence of INDEPENDENCE.

IT'S THE SAME LORD, IN CASE YOU AND I FORGOT

Do you think the same Lord that divided the red sea for Musa (a.s) when behind him was a super-powerful army approaching to kill him and his people, and there was no hope it seemed from the eyes of his followers;

The same Lord that saved Yunus (a.s) who was trapped in the belly of a whale when no one heard him crying for help from his All-Merciful and Loving Lord,

The same Lord that commanded the fire to cool off, from burning Ibrahim (a.s) when he turned to Allah alone, when Angel Jibreel offered his service but he refused for wanting none others but Allah to help, with all his trust on HIM,

The same Lord that changed the staff Musa (a.s) leaned and depended on to a snake which now could harm him instead of supporting him,

The same Lord that elevated the status of Muhammad (s.a.w) over all of HIS creations after all the tests, trials and hardships befallen upon him, trials upon trials which were out of one layman could ever afford to be in,

The very same Lord.. Their Lord.. Ours
Do you think HE, Allah would ever leave them? Leave us?
Do you think, now, Allah would not be able to HELP us to go through the test,
To SUPPORT us throughout the journey?

Allah was the same Lord that helped these chosen people out of the greatest tests a human being could afford to bear.
Do you think this same LORD couldn't help us out of our daily worries and daily affairs?

HE was the same Lord that gave these chosen people (may peace and blessings be upon them) tests upon tests.
And HE was the same Lord that helped them out of these tests.
So the same Lord who gives you a test today WILL definitely HELP YOU OUT, too.
All you need to do is to RETURN to HIM.

These are not just 'stories' that you hear and say, "Oh, another inspiring stories"
and you walk away not taking lessons from.
These are stories for us, for purpose.
You and I can relate to these stories.
You and I indeed are tested by Allah in this life.
You and I are in fact in dire need of Allah..

Did these prophets lose hope? No.
So we shouldn't lose hope, too.
Never lose hope.
Keep your trust, belief and faith firm.
Return to Allah.
HE's there for you..

*Lessons from 'Reclaim Your Heart' with Yasmin Mogahed, 15th April 2013, Martrade Exhibition Centre*

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Eyes: THE Windows of The Heart

Bismillah..

I was asked. "If i were a guy, having female 'friends' in my fb profile, what would i do?.."

*Eyes blinking for a moment, two, three..*

Seriously, i couldn't think of any answer for that.

Why?

Because i'm not a guy :)

But i do have an answer for being a MUSLIM woman..
InshaAllah..

(Wallahi i'm struggling to become better, i'm no better than any of you who reads my post now)

I remember taking few days back in few years ago, to decide and finally take the initiative to REMOVE all brothers from my fb profile for few solid reasons, i must say.(Well, our situation may be VERY different here, so pls understand that this is based on my self-inspection and self-analyze to what i believe the best for myself :) )

THE few reasons:

1. I was distracted with the comments of the brothers on my wall post- seriously, UNNECESSARY comments from them as i see it. I was like, 'ehem, i'm dealing with my sisters here, why are you here?...'

2. Guess i 'distracted' some of the brothers (I mean, seriously, why would some of them commented almost on all pics that i posted? Mm.. Didn't they have better things to do than updating my posts? Tho' they might be doing this to other people too, i didn't agree they did it here in my profile. Seriously, i didn't want to be one of the reasons for them wasting their time on fb) :(

Not to mention LOADS of messages i received from them PRIVATELY in my inbox. 

Praising, amazed by my posts and sharings over the fb...
All ignored.

Then... over a period of time, they started to ask me questions.. 

Urgh.. Was that necessary? Didn't they have GUY friends to ask?.. (0_o)

3. I really appreciate PRIVACY with my female friends, my family and close friends, i don't need these brothers to look at my profile on this. You know how unfriendly fb was back then- not much options you have to control your profile, unlike today, you can set custom/private, etc..

4. Some brothers enjoy sharing their pics. Eemm.. I'm trying to lower my gaze here (OFFLINE social life as well as ONLINE in social networking- Ukhty, fear Allah...) So, having them in my profile wasn't a help to lowering my gaze, NOT AT ALL.

At first, i added them thinking that it might ease my dakwah work since i have to deal with them on some programs, but naa... NO NEED TO. I've dealt with them enough offline. And now online? No no no.. I don't want to spend more of my time with you guys. Once our jobs are done. Khalas, they all end there. Alhamdulillah..

All in all, i don't need the unnecessary attention. Such an unnecessary distraction that unnecessarily took my time, and theirs.. :/

******************************************

Some of you might think, 

"Why am i making such a BIG fuss out of this?"

Some may even ask,

"What's the big deal?"

Ohho. Hold on..

Free-mixing over the internet (especially in fb where everything is POSSIBLE),

Unrestrained and limitless posting and sharing,

Unrestrained glances/gazes over the unfiltered contents, 

The disgusting advertisements,

And more to list.....

THEY MAKE A GREAT DEAL HERE, when it comes to the matters of the heart.

Eyes--> Heart--> Iman--> Akhlaq

Haram things- disturbed/distressed/distracted/restless heart- weak iman/desentized to sins- fall short in performing ibadah/easily sinning (Wa'iyadzhubillah!)

Uhuh. They are all INTER-related.

I remember listening to a lecture on lowering gaze in islam, the scholar mentioned that "The eyes are the windows of our hearts".. Whatever that passes through our eyes will go down to the heart. If we do not observe our gazes, do not restrain them from looking to what Allah and HIS messengers salallahu 'alayh wasalam had prohibited, our heart may becomes sick and if ignored, it may get corrupted.

Read Madarij as Salikin written by Ibn Qayyim al Jawzi- Our muslim scholar on matter related to the science of the heart, things related to our faith/iman..
Learn the arrows of syaithan, their traps to mislead, distract and corrupt the sons of Adam (It's us !) from our main prupose of life..

Learn the Quran and ahadeeth, teachings of Prophet Muhammad salallahu 'alayh wasalam and the footsteps of the companions radhiyallahu 'anhum, the beautiful examples set by the wives and believing women in the past whose life testified and witnessed in history to be successful..

Listen to lectures of our scholars today on this kind of issues that they address them in a way relevant to our lives..

Story of Yusuf 'alayhi as salam (a.s)

SubhanAllah, i'm amazed with the story of Prophet Yusuf a.s who was mentioned in a sound hadeeth that he was given the beauty of the world (A very handsome prophet), used to COVER HIS FACE whenever dealing with women.

What?! Haha. That was my impression. A man covering his face from women?

Yea.. Think about it. He was taken as a slave in his YOUNG age, being a slave, who would care about him much. But he knew what fitna had he brought to the wife of Al-Aziz (as mufassirin said she had started to seduce and get his attention since the beginning but ended up forcing him to commit zina. BY FORCE- because she was ignored by Yusuf a.s).. So he knew he had the 'killing' look. He did his part to help other women to lower their gaze by covering his face, he knew he was gifted by Allah the 'killing' look. Amazing eyh?

*No wonder the friends of the wife of al aziz cut their fingers for the FIRST time seeing Yusuf a.s.. They never saw him before ! Wooaa.. He really took gooood care of himself. Amazing! MashaAllah!*

Story of Imam Asy Syafi'e rahimullah

And talking about the consequences of NOT lowering the gaze, remember imam asy syafi'e used to complain to his teacher (Waqi' if i'm not mistaken) that his memory was getting weak.. What did the teacher told him?

ABANDON SINS.. 

And the sin that caused him to have weak memory was just by accident ! He accidently looked to a woman's leg as the wind blew and exposed small part of her leg. SubhanAllah !

How about us?.. :(

*****************************************

More articles, video lectures and books that discussed on this and related matters by our scholars.

Do take time to learn from all these materials.. :)

Alhamdulillah. Feel so peaceful now..

*Sigh of relief*

Umm Teem

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Stay away !

I was so amazed with the hadeeth shared by ustaz in our halaqah tonight, when he mentioned hudzhaifah once explained to Umar the great fitan which will be faced by the muslims one day (Read: muslims here is referrring to us) involving wealth, family, children and more..

Then i started to realize how much have i been distracted with so many things in life.
So distracting that i realized some of them bring me away from Allah.

None contributing to my knowledge.
None strengthening my iman.
Nor increasing my taqwa..

Most severe, none of these 'few' draw me closer to Allah and the teachings of my beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw/pbuh)..

I admit, i myself being tested with one (or more- yet for me to realize/ discover) of these great fitan.

Advice to myself: cut all the ropes to all these useless 'rubbish' in life. :(

Allahul musta'an.

May Allah protect me from things that displease HIM.
May Allah give us strength to act upon what HE is pleased with, the most.
May Allah forgive all of our sins.
Amin.

********************************

Khalas, No more.
I want things to be pleasing to Allah, even if they appeared desirable.
Allah's and HIS messenger's pleasure is my PRIORITY. 
InshaAllah..

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Struggles We Face

These videos are enough to express the struggles most of us are facing today..

Ya Rabb..
Please forgive us for our heedlessness.
A sin of ours doesn't worth a distance it creates between You and us ya Allah..
Guide us and please have mercy upon us.
It's Your mercy that brought us here today..

Cure to Laziness and Idleness in Seeking Knowledge

Soldier of Allah- Act Like One!

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Oo Allah, I'm So Sorry

"I'm not gonna do that again!"


With full determination, telling myself that last night. And alhamdulillah, i did it- removed -hoping to leave it for the sake Allah, and hoping that Allah will replace it with something better. inshaAllah..


**************************************
It all started last night, after the talk, on our way back, few dear sisters of mine started singing hindi's song.
Gotta break it, or else we all mighht get carried away from the remembrance of Allah!


So i started reciting few aayat from The Quran loud enough for them to hear.
Crazy thing to do but it worked. *yezza*


Then a friend who walked beside me paused. Others continued walking in front of me, still not noticing.. Huhu


"How do people recite Al-Quran with rythm?" she asked.


I startled. Thinking of what to answer her.


"Leave music. Read more Quran. Get used to listening to more than one qari" i answered her simple..


In my head, recalling my struggle leaving music few years ago, alhamdulillah. Allah gave me strength to do so, and it was made easy upon me by the mercy of Allah.


Listening to music take up so much time. We read less Quran than listen to music.


"It's hard, i know, but that's the test. You wanted to leave what displeases HIM and turn to what pleases HIM, ask Allah to make it easy upon you, but of course, you should expect HIM to test you a bit.." I said to her, with an encouraging smile.


"Guess i have to hang around more with you girls.." She seemed to be in deep thought, lost in her own world.


Understood her feelings, i said "We all need each other, to improve.."


Both lost in our world of thoughts, walking straight to masjid. 


*we went to pray for isyak pretty late. Hate it. Guess they are all tired of hearing me complaining "Hey we haven't prayed!* every less than 10 min throughout the night after the talk ends! Heee.. Done it with purpose. Yea we were the committees for the program but we should really rush to prayers. Sorry girls, i couldn't stand waiting..Huhu*


In Masjid:


Everyone's pushing each other to become imamah to lead the prayer. Fine. For more rewards, i gave in.


*humm.. common scene..*


"Ukhty, recite 'nuurun 'ala nuur'.." A friend requested. SubhanAllah. i miss that ayah..


The prayer went on until.....

Translation:



"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.." [An-Nuur: 35]




Erk?


Then the ayah hit me..


" . Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.. "


Allah.. it's by your mercy that i'm standing here today. By your mercy that you guided me to here today. SubhanAllah..

*********************************************

Felt so ashamed. 
How could we sinning after all these blessings bestowed from HIM upon us?


Felt so ashamed. Shouldn't we? 
Standing in front of HIM, The Merciful One and Forgiving, concealing our sins in people's eyes that they see only good things from you?. 
Thinking of the sins we committed not wanting people to know, but forgetting HE KNOWS?..


Allahuakbar.. 
I knew exactly the one i did. 
That's the moment i realized and told to myself, "i'm not gonna di it again. Ever."
InshaAllah..


The prayer continued to 2nd rakaah until..


يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ 
"O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do"

كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ 

"Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do.."

[As-Saff: 2-3]

How can we tell people not to do somethg but we are the one who's committing it. Hey, again, Allah knows aite? 


*Haaaa... I felt like the ayah spoke directly to me.. (T__T)*

************************************************************

Oo Allah.. I'm so sorry. I  promise i will not do that again. Plz give me patience and replace it with something better.


Jannah isn't cheap. It has a PRICE needing us to pay. 


But i'm buying. Trying to reach the price.
InshaAllah.


"We are yet to make Allah's happy with us" 
Syaykh Tawfique Chowdury-Twins of Faith Dec 2011 Conference.


Oo Allah, please be happy with me.
Protect me from things that You hate.
Grant me taqwa.
Grant me furqaan..


يِـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ إَن تَتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ

"O you who believe! If you obey and fear Allah, He will grant you Furqan, and will expiate for you your sins, and forgive you; and Allah is the Owner of the great bounty" [Al-Anfal:29]

`Furqan': `criterion between truth and falsehood'. (Muhammad bin Ishaq)

Certainly, those who have Taqwa of Allah by obeying what He ordained and abstaining from what he forbade, will be guided to differentiate between the truth and the falsehood. This will be a triumph, safety and a way out for them from the affairs of this life, all the while acquiring happiness in the Hereafter. They will also gain forgiveness, thus having their sins erased, and pardon, thus having their sins covered from other people, as well as, being directed to a way to gain Allah's tremendous rewards,"

Excerpts of aayat of Al-Quran above are taken from  http://www.qtafsir.com

*Deactivated FB temporarily- to rest*

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It's My Past. No More Please

Bismillah..
ASsalamu'alaykum..

SubhanAllah.. One evening a dear friend of mine asked, with enough confusion on her face (obviously), "Why would you feel so much disturb whenever there's music playing on?"

I couldn't think of any better answer, "Because i used to love it so much"

I understand why couldn't she comprehend this 'weird' thing she found in me. Why wouldn't she feel that way anyway. In the middle of nowhere, 'those' songs were sometimes played n i couldn't sit peacefully, restless and worse i just got up and excused myself. I WALKED AWAY.

Yea.. I used to love these songs. But not anymore. Now, i HATE them.
I really hate thinking of how much had all these songs taken my time in past.
Hate thinking how much had i wasted my life
Hate thinking how much had them bring me away from spending more time seeking knowledge
Hate most thinking how much had this life of delusion taken me away from Allah- from HIS remembrance.

Life of delusion? Uhuh. Over-preoccupying my life with MUSIC. As if life is empty, null, boring without music. Sounds familiar?

*Early notification*
I'm not gonna tell you the rulings on music- prohibited or not? In what sense? Prohibited instruments, etc this time. Just clarifying my preference of Al-Quran over music. I listen to nasheed songs sometimes too, but without instruments and VERY rarely (I don't find contentment in nasheed songs though).

You see, i was raised up with music. It was was my passion, REALLY was.

My schoolmates know this well.

Wallahi i wish you girls read this post of mine. WAllahi i miss you girls.
I miss how we used to rehearse our parts (choir, singing contest) and how i used to watch you girls dancing  while waiting for my turn to practise my songs. And wanting to learn how to play piano after done practising our parts (choir) in our school mainhall.

But now, i've changed. You girls can obviously see this from me.  Wondering what happened to me, disappearing for almost 2 years then wala! Me with her big hijab after those years n now NIQAB. And guess you were shocked to discover me last time with this 'shield' on my face.

*ninja* Hoho

When Amir Muhaddith (if i spelled his name right. Known as 'Loon' before reverting to Islam, a former rapper with Bad Boys recording, used to be famous in one of his songs feat with Usher: 'I need a Girl'- again, if i spelled it right) was asked during his talk in my university to perform an 'Islamic Rap' or music or SOMETHING, he refused. He was trying to tell them not to 'bring' him back to his past life and that if possible, he would never wana go BACK to his past life- MUSIC. Wallahi i felt like he had my words! The exact spirit, 'dilemma' (perhaps. of choosing music over the beautiful words of Allah), determination (to leave music!). Imagine, it's part of your past-jahiliiyah life that you wanted so BADLY to leave for the sake of Allah and now turning your WHOLE new life to something better that is THE QURAN, beautiful words of Allah but out of a sudden, a person comes to you and telling you to 'go' back to that which you don't even want to come near to-music? And to some people, sometimes, when you tried your best to politely refuse and still they insist, that's the moment they will be shocked to see the 'weird' part of you: angry, unexplainable disturbed+mixed emotions seen obviously on your face and worst to be labelled as being extreme when you walk away. SubhanAllah..

Allah knows best that you were not trying to be rude.
Allahu yahdina.

And it was just a moment ago, i told to myself, "Oo my god, i miss to sing again".
Then i asked, "Then why are you here?"

Purpose of life?
Worship Allah. Please Allah.

How?
Pleasing HIM. Gain knowledge to know what are the things taught in this perfect, complete and beautiful deen, understand, practice, teach and share! Keep purifying intention, actions, nafs- for HIS sake alone. InshaAllah.

What if you forget and become heedless and ignorant again? (Just in case if i do- wa'iyadzhubillah!)
Turn to HIM, seek HIS forgiveness. Ask HIM to guide you. Then leave sins. Istiqamah.
*And tell your close companions to keep reminding you*

InshaAllah.. InshaAllah..

OK. No more of those ol' days.
I found something better. And i much appreciating it n i wouldn't wana lose it- ever!
*Sweetness of Faith. Halawatul eman*

InshaAllah..

Thank you Allah :)

***************************************

Why i wrote this out of a sudden? Hehe. Had Twins of Faith (TOF) conference before. Were listening to its theme song. The non-instrumental song reminded me A LOT of my prev life. Guess my iman was so low that i started to miss all those seemingly 'great' times i had with my ol' friends on the stage, rehearsing with those so called cool songs sang by 'cool' rappers n singers yet adding more misery and emptiness to the heart. Hip hop. R&B pop. And those curses in raps?  They were not cool after all..

Astaghfirullah.

REAL PEACE is in the remembrance of Allah.

A post to remind the-sometimes-heedless me.

With so much love and peace,
Umm Teem.

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Never will HE be injustice

Bismillah. Assalamu'alaykum..

"I hate it when my love towards HIS creation is in conflict with my love towards THE CREATOR (Allah).."

Recalling on what a very dear friend of mine once said to me.. True indeed. It leaves you a DEEP CUT to the heart when you are battling with your evil nafs which tries its best to get its place in your heart instead of leaving your heart in peace in HIS remembrance- NO conflicts. NO restlestness. NO worries. Only tranquility. Happiness. Peacefulness. Conviction. Strong faith and love to Allah.

*How easy is life if you could just be like all those superheroes shown in the scenes, where you could just fight and defeat those wicked-ugly-evil monsters and the battles just end there!*

CUT.

Be real ukhty.

Well, that's how you used to see life as when you were kids. How innocent!

Allahu musta'an..

Your love towards your mom, dad, friends or anything that pleases you in this beautiful world can either be one of your best means to come closer to The Ever-Forgiving Rabb or a barrier between you and HIM. Wa'iyadzhubillah. What pain can be worse than being allieniated, away from The Forever-Needing Rabb, Allah? When HE said in HIS love letter many times to those who choose to believe, never will we be able to find other Protector, Guardian or Best Friend other than HIM. How can we still look after one other than HIM after knowing this?

Again, everything in this world, which has helped you to live your day, comes from HIM alone, The All-Sustainer and The All-Provider, Allah. They are all MEANS. Up to you now on how you 'use' them. Thanks Allah before them. All praises due to HIM. Alhamdulillah.

When things get tougher in life, know that HE who knows everything hidden and shown, small or big, is teaching you something. Because that's human, we learn best from experience. It's time to get theories into practices eyh? Sabr, syukur, redha, tawakkul, love, fear, hope. InshaAllah. Allah alone our source of guidance, strength and support. :)

People..

They might question you lots of things. Expressing to you their concern and worries. Yes. They love and care about you. True. You are listening to them too. But not all things you can obey or follow. What's left there to obey if it contradicts to HIS obedience. Verily there's no obedience to the creations over The Creator. Yes. Thank them for their concern. Explain to them why you couldn't agree with them this time. If they resist, be patient. Hold firm to HIS rope. Innallaha ma'assobirin..

I know you love them, but i know you love Allah more. So it's your duty to please Allah while being as hikmah as possible to be nice to them.

When everyone seems not understanding you, what you are going through, nor they believe you, no worries, don't be sad, turn to Allah. He's there and will always be. InshaAllah :)

"Allah alone can mend the broken heart, He alone can bring all the broken pieces back together. That's how HE does to your broken heart. It's easy for HIM. You just need to turn back to HIM.."

Maybe i've been too far from HIM all this while. Khayr. O Allah, I'm back. (Please don't leave me!!) *emo*

Hey, Allah is testing you, grab the chance to gain more reward eyh?

All in all, never will Allah be injustice to you- Did HE ever? Nope Alhamdulillah. :)

ps: Can't help myself from being sad.. Well, i'm being human. Give yourself a break. Forgive. Leave to Allah. Just do your part. He'll take good care of you. Just as HE always do. InshaAllah..

﴿قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللّهِ ..

 He said, "I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah , .

[Yusuf: 86]

.. فَاللَّهُ خَيْرٌ حَـفِظًا وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَحِمِينَ ﴾

.. But Allah is the Best to guard, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.''

[Yusuf: 64]

 فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ الْعَـقِبَةَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴾

. So be patient. Surely, the (good) end is for those who have Taqwa.

[Hud: 49]

A post to heal.

With so much love and peace,
Umm Teem

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LOW IMAN: Switch it on!

Bismillah. Assalamu'alaykum!

Writing this post this time to remind myself first and foremost to humble down my un-resolved egoism.  SubhanAllah. There are times you know you need Allah most but sadly, sometimes we ignore the 'call' to return to HIM. Astagfirullah..

Ok. Low iman. Fine. Iman goes up and down sometimes. Roger that. So forgive yourself. Done. Know that you are not an angel, you are A HUMAN BEING. Notified. (Reality strikes. Yikes!)

You know, there are things that we know Allah and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s) hate and that you try your best to avoid them or refrain yourself from getting indulged in. Tho' sometimes it seems sooooo hard to do so. Allahu musta'an. This is the BEST moment i'll tell myself: "Be patient my dear. Expect awesome and LOTS of rewards from your Lord!" Yeay! InshaAllah..

Free-mixing + too much music + vain talks + idol talks + backbiting + slandering, and MORE.
Astaghfirullah.. How poisonous all these could be to your eman and the soundness of your heart. Even if you are innocent, you are not committing all these sins when people surround you do, they sometimes affect you (you know how terrible and disturbed your heart feels when your friends backbite others friends of yours, etc)

*Imagining the unwashed-black-rotten-pan = colour of our sick heart*
Eeewww.. Na'udzhubillahi min dzalik!

Then.. Over a period of time, living in this kinda-sickening environment, your eman might go down (!)

And this is the moment you need something/someone to 'switch' on your eman if you couldn't reach for it (when the main switch is too high! Help me!).

Get good friends who love+fear Allah so so much to help you out. They might help you to figure out what 'poisons' have you consumed that severe your eman and suggest cure.

Or maybe it's time for you to change to new environment, do hijrah to better-friendlier one that can support you to improve yourself to better practising your deen. (But if you couldn't, fuh. Gotta fear Allah as much as you can-fear out love towards HIM! Man.. You don't wana displease HIM, do you? Wa'iyadzhubillah!)

Or start removing all those heart-aching and head-paining songs in your ipod or any mp3/mp4 player and put on eman-generating or eman-boosting lectures to get you motivated thru'out your whole day. You know, when our eman is disturbed, everything that we do seem so wrong. So fix the root cause first. InshaAllah :)

Yet, THE BEST: Al-Quran, of course. Listen, read, ponder upon its meaning.. SubhanAllah. So many 'treasures' yet to be discoevered! Dig dig dig the wisdoms and lessons learnt. Be inspired with its beauty and power of healing to any spiritual sicknesses. It works best for me so far, alhamdulillah :)

*more humble tips on getting connected to Al-Quran shared, click here *

And don't forget to make du'a to Allah. He The One who holds our heart day and night, with or without our conscientiousness (did i spell it right?), has the ability to turn and twist it. Wow, that's seriously put our head straight! Turn to HIM. Ask HIM to help you to strengthen you faith over calamities and keep it 'fresh' in thankfulness to HIM in times of ease. Have faith in HIM, inshaAllah HE will not forsake you :)

ps: Recalling on 3 things Ibn Qayyim once mentioned- that contribute most to weakness of our eman: Too much intermingling or socializing, excessive eating and excessive talking (or was it sleeping?)

O Allah... Help me to help myself to remember YOU....
*Emergency call to Allah*

So much in need of reminders,
Umm Teem

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Finding Your Way: Stop Living a Dream

Bismillah..

Assalamu'alaykum..

Just finished watching a GOOOOOD video. MashaAllah. You've gotta watch this too!

Specially for those who are still in search of the truth- not knowing which path to take, how to trace and how to stay on that path you are convinced to be- TRUE. :)

FINDING YOUR WAY by Bro Nouman Ali Khan (NAK) with Bro Eddie in The Deen Show

"I  used to go to pub, disco, have girlfriends, doing this  haram thing and doing that... etc..."

Now you want to change. Or you are changing and improving (alhmdulillah!)

But one thing bothers you a great deal:

"Which path should i take? How to start? How to remain on this path i'm taking?"

You see, when we ask for direction, it means we are asking for guidance, agreed? And..... there must be people before who sincerely asked this same direction (that you are now asking for too). And...... there must be other people who led these to this direction/path. Uhuh. THERE MUST BE.

But the issues here:

• Some don't follow that direction given to them (but they asked for it before) tho' they are SHOWN the direction clearly. They see the truth but DISREGARD it, they IGNORE it.
• Some accept the guidance, wanting to follow the direction but they add 'FLAVOUR' to the guidance according to their own wimps, lusts, desires. Thus get confused and deviated (!)
• Some accept the guidance as the way it is, trace the path as directed and walk upon the same path of those sincere people who looked for same path.

May Allah protect and save from becoming those who deviate and increase in guidance. Amin!

Bro NAK's advice to finding your way to the truth:

• Be sincere to your Creator.
• Accept HIM as your Lord.
• Ask HIM (sincerely!) to show you the path; and
• Ask HIM to show you those who walked down the same path and succeeded.
• Ask HIM to keep you away from those who walked down the path but then get LOST-went astray or earned God's wrath.

What are our 'measuring stick' to know, maintain our search in truth?

Well.. you have to watch to know more!

SIMPLE FORMULA (yet dofficult for some people to do) to find and stay firm on the path of truth:

• Sincerely put time (and effort!) into doing this.
• Take yourself AWAY from distractions and delusions that take you away from this quest of truth.
• Since you have asked sincerely to your Lord to show you the way, BE READY to whatever you will get (be submissive), put your ego on the ground-as you might find the truth opposed to your desires and wimps.. (i believe this is the toughest part. May Allah give strength! amin)

Great analogies, stories and explanation he gave especially the one regarding our best asset in life: TIME.

It's scary to discover the real fact about time. SubhanAllah!

Brothers and sisters- WAKE UP.

"Once you have OPENED your eyes, don't let them SHUT again.."

A reminder specially made for me, before others...

Wassalam.

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The Results Reflect YOU

"YOU. BAD MUSLIMS!"

His famous quote in class. Now they stuck in my head.

Good. At least i'm aware now. "You. Bad Muslims!"

Will always remember that.

_______________________________________

Everything we did in class-for all the mistakes, it was us to be blamed, and we should be.

"Your group project's grade reflects you and your group members! Your attitude! NO unity and cooperation among you! How can you call yourself 'MUSLIM'?!"

"This building will collapse if anyone of you got 'A' in your group assignment. I challenge you. Muslims usually don't perform well. Why? Because they are lazy!"

"How many could get 100% out of 100% or 40% out of 40% for your final exam? Very rare-impossible!"

"You should have been scoring! But you don't! Why? Because you don't read! And because you-MUSLIMS"

Or he said something similar. We were scolded in class. SubhanAllah.

He even told us why he was emphasizing sooooo much on grammar (in writing our articles, answering exam questions).

“Do you think Allah will be pleased with you if you read Al-Quran simply as how you wanted to(without tajweed)? Do you think your friends will like it when you speak to them your own style/language simply the way you like eventhough they don’t?”

True indeed. L

“You think you can answer your exam if you don’t read your textbook? If you don’t study? How can you stand for Islam when people talk bad about Islam when you don’t have knowledge (0%!) about your religion!”

He was explaining to us how can our attitude and habits affect our attitude towards Islamic practices as well. Astaghfirullah.. So many things to improve on! Allah musta’an..

I could see he was quite upset with us all.

But all in all, it was such an eye-opener!

You know in what class were we?
HRM.

Uhuh. You read me.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.

Not in any Islamic-core subject class in my university as u might think.

At first, you might think this lecturer of mine is just being sceptical towards muslims (as a whole), or you might say, waaaaaay sceptical. But no he's not. Infact, he was right! He was pin-pointing our mistakes-as MUSLIMS.

So improve! Get moving now oo you muslims.

Wallahi i like his class! The best ‘eman-rejuvenator’ and 'head-knocker' ever! In his own style, of course. MashaAllah! Thanks dear lecturer. We learned a lot from you. Alhamdulillah :)

LESSONS LEARNT:

1. Portray good attitude, behave REALLY well wherever you are. Be a likeable-muslim since all muslims should aware their "I'M A MUSLIM" name tag brings with them their religion name, which is obviously ISLAM. You wouldn't want to tarnish your religion's beautiful image with your nasty behaviour, would you? Please please please.........DON'T.

2. If you are a student of knowledge, ACT LIKE ONE. Have adab in seeking knowledge. Respect your lecturer. Take your studies seriously. As a student, it's your duty to learn by heart and hard, perform REALLY well in your projects, assignments, exams, just everything that's assigned to you that need to be accomplished! Why? Because your duty=your amanah. At MOST, aren't you afraid being questioned by Allah for not (at least TRYING) fulfilling your amanah in best manner? Allahu yahdina..

3. Don't give chance to others to pin-point your weaknesses! One common mistake:LAZINESS. Would you want Islam to be associated with this nasty attitude of yours?

4. Proof of Concept. You have been propagating how cool Islam is.. How awesome is its teaching.. How 'pure' and humanly muslims should be.. Etc.. But i wonder, why aren't all these 'cool-awesome-pure' islamic image reflected from you, so called 'MUSLIMS'? So get yourself 'islamized' first before you're to islamize others. Proof the islamic concepts to be true.
"Hey, u said Islam is *this* and *that*. But you got the lowest mark in class. You got the lowest grade in your projects and assignments. What's so great on becoming a muslim? So Islam isn't great after all."

ABOVE: Please don't let this happen-ever! That people wouldn't want to become Muslim or not to even come NEAR to Islam, to learn it because of you! Na'udzhubillahi min dzalik! :(

5. Be open up to criticism. If the critics are constructive eventhough they appear to be negative to you, say 'Alhamdulillah. Thanks to the critics, i'm able to know what are my mistakes and i'm going to IMPROVE on them'. Not to complain. Accept it with a sincere heart to make a change..

@But if the critics are the DESTRUCTIVE ones-which are of NO HELP to increase your eeman or your knowledge, then ignore and walk away. These kind of critics will only retard your motivation or self-esteem :(

6. Intend-Visualize. Everything you do, start with the right INTENTION-to fulfill your amanah for the sake of pleasing your LORD (Allah swt) alone, in best manner full of excellence (ihsan) while VISUALIZING:

• the MOST : the end reward from Allah (ya'ni Jannatul a'la with everything you were promised to have in there-lots of food and fruits, peaceful greetings and no vain/insulting talks, pleasing companions and neighbors, ect.. It's the ULTIMATE success inshaAllah! ; or

• the LEAST: your high achievements and success in dunya~ :)

______________________________________________

'MUSLIM' is a term used to define every individual that practices a beautiful, comprehensive and excellent religion called ISLAM. Unfortunately, not all today's muslims are TRULY trying to become a REAL muslim. They are just a 'MUSLIM' by name, not a FULL-TIME muslim. (i’m not trying to generalize here-not ALL but some/many L )

Na'udzhubillahi min dzalik.

Sorry if i'd ever insulted or offended anyone, didn't mean to do so. Was just reminding myself before others in TRYING to become a REAL-practicing muslima. That's all.

May Allah be pleased. Aameen.

pss: Am comparing my muslim friends from Malaysia and from other foreign countries (in focus: non-muslim countries and west). Found that my foreign friends are more committed and diligent in practising Islam-whole-heartedly! Maybe Malaysian muslims (again, in large, not saying ALL Malaysian muslims) are taking Islam much for granted than these people who hardly having FREEDOM practising this seemingly-strange religion in non-muslim countries. SubhanAllah.

May Allah put firmness in you heart my dear sisters (and brothers out there) to practice this beautiful deen-perfect way of life. Aameen..

If you think you are a good muslim but having hard time to swallow/digest people's advice, think again

Wassalamu'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh..

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Al Quran = Boring? Yes?

Sweet sister : Wana join us to a class?

Nice sister : What class?

Sweet sister : Class on Tafseerul Quran. Trust me you'll like it!

Nice sister : Err.. You mean i will learn Quran throughout the class? Reciting it? (with eagerness to hear an impossible 'NO')

Sweet sister : It's a QURAN class. Of course we'll start with its recitation. Why?..

Nice sister : Mm.. Boring. No thanks.

.....Erk? Boring? BORING? B-O-R-I-N-G??

****************************************************

Ok.

I believe many of us are familiar with above situation. Whether you being the sweet sister dealing with people who act more like the nice sister and they could be your.....

sister

brother

close friends

any close individual to you!

or

it was you: the nice sister,

with the firm-unshakeable-BIG tree (your idea!) planted there on a piece of land called 'brain' with huge thorny black-roses trees surrounding it and a clear warning board hung up having a saying written on it:

"Miss Tree said Al Quran is boring-THAT'S FINAL" :)

Khayr. It stuck there in your mind, "Al-Quran = Boring"

So..

Who's fault? No one's? Yours? Your parents? Your friends? Your childhood Quranic teacher who acted more like a mean-heartless police officer as portrayed in most movies?

No? None of the above?

Or all of the above?

Fine. No "Who's fault?" or "It's your fault!".

No accusing. No blaming.

Only S-O-L-U-T-I-O-N.

Click here for the picture

So do you have any idea how to make The Quran

as appealing as vanilla ice-cream full chocolate toping, (Yummy!)

as cool as ice, (Kids, ice not healthy)

as luring as a bar of chocolate, (Can't trust you with chocolate-MINE!)

as interesting as Bollywood movie? ( I don't watch Hindustani film)

or, at least,

as pleasing as seeing your mommy? (Aww.. Allah bless you sweetie)

Aha. I have few tit-bits for you ;)

1. Change your new BFF (Best Friend Forever)..

Well, you could still have your recent BFFs remain as they are-not to neglect them or something but from now on, i want you to have NEW bff= BFFLH!

BFFLH = BEST FRIEND FOR LIFE and HEREAFTER,

which is Your Quran :)

2. BFFLH vs iPod Touch Screen

You would want to return to your house which is 15 minutes (or more than 30 minutes!) away from the spot you are standing on now just for the sake of your iPod (Or any phone you are so in love with) or what u call as 'My Baby'?

Then do the same to your Quran! I'm not talking about the BIG Quran you have in your CLOSET-untouched for centuries. Go get small one, a cute one which suits you-so that you'll have enough space to easily put into or tug it out of your small bag. (You can find plenty of the small Quran of various designs and colours in the market, with translation. Insha Allah :)

3. Learn different ways to 'communicate' with your BFFLH

Just as how easily you could get bored with the same song (used-to-be your FAVE that you keep listening to, humming and singing, and the whole city knows it) as you keep listening to it over and over and over................. again. So now, you're telling me this syeikh so and so's recitation is SO BORING? Who told you to listen the same song over and over and over................. again? And who told you to listen to only one qari(Quran reciter)? It’s like:

“Now i’m feeling a bit sleepy, need to be a bit waky and freshy. Let’s listen to Sheikh Emad Al-Mansary/Bro Muhammad Taha/Bro Ahmad Saud’s recitation!”

Instead of listening to Sheikh Mansary al Afasy or Syed al Ghamidi who recite so nice that could put me to a heartfelt and tearful mood for my muhasabah session with my BFFLH. Let’s be creative suiting and matching these different qari-s to our different mood. Do you get what i’m trying to say here? J

There are so many awesome reciters out there, over the internet. Just click search, find few which suit your mood and preference, keep them in you MP3 player (better MP4 player-download videos from YouTube, HalalTube, TubeIslam.com) and listen to them interchangeably anytime and anywhere you want. Easy. Fun. Sweet. No more excuses, alright? :)

4. Treat your BFFLH well, yet the BEST

Tell me how do you treat your BFFs? How do you behave with them? You consult them almost all the times, correct? Sad, happy, excited, gloomy or feeling bloomy, you will express them all out to your devout BFFs. Now, treat your BFFLH waaaaay better than that. Before you meet BFFs, consult BFFLH first. Open your cute-small Quran randomly, read the page, contemplate. Or better, read the suitable surah for each condition. For example, when you feel sad, read surah Yusuf. Contemplate on the hardship Prophet Yusuf (may peace be upon him) undergone-betrayal, imprisonment, seduction, lonelines/away from beloved family, etc..

"Oo my BFFLH, i feel extremely sad, make me happy.. :("

pss: Al-Quran is not a living thing. Bear in mind it is Allah 'azza wa jal you're consulting. The above is just the analogy to help you how to behave towards Al-Quran. Or better, it shoud sound this way:

“Oo Allah, i feel extremely sad, make me happy..”

Anyway, what else better than reading Al-Quran with understanding as a way to communicate with your LORD, Allah, in prayers, or best at all times? Agree? :)

Ok. All tips above seem to be more effective for ourselves, not helping much to attract others to love the quran, u might think. Uhuh. That's my point. You start first. Then inshaAllah you will be able to share the beauty of the Quran and the miracles it has with the others. InshaAllah..

Trust me. Who else is HAPPIER than the one who feels peace in his/her heart at most of the times? And who else could feel and be in that state other than the one who is always with Allah, in HIS rememberence? And tell me who else is closer to Allah than the one who's BFFLH is The Quran? Who reads, contemplates, understands and lives by its advices-the teachings? And of course the best example in understanding our BFFLH is habeebuna Muhammad (s).. :)

You don't trust me? Of course you won't! Because you have not tried. That's why..

Try first, you will learn well from experience. It will work. Insha Allah

You just need to struggle a bit, with patience (as-sabr) and perseverence (al-istiqamah) ;)

Mistakes are from me , please forgive the imperfect-me.

All the goodness you get is from Allah, thank Allah, alhamdulillah.

The rest, wallahu a'lam (And Allah knows best)

Read! Or at least listen to its recitation? :)

Click here for the picture

pss: Have so many tips to share with you, but next time maybe ;)

May Allah make us among those who love knowledge and best of knowledge is the divine knowledge: Al-Quran and As-Sunnah. Aamin..

Wassalam~

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