Seeing...

Making A Difference...

If you want to make a difference, wake up everyday intending to help someone with something they will never be able to repay you for. Start with your family and relatives. Don’t worry, Allah will reward you with full measure and more...

~{Islamic Reflections}

PUSH...

Your Heart...

SOURCE:
Ya Allah I Need Your Guidance [Facebook]

Oh Allah...

I told you: I’m in pain

You said: ‘Do not despair of the mercy of Allaah’ (39:53)
...
I told you: Nobody knows what is in my heart

You said: ‘Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest’ (13:28)

I told you: Many people hurt me

You said: ‘So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them’ (3:159)

I told you: I feel I’m alone

You said: ‘We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein’ (50:16)

I told you: My sins are so many

You said: ‘And who can forgive sins except Allah?’ (3:135)

I told you: Do not leave me

You said: ‘So remember Me; I will remember you…’ (2:152)

I told you: I’m facing a lot of difficulties in life

You said: ‘And whoever fears Allah – He will make for him a way out’ (65:2)

I told you: I have many dreams that I want to come true

You said: ‘Call upon Me; I will respond to you.’ (40:60)

Subhan Allah

SOURCE:
MyPeace Islamic Billboards and Ads [Facebook]

Practice Tawakkul...

As a Muslim, how many times have you felt the need to bring about positive changes in your life? And how many of those times (despite your good intentions) you failed to bring those changes?

More often than not, the issue that usually stands between us and the beginning of our transformation process is to consciously DECIDE on our personal transformation and then to COMMIT ourselves to the process by putting one’s trust in Allah.

Putting one’s trust in Allah is also referred to as “Tawakkul” and the process entails seeking Allah’s help in the decisions that we take. “Tawakkul”, therefore, instills within us the confidence that can propel us to take the decisions needed to move our lives forward that may have stalled otherwise.



SOURCE:
IqraSense

 At the Very Least, Be Grateful

By Andrea Umm Abdullah | Saudi Life
Monday, 14 November 2011

THERE are so many programs and books about how to be happy that it makes me wonder if we have forgotten to simply be grateful. Gratefulness and patience go hand in hand; being grateful helps one to be patient (because maybe things aren’t so bad and after all, things could be worse) and when a person is grateful and patient then there is contentment, insha’Allah.

There are probably a lot of things in your life right now that you don’t prefer, from small, insignificant things to bigger things.

Some days are full of things gone wrong. Even some months, we can look up and think, “This is not where I want to be right now.”

I’ve realized we don’t have to necessarily want everything that happens to us, let alone like it, but at the very least, we need to be grateful.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) told us:

"Look at those who stand at a lower level than you but don't look at those who stand at a higher level than you, for this would make the favors (conferred upon you by Allah) insignificant (in your eyes)." (Sahih Muslim) And it’s true.

We look at all the things that have gone wrong and think about people who don’t have to deal with those things, and as a result, we forget about all we have or we consider it small.

Just the very fact that you are online reading this article already means you have so much more than so many other people in the world.

It can be saddening to even have the audacity to complain about our comfortable lives. If you are having a hard time at work, step back and say, “Alhamdulilah, I have a job.” If you are stuck in traffic, think “Alhamdulilah, I have the means to get around.” When the house is a mess and the dishes are dirty, say, “Alhamdulilah, I have shelter and food.”

I read a testimonial a few days ago. A woman said, “I remember eating a raw potato once, because I was so hungry and I had to eat since I was breastfeeding.” Subhanallah.

We want so much more. Well, maybe not so much, just a little bit more right? It’s okay if things aren’t perfect, but at least we should have basic luxuries. The fact that we consider these luxuries ‘basic’, makes us forget that they are still in fact luxuries that a lot of people don’t have. When I didn’t have running water in my house last week, my daughter and I both commented on how tough it was living like that and when it came back, we kept saying, “Alhamdulilah we have water”.

Be grateful now. Ibn Ata’Allah said, "If you do not know the blessings you have when you have them, then Allah will teach you about them by taking them away." Don’t wait until you are without, to appreciate what you have. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to "Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death." (Al-Hakim)

I remember a science project in school to teach us how useful our thumbs are. We had to secure our thumbs down across our palms and go about daily life that way, without being able to use our thumbs. It’s more difficult than you would think.

The reality is we can’t choose our tests. I find it amazing that our tests are individual-specific. Allah is Most Wise and when He tests one with poverty while testing another with illness, there is actually wisdom in it. Testing the first person with illness instead of poverty wouldn’t have the same affect.

There are enough verses in the Qur'an about how we will be tested so why then do I feel so unprepared when the test actually hits me? Why do we feel like we are being knocked off of our feet? Maybe it is because we are firmly grounded in this life.



“Whoever is mainly concerned about the Hereafter, Allah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place. But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him." (Al-Tirmidhi)

And that’s what happens. We’re always looking beyond what we have, looking for more. Humans are greedy. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "If the son of Adam (the human being) had two valleys of gold, he would wish for a third, for nothing can fill the belly of Adam's son except dust, and Allah forgives him who repents to Him." (Al-Bukhari)

Think back to when we didn’t have so much stuff. Internet, kitchen appliances, apps on our phones, furniture… life was less cluttered, less busy, but we were still okay. Yes, it’s easy to have things at your fingertips, easier and quicker to chop onions in the food processor, convenient to look up things on your phone instead of books, but it seems the more we have, the more we want.

• Don’t use your blessings to accumulate sins. We can choose to use our tongues to backbite or dhikr. We can use our wealth for riba (usury) or sadaqa (charity).

• Don’t belittle your blessings by thinking, “Yeah I have this, but…” For example, “Yes I’m glad I have my food processer, but I need a bigger one so I can chop twice as many veggies and oh – I need one with the different attachments and the blender too.” Stop after you say, “Yes I have this” and allow that to be enough.

• Look at the big picture. Often times we compartmentalize our lives. I could say, “Yes, masha’Allah I was able to go back to my home country and see my family this summer, but I would have really liked to use that money to save for a bigger home.” Although they are two different situations and at first they seem not to have anything to do with one another, by keeping our life in little segments, we will never be content because there will always be some area that is lacking. By stepping back and seeing life as a whole, you can be content even when one area is not as fulfilling as you would like.

• Train yourself to be grateful for your tests. Contemplate what you could possibly gain from the trial instead of focusing on the pain.

Remember that Allah tests us with good and bad. In good times, be grateful and in hardship, be patient.

Challenge: Whether you are in a state of hardship or ease, offer a prostration of gratefulness and sincerely thank Allah for things that you have before you start to ask for things that you don’t.



SOURCE:
SAUDI Life
http://saudilife.net/islam/87-challenges/21193-at-the-very-least-be-grateful#comment-3016

Facing your difficulties...

SOURCE:
Islamic Reflections [Facebook]

Road to Success...

Road to Success...is not straight
There is a CURVE called FAILURE
A LOOP called CONFUSION
SPEED BUMPS called FRIENDS
RED LIGHT called ENEMIES
... CAUTION LIGHTS called FAMILY
You will have FLATS called JOBS

But if you have a

SPARE called DETERMINATION
An ENGINE called PERSEVERANCE
A driver called FAITH
You will make it to
a place called SUCCESS!


The person who corrects his relationship between himself and Allah, Allah will correct his affairs between himself and the people.


Thus, the only way to the path of true happiness is that we establish a relationship with Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him).

SOURCE:
Islamic Reflections [Facebook]

Nothing is difficult...

I can't live...

I can't live without y̶o̶u̶. Islam ♥

Only Allah...

Somtimes you just need...

The One who bows down to Allah...

Be Positive...

FOUR KEYS TO SUCCESS

In this life and the Hereafter.

1. SABR: patience, steadfastness,
... endurance and accepting what Allah
has destined for you. This will make
you strong to face more hardship and
will give you rewards in this life by
lifting your troubles and with many
goodness in the next life.

2. SHUKR: gratefulness, thankful to
Allah for everything, feeling content
with what Allah has given you. This will
make you feel rich even if you don't
have a thing and it will get you
rewarded here by increasing your
blessings here and in the hereafter.

3. TAQWA: piousness, righteousness,
good character, doing what is
prescribed and keeping away from
forbidden deeds. This will make you
loved by Allah, his angels and mankind
and you will be rewarded in this life by
always having a way out in this life and
with Jannah.

4.: TAWAKKAl: putting your total trust in
Allah, leaving your affairs in His hands,
realizing that everything goes as He has
planned. This will give you peace of
mind and heart...

By Toufique H. Sumon

What are your ‘Subhan Allah moments’?

– Muslimmatters


I DON’T know about you, but life can be a real roller coaster. Some days, I wake up and think, “This is going to be a good day, Insha Allah.” The kids are listening without talking back, food tastes particularly good, people seem unusually positive and supportive, time for worship is plentiful and beneficial, life is good. Then, the downward spiral of the roller coaster begins. Suddenly the storm clouds come out and crisis sets in.

Allah challenges the believers in the Qur’an, asking:



Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe,” without being put to the test? No, we have tested those before them… (Qur’an, 29:2-3)



Indeed, Allah has decreed for mankind a life of hardships and struggles, tests of one’s true faith and resolve. Each person feels their individual trial as intensely as the next person, and life can sometimes feel overwhelming.



Perhaps the test is in your relationship with your spouse, or with even finding a spouse. Maybe obeying your parents or taking care of them in their old age brings on hardship. Of course there can be problems at work, difficulty in finding work, financial instability, trials with parenthood, academic struggles, health problems; the list of possibilities goes on and on. Sometimes, the trial is long and your patience grows thin. You begin to believe the trial will never end, that this will become your permanent life situation.


It is during these times that one most needs a “Subhan Allah” moment, a remembrance of purpose and a refuge in the beauty of creation.


I wanted to share with you some of my “Subhan Allah” moments. These are moments I return to when I am feeling most distressed that help bring back balance and perspective to my situation. I encourage you to try to slowly read each of the following moments out loud, one by one, allowing each to enter your ears and travel to your heart. Close your eyes after each one and experience the sights, smells, and feelings of each moment until your tongue responds with the Dhikr of Allah.




· Embracing my child as he sits in my lap and softly explores my face with his tiny, roaming fingers.

· Listening to a new Muslim nervously struggling through their Shahadah for the first time in front of the entire mosque.


· Finally pondering a Qur’anic verse I have skimmed over numerous times and understanding it to the extent it brings tears to my eyes.


· Inhaling the wonderfully intense smell of brewing coffee on a cold winter day.


· Passing a grave site and thinking of the possible torture of its inhabitants.


· Feeling the first drops of water roll down my parched throat and fill my belly with cool relief after a long summer day of fasting.


· Reading a Hadith about the Prophet (peace be upon him) that exemplifies the beauty and compassion of Islamic manners, comforting me when I am feeling tested by the outside world.


· Listening to the Imam struggle through his recitation as his voice weighs heavy with tears and fear of the Hellfire.


· Finally getting confirmation of the first day of Ramadan, and anxiously calling my phone tree to spread the good news to friends and family.


· Being humbled by a new Muslim’s sincerity and struggle for the Religion that I take for granted.

· Staring at the dark night sky as a million stars dance around the crescent moon.

· Standing at Arafat during Haj with millions of believers from all over the world, mutually grieving from the fear of the Day of Judgment.


· Realizing the weight and immensity of Allah’s favor upon me when He guided me to the Truth.






The next time we are driven to the brink of insanity from the so-called realities of life, let’s seek refuge in the true realities, and say Subhan Allah!




SOURCE:
Islamic_Group