Preparing for a Long Journey

Last week, I went on a journey for 2 days. All I took with me was a small carrier bag and some clothes.

Before that, I had to go visit some cities for a duration of 3 weeks. For that journey, I took with me many more items than I took for the 2 days journey.

Few years back when I was visiting a different country for a longer period, so I had to take large luggages with me.

The point is that we prepare more for long journeys than short ones.

As a living being in this world, we are also planning for a journey that is coming after death. That journey is for a really long period of time. It starts from the grave and ends in Jannah. The only provision for that journey is our faith and good deeds.

Are we ready for that journey?

O Allah,

I seek Your forgiveness for every sin into which I, in my deviance, lured one of Your creation, or which I, with my cunning, deceived him into doing – hence teaching him such wicked deeds that he was previously unaware of, and making attractive to him those that he was aware of. Now I am to meet You tomorrow, with my burden of sins along with the burdens of others’ sins…

So send blessings and peace, O my Lord, upon our Master Muhammad, and upon the family of our Master Muhammad, and forgive my sin, O Best of those who forgive…

Allahumma ameen.

The Dunya

Ustadha Hedaya has been so generous for sharing this beautiful poem with her students in our most recent lesson pertaining to marriage, allhamdulillah. Thus I am posting it here as a reminder for myself, before anyone else:

The Dunya
by Anonymous

And nobody said it was going to be easy,
Who said it won’t make you cry?
Did somebody tell you that you wouldn’t trip, slip or fall?

Tell me, who made you think it isn’t hard?
That your heart wouldn’t be broken?

Mistreated?

Abused?

Tired?

Used?

Who told you it was going to be easy..?,
That you weren’t going to make mistakes?
That you wouldn’t fail?

Why do you keep saying you don’t need me?
And I don’t need you?
Who told you, you have to be alone?
That this burden, you have to carry on your own?

Test after test?
Trial after trial?
No sign of the end?
Is that what you’re waiting for?

Who said you wouldn’t grow old?
That your health would always hold?

What made you think that he was yours?
And not a gift from Him?

What made you think you were perfect?
Well, who told you there couldn’t be change?
Why do you keep remembering your old ways?

Didn’t He show you the road to take?
And reminded you about him who wants you to go astray?

But He gave you tawba? An open way?
Why don’t you take it?

Who told you it was going to be easy?
Give me their name!
Our worlds are so different.
But yet we are the same.

Didn’t they tell you, you’re just a traveler?
That you have to cross this bridge?
That the other side is nothing like this my friend?
It is eternal bliss.

Didn’t they tell you about the drink that you’ll sip? (inshaAllah)
By the Prophet’s (s) hands?
That you’ll be united with your loved ones, as happy as can be?
That you can invite them to your tea party?

Didn’t they remind you, His Mercy overcomes His Wrath?
That no one is more Generous than He?
Didn’t they describe to you the Gardens so green?
Where you’ll sit and rest so peacefully?

Did they not tell you to think big and just try your best?
To keep going even when things seems dark?
Did they not guide you to make your intentions sincere?
To be genuine and honest, and to trust in He.

Did they not tell you, anything is possible?
Dreams can come true?
What you seek is what you will find?
So think positively.
Think good of He.

Nobody said it’s going to be easy.
But be patient my friend.
Don’t look down, look ahead.
And be for He.

It’s amazing how even when our teachers are so far away in distance they still have an ability to make a connection and provide us clarity through their proximity. And Allah is the Best of Providers. Alhamdulillah.

Adabs of Du’as

Etiqquettes of Dua

- firmly believe that nobody but Allah Ta’aala will fulfill his objectives. (Haakim)
- perform a good deed prior to making the Duaa & he should mention this during the course of the Duaa. e.g. He should say, O Allah! I had performed so & so deed solely for Your pleasure. O Allah! accept my Duaa due to the barkat of that deed. (Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud).
- sit with humility and respect. (Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud)
- mention ones helplessness and dependence. (Tirmidhi)
- mention the Asma al-Husnaa (the names of Allah Ta’aala ) and the sublime qualities Of Allah Ta’aala. (Ibn Hibbaan and Mustadrak)
- make Duaa with firm conviction (e.g. he should not say: “O Allah! If you wish fulfil so and so task of mine.” (All six major hadith collections)
- enthusiasm & yearning. (Ibn Hibbn & Abu Awana).
- “presence of heart and mind” and cherish a high hope of the Duaa being accepted. (Haakim)
- repeatedly. (Bukhari, Muslim)
- at least thrice (Abu Dawud)
- Ask only Allah Ta’aala alone for all your needs. Do not depend upon His creation. (Tirmidhi/Ibn Hibbaan)
- Don’t be impatient over the acceptance of Duaas. In other words, don’t say: “I’ve made Duaa repeatedly but to no avail.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasai, Ibn Majah)

Take a Time Out & Be Thankful

science for Signs

Make it Up!

We learn from Shaykh Nuh that making up fardh prayers carries 70 times more reward than the nafl, but that ideally one should be making them up every day anyway and also try to pray tarawih.

He also said that one should take one’s missed prayers seriously since ‘having them on your neck is a big reason for falling behind’.

Shaykh AbdulKareem Yahya’s Ramadhan Address

5 things granted in Ramadhan for Prophet’s ummah:
1) First night: Allah gazes to the ummah. The one whom Allah looks, He will not punish him ever;
2) The smell of their mouths in the afternoon is more fragrant than the fragrance of musk;
3) Angels seek forgiveness for them each day and night;
4) Allah commands The Paradise to prepare and adorn itself with Allah’s slaves. As they are about to take rest from the toil of the world;
5) Last night: Allah forgives all of them.

Narrated by Bayhaqi in the Branches of Faith

Work for Ramadhan

1) On the first night, expose ourselves to The Gaze of Allah.
- P told us, Allah looks to the hearts
- So, work on our hearts!
1. Allah should see in our hearts poverty (extreme in need of Him)
- real meaning of prostration
2. Have sincere remorse and genuine repentance from all wicked actions of our lives up to this point.
3. Have mercy for all His creations
4. Have sincere desire for guidance to all morally responsible beings on earth
5. Forgive all

2) During Ramadhan,
- don’t do anything with our limbs that causes P to be unhappy
- Ask Allah to bless us all and aid:
- our fasting,
- praying,
- recitation of Quran
- He casts His Gaze on us all on the 1st night
- He forgive our sins
- He raises us in degrees of nearness to Him and His Beloved

Sharp Memory Recipe

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi’s recipe for a sharp memory:

-1 glass of water
-2 teaspoons of honey
-7 times Surah Fatiha

Everyday!

Dua by Shaykh AbdulKareem Yahya

“O Allah cast into my heart hope in you, and cut off my hopes from everyone other than you, such that I do not hope from anyone other than you. O Allah, what is beyond my strength, what my deeds fall short of, what my desire has not reached, what I have not even asked for, nor has it flowed over my tongue; of certainty that you have given any of the first and the last – then honour me with that amount of certainty – O Lord or the Worlds.”