Solat Al-Muqarrabin.

Another dose of Imam Suhaib Webb! :)

Malaysia is so blessed to have all these wonderful ulama' and scholars here. So here's to another imaan boosting program!

The Concept of A Successful Family by Imam Suhaib Webb

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah and Allah only.

Last Sunday alhamdulillah I had the chance to listen to Imam Suhaib Webb live, along with other fortunate audiences at Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa or as Imam Suhaib said, Masjid of The International Hill. Haha! He is currently here in Malaysia for another episode of Reflection TV Al-Hijrah.

The topic was interesting and important at the same time.  I heard on the radio that divorce in Malaysia occurs every 10 minutes. Now that is very worrying isn't it?

Imam Suhaib started off with the issues pertaining to single people and that is how we idealized a picture perfect family and a perfect spouse. These unrealistic expectations when not met with would lead to disappointment. But this is not to say that we do not need to have a certain standard and principles to adhere with when it comes to finding that spouse, just that as long as he/she is a practising Muslim then insyaAllah all is well.

He also gave examples of imperfect families of the prophets (peace and blessings be upon them). Adam (a.s.) had a son who killed his own brother. Nuh (a.s.) and Luth (a.s.) had a wife who were disbelievers. Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) 's father was a disbeliever who worshipped the idols. It is the efforts that count, really. You can be married to the meanest husband and yet attain Jannah like Asiah the wife of Firaun. Imam Suhaib said the goal here is EFFORT. The highest goal is to attain His ridha and Jannah comes in the package.

When it comes to being a single mother, the community needs to stop judging and starts accepting them and guide them back to Allah. Two of the Imams (I can't remember at this point, will update once I get my hands on my notes insyaAllah) were raised by single mothers. Salahuddin al-Ayubi was raised by a single mother. Look at their achievements with Allah and the people. MasyaAllah.

So for the single brothers and sisters, Imam Suhaib gave advices and things to take heed of before actually getting married. Prepare yourself to be a husband and a father. If you're still watching pornography then you might not be ready at all. Be someone you want your son / daughter to be. For the sisters, same advice. Reflect on yourself and think do you really want your children to have a mother like you? *gulps* 

That is about it. Let us together change for the better and may Allah (swt) make it easy for us and give the best spouse and family. Allah (swt) knows best. Any faults and weaknesses from this post come from me, and all the best things come from Allah Exalted is He. 

Imam Suhaib Webb and the masjid's committees (I guess hehe)

Oh Dear Heart.

Sometimes it is better to keep to your guts and instincts when your mind is telling otherwise. But of course, only when you're sure your heart is at its clean state.

Small Thing Matters.

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Most Gracious. All praise is due to Allah and Allah only.

Have you ever ponder on life's detailing? The things that has happened to you, the people you met did you ever thought of why their life coincide with you and why certain things are as they are right now and then. It is good sometime to take a little sweet time to do some reflection and try seeing what is it that Allah wants us to think. Though we might not get the full answer it's always nice to let that brain of ours get worked on a bit more than the usual.

I was at the petrol pump one evening when the adhan for Asar was called out on the radio. Little that I know I was about to witness something very minute but had an enormous impact on my heart. When the adhan ended, I saw the petrol pump worker, a Bangladeshi  in his 50's (if I'm not mistaken) putting up his hands and make the after adhan du'a =') It was a very nice thing to see and it kind of gave me hope that yes, they are still good people in the crowd even when there is so much thing to be worried about.

Escapism.

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah and Allah only.

So yesterday on the 25th December was the Christmas festive holiday. While others took the chance to go out and have that leisure to shop, eat and dine, I opted to stay at home and engaged in a deep deep slumberland. OK NOT. 

After a hard days work, I thought I'd take this one day off of doing or thinking any heavy things. You know, a day off to rediscover myself and get in tact with my head. Haha!  

Well, my kind of escapism is one when I indulge myself with books. Reading books has been my hobby ever since I knew how to read. Looking back on the years, amazing it was to see the trends of genre that I so involved with based on age and environment. 

From fairy tales to adventures. Mystery to fantasies (Twilight Saga, remember?). But never had I leave the inquisitive side of me away. The one where I wanted to know more about the life's of our Prophets from Adam (peace be upon him) to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). As I'm getting older, I knew that I need a change of wind. I knew that I had to preoccupy my mind with something that is more beneficial and could give positive impact to my life and gradually to my family and insyaAllah to the ummah. 

When I realized that, I changed my reading habits. My preference of genre. There's a saying, "You are what you eat". In this case I'd say "You are what you read" if I may say so. When I adopted to my new books genre and keep to it, there's a thrilling emotion inside that one cannot simply describe. It's like one part of you that was missing has now been restored. For instance, I read a book titled Muhammad by Martin Lings. It occurred to me that each time I spent on one chapter, it felt as if I was there. MasyaAllah :') And I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter and get to know our Prophet (saw) more. 

May Allah Glorious is He accepts our good deeds and give lights to those who seek true knowledge. Allahumma Ameen. 

Beat the Accursed.

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah and Allah only.

Never ever underestimate the power of good words that are full of wisdom. That weak heart can be turned around in a matter of seconds with Allah's will. Sheikh Tawfique really is blessed with the talent of powerful speech and writings. One of the many statuses that he posted in FB that has captured mine today came in at the right time. 

Imaan rises and falls. One moment you feel you're so close to Allah (swt) and another moment you feel clueless with your own self. That could be an indicator that you need to seek Him :') 

Oh and this is a reminder to myself first and foremost. Struggle hard and struggle smart to beat the accursed. InsyaAllah Taala. 

Muslims' Mannerisms

In the name of Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah and Allah only.

Everyday we wake up to new challenges and tasks, be it easy or difficult to face with. What differs us from each other is the way we respond to each situation. Our behavior is actually a reflection of our character. Thus the reason Allah (swt) sent us His mercy through our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as a guidance for a perfect manner.

  "And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds" Al-Anbiya' (21:107)

To read and understand the Prophet's sunnah especially on mannerisms are easy theoretically, but it is hard to implement in our real life. That moment when you want to burst out cursing at the reckless driver, that moment when you see someone's doing something wrong and couldn't do anything about it, so on and so forth, are gripping moments when you realized you're at the wrong seat for getting mad. But so long as we try our best and pray to Allah (swt) to make it easy for us, InsyaAllah all good is going to come our way.