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.

Good Companions.

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

Having wonderful friends who constantly remind you of Allah (swt) is truly a blessing. Its like having a life reminder from time to time when you forget. Quite recently on a wedding, my best friend and I being the hungry elephant took the Nasi Minyak and all the lauks including a few slices of oranges on our plate and started munching through. She though, started eating the oranges whilst I ate them last. When she saw what I did, she said "Next time eat the fruits first, its sunnah" :') Alhamdulillah. 

At the office starting about a year ago, I noticed a colleague of mine performing the Dhuha prayer every morning. Gradually I became more interested to learn the Dhuha prayer and alhamdulillah I've been praying Dhuha ever since. What I need to work on now is to be istiqamah. She also acts as a counselor whenever I feel down by reminding me of Allah (swt). Alhamdulillah :')  

A friend that I just met during a charity event keep sending me information regarding donations and other charity programs that I might be interested in. MasyaAllah. And she keeps making dua for me as well :') 

These are a few examples of the goodness of my friends. I am sooooo grateful to have them in my life. 

Narrated Abu Musa:

The Prophet () said, 

'The example of a good pious companion and an evil one is that of a person carrying musk and another blowing a pair of bellows. The one who is carrying musk will either give you some perfume as a present, or you will buy some from him, or you will get a good smell from him, but the one who is blowing a pair of bellows will either burn your clothes or you will get a bad smell from him." [Sahih al-Bukhari]

So peeps, check who your friends are! Do they take your hands toward Allah (swt) or do they take you away from Allah (swt) ? May Allah (swt) gives us His blessings and give us the best of friends who really wants to see us in Jannah! Allahumma Ameen. 

10 Muharram.

Ibn'Abbas (Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)  arrived in Medina and found the Jews observing fast on the day of 'Ashura. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them:

What is the (significance) of this day that you observe fast on it? They said: It is the day of great (significance) when Allah delivered Moses and his people, and drowned the Pharaoh and his people, and Moses observed fast out of gratitude and we also observe it. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We have more right, and we have a closer connection with Moses than you have; so Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) observed fast (on the day of 'Ashura), and gave orders that it should be observed. 

Source: http://sunnah.com/search/ashura