Friday 30 September 2011

Hikmah, say what?

If you have learned anything in deen, its to use hikmah (wisdom). The prophet saw also said one who had been blessed with hikmah, had indeed been blessed alot (not verbatim). Its very interesting to note how people perceive hikmah.
One thing is for sure, there is no surefire formula - but the best advice i can give is to think before you speak, curb the enthusiasm. Like actually hold the conversation in your head a couple of times with different options. Not only does it help construct your response, but also kills your anxiety which may result in saying something wrong or in a wrong way.
Another thing is actually drawing from the Quran's advice on calling people to a common ground. So think about your audience, try to think like they do or of things you definitely agree on and then work in your advice there. For eg when explaining someone how they should avoid a life of credit because interest is haram - go for how damaging debt can be or is. Financial strain may be something that person is willing to listen about.
Thirdly have sabr (patience), float an idea you want executed and leave it. Dont push it. Dont justify it or get the other person to agree instantly.
Lastly and most importantly, make dua. I have seen things comes to fruition with dua so blatantly, i still havent gotten over it. Allah azza wajal is the All Mighty without whose will we cant take our next breath. So ask for His pleasure, make dua repetitively, untiringly and with utmost humility.

A side note -This is something that may hone your skills of using hikmah: Observe people and how they respond in certain situations. This will teach you alot about them and people in general. You will learn to gauge when you can and what you can get away with; without much friction.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Can i do Da'wah?

I know I'm not a good muslim, I do not pray as much or as well as I should, my ikhlaq (character) has a long way to go to reach the level required for a mo'min, i do not have enough knowledge (what is that, anyway), i sin often and do not ask forgiveness often enough... i know i'm not a good muslim. How can i do da'wah? thats for the good people to do.
I have heard many revert stories (they are so interesting and an eman rush too), mostly i noticed how they were led to Islam through their own intellect and the search for truth or were influenced by some "good" muslims. Recently though, i have been exposed to a whole new kind - reverts who were led to Islam by totally non-practicing muslims. Now is that something those muslims should be proud of, not necessarily because when Allah decides to guide someone, He will. SubhanAllah! But it got me thinking, those muslims probably dont even know they influenced someone so much. I probably dont know how i influence people either. I can only wish, someone - even one person has been led to the right path through me. But i dont know, and im not doing it consciously so i will never know.
Coming back to the first question. How can i do da'wah? I can, because its in my fitrah to leave an impression upon people - through the light of Islam thats in my heart. I just need to be aware that i am in that position, where people around me could be seeking peace or truth and find it through an action or word of mine.
I dont know if this write up is cohesive. But i just pieced together the ayah where Allah says He has raised up this Ummah "for" the people (which necessitates enjoining in good and forbidding evil.) with these revert stories because even in our ignorant stupor, we are innately leading people to the truth. However, to reap real results and actual reward, we need to be aware of this influence.

كُنتُمۡ خَيۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنڪَرِ
Surah Aal Imran Verse 110 

Pls do comment and let me know if this made sense, or you got what i was trying to explain. JazakAllahu Khairan

Friday 23 September 2011

The never-ending SALE

We all love sales! we wait for special times of the year for them, we tell our friends when we get something "half price" or get 2 for the price of 1. Such are our joys. Allah SWT who created us and who knows our "fitrat" (nature) because He made it, knew this about us too. So He tempts us with a sale too - but that which is running all year round and doesnt have an expiry. Here are few of the offers: do 1 good deed in Ramadan, get reward for 69 free! Pray your Salah in jamaa' get 27 times more reward, shed 1 tear out of fear of Allah while you are young is better than 100 when you are old, give 1 dollar in the way of Allah get upto 700 times the reward, read 1letter of the Quran get 10 hasanahs, fast 6 days of Shawwal, get reward for a year of fasting, fast 3 days of the month (13.14.15 lunar dates), its like fasting all the time, etc
These are offers unheard of in this dunya, they cannot be matched. Who is the fool for letting such an offer go? Its open season people, go crazy!

Monday 12 September 2011

"Declaring" my Faith

Recently i got the opportunity to sit with some revert Muslims (they will forever be referred to as "reverts" i guess!) and some other people who have been involved in helping new Muslims. It was an enligtening and enriching experience to say the least. SubhanAllah, how Allah chooses people to do His work!
Coming back to the topic however, the general issues faced by new Muslims centered around social life, or lack thereof and acceptance /trouble from family. As far as social life is concerned, we can well imagine how difficult it must be for a new muslim to integrate his past lifestyle with his new values and this generally leaves him feeling lonely. Whereas, some or most reverts face a lot of resistance from immediate family on their new life choice; some actually experience abuse.
As i was hearing these, mostly i was thankful to Allah for my woes are so insignificant compared to so many people. But i was feeling something else too... it was like wow, this happens with me too and i'm a born muslim! albeit to a different degree but the base problem is the same. As i realised this, i had an epiphany... i was just as much a new muslim as they were! I may not have the need to declare my faith but since i have started trying to practice it i have faced similar opposition. This epiphany was a little saddening, as it meant that despite having the advantage of being born to a muslim family, being raised in a muslim land - i had turned away from my faith! May Allah forgive my many sins and keep me steadfast on the right path! Ameen. This write up was for cathartic reasons, but i'm sure many of you will resonate with it - it just reiterates how much harder we need to work and how much we need to worry about the younger generation to save them from darkness of ignorance.
SubhanAllah! Prophet Ibraheem AS, khaleel Allah advised his children to make sure they associate no one with Allah and die Muslim. The same advice was given by Prophet Yaqub AS, to his children and by Luqman RA to his son. These were prophets/pious people, we can imagine the upbringing their kids had yet they felt the need to leave the legacy of Tawheed and correct aqeedah for their children, by verbally advising them. Can you just imagine what we need to be doing with our children, our families or those under our care?
Now that i AM Muslim - i will strive in the way of Allah to make up for lost time and to try my best to raise an aware ummah. There, i made my niyyah - its your turn now :)

Thursday 8 September 2011

Post Ramadan Planning

Ah! another month of mercy just passed and i am left wondering, did i work hard enough? May Allah accept from us our ibadah and istighfar! How can i ensure my next Ramadan will be better or if i actually did reap something from this one? That's where post-ramadan plan comes into play. If you had set some goals for yourself during ramadan, are you following through with them? If you hadnt set goals, get setting now. Think of one good habit you want to adopt (from the sunnah is a good point to start) and one bad habit you want to drop. Mind you, these need not be ambitions of mammoth proportions. It could be something as easy as ensuring you always read the dua for entering and exiting the washroom and using the correct foot for the same. Imagine, thats ibadah!! As for dropping a habit, you could think of something similar. We dont place value in these things but not only are they super-important, Allah rewards us for it AND they improve our quality of life without us even knowing it. Here are a few examples of goals you could set for the rest of the year:
Good Habits:
1) Ensuring you begin everything by Bismillah. i mean EVERYTHING
2) Saying salams everytime you enter the house or meet other muslims. Make sure you say it properly and not let your cultural twang distort the diction. Its suppose to be Assalam 'alaikum (wa rahmat ullahi wa barakatuhu)
3) Fasting 6 days in Shawwal
4) Fasting Mondays and/or Thursdays
5) Taking up using the miswak
6) Elongate your sujood and ruku' in Salah
7) Make niyyah for Hajj/Umrah

Bad Habits
1) Stop backbiting
2) Stop lying - all types even those we tell little kids!
3) Stop sleeping face down, on our bellies
4) Stop talking in the washroom
5) Stop judging people
6) Stop being disobedient to your parents/ disrespectful to your spouse
7) Stop all means of haraam income or consuming haraam food.

Some of these may seem menial but every little step counts and it helps you become a better mo'min Inshallah. In a summary of the Surat Taaha, verses about prophet Musa AS, i learned Allah expects Obedience, Courage and Tawakkul (faith) from His servant. I believe, each of these are inter-connected as in when we are obedient to Allah, He blesses us with courage and tawakkul; when we have tawakkul, we are definitely going to be obedient and courageous... you get the idea.
So, what are you taking up and what are you giving up?