The Sandy Storm; Dunya Got Carried Away, Dont Let Dunya Carry You Away

May Allah replace the loss people had of this dunya with knowing Allah and knowing that this dunya is not ever-lasting because Paradise awaits.....

 

 This is the pleasure of the present world's life; but Allah has the excellent return
(Paradise with flowing rivers, etc.) with Him.

 - Holy Quran

 

Sometimes it takes a storm for the believer to realize how worthless this dunya is...

humdAllah we got this lesson here in NJ.

 

What lesson have you taken a lesson from Sandy?

Lesson 1: Allahs Power

Allah is the Most Powerful: people can build and try to protect their properties and homes, but if Allah wills He can do whatever He wants just by saying "Be". None but Allah can cause the waves to go so high, and so far...subhanAllah...and none couldve protected any of us except Him..

You thought Sandy was scary...image the Day of Judgement...
 

Lesson 2: Dont Let Dunya Carry You Away, Just As the Waves Carried Away Dunya:

This dunya and its beautiful homes or shore lines are not ever-lasting.

We must be careful not to get carried away just as these homes got carried away...

Surely the present life is only playing and diversion;

Lesson 3:  The Foam Described in the Quran
While we were watching the pictures of the new beach fronts, my dad kept telling me how Allah told us about the foam that would appear after the storm. I found the aya in Surat Ar-rad The Thunder, quran.com/13

SubhanAllah, sounds exactly like what Hurricane Sandy did..flood followed by foam:

 

He sends down water (rain) from the sky, and the valleys flow according to their measure, but the flood bears away the foam that mounts up to the surface, and (also) from that (ore) which they heat in the fire in order to make ornaments or utensils, rises a foam like unto it, thus does Allah (by parables) show forth truth and falsehood. Then, as for the foam it passes away as scum upon the banks, while that which is for the good of mankind remains in the earth. Thus Allah sets forth parables

 

Memories:

 

As I watch the news aerial picture and video views( below are pictures) of many places I been to throughout my life all I can think is subhanAllah, these are the same places we go to for fun and leisure, and through Allahs permission they are all destroyed, or even worse mostly gone.

Think about the common culture and life style all of these places that have been destoryed have
 

The two hardest hit cities:

 

Seaside Heights NJ- Home of The Infamous Jersey Shore Show:

 I remember right before Ramadan when me and my cousins went to enjoy the boardwalk where we saw some of the "Jersey Shore" cast members.

Now that I look back at this place,  I knew exactly what kind of culture was in city, I dont see why I went. The boardwalk and roller coaster that was a lovely background for our pictures is now destroyed and in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Altantic City NJ- Home of the Casinos:

Upon returning from Wildwood NJ, we decided to stop into Atlantic City to see what all the hype was about. My father always warned us from going because he knew what kind of casino culture A.C promoted.  I remember we stayed for like ten minutes and we left right away...we didnt like it at all.

Keansburg NJ- My favorite amusement park:

As a child we used to always go to Keansburg for thier water park and amusement park. This past summer, I was able to take advantage of the quiet beach area behind park in which I made salat,  it was the best thing I ever did.
We just had funnel cake from the store in the picture not to long ago.




The Beautiful Dunya Mansions Along The Shore Line:


We all fall for the beauty of the dunya and the waterfront mansions. Two summers ago, my aunt,uncle, cousins and I took a drive down into these beautiful waterfront communities. I remember how amazed we were at the size of the mansions were built on the beach. We were saying how awesome it would be to own such property, and at the same time we thought of how this is all just apart of the dunya.

 

Allah extends provision for whom He wills and restricts  it.  And they rejoice in the worldly life, while the worldly life is not, compared to the Hereafter, except  brief enjoyment

Edgewater, Hoboken, Jersey City Waterfront: The Places To Drink & Dine

These are places known for their "high luxury" life styles of high built homes, lots of wine, and magnificent views of the NY skyline. On the night of Eid, my cousin and I were driving down "River Road" in Edgewater and we couldnt help but admire the beautiful night view of NY.  Now the city across the water is dark as power is out. Instead of admiring these towns, we admire our own which were safe from the storm, humdAllah. These are places close to me and I have spent lots of time in these new developments where the homes, and shops are built right off the Hudson River. I still have not seen much of the damage that has been done to these places.



Long Island NY: Million Dollar Homes, Worthless Just Like This Dunya:

Around two years ago I saved this location in my GPS system as a place to visit for the summer. I read that it was one of the most richest beaches in New York. This is a place filled with luxury million dollar waterfront homes, but now its just as the dunya should be to us: worthless.

Angels Saying Salaam

Salaaaammmm Alakayum!

 

Throughout the Quran, Allah describes to us the moment we will enter Paradise, and I noticed a common theme, and that is the fact that the Angels will welcome us (inshAllah) with the word, "Salaam". So next time you greet a person with the word Salaam, think about these ayas, and that moment of entering Jannah inshAllah!

 

Their greeting on the Day they shall meet Him will be "Salam: Peace (i.e. the angels will say to them: Salamu 'Alaikum)!" And He has prepared for them a generous reward,Paradise" 33:44

 

 

 

 

"But only the saying of: Salam!, Salam! (greetings with peace)"56:26

 

 

 

 

 

" The angels  will say, "Peace be upon you.

Enter Paradise for what you used to do."16:32

Gardens of perpetual residence; they will enter them with whoever were righteous among their fathers, their spouses and their descendants. And the angels will enter upon them from every gate, [saying],

 

 

"Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. And excellent is the final home."13:24

 

 

Amu Fikry Class, Al Faitha

Recently ICPC had a convert meet and greet event, and I decided to attend. It was a very interesting experience, and I realized how much we fail to provide converts with the support they need when they first enter the ummah. During the event, Amu Fikry agreed to teach us the meaning of Surat Al Faitha in depth. Inshallah it will be an on-going class but now is in Hajj. After we complete Surah Al Faitha we will go over other surahs.

Heres what he taught us last week:

 

 

 

 

In the name of Allah , the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

 

BismAllah-In the name of Allah :

 

The Prophet said: "Nothing which was not started with BismAllah is excpet cut off"

 

We have to connect everything to the Source-Allah

 

When you eat you only get rewarded here in this world, but if you started with BismAllah you will get rewarded her and also in the after life.

 

All Allah wants is for you to connect to Him

 

When you say "Allah" it comes from the heart. You cant make Allah plural.

No one ever in history was given the name Allah.

When we mention Allah our heart should be moved.

When we say Allah we can say it without moving our mouth, it comes from the heart, try it...Allah (I found this amazing, subhanAllah).

 

 

Al Rahman Al Raheem, Most Gracious, Most Merciful  :

 

 

The root word of these two names of Allah is Rahma-Mercy.

 

AlRahman is the maximum of mercy, which is only used to describe Allah, while Al Raheem can be used to describe anyone.

 

 

 

All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds

 

 

AlhumdAllah, Praises and thanks be to Allah:

 

You praise Allah and you have appreciation. Your level of faith depends on how much you say "AlhumdAllah".

 

You cannot be depressed, stressed, nothing shakes you if you say alhumdAllah.

 

Rab Al Alaamin, Lord of the Worlds:

 

The word al-alamin comes from the word "al-alam" the world. 

Rab is the One who is providing, in charge, and upbrining

 

Allah is the Lord of the Worlds, and the worlds is inclusive of humans,animals,trees, etc.

 

Imagine even a tree has a Rab, because who other then Allah can provide for the tree? (This info amazed me subhanAllah!)

 

To be contunied inshAllah

 

 

 

 

Elfahymoui Notes : Riya

Symptom: Riya (Not sincere, showing off)
Root Cause Disease: Love of this world and the nafs-self, we lover ourselves more then Allah.

he said,

Intention is the most important and only thing you can control.Ikhlas is when you are intending and purposely doing everything for the sake of Allah

The mumin-believer should walk through life very carefully

If they saw Allah only and not the creation, they would rush to opportunities to help others. You are always functioning for the sake of Allah.

When you do something good do you enjoy it when someone praises you? Cure it because if you enjoy the praise you have some riya.

Question from a student: Is it better to not compliment someone to protect them from riyaa?

Answer from I.Elfahymoui: No, it is you duty to thank them, because the one who does not thank people does not thank Allah. Someone has to tell you you did good so you can know that you are doing good. Praise is apart of the religion but dont over praise.

As long as you make shukr-gratefulness to Allah for allowing you to do good Allah will multiple your opportunities.

Dont ever give up this battle with your nafs (such as removing riya)

It is a form of riya to abstain from something in the fear of riya an example of this is
"I dont want them to think I am showing off so I will stop the good action I am doing" this is a trick of the shyatn.

The believer should maintain the good deed, pause, sterghten their intention for the sake of Allah, and continue.

 I didnt come for the sake of people, byt for the sake of Allah.
 When you are on the MSA, helping orphans etc, dont look for reward. If you do get praised or recognized then Allah is choosing you. 

Feel blessed that Allah choose you to help others. 

For Allah there are servants whom He has choosen to fulfill the needs of the people.

Allah is going to help people through you.

Whoever is choosen by Allah to do something for His Sake, Allah will help him. If you want barakahin what you do there is only way to gain this barakah, set your intention for the sake of Allah.

An example:

There was a sister form this masjid (Rehab AlBuri) who tirelessly worked for good. She recently died. Her friend needed $16,000 for a eye surgery. She said I will raise the money through a bake sale. I saw this bake sale, it was set up in front of ICPC after jumaah. She was only selling cookies, and in two hours she was able to raise $20,000 because she had ikhlas. Her intention was for the sake of Allah so Allah placed barakah in her work.


Eiya is so common even a good mumin-beleiver can have riya. It is a disease from love of the dunya-world. You love this dunya and your nafs-soul.

We love ourselves more than Allah.