Jannah, Ridaa, Beauty, Suhaib Webb Quote

One of my favorite quotes from the convention I attended that I keep remembering is what Suhaib Webb said ,

 

"Al Jannah ridutul al Muslim fee hathee al dunya"

 

The Jannah (Paradise) is the pleasure of the Muslim in this Dunya (world)

 

Todays sunset, a reminder,  imagine Jannah?

SubhanAllah!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes,OmarSuleiman, Reflections, Arrivals,Departures,,Life, Death, Dunya

I attended a convention this weekend out of state, there were lots of lectures, but some lectures have you reflecting more then others...there was one lecture, that had me thinking a lot upon my airport trip home to NJ.

Imam Omar Suleiman spoke on "Our End is Near: Living Life While Remembering Death".

He made this deep analogy between the dunya, death, and the airports arrival and departure levels.

Omar said,

"In the departure level of the airport everyone is sad, hugging people, its depressing, but go down one level to the arriavls section and its the exact opposite, there is joy, celebrations excitement.

 Its an agony of this dunya and the akhra....How much would you love to see the loved ones who passed before you?When you are leaving in the depature are you are going to someone you love more". Then he gave an example of how he loves attending these lectures and conventions away from home, but its always hard to leave his family, and its also hard to say salaams to the people he meets at the convention, lectures.

I spent a lot of time thinking about his words at the airport...especially on the plane as I was sitting at a window seat with only a partial look of what this dunya is, only Allah knows how many people live in this dunya, how many passed away,  and when its time for our own departures.

I had to say my salaams to the people I meet in Chicago, from the people at the front desk at the hotel,  to the volunteers at the Islamic Relief booth, the zaat and zatar vendor, the convert whose shahada I was able to witness out of nowhere inside the Islamic Relief volunteers booth, one last time I said salaams as I was getting ready to departure back to my "home" to my family.

I thought to myself, how true is his words, while I was sad to say salaam to my new friends in Chicago, I was very excited to come back home to my family, to my home state NJ....but then I thought about it...NJ is not the ultimate home, NJ is not my final destination, our families are not the only ones waiting for us....but its hard to remember that right?

Its hard to "live life while remembering death" as is the title of Omars lecture.

There is a  Jannah that awaits, an Ultimate Final destination, and there is Allah,
"Kheir yum, yum allqaik" the Best Day is the Day I will meet you oh Allah

 (Cant remember who said that)

And this dunya is just a "maaata " as mentioned in Surat Al Hadid,aya 20,

 "And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion"

Chicago is just another stop .

NJ is just a temporary place.

This dunya is like a hotel that hosts its guests for a while until they are ready to departure to their homes, inshAllah Jnnah...

The hotel is pleasing at first, as you think you are living a worry free life with room service and free shuttles but then after a couple of days you realize this is not my home, this is not fun, I want to go home...now what about the comparison of this dunya and the Jannah that is explained within the Quran...imagine that?

Yes its sad when we must think about the "departure" of this dunya, yes it hurts when we think of the loved ones that have already "departured" but there will always be another place of arrival...

Omar Suleiman said,

"Approach death with wisodom and optimisim.

You lose your identity when you die, you are no longer "Huda"(insert your name) you are "it" the body. When you leave this world you really leave...

If you look at the death of the righteous people before us:

Abu Bakr, his last words before he died was the aya "Tawfnaa Muslimeen wa ilhaqeen be salaheen"

"Cause me to die a Muslim and join me with the righteous."

(This is the duaa of Prophet Yusuf mentioned in Surat Yusuf aya 101)

Uthman:While he was suffering in oppression, on a Thursday, the day before he died he said he saw the Prophet in his dream. The Prophet said to him " Oh Uthman have they forbidden you  from food, water, and the Prophets Mosque?"

"Abshar ya Uthman " (this is a beautiful word! in Arabic it means like glad tidings, don't be sad ,"

"You will break fast with me, Uthman , and Abu Bakr (because he was fasting on Thursday, and he was going to see all of them the next day after he died).

Bilal:Bilal was dying in Aleppo, his wife was saying how this was such a sad tragedy moment...

Bilal told her "Wal farahaat ghada " My joy is tomorrow as I will see my beloved ones again.

You don't have to wait until the Day of Judgment to see the beloved people.

There is a hadith about how the believers wait for the beloved righteous people at birzkikh...they will meet them with more joy then their loved ones. The Prophet will be there to meet me..optimism

The Prophet said "you will be with those whom you love"

And whenever he would visit the grave he would say " You are ahead of us, and we will follow you "

(sounds better in Arabic, inty bakum al sabquoun wa nahnoo bakum tabaoun"). """

 As I finish writting this post, the suns shining lights are ready to set.. a reminder that even the sun has a time for arrival and departure......

Blankets4SyrianRefugees,A Reminder of Allahs Miracles, Signs,and Promises

 

Im sure everyone knows about the winter snow that has reached the Syrian region, we can talk about how sad the situation is, we can post statues on FaceBook and share images, or we can look at this as an opportunity for us to be grateful for what we have...we might feel bad for the Syrians, but their situation is a test for us to, for the ones who are living comfortably in the snow with heat, coats, and everything alhumdAllah...so how do we acknowledge this blessing of comfort? We show our gratefulness is our actions, we give to people like the Syrians

 

This week I was told about a drive for the Syrian Refugees in need, the local masjid was collecting food, clothing, blankets, etc for a container that is going to be sent to Syrian Refugees.

 

At first I was thinking how can I help, should I simply donate my "old clothing"?

But then I thought of the hadith  "What you love for yourself you love for your brother or sister"

 

Would you want to receive old clothes or a brand new blanket and a brand new coat?

 

And so I began my annoying text messages and endless emails, a practice I usually do in Ramadan where I text people asking to contribute for our yearly Ramadan orphan sponsorship.

 

Before I sent the texts on to raise money 4Blankets4SyrianRefugees on Sunday  at 12:00 AM I was debating on how much the goal should be...at first I was going for small numbers like $200.. and then somehow I decided we would have to raise $800 before Thursday

 

To be honest...I didn't have to much hope at first, especially when people took long to respond.

 

AlhumdAllah I know one sister who is always ready to contribute, about a year ago she taught me one of the best concepts one can learn about wealth, one of the best duaas you can use 

 (not limited to money, for anything!)

 

"Oh Allah provide me from sources I don't know of"

 

AlhumdAllah she replied the next morning, and after her contribution we went from $100 to $300

 

Another thing I do is send most of my contacts an update text with the newest donation amount because it reallllly helps in getting other people to donate, I think this is an example of the aya in which Allah teaches us to donate both privately and in public.

 

Now that I am looking back to the texts to see how we were able to reach the $800  I cant seem to find any of the updates to see how we reached the $800

 

And Monday at 11:43Am I sent out a text with an update:

$800 has been raised, blankets have been purcahed, and $200 of the new $500 goal for non perishable foods has begun...

 

You see how I didn't even think we would reach the $800 and then subhanAllah we had to start a new goal because we got extra money alhumdAllah, and yes we reached the $500

 

And this is the perfect example of the aya:

 

"Allah provides from sources you don't know of"

 

Always think of this aya when you are in need of anything because once you go from $0 to $800 in 1 day you are going to wonder but how?

 "Huwaa Allah" He is Allah...as simple is that

This is how you seek the signs of Allah, this is how you recognize

His Miracles, His Promises in the Quran, and what the result is of hard work and tawkul 

 

This opportunity to help was a reminder of Allahs Miracles, Signs, and Promises

AlhumdAllah

 

Beauty of Light, Your Hijab Shines Light

"There is something special about the hijab. We use it to presevre our beauty, but I think it only magnifies our beauty once we remove it! Anything you do for the sake of Allah is beautifued.

AlhumdAllah for hijab a blessing for sisters and brothers alike. 

Do you think Allah will not magnfiy the beauty of the girl who has covered? "

Time to Repost : http://hudawritess.blogspot.com/2013/06/hijab-preserves-magnifies-preserve.html

"Keep your full hijab in effect, yes wear a nice gown ofcourse but don't look to beautiful you only want your husband to see that beauty, not every man at your celebration.

You will be shining in noor (light)"

http://hudawritess.blogspot.com/2013/10/barakaweddingscom-now-trending-lol-love.html

This quote summarize hijab in a beautiful description , hijab is the reason that your light shines, because you are wearing the hijab for the sake of the One who Provides us the Best of Light.

NomanAliKhan, Story Night, The Story of Prophet Musa! Tafsir Surat AlQasas, Part 1

This weekend I took a class called , Story Night . Noman Ali Khan is teaching this class around America. One of the main reasons why I took the class was because of the title which included story, I thought of the  aya three in Surat Yusuf

 

We relate to you,  O Muhammad, the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware.

I thought of the amazing story of Prophet Yusuf that I was taught in the AlMaghrib class

 called "Beautiful Patience: Tafsir Surat Yusuf" ( If you did not take this class, you HAVE to take it at NYU at the end of this month inshAllah!! Here are notes to that class, http://hudawritess.blogspot.com/2013/01/prophet-yusuf-beautiful-patience.html 

And then there was Noman Ali Khans beautiful description of this class "Qur’an has remarkable beauty from countless perspectives, one that has always captured my curiosity is the incredible style of Divine story telling".

It wasn't until the Surat Yusuf class that I reconginzed the beauty of the stories of the Quran.  I actually don't even know a lot of the Prophets stories mentioned in the Quran,  and this is why I suggest that whenever an opportunity to learn tafisr , take that opportunity because tafisr classes help you understand and recognize the Miracle of the Quran!

Here are my notes on the class which was focused on Surat Al Qasas:

Movies of today take the narrotaion of the Prophets stories (this was also mentioned in the Surat Yusuf, how the ideas in Surat Yusuf are used in movies).

The story of the Lion King is very similar to Prophet Musas story!

The journey itself is what keeps us interested in the story

The word Qasas comes from the word Qasa which means to take you on a journey

The Prophet Musa is the most mentioned Prophet in the Quran.

Most of the details about Prophet Musa are in Surah Taha (20), Al Shura (26), and Surat Al Qasas (28).

Notice the sequence in the Surah numbers

Tafsir Surat Al Qasas 
 

http://quran.com/28

The Pharoph of Egypt is looking to kill half of the baby boys that are born to reduce the number of Bani Isral, but he leaves some of the girls because the society still needs children.

The army goes into the poor areas of Bani Isral to look for any crying babies, to kill them.

They come near Musas mom, Musa is a baby, and she must find a way to make sure he does not cry so they don't catch him.

Allah sends her an aya to feed her baby milk, and to place Musa in the river and to not worry and that Allah will return him to her and make him a messenger.

Musas mom is so scared but she still feeds the baby, she still puts the baby in the river.

 Allah will give you the emotional strength to overcome the hardest times.

strength is from belief in Allah, there are no gurnatees that this basket is safe.

Allah tells her "don't be afraid" and when the basket is so far away from her, Allah tells her " Don't be sad"

When you are a true believer and connected with Allah He will give you the strength to overcome hardships others cannot overcome.

Allah says, "We guarantee to bring him back to you"

The only thing she has is the trust of Allah.

The baby reaches the castle of the pharaoh. Asyia , his wife takes the baby, and she notices how adorable the baby is. 

She tells pharaoh that the baby is "qartaa ayoun" the comfort of the eyes. Qartaa means to remember. She tells her husband to adopt Musa, and he says yes.

Allah created Musa special.

This approach of Asiya teaches us something, she is going to a man who wants all of bani isral killed, but she was able to convince him. She started with oh look how cute Musa is, then says don't kill him , lets adopt him. A psychological approach

Musas mom is still waiting for Musa, Allah tells us that Musas mom has psychological strength so she doesn't shatter her heart.

This teaches us that we will go through tough times, will get hurt.

Allah is giving us a gift, in this aya (10),  a shattered heart, He can put together, you just need to connect to Allah.

This is a psychology that is needed in our lives.

Musas mom looked at Musas sister and told her to follow him (Musa). The daughter listened right away she didn't ask any questions she just went.  Musas mom didn't give her daughter many instructions, this is an example of independent critical thinking.

This girl is so smart!

So as the daughter goes to the palace where Musa is, she notices a bunch of women gathering to the palace. Musa does not drink the milk except of his moms milk. Now the wife of pharoph is worried and she needs to find someone to feed Musa so she makes a call to all women who can feed to gather at the palace. The daughter is there when this gathering happens.

She does something very smart!! She tells them I can take you to a family who can take care of Musa, she is directing them to her own home. They listen to her, and now they are all in Musas home but no one from the palace knows that this is Musas mother.

Allah brought him back to her in the best way.

Then Musa becomes strong, like the bark of a tree as (istwaa). A young teen, and Allah gives Musa wisdom. Allah made this young man unique: strong, wisdom, wealthy (kingdom), knowledge.

Allah tells us these are the excellent characteristics, but you need wisdom and knowledge.

Musa was clearly as Isrealti based on his skin color. Everyone (Army ) hates him, except his adoption parents.

Theres a nap time in this town and as Musa is outside during this time he notices a fight between a bani israli and a non bani israli. Bani isarli asks Musa to help him because he is of the same people, Musa helps him and because of his strength he kills the other man. Then Musa finds out that the bani isral was lieing and he was the wrong one in the fight, Musa says that this is from shytan, him quickly judging and jumping to action Musa who is not even a Prophet yet makes dua for forgivness

 

This teaches us how do you move on after a sin , how do you ask for forgiveness and know that Allah will accept your forgivness?

 

....STORY TO BE CONTUNIED! (Haha going to make this interesting, inshAllah I will send "Part 2" soon... 

 

NomanAliKhan,Notes, Similarities of The Best of Stories: Surat Al Qasas, Surat Yusuf, Prophet Musa, Propeht Yusuf!

 

 

I love the conclusion of the class I took this weekend!!

Noman Ali Khan "Story Night"

 

(Check notes after this post about the first part of the class which was Tafsir Surat Qasas and the story of Prophet Musa and tafsir notes for Surat Yusuf from another class)

 

 

Noman Ali Khan told us about the many similarities between  Surat Yusuf and Surat Qasas,  he said he came to this on his own! SubhanAllah beautiful,

 

 

In Surat Yusuf there is a aya about stories:

 

We relate to you,  O Muhammad, the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware.

 

Surat Al Qasas is called Al Qasas which means stories

 

Surat Yusuf: no mention of his mother

Surat Qasas: All about the mother

 

Surat Yusuf: story about a father and a son

Surat Qasas: story about mother and son

 

Yusuf: separated from his brothers

Musa: separated from his sister

 

Yusuf story starts outside of Egypt and ends in Egypt

Musa story starts inside of Egypt and ends up outside of Egypt

 

Yusuf found in a well

Musa found in a river

Both end up in  a castle

Both were found through the Kings wife

 

Yusuf is taken as a servant

Musa is a taken as an adopted son (almost like prince)

 

Yusufs fitna was inside of the castle

Musas fitna was outside of the castle

 

Yusuf goes to jail but he is innocent

Musa doesn't go to jail but he is not innocent

 

We have underestimated the Quran, its stories, its miracles. This book is exciting, beautiful, a need to appreciate the Quran.

 

Theres are just some of the similarities Noman was able to mention as there was not enough time to go over all of them!

 

I started to look for more similarities, here is what I found! Amazing subhanAllah

 

We see that both Musas mom, and Yusufs father are sad throughout the stories as both Surahs mentiond  "hazaan" which means sadness.

 

At the same time in both Surahs we see that both remain patient.

 

We see the results of their patience in both stories.

 

The mention and the fail of the evil plans of both pharaoh in Surat Qasas, and the wife of the king in Surat Yusuf

 

In both surahs there is mention of the reward of those who do good:

Surat Al Qasas 14

And thus do We reward the doers of good

 

In both Surahs we see that Musa, and Yusuf made duaa and Allah answered the duaa

 

Musa, Surat Al Qasas (16)

 

He said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me," and He forgave him. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

 

Yusuf, Surat Yusuf ( 33, 34)

 

 

He said, "My Lord, prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me. And if You do not avert from me their plan, I might incline toward them and [thus] be of the ignorant."

 

So his Lord responded to him and averted from him their plan. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

 

And the best part is the amazing end of the righteous:

 

Surat Qasas (83):

 

That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the  best  outcome is for the righteous.

 

Surat Yusuf (90)

 

 

They said, "Are you indeed Joseph?" He said "I am Joseph, and this is my brother. Allah has certainly favored us. Indeed, he who fears Allah and is patient, then indeed, Allah does not allow to be lost the reward of those who do good.

 

 

The Aya About Remebering Allah !! Recited Again

 

So right when I was about to close the radiqoquraan.com tab, the same aya I heard yest was  aya was recited! Check the post before this, here is the aya!

 

 

 

 

The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they trust.

 

Fajr, Yesss, Husband Wakeup Calls!

Hahahaaa love this picture!!

 

Making duaa that I get a husband who can help me wake up for fajr!inshAllah

Oh Insan Did you Forget About me?

Oh insan did you forgot me?

Oh insan why do I expect you to remember me, your name is "the one who forgets"

You get sad, you think whats up with the insan?  And then you finally realize the dunya, what its all about, everything in this dunya comes and goes,

"Everything (that exists) will perish except His own Face" (Quran).

The leaves perish, the bodies perish, the fruits perish, the moments perish, everything perishes, but only Allah will be there for you, only Allah will never forget you.

 Oh insan, Allah Knows when you forget about me.

But you forgetting about me causes me to remember Allah, the One who told us "Remember Me and I will remember you," Allah is the One, the Rabb Who is always there for me. Allah is the One I can always depend on He is Al Haa Al Quwum. He is the One who provides not you! He is the One who says "Kun fa yakun" Subahnik Raab AlAlamin.

One of the best things I have ever learned was in a Rutgers class with Shadi Al Masri in which he was telling us how "Allah is with the broken hearted, and that when you feel lonely that is the best time to return to Allah.  Every time I feel alone, I remember this lecture and I feel so much better alhumdAllah. 

The best part about this post, is that I remembered Allah for less then 5 minutes and right away He Remembered Me!

While writing this post I decided to go to radioquraan.com (haven't gone for a while) and the ayas that were recited,

The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they trust.

الأمل في الله مصطفى حسني

 

 

During the Love Notes class, after hearing of all of the issues on why people are not married within our community (I will post notes inshAllah) and  I said " I lost hope" in regards to getting married as a joke, but now that I think of it, even if I lose hope in marriage because my community  I should never lose hope in Allah because subhanAllah when you put your full trust in Allah He "Provides from sources you don't know of"  He is the One who promisses that " Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer  We will surely cause him to live a good life"

 

SubhanAllah I decided to listen to a Mustfah Hosny lecture and guess what one of his newest video is about " Amal in Allah" Amal means hope in Arabic!

 

Heres some of what he said I LOVE IT, I will try to post the rest of this lecture.  Please share with anyone who has lost hope for anything because this lecture reminds us of the One Who we should never lose amal in! Ya Allah!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxJioZP2NPE

 على طريق الله 2 - الحلقة 11 - الأمل في الله - مصطفى حسني

 

Mustfah Hosny said:

 

A lot of times we go through times that have tests, hardships,  and people cut from us and only Allah remains. And if the person has hope in Allah, this person will love in peace, sakina, and reassurance.

 

A lot of times good deeds come to you, you want to have hope that Allah will be pleased with your good deeds. Good deeds that will bring you enjoyment in this life and reward in the next.

 

A lot of times a person will be weak in front of bad deeds, but still has hope that Allah will save them and make them strong against al nafs al amara ba il su. And we have no hope except in Allah the One who is the Rab Al Alamin,  and Qadr over everything.

 

Allah wants us to have full hope in Him, and that we never lose hope

 

We learn from our scholars that we must put all of our amal in Allah and that we complain of all of our worries to Him, and we place full trust in Allah, and He will never leave us because He is Al Wakeel, Al Kareem, Al Wahab

 

Let us talk about how the Prophets whole life was filled with amal in Allah, and how the salaheen good people never broke down in the dunay because of their amal in Allah.

 

 

Look at Surat Al Naml Allah is telling you about everything He created, Who other then Allah can do all this, who other other then Allah will you ask help for?

 

27:59

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Say, [O Muhammad], "Praise be to Allah , and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen. Is Allah better or what they associate with Him?"

 

 

27:60

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More precisely, is He  not best who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you rain from the sky, causing to grow thereby gardens of joyful beauty which you could not otherwise have grown the trees thereof? Is there a deity with Allah ?  No, but they are a people who ascribe equals to Him.

 

 

 Look what Allah is saying in these ayas, He provides you with so much,  if Allah provides for the earth, the rain, the sky, the animals, then who is He going to provide for us? So if someone wants something let them say "Ya Rab", make duaa and have tawkul in your heart full trust in Allah,

 

Then Allah says in the Surah:

 

27:61

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Is He  not best  who made the earth a stable ground and placed within it rivers and made for it firmly set mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier? Is there a deity with Allah ?  No, but most of them do not know.

 

Its as if Allah is saying look at the creation of Allah, the earth, the mountains, the seas, all of this, just say Ya Rab , the One Who  sends the rain down so the plants can grow, would He not provide for the One who prays and makes sujud?

 

Then Allah says:

 

27:62

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Is He  not best who responds to the desperate one when he calls  Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there a deity with Allah ? Little do you remember.

 

 

Look at these ayahs first Allah talks about everything He Gives and Provides, then He mentions all of His creations such as the earth, the mountains, the skies, the rain, then He said " Will I not respond to the One who makes duaa?"  Not many of us remember, because we forget to have amal!

 

Rabna yarabne on this amal.

Sometimes the door of the people might close but Allahs door never closes. This is why the Prophet taught us that the feelings of amal used to come to him when he was going through very hard times.

 

Imagine the Prophet going to a place where young and old were hitting him as he was leaving the city of taif, and the mountains were saying to him if you want we can crush these people, but the Prophet said " No don't crush them , as Allah might bring from them people who will worship Allah"  The Arabic word this hadith begins with is "asa" which is a word of amal.

 

Allah remembers us even if we don't remember Him, and the Prophet is waiting for all of the nations who used to say the shahada, he will welcome them with their sins, and wrongdoings, and their hasant, and he will be holding for them all a surprise,  a huge amal,  the Prophet said " For every Prophet, there is a duaa that is answered, and I delayed my duaa for the Day of Judgement for my whole ummah"

 

The Prophet has amal  that all of the people will go to Jannah and this is the amal of the Prophet.

Through the Baraka of the Prophets amal people will go to Jannah, the Prophets amal will allow people to go from Hell to Jannah.

 

He could have made these duaas in the dunya, but he saved them for us on the Day of Judgement.

 

Allah says, " And place your trust on the All Living (Al Hay) the One who does not Die

(Al lathe la yamot)"

The scholars said why does Allah say "Hay la ya mayot"?  Because if Allah never dies we can always place our trust on Him. 

 

When you don't have trust with Allah you live a hard dark life , and the shytan will always throw ideas in your head that Allah will not make you succeed or help you  or grant you good deeds, you saw how you helped so much people and they don't even look at you , oh this and that, and then the amal of the person begins to leave.

 

So let us listen today , Allah tells us if you do a good deed then have amal! Have amal that Allah will accept your deeds, don't listen to the person who tells you Allah is not going to accept your prayer or fasting.