Sunday, February 20, 2011

Confession

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merciful...
Holy Prophet Muhammad, Peace and Blessings be upon him and his household

Dear Heart,
I have not been keeping in touch with you for some time...
I have to admit that..
Listen..
I'm sorry, sincerely and with pure remorse..
I'm not sure what has gotten into me..
You made me promise that I would care for you..
Feed you, love you, protect you..
You made me promise to fight to defend you..
From enemies and foes..
They never stop attempting to deceive me..
I was determined, not to let my guard down! (At first..)
But you know what?
Weariness engulfed me, tiredness took control of me..
Suddenly I just felt so...
Hopeless
Meaningless..
I just felt so..lost..

So I just let time pass me by..
I'd rather be in the shade than work under the scorching hot sun..
Enjoy the leisure..
Eating sweet grapes and later drain my throat with cold water..
Feeling of freedom only comes once in a while..
Lalala....


Wait a minute..
This scenario..
It somehow feels familiar, I read it somewhere I'm sure..
Oh yes! It's the story of Kaab bin Malik!
Recounted by Allah SWT Himself in the Book!
What happened to him?


Kaab bin Malik was a mockery among the Muslims at that time..
For his reluctance in merging with the saff of the mujahideen..
The willingness to fight for Islam just slipped away from him..
Replaced by sweet content..


He'd rather be in the shade than march under the scorching hot sun..
Enjoy the leisure..
Eating sweet grapes and later drain his throat with cold water..
Afterall..
Feeling of freedom only comes once in a while..


"Don't  take after Kaab bin Malik..He was a lesson to the Muslims,
To not be deceived by the contentment of the Dunya...
His tale was commemorated in the Quran for a reason,"
A sister told in a daurah..
"Kaab was later isolated by the Muslims and Rasulullah himself.
During the agonizing period of isolation,
Kaab was remorseful and desperate for acceptance..
But, Allah wasn't called ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim without a reason.
Kaab was granted forgiveness eventually
And he learnt his lesson..
Which is: Never let your nafs cloud your main purpose in life. 
Life is a battle.
You know it is, if a life do MEAN sth to you.."


Dear Allah, 
Help us stand firm on the rightful path..
Help us withstand any obstacles that you sent in our ways..
And You are not called ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim without a reason...
Please..
Help us to be istiqamah in this life..

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Comfort Zone

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merciful...
Holy Prophet Muhammad, Peace and Blessings be upon him and his household

Updates: Salam everyone. May Allah bless us with contentment with this Deen, at this very moment insyaAllah. It has been a month since i came back to Malaysia for summer break, Alhamdulillah. It feels good to be back again, indeed it's a gift. It's a gift to be among beloved friends and family, and it is also a test of how far you could sustain your iman, now that you are in that 'comfortable' zone. It's tough. No pressure, no exams, no assignments, just the right time to be relaxed. 

But, for those who value the worth of time, it is no halt for pursuit of knowledge. There are so many things about the Deen that we are obscured of. The pertinence of pursuing knowledge of the Deen, at this very era is essential. We are the chains that link the previous generation to the next. We have that obligation to unfold and undo the misconceptions about Islam to the coming generations, so that they are in knowledge of their blessed Deen, insyaAllah. This reminder is especially for me and you, insyaAllah. May Allah guide us to the rightful path (1:6)

Reading the newspaper these days is not as pleasant. Almost at every pages, we are displayed with an image of a morally corrupted and a callous society. A special attention is needed towards the quality of the youths today. There is an obvious decadence among our youths. Who is to be blamed? Gone are the youths who think of others before themselves, who respect the elderly, who help the poor and weak, who strive for success in Dunya and Akhirah..The responsibility of amending this situation lies on every person within the society. I think everyone should be held accountable for the bad turnouts of the youths today.The solution of all social ills, always remain with Islam.

When realising that the environment surrounding us is not of a conducive environment(biah) to be able to fully execute your daily practices and mutabaah, there is a need to renew our intentions every now and then. There is also a serious need to do zikr whenever possible. For Allah reminded us in the Quran, that He encourages us to find ways or means (wasilah), in order to enrich our souls with the remembrance of Allah (al-Maidah:35), (ar-Ra'd:28).

I have to be honest, to suggest is much easier than to enact. :(  A sister once asked me, quite innocently, "Until when do we have to mujahadah..? Is there an end to this?" I looked down, not knowing how to reply.I can't really answer a query that only you yourself could answer. Tepuk dada, tanya iman.

As a conclusion, it dawned on me that, it all comes down to you and your effort at the end of the day. You are the pilot of your own life. It was depicted that in Surah as-Shams, that Allah presented to us, two 'paths' to follow. The path to corruption, or purification. The choice is ours to make, and Allah had already foretold, the consequences of respective choices. Wallahu a'alam. 

Surah as-Shams:

8. Then He showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him;
9. Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself (i.e. obeys and performs all that Allah ordered, by following the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds).
10. And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what Allah has ordered by rejecting the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism or by following polytheism, etc. or by doing every kind of evil wicked deeds).