Relationship with Allah

Relationship with Allah (SWT)

“Whoever draws near to Me among those drawn near by fulfilling what I have made obligatory on them, and a devotee does not cease to draw near to Me with nawafil (additional worship) until I love him. So when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, and his eyesight with which he sees, and his tongue with which he talks, and his hand with which he strikes, and his feet with which he walks. (Hadith Qudsi in Sahih al-Bukhari, narrated by Hadrat Abu Hurayra, Rady Allahu 'Anhu)”

What is being conveyed through this hadith is the indication of when we act upon our obligatory duties and nourish our souls through voluntary deeds, to keep alive the heart with the remembrance of Allah (swt) we are aided in every action we accomplish for the pleasure of Allah (swt) with His mercy and love, SubhanAllah. That our sight, our hearing, our touch and our speech has been influenced with the essence of Allah (swt).

The reason as to why I started off with this hadith is because it closely links to what I am about to be discussing, InShaAllah which is the relationship with Allah (swt). It is only when we have a strong bond with Allah (swt) through the understanding of who Allah really is via the attributes that have been revealed to us of Him in the Qur’an and really, truly comprehending these characteristics by contemplating what they mean for us in this Dunya as well as for the Akhirah. Having this knowledge would help us to develop a love, affection, an appreciation, and a deep conviction of His existence as well as fear of what He is capable of doing. Once we have established a close relationship with Allah (swt) we are able to find contentment despite the shackles of life. Moreover, it will enable us to have a strong sense of accountability within our hearts. Consequently, drives us to endeavor what is necessary to partake in, for the way of Allah (swt).

 

A relationship between two people requires certain features and these usually are communication and dedication. A prosperous relationship entitles for both participants to reciprocate mutual feelings. Otherwise, it’ll be a dead acquaintanceship, as it cannot evolve any further. Sooner or later, the person who invests the time and energy towards the individual, he or she will get sick and tired of being the one to demonstrate any positive emotions when the other does not do the same. We wouldn’t be surprised or expect any different would we when the person no longer invests effort? It would be considered absolutely normal. I’m sure all of us would agree that a healthy relationship is that of one where both, regularly display some sort of inclination to one another. Likewise, to have an enriching bond with Allah (swt) we need to be constantly engaging in acts, worthy of befriending the Al- Khaliq, our Creator. In contrast to the relationships with people when we neglect our duty towards Allah (swt), He does not turn aside from us and strip us of our blessings. Neither does he let us fester away, rather this tends to happen when we forget our purpose naturally. However, He is always present when we are in need of Him and when we finally do acknowledge and remember Him, we are never turned away. When we ask for Him for favours, even after not fulfilling what is Allah’s dutiful right. “Your Lord is shy and generous. He is shy to turn away the hands of His slave empty when he raises them” [Ahmad]

We all know that we can have attachments to people, objects and worldly matters. Nevertheless, we should also be aware of how if our relationship with Allah (swt) is faulty then we will realise the attachments for certain people or material objects can be the cause of our destruction, for when they disappear from our lives we are left feeling destroyed. The feelings and thoughts have been effected so much that it inevitably leads to actions against the self and this is haram. This only occurs when we have made people or our possessions to be the source of our fulfillment, meaning our happiness instead of Allah (swt). Letting ourselves be so attached to something allows us to be extremely vulnerable. For when the very thing we are attached to, is ripped away from our hands it will have the capacity to break us. Worldly things have the power to crush us is because one thing they all have in common is that they are of the Dunya. The Dunya was made imperfect and was never created to offer us eternal happiness because then that would be Jannah. Jannah would lose its value and really there would be no purpose for it. So holding onto these worldly attachments is like grasping onto a thin piece of string hanging over a cliff. Therefore, every time these are snatched away or lost never to be returned again, it would lead to despair and disappointment time and time again when we repeatedly latch onto things that we were never supposed to be make into our all, our everything.

In Surah Al- Imran Ayah 3:14, Allah states: “It was made attractive to people, the love of things they crave; women, sons, heaped up heaps of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle and will-tilled land. But this is onluy for the enjoyment of this worldly life, but Allah, with Him is the beautiful homecoming. This ayah exemplifies that man can relish the world’s fortunes but it will never satisfy him. What really quenches man’s needs is Allah (swt). Therefore, when we have the correct bond after every trial, after every adversity that may befall us we will understand that it is part of Allah’s decree to build our characters and mold our personalities for the advancement of our selves to deal with future experiences in life.

They way we perceive things and how it makes us react is all linked to the bond we have with Allah (swt). Everything stems from that connection. Thus, linking the relationship with Allah (swt) back to the dawah is that when we are constantly strengthening the bond with Him it leads us to be more motivated into progressing further as individuals to be better people. At the same time we will have the mindset that we will be striving to reach our true potential when it comes to dealing with our contacts.  It will not be burdensome due to the fact that we apprehend the fact that we are not doing this for our self, the party, anyone else, other than Allah (swt).

To taste the love of Allah and having that strong association with Allah (swt) would mean that we would exert ourselves towards doing all that pleases Him and refrain from that which displeases him. Knowing that we are blessed to have been guided by Al- Hadi, The Ultimate Guide and cherish it in such a manner that we rush towards the people to convey His message and bring them to the Deen and reinforcing the idea that Islam is an ideology, a way of life with a comprehensive system just like us who have been given the opportunity to be part of the call of Khilafah!

“Oh you who believe..Allah has made you love the faith, and made it so beautiful in your hearts, and has made you hate disbelief, immorality and rebelliousness. These are the righteous. This is the grace and bounty, from Allah, as Allah is All Knowledgable and All Wise” [Surah Hujarat 49:8-6]. This ayah clearly links to concept of the heart loving Allah and Islam so deeply that ultimately leads to being agitated to work for Allah’s Law and swipe kuffr from the lands.

And finally, to end this I’ll close with this narration: “A man came to the Prophet (saw) and asked him “Oh Allah’s messenger, tell me something I do to win Allah’s love and people’s love”. The Prophet (saw) answered: “Do not love this world, Allah would not love you and do not have a longing for whatever people have, people would love you” [Ibn Majah].

 

By A.I

Regret

Do not let regret consume you.

- For living in the past will not change a thing.

 Rather,  it will drag and hold you back down. 

Experiences are lessons. Therefore,  take heed from them.

Rekindling the past  does not allow one to move on. 

It stays within the present and  seeps into the future. 

Instead of moving forwards, 10 steps backwards is taken. 

When this occurs, every regret will make you forget any goodness. 

Every pain you felt will hit you right back in the face, 

time and time again &all in vain for not only did it not teach you 

to make the best of situations but keep the negatives for life. 

The self will fester away, 

the heart will turn bitter and the mind will never be in peace. Why? 

Because one has not accepted the decree of Allah and this is a fundamental belief which makes up the creed. 

Thus, it is a dangerous trap to fall into and precautions must be taken to safeguard oneself.

Moreover, to not be steered into this route by Shaytan who ultimately desires to cause our destruction and gains satisfaction from our misery. 

By A.I

Freedom. Freedom. Freedom.

Freedom. Freedom. Freedom.

- That which they seek.

Oh how deluded they are for is that what exists? 

When institutions are put in place to dictate the life of one..

One idea:'Freedom of speech'

- How fanciful it is.

"The true expression of Independence"- that is what is believed.

For how is that so?

When the term is a contradicting one in itself.

The words can pierce the heart-

Freely expressing oneself is emancipation?

How can that be?

Does this notion not hold extreme consequences? 

For there are many examples 

Just one- Racism.

Can discrimination not arise using "Freedom of Speech"?

And dictate what should be believed..

An authoritarian figure holding an 'elevated position'

Real emancipation is found-

Once Allah is in the heart

Desires no longer being the god

Leading us to be free of slavery, From this world

But a true servant of Allah.

-That is liberation. 

And gives us salvation. 

Dictatorship finally disappearing 

Independence is being established.

Man dictating is a disguise

'Twas just another form of enslavement..to the world.

True identity of a Muslimah-

Rejecting the ideas 

And being loyal to The One Allah 

As once stated: "There is no deity but Allah and Muhammad (saw) is His Messenger-

complete submission must be enforced.

By A.I

We do not cry no more

Bombs falling like rain

Conscience dug in a grave

Speech incapable of speaking

And the pen used to write this,

Is also bleeding.

Humans no longer, perceived humans

Open air prisons

Maximum ‘security’, to secure more insanity

In the brains of intellectual humans wanting

To revive this deen [religion]

We don’t want your ‘freedom’, ‘liberation’, ‘human rights’

It only showed your animalistic side

Dragging Guantanamo detainees by chains

Raping Aafia Siddiqui day by day

Fake charges and allegations so you can keep

Your democracy for it was only made against our Islamic system

The chemical weapons, tanks, can never destroy our thoughts

Our concepts embedded within us so go ahead with your war

You can only make more ground zeros

But we have among shattered houses tomorrows heroes

They have a stone in one hand, and the liwaa in the other

Our sons will grow up to be the Zinki and Salahuddin of our era

I do not cry no more.

We are proud to carry this call.

No one has died in vain,

No blood has been shed for kufr

No child has been mutilated for man

They call to Allaah and they died for Him in His path

To establish Islam, bring back the Khilafah

No rest from today until we live under La ilaha ilAllaah

By J.M

Expectations of this World & Reality

Life brings its highs, life brings its lows. This world has been made to lure you in, comfort you, please you and then disappoint you. It has its charms, but it has its juxtaposed darkness. It has its beauty, but also its ugliness. It has its patients and it has its victims. This world has been made a prison for the believer, we are shackled down by negative feelings, inclinations and thoughts. We may be 'free' in terms of physicality, but the ruh (soul) wants to wander freely, back to its home, Jannah (paradise).

Ever wondered why you feel sad, but dont know why?

How even after salah, tilawah, dhikr, you never fully feel content?

And in Ramadhan when you are most peaceful, you are not fully satisfied?

While many respected scholars have written great works on the secrets to happiness and how to lead a happy life, I feel compelled to tell you - life isnt a place for happy bunnies, although Id love to be.

Yes, there will be great moments of euphoria. I acknowledge and accept this. There will be times we hardly feel sad and can not stop smiling from the countless ni'mah Allaah bestows up on us. In spite of all this, I strongly believe sadness has been purely created for this world, to test its inhabitants with sourness, so when we go to the most desired place we will yearn and taste the sweetness of its binary opposite. As humans, we often become far too idealistic and this leads to us expecting too much from this world when in reality it has been made as a temporary abode, no different to a hotel, or a bridge, we just pass by for two moments then carry on our journey as wayfarers. 

What Im trying to express through all this waffling is, the dunyah will seduce you, wont ever marry you, and before you know it, 'bye bye honey, next woman please'. How then can we fall for its enchantments? It has suckered in many people, and we need to be wary of this before we're entrapped. How many chased money and business empires -but left for the grave with no penny in their wallet? How many chased women and left with no companion beside them? How many chased status, but was made from sperm and returned to dust? How many had pride in their houses, cars, children -but none could save them when the angel of death reached the collar bone?

Wallahi, our souls have been made by Allaah and surely they will return to Him. We all make mistakes and sin, we all have 'flopped' in our life time, we have been sucked into something we should ideally avoid, so here I am to remind you the loftiness of zuhd (asceticism/detachment). As we all know this world and everything in it can never truly makes us 'happy' so why be so madly, deeply, in love with it? 

It is reported that Ibrahim b Adham r.a said:

Zuhd (abstinence from materialism) is of three types: 

(i) obligatory zuhd, (ii) virtuous zuhd, (iii) zuhd for safety

Obligatory zuhd is to abstain from what is forbidden (haram)

Virtuous zuhd is to to be disinterested in what is allowed of this world

Zuhd for safety is to stay away from doubtful matters.

The less we love this world, the more happy we will be. The more we will focus on getting to the akhirah (hereafter) in the best of abodes, Paradise. We should aim to use this dunyah like a key to open the lock to the treasure. Im not encouraging individualism, its not to say you should only pray and leave the rest of the worlds affairs, but rather get involved, do ALL your obligations but with no strings attached (i.e expecting nothing from humans or worldly gain). As soon as you give your heart to something, you get hurt. The only time you give your heart and dont regret it, is when you give it to Allah, for the One who made you could never pain you. The One who loves you, knows what you love and He tests us with this world and all it contains. 'I will keep afflicting My slave, till he leaves the world with no sin'

Every affair for the believer is good. So when this world lets you down, when you're tearing up and feeling disappointed, just know a great deal of good awaits the believers - and InshaAllaah when we all walk into Paradise, none of the negatives will even be remembered.

By J.M


Please feel free to comment below with your ideas, if you have any questions email me at istandforislam@hotmail.com

Raped

Raped.
See now I saw that face filled with horror reading the first line, 
but others - simply read past and didnt give it a second thought
Such is our desensitization to this topic, some of us simply dont care.
I mean it wasnt you that went through the excruciating pain of having several men beat you? Now, did you? So you don't really feel a thing for the Syrian refugees being sold to those bastards who hastily take them in one by one. Do you?
Such is our society that makes transgression completely normal,
Thousands of women have their honor taken away but why would you give a flying toss? It wasn't your mother, right? It wasn't your friend?
Rape.
I can almost smell the vile men that touched my sister. My mother. My friend.
She washes and washes her body but the odor doesnt leave her poor head.
She cries and cries but no amount of water can wash away her pain or the covers of her bed.
She tosses and turns at night trying to forget what those pigs did to her, took away the one thing she guarded, but now she lays helpless on the cold floor,
another body in the morgue
another figure for your damn statistics
another percentage on sky news
these are our mothers.
And no contraceptive pill, donation or advert will ever undo what they do
Nothing can bring back what they took from her
So you can watch Islam channel, channel S and what not, raise millions for the women, the refugees and the orphans
But next time theres an appeal, Im calling and asking...
Pir saheb/ya shaykh how do we bring back the honor of our women?

Money makes the world go round?

I went to an Aafia siddqui event

Cage Prisoners event

Solutions to the Ummah event

(You get the point, I go to a lot of lectures/talks)

The saddest reality is they all end up raising money at the end (which sounds great and amazing mashaAllaah and it probably does help) although the effect it has is like a drop in the ocean. Thats how insignificant money is when we have a serious crisis out here all around the world. People feel content chucking money in buckets but never ponder over 'why am I even donating?' 'why did the need to donate occur?' 'what is the root of all these problems i.e dishonoring of Muslim women, unjust imprisonment, massacring of thousands of men, women and children. 

A huge issue is the intellectual decline among Muslims. Men and women. We are no longer the deep thinkers our predecessors were. Ever since the deen was separated from the state, we have become sheep. We follow one another, eat, sleep and baah-baah at everything that comes in our way. Some will not even ponder for a moment 'what could be the solution to all the problems of the world' and even more ironically Muslims will not turn to Islam even though they claim their religion has all the answers and that their religion is perfect! True or true?

Many of us know the story of the woman who cried out 'O Mutasim!'. A non muslim man slapped a muslim womans face and she rebuked him by saying 'I will call upon the Muslim ruler to defend me!'. The non muslim mocked and said rudely 'do you think Mutasim will send you black and white horses to save you?'. The news reached Mutasim, not a second was wasted for he sent an entire army to defend the honor of one woman. Narrations say the army was so huge that when they reached the woman in one land the army was still leaving the other. Thats how long the line of horses were. They were black and white too - beat that! Now what we see from this event and many others in history is that the imam/khalif had a great responsibility over the people. Having a muslim ruler under an islamic state gave people living under it security and stability.

When we have giant organizations telling the masses CHARITY is the way it not only enforces the idea that charity is the only solution but it disregards the islamic answer for everything I've mentioned in this post. We see the horn of Africa on starvation mode, no water, no food. We naturally feel sad. Many of us including me will pull out money and donate with our eyes closed. It may make you feel good and think 'yes Ive done my part; I can sleep soundly tonight'. But I personally cant. To think for a moment that Ive done my part by simply chucking a coin or donating through a website is an insult to my deen and those who believe in la ilaha il Allaah. How can we say RAPE is unacceptable, we'd hate to see our own mother or sister go through it, but because it is a women in the middle east who we've never met...our pain isnt the same? This isnt the concept of Ummah. This isnt the concept of Unity.

To hear Aafia Siddiqui is getting raped and beaten by several men in her prison cell makes me feel sick. Shes my sister. Shes yours too. Why is it organisations will do so much to raise awareness but never mention the islamic solution nor will they ever discuss what will liberate every woman on the face of this planet; regardless of faith. I wait for the day I can call upon a Mustasim of the 21st century, where he will send an army for all our protection. I make duaa we get back our shield, our imam our khilafah state. For the islamic state was the only thing that gave the Muslims their honor and their freedom from the West. 

This ramadhan I request you all think about the real solutions to the Ummah and her affairs. You will see so many people asking for donations, dont be stingy! Give give give! Have mercy on others and Allaah will have mercy on you inshaAllaah. Just dont be fooled and assume charity will stop our baby brother from starving in Somalia, money wont free Shaker Aamer, and money will certainly never bring the Muslims any contentment unless its used under a state which rules by Allaah's law i.e the jizyah, tax, baytul mal etc.

This was just a quick post to get you thinking before the blessed month. Excuse any spelling or grammatical errors. All good is from Allaah, all mistakes are mine. JazakAllaahu khairaan for reading.