Please forgive me my sins O' God.

Allahu Al Musta'an

Screams, screams, and screams. In dire need of a getaway, a rapid escape from this suffocation, even if it's only for a split second, just to release and rid of this excruciating, choking heart. A microsecond of it would mean a lot. Terasa dada sesak teramat. Astaghfirulla al adzim.. Weak and an ungrateful servant I am.

But I know there's sunshine behind that rain

I know there's good times behind that pain, hey

Can you tell me how I can make a change

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes and pray

[Pray, Bieber] 

Ramadan Advice - Where is Your Heart?

Bismillah.



Salam alaik & Greetings to all !

So I'm sure everyone is aware that Ramadhan is just around the corner and here is a very nice and touching video I'd like to share with all so that it's not only me who benefits from such a wonderful talk by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. (Thanks to a dear friend of mine who's so kind to share it with me.) Note: The beginning might not be that appealing but bear with the intro cos the talk gets more and more interesting. Trust me! HIS MESSAGE IS AWESOME!

Do listen to it. It's just ~12 mins. I'm sure you can spare 12 minutes even if you're the most busy person in the world, be it president of the States, busy studying for exam, etc. Seriously, if you don't make time, you'll forever be the I-don't-have-time person. Time and tide waits for no man. Remember, make time for Him and He'll make time for you in return. =) You never know when He'll strip you off your life. Life is fragile.

P/s: Love your God more than any other thing/creation in this Dunya. Live your life as best as you can in this temporary world, for Him and for Jannah aka Paradise! =)

WAllahua'lam.

2. PART 2/2: Call On Me

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim - in the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Beneficient

Salam alaiki & Greetings all,

Hope everyone's in the best of health and in your highest state of Iman, inshaAllah. Anyway, here's the continuation to the previous post.
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Speaker 2: Shaykh Navaid Aziz

• "PAIN OF REGRET" àYou need to avoid this in life. (When I first heard him mention "pain of regret", I could connect with it right away. It is so true that regretting always bring you pain and if you don't stop regretting, the pain will never come to an end. *Shivers at how powerful 'regret' can be*) "Pain of death" àYou should also prevent this BUT the worst is the combination of these two~! Never ever allow this to happen to yourself. Always remember that sincere repentance is constantly accepted by Him. Allah forgives all sins. 
• Allah calls on you to change. But what goes on in many minds are: "What is the point of changing my life? What is the point of asking Allah to forgive me? I have committed too many sins. I'm too full of sin and I'm not worthy anymore." Now, my dear brothers and sisters, Surah Al-Araf shows us du'a taubat: "O' Allah, we have oppressed ourselves and if you do not forgive us, then we are losers."
• YES, it will be difficult but if you put your trust & faith in Allah fully, He will make it easy for you, inshaAllah. He is Most Merciful, Most Loving. Let's not forget that.

• How to heed Allah's Call on you? It all starts with reconnecting to Allah SWT~! It starts with the heart. All changes begins with the remembrance of Allah and the rebuild of your relationship with Him! You have to recreate your trust in Him. You are not created for anyone else but Me. You are for Me. 
• Remember that our hearts belong to Him. The key to opening your heart is turning to Allah SWT because the heart is His. The heart is God's and it is He who allows light in you. -Shaykh Hamza Yusuf-
• When things seem to be messed up and horrid for you, remember His Call. Your messed up life is not what He wants for you. For example, if your marriage seems to be full of arguments, you need to sit, take time, and reflect. You have and need to understand the opposite gender. It really helps avoid many common arguments. You need to have the basic understanding of the other gender like acknowledging the fact that talking is an important element in life for women but not men. When men are stressed, they prefer to be left alone. Don't go approaching them the way you approach other females. God made men and women to be different. Our differences are to complement each others' lacks. You just need to know how to make the best out of it. This is just one example. There are many kinds of things that may be bothering you. Turn, seek Him and inshaAllah, all will be well. He will guide those who seek Him. 

That's it for this speaker. Hmm, it is kinda short eh.. I guess I was listening more than taking down notes for this Shaykh. Or maybe he speaks very fast, so I'm not enough of a speed note-taking person. 

Anyways, I will be addressing "What is Love" topic in the next "post on conference". I know I enjoyed this talk a lot and Sh Rageah is one of the speakers too. Hehe. As for the very next post, I have a very nice and touching video by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf that I'd like to share with all. May more people benefit from his sermons. May Allah bless him too for his good deeds.

WAllahua'lam.

2. PART 1/2: Call on Me

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim - in the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalamu' alaykum and greetings I bid to all,

Today, I'll address the 2nd topic (which corresponds to Session #6 in the Conference) entitled "Call On Me".
*Btw, the "no-update" is due to some circumstances I'm under atm. My apologies.

Please note that my writings are based on my note-taking coupled with my annotations. Thank you.
______________________________________

Speaker 1: Shaykh Tahir Anwar

• There's a hadith by the Prophet (pbuh) that says that DU'A IS ESSENCE OF ALL WORSHIPS. Call upon your Lord in a state where you are humble. While you're talking to Allah, that is the time He loves you most. 
• Allah WILL ALWAYS listen to you as long as you turn and seek Him.
  
  Bila berharap, carilah Allah
  Bila kesusahan, mintalah padaNya
  Bila kesedihan, adulah kepadaNya
  Bila gembira, kongsilah dan berterima kasihlah kepada Allah SWT
  DEKATKAN DIRI kpdNya
  Barulah Allah akan sentiasa bersama kita~! -part credits to Merah-
• We need to be conscious! (Shaykh Hamza Yusuf addressed this in the video I posted in the post before this) ALWAYS! Don't be unaware or be in a heedlessness state. SEEK ALLAH'S BLESSINGS~! Make du'a to Allah so things are made easy for you. Make 'em du'a when you leave home, travel (btw, musafirs should pray more as I heard that you get more erm.. ajr/pahala is it? Oops hehe, I forgot what the extras are exactly.. but just pray a lot if you're a traveler ok? No harm doing it =D), etc. Basically, practise performing supplications. =) 
• As we make du'a, also don't forget to make du'a for people around you, make du'a for goodness. Try not to just make du'a for yourself only all the time. It's kinda selfish no? Others want and need your du'as too^^
• Do you know that today we are blessed and fine because there is someone out there who makes du'a for us? WE HAVE TO BE CONSCIOUS of that; that there are people praying for us, hence we should also make prayer for others. PARENTS' PRAYERS especially, are ALWAYS accepted. WE FAIL TO REALISE that it is not "I", it is the du'a of the people around us! Make du'a for everyone: for someone who has done us something good, who did us favours, who are always so kind and thoughtful, willing to share knowledge with you and YES, even for those who has wrong against you~! Make du'a for them, for Allah to guide them to entail a new, improved journey/path. Du'a for your country! WE NEED TO REALISE THE CONSCIOUSNESS IN "MAKING DU'A FOR PPL AROUND(NOT LITERALLY) YOU"~!!
• Do you also know that we can start making du'a for our children, even if they're not born into this dunya yet. You don't actually have to wait till they are around for you to make du'a for them. You can gradually & continually du'a for your child so as to how you wish them to be and not to be, etc.
• REMEMBER TO THANK ALLAH. Giving thanks to Him is a must for me, everyday! How do I ensure so as to not forget thanking Him? Well, simple as ABC, I just include "this" in my solats and since solats are compulsory everyday, putting "this" into your prayers will ensure your gratefulness to Him EVERY SINGLE DAY! MashaAllah, He will be pleased with you! =)
• DO NOT be discouraged if your prayers do not get answered once in a while. Whoever said that life's gonna be a smooth sail huh? =p And you know, sometimes, your prayers don't get answered at that time, maybe the reward will come later or in another form that you don't expect and yada yada.. Just trust & have faith in Him. After all, He Knows what's best for us!
  
• Another point I'd like to highlight that is mentioned by the Shaykh is that Du'as don't need to be made in any certain language. Just talk to Him. Du'a for Him to give you the ability to trust & understand His reason for placing you here on Earth, know your purpose of life, protect your Iman and etc. 

Okay, this is the end for this speaker. I have prepared the notes on Speaker 2 as well but my fingers are stinging quite a bit due to playing some music earlier. Shikes~ Anyway, I will continue in the next post aight~ inshaAllah.

WAllahua'lam