Purity, Simplicity, & Balance

Bismillah.

And I quote, "avoid regret by lowering our expectations about the results of our decision.."

"Choose when to choose.. I have chosen to make a choice and after that I will be satisfied with it. In a consumeristic society, we should seek what is good enough rather than always wanting the best because the problem is, there will always be a better item, or a better looking spouse, school, job, etc out there. We should be ppl who say "you know what, that is good enough," NOT to avoid pursuing excellence but it doesn't mean that in everything we need the best bcos with that we will never be satisfied."

The Prophet (pbuh) said, "When you see someone who has more, look to someone who has less bcos when we see someone who has more, we are frustrated but when we see someone who has less, then we feel gratitude."

- Dr. Ingrid Mattson

3. PART 1/2: What is Love?

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim - In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.

Let's seek His Love~

Assalamu ‘alaykum & Greetings to all,

Hope everyone’s in the pink of health and for us Muslims, may we all constantly be in our highest state of Imaan, inshaAllah. So for first timers, this post addresses the 3^rd topic of  “Towards the Truth Conference 2011” Series that I wrote around mid-2011.

Please note that the following are based on my note-taking coupled with my annotations. Thank you.

_______________________________________________________________

Speaker 1: Shaykh Zia Ullah Khan

• So what is Love? – It’s a mixed of emotions. Something that you can’t see, it’s not tangible. It’s painful, beautiful, sweet but most of all, Love is unexplainable. It is something indescribable.
  
• People who are in love are insane. Love is an illness/sickness à the only cure is marriage i.e. to have the person and you can’t deny it, don’t try to be righteous in this matter.
  
• But the Question is: Is it halal for us to love that person? Love IS PERMISSIBLE in Islam cos it is not something you can control. It is something that Allah SWT put and plant in our hearts. The only thing Islam is asking of us is to control love, to handle it. One thing men should drill into their head is that: If a lady dislikes a guy, they just don’t love you. Women are full of compassion, yes, but they can be hard core cold-hearted when it comes to this. And this is the time you got to be a man. Find someone else or go down on your knees and say the syahadah.
• Most of the time, human face downfall when they fail/fall in this field. But when you have Allah & Islam in your heart, you will be able to pick yourself and regain you confidence, inshaAllah. Devote yourself to Him, to the Prophet (pbuh) and ask for forgiveness for having loved someone so much to the extent that you forget the meaning of the one true, sacred love – i.e. His Divine Love.
• Allah approves love. He created from yourselves wives, husbands (spouses), mawaddah (love), ar-Rahman(compassion/mercy), etc.
• What people misunderstand is that they fall in love and think that after getting married, it will be the likes of what’s displayed in the movies these days, believing it will be happily ever after but what happens a lot nowadays instead are arguments, that often lead to divorces/unhappy marriages. 
• We need to understand and acknowledge; women express feelings and men are dead. We (referring to male race) don’t know how to express feelings like women. That's just how God created us men and women different. Women express love much better than men, in most cases. Smile for your wife even if you don’t know why she’s happy. HE place love and compassion in you, make use of it well, at the right time, with the right people~!
• So what’s the problem then? It’s how we see it!

1. Unlettered Prophet (pbuh)

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

Assalamu 'alaykum & Greetings to all,

I'm currently reading a book on Islam & Christianity and would like to share some of its contents with my dear readers. Hopefully it's not too dry for you though, haha. Here goes the first to this series! =)

_______________________________________________________________

Muhammad's experience in the cave of Hira, widely known as Jabal-an-Nur (The Mountain of Light), and his response to that first Revelation is the exact fulfillment of another Biblical prophecy. In the Book of Isaiah (Chp 29, verse 12): "and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, read this, I pray thee: and he said, I am not learned." [Here, the book refers to the Holy Al-Qur'an.]

(53:3-5) - No human had ever taught him a word. His teacher was his Creator - Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him: he was taught by one mighty in power.

Without any human learning, 'he put to shame the wisdom of the learned'. [SubhanAllah~!!]

WAllahua'lam.

Bismillah.

How can there be something that seems so right on one end and so wrong on the other?

Rabbi yassir wa la tu'assir, meaning: O' my Lord, make things easier for me, do not make things difficult for me. [Du'a of the Prophet (pbuh)]

Never lose hope in Allah's (SWT) Mercy

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

Ana's current favourite nasheed. Gives me such hope and peace+grace of God within my soul. Alhamdulillahi lathee bini matihee tatimmus salihaat. (All praises to Allah for all good things are perfected by Him)

_______________________________________________________________

God always does things right,

His way is ALWAYS the best way,

even if to us it seems all wrong.

If you asked God for one thing and received another,

TRUST.

You can be sure that He will always give you what you need at the appropriate time.

You will get it in times of your need, I did. =)

_______________________________________________________________

"O' Allah, please forgive me and have mercy on me, always guide me and grant me sustenance."

(39:53) - Never lose hope in the mercy of Allah SWT.

                             

_______________________________________________________________

"MOTHERS play a great role in building a generation. The better a mother is at raising her children, the more successfully the Ummah is built and the more successful it is at producing heroes. You hardly ever see a great man except that a great woman is behind him who left some of her traits in his personality by way of the milk which he was fed and the warm embrace in which he sought refuge." (Majallat al-Jihad'/36) - Women In Islam

Source: Muna bint Antar

WAllahua'lam.

>90% Muallafs are similar in many ways~!

Bismillah.

Every time I read a new revert's story, it's as if I'm reading my very own experience. There's a lot of similarities especially when it comes to the spiritual feeling and peace of God that we feel in this faith. The following is an excerpt from the story (linked below):

" I was pretending to feel it so others would think I was more religious than I was. Because I was honestly ashamed. I'd go to all of these Christian conferences and hear these incredible, heart-wrenching stories about people who were lost but had found the grace and peace of God, and I wanted SO desperately to have that. So I learned to raise my hands to the songs that were supposed to get that feeling, to cry when other people were when they felt the spirit of god. But there was no feeling, only action. 

I think thats how I know that Islam is right for me. Because when I read the Quran, or when I'm praying, or when I go to the masjid, it's like I finally get it. I finally have somewhere where I belong, where I feel at home. Now I'm the one who has that peace and grace of God. I hadn't felt that ever before.

Another thing that's really easy is always remembering Allah. Thats one of the things that i LOVE about Islam, is the constant focus on Allah. "

Link: 

http://www.facebook.com/notes/shefa-obaid/interview-newly-converted-to-islam-lauren-ward-shares-her-story/10150304919811808