Pen Marks

Bismillah ArRahman ArRaheem

I was speaking to someone on Friday and I reminded her that a new Hijri year had just begun. She replied saying that’s sad. I asked her why and she said, It just shows how far away we are from the Prophet. I mean it was about 1420 years since his death so we’re so far away from him time-wise and state-wise. Look around at the ummah, we’re so hopeless…

I personally don’t agree. Sure, we’re basically nothing compared to the Prophet and his Sahabah, but saying that we’re hopeless is in my opinion pretty wrong. I remember a hadeeth by the Prophet where he says, “There will always be khair (goodness) in my Ummah (nation) till the Day of Judgement” So who are we to say that the Ummah is so hopeless?

Anywayz on Friday December 18, the month of Muharram began and with it came a new year. So here’s a new year, what will we do? It feels like yesterday when 1430 started and I know personally I haven’t done enough. But Allah gave us all an oppurtunity to live for another year, how will we show our gratefulness?

One day, a $1 note and a $50 note sat together in a wallet…

$1: Hey, good to see you, where’d you go yesterday?
$50: Oh, you know, the usual. I went to some club, the shopping mall, a fancy restaurant, the works. <pause> $1, you look kinda sad, what’s wrong?
$1: Oh, I was just thinking about what an exciting time you had. Lucky you.
$50: Hmm. Where’d you go then?
$1: The usual too for me. The masajid, some charity event, an orphanage, etc.

O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein. And know that Allah is Rich (Free of all wants), and Worthy of all praise.
[al-Qur'an 2:267]

1. Our Knowledge: Wasted by not taking action with it

2. Our Actions: Wasted by committing them without sincerity.

3. Our Wealth: Wasted by using on things that will not bring us ajr (reward from Allah). We waste our money, our status, our authority, on things which have no benefit in this life or in akhirah (hereafter).

4. Our Hearts: Wasted because they are empty from the love of Allah, and the feeling of longing to go to Him, and a feeling of peace and contentment. In it’s place, our hearts are filled with something or someone else.

5. Our Bodies: Wasted because we don’t use them in ibadah (worship) and service of Allah.

6. Our Love: Our emotional love is misdirected, not towards Allah, but towards something/someone else.

7. Our Time: Wasted, not used properly, to compensate for that which has passed, by doing what is righteous to make up for past deeds.

8. Our Intellect: Wasted on things that are not beneficial, that are detrimental to society and the individual, not in contemplation or reflection.

9. Our Service: Wasted in service of someone who will not bring us closer to Allah, or benefit in dunyaa.

10. Our Dhikr (Remembrence of Allah): Wasted, because it does not effect us or our hearts.

Ibn AlQayyim, rahimahullah, once spoke about 2 types of sleep: natural and unnatural.

Natural is when someone in the desert who eats food from the land goes to sleep when the sun sets … i.e. natural.

Then there is ‘our’ lifestyle which is controlled by the Burger-caffeine brain hostile takeover. Meaning, it causes unnatural sleep patters.

If someone was to eat a quarter pounder, double cheese burger, with cheesy fries, supersized everything … yes they would go to sleep. But is it a natural sleep, no. It’s a sleep caused by the blood working overtime to digest the food causing sleepy ‘intoxication’.

Or the Burger-caffeine can do the opposite: if the person is super tired and they take the excess caffeine, the caffeine holds the sleep at gunpoint and does not allow the body to rest (even though the body is dying for rest).

“The roots of evil are three:
Arrogance, Envy, and Greed.
Arrogance prevented Satan from bowing,
Envy led Cane to kill Abel, and
Greed took Adam out of Paradise.”
Hasan al-Basri

Our beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam has taught us this same lesson in regards to our Deen and religion. He states in a Hadith:

The value of a believer is known through his heart and actions, no matter what his appearance is. Just as a bank would accept a penny coin so will Allah accept His servants through the value of their hearts.

No matter how a Muslim may look, no matter what his race or colour, regardless of his language or background, the true value of a believer is in his heart because he holds the Kalimah within, he holds the love of Allah and of His Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam.

After realising this, we should remember that we are brothers and sisters in Islam and that Allah has made us different so that we can recognise one another and appreciate one another. It is though His wisdom that He has made some people rich and some people poor, some people happy some people sad, some people educated and others uneducated; one reason is so that we can all aid one another, the poor will work for money while the rich will need them for their services. etc.

May Allah give us the ability to realise that the true value of a person is recognised from his actions and his heart, and that appearance is only for recognition

Friends are special people… who in real sense, do reflect the choices we make in life. We cant pick our family…. And society dictates us (and sometimes even our conscience) to select a single mate, but you know our friends can be as diverse and infinite as we want. We can chose the person with whom we want to be friends. But, that privilege can be a danger in its self. As the prophet warned us about bad friends, we are allowed to pick and chose who ever we want, but just make sure that they won’t cause you to bit your hands on the day of judgement saying, ‘Oh I wish i never took him/her as a friend!’

I am grateful to Allah that he blessed me with a few very good people as friends and he let me be a part of their life… sharing tears, pain, joy, love. Friends with whom there is understanding and forgiveness without the need for even asking for it. Who depend on each other and are always there, through times of trial, happy times and hard times. Friends who have no grudges or demand perfection…. who always have a shoulder to lean on, or a hand to lift you up.

This post is for the few very good friends that i have, who are true to my heart. Those for whom i care for and love unconditionally. I wish them health, happiness, prosperity, beauty and love. I wish for them all the things good in this life and the akhirah.

In our lives, on the path of Islam and reaching Allah, we will also find times where we will either trip or come to a little stop, it is at this time that Shaytaan will take the opportunity to come to us and try and ’sell’ us a lie and deceive us, or he will come and ‘beg’ us to do something which will divert our attention from the road for a moment or so.It is then our choice whether we choose to pursue further onto the path we have chosen or whether we are deceived by the “sellers” and “beggars”.

When you are trying to get home, if your house is towards the right, it would be crazy to turn left in search of it. Similarly when we set out, our destination is always the pleasure of Allah; reaching Him, and acquiring paradise. However, no matter what our destination is, if we take the wrong turn, we will never reach there and in the process we will have wasted valuable time. So watch out for the signs and don’t take a wrong turn. And if you do, there’s something called a U-Turn but you won’t be able to make that back turn if you let Shaitan into the driver’s seat.

He glanced out the window to see the frost covering the cars. It was going to be a cold walk across the park to work.  He made sure that he was prepared by putting on his big coat, woolly hat, and gloves before even leaving the house…

So what?

Well, we are always reminded, either in the quran, ahadith or by others, of the temporary nature of this life in the dunya, yet we still remain ignorant to prepare for when we have to leave this world.  The journey to work/school etc.  is only a short one yet we prepare for whatever the weather may be outdoors, but for the permanent abode of the akhirah (hereafter) do we really want to cast it aside in our mind and ignore the signs telling us to prepare?

I have no idea who wrote this, but it’s beautiful and so true and something I really need to work on….

When someone lightens up your life just by their presence, you can be sure they are emitting a very positive energy. When someone puts a damper on the meeting or a conversation, you can be sure there is some hidden inner baggage which contains sorrow and darkness. Which do you bring to the party? A little light or a little dark? A lot of optimism or a little pessimism? In olden days, before one switch could illuminate a whole city, one candle had to be lit by another. So if you are aware that you are carrying a little darkness, perhaps it may be useful to spend time with someone whose inner light is already lit, and stays lit in all circumstances. Eventually we may learn the art ourselves, and then serve as a candle to others.