Pen Marks

Remember when your alarm goes off, there’s no snooze button that you can push so you can get an extra minute…

What are you doing with your time now?

Source

Even if you have a 2010 model car, it won’t get you anywhere if there’s no fuel in the tank. Similarly, even if you try extra extra hard to be the best believer ever, you won’t be able to without help from Allah. – Sh. Muhammed from Friday Khutbah

There is a saying:

When something occurs and it is according to your wishes and desire, then that is a good thing… but when something takes place which is against your will and desire then it is even better. For that which is not in accordance with your desire is in accordance to the desire of the Lord’

It’s so easy to get caught up in this dunya and forget the favors of Allah. Something might happen that we really didn’t want and we start becoming so displeased with it that we forget about all the other good things in our lives. It’s like our hearts are only pleased when it has what it wants and desires.

When anything happens we should always relate its occurrence to Allah; by doing so we will never be displeased, and we won’t become ungrateful and unappreciative; instead we’ll just accept it and be patient.

But.. it’s easier said then done..

I love April, mostly because of the rain But with it comes a really bizarre day, April Fools Day. I mean seriously, it’s so annoying. It’s not even Duhr time yet and I already encountered two people playing April fools jokes.

We were all sitting in the classroom a few minutes before the class started waiting for the instructor to arrive. When he came in and said Class is canceled today! So we starting puting away our books and getting ready to leave and he’s like April Fools!

Then as I walked to the library I heard this guy saying to his friend Hey did I tell you my mom got in an accident today and killed this guy? And his friend was shocked and kind of alaramed and the guy tells him April Fools!

Seriously? Why would you joke lie about your mom getting into an accident?

I hope I don’t hear another April Fools joke again today (So if you were planning on doing that, read this)

The Messenger of Allah, (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) was asked, ‘Can the mu’min be a coward?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He was asked, ‘Can the mu’min be a miser? He said, ‘Yes.’ He was asked, ‘Can the mu’min be a liar?’ He said, ‘No.’

“Do not sit idle, for indeed Death is seeking you!” - Al-Hasan Al-Basri

Don’t you know that protection, tomorrow, will be limited to those who feared Allaah [today], and to those who sold something ephemeral for something permanent, something small for something great, and fear for protection? Don’t you realize that you are the descendants of those who have perished, that those who remain will take their place after you, and that this will continue until you are all returned to Allaah? – `Umar ibn `Abdul `Aziz

Death is sitting at the curb waiting… for you.

Am I the only one that is relieved that February is over? It seemed like it was lasting forever this year. Don’t ask me why I hate February, I don’t know why. I just do. Lol. Welcome March! Although I would very much like you to leave so I can welcome my favorite month…

Here’s another repost of an old post.

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I have this habit of carrying around small notebooks/pads with me everywhere I go. If I listen to a lecture at the Masjid, or in the car, or from my iPod, and the Shaykh says something really cool, I end up scribbling it down before I forget it. So far I have six different notebooks (I call them journals) one of every size to fit all my purses. Then when I get home I transfer everything to my special brown journal that says “I’m a journal, someday I hope to become a … party hat”

Now you’re probably wondering why I’m writing about my journals.

Problem is, I have class tomorrow with Shaykh Muhammed and as I sat down to post Part 2 of my notes from his class, I saw my journal missing from it’s special spot in my bookshelf. I spent the last hour looking for it before giving up. Then as I sat down again, I remembered a dua my Tajweed teacher taught me last Ramadan.

Allahuma ya jami’a an-nas liyaumin la raiba fih ijma baini wa baina dhaliti.

Roughly meaning: “Oh Allah who Brings back everyone on the day of judgment, bring back to me what I have lost ” Inshallah I can find it before tomorrow night.

Update!

Found it alhamdulillah, well actually my brother did, but the dua worked!

As I stood at the bus stop today waiting for my mom to pick me up I caught a woman staring at me. She smiled at me and started to talk to me a little bit about how Portland’s weather is so unpredictable, and how annoyed she was at the wind because it was messing up her hair. “But you probably don’t have to worry about that” she said casually. It took a few seconds for me to figure out she was talking about my hijab.

“But it keeps flapping around in the wind.” I replied back.

“Does it keep you warm?”

“Sure – kind of.”

She had a silk scarf around her neck, she took it off and wrapped it around her head – I thought it was a nice try, her front bangs was spilling out though. She took out a mirror, looked at herself, fixed it so that her hair didn’t show anymore, and smiled.

“This is really comfortable.” She grinned. “I could probably keep this on for the whole day. It works better than when it’s around my neck.”

“I don’t wear it to keep warm.”

“Oh I know you don’t.” She laughed like I said the silliest thing. “I read about why you all wear it a while ago. It’s really for modesty and all right?”

Unfortunately that’s were our conversation ended – her bus arrived just then. I wish I could have spoken to her more, she looked like someone who was really interested in Islam – I mean what non-muslim wears their scarf as a Hijab? May Allah guide her

Once upon a time in a far away place, there lived a man and his sons. This man didn’t have two sons, or three, or four, not even five. He had twelve sons. Yes that’s right, 12. And he them all dearly. However he did have his favorite.

A beautiful boy full of akhlaaq and iman. His name was Yusuf. Now the other boys realized that this young brother of theirs was their father’s favorite. So what happened?

They got jealous of course.

So now shaitan took this opportunity and filled their hearts with anger and fury to the point that they wanted to kill him. So they made a plot. They were going to throw him into the well. And they eventually did.

Now this father was waiting patiently for his sons to come back. And when they did, he saw that his beloved Yusuf was not with them. He panicked.

Where is he?

A wolf ate him.

What?

Here’s his shirt….covered with blood.

I always find it amazing how patient Prophet Ya’qub was when they showed him the shirt. The feeling of grief and sorrow of loosing a beloved one filled his heart and overflowed through his eyes. But he never said an innapropriate word out of anger and he never complained to anyone. Except Allah. Even the few words that he cried out when he was given the horrifying news with weren’t much of a complaint either.

‘I shall exercise patience without any complaint, and I shall seek Allah’s assistance against what you have devised.’

So imagine you had someone you really loved, and you would do everything it took to make sure that they weren’t harmed. But in the end, you let him go out with people who you know could harm him, and when they come back they give you a blood stained shirt of his. I don’t think any of us would be able to sit and take that news and just say Sabrun Jameel let alone live with those people for another decade or two. May Allah have mercy on Prophet Ya’qub.

First Post of Pen’s Reflections