They leave but do they come back?

[copied from Yasmin Mogahed's]



Leaving is hard. Losing is harder. So a few weeks ago I asked the question, ‘why do people have to leave each other?’ The answer took me into some of my life’s deepest realizations and struggles. But it has also led me to wonder: After people leave, do they ever return? After something we love is taken from us, does it ever come back? Is loss permanent—or just a means for a higher purpose? Is loss the End itself, or a temporary cure for our heart’s ailments?

There’s something amazing about this life. The very same worldly attribute that causes us pain is also what gives us relief: Nothing here lasts. What does that mean? It means that the breathtakingly beautiful rose in my vase will wither tomorrow. It means that my youth will neglect me. But it also means that the sadness I feel today will change tomorrow. My pain will die. My laughter won’t last forever—but neither will my tears. We say this life isn’t perfect. And it isn’t. It isn’t perfectly good. But, it also isn’t perfectly bad, either.

Allah (glorified is He) tells us in a very profound ayah (verse): “Verily with hardship comes ease.” (Qur’an, 94:5). Growing up I think I understood this ayah wrongly. I used to think it meant: after hardship comes ease. In other words, I thought life was made up of good times and bad times. After the bad times, come the good times. I thought this as if life was either all good or all bad. But that is not what the ayah is saying. The ayah is saying WITH hardship comes ease. The ease is at the same time as the hardship. This means that nothing in this life is ever all bad (or all good). In every bad situation we’re in, there is always something to be grateful for. With hardship, Allah also gives us the strength and patience to bear it.

If we study the difficult times in our lives, we will see that they were also filled with much good. The question is – which do we chose to focus on? I think the trap we fall into is rooted in this false belief that this life can be perfect—perfectly good or perfectly bad. But that’s not the nature of dunya (this life). That’s the nature of the hereafter. The hereafter is saved for the perfection of things. Jannah (paradise) is perfectly and completely good. There is no bad in it. And Jahannam (hell – may Allah protect us) is perfectly and completely bad. There is no good in it.

By not truly understanding this reality, I myself would become consumed by the momentary circumstances of my life (whether good or bad). I experienced each situation in its’ full intensity—as if it was ultimate or would never end. The way I was feeling at the moment transformed the whole world and everything in it. If I was happy in that moment, past and present, near and far, the entire universe was good for that moment. As if perfection could exist here. And the same happened with bad things. A negative state consumed everything. It became the whole world, past and present, the entire universe was bad for that moment. Because it became my entire universe, I could see nothing outside of it. Nothing else existed for that moment. If you wronged me today, it was because you no longer cared about me—not because this was one moment of a string of infinite moments which happened to be tinted that way, or because you and I and this life just aren’t perfect. What I was experiencing or feelings at that instant replaced context, because it replaced my entire vision of the world.

I think in our experiential nature, some of us may be especially susceptible to this. Perhaps that is the reason we can fall prey to the “I’ve never seen good from you” phenomenon which the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) referred to in his hadith. Perhaps some of us say or feel this way because at that moment, experientially we really haven’t seen good, because our feeling at that instant replaces, defines and becomes everything. Past and present becomes rolled up into one experiential moment.

But, the true realization that nothing is complete in this life transforms our experience of it. We suddenly stop being consumed by moments. In the understanding that nothing is limitless here, that nothing here is kamil (perfect, complete), Allah enables us to step outside of moments and see them for what they are: not universes, not Reality, past and present, just that—a single moment in a string of infinite moments…and that they too shall pass.

When I cry or lose or bruise, so long as I am still alive, nothing is ultimate. So long as there is still a tomorrow, a next moment, there is hope, there is change, there is redemption. What is lost, is not lost forever.

So in answering the question of whether what is lost comes back, I study the most beautiful examples.  Did Yusuf return to his father? Did Musa return to his mother? Did Hajar return to Ibrahim? Did health, wealth and children return to Ayoub? From these stories we learn a powerful and beautiful lesson: what is taken by Allah is never lost. In fact, it is only what is with Allah that remains. Everything else vanishes. Allah (swt) says, “What is with you must vanish: what is with Allah will endure. And We will certainly bestow, on those who patiently persevere, their reward according to the best of their actions.” (Quran 16:96)

So, all that is with Allah, is never lost. In fact the Prophet ﷺ has said: “You will never give up a thing for the sake of Allah (swt), but that Allah will replace it for you with something that is better for you than it.” (Ahmad) Did not Allah take the husband of Umm Salimah, only to replace him with the Prophet ﷺ?

Sometimes Allah takes in order to give. But, it’s crucial to understand that His giving is not always in the form we think we want. He knows best what is best. Allah says: “… But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not.” (Quran 2:216)

But if something is going to be returned in one form or another, why is it taken at all? Subhan’Allah. It is in the process of ‘losing’ that we are given.

Allah gives us gifts. But then we often become dependent on those gifts, instead of Him. When He gives us money, we depend on the money—not Him. When He gives us people, we depend on people—not Him. When He gives us status or power, we depend on, and become distracted by these things. When Allah gives us health, we become deceived. We think we will never die.

Allah gives us gifts, but then we come to love them as we should only love Him. We take those gifts and inject them into our hearts, until they take over. Soon we cannot live without them. Every waking moment is spent in contemplation of them, in submission and worship to them. The mind and the heart that was created by Allah, for Allah, becomes the property of someone or something else. And then the fear comes. The fear of loss begins to cripple us. The gift—that should have remained in our hands—takes over our heart, so the fear of losing it consumes us. Soon, what was once a gift becomes a weapon of torture and a prison of our own making. How can we be freed of this? At times, in His infinite mercy, Allah frees us…by taking it away.

As a result of it being taken, we turn to Allah wholeheartedly. In that desperation and need, we ask, we beg, we pray. Through the loss, we reach a level of sincerity and humility and dependence on Him which we would otherwise not reach—had it not been taken from us. Through the loss, our hearts turn entirely to face Him.

What happens when you first give a child a toy or the new video game he’s always wanted? He becomes consumed by it. Soon he wants to do nothing else. He sees nothing else. He doesn’t want to do his work or even eat. He’s hypnotized to his own detriment. So what do you do, as a loving parent? Do you leave him to drown in his addiction and complete loss of focus and balance? No.

You take it away.

Then, once the child has regained focus of his priorities, regained sanity and balance, once things are put in their proper place in his heart and mind and life, what happens? You give the gift back. Or perhaps something better. But this time, the gift is no longer in his heart. It is in its proper place. It is in his hand.

Yet in that process of taking, the most important thing happened. The losing and regaining of the gift is inconsequential. The taking of your heedlessness, your dependence and focus on other than Him, and the replacing it with remembrance, dependence and focus only on Him was the real gift. Allah withholds to give.

And so sometimes, the ‘something better’ is the greatest gift: nearnesss to Him. Allah took the daughter of Malik Ibn Dinar in order to save him. He took his daughter, but replaced her with protection from the hell-fire and salvation from a painful life of sin and distance from Him. Through the loss of his daughter, Malik ibn Dinar was blessed with a life spent in nearness to Allah. And even that which was taken (his daughter) would remain with Malik ibn Dinar forever in Jannah.

Ibn ul Qayyim (may Allah be pleased with him) speaks about this phenomenon in his book, Madarij Al Salikin. He says: “The divine decree related to the believer is always a bounty, even if it is in the form of withholding (something that is desired); and it is a blessing, even if it appears to be a trial and an affliction that has befallen him; it is in reality a cure, even though it appears to be a disease!”

So to the question, ‘once something is lost, does it return?’ the answer is yes. It returns. Sometimes here, sometime there, sometimes in a different, better form. But the greatest gift lies beneath the taking and the returning. Allah tells us: “Say, ‘In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy – in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they hoard.’” (Quran, 10:58)


SOURCE

Simple steps to start dieting



Step 1: Turn your head to the right

Step 2: Turn your head to the left

Step: Repeat Step 1 and 2 everytime someone offers you food.  [Refer below image for visual ]

Happy Trying! :)

LOL..Something I got from Tumblr.

Ze Hijab

Salam,


Pheww it's been a while. After the sick entry I posted an entry but took it back. Why? Because I can..haha..JK

Nothing special going on, life continues for whenever He wants me too, alhamdulillah


A few days back, someone whomI had the chance to study with back in the good old days asked me a question about a particular situation happening at a particular place. That person was sad and mad upon the situation itself. I gave my reply to what I thought as diplomatic because I SHOULDN't be criticizing much on things I didn't encounter first hand.

It made me think about the phrase BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE and EXPRESS YOURSELF FREELY.

There's no objection to whatever you wanna be or however you want to express yourself with. I get it, we all want to try something bizarre and out of moon sometimes. I have that desire, ALL THE TIME!  [ie: like booking a flight ticket and randomly go travel alone...LOL or take the LRT ride back and forth KELANA JAYA-GOMBAK-KELANA JAYA-GOMBAK]   (**you might find these examples unrelated to the following content but you'd get the point,ok?hihi)


But, as a Muslim, we have certain lines that we must adhere to. Because, we, as an individual, we bring our appearance to the eyes of the world and it would be pitiful if non-muslims see us like "oh..they can be like this at one time and be a completely different person at another time"

I will take the hijab matter [ headwear]  into discussion. Lately we can see the mushrooming hijab fashion pioneered by young muslim women figures where they would wrap whatever kind of materials on their heads. Well, there has been a conflict of interest on this issue where some might say "what in the g'damworld are you wearing?" BUT the way I see it : It's a good start.

And you wanna know why? Because I can see more and more hijabLESS muslim women [from FB friends to TUMBLRians and in REAL LIFE TOO ,alhamdulillah] turning to wear the hijab on their head. Well I guess that's the positive impact ^^. From time to time, they will learn that wearing the hijab is not just a matter of covering the head but it also teaches one self to practice self modesty, humility, as a Muslim women...inshaAllah I pray so, for me and for my Muslim sisters.


Believe me, wearing the hijab, head scarf, or whatever you wanna call it is PRECIOUS =)

It is also AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE TO ALLAH, our Creator.

And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed. [An-Nur: 31]

 O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember. [Al-A'raf: 26]




But, never look down upon those whom are yet to see the beauty of wearing the hijab. Let us pray that everyone will turn to what Allah has ordered upon us and together, seek for His blessings and forgiveness, Ameen Ya Robb.


ADDITION: Let's listen to her opinion : ) -----> HERE

I like this part SubhanAllah : "Are we dressing for ALLAH or are we dressing for the people?"


Till next time,

toodles~

Salam~~

SICK

Apparently I am not in the best of health condition. I don't get sick quite often but when I do, it goes on for a long time and comes in packages. The sad thing is; it is affecting my work performance as I couldn't focus much on the task and understanding a simple instruction *sigh*. Everything is soaring and aching, ummmmma I need you! :)


In the name of Allah, verily every sickness is a cure, a cure for the darkened heart, inshaAllah :)

Abu Hurairah reports that Allah’s Messenger, peace be upon him, said:

“For every misfortune, illness, anxiety, grief, or hurt that afflicts a Muslim -even the hurt caused by the pricking of a thorn - Allah removes some of his sins.”
(HR. Bukhari no. 5641).

 

 

 

Praying for a speed recovery or else my parents would force me to go see the doctor! Hate that because I know I'll end up taking ze blood test  [traumatized] and ofcourse, to excel in work with a conscious mind~~~~~~

 

 

 

toddles~

 

salam~~

Lau Kana Bainana [If he is here with us today]

Kalaulah Kekasih-Mu, masih berada bersama-sama kami,
Akan terlunaslah segala hutang dan semakin hampirlah
dengan haruman Baginda, sebelum hilangnya,
rasa yang meronta-ronta untuk berada hampir dengan Kekasih-Mu.

Berada berhampiran Baginda, jiwa turut menjadi harum
Dan apa jua yang kalian doakan kepada Allah, akan diperkenankan,
Cahaya Nabi Muhammad tidak akan pernah sirna,
Sempatkanlah kami bertemu dengan Baginda,
Wahai Tuhan yang Maha Memperkenankan doa hamba…

Hidayahmu kepada alam merata meluas,
Tanda hampirnya kasih sayang Tuhan pemberi hidayah,
Hadith-hadithmu ibarat sungai mengalir jernih,
Berada di sisimu bagaikan dahan yang tumbuh segar dan basah.

Kutebus diriku dengan dirimu, wahai Kekasihku,
Nabi Muhammad yang mulia, yang asing,
Berada berhampiranmu, jiwa menjadi harum,
Wahai yang diutuskan sebagai tanda kasih sayang Tuhan kepada seluruh alam….

Wahai Kekasihku, wahai Nabi Muhammad
Wahai doktor hatiku, wahai yang dipuji dipuja
Dirimu memiliki kelebihan yang diakui
Oleh Tuhan yang turut berselawat ke atasmu.

Allahumma Solli Ala Sayyidina Muhammad

T_T   [CLICK]


Missing the person whom I've never met.

Rezeki

Dr.Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki menulis status ini:

Jangan suka bandingkan rezeki yg diperolehi dgn org lain. Masing2 sudah ditentukan Allah sejak roh ditiupkan kedalam jasad anak Adam. Yg penting minta keberkatan dan kecukupan sbgmana doa diajar Nabi SAW kpd Ibn Abbas

: رَبِّ قَنِّعْنِي بِمَا رَزَقْتَنِي وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ , وَاخْلُفْ عَلَيَّ كُلَّ غَائِبَةٍ لِي بِخَيْرٍ

 

 "Ya Allah cukupkan bagiku rezeki yg Engkau kurniakan, Dan berkatilah rezeki yg Engkau berikan padaku, Dan gantikanlah setiap yg hilang itu dgn yg lebih baik buatku"

 

 

Peringatan Dia sentiasa datang dalam pelbagai bentuk. Nah, tinggal nak ambil atau tak je~