Since the creation of this blog my posts have undergone several changes. What was initially a blog dealing with issues affecting Muslim students became a blog addressing various Islam related topics. I've compiled all my old posts on Faith and Reminders onto this page which you can read below.
Finding It Hard to Wake Up for Fajr? (15/01/2011)
Every day we encounte minor tests; starting from the time of the Fajr prayer. For those of us who are not accustomed to it, waking up for Fajr is extremely challenging. But how do you break the cycle?
Imagine you had a flight to catch in the early hours of the morning. Would sleep in and miss it? Of course not. You'd be up on time, packed and ready to go because the flight is important to you.
Imagine you were told that you'd be given £500 for waking up at a specific time of the night every night. You'd probably make sure you were up an hour early so you didn't oversleep and miss out on the reward. And imagine someone told you they'd pour hot coals on your bed every time you didn't wake up on time. You'd probably stay awake the whole night out of fear of being scorched alive.
Why then do we not wake up for a prayer more important than a flight, more rewarding than £500 and yet if we miss it, far greater in consequence than having hot coals poured on our bed?
Maybe it's because we forget just how much reward Allah swt bestows on us for performing the prayer on time, and how much punishment Allah swt has in store for us for delaying it. Consider the following hadiths:
Abu Zuhayr 'Umara ibn Ruwayba said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'No one who used to pray before the rising of the sun and before its setting will enter the Fire," meaning Fajr and 'Asr." [Muslim]
Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "And if they only knew what was in the prayers of 'Isha' and Subh [fajr], they would come to them even if they had to crawl." [Agreed upon]
Jabir reported that the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "The distinction between man and polytheism and infidelity is abandoning of prayer." (Muslim)
We all know that the abandoning of a prayer is an act of kufr (disbelief). We must make every effort to pray on time, and if we miss the Fajr prayer or any other prayer we have to make them up as they remain a debt owed to Allah swt. But for some of us, the intention to wake up for Fajr is there-it is simply the act of waking up which is troublesome!
So here are some tips you can try:
-Make sincere intention before you go to asleep, asking Allah to help wake you up.
-Put your alarm away from your bed so you have to get up to switch it off. This stops you from merely rolling over and switching your alarm off in your sleep.
-Put your alarm away from your bed so you have to get up to switch it off. This stops you from merely rolling over and switching your alarm off in your sleep.
-Try a 'Fajr Brigade' or a buddy system where a friend calls you at fajr time to wake you up, and you call a friend in turn. Don't miss call them, keep ringing until they pick up!
-Ask members of your family to wake you up, and to keep checking in on you to make sure that you're actually awake.
-Go to sleep at a reasonable time the night before. You will find it harder to wake up if your usual sleeping time is after 1am, something I now know from experience.
-consider this hadith before you sleep:
"The Satan knots three knots on the nape of the head of every one of you when he goes to sleep. On every knot he utters, 'There is a long night for you. So sleep.' If he gets up and remembers Allah, one knot is loosened; when he performs ablution another knot is loosened and when he observes prayer the third knot is also loosened and he gets up in the morning in an active and delightful mood. But if he does not do so, he gets up in the morning as spiteful and lazy." (Bukhari)
Then when your alarm goes off, make a habit of getting up straight away by telling yourself that one knot has loosened, and that by going to perform ablution another knot will loosen etc. And insha'Allah in the morning, your mood will be positive and your day will be successful.
-At the very least, remember everything Allah swt has blessed you with. Is it so hard to please Allah in return by waking for just fifteen minutes in the morning?
Remember, it may be hard to break a bad habit, but it's equally hard to break a good habit. With patience, effort and endurance we can make it a habit it to wake up for Fajr on a daily basis, and may Allah make it easy for all of us.
Asian Wedding Extravaganza (28/12/10)
The Muslim Wedding:
It's the occasion of the year for the family. It's a simple, dignified event, celebrating the joys of a couple uniting and embarking on a new phase of their lives together. It is the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) and a chance for all the family and friends to get
together, including that handful of family you never see except for at oasccasions like this.
One type of Asian wedding involves lavish venues and food, on-going entertainment and women in all their gold and glamour wearing the entire contents of their make-up bags. The will be an imam who will hold a sermon as part of the nikkah, where unfortunately people tend to talk through it. The sermon will be short but quickly forgotten, and then everybody rushes to the dance floor.Needless to say this is an example of a not so sunnah wedding.
Then there's the second type of wedding which is all fuss and no fun. Nothing runs to schedule. The bride arrives later than the guests. The hall is usually packed with chairs and tables leaving no space to walk, and the main event revolves around food. People arrive, eat, leave, and the pattern is repeated. The guests are glammed up but it's hot and stuffy and everyone feels just a little bit claustrophobic.
I've been to more of the second type than the first. Whilst not so extravagant, some key elements seem to missing also. Weddings shouldn't be occasions for stress and fuss (undoubtedly all of that will happen before hand) but the event itself should be one of enjoyment and intimacy. Somehow that doesn't seem to happen in the atmosphere of tightly packed halls where everyone is waiting for the food. Nor is it the atmosphere of the extravagant five-star wedding, where everything seems a bit too showy and pretentious. The best weddings are surely those that are simple, those which are intimate and elegant, classy but not costly.
Simplicity is the practice of the sunnah. Take for example the wedding of Fatima and Ali, may Allah be pleased with them. Ali (RA) sold his armour for 480 Dirham as a mahr (gift from the groom to the bride). The Prophet asked his companion Bilaal (RA) to bring some perfume and a few other things, and the companions came to the nikah. Once they taken their seats, the Prophet (pbuh) recited the sermon and gave Fatima (RA) in marriage to Ali (RA). He made Dua saying, 'O Allah, create love and harmony between these two. Bless them and bestow upon them good children.' after the Nikaah, dates were distributed.
When the time came for Faatimah to go to Ali's house, she was sent without any of the clamour, fuss and crying that occurs at weddings today. That night after Isha prayers, the Prophet went to their house, took permission and entered. He made Dua for both Ali and Fatima.
The Prophet gave Fatima some gifts, including a silver bracelet. The entire wedding was conducted with simplicity and without fuss, and was a beautiful occasion.
There are many lessons we can learn from this, namely that extravagant weddings are not part of the sunnah. Of course, spending within your means is also part of the sunnah, but having wealth does not mean money should be squandered. Weddings can be made simple but elegant by conducting them in beautifully decorated houses, gardens or private venues. From my own experience the most enjoyable weddings I've been to were those conducted in intimate venues such as houses, where all excessive embellishments and unnecessary havoc were put aside. Everybody had the feeling of being much more relaxed. Simplicity does not mean weddings have to be sombre occasions however- they should be dignified and enjoyable events. So by all means have the singing and dancing (where the genders are segregated)! have laughter and the delicious food and beautiful outfits. Weddings are after all the beginning of life-long commitments, let there be fun before the hard work begins!
The Athan (13/11/10)
We hear the athan every day. We hear it from the mouth of the muezzin in the mosque, from the TV, on the radio, the computer, from the athan clock on the mantelpiece, and from the speakers of the minarets blasting the call to prayer over the traffic of Muslim countries.
But how often do we simply stop and absorb the words of the athan?
It is not just a reminder of prayer times. That could be achieved with a bell or an alarm or somebody standing on the roof of a mosque shouting ‘time to pray!’ The athan has so much more significance then being simply a call to prayer-if we are to stop and just absorb its words, repeat its words (as is the sunnah to do) and ponder over its words then we come face to face with the simple and truthful reality of our lives.
We need to be reminded five times a day of our purpose in life, and the athan does this. It tells us, whatever you are doing no matter how important it is, stop, listen and come to prayer as the only true purpose and the only significance of your life is rooted in these simple words:
God is the Greatest
I testify there is no God but Allah
I testify that Muhammad (saw) is his messenger
Hasten to Prayer
Hasten to Success
God is the Greatest
There is no god but Allah.
These are the words that are whispered into a new born baby’s ear, these are the words that are recited over a dead body. These are the words that should shape and define every day of our lives, so when the athan is called, even if you hear it just once a day, stop everything you are doing and reflect over it.
I’ve been so caught up in getting back in to the swing of university life. Reading lists and timetables and things I need to buy and people I need to meet and societies I need to join and tasks I have to complete have taken over my mind. And when I finally have free time, I spend it by trying not to think too much.
It’s as though life speeds up after Ramadan, and though you don’t literally close the Quran, part of the Quran closes inside you, unless you remind yourself not to get so caught up in the ins and outs of the duties of the Dunya that we’ve come to treat as meaningful.
Yesterday evening, I put some time aside and opened a wonderful translation of the Quran to surah Al Rum. Reading it was like reading a sign that points you back to the road again after you’ve stumbled around in the wilderness for a while.
Bad analogy maybe,but for me everything clicked into place again.
A Book Collection For Your Shelves (7/9/10)
This post consists of reviews of some of the best books I’ve read in 09-10 which I shall give to you in parts.
Islam, Quran and Tafseer
If you’re looking to update your collection of Islamic books Quran and Tafseer, I have a list here for you of some amazing books I’ve read this year.
Number one is an Oxford World Classics edition of the English translation of the Quran. It is translated by M.A.S Abdel Haleem. I say with no hesitation that this is probably the BEST ENGLISH TRANSLATION of the Quran available to date. This is not just my subjective opinion, but the opinion of many others who have read this translation including Muslim News. The language is completely modern and easy to follow, and it contains a small introduction to each surah explaining its content and context, and there’s an informative but not exhaustive section of footnotes. This is a must for all bookshelves! It doesn’t matter if you already have numerous translations of the Quran including Yusuf Ali’s and Muhammad Asad’s—get this one too!
The second book I’ve been reading is Journey Through The Quran by Muhammad al-Ghazali. It’s not a new book and you may even have it lying around at home, but if you haven’t read it before I’d recommend buying it because it’s a really good companion to understanding the Quran. It focuses on the content and context of the suras and where previous commentaries have always focused on giving in depth explanations of individual words and phrases, this one explores the general themes and content of each sura. This translation is entirely in English, and it’s perfect for a beginner in Tafseer or for someone who’s looking for easily comprehendible explanations.
Book three (Unfolding Islam by PJ Stewart) is a brilliant commentary on Islam that I happen to read when I was studying for my Islamic History exam. It charts the development of Islam up to the present day in an unbelievably concise manner. Even if the thought of Islamic history bores you, I would suggest that you have a go reading this because it’s amazing how much you’ll learn about topics that have been under the spotlight for a long time. It also concisely and clearly explains the shia/sunni division and the reasons why other groups sprung out from mainstream Islam. It is intended for a non Muslim audience but is nevertheless a brilliant read for Muslims-there’s more than likely to be a topic addressed in this book that you’ve had questions about.
Four- Jannah, the Garden from the Quran and Hadith by Adem Yakup. The cover is beautiful and the graphics and pictures inside are equally beautiful. I don’t need to say much about the content because the title speaks for itself! But the reason why it’s made it to my ‘Top Books’ list is because of the way it collects and categorises all of the various Hadith and Ayas of the Quran about Jannah. There are various chapters such as the abundant wealth of the garden, the food of the garden, eternal life and youth in the garden, etc. making it really easy to read. The book isn’t long; you can pull it off your shelf and flick to the relevant chapter you want at ease. I would encourage that you buy it as a motivational source of reading. Sometimes we need that little boost to remind ourselves of our ultimate goal and purpose of life and this decorative little book does just that.
A Book Collection For Your Shelves pt 2
Memoir’s/Biographies
Love in a Headscarf, by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed. I randomly came across this pretty purple book in Waterstones. Shelina is a British born Asian Muslim who struggled to get married. It’s as straightforward as that. But her crazy experiences with numerous ‘potentials’ is what makes the book anything but straightforward, in fact, it turns this memoir into a kind of Comedy-slash-Soap Opera. After trying and failing numerous times to obtain a decent partner you wonder how she even had the strength to write this or how she was even brave enough to recall such cringe-worthy memories! Shelina’s memoir really is an inspirational and enjoyable read for young women, and young men might even benefit from a few What Not To Do Rishta Tips!
Muhammad Ali -The Soul of a Butterfly
I didn’t know much about Muhammad Ali until I read this. There are many books about him out there, but this one has to be one of the most poignant and deeply touching accounts of his life so far. He talks of experiences of racism in his youth, where possessing a gold medal didn't mean you could eat at a white man’s restaurant in ‘apartheid’ Louisville , he talks about his conversion to Islam and his brief but significant affiliation with the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, he talks of his successes and failures inside the ring and outside the ring, and of his dearly-loved children and his family life. There are some very inspiration quotes in here, and some simple yet beautiful examples of how Islam changed his life. I would really recommend that you read this book.
Fiction
Some of my favourite fiction reads this year are:
The Arabian Nights (Tales from the Thousand and One Nights)
Ok I’ve gone through a bit of an Arabian Nights phase this year. I’ve read the book, watched the film and seen the theatre production, the only thing I haven’t done is read all a thousand and one stories-I’m not that sad and I certainly haven’t got that much time on my hands! But I love this collection, as weird as some of the stories are. They are mythical and magical and take you right onto the streets (and into the souks) of Harun al-Rashid’s Golden Age Arabia. They are like grown-up fairytales. And they completely expose the deceitfulness of Disney! Do you actually know the real story of Aladdin? If not and you’re perfectly content with the Disney version, don’t bother reading Arabian Nights, it will just upset you.
Where the Streets Had a Name, Randa Abdel Fattah. I’ve already reviewed it here. It was so touching; it made it to my list of top books.
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khalid Hosseni. I’m not going to write much about this because I suspect that a lot of you have already read it. It’s not a new book, I’m still waiting for Hosseni to write another one! But it’s certainly one of my favourite books. Following the stories of two women in war-torn Afghanistan, it’s the most tragic, the most gripping and the most emotional book I’ve ever read. If you haven’t read it yet why on earth not?
If I Should Speak, Umm Zakiyyah. I didn’t appreciate this novel this the first time I read it, but on a later analysis I acknowledged that the author creates a fabulous psychological account of an American girl’s conversion to Islam. I would credit it for it's detailed thinking process of the main character more than the storyline itself, and also for its surprising ending.
MY BOOK OF THE YEAR
Khalid Bin al-Waleed— The biography of the greatest military generals in history—by AI Akram.
Sometimes we actually come across books that take us by surprise. I didn't know anything about Khalid ibn al-Waleed until I watched The Message. Even then, this book had been sitting on a bookshelf in my house for months without being touched. I picked up the book on a random occasion after watching the film, I read the first page expecting it to be boring, and after that I literally couldn’t put it down. This biography charts the life of one of the greatest generals History has ever known, who happened to be a companion of the Prophet (pbuh). Traditionally, Khalid Bin al-Waleed is known as the 'Sword of Allah',although not (as is the opinion of Western media) because Muslims conquered the world by the sword, but because of his sheer skill and competency. He began as one of the fiercest enemies of Islam who nearly caused the defeat of the Muslims at the battle of Uhud, but after his conversion he protected the ever growing commuinty of Muslims from obliteration on numerous occasions, and won them territory which later led to the expansion of their empire. This book not only narrates his life, his achievements, and even his shortcomings, but is a wonderfully descriptive account of early Islamic history. A.I Akram pays immense attention to detail, particularly when describing battles and battle strategy, which is more interesting than you might imagine. Also the language and the style in which the book is written is superb, half the time you feel like you’re reading a fictional account because it’s so descriptive and engaging. If you’re interested in Islamic history, this is a must, if you’re not particularly interested I’d read it anyway, I can’t stress enough just how good it is.
On Soul Mates And Prince Charming (4/9/10)
When I was 17 and the first Twilight film came out I admit that I rushed off to see it, along with the hoards of other girls my age older and younger. Yes I even admit that I liked it. Although thinking back to it now I definitely wasn’t swooning over Robert P (the same can’t be said for his car though) and the sheer mishy-mushyness of Edward & Bella’s relationship gave me a headache. And now when I think about it, the entire idea of The Dangerous Vampire Who Can’t Live Without The Frail Human is so ridiculous it’s painful. But you already know that. The significance of Twilight in this context is that got me and my friends debating over the idea of a soul mate, about whether it actually exists or if it even has any Islamic grounding.
It’s a beautiful notion that there’s a perfect person for everyone, somewhere out there. They are your match in every way. Like Bella and Edward, you can’t live without them. They guarantee you happiness and emotional well being. You would do anything for them. But all of the above are what the films tell us. Don’t facts tell us something else?
If we apply this definition to marriage, facts tell us that there is high chance that you won’t meet your perfect partner the first time round. Facts tell us that nobody walks into a marriage without experiencing difficulties or compromises that have to be made. Facts tell us you can divorce and marry several times, and still not find the perfect partner.
Islam tells us that marriage is half our deen, but does it tell us anything about soul mates?
My friends argued that the possibility of a soul mate is very real in Islam, and that Allah will lead you to your soul mate at the time of marriage. If that’s the case, then I don’t believe that the definition of a soul mate in terms of Islam is the same as the one mentioned above. The popular notion of the soul mate can not at all be Islamic. It actually goes against the religion’s basic principles. To idolise someone so much, to an extent that you feel you couldn’t live without them, to the extent that you’d give up anything for them, the whole Bella-Edward situation, is almost a form of worship, isn’t it? Yet why are so many girls- here I refer to Muslim girls especially- attracted to this?
From a young age we are immersed in a culture which gives us example after example of this over- the- top love and idolisation. Starting with fairytales. So Prince Charming will risk crumbling towers and monsters to save his Sleeping Beauty. And Prince Charming 2 will scour the whole kingdom in search for his bride with a specific shoe size. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but maybe I have a point. As we get older, fairytales turn into Hollywood, and we end up flocking religiously to every new Twilight movie, attracted to the idolised, unhealthy and unrealistic love between two characters, not realising that slowly, every time we expose ourselves to such examples, we begin to believe in it a bit more, and then a little bit more.
So, going back to the issue of soul mates in Islam, I think it’s important to remind ourselves that when we think of soul mates, we shouldn’t think about a person we idolise or depend on to make our lives perfect. Only belief in Allah can make our lives perfect. Our goal in life is not to find that ideal partner. Marriage and love is not a means to an end, but a means to Allah. We get married for the sake of Allah, and like everything else in life, marriage is part of our test. We don’t know who our perfect partner is, which why the Prophet (pbuh) advised us to pray Istikhaarah before we decide yes or no. Therefore, there is nothing we are able to do without Allah’s help.
I’m writing this post as a reminder for teen girls and even older girls not to get so absorbed by what we see in the media and popular culture. Of course this is a reminder for myself as well. A final point worth mentioning here is that our eyes are a window to our heart, and the more good we see, the more benefits we do to our heart. But if our eyes are always observing nonsense, then our heart becomes stained by it. So don’t stain your heart with this society’s perception of idolised and nonsensical love, maintain a balance within your lives by always remembeing that our love for Allah comes first.
Two little boys from my neighbourhood passed away this Ramadan. I didn’t know them personally, but their deaths got me thinking about the Akirah.
I believe that during Ramadan, whether consciously or not, we think about the Hereafter more. We read the Qur’an, we read tafsir, we perform extra prayers more than we do at any other time of the year. Subconsciously, we shed away slices of Dunya time and we pile up on the deeds that will save us in the Akirah.
But living in the West means that we have fewer opportunities to think about death.
Think about it.
We lead fast-paced lives that revolve around work, home and food.
There is plenty of wealth, even during recession. We hardly see poverty.
We are not tested with famine and hunger.
We are not tested by civil wars and political unrest.
Mostly, we are not tested with the loss of lives due to natural disasters.
In essence, we are not tested by the four things which are guaranteed to keep us thinking about death.
Some countries are tested with all of these things. A child, before he or she reaches the age of five, will see more deaths than we’ll see in our lifetimes.
Living in such security is a blessing. Let’s not forget to be thankful. But let’s also not forget the life to come. Being surrounded by so much Dunya, I believe, makes us forge the life to come.
In those rare moments of disillusionment, when those around us die or when we’re faced by other hardships, we remember death and we remember that this life is fleeting; life literally passes in a heartbeat. So perhaps we should be grateful when we are disillusioned.
When the two young boys died in my neighbourhood, just weeks apart, it was a shock to all of us. This was the first time I’d experienced the deaths of children, and the first time I’d attended a child’s janaza. Again, maybe this is a sign of how little we are tested with death, comparatively, or maybe I’m just very young. And although the two little boys who died are promised Jannah, it’s always hard to hear about the deaths of children because such innocence and goodness is not something you want to face the consequences of losing. In this country we are brought up to expect that children will grow up and reach maturity. But of course God takes back who He wills whenever their prescribed time has come.
Moments like this make us remember that our times of death were written from the moment we were born, so we should think about the Akirah more, during Ramadan, and after.
We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops. But [Prophet] give good news to those who are steadfast, those who say, when afflicted with calamity, 'we belong to God and to Him we shall return.' ' Qur'an, 2:155
