Green Signal

10, 9,8,7,6, hurry dad (thought in my mind),  5 (blinking started) , 4, 3, 2,1, Yellow lights (oh we can still cross). RED light. Brakes… STOP… ohh we have to wait another 3 minutes….!

Individuals going to work and coming back experience traffic signals constantly.  Waiting at the signal can be so irksome, especially when going back home from work.  Red lights preventing us from crossing made me think about the gates of Jannah.

Some excerpts from a lecture of Noman Ali Khan, stated that on the Day of Judgment the angels at the gates of Heavens will be waiting for the successful people to enter with gates wide open. From far away, the open gates of heavens and green signal to cross them would be the ultimate success and happiness for a believer. How happy that moment would be. May we all become such successful people.  Ameen.

How unfortunate that person would be who is stopped from entering Jannah….Red lights , you can’t go further! I hope we never come to this situation. Ameen. The gates of Hell are closed. It shall be opened once a person comes extremely near to it. May Allah (SWT) protect us from it. Ameen.

Next time when we stop at a red light, lets make a prayer to enter Heaven easily. Lets all try to become the people of achieving Green Signal and making our way across to Jannah J. May Allah SWT help us to achieve it. Ameen. Sum Ameen. 

The Best Iftar Gathering

Where is one of the most peaceful places in the world? All of us would have our own unique answers. My answer to this question would be at Makkah Al Mukarramah.

We just performed our Umrah in Ramadan and were looking for a place to sit down. It was a good half an hour before Maghrib. We planned to sit inside the masjid but then decided to sit outside. It was almost completely jam packed outside, we started looking and finally found a place to sit down. After settling down, I was observing the entire gathering around me. There were some people distributing Iftar, there were some eagerly waiting to receive it. Tick tick Tick…the clock tower minute hands were slowly ticking. The time was nearing to Maghrib and so was the crowd and so was the excitement. Happy faces everywhere Maa Shaa’ Allah. The assigned officials were preparing the distribution of Iftar packs.

As I sat down there, I realized that this is one of the best and one of the most huge Iftar gatherings I have ever come across. With so many people of different nationalities, with different attires, all sitting together at one place and waiting for the Muazzin to start the Azan by saying Allah O Akbar.

The feeling of opening the fast at such a holy place is beyond words. It is one of the most peaceful places. On the Day of Judgment, I hope and pray that we all are gathered with happy faces and our happiness would be that we got the results in our right hand. Ameen . Sum Ameen. 

A Clean Heart

Keeping our hearts free of greed, jealousy, hatred, hard feelings and all other types of negative emotions is a really challenging task.

At numerous occasions, we are saying something, we are thinking something else, and in or hearts we have a third opinion. How ironic this truly is! Why can’t we be in consensus with our hearts and mind? A difference between both these elements can be reflected towards a sign of hypocrisy.

Maintaining a clean heart is a very challenging task. I know this is easier said than done as at times situations are all odds for the person. Nevertheless working on it gradually and consistently, we can achieve this goal successfully In Shaa’ Allah.

Once we develop this habit, the next step is to fight with our emotions and not let our heart indulge into any negative feelings for anyone. In my opinion, if we are able to accomplish this, we may be able to rise in our level of Imaan at a faster pace In Shaa’ Allah.

A clean heart will make a person peaceful at work both personally and professionally. So what do you all think, Shall we try to develop this habit from today? JJ

Forgive And Ask For Forgiveness

In our lives, we come across many people. We do dealings with many people both at the personal level and the professional level.  We start developing grudges due to someone’s attitude or any other reason.  This grudge starts turning into aversion and even if the person has no concern with your life now, the grudge still remains in your heart. This person could be your relative, friend, or even a family member.  Having negative feelings or thoughts towards another human being is not healthy both in religious and social terms.

Having a forgiving nature is a major blessing from Allah SWT. Those people who don’t have the capability to forgive are always in some state of mental war with their own selves as well as others. People who forgive others easily are in my opinion, very courageous people.   It takes a little bit of effort and a lot of faith and patience to forgive people that have wronged you in anyway. I can understand it’s a difficult task but it is not impossible.

In our daily lives, we make many mistakes and then we ask forgiveness from our Creator. Doesn’t Alllah SWT forgive and then keeps on blessing us? We always want to be forgiven, don’t we? Then let’s develop the habit of having a forgiving nature. Let go of things that have hurt you.  

Take a moment now and forgive all your family, friends, colleagues, strangers and anyone in your life whom you felt has hurt you or wronged you in anyway.  And most importantly, Ask forgiveness from Allah SWT ALWAYS. You never know on the Day of Judgment, this act may do wonders for you as well the other person, In Shaa’ Allah. Ameen. Sum Ameen.

I hope and pray that we all develop a forgiving nature. May Allah SWT forgive us all. Ameen.

The Lost Sheep of La Ilaha Illallah

Intrigued by one of the lectures delivered by Brother Nouman Ali Khan, in which he states we should not criticize people or point out at anyone as they are the lost sheep of La Ilaha Illallah who may come to guidance at any point in their lives if Allah wills.

This statement left me in awe, and inspired me to write this blog. Many times we tend to undermine people if they are doing certain acts that are opposing the religion. This is wrong, extremely wrong, who are we to judge anyone's Iman?

In our lives, we come across many different types of people; we should not judge anyone at all. The authority of Judgement lies only with Allah SWT. Instead, if we feel that the person needs to be told some things then we should tell in a polite and sincere manner. It is usually observed that often we just criticize the person for his/her wrong actions. There is a way to deliver advice, the mode should be polite and the message should get across clearly. We cannot force decisions on anyone and in many cases imposing decisions leads to negative results.

There are some who follow religious teachings a lot and some who tend to ignore it. If we are the ones who are following the religious teachings, say a lot of Alhamdulillah as Allah SWT has blessed you with this Naimah of guidance of which some others are not having. Also, we should never be having the attributes of pride and arrogance in any way or in any matter. If we are at top most positions, if we have more knowledge than others then this is a blessing of Allah SWT like many others. Never ever try to develop the ‘I’ feeling in yourself as this ego will destroy everything in you. There is no single element or attribute that individuals can regard it as their own possession. Everything and I mean everything is given to the humans by Allah SWT, whether its confidence, wealth, power, status, children, loyalty, and others as such.

Now it is the responsibility on our shoulders to advise our other brothers and sisters in Islam to follow the right course, we need to be a helping hand for the lost sheep of La Ilaha Illallah. We should not be critics and make lives miserable for others by pointing them out. If Allah has blessed you with things what makes you think He wont do it for others? Friendly and sincere advice, along with prayers can do wonders for any human being. May Allah SWT bless the entire Ummah with happiness, sincerity and strong Iman in all our affairs. Ameen. Sum Ameen. 

Al Wali O – The Protecting Friend

 Only and only Allah (S.W.T) is an individual’s true friend. One may consider some people really true friends, but somewhere there are strong chances of the other person having a different mindset and viewing things from other perspectives. At times you don’t even feel like making clarifications of what I meant and what was the real issue or this or that.

But have you ever wondered, it so easy to communicate with Allah (S.W.T), it is so easy to reveal your thoughts and share everything which is going on in your mind and with that you know that HE (S.W.T) understands each and everything. The best part is that HE already knows everything from the minutest to the highest detail. This was a sudden thought and reflection I had that no doubt the only true friend in a person’s life is Allah (S.W.T).

Your situations, the events turning and twisting in your life, your attitudes and behaviors are understood the best by Al – Wali, the true protecting friend. Whenever you feel low, whenever you are in turmoil and trials, just sit and share your thought process with your Rabb. He (S.W.T) will always be there for you. Infact HE (S.W.T) is with his slaves 24/7.

You may think that you have true friends, but remember the best and real friend is only Allah (S.W.T). We mess up in life; do a number of disliked things by Allah (S.W.T) but still he does not leave us, HE says that I respond to my slaves whenever they call upon me. Isn’t this so marvelous? He forgives our mistakes repeatedly and yet we do not realize or understand our mistakes. For going back to HIM and apologizing, we do not face any difficulty as we have true and sincere hope from HIM that he will forgive us truly.

At times of immediate need, HE is always by us. His help is the help we require from any best friend, His support, assistance and guidance is what is required by individuals to move ahead in life.

Ya Allah, please befriend us and make us do the right things in this world that are beneficial for us in our worldly life as well as the hereafter. Make your friendship the most dear thing to us. Let us strive to make YOU happy Ya Allah. Instill in us the desire to make you happy always, Ya Wali O. Ameen. Ya Rabbul Aalameen. 

Peer -E- Kamil (P.B.U.H) By Umera Ahmed

Peer E Kamil is a novel written by Umera Ahmed. This novel is an epic piece of writing by her as she has crafted the characters in a novel in a very interesting way. This story is as simple as could be for anyone but the message delivered by the novel is extremely powerful.

The story mainly revolves around Imama Hashmi and Salar Sikandar. Imama Hashmi has left her belief for the love of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). She is from a Ahmedi family and gradually through various incidents gets to know that the beliefs of her family is wrong. Initially she is dependent upon her family and so cannot reveal her conversion to Islam to her family. Her dad meanwhile notices that there is some danger expected from Imama as he got to know that she is in quest for the truth about religion. He plans to get her married in her family as soon as possible. During her quest she gets to know about her friend’s brother, Jalal Ansar. Jalal reads naats in various places and he has great love for Prophet 

Muhammad (P.B.U.H). It is this love for religion that gets Imama attracted towards Jalal. She starts liking him a lot and a point comes in the novel that Jalal also expresses her likeness towards her. She wants to get married to him and so asks him to get married. You may read further to get to know more about this case J

Salar Sikandar is next door neighbor of Imama. An elite class person with an IQ level of 150 + and has a photographic memory. He has an excellent academic record. He has a strong financial background and he has no aim in life whatsoever. For him life is just to enjoy. He has done major sinful acts in his life. Infact his life is deep delved into sinful acts and thoughts. And while doing them he has no fear of anyone. He does not know the purpose of life. He loves to commit suicide to find out the last degree of pain possible for anyone.

When Imama finds out that her dad is compelling her to get married, she tries to escape. She knows Salar is one of the most disliked people in her life but at that moment she feels that Salar would help her out. She asks him to contact Jalal and force him to get married to Imama as she is stuck at home. Jalal gives the excuse that his family is not giving the permission. Jalal says to Salar that you get married to her for time being so that she can be released from the pressure of her family towards getting married to a non muslim. Imama could not think of anything else and asks Salar to do Nikah with her so that she can be freed. For Salar, this is an adventure and he doesn’t care about anything and does the Nikah. Imama feels that due to avoiding problems for the family Jalal has refused.

Salar’s personality has changed 360 degrees in the novel. He understands completely that the perfect mentor in this world for humans is Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). The trials faced by Salar and Imama allow the reader to learn many lessons. Imama all her life prayed for Jalal as she felt that he is religious and loves Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and they both can lead a great life. Salar at a certain point of time started praying for Imama, he prayed that Allah (S.W.T) gives Imama as his wife. So read the novel to find out whose prayers gets answered J

One of the most beautiful lessons learnt in this story is that at times you desire someone just because he is religious and you feel that you may lead a great life. You feel a religious person would understand everything but this is not the case. Religious persons are also subjected to materialism, they may talk a lot on religion but when it comes on them to take decisions, they just act like any other person, and bring in all the materialistic things of life such as family issues, societal issues so on and so forth. Though being knowledgeable and in a position to take stand they take the help of other things for their escape. The one who talks does not necessarily act on it. A lot of valuable lessons are learnt by this novel.

A must Must read for all J