Gratitude, Salah & Calmness of Heart

My dearest sisters!

I have not forgotten you! :-) I think about you every day! And I hope you're feeling well - all of you.

I haven't been posting much, because I've been enjoying the beautiful Spring weather, Alhamdulillah! We've had sunshine for almost two weeks in a row - and that's awesome in a place like Denmark :-) Also my exams are getting closer - I've got one month to write two papers and to study for an oral exam in Audiology... Please make duaa that I'll pass everything... :-)

I've had quite a few experiences recently, where it has been very obvious that Allah (swt) has answered my prayers.

'...and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.'

(Surah Baqarah: 216)

- So sometimes we might wonder, why are duaa's "aren't answered"... Allah (swt) answers our duaa's in this life or in the Hereafter and He knows what is best for us. But these days I experienced that my prayers were answered and Allah (swt) really showed me that we human beings can never foretell the future. He does make possible the impossible, as I wrote in my previous post.

After 4 difficult years with my family and their relationship to my husband (and vice versa) it has suddenly become easier and my family seems more accepting of him than ever before. In 4 years we've only visited them about 4 times... Next weekend will be the 5th time.

It was a load off my mind and now I just pray that it will become even more relaxed and easier with time, insha'Allah!

'O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hope in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you.'

[Hadith Qudsi]

I have a question for you sisters - or brothers too. I don't know if this is just something a revert might experience,  but I've found it very hard to simply "let go" in my prayer and "disappear" (so to say) or perform salah as a form of meditation - which I consider it to be. I might be too focussed on my Arabic pronounciation or saying the right things at the right time... My goal is to be able to really disconnect from the world these 5 times a day and only have Allah (swt) in mind and insha'Allah feel much more calmness of heart afterwards - more regularly. (I know salah in not only about that, but it's an aspect of it, which I personally feel is not always present for me).

If any of you experience the above:

How did you get there - did time just do it or something else perhaps? :-) Most Muslims I know say that it came with time... But perhaps some of you have another perspective on this. I also think that if every Muslim felt a huge difference inside after Salah, there wouldn't be as many people "missing" their prayers... - Just a thought I had, which I don't know is true or not. Allahu Alim.

Please do share your experiences with Salah - if you're a born Muslim or a revert :-)

And have a beautiful day - I'm off to pray Asr in a few minutes, insha'Allah :-)

My Friday & Days of Prayer

Dear sisters!

I hope you've had a lovely Friday! My day started out with an acupuncture treatment by such a great Chinese (female) doctor. Masha'Allah she was so talented - and my body is so sore now :-/ Hehe. I've been treated with acupuncture before in my life, but never did it regularly, but this time I will - and drink lots of green tea too :-) I do my best to keep my body, heart and spirit in good balance, insha'Allah.

My parents-in-law visited us for some hours today - and before that, I was really busy cleaning the house and cooking! :-/ :-) The food turned out well, although the food my mother-in-law brought with her was so fabulous! Insha'Allah I'll cook as great as her, when I get older.

So the weekend has come and I wish you all a nice time! I really like the hadith below:

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "For the Jews (the day designated by God for communal prayer) was Saturday, and for the Christians it was Sunday. And God turned toward us (Muslims) and guided us to Friday (as the day of communal prayer). In fact, (God) made Friday, Saturday and Sunday (as days of prayer)."

Sahih Muslim, Hadith 417

I'll try to spend more time in prayer this weekend and insha'Allah recite the following duaa. I think it's very beautiful:

Hazrat Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) says, “Whoever recites the following Dua’a thrice after finishing the prayer and without having moved. Allah will pardon all his sins even if these be as many as the foams of the sea.

ASTAGH-FIROOLLAHAL-LAZI LAA ILLA HOVAL-HAYYOOL-QAYYOOM ZOOL-JALALE VAL-IKRAME WA ATOOBA ILAIHE

I seek forgiveness of Allah who, there is no deity other than him, the Ever-Living the Self-Subsistent, the Glorious and the Gracious. I turn unto Him (repentant).

The Prophet said: "If your hearts were always in the state that they are in during dhikr, the angels would come to see you to the point that they would greet you in the middle of the road."

Muslim narrated it. Imam Nawawi in his Sharh sahih muslim commented on this hadith saying: "This kind of sight is shown to someone who persists in meditation (muraqaba), reflection (fikr), and anticipation (iqbal) of the next world."

And Allah (swt) said: "So establish prayer for My remembrance." (20:14).




I hope this inspired you aswell and that you'll have a great weekend full of dhikr, insha'Allah :)


Take care all of you.

They Have Not Abandoned It...

I received this by email and if you feel like sharing it with others, you can surely do that. I hope you like it! I could say nothing but Subhan'Allah after watching the photos.

Do you pray? No? How come?

 The elderly have not abandoned it

 Women have not abandoned it

Children have not abandoned it

              

On the roads, they have not abandoned it

                 

In corrupt countries, they have not abandoned it

In the forests and jungles, they have not abandoned it

In the midst of ruins and destruction, they have not abandoned it

             

Under the bombings, they have not abandoned it

 
Under the rain, they have not abandoned it

             

On the stairs, they have not abandoned it

 

On top of car roofs, they have not abandoned it

In train stations, they have not abandoned it

In planes, they have not abandoned it

              

On the snow, they have not abandoned it

On the beaches and on boats, they have not abandoned it

      UNDER WATER, they have not abandoned it.
He is under water diving, it's his work …

he can’t leave his job undone…but he can’t lose the FAJAR PRAYER…

so he prayed underwater’ SubhanAllah !!!.

Before they are captured, they have not abandoned it

And after they are captured, they have not abandoned it

 The disabled have not abandoned it

      

So why would you not pray?

Oh Allah, make us among those who have khushoo’ (concentration) in their prayers,
those who are continually observing their prayers and are heedful of them
and those who guard their prayers.
Ameen!

I Miss You

I just have to say it: I MISS YOU ALL!!! I miss blogging and reading all your wonderful posts and I hate not having time for it. So I had to just post something tonight. Hehe.

I hope you're all doing well! As for me I'm doing well, just studying way hard and have a deadline for finishing most of my bachelor project this Friday morning (which came as a 'pleasant' surprise for me today), 'cause my teacher is taking her Christmasvacation the week after and won't be able to read my project then before the deadline the 3rd of January :-/ Insha'Allah I can work hard and well on it tomorrow and have the things finished that she wants me to.

And on to something else...

I received this by email the other day and thought I'd share it here:

A man woke up early in order to pray the fajr prayer in the masjid. He got dressed, made his ablution and was on his way to the masjid. On his way to the masjid, the man fell and his clothes got dirty.

He got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home, he changed his clothes, made his ablution and was again, on his way to the masjid.

On his way to the masjid, he fell again and at the same spot! He again, got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home he, once again changed his clothes, made his ablution and was on his way to the masjid.

On his way to the masjid, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and the man replied: 'I saw you fall twice on your way to the masjid, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way.' The first man thanked him profusively and the two were on their way to the masjid.

Once at the masjid, the first man asked the man with the lamp to come in and pray Fajr with him. The second man refused. The first man asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was the same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray. The man replied, 
'I am Satan.' The man was shocked at this reply. Satan went on to explain, 'I saw you on your way to the masjid and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the masjid, Allah forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time, and even that did not encourage you to stay home but rather, you went back on your way to the masjid.

Because of that, Allah forgave all the sins of the people of your household .

I was AFRAID if I made you fall one more time, then Allah will forgive the sins of the people of your village, so I made sure that you reached the masjid safely.' 

May Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala grant us perfect Muslim Heart and we all do our Prayers with all our Heart and Soul... Ameen....

Take care all my dear sisters. You mean so much to me :) and I love sharing things with you!

Dhul-Hijjah is Here

Assalaam 'Alaikum!

The blessed 10 days and nights are here and I would like to share this with you:

Hafsah reported, “There are five things that the Messenger (saws) never abandoned: fasting the day of ‘Ashurah, fasting the [first] 10 [days of Dhul-Hijjah], fasting 3 days of every month and praying two rak’aah before the dawn prayer.” [Related by Ahmad and an-Nasa'i].

Abu Hurairah relates that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “There are no days more loved to Allah for you to worship Him therein than the ten days of Dhul Hijja. Fasting any day during it is equivalent to fasting one year and to offer salatul tahajjud (late-night prayer) during one of its nights is like performing the late night prayer on the night of power. [i.e., Lailatul Qadr].” [Related by at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and al-Baihaqi]

I got this here where you can read the whole article. Else there are lots of other articles online and books too, if you have any of those.

Insha'Allah you may get the most out of these incredible ten days, sisters and brothers in Islam!

Seeking Refuge from Shaitaan

اعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم

'A'oothu bilahe minashaitan arajeem.'
(I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed devil)

Alhamdulillah, it's been a good day. I'm still a busy bee and can count on that until the beginning of Januar 2011, where I'll have finished my exams and hopefully passed them, insha'Allah!

I guess one of the main reasons that this was a good day is that I offered my prayers on time and also took time to read in The Noble Qur'an. When I opened it, I first read this:

"Seek help through patience and Salah; truly it is extremely difficult except for the humble true believers." (2:45)

"Oh you who believe! Seek help through patience and Salah. Truly, Allah is with those who are patient." (2:153)
Surely Allah (swt) knows best!

Alhamdulillah! Our Salah is so important (not to forget: the 2nd pillar of Islam!). Of course you all know that, but still there are some sisters and brothers among us (including myself) who sometimes don't get to offer all the daily prayers - or at least not always on time... Like this weekend, where I was super busy: one of the days I didn't offer my prayers and I tell you, I think that was the reason why my day was not good at all and nothing fell easily into place and thoughts and worries and bad mood overwhelmed me. Shaitaan loves this indeed...

I found these short movies on YouTube and like them quite a bit. I hope you like them too. At least they are small reminders:

And these two I liked too:

and

Take care dear muslimahs!!