Assalam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu! :)
May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah swt be upon you!
Daily Reminder 12:
How many of you truly feel content and satisfied with your life? How many of you can claim that your heart is at peace and there is absolutely no distress and frustrations in your life? And how many times has your prayer been able to calm you down (like literally melt your anger and makes you feel blissful)?
Let’s start reasoning our answers with some statistics.
On an average we perform about 34 Sujood (excluding the Sunnah and Witr prayers) in a day. Take a moment and ask yourself. “I bow down in prostration, let my head touch the ground so many times in a day but has this act ever touched my heart once…? Did at least one sujood bring a single tear in my eye…? Am I really prostrating to Allah with my heart and soul or is just my body prostrating to Allah…?”
We’ve heard many times that when you’re upset fall into Sujood, we’re closest to Allah in Sujood and a Dua made during Sujood is always accepted by Allah swt.
But take a step back. Are you making Sujood for yourself or for your Creator and The Creator of every single atom in this world? Because if we truly made Sujood for The One who created us, we wouldn’t spend even a fraction of a second in doubt or complains!
Sujood is a part of the gift that Rasulullah (saws) himself went up to the Heavens to receive it directly from Allah! Sujood is an act of Shukr, it is humbling yourself in front of your Lord and it is a form of telling your Creator, “My Lord, You are The Greatest, I am weak, I am your slave, You alone are in control of my life and that is why I’m resting the highest part of my body on to the ground for You!”
If we would sincerely reflect on these feelings, we wouldn’t lift our heads from prostration immediately after reciting “Subhana Rabbi al A’la”.
One single Sujood would wipe off every ounce of agony and fear from our minds. We would prostrate to Allah not only in times of dejection or sorrow, confusion or doubts but also when we’re happy or ecstatic!
With every Sujood, we would feel elated because Allah swt raises us by one degree in Jannah and forgives a sin of ours! [Ahmed]
This Dunya is imperfect and is literally an accumulation of all the things that can feed on your soul and suck out peace from your life. This is why Allah swt blessed us with Sujood.
The Prophet (saws) was suffering from distress from being harmed by the enemies of Islam. So Allah swt gave our Prophet (saws) a remedy by revealing the following verses from Surah Hijr;
وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ يَضِيقُ صَدْرُكَ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ
فَسَبّـِحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبّـِكَ وَكُن مّـِنَ السَّاجِدِينَ
“And We already know that your breast is constrained by what they say.”
“So exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord and be of those who prostrate [to Him]”
For every negative emotion we experience, the cure is in Sujood! It is a position where you exchange your worries for blessings! It heals your soul of all the damage it has suffered. It elevates your spirit and fills it up with hope and positivity.
It is the act that brings about peace and comfort! And yet it the act we have taken for granted.
May Allah swt give us the ability to truly appreciate His gifts and blessings upon us, allow us to be among those who are grateful to Him and who find peace only in His remembrance! Ameen.
Verse of the Day:
Juz: 12
Surah: Yusuf
Verse: 42
وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مّنْهُمَا اذكُرْنِي عِندَ رَبّكَ فَاَنسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبّهِ فَلَبِثَ فِي السّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ
“And he said to the one whom he knew would go free, “Mention me before your master.” But Satan made him forget the mention [to] his master, and Joseph remained in prison several years.”
I’m sure all of you have come across the beautiful story of Yusuf (as) which Allah swt Himself testified as the best story ever!
Subhan Allah his story is one where we can extract a number of life lessons. Every incident in his life and every hardship he went through seems like an amazing puzzle whose outcome was truly a divine success!
The ayah I picked for the day is actually a continuation of an incident where two of the prison mates of Yusuf (as) approach him for the interpretation of their dreams.
According to their dreams, one man among them was to be crucified while the other was going to be set free. And as a favour, Yusuf (as) asked the other man to mention to the king upon his release that he’s been in the prison even though he is innocent. But shaytan caused that man to forget about this request of Yusuf (as).
What I want you to focus here is the patience, faith and forgiving nature of Prophet Yusuf (as).
First and foremost, he is serving his most precious time – the youth in the prison in spite of being innocent! And yet, he never complained of his situation ever! Instead he devoted his talent and time in the way of Allah swt and spread His Deen! Subhan Allah!
Many a time we may feel restricted and that nobody gives importance to our strengths or even our existence! Yes, we don’t complain but how is our attitude at such times? Cranky? Moody? Do we even praise and thank Allah in such circumstances? No! We deal with these situations as if they’re a burden upon us!
But look at the life of Yusuf (as). Allah swt knew best that in this period of seclusion in the prison, He azza wa jal was preparing His Prophet for the greater role he was to play very soon! Allah swt kept Yusuf (as) away from all the harm and distractions so that he focuses on building his relationship with Allah and also invite people around him to the Deen of Allah! Imagine doing Dawah in the prison!
And Yusuf (as) wasn’t even guilty, yet he had faith and trust in the decree of Allah and instead of spending the period in wait, he devoted his time, his mind, his soul and his talent in the way of Allah! And how was he rewarded? He was made the Treasurer of Egypt! Such a powerful position!
Secondly, when we provide our help to our friends or family, we do it with the intention of both praise and acknowledgement or with an expectation of receiving good from them. And when we don’t receive any of it, we say, “I’m never going to help them again! They don’t deserve it! Could have at least said ‘thanks’” and we enter a whole new negative zone!
How do you think Yusuf (as) would have felt when there was no news from the king about his release? Don’t you think he would have felt betrayed? Because of this, he had to spend several years in the prison!
Yusuf (as) knew that it is Allah alone who rewards and He alone sends the relief! He continued his dawah and ibadah with sincerity, humility, positivity and patience! There is so much we could learn from this man, Subhan Allah!
I understand sometimes the situation gets out of our tolerance level, we feel as though everything is against us and we start losing hope. We’re unable to concentrate in Salah or while reciting the Quran. We lose the ability to think well and good for ourselves let alone for others.
But it is at such times that we need to keep our cool. It is in these situations that our Imaan is being tested. And Allah, The Most Wise intended this period for us because He is preparing us for a much bigger and better position in this life and the Hereafter!
Trust Him and continue with the best of deeds, be positive and encourage others around you, spread good and mercy! And watch how The Best Planner beautifies your life and rewards you with that which you never expected in your possession, In sha Allah!
Sunnah Challenge 12:
Children are one of the biggest blessings from Allah in this world, the coolness of our eyes, and the future leaders of our Ummah.
Protecting our children from evil is a huge responsibility as this Dunya is full of trials and tribulations, with Shaytan trying to stray every person and every path.
The Prophet (saws) used to say the following to seek the protection of Allah for Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein:
Evils are of all kinds and it is necessary to protect our children, be it our own children, siblings or any other children from all sorts of harm.
1. Always remember to recite Surah Baqarah as Shaytan RUNS away from a home where this Surah is recited! [Sahih Muslim]
2. Make it a habit to repeat Surah Falaq and Naas before going to bed along with Ayatul Kursi, with the kids! [Sahih Bukhari]
3. Remember to keep them indoors during the time Shaytan lurks out, the early hours of Maghrib![Sahih Muslim]
May Allah swt protect our children from all kinds of harm and make them as ones who turn to Allah in times of despair! Ameen.
Assalam Alaykum.
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