Ramadan Reminders; Day 8

Assalam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu! :)

May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah swt be upon you!

Daily Reminder 8:

Have you ever experienced intense emotional distress that you literally feel in your body…? The kind of pain that stresses your mind, affects your appetite and frustrates you to the core…? You have no clue as to what is happening in your life, you don’t understand whom to approach to get rid of your worry and you just feel like giving up on happiness…?

Well, whom you need to approach is The One who made you and who truly grants comfort and peace into your life! 

Tell me, if you’ve created an art piece or a project for school or university, how are you going to treat it? Are you going to let it suffer the smallest scratch? No! You’re going to protect it like a little baby! And once your project has completed it’s purpose, you may even to discard it.

If that’s how you care for a non-living project, how much do you think Allah cares for you…? And He will never ever let you be alone even for a blink of an eye!

How does a mother care for her child…? What does a mother do when her child is in pain…? She is going to do anything in her might to give her child comfort!

Allah loves you more than your mother! So if you’re in pain or confusion or any emotion that causes you extreme mental sickness, don’t you think He is going to provide you with comfort…?

Yes! He will! All you need to do is seek Him! If you experience any doubts or frustration, go to Allah. Lay the prayer mat and contact Him through your Salah! Be sincere and firm that Allah is The Lord of Worlds. And if He can provide for the birds and fishes of this world, He will provide for you too! Increase your voluntary acts of worship and watch how He favours you and blesses you! 

Never underestimate the power of the optional prayers because they will also compensate the obligatory prayers on the Judgement Day!

Verse of the Day:

Juz: 8

Surah: Al A’raf

Verse: 8

وَالْوَزْنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ فَمَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

“And the weighing [of deeds] that Day will be the truth. So those whose scales are heavy - it is they who will be the successful.”

Weighing of deeds – Isn’t it something that we’ve heard over and over again? 

“Do good! Your deeds will be weighed! Make sure your good deeds are heavier than your bad deeds! Recite this dua to make the scale heavier! Good character will be heavy for the scale!” 

These are few things that you might have come across when there is a talk about the scale or ميزان.

But what is this scale? What is the size of ميزان? Do you think the good deeds we commit are actually enough to fill the good side of the scale?

The Prophet (saws) said: “On the day of judgment huge scales will be set up, so huge that even if the sky and the earth were to be weighed in it, it would become vast for it”.

[Al-Silsilat Al-Saheehah, 941]

Imagine this! A scale, on which if you place the sky and the earth, it would still carry them! Subhan Allah!

All of our deeds, no matter how big or small they are, will be weighed on the ميزان. 

Given the fact about the size of the scale, do you think that the amount of deeds we’ve committed is sufficient for us…? Can we be certain that whatever deeds we’ve done, is going to fill up THAT scale and make it heavy…? No! We should always strive to do more and better good deeds than we’ve done or still continue to do! There’s always room for more!

And secondly, what we really need to be concerned about is the worth and quality of the deeds we are performing! 

“Are they even acceptable to Allah? Are they done in a way that Allah would be pleased with? Was the intention correct? Was the methodology correct? Was it done really to earn the pleasure of Allah?”

Umar ibn al Khattab (ra) said, “Hold yourself accountable before you’re held accountable. And weigh your deeds before they are weighed for you.”

[Musnad Ahmed]

Let us all focus on the quality of our deeds, that will cause the plates to become heavy and our accountability easy! Even if it is a deed that nobody acknowledges or is a very small deed in your eyes, it may be the heaviest on the Day of Recompense! Allah is aware of each and every act of goodness and kindness we commit. May Allah swt make it easy for us to put our knowledge into action, not only in Ramadan but also throughout our lives! Ameen.

Sunnah Challenge 8

Today's Sunnah challenge is an important one. And it truly is a challenge considering the times that we live in. 

Islam is not just about our connection with the Rabb, but it is also about how we live in this world with everyone around us. 

But have we given a second thought about how we treat the people around us?

Many a time, we let our ego slide into our relationships, and stay consumed so much with ourselves that it causes us to easily belittle others. We sometimes treat people as inferior to us, sometimes we wish evil for someone more acquired than us.

On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Malik (ra) - the servant of the Messenger of Allah (saws) - that the Prophet (saws) said :

“None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.” 

[Sahih Muslim]

Subhan Allah, the golden words of Rasulullah (saws) reaches right into our society!

He tells us to treat people the way we like to be treated, wish for people the way we wish for ourselves. He gives it such importance, that unless we achieve this, we are NOT even a believer!

Let us make it a change in ourselves to extend our love a little more, and to stop negative thoughts about any person. Let’s make sure we treat them right at all times and not belittle them for any reason. 

When we gift someone let it be something that we would like to give and not something that we would throw. When we see someone with great achievements we wish them for Good and pray to Allah to bless them in all that they do.

These positive thoughts will remove the weeds of negativity in our hearts and make it purer for us In sha Allah.

Assalam Alaykum.