You May Want to Change That...

Assalam Alaykum!

May the peace, mercy and blessings of the Almighty be upon all of you! J

I’ll begin by elaborating more on why did I choose this particular title for my article…

I have seen some people covering their cars with a sheet when they aren’t using it. Sometimes it looks as if they’re putting a perfect Hijab for those cars! The reason is pretty obvious isn’t it? Of course they want to protect it.

I have also seen (I’m sure you must have too) the shopkeepers closing their shops by lowering their metal shutters and also locking it. Do they leave even an inch open? Nope. Perfectionists. They will secure their shops before they leave. Not just the shopkeepers but also the security guards at the malls switch on the burglar alarms even though they’re on duty. Do they secure one part of the mall and leave the other part open for their visitors? Nope. They don’t. Why? Obviously the stuffs inside are so “precious” and “valuable” that they cannot risk leaving it without security.

Question arises for you. Are you, O Muslimahs, any less than those stuffs? Those material, invaluable, non-living stuffs? If such materialistic things are given tight security, covered so that it doesn’t tempt anyone to loot them, how much should you be careful about yourselves? What would you call precious and valuable? You or those cars that probably follows Hijab more than us?

Of course it is undeniable that many Muslim ladies follow Hijab. And Subhan Allah it is so over whelming to see the increasing number of Muslimahs. But, there are certain things I’ve seen for myself that makes me want to share the real criteria and purpose of Hijab. And as the title states, some of you may want to change your definition of Hijab…

Hijab is not the 10 cm cloth one wraps around their head. Hijab is not the lil hair popping out of one’s scarf. Hijab is definitely not the extremely tight abaya one wears. Hijab is not the stilettoes one wears that attracts even the ladies.

So, what is Hijab? I’ll let the Quran speak for itself, after all it’s called ‘Guidance’ for a reason…

Allah azza wa jal lays down the criteria for Hijab in Surah Noor, verse 31:

§  قُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَ يَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوْجَهُنَّ

“Say to the believing women that: they should cast down their glances and guard their private parts (by being chaste)…”

§  وَ لاَ يُبْدِيْنَ زِيْنَتَهُنَّ إِلاَّ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَ لْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلىَ جُيُوْبِهِنَّ

“...and not display their beauty except what is apparent, and they should place their khumur over their bosoms...”

Here we come across the term:

               I.      ‘Khumur’ – This is the plural of ‘khimar’ which means something with which a women conceals her head.

Question arises, why did Allah azza wa jal ask us to place the ‘khimar’ over our bosom then?

According to the commentators of the Quran, the women of Medina in the pre-Islamic era used to put their ‘khumur’ over the head with the two ends tucked behind and tied at the back of the neck, in the process exposing their ears and neck. By saying that, “place the khumur over the bosoms,” Almighty Allah ordered the women to let the two ends of their headgear extend onto their bosoms so that they conceal their ears, the neck, and the upper part of the bosom.

§  يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ, قُلْ لأَزْوَاجِكَ وَ بَنَاتِكَ وَ نِسآءِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ: يُدْنِيْنَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلاَبِيْبِهِنَّ...

“O Prophet! Say to your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers that: they should let down upon themselves their jalabib.”

Here we have another term:

              II.      ‘Jalabib’ – This is the plural of ‘jilbab’ which means a loose outer garment.

This means that the Islamic dress code for women does not only consist of a scarf that covers the head, the neck and the bosom; it also includes the overall dress that should be long and loose.

So, for instance, the combination of a tight, short sweater with tight-fitting jeans with a scarf over the head does not fulfill the requirements of the Islamic dress code.

Another question arises in my mind and a funny one at that. :P

What happens to the shopping malls and the supermarkets when there’s a special occasion? Is there tight security or is everybody welcomed without having to go through the metal detector…?

Then how on earth can you walk around without your protection, without your hijab during a wedding or a birthday party or ‘dawats’ (so typical in Indian families)

Wallahi this makes me question a person’s intellect. -_-

Sisters! Just like the security for shopping malls increases during special occasions, you need to observe hijab during the special occasions as well! By the way hijab is the jilbab+khimar! Not just the scarf over a super shiny outfit.

I know this isn’t easy. When the rest of the world decks up and each and every person around you look like they’re gonna win the Miss World crown, it doesn’t matter. You are a creation of Allah. You are beautiful no matter what race you come from. And the fact that you are protecting and guarding the beauty Allah azza wa jal gifted you with, you already surpass the not-so-ever-lasting beauty of the Miss Worlds and Universes. Yes, you won’t realize it now. But imagine on the Day of Judgement, your face will light up with noor because you obeyed Allah azza wa jal, followed His commands and stayed away from those things He has forbidden… Do you wish for the temporary beauty in this world or the everlasting beauty in the Hereafter…?

In sha Allah in my next article I will share with you a lil secret that will make all your struggles seem like a piece of cake… ;)

Until then,

Assalam Alaykum. :)

Reward Reward All The Way! - Exclusive for Muslimahs

Assalam Alaykum!

May the peace and the blessings of Allah the Almighty be upon you!

The soft gentle breeze caressing your face… The sky is immensely blue with white silvery clouds gliding almost imperceptibly against it… The air crisp and cool… Isn’t it a beautiful day? No it isn’t. As in most countries, the temperature is soaring high. Inspite of the heat, we keep up with our day to day activities. And inspite of the heat, we do our best to keep up with our Salah. And as for the Muslimahs, we do our best to keep up with our Hijab… Well most of us do, isn’t it?

Here’s the thing. The heat on Earth or let’s say the heat in this world might be a lil above 50 degrees… But imagine the heat in the Hell fire! Allah (SWT) mentions in Surah Baqarah, verse 24 that the fuel of the Hell fire are men and stones! Imagine that! One of the names of the Hell fire is سَقَرْ (Saqar). Saqar simply means ‘burn’ and it has been mentioned 4 times in the Quran. But let’s look into its root meaning to see it’s intricacy.

The root meaning of Saqar means to ‘injure’ and ‘to change the form of something by heat’ and ‘to scorch something’. The use of Saqar gives 2 meanings:

1.   Extreme heat that will cause alteration in the complexion and skin. (Have you ever had a skin burn?)

2.  Extreme heat that will cause pain. (Have you ever received a headache after a long day in the heat?)

Allah azza wa jal asks us in Surah Muddathir,

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا سَقَرُ

“And what will make you know (exactly) what Saqar is?” (74:27)

Then He gives us the definition of Saqar:

لَا تُبْقِي وَلَا تَذَرُ

“It spares not, nor does it leave!” (74:28)

لَوَّاحَةٌ لِّلْبَشَرِ

“Burning and blackening the skins!” (74:29)

So Saqar does not let anything remain. Everything that goes into this fire will be burned.

So that’s how hot Jahannum is and it’s just one description of it… Ofcourse it isn’t that hot here. So why not deal with the heat in this life and get to experience the bliss in the Hereafter…?

Imagine a day in Jannah… A caller will refer to you as a Jannati (people of Jannah) and tell you that Allah wants to meet you… Imagine that day! Allah, the Lord of the worlds! The One whom you had worshipped and obeyed all your life! The One you used to talk to in dua! The one you cried to when you were feeling lost and confused! The One in whom you seeked refuge! The One whom you trusted more than yourself! The One who’s mercy and forgiveness made you a Jannati! And He wants to meet you! Subhan Allah!

And then when you reach your destination, where the rest of the people of Paradise are gathered, pulpits of lights will emerge… pulpits of pearls, gemstones, gold and silver. And then Allah, The Blessed and The Exalted will order His Chair to be brought. And when you are comfortable and secure in your places, the caller will call out, “O People of Paradise! You have an appointment with Allah in which He wishes to reward you!” And you will say, “What is that reward? Has He not already made our faces bright, made our scales heavy, entered us into Paradise, and pushed us away from the Fire?”

And suddenly a light will shine that will encompass all of Jannah. And when you raise your head, behold! The Majestic, The Compeller, The Exalted, The Almighty has come to meet you and He will say, “O People of Paradise! Peace be upon you!”. All our life we greeted our fellow Muslims and now, Allah Himself is exchanging words of peace with you! And this greeting will not be responded to with anything better than: “O Allah! You are Peace, and from You is Peace! Blessed are You, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour!”.

And then the moment you were waiting for all your life… The People of Jannah will ask Allah to show His Face. Then Allah – The Mighty and Majestic will remove His covering and will majestify them and will cover them with His Light, which, if Allah had not willed not to burn them, would have burned them.

And there will not remain a single person in this gathering except that Allah will speak to them and say: “Do you remember the day that you did this and that?” and He will remind him of some of his bad deeds in the worldy life, so he will say: “O Lord! Will you not forgive me?”. So, Allah will say: “Of course! You have not reached this position of yours (in Paradise) except by my forgiveness.”

Is wearing Hijab too much to ask for to experience this amazing meeting with Allah…?

Sisters! Let not shaytan distract you from your obligations! Hijab is infact protecting you not only from the evil eyes but also from extreme weather. Health officials have perfectly described the ‘Islamic dress code’ by recommending that the best form of clothing to wear should be good quality, loose fitting clothing that cover the maximum amount of skin. The headscarf provides protection from both extremes of temperatures and guards the vital organs from sustaining damage from each of the extremes. The Islamic dress maintains a state of balance within the human body that helps keep it healthy through out its lifetime.

This proves that there are always valid reasons behind any divine rulings and regulations given to mankind and it is clear that the wisdom of Allah in prescribing such rulings related to hijab and the Islamic dress code provides protection not only from sociological and psychological issues but from a health perspective too.

So dear sisters! Let us all make the best use of this summer to please Allah so that we gain the rewards not only in this life but in the Hereafter as well! In sha Allah!

What if your Salah is Nullified...?

Assalam Alaykum Dear Readers!

May the Peace and Blessings of Allah Almighty be upon you all.

Let me begin by asking you all to imagine a situation…

Imagine you are given a project in school. If you complete it on time and with perfection, you will be rewarded. So you start working on that project everyday…You put in all your time and effort and mind to it. You gather information, make a report, print the papers, arrange it and complete it on time. And when you submit to the incharge, they point out certain things which you may have left unnoticed.

For eg: The incharge had asked you to file your details in the front page and you happen to attach it at the last.

You lost your reward just because you missed out on your incharge’s instructions. If you had paid a little more attention perhaps you would have achieved your reward.

In the same way what if our prayers are being nullified because we don’t pay much attention to it…? We’ll be missing out on a huge reward here which is the Jannah!

Many of us are oblivious or unconscious of the fact that our Salah maybe nullified. Since Salah is the most vital fundamental things in a Muslim’s life, it is very important for us to analyse every aspect of it.

Let’s look into the 3 main reasons which can nullify our Salah;

1.   First and foremost is while making Wudu, we are in a rush. Sometimes we forget to wash the elbows or the ankles or we forget to wash the face completely. If you have a single hair span width left dry while making Wudu, then your Wudu is invalid and so your Salah is invalid.

2.  Another thing we don’t pay attention to is exposing the awrah. Again if a single hair span of our awrah is exposed, our Salah becomes invalid. The awrah of a man is the area between the navel and the knee. The awrah of a woman is everything except the face and the hands from the wrist.

3.  The third and the most prevalent one is excessive movement. Some of the jurists say that anything above three consecutive movements that are not part of the Salah for an individual during the Salah would nullify their Salah.  

The first thing Allah Azza wa jal will be asking us on the Day of Judgement is our Salah. It is the distinguisher between a Muslim and a Kaafir, keeps us away from sins and is one of the obligations of Islam which when performed on time and with perfection will lead us to Jannah.

So let’s give Salah the lil more attention it deserves and pray to Allah that He accepts and rewards us for all the good deeds we perform and forgive our sins and shortcomings. 

Ameen.

As Salam Alaykum.

 

A Call From Allah!

As Salam Alykum! 

May the peace of The Almighty be upon all of you!

Let's begin with a question. 

Whom do we usually turn to in sadness or in happiness? 

Our friends might get the majority of the votes! And maybe 10-15 % might say their parents. But whom should we turn to in times of grief or ecstasy..?

My answer would be pretty obvious but let's look into some facts that we may have ignored.. 

Let's deal with sadness first since that's kinda like the elixir for teenagers or rather the youth. When we are told that there won't be sadness in Jannah, we go like "Really? How come there's a life without sadness???"

But why do we face sadness or depression? Why is there a feeling of frustration and disappointment? If our Creator loves us so much then why does He burden us? Isn't there enough already?

Allah says in the Quran in Surah Baqarah, verse 286; "Allah does not burden a soul beyond that which it can bear."

A verse we've heard like a thousand times, but have we reflected on it atleast once..? Wallahi if we did, we wouldn't hold Allah responsible for our sadness. Because He knows what each and every soul's capacity is. He would NEVER ever burden us, or give us tests beyond that which we can bear. If He has tested us with something, it means we're strong enough to overcome it. Tell me. Would you or your Creator know best of what you're capable of? If we're saying we cannot bear it, are we trying to say that Allah's claim is wrong...? Remember what Rasulullah (SAWS) said? No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were a prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.

Sadness is a part of life just like happiness, anger and love. It cannot be neglected or avoided in this world. This world, as we know it is temporary. So the sadness in it is also temporary. But that doesn't mean it has no solution. There is an amazing way to get out of it....

At times of trials and tribulations, we have a decision to make. Either we can get closer to Allah or we can decide to live with our pain, restrict it to ourselves, prolong it for no reason and let the pain get worse.

When we are sad and we feel pain, our first reaction is, we wana isolate ourselves. And this is NOT what you want to do. It is the Shaytan telling you that you will feel better in isolation just because you're the only one that understands what you're going through. It is a deception from Shaytan! 

What happens during isolation is, our Deen starts to disappear. The content of our Salah, the Khushoo of our Salah starts to disappear. Our ability to recite the Quran is no longer there. What did we do differently? Well we gave ourselves to Shaytan. And Shaytan's promise is he will lead us astray, away from the path of Allah. 

Pain and suffering becomes negative if it creates a barrier between us and Allah. But it becomes positive, pain becomes positive - a motivation for us when it brings us back to Allah! And this is what each and everyone of us going through pain and suffering need to realize. The point of pain and suffering is not that Allah wants to punish you but rather it is a calling from Allah! This is one of the wisdoms of trials and tribulations.  

There is actually a blessing inside trials that we don't perceive. Trials and tribulations are a means of purification. They are a means of purifying us so that we can go to the purest of places. They are not out of Allah's anger or wrath. They are a means of cleansing us of our sins. It is a preparation so that we can go into the purest and noblest of places, Jannah. 

All of this is about perspective and how we deal with the situation. So it's very important for those of us who are going through trials, to change our perspective of trials. It is not a punishment from Allah, it is a means to get closer to Allah. It is a calling from Allah that He wants us to come back to Him. 

Let not the sadness in this world affect us. We were not made for this temporary life but for an eternal life of beauty and bliss. Let's keep aside this temporary sadness and work towards our ultimate destination, Jannah. 

As Salam Alykum. :)

A Ray of Hope

Peace be on you all!

Since the time I've decided to take Islam as one of my subjects, I couldn't neglect the negative comments passed on this religion. You can see it on every social networking website. And it drives you crazy and you're like "Really?! How come I never came across that one!" And some of them are baseless. 

Like in one interview from some political figure, they were talking about how Shias are different from Sunni. I wouldn't want to get into details but I felt so sorry for them. There's NO SECTS IN ISLAM. If you're a Muslim, welcome to the Deen group buddy! Doesn't matter what group you belong to or what your social status is. That doesn't matter at all! You're a Muslim. No added class to that. 

Anyway coming back to the topic, when one speaks about Islam, chances are almost rare that the person won't raise any question against the religion. It may not be completely against the topic, but it's not even in favour of the topic. On my India trip this year, one girl had asked me why aren't Muslim women allowed inside mosques and especially on Ramadan. I had to give her a glimpse of the Ramadan in Saudi Arabia. Masha Allah the mosques are packed with ladies so much so that they have to raise tents for the ladies.

I have often faced this issue where people have different concepts of this religion in their minds. Concepts that are irrelevant and logic less and proof less. 

Sometimes it's about the comments passed on Islamic articles or videos. And when you're reading it you go like "Nooooooooooooooo!!". It's like they vent out all their frustration of their lives on this religion. "Why is the global economy falling? It's cause of Islam." Umm does that even make sense? No. But again it's a person's choice and May Allah direct every person's choice to what is right. 

So under such conditions, where is the ray of hope? It's around every Muslim. :)

On my recent trip to India, I found out that people are more than curious to know about Islam and our practices. But they won't look into the right sources to learn about our Deen or to get their doubts cleared. If you have a really good non muslim friend, they will ask you their doubts directly. But otherwise they will indirectly try to seek an answer from you. In such cases, it becomes really important on how we portray our Deen.. This is very crucial because they judge our Deen by watching our actions. We need to give something worthy to look forward to. 

To all the Muslimahs out there! We are walking examples of our Deen! We represent Islam wherever we are! Our Hijab speaks for us! One of the most beautiful definition for Hijab is that it makes the world recognize us as Muslims. It regains a sense of morality in people when we walk by. We are respected by men, not because we ask them to but because our hijab makes them respect us. It is a sign of purity and modesty. It is pride for us Muslim women to be gifted by hijab by our Creator, our Lord. So when we're readily recognized as people of Islam, it's really really necessary to watch our actions.. 

Kids are great imitators and adults are great commentators. Give them both something great to imitate and comment. 

May Allah make it easy for us to spread Islam. :)

As Salam Alykum.