Realize

 We must realize that nothing happens without a purpose. Nothing. Not even broken hearts. Not even pain. That broken heart and that pain are lessons and signs for us. They are warnings that something is wrong. They are warnings that we need to make a change. Just like the pain of being burned is what warns us to remove our hand from the fire, emotional pain warns us that we need to make an internal change. That we need to detach. Pain is a form of forced detachment. Like the loved one who hurts you again and again and again, the more dunya hurts us, the more we inevitably detach from it. The more we inevitably stop loving it. And pain is a pointer to our attachments. That which makes us cry, that which causes us most pain is where our false attachments lie. And it is those things which we are attached to as we should only be attached to Allah which become barriers on our path to God. But the pain itself is what makes the false attachment evident. The pain creates a condition in our life that we seek to change, and if there is anything about our condition that we don't like, there is a divine formula to change it. Allah says, "Verily, Allah does not change the condition of people until they change what is within themselves." (QS. 13:11)

Never Forget

 When you are hurt by people who share the same blood as you, just remember Yusuf 'Alaihissalam, who was betrayed by his own brothers. If you find your parents opposing you, remember Ibrahim 'Alaihissalam, whose father led him to the fire. If you're stuck with a problem where there's no way out, remember Yunus 'Alaihissalam, stuck in the belly of a whale. When someone slanders you, remember Aisha Radhiyallahuanha who was slandered throughout the city. If you're ill your body cries with pain, remember Ayou 'Alaihissalam who was more ill than you. When you can't see the logic around you, think of Nuh 'Alaihissalam who built an Ark without questioning. If you are mocked by your own relatives, family, friends and the world at large, then remember our dear Prophet Muhammad. Allah put these prophets to trial so that generations will also persevere in patience.

Tawakul

 Tawakul

Allah tests our faith when we spend long hours in sujood, when we make a lot of dua's and cries our heart out to Him to give us something we love or maybe to remove some haram from us but still we dont get what we want. Sometimes Allah tests our patience, sometimes after so many efforts our duas/prayers just dont seem to get answered. So don't get dishearted or disappointed. These are those moments when you need to show your love and faith to Allah. These are the moments when you have to be patient. Tawakul is when you hand over all those things to Allah that you cannot understand.

You do deserve it

 You do deserve it.

That thing you so desperately want, but that you're afraid to ask for Him for.

Whenever you're about to say, "O Allah grant me..." the words get stuck in your throat. Because you just don't know if you're "worthy", if you're "ready", if you're willing to receive it.

You've been taught about dua/prayer. So you know that when you ask Him, Allah may bring that thing to fruition, or something better. That's beautiful, but you're scared of what that might mean. Your life will change, you'll have more responsibility, you'll have to step up to the task.

And it feels comfortable where you are. Even if you've stagnated.

At the core of it all, you think you don't deserve that thing you want because you're flawed. You're so full of mental and emotional contradictions, and you've committed so many sins that you think--why should I have anything good?

So you stop asking. You become silent after your prayers. You fold up your mat and go on with your day. And you try not to think about that thing you so desperately want.

It doesn't work, though. You still think about it. You still dream about it. And the words that are stuck in your throat claw at you because they want to be spoken out loud. They want to travel up to the heavens.

He knows more than anyone how flawed you are. But He never says, "Ask me only if you're perfect".

Shaytaan's Tactics

 Don't be too impressed with yourself if you're able to stay away from major sins such as zina, gambling, drinking alcohol, and so on. Many people are good at avoiding such sins, but they're not so good at protecting their tongues from backbiting, swearing, cursing, belittling people, and so forth. Nor are they good at protecting their hearts from materialism, worldly desires, jealousy, holding grudges, arrogances and pride.

We must remember that if Shaytan is not able to get us to commit sins, he will try to get us to waste time, procrastinate and delay doing good deeds, such as seeking knowledge, reading and studying the Qur'an, learning Arabic, da'wah, dhikr, tawbah and other good deeds that will benefit us here and in the Akhirah/Hereafter.

He will also try to convince us that we don't have the time for such things, even though we're able to make time to watch movies, box sets, or go out with friends.

This is Love

There are at least 2 types of love. There will be some people you love because of what you get from them: what they give you, the way they make you feel. This is perhaps the majority of love, which is also what makes much of love so unstable. A person's capacity to give is inconstant and changing. Your response to what you are given is also inconstant and changing. So if you're chasing a feeling, you'll always be chasing. No feeling is ever constant. If love is dependent on this, it too becomes inconstant and changing. And just like everything in this world, the more you chase it, the more it will run away from you. But, once in a while, people enter your life that you love, not for what they give you, but for what they are. The beauty you see in them is a reflection of the Creator, so you love them. Now suddenly it isn't about what you're getting, but rather what you can give. This is unselfish love.

This second type of love is the most rare. And if it is based in, and not competing with, the love of Allah, it will also bring about the most joy. To love in any other way is to need, to be dependent, to have expectations, all the ingredients for misery and disappointment. So for all those, who have spent their life seeking, know that purity of any thing is found at the source. If it is love that you seek, seek it through Allah. Once you begin to see everything beautiful as only a reflection of God's beauty, you will learn to love in the right way: for His sake. Everything and everyone you love with be for, through and because of Him. The foundation of such love is Allah. So what you hold onto will no longer be just an unstable feeling, a fleeting emotion. And what you chase will no longer be just a temporary high. What you hold, what you chase, what you love, will be Allah: the only thing stable and constant.

Thereafter, everything else will be through Him. Everything you give or take or love or don't love, will be by Him. This means you will love what He loves and not love what He does not love. And when you do love, you will give to the creation, not for what you can get in return from them. You will love and you will give, but you will be sufficed from Him. And the one who is sufficed by Allah, is the richest and most generous of all lovers. Your love will be by Him, for Him, and because of Him. That is love.

Sincerity

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you're kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeeded anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis it is between you and Allah; It was never between you and them anyway.

The Left Rib

I asked my wife, "What is it that you love about me?" She said, 

"I love the long beard on your face, the Khol in your eyes and the perfume on your body.

I love when you wear garments above ankles and walk lowering your gaze with humility because you remind me the sunnah of my Nabi.

I love when you remind me to recite Surah Mulk before going to bed. I love when you make wudhu, read duas/prayers and sleep on your right side.

I love when you stand before me in Tahajjud and we pray together. I love when you and I recite Qur'an and share hadiths.

I love when you place a feathery kiss on my forehead before going to masjid; when you excite me, intrigue me, fascinate me and love me when I don't even deserve it.

I love when you stop me from sharing our photos online to restrain me from spreading fitnah and to protect our happiness from the evil eye.

I love when you are jealous of other guys looking at me. I love when you draw niqab on me face and say, "You're only mine".

I love when you ask me how was my day; when you care about my physical, mental and emotional health. I love when you give importance to my feelings.

I love when you silently eat my salty and spicy curries without complaining. I love when you forgive me and praise my bad cooking just not to make me feel upset.

I love when you give a smile from your heart and saying bismillah you enter home with the right leg. I love when you give "Salam" and whisper to my ears - 'I missed you'.

I love you my habib, it would take a lifetime and more to describe you how much I love you because you're Ma Sha Allah wonderful from inside and out.

Your manner, your kindness- generosity, your patience, your respect, your mindset, your concern for this life and the hereafter is what I love."

Believe/Yaqeen

Every story does not end in pain or with the last goodbye letter. Some stories start with love and ends up on believing . Believe to meet again. Believe to be granted with the best. Believe to make impossible into possible. Believe to get sweet reward of this painful wait. Believe for the acceptance of dua's/prayers. So we have to understand that sometimes we have to leave a lot of things even if we don't want it, for Allah's will. And some things are removed from our life just for a test. And when we pass that test then Allah give us back everything that was taken from us. Remember one thing, Allah loves those who believe in Him! Who put their whole faith in Him! Who ask everything from Him! And dua/prayer is the most powerful way of expressing your believe and love towards Allah. Dua/prayer is a witness that Allah can do anything! Then miracles happen. And everything gets done, no matter what it is. Our journey becomes so easy when Allah becomes our companion. And then He completes every incomplete story with His one order "Kun" be and Fayakun "It is".

Practice Good Speech Before You Preach to Others

People teach others good manners and a gentle tone and when the time comes to themselves to do this, they start harassing others over very small things and in so many different ways in the name of justice. Then they gain false sympathy by being oppressed in front of others.

Every story has two sides, one that is shown to people and the other, that is truth. I've noticed that people see every story the way they want to, they don't even care if it's true or false. People just enjoy harassing an innocent person or seeing him being degraded and publicly humiliated.

See the good in others and learn to find excuses for one another before assuming the worst, so that on the day of Judgment Allah may have mercy on you. Because you are not free from sins. If Allah hides your faults from all, then learn to conceal the faults of others. Don't forget that as fast as Allah can give you everything, He can take everything back from you even more faster.

Family Conflicts

We tend to judge people with family problems, but forget that even Prophets were tested with domestic issues. Prophets did not have perfect families. Nuh had problems with his son, Ibrahim with his father, Luth with his wife, and Yaqoob with his children. Allah put these Prophets to trial so that generations can also persevere in patience.

May Allah grant us strength in our family bonds, and if there is any issues in the family, may Allah allow our honour to stay intact and give us the hikmah (wisdom) and himma (courage) to resolve it privately. Do not publicize your matters hoping for sympathy or support, many don't care, and many are glad you have them. Confide in Allah, only He can heal, help and change your situation.

Healthy and High-Value Muslim Mindset

1. Maybe الله lets it rain because He wants to accept your Dua/Prayer 

2. Maybe الله took it away from you to replace it with something better 

3. Maybe الله destroyed that plan because it was about to destroy you 

4. Maybe الله distance you from somebody because they would lead you to be distant from Him 

5. Maybe الله breaks your heart so you are guided back to Him 

6. Maybe الله want let you pray at night because He wants you to talk to Him 

7. Maybe الله causes difficulties in your life, so you can make dua/prayer to Him because He misses your voice 

8. Maybe الله lets you suffer so much, so you could realise that He is the Only One in the dunya who will make you feel complete 

To understand that Allah defines wat is right and wrong, not the latest trendy, liberal person. To understand Allah sets boundaries, and that which is for our own good. To understand you are in need of Allah in every circumstances. To understand the love of Allah and His Mercy. To repent sincerely, frequently asking for forgiveness believing that Allah will forgive you. And most importantly, to forgive yourself and learn from your mistakes.

Your follow list and what you post and engage with online speaks volume about who you really are. Follow accounts that you can learn and improve from. Be intentional with your use of social media. The content you regularly feed your mind influences your thoughts, so choose only uplifting ones that'll benefit you in this life as well as your Akhirah. Be selective about what you consume.

Sincerity of Love

The heart is like a magnet; meeting its opponent creates an attractive force, even if it is weak at first. The longer it goes, the closer it gets, the stronger the pull. It's so strong that it dazzles your eyes, the bond becomes precious, and your surroundings vanish, as if it's just you and him/her. Then you wonder, "Is this love?" Until an unpleasant interruption occurs. The strength of the pull breaks like rubber while whipping the heart as painfully as possible! Your body is hunched, but the veil on your vision is lifted, and the light you thought was 'love' turns out to be a joke. This does not imply that it is despicable; perhaps it is God's way of making you aware. Love is far more valuable than telenovela trivia. Then get up and open your eyes so that your attention, time, and energy can be used for something more valuable. And, love, it shouldn't be that joke. It is about certainty, sincerity, and struggle. When it is completed, you will know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala already has a plan.

Leaking Bottle

A farmer arrived one day with two bottles of water. Unfortunately, one of the bottles had a hole at the bottom. The farmer filled the bottles with water to take to his village. However, the water in the holed bottle kept spilling out, making him feel useless. 

And every time the first bottle spilled water, it boasted and insulted the second bottle. Until one day he couldn't take it any longer and asked the farmer to throw it away. "Have you paid attention to the roads in our village lately?" asked the farmer. 

Finally, the two of them went to look at the road they always took, and they discovered many beautiful flowers. "Do you see that?" the farmer asked. The water you've been spilling all this time has grown those flowers." The lesson is that, even if we have flaws, we do not have to be sad and depressed all of the time. Because we can also help others despite our flaws. Get excited! Life is wonderful!

Book: goodbye, things by Fumio Sasaki

One more book I read about the minimalist life of the Japanese and instantly I remembered the replica house of the house of the Prophet Muhammad, which was empty and simple. The interesting idea of this book is about how having things takes time and energy to manage, and in the end, things that are meant to make things easier for us, actually control us. Then this has an effect on the unhappiness that all our many possessions bring. We are bored, easily bored, annoyed, piled up, ungrateful, and this is the characteristic of our civilization today. 

Civilization of goods not civilization of ideas. 

These days we are filled with feelings of understanding, collecting shoes from one wardrobe, makeup lined with dozens of types, collections of outfits that can only be worn once, flexing being deified, hundreds of advertisements that we consume every day, and goods have become the only indicator of success in the middle of the world. the middle of society and this is the characteristic of civilization of goods, not civilization of ideas. 

From here I understand more, about advice to make the world only in the hands not in the heart because something that is put into the heart when we have a love for things then there are burdensome consequences and when we only have things in our minds, our obsessions are only things, that's where we become dwarf. However, when our civilization is dominated by ideas, our hearts are filled with our love for knowledge, for vision, it becomes our fault and this is what Rasulullah SAW exemplified. 

In the 6th century, when the kings of Rome and Persia were in luxury, our Apostle slept on a mat. However, his vision and ideas about da'wah and building human civilization made Islam spread to two thirds of the world in just 25 years. Actually there are many hadith editorials about being aware of putting the world in our hearts and this is one of the secrets of the recipe for a happy life.

Why Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the true Prophet?

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was an orphan, couldn’t read and write, went against his family & the whole World, lived amongst his enemies, and refused money, women, and power for his Message. He was so honest that even his enemies had trust in him. He changed the Political system, Economical system, and Legal system. He preached to end Racism and Tribalism. Who brought the change not only in Macro-level, but also in Micro-level. He changed the people’s way of eating, way of sleeping, way of dealing with their families, way of scheduling their days, way of speaking with each other, way of doing business, way of going to the bathroom, way of dress, etc. He changed a lot of things and all of it was coming from Allah & It all happened in only a period of 23 years. So, a man who couldn’t read and write, brought a change in a very short period of time which no one has ever brought! Can you think of a single person who has done this much? He is only Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. 

There are only 3 possible options: 

1. He was a liar 

2. He was deluded 

3. He was speaking the truth 

If options 1 and 2 are wrong then automatically option 3 would become true. 

Was he a liar? 

People including his enemies trusted Muhammad ﷺ and was called “al-Ameen”, meaning “the Trustworthy”. Non-muslims used to make him judge for their personal issues because they used to trust him. People lie because of money, status, power, luxury life, or women but Muhammad ﷺ was offered all of these things but he rejected it for one Message i.e “There is none worthy of worship except Allah”. He was tortured, threatened, injured. He and families starved for days, but he endured all of this for one Message i.e “There is none worthy of worship except Allah”. 

Was he deluded? 

His teachings were “Don’t lie, help the poor, do charity, be just, free slaves, end racism and tribalism. These can’t be the teachings of a deluded person. How could a deluded person rule over a nation, lead an army, and change the economic & legal system? This shows he was not deluded. So as we have seen he was neither a liar nor a deluded person, therefore this proves that Muhammad ﷺ was speaking the truth. His coming was foretold in the Tawraat(Torah) and Injeel(Gospel), and some of the people of the book saw that these prophecies applied in totality to the Prophet ﷺ, which led them to embrace Islam. There are still passages in the Bible, in both the Old and New testaments, in the versions that are accepted by the people of the book, that clearly refer to the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ , for example in the Gospel of Barnabas, which is considered by Christians to be the most authentic Gospel. Allah supported the Prophet ﷺ with physical miracles, with which he challenged his people. Among the most important of these were the splitting of the Moon and the night journey to Bayt al-Maqdis(Jerusalem). 

They were unable to match these miracles, and so they were a decisive, divine testimony to the truth of his Prophethood. Allah chose him even though he had grown up as an orphan and was illiterate, knowing neither how to read or write. All good qualities and virtues were perfected in him, to the point of ultimate perfection. All these good qualities were combined and firmly established in him, something which no one else can attain except the Prophets whom Allah protected and guided. When Allah sent Muhammad ﷺ with the same Message as the Prophets who had come before him, the Qur’an came to confirm their books and their Prophethood, and to call people to believe in them. So when the people of the book disbelieved in him and his book, it meant that they were disbelieving in their own books and messengers. As the Qur’an contained the same principles as their books, and confirmed them, this meant that it was the least likely to be fabricated or to have come from a source other than Allah, because all of them came from Allah, may he be exalted.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

I love how Prophet ﷺ guided us to live a simple life. No show off, no hate nothing. Just a simple life where swallowing anger comew with reward, eating healthy and clean, eating what is in front, respecting everyone, spreading Salam and always having a smile despite the situations you face. Prophet ﷺ wept, but he never once complained. He faced numerous challenges, including persecution, rejection, and the loss of loved ones. Despite these hardships, he remained steadfast and relied on his faith in Allah. He understood that complaining would not change the situation but rather hinder his ability to find solutions and maintain a positive mindset. Instead of complaining, the Prophet ﷺ turned to Allah in times of difficulty. He sought solace and guidance through prayer and supplication. This exemplifies the Islamic principl of relying on Allah's help and find strength in our faith during challenging times. As followers of the Prophet ﷺ, we should strive to adopt his example. Instead of complaining about the difficulties we face, we can turn to Allah, seek His guidance, and find strength in our faith. We can also display kindness, empathy, and support for others, even during our own times of hardship.

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumtances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a place of worship, our relationship with others, and even our homes. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. But we can choose our attitude. We can choose to see the world with negativity, focusing on shortcomings, and limitations, or we can choose to embrace the light and blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us.