Constantly repeating the same mistakes and disappointing You.
January 2013
Islam doesn't dismiss desires, it disciplines them.
Forming a relationship with Quran:
..the sheikh who mentored and initially inspired me to consider memorizing Quran told me something quite absurd long ago, and it was this: not everyone can memorize Quran.
At first, I wanted to believe this was true because heck, I was one of his students, and everyone knew if you were a student of Sheikh Ahmed, you were a serious Quran student. I wanted to believe that I was capable enough, a nonspeaking Arabic girl, to memorize the Quran just like the rest of the girls memorizing. Because I didn’t have much motivation and encouragement from home, the fact that Sheikh was filling this void for me at school, and in such a profound manner, really had me believe that I was chosen.
And yet, two years later, I have not finished memorizing the Quran. And yet, I still fail to fully encompass the message of Quran as thoroughly in my life as possible. And unfortunately, I am still struggling to understand the allegorical verses in the Quran. It was a big thrust to my ego, knowing that two years later, I still did not accomplish what I desired to attain in my last year of high school.
But I’m a living example that every single Muslim has the capacity to fully articulate, memorize, read, and understand Quran; I truly believe that. No, people are not chosen. It is you choosing your own self to be chosen for Quran that has you formulate a relationship with it.
- if you can not read, listen to Quran: try to synchronize your ipod or phones with new a new music player that plays surah’s in the Quran that you love and enjoy listening to.
- search for your favorite surah: the most loveliest feeling in the world is finding ‘the one;’ the surah that you truly love listening to constantly no matter how many times it plays.
- one day within your week: devote an hour after your friday prayer to reading a surah that you particularly find easy reading. evalute your schedule, search for a free time, and stamp it Quran time. Promise yourself that this portion of your day will be for Quran and Quran alone.
- find “the one”: when I laid my eyes on the Quran I decided was going to be my partner for life, I swear to Allah, I couldn’t let go of it. I hugged it, I literally held it close to my heart, and I showed it off to everyone. Take one of your friends out, go to your local masjid or Islamic bookstore, and find the Quran you love.
- read to your friend, read to yourself: find a Quran partner, that always works for me. I always sit my younger brother down and have him test me in my memorization. Go find one of your friends that is willing to do this just as much as you are, and read with him/her. Test eachother, read to eachother, and listen to one another read Quran.
InshAllah you take this into consideration and really push yourselves forward with the Quran. Have the Quran be the core of your existence, and allow your mind, heart, and struggle revolve around it. Allah is great. Take the time to understand Allah, and Allah will bless you in ways unimaginable.
“Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.”
—Imam Al-Ghazali
Being in school is a form of worship
There was a man - in the middle of one of the hottest days in Arabia - who saw our Imam Baqir (as) plowing the soil while no one else was out. He asked him: Oh grandson of the Prophet, of all the people I could think of, you’re the last person I’d thought who would be chasing the dunya. The Imam (as) said: What is wrong with what I’m doing? RasulAllah (saaw) says that work is a form of worship. With that, he continued working outside.
Therefore, learn. Learn and be learnt.
“When I hear somebody sigh that life is hard, I am always tempted to ask, compared to what?”
—sydney j. harris (via thalamtnafsee)
As-salamu alaykum! What do Muslims think about Jesus Christ? Thank you for your answer!
Peace and many blessings,
- Christ was a beloved and noble servant of God
- Christ was an extremely pious Prophet of God
- Christ was provided with numerous miracles (by God’s Grace), like healing the sick.
- Mary, the mother of Christ, was a pious and noble woman who is considered to be one of the greatest women of the world(s).
Find an ontology of Jesus Christ here.
The Past
Whenever the Shaitan reminds you of your past, it’s an easy battle. You just remind him of his future. Burning in himself. Pride that did him no good. From the beginning of the world to the end, it’ll feel like less than a day when he faces his Lord. Such a wasted cause.
You don’t leave your heart. That’s all this accursed whisperer wants you to do. He has no power to destroy you. You have power to destroy you. When you leave your Lord, you leave everything. With repentance, you learn to stay in your heart and remember your Lord, seeking refuge from the accursed whisperer. This battle is extremely hard. But it’s a silent one.
It’s harder when people remind you of your past. They have words you wrote. Pictures of you. Videos of you. Memories of you. Perspectives of you. Beliefs of you. They hold on to it, and constantly remind you of it. They, in their extremely active laziness to resist change, get scared when they see you changing. They don’t care what you did. They just want to hurt you - so that they can stop your advance toward Him, thinking that it’ll mean that the purpose of advancing toward Him is gone. Safe from the Last Day.
These are the worst of people. They wallow in their own pity. They dream and never wake up. They constantly whine. Constantly watch people, and pray that everyone thinks well of them, while always thinking everyone hates them. They go out of their way to try to fit into society, to be the funniest, smartest, best looking - only so that they can be praised. Narcissistic to the core. Inside of their hearts, they constantly harbor hatred of everything and everyone, while crying because they know that they truly only hate their own selves - how they are enslaved by the whisperer willingly, refusing to advance to Him.
Pride forbids them to admit it. Suffocating in their veils. So they come after you, a Muslim struggling to reach Islam.
Don’t think it’s anything new. Every example, of every kind, of every level is in the Qur’an.
In Surah Ash-Shu’ara, Allah gives us the conversation between Pharaoh and Musa (a.s.).
Pharaoh says, “And [then] you did your deed which you did (striking the Copt, who died as a result), and you were of the ungrateful.” (26:19)
And then Musa (a.s.) responds in the best manner.
[Musa] said, “I did it, then, while I was of those astray [i.e., ignorant]. So I fled from you when I feared you. Then my Lord granted me judgment [i.e., wisdom and prophethood] and appointed me [as one] of the messengers.” (26:20-21).
He didn’t deny what he did. He understood that it was because he was astray. And then when Allah called upon Him, he strove with a great striving, and fulfilled his mission.
In the same way, we’ve all committed sins. It doesn’t matter what you did. The core of it is disobedience. The way out is through repentance.
Allah chose Musa (a.s.) for prophethood, who was told of the coming of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s). Allah chose us to follow Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), whose ummah is all of mankind.
Whenever those stuck in the past remind you of yours, just say as Musa (a.s.) said: I did it, then, while I was of those astray.”
That’s it. Then move on to Him, returning to your purpose. They’ll always think of you. You’ll always think of Him.
