Patience

Sabr.

You are not alone in your struggles,
Look to those around you -

That man has no feet,
And you complain of no shoes?
Thy girl sees but darkness,
Whilst Allah has given you two beautiful eyes?

Consider the one whose lost her young child;
In a violent shelling,
Her hands are soaked with its blood,
As her eyes weep for the child she held,
She fed,
and whom she loved more than anything else.


Look at that boy,
Whose parents have passed by,
And he works and cleans,
Whilst his little sister cries,
With no food to fulfil the pangs of hunger,
With no one to cuddle her; hold her in their arms.


Have you seen the one who sees no light?
Trapped within 4 walls -
Away from their family for years on end;
Locked behind brass bars,
Tortured, oppressed, hurt and agonised.

Once I Turn

When all hope is lost,
And the storm strikes,
When the winds howl with fury,
And the waves crash against the rocky shore,

When darkness surrounds,
And the world becomes silent,
When everything comes to a standstill -

I turn.

Turn towards As-Sami,
The one who hears my hearts plea,

I turn towards Al-Basir;
The one who can see the dripping tears from my eyes,

I turn to Ar-Raheem;
The ones whose Mercy encompasses everything,

I turn.

I turn to the one and only Lord,
The Magnificent; possessor of beauty,
Of greatness, strength and sovereignty.

I turn.

Away from the problems haunting my mind,
The worries deep within - the sorrow and grief,
From the struggle and tests, the pain, the hurt, the scars and the agony.

And when I turn..

My heart fills with peace, serenity ad tranquility.
My eyes become dry,
Hope is regained,
As I share my problems,
To the one who is worthy of Praise!
The creator of me, you and everything,
How the impossible is made easy,
And morning follows the darkness;

Once I turn;

To The Lord of the Worlds.

Supplication

I raise my hands high,
And look up towards the sky,
Tears flowing from my eyes,
My heart filled with sorrow, anxiety and grief.
Indescribable feelings,
O Lord! Soothe my burning heart with the coolness of faith!
Remove the harm that may be coming my way,
And fill me with peace and serenity,
For indeed in your remembrance does my heart find peace.

Moments Of Reflection

Cooking can be an extremely humbling experience. In fact, it can be quite a well-needed reminder too. After today's encounter I learnt that every single thing we do in our lives can hold many lessons and reminders. In fact, even if it is something as minute as cutting onions like I was doing today. I usually get the job of cutting the onions, and so today as I was chopping the onions into small pieces and throwing them into the pan I realised how my eyes began to swell up, just like they usually do - however today for some reason I began to ponder over it. I began to realise how weak us human being are, how we cannot even have control over the tears that flow from our eyes whilst chopping up a vegetable! The struggle and pain, the tears and sniffs all came as a result of cutting an onion. SubhanAllah! It taught me how we are powerless species who have no control over ourselves or the way our body reacts. It taught me the power of Allah, how He can create whatever He wills and allow it to affect us In whatever way He wills. Allahu Akbar!

Surprisingly, I was confronted with another occurrence. As I was mixing the onions watching them sizzle in the pan, my hand just fell and for not even half a second touched the outside of the hot pan. And... It hurt. Actually, it really hurt. That small little impact caused me to feel a lot of pain, SubhanAllah. I quickly pulled my hand away and remembered the custom of Umar (ra). Whenever he felt a need to remind himself of the hellfire, he would light a candle and put his hand over it, he would tell himself, if I cannot take the heat of this, how will I be able to take the heat of the hell fire?! I reminded myself that that pain I felt for a millisecond or less, was nothing, so insignificant compare to the heat and blaze of the hell fire. Allah protect us all from it.

So why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because I realised that we as Muslims can derive lessons and moral from absolutely anything; it's all about thinking and reflecting. Allah mentions those who reflect on His signs in the Qur'an many times. I began to realise how even when I'm cooking I can be remembering the hereafter, the power of Allah and the weaknesses in my own self. Therefore, I want to give you all a little challenge, I want you all to deeply think about everything you do from now on, even if its one of your daily chores - I want you to think about how you can make it into Ibaadah or into a moment of reflection. What reminders and lessons can you derive from what action you are undertaking?

So, whose in? Lets put on our thinking caps and share our "Moment of Reflections"

You can post them in the comment box below or all those who have me on Facebook can share their reflections on my wall. So, come on, time to aspire to inspire :)

I would love to read them and be overly inspired, InshaAllah!

An Inborn Call

“Colours upon this canvas”

I sat on the warm grass,
relishing the beautiful sight.
The Sun was at its setting,
And the sky was filled with illuminating colours, so right;
Of purples and pale greens,
Blurred in with a sensational red,
Glistening with a splash of orange,
which made the sky brighten up before me,
I could sit and stare at the view all day!
Colours upon this canvas - a picturesque scene,
such a delight to my tired eyes.

Something about it filled my heart with fear,
something about it filled my heart with awe,
an indescribable feeling of luminosity,
Questions began to cloud my mind -
there must be a Creator of such detail and complexity?
I knew that deep within I had ignored a huge sign,
what was once surreal began to feel real again,
and I felt in awe of the God I had denied!

A moment it was. A moment I won’t forget,
I had not prayed, or bowed nor had I prostrated!
To the one who Created this embellished sight –
and the sights’ of humans’, birds’ and the whole of mankind.
Returning to him,
Was like returning home.
A Lord I may not see -
But his signs are evident before me!

What a beautiful world; I thought to myself,
How intricately proportioned –
Elegantly designed!
Precise and perfect,
Flawless as the sky,
The mountains as pegs,
The moons radiance beautifully shines,
My own eyes, heart and legs,
Is a sign within itself,
Of the Creator of the 7 heavens -
And beyond; my mind cannot comprehend!
The vastness of the earth,
And the unimaginable place,
No eye has ever seen nor has any heart perceived,
Absolutely free from inaccuracies -
The design of my Lord,

Whose free from any culpabilities,
May He make us amongst those who reflect on his Signs -
That manifest His greatness, His strength and His sovereignty.

A Believer's Garden

Winter.

The season which a believer welcomes,
A welcome of warmth and splendour.

It’s a season so special,
Distinct from the rest,
In it lies hidden jewels,
So easy to extract.
The rewards are easily attained,
Fasting throughout the short days -
Praying and repenting deep in the night.


Reflecting on the beauty lying within the clouds so white,
It’s a moment of wonder when the snow drops fall,
A miracle of Allah comes down so soft,

No two flakes are the same,
Each unique in its delicate pattern.

And then the gushing rain,
And the pitter patters on the roof tops,
The thunder and lighting,
A reminder to Praise your Lord,
Fog and icy roads and the chilling breeze of the wind,
A season full of signs, full of miracles –
A manifestation of the greatness of Allah,
His power and precision of His striking designs.

So welcome, O winter -
A believer’s garden,
Full of reaping fruits,
How easily reward can be attained,
And how generous is our Lord,
Who out of His Mercy provided us with a season,
To regain our reward!
And to draw closer to Him.

Justice will come

This life is but a journey
Of many twists and turns
Where the darkness of oppression
Rules over the innocent souls
To be human is a novelty
A honour, a uniqueness.

Injustice may be wide spread
Yet Allah is the Most Just of Judges
So let them increase in their rebellion
Their hatred towards us
We believe in a world after this
As wide as the heavens and the earth
A promise from the Lord
Who will let the truth be known
One day
They will come to know

An Invite From My Lord

And so I stand.
In absolute awe of what I see,
My feet can carry me no longer,
My eyes can no longer contain the tears,
My heart becomes overwhelmed,
My lips uttering nothing but Praises of my Lord,
I gaze up at the House of Allah,
So beautiful, a mesmerising sight,
I am in utter amazement,
At the fact that I'm here,
My Lord invited me to His house,
How I must be so dear.
Alhamdulilah are the words flowing from my lips,
What a wonderful place!
To my left and right I hear takbeers,
People praying, crying with humility,
O how I could live this moment forever,
Is this all a dream?
Making Du'as after Du'as,
My heart letting go of everything,
I'm finally here,
Makkah - my Lord invited me

I embarked on my first ever 'Umrah trips many months after writing this poem. May Allah allow me to return to His House over and over again, and decree for me many Umrahs in my lifetime! Ameen.