Why Make Time for Allah?

As promised, I finally wrote my first legit post in a long time. I led a sister's halaqa on Friday and I thought I would share with you what we discussed. The topic was why should we make time for Allah. The sisters at the halaqa were all college students and as college students it's easy to get distracted by this world and to forget to make time for Allah S.W.T. Even if you're not a college student, try to apply this to your life and inshAllah this can be a reminder that no matter where we are, whether it's in the office, at school, or at home, we should always make time for our Creator.

Although the topic of this post is why should we make time for Allah, I would like to look at the question being posed at the opposite side of the spectrum. Why should Allah make time for us? What have we done that makes us so deserving of His blessings?  Do you wanna know why we can’t seem to answer this question? It’s because No matter what we do for Allah, we can never repay Him for all of his blessings. Everything Allah commands us to do is not for Him, it’s all for our benefit. Praying does not benefit Allah, fasting does not benefit Allah, wearing hijab does not benefit Allah. All of this is for our own well being. Allah loves and cares for all His creation. It is only by His mercy that we even exist. The fact that Allah created us should be enough of a reason for us to make time for Him. 

Allah SWT says in the Quran, “And I (Allah) have not created the jinns and humans except they should worship Me.” [51:56]

In this ayah, Allah SWT is telling us that the sole reason He created us is so that we can worship Him. That is why we we’re created! Now, this ayah does not mean that we were created to pray day and night nonstop, and to fast every single day of the week. We are not angels of course, they are perfect while we obviously are not. 

*Anything that we do, when we make our intention to please Allah SWT, can become an act of worship. It’s so amazing when you think about how Allah makes it so easy for us to worship him. Before we study, if we say “bismillah”, suddenly, those 5 hours we spent studying have been considered an act of worship, and we have just fulfilled our purpose in life- worshiping Allah SWT. And this goes for anything, before we eat, when we take out the trash, when we clean, when we greet our sisters with a smiling face- ANYTHING that we do (as long as its halal of course), as long as our intention is pure and sincere, it can be considered an act of worship and Allah SWT rewards us for it inshAllah. We should pray our salat, remember Allah in all that we do, and make duaa that He accepts our deeds. 

New Path

So...I'm thinking about changing the direction of this blog. It is indeed called Beauty of Islam, therefore my goal is to make it exactly that. I remember when I was first starting out in my journey of embracing Islam. Islamic websites and blogs helped me with my struggles and they increased my knowledge about Islam through the great posts they wrote. I hope to be able to do that once more. I feel like I lost sight of the goal of this blog and I haven't been blogging as much as I used to. SubhanAllah, there was a time when I would blog up to 5 times a day, even when I had exams to study for and papers to write. Writing about Islam on this blog isn't only inshAllah beneficial to you, but also to me. I learn so much as I search for hadiths and ayahs from the Quran for my blog posts and it really did give me an imaan boost. I miss that. God willing, I will make a change and Beauty of Islam will be back on track and even stronger then ever!

A Glimpse of a Wonderful Night

Fast-A-Thon 2011

Samara and Zohra

Laughter heals the heart

Aqsa wrapping a scarf on a hijabi challenge participant. We asked non-Muslim women to wear the hijab for the day to raise awareness about the Muslim headscarf. 

Me and Samara <3 p.s. I was super excited to wear my new abaya :).

The boys on the Islamic Student Association executive board.

Mughrib prayer in jama'a 

The ISA family

Fast-A-Thon: Can you last the Fast?

   We did it! My university Islamic Student Association (ISA) had our first big event of the semester:Fast-A-Thon! I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous me and the rest of the executive board weren't gonna be pull it off as well as we wanted it to be. Last minute advertising combined with a quickly approaching event date stressed me out, but alhamdulilah as always by the will of Allah, the event was great minus a few shortcomings. 
   My favorite part of the event was not breaking my fast lol although it should have been, it was seeing all the ISA members, faculty, friends, and university students under one roof enjoying each other's company as they learned about the significance of fasting in Islam. Fast-A-Thon is a banquet the Islamic Student Association put together to raise awareness about the reasons why Muslims fast and to also give people the opportunity to try fasting for the day. 
   The most touching moment of the event was when ISA President Waleed E. conveyed to the audience that although we fasted and got a glimpse of what it felt like to be hungry, we did not fully experience the perpetual fast those less fortunate than us experience. After a long day of fasting, we had a wonderful table full of food awaiting us, unlike those in East Africa that fast for days at a time with either little food or no food at the end of the day. As a visual reminder of the extent to which other are suffering, we showed this video in the hopes of raising awareness about the Famine & Drought currently occurring in Somalia. 
      

Asma' Allah-Sami Yusuf

                                             
Simply beautiful :). I love that the video shows the diversity of Muslims. Muslims are Arabs, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Hijabis, non-Hijabis, Black, White, Sunni, Shia, and a sea of other things. We are different, but in the end we unite under la ilaha ilalah.

The Other Side-Sh. Omar Suleiman

                
At the ICNA youth conference I attended a few weeks ago, I heard Sheikh Omar Suleiman speak. This is a recording of the lecture he gave that day that truly left people in tears. Sheikh Omar Suleiman advises the youth to treat their parents well  and to realize the importance of their parents. Our parents raised us from the moment that we were born until now. No matter how hard we try to repay them for all that they have done for us, we can't. We tend to forget that while we are growing up and moving on with our lives, are parents are too. Our parents won't be here forever, so as he explains in the lecture, don't let the doors to jannah close. Treat your parents right and tell them you love them before it's too late.

Take a Chance

When we find the things that we love, we hide out of fear of getting hurt. Take a chance on love because if you don't, you may miss out on an opportunity of a life time. 

ICNA Youth Conference

Meeting the challenges, Making the Change 

Young Muslims held their first youth conference in the Greater Washington D.C. area on Saturday where many came together underneath one roof to obtain an iman (faith) boost. Sh. Nouman Ali Khan and Sh. Omar Suleiman were among the main speakers at the conference. If you have not heard their lectures yet, I advise you to do so. MashAllah, whenever I am in need of nasiha (advise) or just something beneficial to listen to,  I listen to Nouman Ali Khan's lectures. I heard Sh. Omar Suleiman for the first time on Saturday and I was very impressed by his ability to capture the attention of the audience. SubhanAllah he talked about the importance of parents and had many in tears. If you are in need of an increase in your knowledge of Islam, he is also a great person to listen to. 

Sh. Nouman Ali Khan giving his speech

Me and a few friends

All the girls :)

I had a dream...

I normally don't share my dreams but a few nights ago I had a dream that had a great affect on me. I had a dream about Jannah (Heaven). It was incredibly beautiful and left me shaking. After having the dream, I woke up to look at my phone and saw that it was fajr time. SubhanAllah, I've never had a dream that shook me so much. In my dream, me and two of my friends were running among many people, on a road towards a stop light. As we were running, the light turned from green to yellow, and we feared it would turn red, so we ran as fast as we could. When made it to the end of the road and realized that the light never turned to red. So we stood there as nothing happened waiting and wondering. The road signified Jannah, and for a moment when we reached the end of the road and did not find the heaven Allah s.w.t promised we refused to believe that it didn't exist. I remember us yelling, "No! There has to be a Jannah. Allah would never lie!" And as soon as people started to turn back  after losing hope, all of a sudden, the world around us turned int Jannah. SubhanAllah, Allahu Akbar, La Ilaha Ila Allah, I can't even explain what I saw. Around me, I saw the angels saying "Alsamau Alaykum." I remember feeling a sense of peace.

 Although I don't  know why I had this dream and if it was just a product of my imagination, I feel like it taught me a lesson. I learned that there will come a time when I will be held accountable for my actions no matter how small they were. I learned that this world is absolutely nothing in comparison to the everlasting life that awaits us if Allah wills. InshAllah if we are blessed enough to enter Jannah, this world will feel like a day. We won't remember any of the hardships or pain we went through. Jannah is peace of  mind. Jannah is not something we will ever find in this world--not through money, fame, or anything thing this world has to offer. Let us not come to this realization when it's too late, but now, when we still have the chance to change.

Forgiveness is the distance between your knees and the floor

Source:Tree of Askeron by Mattias Hammar

"Oh son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. Oh son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it." [Tirmidhi and Ahmed]

Naturally when we find ourselves committing a sin over and over again, we begin to lose hope. We feel as though our sins are too great and that Allah will never forgive us. The doubts that fill our mind are a product of Shaitan. Shaitan does his best to convice us that we are not good enough for Allah. He tells us that we are are too hypocritical to stop the sin, let alone get on our knees and ask Allah for His forgiveness. This way of thinking is completely wrong as the hadith explains. Allah is our Creator, He is the Most Merciful and despite our sins, whatever they maybe (except shirk) He will forgive us.Repentence is the key to forgiveness. If we never repent to Allah, how else will we gain His forgiveness? Allah gives us time to repent. From the time that we realize that what we have done is sinful to the time of our death, we can always repent. We must not wait too long though, because only Allah knows when we will die. The concept of forgiveness is repeated many times throughout the Quran. 


"Say: O 'Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily, Allah forgives all sins.Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [al-Zumar 39:53]


Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa salim) said, "The companion (Angel) on the left lifts his pen for six hours for the Muslim slave that errs or sins. If this slave repents and seeks Allah's forgiveness for that error or sin, the Angel doesn't record it. And if the slave doesn't ask Allah for forgiveness, the Angel records it once. 


How Merciful is our Lord? He doesn't even give the Angels permission to write down our sins until we have had time to repent. Even if we fail to repent, He still gives us time to ask for our sins to be erased.