Life Jacket

I start in the name of God, The Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

A Metaphor.

 In this life, in this world we are taught that we need life-jackets in order to survive.

We are taught that without the life jacket we will drown.

Those that are awake will realise that if they educated them self they would learn that one can learn to swim.

Then comes the practice of swimming and then one can swim.

One would realise that the immensity and depth of the sea is not so daunting, when one can swim.

One would realise that the life-jacket is not what one needs but the knowledge and practice of swimming is needed in order to survive. Not a piece of material: the life-jacket.

A life jacket will not save one. 

What you KNOW and what you DO will SAVE you.

Think about it...

Night of Power

I start in the name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful.

Layla-tul-Qadr interpreted into English as Night Of Power/Destiny.

We don't know which day this night falls on. Hadiths suggest within the last 10 days and likely on the odd days 21, 23, 25, 27, or 29 date of Ramadan.

But it could be any of these last 10 days Allah knows best.

Be prepared to be rewarded immensely by the Lord of the worlds, in sha Allah, if you have a sincere intention and do whatever you do for Allah's sake alone.
Utilise the last 10 days of Ramadan wisely, in sha Allah. 

Say He is Allah The One.
Allah, The Eternal Absolute
He begets not nor is He begotten
And there is none comparable unto Him.

An Example of how you can split your charity up and spend it in the last 10 days of the Blessed day of Ramadan.

• Have a sincere INTENTION and do this to please Allah alone.
• Pick a total that is within your means and split it up between the last 10 days.
• Pick a charity of your choice - whether you decide to donate online or offline and donate away. 
• REMEMBER you may be giving someone charity in this world but those people, by the will of Allah, are building your akirah. Your charity will make you happy, will make the people happy and will please Allah if it is done ever so sincerely. And be grateful and thank the people you give charity to because by Gods mercy it may be those very people thats prayers elevate your rank to jannah al firdaus and thank Allah and He indeed knows best.

Recite this Prayer everyday. It's a beautiful humbling Prayer.
Research it too.
Starting point: one of the 99 names of Allah is Al-'Afuww which means The Pardoner....

This prayer is comparable to hours of Dhikr (remembrance of God). See the video below for it's meaning.

I got these prayers from A Ramadan Pocket Guide [2010] by Muslim Aid.

O Allah. forgive me, have mercy on me, help me, guide me and sustain me. 

(at-Tirmidhi al tabrani)

O Allah, there is no God except You. You are glorified. O Allah, I seek Your forgiveness for my sins, I ask You for Your mercy. O Allah, increase me in knowledge a do not misguide my heart after having guided me. And grant me mercy from Your treasure. Verily you are The Giver. 

(Al-Hakim, Ibn Hlbban and Abu Dawud)

O Allah, I ask You by medium of Your abundant blessing that You have blessed me with and by medium of Your trials that You have tested me with and by medium of Your trials that you have favoured me with that You enter me in Paradise with Your favour, boon and mercy.

(Al-Tabarani)

O Allah, make us those that thank You for your blessings, who are content with Your Will, and who hold firmly to Your rope (i.e. by Islam, by faith and practice). We seek Your help and we seek Your forgiveness. We believe in You, we praise You, we do not refute You. We forgo and leave he who disobeys You. O Allah, we worship You and to You we pray and prostrate. To You we strive and hasten. We hope for your mercy, and we fear Your severe punishment. Indeed Your punishment will meet the unbelievers. 

(At-Tabari in Tahdhib Al-Athar)

O Allah, I ask for Your paradise and whatever words and actions may take me near it. I seek Your protection from the fire and whatever words or actions that may take me near it. I beseech You to make Your decisions for me good. 

(Ahmad Ibn Majah - similar wording in Al-Hakim and Al-Adab Al-Mufrad of Al Bukhari)

O Allah, I ask You for heaven and its bounties and its joy and I seek Your protection from the fire, its chains and its shackles. 

(Abu Dawud, Ahmad)

Change Yourself

I start in the name of God, The Most Merciful, The most Kind.

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ~ Rumi

I've come across people who talk about changing the world...

The truth is, first and foremost, one needs to look within them-self and change themselves first. People need to realise and understand, it's common sense (but a lot lack this, so, need to open ones eyes to it) that WE AS INDIVIDUALS are a part of this world. If we don't change ourselves for the BETTER then we will get nowhere in changing the world. 

Remember, the world is made up of little things, atoms. 

We may think we are little in the world but the little things are what make the BIG difference. 

Look at yourself and your character, nobody is perfect we all have defects, but changing our characters for the better is a good thing. So change yourself to be better than your former self. We should always be trying to be BETTER than we once were, and are, in sha Allah.

...and also don't be disheartened and become aggressive when someone is trying to HELP you understand a 'small thing' and make it a defensive 'big thing'... Sometimes someone else may see something clearer than another. 

& the important word here is HELP, they may be trying to HELP you and you don't realise. 

This also shows how important REFLECTION is because if we don't reflect then we won't realise and understand others (or ourselves!). And we will miss important things.

There may be some people who will say things like 'you've changed'. 

Change is a good thing because it shapes one, it is growth and if one is not changing in regards to character, as one ages, then there is something not right... 

Development in character requires change.

Change for the better of the INTERNAL rather than the better of the external and one will see how they make a difference to the world.

"If you think you're too small to make a difference you haven't spent a night with a mosquito." ~ African Proverb

Example: there are some people out there with terrible tempers, and sometimes they may not even realise the harsh ways they treat others...These are likely people who don't really sit down and REFLECT on the LITTLE things such as their character in regards to treatment of others (i.e. the INTERNAL aspects). 

If they did sit, reflect, understand and at the very least try and change their behaviour they would realise what a BIG difference that would make. 

They would realise that when one changes them-self first they also make a change to the world, in the grand scheme of things.

It is also important to REALISE BLAME and that blaming others for things that, let's be honest here, oneself may be the contributor of - when one analyses, reflects and realises the the situation in depth.

Some people lack in this sort of thinking, this reflection and that is why there are so many problems in the world. That is why there are so many problems within oneself. Because people forget the importance of sitting down and REFLECTING.

God does not change a condition of a people until they change what is with-IN themselves.

Muslims pray 5 times a day because the human condition psychologically NEEDS these breaks away from everything and everyone and to BE PRESENT with ones Creator in order to REALISE their condition and REALISE that there is the Greatest Judge that one will have to answer to in the end. This is what makes people want to better themselves, in my opinion. This realisation that there is The Greatest Judge God, that we will undoubtedly answer to when this life is over and done with.

The people that do not realise this are likely those that are impulsive and dwell in soul destroying things and all that God forbids...

I recently saw a video of some guy saying Allah-hu-Akbar and people getting afraid of the words Allah-hu-Akbar. Most likely because they have been brainwashed by the media or whatever else to think it is some terrorist statement or whatever else.

Allah-hu-Akbar means God Is The Greatest. 

Those that understand that God is the Greatest are the most humble people who walk this earth. They are people of beautiful, gentle, calm, soft-hearted character. People who stand up for justice and righteousness, who love their neighbour no matter our differences in ideas/beliefs etc.

The people who have Allah-hu-Akbar in their hearts are people who follow Islam and understand Peace. People who fear God. People who understand, love, justice and calm. People who care about their ranks in front of God The Greatest and not their worldly rank. They are people who read, understand, implement and strive. They are people who don't care for money and this world because they realise it is ephemeral. They care for the Everlasting, Ever-living, Eternal because to Him is our return in the end and He with certainty is the Most Just and will deal with us all justly. He is Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent. 

He will deal with us all, make yourself aware of Him.

Those that have hope and fear of their Lord are people who are ever aware of their intentions and the things they say and do.

Allah-hu-Akbar. Fear Him Who created you and then will one realise the reality of this life and the worth of an individual life to Him, as His Majesty pleases, The Most High Allah. The Most Wise who is Self-sufficient, He needs no one. He is the One who we need.

The Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, Most Generous. He is Allah and He is the Greatest.

Drop your pride and arrogance and the thinking of you answering to no one. Undoubtedly we will all answer to Him.

Change yourself for the BETTER for Him. 

He does not need us and He created hell and heaven for a reason. 

He is the Most Merciful, do SOMETHING in your life, that is between you and Him that will make you worthy of His Subhana-watAlahs Mercy.

Save a life, give charity, recycle, help your neighbour of differing beliefs, plant a tree, make a well, help the needy there's so many things, in sha Allah.

Do it for Him, your Lord who loves you more than anyone else ever can or will. He provides for everyone. He tests everyone.

Change your life and your ways for Him.

Allah-hu-Akbar.

May Allah The Greatest forgive all our sins and mistakes. May He elevate our ranks among the noble and righteous of character such as Prophet Muhammad, peace, love, light and blessings be upon him. May He The Most Loving guide us to the path of righteousness and elevate us to the ranks of those most beloved to Him. May we all reunite in jannah al firdaus, amin.

 Allah-hu-Akbar

Splitting Up

I start in the name of God, The Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

There's so much division

Minds on collision

Everyone has a vision...

This worlds a prison!

Those in power,

Speak from towers

And with all that they do

Do they really have a clue?! 

Dividing the world into little bits,

What a crumbling biscuit

You can't put that together with a first aid kit...

*Enjoy the split!

(*the end line is sarcasm if you didn't understand!)

There's a lot of division in this world. And division it is that can cause ignorance in the different groups of people.
I think that, ignorance is a lack of understanding and this LACK OF UNDERSTANDING can lead individual(s) towards hatred of that which is unknown to them.

Ignorance can also cause 'extremism' in a sense that is a 'THEM' and 'US' mentality.

People need to realise that, sure, there are differences but if people DIVIDE themselves up because of these differences there will never be PEACE in the world. 

We should all be coming together on common grounds. We are all a part of the HUMAN RACE (in the sense that we are UNITED by our HUMANNESS/HUMAN EXPERIENCE).

We are not part of the human race i.e. meaning racing (running) each other in regards to whose better than who, due to whatever WORLDLY/MATERIALISTIC reasons.

Nobody is better than anybody else! 

Unless God decides that someone is better than someone else and that is NOT something we will come to know of until the Day of Judgement.

It is our intentions and action that define us, that is our wealth and our good deeds combined with His mercy, it is what differentiates the billionaires from the peasants.

The richest people are the ones with beautiful hearts and souls. Something that a mortal eye will never see. Only Allah Sees what's deep inside us and it is Only He Who Knows the truly rich from the poor.

Drop your pride and arrogance, we will all be layed under dirt in the end.

Realise and open your eyes to the reality of this life and the reason for our creation. Realise that God is Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Benevolent. He knows everyone's real intentions. He knows us inside out...

In the end it won't be the beauty, lineage, wealth, fame, wins, etc, that one takes with them. It will be us alone with our DEEDS...

Your character, actions and most importantly intentions define you. You should look into your heart and see where it's at and what is most important to you. Change yourself for the better. 

Your good DEEDS will be your SEEDS when you are in NEED.

Instead of dividing up, people need to unite. Put your differences aside and unite and then will there be peace.

You will find peace of mind. You won't become blind by your emotions and the worldly lotion and people potion. 

You will find peace of heart when you don't drive each other apart.

Unite and that's the start.

When people/groups divide that's when there's strife and hatred is not what this life's about.

Show love and peace on every street. We all have a uniting human heart beat.

May Allah The Most Loving forgive us all and guide us to the right path and make it easy for us. May He make us among the righteous, of beautiful character, such as Prophet Muhammad, peace, love, light and blessing be upon Him and all those whom he prayed for Ummati, Ummati, Ummati. 

May we all be granted easy access to jannah al firdaus Amin.

*Poem Title*

I start in the name of God The Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

In the air a sadness looms

The world slowly filling with gloom

People filled with ignorance and hate

This worlds in a bloody state

People are becoming so spritually dead

With messed up heads

And hearts turned to lead

The poor are not fed

The rich lie in their bed

So much words...but what more can be said?!

I know it can get to your head...

There's a verse: God does not change a condition of a people until they change what is in their self.

People complain, but why is the Quran still getting dusty on the shelf?

It has to be said, that's why the hearts wrongly melt and nothing can be felt.

God sent his speech down from the heavens, formed in a book

Just open your eyes and look.

All that you complain

Will be washed away like rain

Just read, read, read - iqra

So from the deen you don't become far

Remember in the darkness comes out the stars and moon,

When the world sings you a melancholy tune...

You are never alone

Only with God will you feel 'at home'.

He is Allah

The Creator, so High and Mighty

Him, we cannot see

The Lord Unseen

On the day of judgement may He The Loving, remove the screen

Our praises aren't sufficient, He is as He praised Himself...

Oh how our hearts melt

fear and hope

Oh Allah never loosen this rope

Without guidance how would we cope?

What would we do if we lost our faith? Wandering the earth in delusion, mind intrusions and heart confusion.

There is no ilah other than Allah

oh Allah, You, Only You are The Eternal and Absolute, The True. 

Islam is the Truth.

Ease our hearts

And never let these worldly burdens tear us apart.

*Poem*

I start in the name of God, the Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

We live in a world where some people make a big deal out of minuscule things.

Tell me now, what joy does it bring?

People getting stuck in negative thinking and

getting involved in self-made drama over every pesky little thing.

Blowing small things out of proportion

While they scream 'caution'

This insignificant civy drama

It's not even close to trauma.

Just a little mistake

for that others characters you do not need to break

And STOP with all this hate.

I'm sick of all of it.

All this fake ....

So many snakes

who don't give but take and break.

There's much imagery people are sucked into and no substance

aimlessly they prance

Many need a spiritual transplant!

There are children starving in the world

Little boys and girls

in war-zones, all alone with no earthly home

There are people out there dying

So many tears, so much crying

People starving

People who have seen violence...

The heart-broken are always more silent

Because they realise there's more to life than strife.

They realise gratitude and that's what gives them a rich and beautiful attitude.

Whilst here we have people moaning about what's on TV

And fighting peace...

 No morals it's all about "me, me, me"

There's more to life, don't you see?

Their self-made misery needs company

Their self-made drama is set free

Emulating the filth they see on TV

Not realising how it indoctrinates their mind

The world is becoming spiritually blind.

Then we have those whose opinions are also made by the box on the wall,

no research, no reading just spreading the hate through their calls.

I'm sick of it all!

They spread all sorts of gossip

They only see the worldly ship.

They don't 'see' the immensity of the sea

From their conscience they flee

rage drives them as they fill with venom

and spread poison

their morals gone, hearts on the run!

Gratitude changes attitudes

Solitude makes one realise the former noise

Reflection makes one open their eyes

Those that THINK are called crazy. 

Whilst those filled with ignorance don't realise their sight is hazy.

A Stranger Departed

I start in the name of God The Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

Indeed to God we belong and to him will we return one day.

When we leave this world, may it be our best, blessed and peaceful day, I pray...

The happy part: a day we return to our Lord...

The sad part: as the soul leaves there's no more repentance...

Seek the repentance now.

Lest a day comes and you question yourself, HOW....

A stranger to me, but not to He Who Sees,

left the realm of this world today

May God bless, bless each and every stranger, here and gone, I pray...

A Friday in Ramadan

that man's now in Good Hands...

May He The Almighty forgive us all

even when we fall

This life can take a toll

But oh people turn back to your Lord, even if you have to crawl

Forget society, this worldly misery and SEE

SEE! One day it will be you or me

Died in some way

Not alive to see another worldly day

When we leave this realm we will no longer be able to pray...

It will be us alone with our deeds

So drop all your greed

The poor go and feed

No family, lineage, beauty or wealth will suffice on that day

Oh what misery for the one who is turned away...

Oh God we seek refuge in your Face

we seek refuge in your Face from being of the people of the fire, the liars.

We seek refuge in you, oh Lord, from all evil

oh Lord, heal the hearts of all believing people.

Amin.

Ramadan Eve

I start in the name of God The Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

After Magrib Prayer, I came across this verse:

"O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.

And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided."

[Quran 2:102-103]

As Ramadan begins tomorrow, in sha Alaah, I feel the calmness in the air. The Love and Mercy of God surrounding me, in this summer heat, accompanied by the breeze and as I sneeze. I feel the serenity. I hope in this month, with the Muslims, He The Almighty, is well pleased. I am also worried that I may not utilise my time wisely. So oh God I beg, oh please, make us gain and gain within this blessed month and let not a moment pass by where you are displeased with us. Pardon the Muslims, Forgive the Believers and guide us all and may we be among those who walk into paradise from the gates of Ryan Amin.

 I'll end this post with some words by Muhammad Ali:

"I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want." 

"I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace." "The day I met Islam, I found a power within myself that no man could destroy or take away. When I first walked into the mosque, I didn't find Islam...it found me." 

"We have one life; it soon will be past; what we do for God is all that will last."

♡ The Strangers

I start in the name of God The Most Merciful, The Most Kind.

♥♡

Today has been an interesting day. I call everything interesting, I've realised, but it's true for me -- everything is interesting. I have no other better word other than INTERESTING to call something.

Us humans are an interesting bunch aren't we.

So today I woke up all praise is to God that I'm still alive.

Went downstairs and heard that my mums brother is on life support machine. He has cancer... My mum is flying to her birth country tomorrow to be there... I did not know him much. I saw him a few times when we visited my mothers birth country a very long time ago. 

Some people find this weird, but I didn't know my grandparents either. And they've all passed away too.

All, whom I have ever known in my life is my immediate family and that's all, they are the people I've lived with.
The other people were and are just strangers I've heard of.

It's what happens -- not knowing them -- when ones extended family is in and from different parts of the world.

We become strangers - distant. 

Yet sometimes that's also the case of people that live amongst one another.

But nonetheless, we love the strangers.
We are the strangers.

It makes me feel sad even though I did know know this stranger, I feel like I did know him because he is my mums brother. Anything that makes ones parents sad can make their child sad too.

I checked the good ol' tablet and realised Muhammad Ali [the boxer] has died.

All these strangers...returning to the Lord or on our way to the final destination...

Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon. We belong to Allah and to Him is our return.

May He The Almighty, grant them all jannah al firdaus amongst the like of Prophet Muhammad peace, love, light and blessing be upon him and them all, May God The Loving, Merciful, only take our and their souls, from this realm, when we are beloved to Him. May there be be nothing but hope, love, light and peace when we depart from this world Amin. 

One thing that I find interesting is the: strangers. 

Sometimes strangers can have a greater impact in ones life. The fleeting moment, memory, walk, talk etc, it has the potential of sticking in someone's memory.

We are all strangers to someone. Who ever is reading this post, you are a stranger to me and I am a stranger to you.

Be a good stranger and spread love, light, positivity and peace wherever you go.
♡

Thank God for the strangers, who God puts in our lives at the right moments to make us realise. Then years later reflect. All praise is to God alone.

♡

The strangers that are the people we meet so briefly in our lives but their memory lasts a lifetime.

♥

The strangers we talk to so fleetingly but their words stick with us forever.

♥

The strangers we have never met, from different eras such as Prophet Muhammad the final messenger of God, but yet can have such a profound impact and become a role model, someone one looks up to and one has so much respect for.

Jesus, Moses, Solomon, David, Abraham and all the other messengers that came before Muhammad are strangers too. I love them all dearly, for the sake of God. The strangers who change you for the better. 

May peace love, light and blessing me upon all the messengers of God, may we all be together with our families in jannah al firdaus Amin.

♥

The strangers that live among us and we know.

♥

The strangers that pass by us and we don't know.

♥

The strangers, the stranger, the strange.

♥

Stranger meaning someone one does not know,

yet, our 'humanness' makes us all connect in some way and we strangers that walk this earth have that in common and that is why we feel like we know each other without knowing each other.
That's why when it comes to people who we supposedly don't really know, such as the boxer Muhammad Ali, we connect and feel like we know them because we are all human.

♡

There's also the strange[rs]: the Muslim. 

May God make us among them and bless them all that have passed away and are still on this earth Amin.

If you ever wonder why I have called myself THAT GIRL on this Blog, well, it's because I too am a stranger.

♡

So many strangers in a strange place called earth.

I just wrote this poem....all that came to my mind...it's the only words I could find, so I'll drop a line...

Everyone is dying, withering away as I age.

This world is a prison, a cage.

There are people out there who don't know how to control their rage
out on a rampage
'All the worlds a stage'.

As each day passes another of our page, turned

The month of Ramadan is round the corner, may our sins be burned

May we get to reach Ramadan.

May we walk with Muhammad, that man and his clan

The strangers to the world

hidden under many darknesses, the pearls.

I'm just another girl

walking this world.

But I have a dream, a dream to reach the place no eye has ever seen

No earthly mortal has ever been

unless by the will of God, our Lord.

oh God, may we be free of this worldly attachment chord
and this worldly hoard.
May we jump on the ship aboard and see the immensity of the sea
May we BE,
may we be free from the eternal misery
may our heart, minds and eyes see.
May we grow like the trees and be important like the bees
May we bow to Only The One Diety
As we cry on our knees, begging please...
God, bless all those we know and don't know and never let us go
Don't let us get lost in the worldly show
Make us find the glow
Never let us go.
May peace be upon us all even when we fall
May peace be upon us all as we crawl, walk and crawl
May peace be upon us all as we exit the hall covered in the white shawl.