And amongst all those humans in that statistic - is me. I like having a plan, its like a safety net, it makes me less anxious, it makes me less worried. I know what I can expect next and I can be prepared for it emotionally and physically. And when everything is going smoothly, it’s like I’m in a free flow state where everything is falling into place, going according to what I predict, and I am not missing even a beat. But life will never be perfect, and just when things start looking like a movie, Allah makes me fall out of rhythm just so I can calibrate my attention back to Him. And I always forget there’s a bigger entity that owns me, more than I have any ownership to my plans.

And when Allah’s decree overrides my plans, it topples me over, and I get wobbly all over again, I’m no longer in control anymore but Allah is taking authority now. So now, I’m feeling like a chess piece being moved to a square I don’t want to be in, it was never in my plan. It makes me wonder, if I did something differently, would my plans still continue? If I did this or that, would the outcome be any different? All the ‘what ifs’ lingering in my mind. I know I should be calm with all His plans, but somehow there’s still a teeny tiny attachment to my original plan, an attachment to what I want not what Allah wants. How can I ever get rid of this attachment?

ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَهِىَ دُخَانٌۭ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ٱئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًۭا قَالَتَآ أَتَيْنَا طَآئِعِينَ ١١

Then He turned towards the heaven when it was ˹still like˺ smoke, saying to it and to the earth, ‘Submit, willingly or unwillingly.’ They both responded, ‘We submit willingly.’

Surah Fussilat, ayat 11

When Allah created the heaven and earth, the heaven was not yet completed in form and Allah asks them to submit to Him, without hesitation both the heaven and earth said that they submit willingly. This verse shows how the whole universe is all under Allah’s control, to the fact that even the largest of nature submits to Him. If Allah’s law and decree says that the Earth should rotate then the Earth would rotate, if Allah’s law and decree says that there will be planets and stars dying then it would happen, if Allah’s law and decree dictates the death of someone, it will happen, whether we like it or not. This divine law applies to everyone and everything, celestial bodies, animals, plants, and humans. And the humans have no other choice but to be overpowered by His decisions, leaving most of them submitting to Allah unwillingly.

Remember what I said about wanting things go according to my plan?

Allah’s plan is far more superior. His power, His laws, and His decree govern multiple realms, not limited by space or time restrictions and never once has His plan been hindered by any being. Yet, I still desire my own plan to prevail? How foolish of me. Always wanting to deviate from His ultimate plan. Always trying to choose for myself when I am not even comparable to dust compared to Allah. No wonder I feel heavy trying to accept fate, no wonder it feels hard to adjust to these changes, no wonder I feel like the whole world is against me. Because I am the one colliding with Allah’s universal law. While Allah’s decree turns and moves according whatever speed and direction that Allah decides, there’s me trying to adjust the speed and the path to fit my end goal.

But imagine if I submitted to Allah just as how the heaven and the earth submits to Him, willingly. My actions and my life in general will follow along the same way that Allah has decreed upon me, and all my thoughts, my judgements, my behavior will be coordinated with the laws of nature and my movements would be parallel, aligned perfectly with Allah’s beautiful plan. I would no longer fight, suffer and be hurt by going against the flow but now Allah’s power, Allah’s decree and every universal law of nature will be on my side. There will be no room for arrogance in any life decision except that I obtained it from a fraction of the greatest power, Allah.

So, maybe all this while, there are still parts of me that has not submitted fully to Allah. Could be I’m wearing a hijab, I’m praying 5 times a day but my choices are still heavily influenced by my non-believer-like thoughts. The Quran was not my first go-to advice when my plans changed or when I was tested, my feelings became my compass. But instead, what I should have done is submitting to Him every second, preferring His definition of good, more than what I think is best for me. But, alhamdulillah for this experience, I could not relate to this verse more if I were not placed in such a testifying position. Truly an eye-opening statement, clear as day. One step at a time, moving in sync with Allah’s bigger plan, perfecting our faith to submit not by force but by the pure love for Allah, insyaAllah <3

Ramadhan Mubarak to everyone. Long time no see! May this very special post helps us to strengthen our deen and I hope everyone is doing their best for this Ramadhan. May in this special month, Allah selects us to be amongst those that are forgiven and chosen to be saved from the Hellfire, insyaAllah amin. Be sure to share this post to your loved ones if you think it’s beneficial! Barakallahufeekum for reading :)

"And Allah has servants whom He frees from the Hellfire, and that happens every night (in the month of Ramadan)."
(Narrated by Tirmidhi & Ibn Majah)

Sambil aku membelek helaian Al-Quran dimeja belajar, aku membaca tafsiran ayat-ayat yang aku baca tadi. Sampailah pada satu ayat yang berbunyi,

يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ أَرْضِى وَٰسِعَةٌۭ فَإِيَّـٰىَ فَٱعْبُدُونِ ٥٦

Wahai hamba-hambaKu yang beriman! Sesungguhnya bumiKu adalah luas (untuk kamu bebas beribadat); oleh itu, (di mana sahaja kamu dapat berbuat demikian) maka hendaklah kamu ikhlaskan ibadat kamu kepadaKu.

Al-Ankabut (29:56)

Aku pun terfikir, apa kaitan bumi yang luas dengan ikhlas beribadat kepada Allah? Terus aku membaca Tafsir Fi Zilal untuk mencari penerangan.

Rupa-rupanya ayat ni sedang bercerita tentang orang-orang Islam terdahulu yang sering diseksa dan dihalang beribadat ketika di Mekah dulu. Tak mudah untuk Rasulullah SAW dan para sahabat untuk mempraktikkan Islam disaat keluarga sendiri menghalang, mereka disebat dan dikunci di dalam rumah, walhal sesiapa yang bersuara tentang Al Quran atau Islam pasti akan dicerca dan dipijak orang awam. Tapi mereka semua nak beriman, menyedari maksud syahadah bahawa tiada Tuhan yang layak disembah melainkan Allah, mereka nak menyembah Allah yang satu dan bukan berhala-berhala dan agama karut moyang mereka.

Walau dihalang sebegitu kasar, hati mereka tetap tunduk pada Allah. Jadi Allah menyeru mereka dengan kata-kata yang lembut, “Wahai hamba-hambaKu yang beriman….” Imagine, kita nak sangat sesuatu, or nak sangat buat something but EVERYONE in this world halang kita from doing it, sampai the only thing we could do is berfikir about it all day long, berfikir macam mana aku nak buat ni sedangkan aku perlu buat dia, but Allah turunkan this special ayat sambil memanggil kita.

And He said, “BumiKu adalah luas…” OKAYYY what does that mean??? Bila Allah cakap yang bumi Dia luas, he owns all the landscape of the earth of Mekah dan tempat selain Mekah, so kenapa masih berat hati nak tinggalkan Mekah sedangkan kau ditindas dan dipaksa meninggalkan agama. Dan benarlah hati para sahabat dulu sayangkan Mekah sebab itulah tempat mereka lahir, membesar, hidup bertahun-tahun dan mendapat Islam tapi itulah jugak tempat yang melarang mereka daripada menjadi Muslim. Sedih dan pilunya hati mereka ketika hendak berhijrah ke Madinah, tempat yang tak pernah mereka jejak dan terpaksa tinggalkan harta dan keluarga di belakang hanya kerana nak selamatkan iman dalam diri masing-masing.

Okay I get it, but how does this ayat relate to me? I can be a Muslim anywhere, either I’m in UK or Malaysia takde siapa pon halang aku untuk jadi seorang Muslim. So apa yang aku boleh belajar from ayat ni? Jom kita kupas one by one.

Kalau kita compare keadaan kita sekarang dgn para sahabat dulu, mungkin tak nampak secara direct tapi actually everything in this ayat sebenarnya sangatlah closely related to us.

Untuk kita beribadat dan menjadi hamba pada Allah, bukan secara praktikal/ritual je kene buat, secara rohani/jiwa pon kene settle. Mana boleh kan jadi seorang hamba hanya pada action tapi jiwa dan akal tak menjadi hamba to Allah? Mungkin secara ritual yes kita senang je nak solat, nak puasa, nak tutup aurat, nak cari makanan halal dan haram. Tapi betul ke kita dah submit fully to Allah? Adakah kita dah mengimani yang Allah adalah sumber dan tumpuan segala-galanya, undang-undang kita, perlindungan kita, rezeki kita, dan kecintaan kita. Atau ada orang lain yang menjadi rujukan dahulu sebelum Allah untuk setiap kategori ni?

Haaaa so untuk Rasulullah SAW dan sahabat dulu, yang menghalang mereka untuk beriman adalah environment dan keadaan di Mekah, tapi untuk kita, yang menghalang kita untuk beriman adalah anything and everything yang menghalang kita dari tunduk pada Allah dengan jiwa. Anything yang menyebabkan Allah bukan focus utama of our daily laws and mindset and our love.

That could be our friends yang suka ajak join events free-mixing antara lelaki dan perempuan sampai kita tak hiraukan Allah kata “Jangan mendekati zina..” dalam Surah Al-Isra : 32 dan sedikit pon tak menggunakan garis panduan untuk pergaulan harian sedangkan Allah sepatutnya menjadi tumpuan undang-undang, bukanlah kita decide sendiri mana yang okay mana yang tak okay. Adakah kita sedang beriman dalam situasi ni?

Could be kita lebih cintakan yang bukan mahram atau keluarga, sampaikan setiap detik hidup kita hanya nakkan opinion dan nak puaskan expectation si dia. Sedangkan yang sepatutnya kita cinta dahulu adalah Allah, yang patut kita puaskan adalah Allah? Sudahlah Allah tu Yang Maha Mencintai, menurunkan nikmat, bukan hanya ada satu je jenis ikan yang Allah cipta, ada berjuta species hanya untuk kita makan. Apatah lagi Allah hadirkan kita pelbagai warna di dunia ni hanya untuk kita, anjing pon tak boleh tengok banyak warna. Tapi apa kita buat? Hidup menggunakan nikmat dan oxygen Allah secara percuma, tapi semua paksi hidup kita bukan untuk Dia.

Could be kita usaha keras untuk dapat result yang bagus atau dapat kerja yang gaji besar. Hari demi hari, sentiasa berusaha for the best dan sampailah hari kita graduate atau dapat kerja, kita rasa bangga dengan pencapaian kita sebab only we know how hard we worked for. Nauzubillahiminzalik, yang memberi kita rezeki adalah Allah hatta Dia lah yang memberi kita ilham dan kekuatan untuk berusaha. Sampaikan kita lupa tentang Allah yang plan and susun setiap nafas yang kita ambil, Dia lah jugak yang susun rezeki mana untuk kita, tapi sesaat pon tak ingat Allah disebalik usaha kita. Adakah benar jiwa kita tunduk menjadi hamba?

Sekarang dah rasa kan kait dengan diri kita? Betapa banyak halangan dalam dunia yang sentiasa nampak halus tapi ia sedikit demi sedikit menghalang dan mencabut iman dari hati kita. Sedikit demi sedikit buat kita rasa jauh dari Allah. Ya, solat mungkin tak tinggal tapi jiwa kita makin kering. Macam mana kita nak beriman dengan sebenar-benarnya? Berhijrah lah. Bumi Allah itu kan luas.

Ada berjuta orang disekeliling kita yang kita boleh jadikan kawan, mengapa kita masih sayang dengan kawan-kawan yang selalu mengajak kita jauh dari Allah sedangkan ada ramai kawan yang lebih baik? Allah kan dah aturkan jodoh bagi semua manusia, tak perlu risau dan rasa FOMO dengan kawan lain, Allah sedang menjaga jodoh kita untuk kita jadi kenapa kita sendiri yang menjual diri, tak nak sucikan diri hanya kerana ‘sayang’ pada sang bukan mahram? Dalam setiap hari kita berusaha nak capai sesuatu, lebih luas lagi ruang untuk kita percaya pada Allah berbanding kita percaya pada diri sendiri yang kerdil dan tak mengetahui. Mengapa masih selesa dengan pendirian dan pengetahuan diri sendiri sedang seketul lalat pon kita tak boleh cipta?

Berhijrah lah, kerana hijrah itu bukan pindah dari satu kawasan ke kawasan baharu. Hijrah adalah kita meninggalkan keselesaan kita, meninggalkan suatu keadaan yang menghalang kita dari tunduk pada Allah sepenuhnya. Hijrah adalah kita berkorban dan tinggalkan yang buruk untuk kita lebih taat pada Allah. Hijrah adalah perubahan. Berubah dari kurang beriman, kepada menjadi lebih beriman. Berubah dari kurang cinta, kepada sangat mencinta Yang Maha Besar. Semuanya kerana jiwa kita nak kembali kepada fitrah yang sukakan kebaikan dan inginkan rahmat Allah.

Dan janganlah risau andai kata rasa impossible nak keluar dari situasi sekarang, dan tak dapat agak apa yang akan jadi, yang paling utama is kita perlu berganjak and take action. Ingatlah ayat Allah, “BumiKu adalah luas…”. Setiap langkah yang kita ambil untuk lebih dekat pada Dia, Allah akan mudahkan langkah seterusnya untuk kita. Samalah seperti jika Mekah menghalang kita dari beriman, pergilah ke Madinah di mana ada yang sedia ingin beriman bersama kita. Jika keadaan sekarang menghalang kita tunduk dengan seluruh jiwa kita, tinggalkan dan berkorbanlah, berhijrahlah dan akan Allah hadirkan kemudahan untuk kita lebih menjadi hambaNya, insyaAllah.

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It would ignorant of me to not tell you all the details, all the forgotten histories and legacies, all the effort that our enemy did to bury our spirit, may what is written today will ignite something in your souls, for our iman needs to be shaken, so that we wake up from our comfy slumber. Bismillahirahmaniraheem.

ISTANBUL, 04:05 am

We landed in Turkiye on 17th June in the morning, we flew in batches so we had to wait for everyone to arrive before we start our journey. In the meantime, I checked my hafazan of Surah Al-Fath (which is one of our Mutabaah Amal) with Nadia, and we recited Mathurat, our morning adkhar. All sorts of feelings were there with me, nervous, excited, tired, but overall I knew Allah has helped us to arrive in Turkiye for something more, it felt surreal to set foot in a land where it has witnessed an era of before Islam and an era after Islam.

It made me wonder, what is so special about this place? What was the formula that Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh used to ‘open’ the gates of Constantinople and spread Allah’s message for humankind? Will I be able to understand everything in a span of ten days? But overall, I wanted to know something that will make my iman surge forward faster than before, for Allah has given us everything on the Earth for our use, so why wouldn’t I use it for Allah, Rasulullah SAW and this cherished faith of mine?

ISTANBUL, 11:15 am

We arrived at Camlica Hill, where there is this beautiful, enormous white mosque sitting gracefully on top of it. The Camlica Camii (Camlica Mosque) was a magnificent mosque complex, and from its courtyard, it oversees a wide angle of the whole Istanbul, divided by the Bosphorus where you could see both the Asian and European side of Istanbul. It is sort of a tradition for each sultan in the Ottoman Empire to leave a significant mosque named after themselves before they die, so when the President of Turkiye, Erdogan revealed his plans to inaugurate a mosque after himself back in 2019, he received backlash as people thought he wanted to be sultan.

So many misinterpretations about his real intentions but all he did was to make the largest mosque at the highest point in Istanbul, so that it is visible from any location be it you are travelling on land or on water. So that wherever you go, you would see the syiar (symbol) of Islam first and on top. Not only that, the mosque is also designed by two female architects/engineers so that the mosque would be female-friendly in terms of the ablution and praying area. Not all mosque in Turkiye is female-friendly, most of them has only a small area for women to pray but Camlica Camii has a largeeee space and we prayed comfortably! Even the toilets and ablution area is very accomodating.

Exploring on the courtyard and the garden of the mosque, the garden has several arabic letters of ‘و ’engraved and it symbolizes the action of a student bowing towards his/her teacher as a gesture of respect, this calligraphy choice is also a symbol of us bowing down to Allah The All-Knowing, acknowledging that we are His servants and that we should obey Him throughout our whole life.

Even when I don’t personally know Erdogan, I admire his reasons and choice of design for the mosque, despite receiving comments and accusations, he acknowledged that Allah’s Greatness is far more important than anything, he prioritized Allah over other matters despite any external influences. It is easy for a leader to be swayed by the demands of their followers, easy to be swayed by the richness and title, but his faith did not falter, because he is first and foremost a servant to Allah before a president to a whole nation. Truly, there are still souls in this land that glorifies Allah, truly there are still souls that live with the Quran in their heart.

While we were reeling in the view from Camlica Hill/Mosque, it reminds me of how Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh chose to sit at the highest point in order to supervise the movements of his army surrounding the walls of Constantinople and his navy towards the Golden Horn. It all now make sense, because sitting on top of the highest point would make you more focused on achieving what you vouch for, if Al-Fateh looks at Constantinople everyday with a 360 degrees view, I too would be obsessed. I too would believe that this so-called City with Perfect Defense can be conquered. I too would be confident of the bisyarah (happy news) stated in a hadith where Rasulullah SAW said,

“Verily, you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful army will that army be, and what a wonderful leader will that leader be.” [HR Ahmad]

It’s similar to what we did during our SPM days, we would print out a large and colorful visuals of 9A+ and we would put it on our locker so that we would see it everyday, so that everyday when we wake up that is the first thing we look at, it subconsciously becomes our obsession, it becomes our mindset, it becomes our main niat even before we get ready to go to class. And we would end up thinking about that all day throughout our daily routine.

Now, I understand why from Ertugrul’s generation to Fateh’s generation, they would constantly remind themselves of Surah Al-Fath and the hadith over and over again. For if we truly believe that Rasulullah SAW is the Messenger of Allah, we would do all that we can to make the hadith come true because that means we are admitting and acknowledging the hadith and the Messenger to be true. It wouldn’t make sense to claim that we have believed in Allah and Rasulullah SAW but we do not prove it with our action wholeheartedly and with ihsan!

أَحَسِبَ ٱلنَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوٓا۟ أَن يَقُولُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ ٢

Do people think once they say, “We believe,” that they will be left without being put to the test? [29:2]

So, to achieve such a feat, despite 23 strong and influential armies have tried to conquer Constantinople, Al-Fateh and his army were the one to fulfill Allah’s promise because they must have done their ultimate best, and I can’t wait to discover why they are the best leader and the best army. Fateh and his soldiers, and the generation before has proven their faith in total, and now Allah has chosen me to witness their testament of IMAN and continue the legacy.

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So, why is it so important to care and know about Al-Faathir? Do we have to think about all the details of Allah’s creations? What will I learn from this? Let us go through Surah bit by bit.

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ فَاطِرِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ جَاعِلِ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ رُسُلًا أُو۟لِىٓ أَجْنِحَةٍۢ مَّثْنَىٰ وَثُلَـٰثَ وَرُبَـٰعَ ۚ يَزِيدُ فِى ٱلْخَلْقِ مَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ ١

All praise is for Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, Who made angels ˹as His˺ messengers with wings — two, three, or four. He increases in creation whatever He wills. Surely Allah is Most Capable of everything. [35:1]

In the first ayah, the surah highlights how Allah is The Originator of the heavens and the earth, meaning everything that we have lived with, the trees, the ocean, all the different types of flowers and grass. Without Allah, the earth would not exist. Then, the ayah also describes how He created the angels, with either two wings, three wings or even four. If we refer to what we already know, angels would usually only have two wings, so how come there could different variations of wings stated in the Quran?

If Allah can create something, He can also refine and upgrade His creation whenever He can! If we try to comprehend this with our limited knowledge it would not make sense since birds can only have two wings, chicken can only have two wings, ducks also can only have two wings, so when we talk about wings, our imagination is limited to only two. But, in this instance, Allah owns the angels He created, and an owner may do whatever He wants to what He owns, so adding six wings, twelve wings or even a hundred wings to an angel is an easy feat!

We know now that Allah can add or top up more than what a creation needs, but why does certain creations has its own special design? What are the reasons of certain features that are unique to an animal? A tree? Even the pattern of our fingerprints? Each choice of design, has a hikmah and reason behind it. Imagine if everything in this world is only created in squares? You wouldn’t be able to walk properly across the street if your feet were square-shaped! You wouldn’t be able to enjoy the view in the park, since everything will be pixelated! How gracious and kind of Allah to have used His wisdom and Greatness for His servants.

Even right now, all of His creations are never left unfinished. Look at the sky and see if there is any crack or any renovations still in place, there are none! And we are satisfied and we always look forward to what the sky has in place for us today, will it be raining? Our crops would be freshened! Will it be windy? Seeds and pollens will travel the lands and spread to bloom! Will it be sunny? Wonderful day for us and our pets to walk through the park! But if we compare to human-made creations like our house, every now and then, we would want to renovate and more details, add more space, add more furniture, change the curtains, paint a new color for the rooms — we are never satisfied with what we do, but whatever Allah has blessed us on this earth, it is perfected to the core masyaAllah.

Learning all about Al-Faathir, a human would eventually recognize that he is weak, he is unable to be stronger or more capable than Allah, a human would admit that His Power is superior than everything that we’ve known. No one could imitate His creations, no one could ever walk on this earth boastfully thinking that they have control over themselves and their life.

While we ourselves sometimes get overwhelmed with noises, movements, visuals, challenges in life when it all hit us at the same time but Allah controls EVERY SINGLE THING, the past, the present, the future, matters of every single species on earth, unrestrained by time, space and dimension — all with ease. So, how could we still turn a blind eye and brush off His signs? How could we not obey to The One and Only and The Almighty, The Originator of everything between the heavens and the earth?

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ أَنتُمُ ٱلْفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ هُوَ ٱلْغَنِىُّ ٱلْحَمِيدُ ١٥إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍۢ جَدِيدٍۢ ١٦وَمَا ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍۢ ١٧

O humanity! It is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah ˹alone˺ is the Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy. If He willed, He could eliminate you and produce a new creation. And that is not difficult for Allah ˹at all˺. [35:15-17]

My dear friends, how ignorant have we been? In ayah number 15 until 17, it is stated that we are the ones who are in need of His Mercy, His Help and His Greatness, and He could replace us with a better creation that is more perfect than us, more obeying than us if we chose not to serve Him, if we choose to disobey and disregard His Power as The One and Only. If he could create something out of thin air, He could definitely reverse the effects and dismiss a creation into thin air. If He could refine something until it becomes perfect for its function, He could definitely destroy the creation until it has no function or purpose to exist.

Nauzubillahiminzalik, may we not be amongst those that are ignorant and may we always choose the way that Allah is pleased with. May we continue to accept and acknowledge Allah from today and onwards, because compared to all existing thing we depend on, Allah is truly the only one that we need! He who creates and refines, He who helps and is always kind, He who stays and never leaves!

References

1. Khowatir Quran, Amru Khalid

2. Tafsir Fi Zilal, Syed Qutb

Barakallahufeek for reading until the end, may what is written today will be something that pushes us forward and may it be something that makes us love Allah more than we love ourselves! Wallahua’lambisawab, if there should be any improvements or corrections, please do leave a comment below :)

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Do you sometimes feel like you have too much on your plate? Like there’s so many tasks to do within 24 hours but it seems like time always runs out quick? I’m sure most of us has felt this feeling for at least once in our lives. And it gets worse when we slowly start to pray a little bit late saying “I’ll pray isya’ in 10 mins”, skip some sunnah prayers “It’s okay, it’s sunnah anyways, I’ll just do it later” and when we have the time to converse with Allah through our doa, we don’t feel connected with Him and just read our favourite doa script.

Amongst our tight schedule, tons of to-do list everyday, having to commute here and there, soooo many pending tasks. One thing we always forget, is to include our spiritual do list. Try to have a look at your to-do list for this week, did you put any of these:-

• read 2 pages of Quran

• learn a new hadith today

• wake up at 3 am for tahajjud

• memorize a surah

Take a moment to reflect on how we have been arrogant in our prayers, arrogant while making our doa, arrogant in spending your thought about akhirat, arrogant in spending even a good 10-minutes of quality time with Allah. We have been arrogant. Arrogant according to Oxford Dictionary, have similar meanings to conceited, self-important, opiniated, egoistic and full of oneself. Conceited — feeling as if what you’re doing is always right, self-important —feeling like all that you do is the only thing that matter, opiniated — you have your own definition of success, which include neglecting your duties with Allah and spend more time getting other things done. And lastly, egoistic and full of oneself, until you forget that you are only a dot in this universe.

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدْعُونِىٓ أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِى سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ ٦٠

And your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell - in humiliation!"

Ghafir : 60

Remember that everything we do during dunya will be flipped in the akhirat. Those that humiliate themselves upon praying to Allah, feeling small and always give out to those in need, not saving money for themselves are the ones that will stand proud while meeting Allah in Paradise. But those that scavenge the Earth for money and to be well known to everyone, forgetting your roots of your own being, they are the ones that will feel small during Judgement Day and no connection with humans may be able to save you.

حَدَّثَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُسْهِرٍ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، ح وَحَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مَيْمُونٍ الرَّقِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ مَسْلَمَةَ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ "‏ لاَ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ وَلاَ يَدْخُلُ النَّارَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ إِيمَانٍ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

It was narrated that Abdullah said: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'No one will enter Paradise who has even a mustard-seed's weight of arrogance in his heart, and no one will enter Hell who has even a mustard-seed's weight of faith in his heart.'"

Grade: Sahih (Darussalam)

Reference : Sunan Ibn Majah 59

If you read the hadith above very closely, Allah never mentioned about sins and deeds but instead the focus is on whether in your heart there is a single peck of faith or arrogance. Why? Because all our actions that MEAN something comes from our heart. You can say you study a lot, but if you LOVE studying, you actually do it out of your pure love from your heart. Similar to this, if you have even a single particle of arrogance, you could easily start missing your remembrance of Allah and slowly you stop doing things like praying, reading the Quran and so on. On the other side, even when right now you are so lost but you have that teeny tiny bit of faith, it could be big and impactful enough to get you back on the right track.

Life indeed throws a lot at you at once, but the one thing that makes you stay grounded is the fact that if you prioritize Allah, He will prioritize you as simple as that. Come to Him, and believe that all your greatest struggles can be solved with Allah’s help and guidance. And when you are hit with having to choose between good and evil, even as simple as choosing either to sleep after Subuh or watch a short khutbah, ask yourselves this simple question….

am I a follower of Iblis or am I a follower of Allah and His Deen?

These days people are too fixed on rules, obligations and restrictions that Islam has set out for us to practice and follow but have we ever thought about why Allah asked us to do so? Don’t you think He knows what is best for us?

بُنِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ: شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ، وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ، وَحَجِّ الْبَيْتِ، وَصَوْمِ رَمَضَانَ

"Islam is built upon five (pillars): The testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the Solat (prayer), paying the Zakat, making the Hajj (pilgrimage) to the (Sacred) House, and Fasting in Ramadhan."

(Muttafaqun ‘Alayh)

Solat is one of the pillars of Islam, and the position of solat in Islam is such an important aspect in a Muslim’s life that we can say one can never be separated from solat. We also know from the last khutbah given by our Prophet SAW, he also highlighted the importance of solat while on his deathbed. But why is it so important?

From my personal experience, I have met so many Muslims. And their take about solat can vary in so many ways. Some don’t pray solat at all, some pray occasionally when they feel like it and some pray solat without having any spiritual connection to it.

For me personally, I feel like because I learned to pray since I was small, and my parents sent me to a Madrasah during primary school, it is now like a routine for me. And for more than 2 decades of living, most of the time this solat routine has been stagnant for me. I make my wudhu’, I invite my dad (if at home) or I invite my friends to pray together (at school/uni), and then when I finish the prayer, I make dua and that’s it. I proceed to continue doing whatever I was doing before solat.

BUT, I realized that the only times I really immersed myself with my prayers is when I have something to talk about to Allah SWT. Be it a problem at home, a mistake I did when I talked to someone, a sin I just committed, a blessing or miracle that I just received or even worries and concerns I have about my future. And if you really think about it, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT all throughout our lives.

In the past, there are times where I prayed like a robot, or I wasn’t reciting the surahs properly or I prayed so fast it is as if I was racing against time and all because I felt like solat is a hassle, it feels like a burden to pray five times a day and because I never really understood the essence of why we need to pray.

But growing up, I realized that Allah’s Power and Might does not benefit much from a small, weak, human being like me and even if I didn’t pray, Allah SWT remains Powerful as always, He remains to be the One and Only. However, solat can reaaaallly transform us for the better. It was made for us, Allah SWT asked our Prophet SAW to teach us how to pray because it is beneficial FOR US and we need it in our lives.

وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَـٰشِعِينَ (٤٥ )

And seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, it is a burden except for the humble—

[Surah Al-Baqarah : 45]

And when I think back about my most depressed or saddest days, solat has freed me from worrying extensively about things I can’t control, solat has filled my void heart with my true purpose and remembrance of The Mighty, solat has given me a space to feel specially heard and seen by Him, solat has made me mentally stronger than ever and solat has trained me to extend my depths of belief, my iman and come back to Him, always.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties (Fardhu) I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works (Sunnah) so that I shall love him . When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.

It was related by al-Bukhari. Hadith Number 25 from the 40 Hadith Qudsi.

As much as your mother or your father or your family loves you, YOUR CREATOR LOVES YOU MORE. He made things the way they are, he put rules and obligations so that it can help us be free of things that bring complications in our lives. He knows we need something to channel our love, our worships, our gratitude, our sadness so He gave us solat, so that we can rest, seek peace and benefit from it. Allah SWT loves His servants who prays, He comes near when we call upon Him and He listens and provides us with everything that can make us happy, He truly loves us selflessly.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

One thing we all have in common is our faith, our strong pillar, this religion (deen) which makes us who we are today. But our journey growing with this deen has never been a smooth ride, we sin and we ask our Creator for forgiveness but sometimes we don’t even bother to make dua and try to put in an effort for forgiveness because we think, we’re the worst sinners on Earth. We’re already in the deep end, it’s too late for us to be good now and so we say to ourselves,

“There’s no way Allah would forgive me. I did a lot bad things lately, I said a lot of bad words too. I’ve always been like this, everyone knows I’m like this all the time so why bother changing now?”

We’re scared and we don’t want to feel left out from others, we see the people around us get comfy with sinful things, actions that are not aligned with the Quran and teachings of our Prophet SAW. Days go by and now we’re farther away from Allah SWT, our relationship with him; broken. We don’t recognize ourselves anymore, even if I repent now, would Allah forgive me?

But fret not as Allah is Al-Ghafoor, The Ever-Forgiver, The All-Forgiving. Why do you question whether He can forgive you or not? Do you not trust Him? Do you think He can’t forgive your sins?

Let me tell you something. We often mistake His qualities similar to a human. We can’t even comprehend the level of forgiveness more than a human can offer. Imagine if you betrayed your best friend one day, even if she forgives you, she will never forget about it, in another life she might even make up a revenge plan. Even if you’re still on good terms with your ex best friend, there will always be that ‘tension’ because of your past wrongdoings.

But Allah on the other hand, Our Mighty Creator, His forgiveness is LIMITLESS and encompasses EVERYTHING. He doesn’t hold grudges, He gives you basic needs like air, energy, your mind, your body all even when we’ve sinned and still sinning. Even if you come to Allah with mountains of sins, He is more than able to forgive you, and you could always try again and be a better servant of Allah SWT.

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Allah the Almighty said: O 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. O 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.

It was related by at-Tirmidhi (also by Ahmad ibn Hanbal). Hadith Number 34 from the 40 Hadith Qudsi.

This hadith shows His overflowing love for His creations, masyaAllah!! 🤍 The only thing you have to do is return back to Allah, call upon Him. I know, sometimes it’s hard to see the signs He sent you, but whenever you have the chance to think about your wrongdoings and how much you missed that feelings of calmness, having prayed wholeheartedly, hold on to that feeling. That is Allah’s gestures of saying, “I missed you”.

قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِی یُحۡبِبۡكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَیَغۡفِرۡ لَكُمۡ ذُنُوبَكُمۡۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورࣱ رَّحِیمࣱ (٣١)

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If you ˹sincerely˺ love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful”.

[Surah Ali-Imran: 31]

The only barrier that separates you from being your truest and best self is repentance. Raise your hands and pour everything that you have bottled up for days, months, years out from your caged heart. This is your sign to return back to Him. With Allah granting that forgiveness, you can be born again, start anew and reset your life again. May Allah accept our duas and good deeds, amin.

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