Invoke Allah with Deeds

Sea Foam Reflections at Cannon Beach

Allah made the illusion look real and the real an illusion. He concealed the sea and made the foam visible, the wind invisible, and the dust manifest. You see the dust whirling, but how can the dust rise by itself? You see the foam, but not the ocean. Invoke Him with deeds, not words, for deeds are real and will save you in the afterlife.

~Rumi, "Mathnawi"

Allah is The Real Sustainer

The Pannonian Plain

Do not seek sustenance from people. Allah is the real Provider. If He wills a certain person to be the means of your livelihood, do not consider that person to be in control of your destiny. Have faith and be certain in the knowledge that your daily bread does not depend upon any mortal, but upon Allah who created all. ~Al-Hujwiri(RA) 

In Every Hardship There Is Relief

Cactus Flower

A person's life goes through alternating periods of happiness and dismay, strength and weakness, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, etc. A true believer is one who maintains a clear level of Iman-faith throughout the worldly fluctuation. He continues to remember Allah and ascribe the bounties to Him; and he turns to Him in submission, asking for relief from his affliction.  

"Certainly, We shall test you with fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits; but give glad tidings to the patient - those who, when afflicted with calamity say, "Truly to Allah we belong, and truly to Him shall we return." it is those who will be awarded blessings and mercy from their Lord; and it is those who are the guided ones." [2:155-157]  

So we should display patience and submission during sickness and hardships, hunger, or other afflictions. And shows gratitude and thankfulness for all the wonderful blessings that Allah grants us. 

The Real Meaning of Peace

“Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your spirit. That is the real meaning of peace.” 

~Author unknown

The Year is Like A Tree

A maple tree in North Carolina.        
        

  “The year is like a tree, months are its branches, days are the branch sticks, hours are its leaves, and the breaths are its fruits. Therefore, if one’s breaths are in obedience [to Allah and His Messenger], the fruits of his tree are good. If they are in disobedience, his fruits are bitter… The harvest is on the Appointed Day, when one’s fruits are found out to be either good or bitter”  ~Ibn al-Qayyim    

                                                                                                                                                         

Words Of Wisdom

   “I looked at all friends, and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue. I thought about all the dresses but did not find a better dress than piety. I thought about all kinds of wealth, but did not find a better wealth than contentment in a little. I thought of all sorts of good deeds but did not find a better deed than offering good advice. I looked at all types of sustenance, but did not find a better sustenance than patience.”                  ~Umar ibn al-Khattab                                                                                                          

                                                   

                

I Asked Allah For Strength

“I asked Allah for strength and Allah gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked Allah for wisdom and Allah gave me problems to solve.
I asked Allah for courage and Allah gave me obstacles to overcome.
I asked Allah for love and Allah gave me troubled people to help.
I asked Allah for favors and Allah gave me opportunities.
Maybe I received nothing I wanted, but I received everything I needed – Alhamdulillah.”  
~Author unknown

In Generosity Be Like A River

In generosity and helping others, be like a river
In compassion and grace, be like the sun
In concealing other’s faults, be like the night
In anger and fury, be as if you have died
In modesty and humility, be like the earth
In tolerance, be like the sea
And either appear as you are, or be as you appear

~Received from oral tradition of Rumi, paraphrased by Kabir Helminski.

Faith

Big Cumulus cloud above The Netherlands

The stronger the faith you have the more difficult the tests/trials you will face, but if you see the hidden blessings of the difficult trials then you have the potential to increase your wisdom, increase your faith and develop your personal character, so be happy when Allah SWT tests you with difficulties as he has given you an opportunity to get closer to him through the trials. Allah is the Most Wise.

The Power of Dua

Trials, tribulations and challenges are part of every person’s life. However, to counter that, Allah has provided us a very powerful tool – and that is the tool of du’a or asking Allah for help and his mercy when we need it.  And we need it all the time…. Equally importantly, we forget at times that Allah has also provided us the opportunity to dramatically increase the effectiveness of our own Dua’s by encouraging us to make dua’s for other brothers and sisters in Islam.  Consider this Hadith by the Prophet (saws):

“The supplication that gets the quickest answer is the one made by one Muslim for another in his absence.”

[ Reported by Abu Daw’ud and Tirmidhi ]

The Prophet (saws) has said in a Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira: Make Dua and be assured of being answered, and know that Allah does not answer a Dua from a careless heart which is not concentrating. [Tirmidhi]

Trust in Allah

There is no better comfort other than knowing Allah is aware of our situation and how we feel... He is the Most Compassionate, Most Kind, Most Loving Lord... He will never leave us to deal with our problems and difficulties by ourselves. We just have to trust and rely on Him.

The Tears of a woman

• Have you ever wondered why do women cry?

This is especially for all the men out there who do not understand the tears of a woman; they say and assume that women cry for no reason.

But stated below are the true reasons..

When Allah made the woman she had to be made so special. He made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. He gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that comes from her children. He gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. He gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child hurts her very badly. He gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. He gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfaltering. And lastly, He gave her a tear. This is hers and only hers exclusively to use whenever she needs it. She needs no reason, no explanation, its hers.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the beauty of her face, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart – the place where love resides.

That is why we say that: "The most strength of water is in the tears of a woman."

And this is also to all the women out there. You are wonderful, beautiful, strong, determined and love by Allah.
(By Mohammad Shaharyar Khalid)

There Is A Second Chance

When it seems you have lost the battle of life, when you feel deserted even among your loved ones, when all your strength and determination seems to fly away in the Horizon, in just one dolt; when you repent over the loss of your most precious gifts in life, through no fault of yours, remember one thing; Nothing is constant and permanent in this world. Neither time nor life, neither solution nor problems, neither precaution nor cure, neither success nor failure. 

The thing you feel you have lost, was never yours, be it materialistic or a treasured relation, job or a person. You acquired it in the process of fighting the battle of time. Remember, you lose only when you possess it in the first place. It is you who achieved success in all the fronts of life. If you can do it once, you can do it again. 

-Do not lose hope. Have faith and believe in God.