The Only Purpose for our Existence

Truly in the heart there is a void that can not be removed except with the company of Allah. And in it there is a sadness that can not be removed except with the happiness of knowing Allah and being true to Him. And in it there is an emptiness that can not be filled except with love for Him and by turning to Him and always remembering Him. And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it would not fill this emptiness.” – Ibn al-Qayyim

We can spend our days thinking about how to make the next dollar,  or on marrying, or staying married.   We can try to change the wrongs in the world,  and put everything right.   In the end.. there is no  end to the “good we can do”..  but none of it is worth anything if it’s not with the intention of  not satisfying ourselves,  or providing for our personal needs in this dunya..  but only with the intention of  pleasing Allah and worshipping Him..

 Allah SWT says in the translated meaning  “And I created not the jinns and mankind except that they should worship me”.  .. No matter how busy we are.. if we are not doing everything we do as an act of worship..  as a means of pointing ourselves first and then those we talk to to Tawheed.  the knowledge of  the oneness of Allah… we are missing the purpose of our creation.. the purpose of our existence.   Life is a test. nothing else.  No matter what we are doing..  it’s a test.    the good, the bad, the challenging.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of feeling that our efforts,  our words, our actions bring about provision, or health  etc..   but this is fundamentally denying one aspect of  Tawheed.. that of   Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (Oneness of Divine Lordship): means believing in Allaah as One and Unique with regard to His actions such as creation, sovereignty, control, giving life and death, and so on.

No matter what we are doing..  let’s focus only on the desire to worship Allah sWT  through our actions and to seek his pleasure in them..  and never forget that all rizq.. all outcomes.. belong to Him alone.   This knowledge will transform our relationships with others.. our marriages, our family life, our community life, our ummah and our world.  It’s not about me.. it’s not about you ..  it’s about HIM.

We will never be satisfied.. we will always go chasing for more and more.. unless our we are focused  on it all being ibadah.. a means to an end.. that of worshipping our Lord.

 

 

 

Time Alone

Busy, busy, busy.   There are many reasons why we are so stressed out in our lives today.   Keeping busy is often a sign we don’t want to face the stress  we are facing  and so we keep ourselves busy.  Running from activity to activity and forgetting to give our body it’s right to rest.   Busy mums,  busy workers,  busy volunteers..  Filling our lives and those of our families  to keep everyone  happy and contented.

As Muslims we are told to take care of five before five.. and one of the five is to take advantage of our free time before we become busy.   Reflect is a word used in the Qur’an many many times.     We are told to look at the signs around us..  and reflect.    What should be the purpose of that reflection..

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], “Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”}[Quran 3:190-191]

When we neglect to spend time each day reflecting on Allah SWT and the signs He has blessed us to see around us,  we run the risk of missing the blessing of those signs..    “our Lord you did not create this aimlessly….” and allowing our minds to think about the stresses in our lives we are trying to keep busy to avoid thinking about.

Let’s purpose in our heart to spend time each day .. outside reflecting  .. thinking about the signs of our Lord.  Take time to look at a flower and wonder at it’s beauty.   Watch a bird as it floats on water and finds food,  or flies through the air gliding on the wind.  Take time to watch an ant carry a load heavier than it’s own body weight  or  wonder at a new born baby.    Look at your self freshly in the mirror and see that you too are a part of creation..  You are submitted  by the Mercy of Allah as a born Muslim  or as one guided to Islam.   Never take this for granted and thank Him today again for the miracle of that reality.

You were not created aimlessly.. you like the heavens have a purpose.   We are created with Purpose..  and there is not one thing that happens to us today that is not known to Him .. the Almighty.. allowed by Him and written for “me” personally  for my benefit.   Take time to stop being busy .. and to reflect ..  teach your children to reflect  and let’s not become so overwhelmed by the stresses of the day that we forget that  “He is exalted above all things’

 

 

A Forgotten Sunnah

Join me on Facebook at Charactershift .https://facebook.com/charactershift

Jamilah's reflections

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) used to go walking with ‘A’ishah (ra) at night while talking with each other.” — (Bukhārī)

One of the many reasons I love to read the Seerah of the Prophet (SAW) and his wives (RA) is because of how human they are. In the Seerah, we see a man who struggled just like we do, to please his Lord.  A man who showed us how to live every part of our life.  In his relationships both with his wives and his friends, we learn how to live our family life, how to be intimate with our spouse and how to balance our work and home lives and how to appropriately interact with our friends.

In this beautiful sunnah we notice two things which for me are an essential part of a good marriage.

1.  The Prophet and his wife took time to walk each day.. this…

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The True Character of the Prophet

A Community of us are meeting together on Facebook to work on perfecting our Character in shaa Allah.. Come and join us and add your thoughts about the importance of Character as a tool of dawah and as essential to our Islam.. https://www.facebook.com/charactershift/

Jamilah's reflections

In light of the occurrences around the world as a result of the latest film that completely denigrates the character of our beloved Prophet (SAW) I decided to repost a post that appears on IQRASENSE and which reminds us of his truly beautiful character and of that which we are meant to emulate as Muslims.

There have been many biographies written and speeches given on Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) that have provided a glimpse of his life, the role that he played as a Messenger of God, and the message that he brought for mankind. However, the speech delivered by Ja‘far bin Abi Talib to the Christian king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in the 7th century to date is referenced as one of the most succinct and eloquent speeches that captured the moments of that era, and expressed the message of Islam concisely and clearly.

The speech was delivered in the fifth…

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We Attract What we Think

There is a beautiful hadith  qudhsi  in Sahih Bukhari  that states

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Allah the Most High said, ‘I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’”[Sahih Al-Bukhari]

Imam Nawawi (may Allah have Mercy upon him) said: “The scholars say that expecting the best of Allah is to expect that He will have Mercy on him and relieve him of hardship.” [Sharh Sahih Muslim]

Imam Nawawi (may Allah have Mercy upon him) also said: “al-Qadi ‘Iyad said that this means He will forgive him if he seeks such, will accept his repentance if he repents, will answer him if he supplicates, and will suffice him if he asks for something. It is also said that it refers to having hope and longing for relief, and this is more correct.”  [Sharh Sahih Muslim]

 

In life, the same is true..  people are as we think of them,  situations are as we think of them.   We attract what we believe.  . . if we think someone is lazy we will look for things that support that theory  instead of looking for things that negate it.   If we think our husband never does anything for us   we  will never look for the things he does do, only the things he doesn’t do.

Inspired by the six intimacy skills as presented in “The Empowered Wife”  by Laura Doyle,   I’m learning how important it is to turn a negative thought about someone into a positive one.   This helps me to look for ways that people meet the expectation of what I want them to be..    It’s amazing how  easy it is to find the good in a situation  or the good in people   if you start to look for a different perspective on the situation or in people.

We attract what we think..  let’s attract the good  and repel the bad..  just like a magnet.

bn al-Qayyim (may Allah have Mercy upon him) said: “Most people – in fact, all of them except those protected by Allah – assume other than the truth, and assume the worst. Most people believe that they are deprived of their rights, have bad luck, deserve more than what Allah gave them, and it is as if they are saying: ‘My Lord has wronged me and deprived me of what I deserve,’ and his soul bears witness to this while his tongue denies it and refuses to openly state this. And whoever digs into his soul and comes to know its ins and outs will see this in it like fire in a triggered explosion…And if you dig into anyone’s soul, you will see that he blames fate and would rather have something else happen to him than what actually did, and that things should be this way or that…So, dig into your own self: are you protected from this? If you are safe from this, you have been protected from something great. Otherwise, I do not see that you have been saved.”  [Zad al-Ma’ad]

(some of the quotes are taken from http://hadithaday.org/hadith-qudsi/i-am-as-my-servant-thinks-expects-i-am/)

 

The Character of A Muslim Woman

I read this beautiful article on a blog I discovered today and I thank the sister for writing it so beautifully masha Allah. I am focused on character building and transforming. For me, our lack of focus on developing an Islamic Character is our downfall and will be something oneday we will be held to account for. A poor character focus is the basis for most of the conflict with interpersonal relationships in our lives. May Allah reward you sister for writing this and for reminding us women of how much we need to be careful about our natural character traits. Ameen.

A Glimpse Into The Life of A Muslimah

Let’s face it. As women we can be cruel to each other. As for men, I don’t know the politics of their relationships being that I am not a man. Therefore, I will not speak about men. Though, I do know the relationships and cruelty we women show one another. It seems that everything is  a competition. Who is the most pious, intelligent, who has the best children, who is the most beautiful and on and on.In my opinion this competitveness is our human nature. However, as Muslim women we should be above this nonsense. Sadly, many of us are not. Many of us can not control our tongues. We love to backbite and gossip about other sisters. Maybe, it makes us feel better about our own less than perfect lives.  Women are quick to point out which woman needs to lose weight, which woman has a big nose…

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Ultimate Happiness.. The Majestic Face of Allah .. Better than Jannah itself

No matter how many times I hear this talk.. it never fails to inspire me to be the best in the dunya to achieve the ultimate.. seeing His face in the Akhira in shaa Allah

Jamilah's reflections

Shaykh Yassir Qadhi

As a Christian my drive, my hope, my reward was the thought of seeing my Lord face to face.  As a Muslim, the knowledge that the promise of Jannah is the promise of seeing Allah SWT my Lord is my life motivation.  I love this talk so much… subhanAllah take time to listen and take time to consider what is promised to Muslims…

“The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) recited, ‘For those who have done good is the best (reward, i.e. Jannah) and even more (i.e., having the honour of glancing at the countenance of Allah)’ [Quran: Surah Yunus, Aayat 26] and said: ‘When the people of Jannah have entered Jannah, and the people of Jahannum have entered Jahannum, a caller will proclaim, ‘O people of Jannah, Allah made a promise to you that He wants to fulfill.’ They will say, ‘What is it?…

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Mates of One Another

Jamilah's reflections

Allah SWT tells us in the Qur’an that we are created in pairs.  That together with our spouse we are created to be Mates of One Another. The Muslim concept of marriage is unique and beautiful in both it’s simplicity and it’s focus on the rights and obligations of each person in the couple towards their Lord, themselves AND their partner.

When we read the Qur’an we find the nature of men and women revealed.  All discussion about rights and obligations that each spouse has over the other or can expect from the other is based on the characteristics that make each man uniquely male and each female uniquely female.

“And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your hearts. Undoubtedly in these are signs for those…

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Love Actually

Jamilah's reflections

I read a post on Facebook this morning.  Actually it was meant to be a joke. It was about a wife who left a note for her husband telling him she was leaving him.  When he came home, he read the note which had been left in their bedroom, wrote something on it and then made a phonecall to a mysterious “honey”,  saying his wife was a fool, he should never have married her and he was coming over to see the  “honey”.   He left left the room and his wife who had been hiding under the bed came out from under the bed where she was hiding, to read what he had written.

His reply..

“I could see your feet under the bed
you silly wife, I am going to buy
bread. Stand up, stop your silly
games and prepare me a meal
because I’m very hungry!

Many…

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Fix Your Heart on the Source of Tranquility

Jamilah's reflections

He who keeps his heart near Allah will find peace and tranquility, whilst he who gives his heart to the people will find restlessness and apprehension.

Scholar: Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah

I was asked a question yesterday on dealing with something that is allowed Islamically but which may end up being challenging and require a lot of sabr.  My response was immediate and I ask Allah SWT to make it true for me always insha’Allah.   I replied that I trust my Lord is taking care of me and can trust Him to continue taking care of me and that is enough for me.

In my journey as a Muslim I can’t count the number of times I’ve been surprised or challenged by life, people, family, circumstances. Sometimes I wonder about when they will stop happening, but of course we are told that we need to expect them.. that challenges and…

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