Beautiful Story.

One of my bestest sisters ever sent me this today (Qamar!) & I thought I would share it with you all 'cos I loved it!

A master asked his disciples:

‘Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?’

the disciples thought for a while, and one of them said

‘Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.’

‘But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you? ‘Isn’t it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you’re angry?’

The disciples gave him some other answers but none satisfied the master.

Finally he explained:

‘When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.’

Then the master asked:

‘What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small…’

And he finally said:

‘When they love each other even more, what happens?

‘They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love.

‘Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

No commentary from me needed on this one. Sigh* <3

Trials & calamities. How do you handle them?

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.

I was recently feeling really down due to some personal reasons, which was greatly heightened today for reasons which are unknown. I had a pretty decent day Alhamdulillah, so I don't really get why I became so emotional. Maybe just a girl thing? Who knows. So I went into my 'researching mode' as I tend to do these days whenever I start to think... About anything. Seriously, you should check out the 'history' on my Google search box, it's endless, & yes, sometimes the things I search would seem hilarious to some people, but it makes complete sense to me! Such as, for a previous blog post *ahem* I searched 'cream to make your beard softer'. Sad, but true. So anyway, back to my point...

During my 'research mode', I was on the search for something that would make me feel better & I guess I needed my daily injection of 'Allah loves you!' Yup, I need that injection evvvery day. Makes me feel special *smug face*. I happened to come across this:

On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas, who said : One day I was behind the prophet and he said to me: "Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried."
[Al-Tirmidhi relates this and says: It is a good, genuine Hadith]

This hadith really got me thinking. It got me thinking about all the times I've been angry or thought 'if I'd just done this, so & so wouldn't have happened'. It made me realise that it doesn't matter what I try to do to stop something or make something happen, if Allah doesn't want it to happen, it isn't gunna happen! It doesn't matter what precautions I take to not fall down the stairs at Fajr time, whilst I'm dragging my half asleep self to the bathroom. If I'm meant to fall down the stairs, it's gunna happen. So this made me feel better. Not the idea of breaking my arm (or worse, Asthagfirullah!) falling down the stairs, but of the fact that, no matter what I've done in life, it was meant to happen. Then it got me thinking that, there's a lot of stuff which I've gotten upset & angry over & questioned Allah as to why He let me do it, or why He let it happen to me, but if He hadn't let me make my mistakes or put me through tests, seriously speaking, I wouldn't be who I am today. Through the mistakes I've made or the tests I've been through, I've come out of it, meeting some of the most truly amazing people who in all honesty, I wouldn't have met if I hadn't experienced everything that's happened in my past.

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

“Were it not that Allah treats His slaves with the remedy of trials and calamities, they would transgress and overstep the mark. When Allah wills good for His slaves, He gives him the medicine of calamities and trials according to his situation, so as to cure him from all fatal illnesses and diseases, until He purifies and cleanses him, and then makes him qualified for the most honourable position in this world, which is that of being a true slave of Allah (‘ubudiyyah), and for the greatest reward in the Hereafter, which is that of seeing Him and being close to Him." [Zaad al-Ma’ad, 4/195].

Subhan'Allah. As you can see from the above, the trials & calamities we face in life, are all given to us by Allah (swt), as a cure, so that we may qualify as being a 'true slave' & 'seeing Him & being close to Him'. How much more can we ask for? As it says above, without the trials & calamities we wouldn’t remember Allah & we would think everything is breezy & step way off line, resulting in complete failure. Also quickly, while this is fresh in my mind, have you sometimes ever wondered why something bad ALWAYS seems to happen to you, even though you pray 5 times a day, you give charity, & you try to be the best Muslim(ah) you can be? & then you look over at other people’s lives & all seems to be going smoothly? & you just can’t work out where you’re going wrong? & slowly you start to lose a little faith, bit by bit. You just gotta remember, if you’re truly being the best Muslim(ah) you can be, then these hardships you’re going through, are just a test from Allah, to see if you still turn to Him even when you feel like you’re getting nowhere & things are getting worse. For example: Yaqub A.S is said to have cried for eighty years when Yusuf A.S (his son) was gone, he never gave up; all he said when his other sons were gone too is “May Allah bring all of them back to me”. He actually went blind from crying. Subhan’Allah.

Musa A.S prayed against Pharaoh, for 40 years before his prayers were answered!

These are just two of the examples of the strong faith the Prophets had & the trust and love they had for Allah swt. They never gave up even when their prayers were not answered for so long!

So many of those loved dearly by Allah swt, were afflicted with trials & calamities & it did not decrease their submission, nor did it decrease their love for Allah. If anything, it increased it. 

So, todays 'research mode' really paid off. It made me realise that yeah, sure we can be upset that some things aren't going the way we want it to ('cos lets face it, all of us get upset when that happens), however we shouldn't dwell on it, & we should try to get over it as quickly as possible by reminding ourselves that Allah swt is doing it, only 'cos He loves us, & wants to do what is best for us. If we persevere through the hard times & still worship Him & love Him more & more each day through our trials, then Insha'Allah, He will be happy with us. =)