BismIllah wa as salaamu alaykum wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh.
What's Up:
We have finished another school year here, exams are over and I'm getting ready to change focus for the summer, inshaa'Allah. Hubby and I will be doing a Permaculture Design Certification course starting in the coming days inshaa'Allah. This is all in preparation for our design, planning, development, and living on our land in New Mexico, now officially named, "Healing Earth," mashaa'Allah. June 13th marks our departure to England for a month to visit with my parents, breathe fresh air, and see lots of GREENERY and fat woolly sheep, mashaa'Allah. We are booked to attend a private Cob House Natural Building course designed for our family while we are there inshaa'Allah. All this so that we can live as naturally and as close to the Sunnah as possible on our land and teach other Muslims how to do the same, bi ithn Illah ta'ala.
I look forward to posting about our vision and goals for Healing Earth, but will give you a taster here. We plan to build cob cottages for Muslim retreats, inshaa'Allah. We also plan to have a Muslim family campground to accommodate around 125 people, with cob pizza ovens, inshaa'Allah. We will make a natural playground, a track, obstacle course, and archery area bi ithn Illah. There will be courses on making your own pizza ovens, rocket stoves, cob and strawbale homes, Permaculture design and practice for living sustainably, and lessons in green and deen by teaching Qur'an and Islamic Sciences in a setting conducive to living Islam and the Sunnah, inshaa'Allah. May Allah give us success in serving Him and spreading His Perfected Religion through emulating the ideal example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam - ameen!
Just to say:
There is a dua' that has served me well and done so much for the development of my taqwa and and lifestyle. Many of you have figured it out by now, because you've seen it in other posts on this blog, but the reminder always benefits the believer. It is simply this:
"Oh Allah, let me love all that You love and make clear to me what You love, and let me hate all that you hate and make clear to me what you hate."
I make this dua' for others as well; those near and dear to me and those who are not, because if we all unite on what Allah loves and avoid what He hates, we will be the best of our generation.
Tested:
It is important to know that you if welcome Allah's tests and handle them well, He will send harder ones to you. This is not to punish you, but simply to move you to greater depths of faith and heights of emaan. Our family is being tested with a force that we never would have imagined possible, wa al hamdul'Illah 'ala kully haal, and what I found is this. When the test becomes so great that you are rendered totally helpless and speechless at its magnitude, you finally realize to a depth never reached before, that Allah is the only place to turn. At the onset of the whole ordeal, I simply stood with my hands held up in supplication and said, "Allahumma, alayka ______________!" three times. This is in line with the Sunnah of our Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, when he faced such a situation with Abu Jahl and his consorts. Although I have to have great patience while relying on Allah, I have the absolute knowledge that, although I cannot imagine how this will be resolved, it most certainly will be. Allahu musta'an.
Failings:
There are times when my failings overwhelm me. Times when I am so
sick of my inability to control my emotions or reactions that I just
want to run away and never deal with another person again as long as I
live. What an amazing concept. Of course, that would not be convenient
for my family or friends. Even more, that would totally defy what Allah
meant for me, which is to worship Him alone through all the fitan of
life that He presents me with.
So, I cry in misery and
disappointment in myself to Allah and then try to find a balance between
humility (dragging my self-esteem out of the drain) and acceptance.
Acceptance of what? That Allah has made us imperfect, it is part of the
design. If we were perfect, there would be no test. In fact, we would be
the same as the rest of His creation...without free will. Allah tells
us that it is us erring and then turning to Him in repentance - sincere
repentance - that is the key to our growth and success.
What I'm reading:
My Home, My Path (this gem is my new, all day, every day handbook, and is top of my reading list for my Ramadhaan preparation, mashaa'Allah)
My Cyber-focus:
Following the Sunnah
taalib.com
islaam4kids.com
Stay tuned for my upcoming "heavyweight" post on amanah, sin, and istighfar....and barak Allahu feekum all my dear readers!