Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Mai in June 2012

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.

It is reported that Talq b. Habîb – Allâh have mercy on him – said, “The right of Allâh is too great and heavy for the creation to fulfill and the blessings of Allâh are too many to enumerate, but you should remain repentant, morning and evening.”
Ibn Abî Al-Dunyâ, Al-Tawbah article 62.

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!

13 comments:

  1. wa alaikum salaam warahmathullahi barkatuhu,
    Subhanaallah, I was very much moved on reading the passage titled failings. This is my state of mind too on several occasions.
    May Allah help you get over your difficult situation.Keep us in your duas too.
    May I know what Allahu musta'an means and 'allahumma alayka' is that all the dua? Please let me know.

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    1. As salaamu alaykum wa Rahmat Allah.

      Allahu musta'an basically means, "Allah is the One Whose help is sought." You can find a far more detailed explanation of it here:

      http://salaf-us-saalih.com/2011/04/10/meaning-of-allaahu-musta%E2%80%99aan-istiaana-seeking-aid-from-allah-alone/

      In addition, the dua' the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, was reported to say in complete form was, "Allahumma alayka b'Quraish," and then specifically, "Allahumma alayka bi Abi Jahl, wa alayka bi 'Utbah bin Rabi'ah, wa alayka bi Shaibah bin Rabi'ah, wa alayka bi Al-Walid bin 'Utbah, wa alayka bi Umaiyah bin Khalaf, wa alayka bi 'Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ait, wa alayka bi 'Umarah bin Al-Walid." Although this can be translated as, "Oh Allah, destroy" (those people), the literal meaning of "Allahumma alayka bi" is, "Oh Allah, on You is the case of" (whatever person or situation).

      May Allah bless you and guide you to success in your struggles through this dunya - ameen.

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  2. Walaykumusalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

    BarakAllahu feeki dear sister. It's always refreshing to read what you have to say. I may not be as wise as you, nor do I have much experience but I totally relate to a lot what you have to say. I appreciate how you try to encourage others towards khayr. JazakiAllahu khayran.

    The Healing Earth project sounds sooooo exciting mashaa'Allah! I can't believe it how beautiful and Sunnah-friendly your ideas are mashaa'Allah la quwata illa-billah. May Allah SWT make your vision a reality and aid you in this dunia & Akhira as you aid the promotion of steadfastness on His Deen. May Allah SWT put barakah in your efforts and guide us to actions that which is most pleasing to Him. Ameen!

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    1. As salaamu alaykum wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh Umm Sulaym.

      Wa feeki Barak Allah! I greatly appreciate your dua', and say ammen, thumma ameen to it! I pray that Allah blesses you with far more than you have asked for us - ameen! Much love to you sister, fee sabeel Illah, wa jazaaki Allahu khayr.

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  3. Asalaamu alaikum!!
    I am so jelous (in a good way) Mashallah!!!!! Inshallah i truly hope your goals are met!! I am an absolute LOVER of cob building!!! There is not a single thing about it I do not love! Inshallah in tbe future my husband and I will buy some land and build a totally afforable cob house!! May allah subhana wa ta'ala make things easy on us, ameen!!!

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    1. Wa alaykum as salaam wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh.

      Cobbing Muslimah's unite! Barak Allahu feeki sister and ameen, thumma ameen to your dua'!

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  4. Assalaamu Alaykum
    "It is important to know that you if welcome Allah's tests and handle them well, He will send harder ones to you. "
    Can you explain this a bit more?
    Does this mean if you're not constantly tested with big 'tests', that you haven't passed your previous tests well?
    What about people who constantly make wrong decisions and then are 'tested', i.e. always having a hard time?
    Shukran

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    1. Wa alaykum as salaam wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh.

      I wrote a post called, "Tested, Here's the Deal," which covered this topic in more detail. I believe it will, through sahih hadith,clarify that tests for the believer increase to purify them and bring them even closer to Allah, subhaana wa taala.

      As for not constantly being given big tests, Allah never burdens a soul more than they can bear. We are all at different levels and stages in our deen, so what is appropriate for one, may not be appropriate for another. It doesn't have to mean you didn't pass your previous tests well, but it may mean that you cannot handle more at your stage of deen.

      I'm not sure whether I term it as being tested when people continue to make wrong decisions; I consider it to be more of a warning, punishment, or wake up call. It is a sign of Allah's love, because He continues to send reminders to his servant to bring them to His Haqq. We must never forget that Allah tells us in the Qur'an that for those who are truly astray, He will increase them in the worldly things and ease, and consequently increase their punishment on the Day of Judgement. Better to be sent the warnings and know that Allah has not turned away from us!

      I hope this has helped. Please forgive me for anything incorrect in this response and attribute all benefit to Allah, azza wa jal.

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  5. Salam alikum dear Mai

    You are in my prayers dear Sister, I am so sorry you are having to go through such hardships but insha'Allah as usual you will be able to use them to become stronger in iman. Lots of hugs xx

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    1. Wa alaykum as salaam wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh Sister B.

      I take every one of your hugs with heartfelt love and appreciation. Jazaaki Allahu khayr, my dear little sister. No question, this is big, but Allah never fails to resolve everything, so regardless of the difficulty we endure throughout, tawakkal WILL give us the best outcome. Ameen to your dua'...and considering what you've been through, I think we can probably call ourselves the, "Sunshine through the rain sisters" mashaa'Allah.

      Barak Allahu feeki.

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  6. Assalamo Alaikum dear Mai,
    can you please give us the arabic version of this due that you mentioned. if possible .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." may Allah help you with your situation Ameen Thumma Ammen. take care and much love,
    Umm Bilal

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    1. Wa alaykum as salaamu wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh Umm Bilal.

      I really don't trust my Arabic well enough to give a translation of that dua' into Arabic. However, I will see, once I return to Saudi, if I can get someone to give me a good translation and post it here inshaa'Allah.

      Barak Allahu feeki for your dua' and most certainly AMEEN!

      Much love right back at you!

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    2. Okay, here it is in Arabic and may Allah reward the translator with a most beautiful palace in Jennah.

      اللهم اجعلني أحب ما تحب و وضح لي ما تحب و اجعلني أبغض ما تبغض و وضح لي ما تبغض

      In addition, I read this which tied in perfectly with my dua'. It is amazing how Allah sends me these things afterwards as a confirmation and reassurance, al hamdul'Illah.

      "The perfection of tawhid is found when there remains nothing in the heart except Allah, the servant is left loving those He loves and what He loves, hating those He hates and what He hates, showing allegiance to those He has allegiance to, showing enmity to those He shows enmity towards, ordering what He orders and prohibiting what He prohibits." Shaikh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahUllah)

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