Surah Tariq

I've been trying to learn this Surah. I had started a while back but never got around to finishing it sadly. Even though I know I can do it in a few days if I try to learn just 3 ayahs per day. So, it just came in my mind to try to restart and I am upto 7 ayahs now, alhumdulillah. InshaAllah, putting it out there would help me stick to it. Hence this post. :D



The recitation is by Mishary Alafasy. I liked the fact that this video had clear Arabic script and English translation as well. :D

Tafseer the Surah by Imam Zia: A really good job, mashaAllah.



Regarding the following ayah:
So, let man ponder on what he has been created from. He has been created from a spurting fluid that comes from between the bones of the back and the chest. Indeed He [– the Almighty –] is able to resurrect him. (5-8)

I wanted it into perspective from a medical point of view. As mentioned in the video, one understanding is that the gonads actually arise from a person's back and then move forward and downwards to finally settle in the scrotum for a man and the pelvis in a woman.



The figure shows how the testis moves from the back (retroperitoneal postion) near the kidney to eventually lie in the scrotum. It is the reason why in patients with an undescended testis, it can be felt even in the abdomen (depending at the site of its arrest).

Why Do We Forget?

Why do parents forget what it was like to be a child or an adolescent?

Why do the newly rich forget what it was like to be poor?

Why do the healthy forget what it was like to be sick?

Why do the married forget what the struggles were like to be single?

Why do we forget and become ungrateful for all the things we now have? Worse. Why do we start pointing fingers, looking down upon and hurting people who are now in the position we once were? Where has the empathy gone?

Why do friends forget what it was like to have none? Why do they suddenly start avoiding the friends who are in need, inspite of them being there through thick and thin? What makes us act this way? So selfishly. As if the world revolves around us. As though we are right and everyone else is wrong. Our pain is pain but someone else's pain is nothing. Someone else's loss is meaningless.

How can we deal with people in such a selfish manner and then face Allah in prayer each day and cry in our duas asking for help and beg for mercy? Is that what Islam taught us? Do we even know Islam if this is our behaviour? If we can't want for our brother/sister (in Islam) what we want for ourselves, are we really good Muslims?

May Allah place mercy and empathy in our hearts. Ameen.

Through The Eyes of A Muslim Convert

I had typed up the post a week or so back but I'm only completing it now so here goes:

Have you ever looked at Islam from the point of view of a convert? I love learning about how they opened their hearts to Islam and what they saw in Islam and Muslims that attracted them. Many of the converts knew Muslims with amazing characters and usually it was the simple gestures that made them want to know more about Islam. That should be just one reason for us to be motivated enough to be better Muslims, inshaAllah.

Here's one of the videos that I truly enjoyed watching:

Just some of the points that were brought up that I appreciated them talking about is:

1. Doing our work to please Allah (swt) rather than to simply please others. The benefit of that is that even though people may not appreciate you, Allah (swt) always will and He will reward us in ways no one else can.

2. How Allah is always watching us and is aware of all that we do and this knowledge prevents us from sinning and if we do sin then we constantly seek Allah (swt)'s Forgiveness.

3. Changing our purpose from wanting things from this life and material things to concentrating on pleasing Allah and being happy and thankful for with what we have.

4. Being humble and patient which most of us have difficulty with.

5. Looking at problems and difficulties as challenges and looking at it as a chance to please Allah (swt) and learn and benefit from them.

The purpose of sharing these thoughts is because often times we take our actions, our practice of Islam and Allah's Mercy for granted and we tend to slack in aspects of how we practice Islam. By looking at other Muslims, it can inspire us to change and become better and closer to Allah, inshaAllah.

Knowing Oneself & Salatul Istikhara

[As salaam walaikum dear readers. I've noticed a lot of hits on this post. Please leave your comments as I would love to know if this post was beneficial to you. Jazakallah khair. :)]

I've been wondering if we see ourselves through others eyes. In my teen yrs, everyone (besides family and close friends) believed I was a shy, quiet girl when infact I was pretty talkative. I was just more comfortable with a small group of people rather than a whole lot. So, not many people really knew the real me. I believe I always knew myself well. I knew my beliefs, where I stood and what I wanted (which did change alot over time but I was always aware of it). I guess this is why most decisions came easy to me. It was only when I was not sure if I was making the right choice have I struggled the most. But alhumdulillah, I believe I'm trying to do my best. Many a times when I really felt confused, I've prayed to God and of course, the best prayer when you are confused about a decision is Salatul Istikhara.

I've prayed Istikhara in about 3 different circumstances and I believe things always worked out for the best. Alhumdulillah.

For those wondering about the prayer, it is to ask Allah (swt) for guidance in any matter that we may be concerned or confused about.

It's a very simple prayer. You make wudhu (ablution) likefor any regular prayer, face the qibla and pray 2 rakaats (non obligatory) and at the end of the prayer, recite the following dua:

‘Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi’ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa asaluka min fadlika al-’azim Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta’lamu Wala a’lamu, Wa anta ‘allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta’lam anna hadha-l-amra Khairun li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri (or ‘ajili amri wa’ajilihi) Faqdirhu li wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta’lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri (or fi’ajili amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.

“O Allah, I consult You as You are All-Knowing and I appeal to You to give me power as You are Omnipotent, I ask You for Your great favor, for You have power and I do not, and You know all of the hidden matters . O Allah ! If you know that this matter (then he should mention it) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then make it (easy) for me. And if you know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, my livelihood and my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then keep it away from me and take me away from it and choose what is good for me wherever it is and please me with it.”

For more information, check here.

Doing Away With Negativity

I had been thinking about this topic a few nights back and I came across this wonderful article on positivity.
I especially enjoyed reading the following:

"As believers, we are guaranteed victory no matter what our condition is, and that’s what makes us special. If we become ill, our sins fall away from us like leaves fall from a tree. If our child dies, he or she will wait for us in the Hereafter and intercede for us until we enter paradise. If we fight in a war, we will either win, or die as martyrs, which is a greater victory in itself.

So the question begs to be asked, why then are Muslims so pessimistic?"

Unfortunately, we can't change what we don't realize. Which is how lucky we are and how blessed we are in our life inspite of all the difficulties and crisis we face. As wise people say, whenever something bad happens, always look to the people who are in a worst situation than yourself. This is so we realize how lucky we are and so that we may be grateful to Allah (swt).

If you are among those who feel down after hearing criticism, try to not concentrate on the negative aspects in your lives and temporarily distance yourself from those who you find trying to pull you down with criticism, either on purpose or unintentionally. Although, generally criticism can be healthy because we may be unaware of what mistakes we might be making, but sometimes being criticized constantly can make us feel frustrated and have a negative impact instead of what was intended. In such cases, try to not concentrate on the negative but positive aspects of the situation and deal with the aspects that need improvement when you feel you are in a more positive frame of mind.

Remember that Allah (swt) does not burden His servants with more than what he/she can bear and He promises that with every hardship there will be ease. So, even though we may feel stressed about something today, tomorrow may bring better news. Finally practice patience during hardship, as recommended by the following hadith:

"The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) said: 'A believer, in all his affairs, is envied whether in times of adversity or in luxury, and this is a special feature for believers only. Whenever a believer wallows in luxury, he thanks Allah, and whenever he faces hardship, he commits himself to patience. In all cases, it is good for him.' (Reported by Muslim)"

Trip Down Memory Lane

I accidentally came across a blog about a girl's experience of growing up in the 80s and 90s and I found it really amazing that I shared so many things in common with her. It brought back many memories for me. From nursery rhymes to story books to things I saw on TV, even games I had played in school. Hence, I've decided to dedicate this blog post to the cool memories I have from the 90s. :D

One of my favourite books during school years was Enid Blyton's story books. I was extremely fond of them and would borrow them often from our school library. During the later yrs I started to enjoy Archies comics of which I've collected some 300 - 600 books. :P Now I have no time to read them but I just love having them none the less.

During those years, friends also introduced me to English pop music. I recollect a friend (also my class partner) singing Spice girls' debut single which I proceeded to sing the next day - a completely messed up version I might add. It went something along the lines of:
" If you wanna be my friend, you gotta get with my friends,
you gotta follow fashion coz fashion is the thiiiiingg!"
Or some bizarre thing like that. It was only when my friend started to laugh at me that I realized those were not the lyrics. :P

I used to keep a scrap book of news paper clipping, articles, pictures, whatever that I had an interest in. I still have it. Brings back tons of great memories. :D Apart from that, I found several rough notebooks in which I would do my homework in (those days we actually wrote in books and papers rather than word documents) and occasionally about random convos I had with friends in class, poetry I wrote (which is too embarassing to blog about) and even bizarre dreams that I still have to this day. I'm seriously considering making a whole blog of the dreams I have. But since some dreams should not be shared, I might just make a note of it "old style" in some notebook. Infact, that reminds me that I actually DID have a diary in which I wrote nearly every day of the dream I had! I gotta try searching for that diary!

Me and my friends were pretty innocent in school (which is, unfortunately, not something that can be said about kids today) and were generally educated/made fun of by the smart alec girls in my class. But they were not too mean about it which was cool. I still remember a girl who tore up her chem test paper after seeing her score only ending up sticking it back with cellotape when asked by the teacher to bring her paper. LOL. I was just sitting behind her watching and laughing away as I saw her mood change from irritation to panic. The teacher obviously got mad when she finally saw the paper only to yell and ask her to get her paper signed by her dad (which in those days was a HUGE deal). lol.

Talking about huge deals, I think my school had pretty decent students but our punishments generally involved being thrown out of class (but we couldn't just leave the school premises so we either had to stand/kneel outside class or stand in the supervisor's office), made to stand in a corner facing the wall, simply standing during the entire class in our place (for which we generally sat down whenever the teacher wasn't looking), standing over the chair (which makes me laugh now) or teachers writing to our parents in our school "diaries" and getting a signature from our rents. The latter one was mostly in 9th grade upwards. Although some teachers were disgustingly shameful in their attitude towards the students and generally participated in insulting us or belittling us (which there is really no excuse for) and occasionally physically causing us pain (which should have been reported unfortunately) which made me hate most of my teachers in school. Dumbest thing was we would pretty much get into trouble for anything and everything. If you were late - they'd write a note in our diaries, if we wore the wrong uniform - got a note, forgot to cut our nails - note, hair too long!!! - warning, wrong colour shirt (it had to be a particular shade of blue *rolls eyes*) - warning, short socks - warning. It seems a lot like military now. I think it could be a reason why most students in my college turned into total freaks because they went from extreme rules to no rules whatsoever. No one cared if you came or didn't come, wrote notes or not, attended lectures or didnt. Only thing was if you didnt have enough attendance you couldn't sit for the exams which was probably an excellent rule but even that people considered horrible. lol. Bunking was extremely common. I was so innocent, I didn't even know what the term "bunking" meant. In case you are in the same boat, it means skipping classes. When my friend first suggested it, my reaction was of horror and that we could get in trouble. We did end up bunking but we never got into trouble. Ever. :D Well, maybe once when we bunked a clinical dentistry posting but we managed to talk our way out of trouble. Coz the entire group had bunked. :P My mum generally knew if I bunked so no worries. :P

After mentioning so many horrible things about school that I feel I should make up by saying something nice as well. Our school took us on trips during book fairs during which I generally bought more archies comics. We used to have fun running through the various aisles of books and checking them out, especially joke books. Our school also took us on picnics when the weather was nice which was awesome. We still had to wear our school uniforms though. :P Apart from that we went to science museums and animal farms which I think I enjoyed a lot more than many of my classmates. :P I also had really funny classmates who were total entertainment to watch. I hope they don't get offended when they realize who's writing this. I actually mean it in a very good way. With so many rules, you need to have a bit of fun & blow some steam sometimes. I also enjoyed PE classes mostly unless it was a particular teacher who mostly wanted us to run round the courts. :S She must have had a miserable life considering how miserable she turned PE class into. Apart from that, horror stories about the school being haunted was extremely popular and I generally made up stories and we used to try investigate various "abandoned" areas of school. It was funny watching some of the other girls get scared with made up stories like "dead man in the sewage" or haunted toilets. I still reminisce and laugh about it with my friends sometimes. :P

This made me smile - part 2

I had kept some bread and seeds out for the birds to eat and I usually get mynas, sparrows and a kind of pigeon who come to eat. It just happened that I put out some food one day and it started raining heavily so I peep out to see if the food is getting drenched, only to see a tiny sparrow come flying in the rain to eat the food, see me and take a u-turn in the rain and fly back. *wub* I was like awww! Poor little thing. :P