Alhamdulillah

Alhamdulillah, our wedding had gone smoothly on both sides. Exactly on the 24th of Dec last year, my husband (back then a complete stranger) talked to Habib Ali at Batu Pahat regarding marriage and how he had not yet married [read entry].
Alhamdulillah, a year after that here I am :)

We would like to thank... And we can't thank them enough.. Our parents, may Allah love and bless and place them among His servants who are safe and in His protection.

and also to everyone who had came, had helped, had wished us the best of luck, had prayed for us, had said kind words to us and had shared our happiness; Alhamdulillah! May Allah return the good deeds of all you with better rewards insyaAllah =)

Alhamdulillah, we're married!

-Faruq & Ruqayyah-

Man's Insatiable Appetite

...bismillah...

I got this from IslamiCity's bulletin:

Jesus' Teaching about Greed

A man once accompanied Jesus, saying to him, "I want to be with you and be your companion." They set forth and reached the bank of a river; where they sat down to eat. They had with them three loaves. They ate two loaves, and a third remained. Jesus then rose and went to the river to drink. When he returned, he did not find the third loaf, so he asked the man: "Who took the loaf?" "I do not know," the man replied.

Jesus set forth once more with the man, and he saw a doe [a female deer] with two of her young. Jesus called one of the two, and it came to him. Jesus then slaughtered it, roasted some of it; and ate with his companion. Then he said to the young deer, "Rise, by God's leave." The deer rose and left. Jesus then turned to his companion and said, "I ask you in the name of Him who showed you this miracle, who took the loaf?" "I do not know," the man replied.

The two of them then came to a body of water in a valley. Jesus took the man by the hand and they walked upon the water. When they had crossed over, Jesus said to him, "I ask you in the name of Him who showed you this miracle, who took the loaf?" "I do not know," the man replied.

They then came to a waterless desert and sat down upon the ground. Jesus began to gather some earth and sand, and then said, "Turn to gold, by God's leave," and it did so. Jesus divided the gold into three portions and said, "A third for me, a third for you, and a third for whoever took the loaf." The man said, "It was I who took the loaf." Jesus said, "The gold is all yours."

Jesus then left him. Two men came upon him [Jesus' companion] in the desert with the gold, and wanted to rob and kill him. He said to them, "Let us divide it into three portions among us, and send one of you to town to buy us some food to eat." One of them was sent off, and then said to himself, "Why should I divide the gold with those two? Rather, I shall poison the food and have the gold to myself." He went off and did so.

Meanwhile, the two who stayed behind said to each other, "Why should we give him a third of the gold? Instead, let us kill him when he returns and divide the money between the two of us." When he returned, they killed him, ate the food, and died; The gold remained in the desert with the three men dead beside it. Jesus passed by, found them in that condition, and said to his companions, "This is the world. Beware of it."

This story is excerpted from the book "The Muslim Jesus" by Tarif Khalidi. The book presents in English the largest collection of the sayings and stories of Jesus in Islamic literature.

Reference:

Abu Bakr ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 281/894), Kitab Dilamm al-Dunya, in Mawsu'at Rasa'il, 2:49, excerpt no. 87. Cf. al-Ghazali, IIIya', 3:267 (Asin, pp. 383-384, no. 54; Mansur, no. 136; Robson, pp. 97-99); al-Makki, Qut, 1:255 (Asin, pp. 387-388, no. 54 quater; Mansur, no. 26); al-Thriushi, Siraj, pp. 79-80; Ibn 'Asakir, Sirat, p. 95, no. 82; al-Abshihi, al-Mustatraf 2:263-264 (Asin, p. 385, no. 54 his and pp. 386-387, no. 54 ter; slight variation).

. . . . . . .

Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, reported:
I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) saying:

If there were for the son of Adam a valley full of riches, he would long to possess another one like it, and the son of Adam will only be filled with dust (when he dies). And Allah accepts the repentance of the one who repents.

Pride and Its Evils

THE DISEASE OF PRIDE

The disease of pride and arrogance deletes all traces of goodness and piety. This is the worst vice in causing havoc to Deen and a regrettable disease to have for the followers of this perfect and exalted religion. It launches a direct attack on beliefs and principles. If ignored and overlooked for sometime it becomes fatal and incurable, and gives rise to other spiritual maladies and vices, which are no less than four in number, as, mentioned below:

1. Being deprived of truth and truthfulness. The heart becomes blind to the verse dealing with knowledge about Allah. It is a very grievous vice in which the mind of a man becomes dull and impervious to the understanding of Deen. Allah has said in the Holy Quran:

“I shall turn awayfrom My revelations those who show pride in the world wrongfully.” (7.146)

Allah has said in another place in the Quran:

“And in this way Allah does put a seal on every arrogant disdainful heart.” (40.35)

2. The wrath and punishment of Allah fall on the proud person. Allah has said:

“Certainly He does not love the proud ones.” (16:23)

It is narrated that Prophet Musa a.s. asked exalted Allah: “Oh my Lord! Who is the most deserving of your wrath and displeasure?” Allah Ta’aala told him:
“ It is he whose heart is filled with pride and his tongue is filthy (i.e. Abusive), his eyes are devoid of shame, his hands are miserly and he is of bad conduct and character".

3. The proud renders himself liable to Hell in the Hereafter. It occurs in a Hadith Qudsi:

“Pride is My cloak and grandeur is my trousers. If anyone disputes with Me in any one of these (two) I shall admit him into the Hell-fire.”

In the other words, pride and grandeur are two exclusive attributes of Allah, which none is allowed to apply and ascribe towards himself.

It is imperative to refrain from such a dangerous and deadly calamity which leads to loss of knowledge of Allah, inability to understand the commands of Allah, His displeasure, disgrace in this world and the Hereafter and painful torment therein. No wise person can be neglectful in the matter of such a harmful and destructive calamity.

We should, therefore, try to save ourselves from this and seek refuge from Allah.

------------
I was doing desk work when I came upon this website. Thought that it would be good to share insyaAllah :) Can read the full article here.

Meanwhile, my blog is currently on hiatus. Maybe will re-open though cannot entirely promise ^^

Hope everyone had received our invitation card =)

Complain Only to Allah

...bismillah...

I'm sure most Muslims think it would be utterly blasphemous to complain of anything to the Lord Almighty. I was in that same boat too. However, a verse in the Holy Quran made me think twice.

The Prophet Ya'qub ('alahisalam), upon hearing that his beloved son, the Prophet Yusuf ('alahisalam) was 'taken by the wolves' (a false tale conjured by his half-brothers), turned to Allah (Jalla Jallaluh) and proclaimed:

"He said: 'I only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you know not."
Yusuf : 86

So here we have, a Prophet of God, complaining of his state to the Lord of the Worlds. I then found out that it is actually praiseworthy to complain ... albeit only to God.

And in Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's book Patience and Gratitude, the Imam relates how patience and complaining to Allah (Jalla Jallaluh) are not contradictory.

Shun complaining to other people. Complain not to creation, but to the Creator!

"O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness and helplessness!"

- The Messenger of Allah (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam)

One True Love

just makes me smile... and cry.
Allahumma Solli 'ala Sayyidina Mustafa, 'ala HabibiKa wa nabiyyiKa Mustafa.

More Proof of Life After Death

...bismillah...

Just over a month ago, I posted the Proof of Life After Death.

And now I find out that a scientist is actually testing out, experimenting, to recognise his own consciousness.

Just what does make me, 'me'?

And how apt is it, when we read from the article:

[ Deep sleep is a time when we surrender our consciousness ]

Did not the Prophet (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam) say: "Sleep is the brother of death"?

So if we surrender our consciousness at sleep, at death we return it back to the Lord!

And we find in the Holy Quran, God explicitly saying this:

"It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect"
azZumar : 42

Thus, our consciousness, our soul, lives on after death! Then, and only then, will we face the consequences of our actions in this life! So let our actions be good, that we receive good!

Ya Allah, grant us the best of death - us pleased and well-pleasing unto You!

(To the righteous soul will be said) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back thou to thy Lord, well-pleased (thyself) and well-pleasing unto Him!"
alFajr : 27 - 28

Who Are The Bankrupt?

...bismillah...

From Sahih Muslim, Abu Hurayrah (radhiallahuanhu) narrates:

The Messenger of Allah (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam) asked his Companions: "Whom do you consider as a bankrupt?" They said: "The one who does not have a dinar or a dirham (money)." The Prophet (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam) said: "The real bankrupt is the one who comes with mountains of good deeds but he also comes having slandered that one, beaten that one, insulted this one, consumed the wealth of this one, and shed the blood of that one. So on the Day of Judgement, those whom he harmed will be given some of his good deeds and when his good deeds run out before justice is done, some of their sins will be passed to him, then he will be cast into the Fire."

May we persevere and restrain ourselves from harming others. For it would be of manifest loss for us to work so hard at earning good deeds only to give them away because we attack others.

If we sin against God, we have hope in the All-Merciful. If we sin against our fellow human beings, how much hope do we have in their being merciful? They might want to bring it to the Court of God. Once it is brought there, the only currency used for exchange (for justice) is the deeds that we have brought.

Ya Allah, help us become among those who will not be bankrupt in Your Court!

Dust Storm Envelops Sydney

...bismillah...

[ A large stretch of Australia's east coast, including the largest city Sydney, has been shrouded in red dust blown in from the desert outback. ]

Desert storm chokes Sydney


I guess the meteorologists didn't see this coming.

O Man! Vain is thy technology! Vain is thy knowledge! Vain is thy power!

For ye could not even save thy own selves!

The Almighty One merely sent one of His little breezes and ye are plunged in darkness! And what could ye do? Nothing!

There is no god but He: It is He Who gives life and gives death: The Lord and Cherisher to you and your earliest ancestors.

Yet they play about in doubt.

Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke (or mist) plainly visible,

Enveloping the people: this will be a Penalty Grievous.

adDukhan : 8 - 11

And in that situation, in that desperation, in that desolation, only then did ye look up to the skies and admit thy helplessness!

Only then did ye seek help with prayer!

(They will say:) "Our Lord! remove the Penalty from us, for we do really believe!"

How shall the message be (effectual) for them, seeing that a Messenger explaining things clearly has (already) come to them.

Yet they turn away from him and say: "Tutored (by others), a man possessed!"

adDukhan : 12 - 14

So the Most Merciful One grants thy arduous pleas out of His Infinite Compassion.

But ye shall surely return to thy ungrateful ways, setting up other gods beside Him!

We shall indeed remove the Penalty for a while, (but) truly ye will revert (to your ways).

One day We shall seize you with a mighty onslaught: We will indeed (then) exact Retribution!

adDukhan : 15 -16

Had the dust storm not dissipated after that, who is there to bring ye sunlight?

Had it stayed on, clouding thy vision, masking the sun, how could ye get light?

Say, "What if Allah made the night perpetual, until the Day of Resurrection? Which god, other than Allah, can provide you with light? Do you not hear?

Say, "What if Allah made the daylight perpetual, until the Day of Resurrection? Which god, other than Allah, can provide you with a night for your rest? Do you not see?

It is mercy from Him that He created for you the night and the day in order to rest (during the night), then seek His provisions (during the day), that ye may be grateful."

alQasas : 71 - 73

[ Sydney resident Andrew Hawkins said "it was like waking up to see that Armageddon is upon us. ]

When will we learn?

*weeps*

. . . . . . .

The above is NOT an interpretation of the related verses from the Holy Quran. The mufassirun (interpreters of the Quran) differ as to what kind of smoke it is, and when it will come about.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

عيد الفطر مبارك...=)

wishing all Muslimin, Muslimaat, all friends and families both a happy eid =)
كل عام و انتم بخير
amin!

Proof of Life After Death

...bismillah...

Half the blessed month of Ramadhan has passed. May our ibadah be accepted and may we persevere towards doing more in its last days.

The materialists look down upon a 'life after death'. For them, if you cannot see it, cannot put it under a microscope, cannot analyze it ... it doesn't exist.

A simple proof of life after death can easily be explained.

Let's place a pair of exact, identical twins: Jack and John. Nothing distinguishes one from the other physically. So if one of them commits murder, can we hang the other?

Common sense says no of course. But what makes one twin know that he is not the other? What makes Jack know he is not John and John know he is not Jack?

Consciousness. A word that makes the scientist run away in fear - because he cannot explain it.

The Prophet (shalallahu 'alaihiwasalam) said: "Sleep is the brother of death."

And how true that is! Take a look at the sleeping, unconscious one! His heart is beating, his brain is functioning, yet he is not conscious! Death is similar to that. The body is gone, the body is dead. But the consciousness, our soul, is not!

Our body is made up of atoms and molecules. These same atoms and molecules are found in everything else in the universe. So what makes up consciousness? What makes this collection of atoms and molecules have feelings, perceptions, and ideas? It is the soul.

And it is this soul that will pass on into the next life.

This body, this physical tool, made of atoms and molecules, will simply turn to dust!

What have we prepared for our souls, in the next life?

رمضان مبارك...

It is our job to find a meaning to this Ramadhan...
May Allah assist us in our searching..

Ramadhan Mubarak min Faruq wa ana to all our kenalan Muslimin Muslimaat :)

The Prophet's Advice

...bismillah...

Two hadiths of scientific significance:

Rasulullah (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam) said:

"Allow your food to cool a bit, for hot food lacks blessing."

- Reported by ad-Daylami, taken from Content of Character by Shaykh al-Amin al-Mazrui

I first heard of this hadith from Ustaz. He mentioned that whatever we eat (or drink) should be cooled down slightly before consumption. He gave an example of some of us who, when the rice, or mee or whatever food is served piping hot, that we have to blow it to cool it, we still tuck them in. Wait first, let it cool down by itself.

Science has proven the Messenger of God (shalallahu 'alaihiwasalam) right (not that he needs it):

Hot tea linked to throat cancer

[ Those who drank hot tea (between 65-69 degrees Celsius, 149-156 degrees Fahrenheit) were twice as likely to develop throat cancer compared with those who drank warm or lukewarm tea, whose temperature was 65 C (149 F) or less. ]

The Messenger of God (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam) was reported to have said:

"When one of you becomes angry while standing, he should sit down. If the anger leaves him, well and good; otherwise he should lie down."

- Reported by Abu Dharr, in the Sunan of Abu Dawood

Insults are better taken lying down, claim scientists

[ Those who received their insults while lying down, however, did not experience the same angry brain reaction. ]

There's another tip from the Prophet (shalallahu 'alahiwasalam) to diffuse anger:

"Anger comes from the devil, the devil was created of fire, and fire is extinguished only with water; so when one of you becomes angry, he should perform ablution."

- Reported by Atiyyah as-Sa'di in the Sunan of Abu Dawood

Maybe those scientists should perform this experiment next : )