Snowflakes and Raindrops

When I look to the great Companions of the final Messenger of God Muhammad (upon whom be the Peace and Blessings of God), men and women, (may God be pleased with them all,) I see individual personalities with unique character, built of course upon Islam.

Today, like raindrops, each person is the behaviour of his group, devoid of thought. Missing is the realisation that each one of us, in his individual uniqueness, has the potential to become a beautiful snowflake whilst still remaining true to his Islam.

When sleeping

"When you want to sleep, lay down your bedding facing the Qiblah and sleep on your right hand side as a deceased person is laid in his grave...

and know that sleep is just like death...

and waking up in the morning is like the Resurrection...

be prepared to meet Him by going to sleep on Tahaarah (purity). Have Wudhu when you go to sleep and have your will written under your pillow."

(Mufti Abdur-Rahman Ibn Yusuf quoting Imam Ghazali (rh), 'The Beginning of Guidance' (audio series))

Deeep! I have started doing this (all and more except the will under the pillow) and these past few weeks I have been sleeping and rising with clarity like never before, wallahu akbar wa lillahil-7amd.

Tune in to your heart

"... People who talk all the time, they don't have enough time to reflect on themself and listen to what their own heart is saying.

People who learn to be quiet and reflect and think, those people develop a connection with their heart in which they begin to hear their own state.

When your heart tells you your state then that is the true-est of witnesses because your heart will never lie regarding your state..."

(Shaykh Hussain Abdul Sattar)

Nice quote.

Sometimes, observing the extent we talk,
disavowing a single pause,
I think, perhaps
there is nothing we fear more than silence.
So much in need of comfort
and company, perhaps
there is nothing more suffocating than silence.
So fickle, perhaps
there is nothing that makes us more uncomfortable
and edgy, than silence.

It seems we will do anything;
let our tongue run free,
zone in to a movie,
load up a computer game,
shop, eat, drink, party,
read,
sleep!
Anything
but stop, pause, reflect,
and tune in to our heart.

Target this Ramadhan: Sunnah Prayers

My target this Ramadhan (and beyond insha-Allah) is to become mega unflinchingly consistent in my Sunnah prayers, that is:
(1) 2 Raka'ats before Fajr prayer.
(2) 4 Raka'ats before Dhuhr prayer.
(3) 2 Raka'ats after Dhuhr prayer.
(4) 2 Raka'ats after Maghrib prayer.
(5) 2 Raka'ats after Eisha prayer.

In addition, to adopt the highly recommended 4 Raka'ats before Asr and Eisha prayers, more often than not.

And lots of optional prayers besides, insha-Allah.

Indeed this is dearer to me than the whole world and everything temporary that it contains.

Islam

A life of
glorifying God
in emulation of His final messenger
belittling myself in the process.

Couldn't be simpler...
or have I again got the wrong end
of this elegantly crafted stick?

The mind in prayer

A couple of quotes about the mind in prayer:

(1) "... When the mind is not present in prayer, it does not remain idle and is concentrated to the thoughts of the worldly affairs with which it is immediately concerned. So there must be firm belief that prayer is a stepping stone to the next world which is everlasting..."

(2) "... The medicine of removing various thoughts that come to mind in prayers is to cut the root or to remove the reasons which cause different thoughts. He who loves a thing remembers that thing. For this reason, he who loves things other than God is not free from diverse thoughts in prayer."

(Source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-id-Din, The Book of Worship)

Intoxication and Prayer

"God says, 'Don't come near prayer when you are intoxicated until you understand what you say'. Some say that intoxication means a great anxiety. Some say that it means attachment to the world. There are many worshippers who do not drink wine but they do not know what they say in prayer..."

(Source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-id-Din)

Vintage Ghazzali maa sha Allah;
digging beneath the surface.