Congratulations resistant soul...

Congratulations for the one who never found pleasure praying,
never throughout his life,
yet he persisted
in obedience to God's command.

Congratulations on him who continued praying
through compulsion and heaviness,
finding no enjoyment,
of an increased reward.

Congratulations
for enthusiasm was never demanded,
nor a condition for the acceptance of deeds,
only sincerity.

O Allah, accept from us our deeds. Indeed You are the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

Dhikr

A man who remembers God in his heart
builds on his relationship with God.
As the remembrance increases, deepens and strengthens
so the love of God starts to find settlement in his heart.
He begins to feel unease around sin,
distant from cruelty, unwilling to violate the rights of others.
His being begins to grow fit
for the peace, serenity and joy of Paradise that awaits.

(Some thoughts thought(!) whilst reading a passage in Mufti Taqi Uthmani's Spiritual Discourses Volume 4 about how 'Dhikr' is beneficial for us ourselves and does not benefit God or increase His dominion in any way.)

Muhammad - Example for the East and the West

Attended this course last Saturday ('Muhammad - Example for the East and the West') conducted by Shaykh Akram Nadwi and organised by Cambridge Islamic Science Seminars.

Nice course. Not too structured but beneficial nonetheless. (Or, to put it more positively, quite free in its delivery.) Anyhoo, a point I liked and wanted to share: He (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not come to teach us those things which we can learn from experience. He came to teach us 'uboodiyyah', i.e. how to be grateful slaves of the Most Merciful. One to think about it. There was also much emphasis on reducing the time we spend consuming/preparing food (three prepared meals daily the shaykh felt was unnecessary) and mention of discarding our televisions (and internet joy browsing I guess too) for increased productivity in our days/lives.

The Language of God

I'm coming to the end of Francis Collins' 'The Language of God'. For one of the leading scientists in the world and who for 220 pages really impressed me with the way he balanced/juggled religion/spirituality and science, he now has me scratching my head in bewilderment. Having throughout the book described God as being not bound by (i.e. independent of) time, space and so on, he on page 221 not only states that God is (was) Jesus (who was bound by time and space of course) but also that Jesus was the son of God which of course contradicts God being Jesus (as claimed earlier in the page)! Going to finish this book insha-Allah and I've found new impetus to pick up and continue with Muhammad Ata'ur-Rahim's 'Jesus, Prophet of Islam' again. Going to write a mega article insha-Allah (mega in content not size!... insha-Allah) consolidating the two books and my own personal thoughts/reflections. Plan on making appointments and having discussions at the local churches and buddhist centres with the heads there (and elsewhere too insha-Allah) during the course of this article to figure out what people actually believe (i.e. the core fundamental "crux of the matter" stuff, not the "be nice to others" etc cliches which [almost] everyone religious or not accords to anyway).

Enjoying Bad Dreams

I had a sequence of bad dreams last night:
Things in my life falling apart.
It didn't feel too good at the time.
And then I woke up.
And I thought to myself:
It's not as bad as it seems;
Things make us stronger.
I had a pleasurable experience.

Paying wife's personal expenses for the year

Was just reading in Mufti Taqi Uthmani's 'Islam in Today's World' how the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would give to his wives, all in one go at the beginning of the year, their due money to cover their expenses for the year, for them to spend as they chose. Amazing maa sha Allah!

Man in his wanderings

"If water stands motionless in a pool it grows stale and muddy, but when it moves and flows it becomes clear: so, too, man in his wanderings."

I sent this quote out (attributed to 'an old Kurdish nomad' in Muhammad Asad's book 'The Road to Mecca') a few days back on my regular text-out and got this reply back - a saying of the Tablighis - "fil harakah, barakah (in movement there is blessing)", which could equally be worded "al-barakah fil harakah (the blessing is in movement)" or perhaps even "al-harakah lil barakah (movement for blessing)". Nice saying! Here's another, found/quoted in the book 'Jesus, Prophet of Islam', about how the desert wilderness removes false senses of security from a person and teaches him to rely on Reality alone: "In the barrenness of the wilderness, all other support falls and one is laid bare to the One God, the Power, the Constant Source of all life, and the Root of all security." Sweet!! :)>