Why Me?

 

 

At times of difficulty we may hasten to give up all hope. We may utter words

that we normally wouldn’t. Or we may simply contemplate the immense situation that we are placed in…

 

‘Why me?’

 

‘Why am I being trailed like this?’

 

‘What did I do to deserve this?’

 

As humans we tend to forget.

 

A lot!

 

We forget that our creator and savior informed us of the test that will befall us as Mu’mins, believers.

 

Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: “We believe,” and will not be tested. And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make it known the truth of those who are true, and will certainly make it known the falsehood of those who are liars. [Surah Al Ankabut 29:2-3]

 

Ok so most of us know that we will be faced with hardships and tests, but we still have the mentality that we are being faces with something that is far too… unbearable.

 

Well let’s pause there for a second. Who knows more about your capabilities, you or your Creator, Allah?

 

Of course you’ll answer Allah.

 

So why question?

 

Allah says,

 

Allah does not burden a soul except [with that within] its capacity. [2:286]

 

So when such thoughts enter to your mind,

 

Pause

 

Reflect

 

And take heed. For truly there is wisdom behind everything.

 

Remember,

 

“And it may be that you hate a thing though it is good for you, and love a thing though it is bad for you. Allah (Swt) Knows and you know not.” [2:216]

 

Men Have Duties Too!!

  Assalamu Alaikum

Contributed by Sister Shoruoq

Since I reverted to Islam I’ve often done tons of research to know how to become the best wife I possibly can Inshaállah. I’ve noticed it’s very easy to find compiled lists of what a wife should and shouldn’t do but also noticed how hard it is to find that list for brothers. Why does everyone concentrate on the wife? Wife must obey the husband, wife should look pretty for husband, wife must keep a clean home, blah blah blah the list goes on. I’m not saying that the list isn’t in any way wrong because I try my best to practice those duties as a wife but I think “some” brothers also should remember they have duties more than just bringing in the money. So as to a few requests I’ve gotten from sisters here is a list I was able to compile from two articles written by scholars.

“Among His signs is the fact that he has created spouses from among yourselves, so that you may find tranquillity with them; and he has put love and mercy between you. In that are signs for people who reflect.”
[Qur’an 30:21]

“They (wives) are garments for you, while you are garments for them.”
[Qur’an 2:187]

“From among the believers are those who have the kindest disposition and are the kindest to their families- such are those who show the most perfect faith. “The best among them are those who are kindest to their wives.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

 

Correct Me If I am Wrong

So you’re sitting down with your friends and you’re having a good time. All of a sudden, one of your friends, let’s call her X, starts talking about hijaab. Uh oh. Whoopsy daisy. You don’t like how this conversation is going….you can already feel that you aren’t going to agree with what your friend says. Sure enough, X says something along the lines of “Hijab is only about being modest. I mean, the Qur’an doesn’t even say the word hair”…All of your other friends are nodding and looking at that other friend, X, like she’s some sort of Saint or something.

What to do? Speak up? Tell them that the Qura’n does say to obey the Prophet (Sallah Allahoo alyhee wa salam) and that is where the exact ruling comes from? Have them think of you as some preacher, or worse, an extremist…Or you can be quiet and not say anything….

You decide to mumble something about “being pretty sure that wasn’t right.“

Course you say it just loud enough, I mean low enough, that they can’t hear you. But hey, at least you said, it right? Better than the last time where you didn’t say anything at all—having done your duty, you relax and join in the “Fun”.

What you don’ t know is that your other friend just went through the same inner struggle you went through and so did the other one too. Nobody spoke up because they were too scared too; everybody assumed that the entire group was unanimous in the decision that hijaab is “just modesty” …and because everybody thought everybody else agreed with it, nobody wanted to oppose the entire group, so everybody was quiet about it. This is actually defined by sociologists as groupthink- and it occurs in all places and all times.

BUT! This is not Islamic thinking. In Islam, we are told to “Speak up when something is wrong!” Just listen to the Prophet (Sallah Allahoo alyhee wa salam’s) hadith:

“Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart; and that is the weakest of faith.”

Now some of you might be thinking- well yeah, we’re thinking in our hearts that is wrong, isn’t that okay? But pay attention to the hadith: it says: “If he is not able to do so”— meaning you better have no way of speaking up. You see, it is not enough for you to be good and to leave others. Not enough at all:

It was reported that Allah ordered Jibreel to destroy a village that had become extremely corrupted, but Jibreel asked Allah, “O Allah, in this village is your servant that constantly prays to You”, Allah replied, “Start with him! For his face never changed with disapproval to what had been going on.” Because he didn’t speak up, because he thought it was enough for him to be good, he too was punished with the sinners.

 

Great, Old People Again!

“God has no mercy on one who has no mercy for others.”

So you walk onto the bus, I mean its bad enough it stinks of BO and cheesy feet, on top of that you have the sun melting the cheap glass windows and so a wave of burning plastic is given off, lovely! The atmosphere is….how can I put it without sounding very rude? It stinks really badly; I’ll just say that but know ‘stink’ in this context is an understatement.

Now if you find a seat on the bus in the summer then count yourself as being extremely fortunate. Everyone races each other to find a seat near a window, to get some whiff of fresh air. In addition to the bad atmosphere the road is bumpy because some authoritative half-a-brain decided to make road humps like every 5 steps and the new bus driver decides he enjoys driving at 0.5 MPH. Right about now is when the anger management is required but most of the time I can battle out my impatience thankfully so I just day dream.

 

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Once upon a time, there was a boy who would get angry frequently. He would get angry over anything and everything. His father came up with an outlet for his anger.

 “Come here my son” he called for him. When the boy came, he was handed a bunch of nails and a hammer by his father.

“Whenever you’re angry, I want you to go out and hammer these nails in until you find yourself not angry anymore.”

Hmm…that sounded like a good way to let off some steam. So every single day you would find that boy outside hammering in nails into the fence.