Good day, everyone! To all of you who have started fasting today on this first day of Ramadhan We’d like to express “Ramadhan Mubarak”! We wish a peaceful and joyful Ramadhan for everyone. Don’t forget to share happiness and joy with others. Cheers!
This exact holiday combo post can only happen once every 33 years.
The reason it’s every 33 years is because it takes the Islamic calendar, which is Lunar based, 33 years to complete a ‘round’. The Hijra calendar as it’s more known as ‘reverses’ every 11 days, which is why Ramadhan/Eid changes every year. It will therefore, likely, fall on Easter/Passover at some point.
Probably my most messy entry, there was just so much to note down. This is from a khutbah by Dr. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, called Concept of Tawbah and Attaining Allah’s Forgiveness. It’s on Youtube too if you’re wondering :-)
To me, surah al-Fatihah is the most important surah. If you don’t want to understand the whole Quran, at least study suratul Fatihah. It’s what you bring in every solah, it’s the introduction to the entire Quran.
I took these notes whilst listening to a talk by Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan (it’s on youtube, search rediscovering the Fatihah), and I got so sad I didn’t bump into the video earlier. It’s life changing, Subhanallah. You need to check it out.
This makes me want to learn more and more of the Quran. If 7 verses can move me so much, imagine studying the whole Quran. May Allah ease inshaAllah
Instead of ranting today I thought I’d sit and interrogate myself, you can participate too;
How’s fasting so far? Missed any?
Are you slowly getting to your goals? Have you been able to restrain from the haraam/control your bad habits?
If not what are you currently doing/plan to do to overcome them in the next 20 days?
Are you improving in your solat fardhu? Do you pray on time? Have you been concentrating enough?
How’s that recitation going? Have you even started reading? If you don’t know how to read, are you putting effort to learn?
Have you been setting your intentions right? Are you doing ramadan so far for Allah, or for the people around you?
Have you done sadaqah? Are you able to give more than what you have given?
Tahajjud? Any? None?
Any extra sunnahs you’ve managed to commit to?
What about your akhlaq and adaab? Are you kind to your parents and the people around you?
Do you still swear? Are you portraying islamic values? Do you put enough effort to improve your akhlaq?
Are you treating those around you right? If you’ve gotten into a fight, have you tried to fix the relationship?
What new knowledge have you obtained in these 10 days? What have you learnt about Islam so far? Are you looking for ‘ilm other than what you ‘are supposed’ to learn? If you aren’t, why aren’t you?
How many Tarawih have you skipped? If none alhamdulillah. If yes, are your reasons for skipping valid? What do you plan to do to compensate on all that you’ve missed.
Are you making a lot of doa and zikr? Do you feel like you’ve built a stronger connection with Allah so far?
Are you consistent in making tawbah?
Have you been grateful enough? Have you given thanks to Allah for getting you this far in Ramadan, for giving you the strength to carry out your spiritual obligations, and for all he has bestowed you in general?
Are you just passing time?
Do you even have a goal this ramadan?
Are you happy with your progress so far?
Are you still making excuses?
How’s the picture related? Well that’s my 'attempt-to-guilt’ face haha. Anyway, hope everyone’s progressing. Even if you haven’t, there’s still time. It’s not too late. You’ve got this. We’re in this together <3
“If you don’t have a food coma after iftar, you’re not doing ramadan right”
Of course (and obviously) overeating is not in any way encouraged in Islam but this tweet did give me a good laugh because who am I kidding, I’m guilty as charged. Wikipedia calls it as the “postprandial somnolence”. I’m starting to believe that a food coma is almost inevitable, especially when you’re breaking your fast at home with your family. I mean, look:
Since you’re fasting, clearly you’re hungry
Mom’s cooking- no further comment
You attend a buffet, or the ramadan bazaar decides to sell everything you need/want, and since you can’t decide, you buy/’test’ each of everything.
Now that you’ve overspent, not finishing what you bought would be a waste. Membazir; everyone’s favourite excuse.
Eating is a form of entertainment. Enough said
What triggered this entry is the fact that I noticed how I gained a few pounds only in the first week of ramadan. What even?! So maybe, hopefully, by listing out some tips on how to avoid the food coma, I will be able to smack some sense into myself. Besides, it’s the month of worship. Pretty sure that a food coma and ibadah won’t quite mix that well. Thus, here are a few tips that might help us eat less;
H2O is key I once told a friend that at one point, I couldn’t stop eating. I needed to snack on something every now and then even when I’m not hungry. He insisted that every time i feel that way, before eating anything, drink lots of water because usually our bodies confuse hunger for thirst.
Make doa while waiting for iftar So you’re sitting before that huge table of food, everything looks tremendous. But instead of plotting strategies to attack, take that 10-20 minutes before iftar to contemplate & reflect. Think about why you fast in the first place. Also, make plenty of doa. Remember, “Whatever is prayed for at the time of breaking the fast is granted and never refused.” [Tirmidhi]. InshaAllah you’ll be able to pull yourself together & control yourself from wanting to eat too much.
Don’t skip sahur How is this related to iftar? Well, a good & balanced sahur can go a long way. It gives you the energy to take on the day & helps to jump start your metabolism which can prevent you from binge eating over iftar.
Don’t eat in front of television/computer Avoid from watching movies or television shows during iftar & focus on your food. The more distracted you are while you eat, the more unconscious you are of the amount that you’re actually stuffing yourself with.
Chew slowly Reward yourself by savoring every bite. You’re not running a marathon so chill. Chew slowly, and put down your spoon between every bite. This can help to effectively send fullness cues to the brain.
Cut food into smaller pieces For example, instead of cutting a murtabak/sandwich/etc into two halves, cut them into four. By this you trick your brain into thinking you’re eating more than you are, so you eat less.
Use small plates and bowls This can have the same effect as above/have no effect if you’re just gonna refill the plate/bowl over and over. However, psychologically, it has been proven to work. Besides, wouldn’t you feel embarrassed refilling plates if you’re eating at an iftar party/event? One or two is ok, but FOUR, FIVE? Are you for real?
Have an exercise routine Working out in ramadan, are you serious? Yes, I am. It doesn’t necessarily have to be heavy. A 30 minute walk around your neighbourhood everyday will do. By making this a habit, inshaAllah you’ll be motivated to eat healthier and thus lower the tendency for you to overeat. Who knows, you might even lose weight
Remember this post Because why not.
Hope you find this beneficial. At the end of the day, it comes back to yourself. YOU control YOU. We ask Allah to give us the strength to withstand that selera puaka vicious appetite & may He make us moderate muslims in everything we do. Aamiin
If there was a “best-social-media-for-ruining-self-esteem”award, instagram would be getting a gold medal. It has the power of leaving some of us completely, utterly and thoroughly shitty about ourselves. But self-esteem is only a part of it. What’s worse than being insecure, is to be jealous. Hasad- one of the most debilitating emotion. It was not until this morning that I stumbled upon this verse (refer picture; Quran 4:32). I spent the next few hours reading commentaries and translations of it. This is what I learnt.
According to the verse, Allah has stated that he has created us differently. Some of us may be greater in knowledge, wealth, beauty etc. All of these levels exists according to His will and wisdom and thus we should never complain or feel bitter about it. However, don’t confuse this by thinking that we shouldn’t work hard to improve ourselves. That’s something else. This verse is warning us from being jealous at the things that are totally not in our control. Even if we work our asses off to achieve something, isn’t it Allah who decides on whether we will or will not be getting it in the end?
You see, there’s nothing wrong with wanting what another person possesses, as long as you are truly & genuinely happy for them too, it’s perfectly OK. That isn’t jealousy. The greatest mark of jealousy is when you wish to receive something that someone has, and hope that the person loses that blessing. Rather than saying “good for them” you say “Why them? Why not me?” or “How can I truly be happy when I don’t have we she has”.
Jealousy is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. The jealous person is only going to hurt himself the most.
Another very important thing highlighted in this verse is the instruction to ask Allah of his bounty, or in simpler words, to make doa. To channel all that energy in a positive way. If you want to also be rich, make doa. If you want to be on top of your class, make doa. Don’t keep your hands in your pocket, take them out and raise them up against the sky. Making doa is the essence of worship. It signifies that you recognize Allah as Ar-Razzaq; The Provider. It is also important to note that just because you do not get what you pray for, it doesn’t mean Allah has ignored you. He gives us according to his knowledge, just as he withhold according to his knowledge. This reminds me of Surah Al-Baqarah verse 216, which reads:
But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.
For my fellow sisters out there, I understand how it’s tough having to live up to the beauty standards of society today. We all want to look ‘the best’ instead of only ‘our best’. But just because you see someone prettier, that doesn’t in any way, make you ugly. There’s this saying that goes, “The beauty of the sky does not diminish that of the sea, the embers of lava do not shadow the brightness of the stars”. Beauty is supposed to inspire you, not conspire against you. Allah has sculpted us perfectly. If we knew what and why he has created us the way we are, I’m sure we wouldn’t ask to be any different, regardless of what we see on instagram. Besides, no one would put up an ugly picture of themselves onto social media anyway.
Being envious is how to single-handedly destroy yourself. Fight those instagram insecurities, or should i say, instacurities? Remember guys, nobody’s life really looks like their Instagram.
Every year in ramadan, el papaíto (ok i never really call my dad that) will take us to the same masjid for tarawih. In the area I live in, there are approximately 4 big masjids, and many little ones. Out of all these mosques, we always go to this very one. Now I hated performing tarawih there. Everything is perfect about this masjid- air conditioned, beautiful interior, fluffy carpeting, awesome jemaah. Except for one thing, in every rakaat the imam will recite an incredibly long surah.
As we all know, the longer the surah = the longer you’ll have to stand. If you know me personally i bet you’d realize how (1) impatient i can be and (2) how i am very easily distracted. Let’s be honest, I don’t understand Arabic that well, so having to stand for 8 long rakaats while not knowing what the lala you’re following can be stressful & tiresome. Oh & for the record, dad will tell us to do 20 rakaats in the 10 last days of Ramadan, imagine that. Sometimes I’d just do 8 rakaats, then sit at the back reading quran until dad finishes his 20. I hope you don’t get the wrong idea of me though. I love the Quran. But I’d rather be reading the translation rather than spending a long time standing & not knowing what i’m listening to.
Oh dear, I feel like an awful Muslim saying this.
One day I asked ayah, why can’t the imam read short surahs? I mean, he’s the imam. We all know he can memorize the Quran and all even if he didn’t show it. I also felt like the imam was being inconsiderate. He is there to service the community. If he wanted to service himself, he can just do that at home. My dad later explained to me that the reason he liked that masjid was because they would recite one juzu’ each day in every tarawih prayer. So since there are 30 juzu’ and 30 days, we will manage to finish the whole Quran by the end of Ramadan. Dad also mentioned that even if we didn’t manage to khatam (finish) the Quran that month (which is like an annual & compulsory thing for me & my family), attending tarawih prayers at that masjid can make up to it.
Ayah’s clarification made sense. However, I still needed to figure out a way to be completely present in my solah so I can give my creator that “undivided attention”. How do I focus and even if I do get distracted, how to i renavigate? To answer this, it is crucial to identify the root of the problem: (a)I don’t understand a word (b) I haven’t got much of the Quran memorized.
I realized that even if i don’t understand the Quran, if I had a few surahs memorized at least I can follow the imam by heart. Naturally once we have something memorized, we will also want to delve into the meaning, what’s it about. I also learnt that one way to stay focused is by being fully aware of what you’re doing, what you are listening to, what you are saying & what you are looking at. Ibn Abbas once said ‘you will gain nothing from your prayer except what you focus on’ [Madaarij As-Salikeen].
So this year, to make sure my mind stays in place during tarawih, I decided to give myself an assignment. A little homework.
Since me and my family still go to the same masjid for tarawih, I already know the drill. So it’s easy for me to keep in track of what I have to study before going for tarawih later that night. Today is the fourth of ramadan so the imam is most likely to read juzu’ 4 in tarawih tonight. If I can’t memorize the whole thing, then it is enough to just read the translation & look up a video from youtube of a (legit) Shaykh discussing that particular juzu’ beforehand. I have been doing this for a while and alhamdulillah, it works! Although at times i still get drifted away, but small progress is still progress, right?
This routine does not only get me excited for tarawih every night, but it’s also a motivating exercise which inspires me to really learn the Quran. I kinda doubt I’d get myself to do the same any other months.
Anyway I know that many local masjids are incorporating this 1 day 1 juz’ thing so keep a lookout. I pray that Allah will increase us in knowledge and that on the day of resurrection, the Quran will testify for us. Biithnillahi Taala
“Successful indeed are the believers. Those who offer their Salah (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness” [Surah Al-Mu’minun23:1–2)
May peace be upon you x
p.s: I usually post at night after coming back from tarawih but later today i’ll be travelling South so I may not have Wi-Fi, hence the early entry. Writing this while waiting for Fajr haha. Ok there’s the adhan. Bye!
I’m still trying to grasp that it’s already the 28th. Gosh, that was incredibly fast. Ramadan is more athletic than I will ever be. Of course I’d want it to be Ramadan all year long. But to come think of it, if Allah were to make that happen, can we guarantee we’re really going to make full use of it? I mean are we even using this one month to the best of our abilities? Having a certain time limit can be a motivation. It establishes a sense of urgency. By hook or by crook, we must achieve our targets within that stipulated period of time. Knowing we have a deadline, the possibilities of getting carried away is a lot lesser, don’t you think?
Anyway, today I went for some last minute Eid shopping with my siblings, hence the pictures above. The mall we went to was jam-packed like crazy. Eid songs were playing so loudly at almost every shop we went to. Queues stretched as far as the eyes can see. There were soooo many people mashaAllah. Just, wow. Everyone sure is excited for Eid.
Honestly, I don’t really know how to feel about it. It’s refreshing to witness the spirit of Eid, but also saddening to see that people are actually getting ready to bid ramadan goodbye.
Can you imagine at the time of your death being comforted by the angels sent down by Allah merely to bring you good news, telling you to be happy, that you are guaranteed jannah, congratulating you for all your hard work back in dunya. MashaAllah. Can there really be anything better than that?
This beautiful story of Musa AS and his mother is told in Surah Al-Qasas. I cried while making these notes. It taught me not to lose hope in Allah no matter how yucky the situation can be. To have sabr.
Yesterday I tweeted that sabr is a verb, not a noun. Although patience is clearly a noun, sabr is more than that. It is to persist. To accept, but to also work something out to better the situation while having faith in Allah. Usually people (especially those who like to misuse Islam and prophetic sayings) will tell us to just sit through the bad situation in the spirit of being sabr, then when things get worse, they tell you “it’s your qadr, it is written”. Are you for real?
When Musa was thrown into the river, did Musa’s mother simply leave everything to god? Nope. She had her daughter to trace Musa, to make sure Musa is okay. Although she was sad, she didn’t just mourn and accept what she had to do. She did something. Only then did Allah bring them back together.
Another lesson learnt from this story is, Allah will never disgrace you. All the hardship we go through, whether it’s the death of our loved ones, losses, breakups, failures etc are there for a reason. They all happen by Allah’s wisdom. And if we persevere and have faith in Him, we will get something better in return. Allah will definitely provide you with a reward bigger than those tests, if not now, in the akhirah. He promised.
Yasmin Mogahed once said, sometimes this dunya will sink us down to the depths of the sea, the ocean floor. You can stay there at the bottom, until you drown. Or you can gather pearls and rise back up—stronger from the swim, and richer from the jewels.
So whatever you are going through, I pray that Allah gives you the strength & make it easy for you.
(Picture: A painting of Öeschinen Lake, Switzerland I did this morning)
Whilst scrolling down my instagram after painting this, I came across a picture with a caption that really intrigued me. It went like this;
If nothing is certain, Asma asked, then “how can you prove that God actually exists?”
“You can’t, not one hundred percent, offer a proof of God,” said Akram. “Just as you cant offer one hundred percent proof that He doesn’t exist.”
For Akram, the signs were all there. That we were here talking about it at all was proof. So were sunsets and skin cells, gnats and Niagra Falls. “Allah has created enough signs for all the arguments,” he said. Believers are meant to be readers of these signs: the Angel Gabriel’s first word to Muhammad had been "Read".
“If Allah had wanted to make all people Muslim, he could have,” He explained “But instead, he sent guidance. He wants people to think.”
“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the [great] ships which sail through the sea with that which benefits people, and what Allah has sent down from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and dispersing therein every [kind of] moving creature, and [His] directing of the winds and the clouds controlled between the heaven and the earth are signs for a people who use reason.” [Quran, 2:164]
These little ones came over the other day so to keep them preoccupied, I took out my art supplies, let them sit in a corner of my room and had them making Eid cards. I told them to be creative and make something for their families. Two of them even made extra cards and gave them to me. After they finished, they tidied up, swept the floor and helped me clean up without even being asked to. MashaAllah, such sweethearts!
From left: Tariq(Iraq), Faten(Syria) and Zeena(Iraq)
My family and I hosted our first ever iftar event at home this year. However instead of inviting just Muslims, we called our non-muslims friends over as well. Alhamdulillah it went well. Our guests came from approximately 15 different nationalities (they were mostly my dad’s PhD international students). Almost all of them cooked & brought their traditional dishes so you could imagine how amazing it was to get to try all of them out eep!
In fact I was too busy eating I forgot to take proper pictures of the food. Thank god my sister, Atiqah didn’t go nuts like I did so I got these photos from her
