Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) has given inanimate objects awareness & perception by which they glorify their Lord. The stones fall down out of fear of Him. The mountains & trees prostrate. The pebbles, water & plants glorify Him. All this is going on but we are not aware of it. Allah the Great says: •►"The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [ Allah ] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving.” (Surah Al Isra 17:44) The companions heard the food that was being eaten glorifying Allah. That was because the companions had a transparency of heart that does not now exist among us. All these things are part of our world and yet we are in complete ignorance of them. *SubhanAllah* [From ‘The Soul’s Journey After Death’ by Ibn Al Qayyim - Page 18]

“If our hearts were truly pure, we would never get enough of the Words of our Lord, and I hate that one day passes with me not looking in the Mushaf/The Quran." ( Uthman bin ‘Affan - Radi Allahu 'anhu )

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.

♥ "Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things. [Such niches are] in mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings...[Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about - That Allah may reward them [according to] the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account." ♥ (Surah Noor, 35-38)

♥ “And He found you lost and guided (you)…” ♥

Like an individual walking in the scorching heat of an endless desert. Tired, thirsty, with hardly any hope left in him to find shade. That’s how a believer may feel at certain instances in his life. But what always cures him? It is the beautiful Names of Allah SWT. For every worry, concern, anxiety, apprehension, calamity, you will find extreme peace, contentment, immense joy, and solution in at least one Name of Allah SWT. If you fear for someone’s safety, you console your heart that Allah SWT is Al-Haafidh and Al-Waliy of the Believers. He SWT will never ever desert His Special Slaves and will give them Special Help even if 1000′s of people are after them, chasing them like Shayateen in the form of wild dogs and wolves. He SWT is An-Naseer, Al Qahhar and Al-Qawiyy so with your patience, you’ve got the Only One who is Competent over all and the Only One who is able to give anyone victory, on your side! If you are worried about somebody’s health, you remind yourself that Allah SWT is Ash-Shafi and all possibilities of cure lie within His Might so He may provide a cure even if there’s no medical solution. Also that if He does not Will in His Ultimate Wisdom (Al-Hakeem) for the person you love to be cured right now and immediately, then as a believer you must calm down for He SWT loves His Slaves more than we can ever love them. Why? Because He SWT is Al-Wadood, Ar-Ra’oof, Ar-Raheem. If you find that people are constantly not valuing you, are not noticing your day and night’s efforts, or are even misunderstanding your good intentions and good words, then know that Allah SWT is Ash-Shaakir. He SWT knows when nobody knows. It is with Him your reward remains, nobody can steal it unless you waste it via your misdeeds, and it is He SWT alone who will repair your heart.When you feel like losing patience and bursting after tolerating a certain person’s repeated bad behaviour then recognize Allah SWT is Al-Haleem. He SWT forbears, tolerates and withholds Himself from seizing people by their forelock as they happily give their thanks to other than Him and commit Shirk (the greatest offense), then who are we to lose our patience with people when we are not capable of doing them a favour without His Will, let alone create them! You may be stuck in a horrifyingly difficult situation with nobody to turn to or ask for help. Or it may be something trivial that you are anxious about. Know that Allah SWT is Al-Fattah, the Only One who will open up doors of solution which seem locked. Is there something that you wish for in this dunia? A good job? Some extra cash to buy a halal house or a small car? Or maybe children/good spouse? Guess what? Allah SWT is Ar-Razzaq, He SWT will give you what you deserve OR in your specific case He SWT may be Al-Wahhab and He SWT may gift you with something you did not expect at all without asking for anything in return. He SWT is Al-Lateef and He may do it in a very subtle, loving, gentle manner by putting trials as stepping stones in your way so that your footsteps reach a destination where you’re taken by surprise by His Mercy. These trials may seems as these difficult challenges in your limited vision but they may be His Form of Mercy to you to gain more knowledge and awareness about Him. Through His Name of Ar-Rahmaan, you would then realize that He SWT is Al-Mu’tee, the Superb Giver of Knowledge and understanding of the Deen!

SubhanAllah…

…and there you were worrying about so many things… :)

So whenever you are down, do the thought experiment I just expressed through words in this post and look for the Name of Allah SWT that will help you through this situation. Please ensure the Names and Attributes from the authentic sources!

Let me end by sharing my most favourite verses of the Quraan:

هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ ۖ هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ
هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ الْمُؤْمِنُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ الْعَزِيزُ الْجَبَّارُ
الْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah , the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

[Surat'l Hashr, 59:22-24]

~If whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth is exalting Him and glorifying Him, then why should we, the ones whom Allah SWT honored by commanding the Most Obedient of Creations i.e. the Angels prostrate to our father Adam AS, be left behind in Glorifying Him with His Beautiful Names and Attributes?

No doubt the Promise of Allah SWT of finding peace in His Remembrance and all other Promises are Haqq.♥ ♥

Dear sister in Islam...,

We know its hard. We know you look at all those pretty girls and wonder why you can’t look like them? We know it hurts to sometimes refrain yourself from plucking those brows or to put on that hijab & abaya. We know it gets hard to walk outside with no make up on, with your natural face, thinking it’s not good enough and all of your flaws are showing.

You know what else we know? We know you’re beautiful, regardless of what you think of yourself. ♥ We know that even the slightest inclination of pleasing Allah in yourself increases that beauty ten-fold and we know that when Allah finds you beautiful, it’s all that matters. You’re not doing this for the world, remember? You’re not even doing it for yourself. :)

Imagine your beauty on the Day of Qiyamah when your face would be glowing and radiant with noor, when you would enter Jannah & be more beautiful than the hoor and you would realize that this world really wasn’t worth the drool.

Lovely sister, we are proud of you! ♥..

Surah Yunus

Surah Yunus is a Makkan Surah and elaborates the concept of Touhid , oneness of Allah. After summing up,  the Surah ends with a few thought provoking and motivating verses. We may have gone through it any times but let us see them once more from Da'wah ( The Invitation to Islam ) 's perspective. Open Surah Yunus , verse no. 104 onwards.

   Say: O mankind, if you are in doubt as to my religion , I do not worship what yo worship besides Allah. But I worship Allah who will take you souls. I am commanded to be the of the believers..

  Now let us study this verse : It begins with 'Qul'. It means  'TELL THEM ' and this phrase is the form of command. It means ' DELIVER ' It  encourages to  deny false ideologies courageously. Look at the phrase : I do not worship what you worship other than Allah..How many of us can muster courage to tell this to our Non Muslim friends of course Allah does not command us to tell it rudely.  But we fear to tel them politely. You  will not mind in refusing politely to the same friend if he asks for your car or a loan that you cannot afford but when it comes to refusing something bigger then we get reluctant.

 The same verse ends with a typical style of Introduction of Allah : One who will take your souls ( when you die)... This is a unique style of reminding death as well. In this world we will find many people who do not believe in Allah but we will never find a person who denies death.

  The next verse is a command for the Da'ee ( Muslims in general) : Set Your face towards the Religion with true piety... The Arabic word here is 'aqeema' it means to stand up or be firm  or set up firmly. Deen or faith cannot be shaky. We cannot be confused.. In this context, we cannot opt for a middle way that if my Christian friend wishes me Happy Eid I must also wish him Merry Christmas. This verse also means that you have to implement deen in your own life, after all da'wah is not only talking big about Islam. The next verse continues with the same lesson but with a warning.. here it goes..
   Nor call any other than Allah such can neither profit you nor hurt you.. As simple as you understand.  Seek help from Allah only...The verse further  gives a warning...If you worship any one besides Allah or invoke then you will be also from the zalimoon.. In the Qur'anic terminology zalim is used for mushreek also, though not always and the highest form of zulm is shirk says surah Luqman.. So  Da'ee should even save him self from shirk which includes 'show off' or hunt for fame  via deen... be careful about it.. shirk comes as quitely as the footsteps of ants..
    Then in verse no. 107, Allah gives an assurance which no super power or medical doctors can give..If Allah causes you any harm then no one can remove it but if He designs some benefit for you then no one can hold back his favour..Now this verse has to be pondered into..Dont expect laurels and applauds in the field of dawah, if you get  bouquets then dont be surprised if some one hurls a brick at you. . The verse assure... if Allah blesses you, no one can stop his belssings upon you..So  in the field of dawah one should not be too hurry to get results .
  Then the theeme of Da'wah in the next verse..Addressing the mankind.. O mankind now truth has reached you from your Lord.. those who recieve guidance will do good for his own soul and those who stray, do so for to their own loss.. Allah remnds the da'ee..you are not set over them to arrange their affairs..simple? dont keep on measuring the results of your hard work every now and then. Men cannot grade his own performance.. Let Allah do it.
   The last verse of Surah is a big assurance. .Obey the inspiration ( The Quran and the commands of the messenger, peace be upon  him)  and be patient till the help of Allah arrives for, He is the best to decide... Four lessons in one verse..
1. Obey.. dont take shariah lightly or casually
2. Be patient.. here it means keep going, don't give up..bricks or bouquets  , what ever comes , continue inviting people to good..
3 Till Allah decides.... dont hope a quick result.. Noah a.s. did sabr for 950 years, Yususf a.s. preferred to do sabr over sins, over taking revenge from his brothers and preferred to stay in jail for years..
4. Allah is the best to decide....let Allah decide how and when His help should arrive...
 Dont forget that surah Yunus was revealed during Makkan period, one of the hardest times upon the Muslims. They were in micro minority but today we are a largest minority in the world with 55 countires under our belt and more than half of oil under over land..so no case of nagging..
   Author Nisaar Nadiadwala can be reached at mnisaar@gmail.com

  Verse number 106 says : Nor call upon any other than Allah who can neither profit you nor benefit you....

Remember, too, that the Prophet (sallAllahu ályhi wasallam) was not a person who insulted or cursed others.

It was reported that Anas ibn Maalik: The Prophet (sallAllahu ályhi wasallam) was not a person who insulted people or used obscene language, and he did not curse people. If he wanted to rebuke anyone, he would say, “What is wrong with him? – may his forehead be rubbed with dust.”

(Saheeh al-Bukhaari #6031)