Musings of Sumi

Depression This may be the hardest post I will ever write. I didn't even know if I was ready to share my story yet, but the reason behind my decision to share is to encourage and help people who can relate to my story. If you are reading this, that means I was brave enough to post this and hopefully you too can share your story with your loved ones. Growing up I heard the word d epression being thrown around but I never thought I would experience this. My brother's passing triggered my emotions. To Him we belong and to Him we shall return. I fully understand that this was Allah's decree and we do not question Him. His plans are the best plans. Thus began some of the hardest times in my life. Ironically many of those nearest and dearest to me do not know this; yet I am writing about this on my blog for all the world to see and hopefully benefit from it (I doubt all the world reads my blog, but one day inshaAllah). I think speaking out is important. The topic of men...

Modesty "Modesty is a branch of faith." Modesty is an essential characteristic of a believer. While the meaning of modesty extends to many aspects of a believer's life, this post is talking about modesty with regards to a woman's dress code. May Allah the Most High give us the strength to understand and cover the way the mothers of the believers did. In Islam we are told to cover ourselves. Nowadays there are many trends emerging which are completely contradictory with the way a Muslim woman should dress. Women may appear covered as their skin is not showing, however the clothes are figure hugging and the shape can be seen. Skinny jeans and leggings show the shape of a woman's legs. The trousers that are in fashion are above the ankles. Women are supposed to cover their ankles; it is men who should wear their trousers above their ankles. The turban style headscarf shows the neck which is compulsory for the woman to cover whilst in the presence of ma...

Time Hours, minutes and days are ticking past Take heed, oh believer Know nothing is going to last We plan for this world like forever it will last. How foolish are we that we all believe,we will be living in this world for eternity The truth is, we are just travellers in this deceptive world One day we will all be held accountable to our Lord. So let's plan for the day when we take our last breath Lets plan for that day, prepare for our death. The last ever time we'll glance up to the sky Know this world is but a beautiful lie A lie that will consume our health, wealth and time A lie that will deceive, most of mankind How would you behave if today was your last day? Would this be our reminder for us to then pray? Or would we be complaining, oh no its too late To the Ummah lets ponder and contemplate In what state will we return to the One who decides our fate? May every day be better than the day just passed and may the day we meet our...

Scribbling a Masterpiece Courtesy of In Shaykh's Company: a blog maintained by the students of Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Dhorat hafizahullah www.shaykh.org “It is easy to fall prey to the deception of Shayṭān that we are performing much more worship than those around us. What we need to understand is that quantity is not everything. Consider the example of a toddler who spends hours scribbling on a piece of paper. Even though the child has spent much time and effort, his writing is of no real value. On the other hand, in five minutes of inspiration, a professional author is able to craft an article that goes on to become a masterpiece. The toddler however will not be able to understand the difference between his work and the work of the professional. When it comes to practising Dīn we are also like toddlers in comparison to the pious servants of Allāh ta’ala whose short devotions are far greater than our lengthy devotions. This is why we think that we are performing so much. ...

Reminders. Dear Muslims, be grateful for your faith. It is an amazing blessing. Remember it is the key to Jannah. Dear one who misses prayer, remind yourself that it is the second most important pillar of Islam. Remember you will stand in front of Allah one day and be asked about your prayer. Dear neglectful one in prayer, is there anything more important than your Lord? Why then do you think about the world? Remember you will stand in front of Allah one day and be asked about your prayer. Dear music lovers, what if your last words ended up being that of a song? Does your music cause you to neglect the Quran? Remember you will stand in front of Allah one day. Dear soap viewers, truly this is a waste of time. This time would be better spent remembering Allah. Remember you will stand in front of Allah one day. Dear football fans, you call these people your heroes. This is wrong. Your heroes are those that sacrifice for religion. This time would be better spent remembering Al...

Love and Reverence for the Prophet sallallāhu 'alayhi wasallam by Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Saleem Dhorat  hafizahullāh Whenever the blessed name of our beloved Prophet sallallāhu 'alayhi wasallam is mentioned, the one who is fortunate to utter this name and also the one who is fortunate to hear his name should, with utmost love and reverence, say, 'sallallāhu 'alayhi wasallam.' Nowadays, there is great negligence amongst youth in this regard. Some years ago, with the now older generation, we would see such great love and enthusiasm in reciting salāh 'alan nabī (durūd); whenever the following verse would be recited in the khu ṭ bah, everyone would read some formula of sal ā h 'alan nab ī : Truly, Allāh and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet; O you who believe! Send salutations and abundant greetings upon him (too). (33:56) This verse contains a command from Allāh ta'ālā to send salāh 'alan nabī as this is an action performed by bo...

To all those that are struggling with covering Sister I know it is difficult I know this because it is the hardest thing I have ever done Everywhere I look I turn around and see; women dressed up to the nines Yet when you look at me; all you can see is my eyes The question did arise Should I give up? Should I quit? Should I turn around and say this is it? But I know these are whispers from Shaitan As the veil is mentioned in the Quran Why do I wear it? It is a command from my Maker It is a commitment to my Creator So sister when you think of giving up When you think it is just too much Let your love for Allah keep you fighting on

A huge problem in the Muslim community. Marriage is half of faith, but unfortunately for many of us the wedding day itself starts with sin. This is a huge problem within the Muslim community. We say it is supposed to be the best day of our lives This is nothing but an illusion, deception and lie Why would we want our wedding to be the best day of our lives? What about all the days to come? What about the day when we meet the Owner of the skies? Wedding days are full of sin Music, extravagance and free mixing The bride is paraded for men and women to see When in reality her beauty is only for her husband to see Receiving loans,having disputes, taking on stress, All of the above so our wedding will be the very "best" Why not follow the way of our beloved Nabi (peace be upon him)? He was sent to mankind for guidance and mercy, The best Nikah is that of simplicity. Below is an article written by Mawlana Saleem Dhorat which informs us about the wedd...

Perspective I was sat at a funeral house the other day and something the lady of the house said caused me to think. She spoke about her mother in law praying lots of Quran. May Allah SWT make her grave an abode of noor, grant her Jannatul Firdaus and grant her family sabrun jameel. Death really puts things into perspective. When people are alive, many of us speak about the houses they own, the cars they drive, how much money they have etc. When they pass away, we talk about what really matters. The Quran we pray, the zikr we do and having good character will all benefit us in our graves. Real true success is Allah being pleased with us on the Day of Judgement. Worldly success will come to an end. As a side note, success is in the hands of Allah. In our naivety, we sometimes say that we have achieved something due to our own hard work. The reality: we cannot even lift a finger without Allah SWT. May Allah SWT grant us goodness in both worlds and save us from the fire of hell. ...

The beauty of being broken. The beauty of being broken is knowing that only Allah truly understands. Those that are going through difficult times, know that with hardship will come ease. Use these difficult times to turn to Allah. Truly He is the Most Merciful and if we have Him then everything will be okay. Here is something I wrote during a testing time. She found comfort when she knelt to the ground She didn't want to get up again She wanted to feel close to her Lord She found comfort when she opened the Quran The words of Allah she read Such beautiful words had never been said She was hurting in a way she had never hurt before Sometimes she felt her heart was gonna break And she realised her mistake She was looking for comfort in creation When all the time she had her Creator And as long as she had Him she would be okay

Smashing the Jewel There was a king who had many servants. One of these servants, who went by the name of Ayyaz, was especially beloved to him. There came a time where the king told his servants he wanted to test their IQ. He placed a jewel in front of them with a sledgehammer next to it. He then told his servants to break the jewel. One by one, the servants spoke about the value of the jewel and gave a reason why they would not break it. At last it came to the king's most beloved servant Ayyaz. Ayyaz placed the jewel on the floor and smashed it to pieces. The king asked Ayyaz why he did so. Ayyaz explained that he had two choices: to disobey the king or to smash the jewel. Ayyaz further explained that in his eyes the king's orders were worth far more than the jewel. Now let us compare this to our lives: how do we respond when the King of King orders us to do something? Our forbidden desires can be likened to the jewel. Are we willing to "smash our desires" fo...

Beauty of Creation And I gaze in wonder at the beauty of Your creation And I wonder sometimes How beautiful must You be my Creator How beautiful must You be oh my Maker And for those of you who ask for signs Have We not given you enough signs Which of Allah's favours can we deny? Just look at the beauty of the sky   And the trees, the sun in the day and the moon at night How every single person is different, so beautiful in their own way How some people are filled with beauty in everything they say And I gaze in wonder at the beauty of your creation And I wonder sometimes How beautiful must You be my Creator How beautiful must You be oh my Maker

Sacrifice Our religion is a beautiful religion. A beautiful religion that requires sacrifice sometimes. Are we willing to sacrifice our desires, hopes and dreams for the sake of Allah?  Islam is a perfect religion and we have been taught clearly about what is right and wrong. Sometimes what is right may not coincide with what we want. It is at this point we need to assess our priorities. Are we a slave to Allah or are we a slave to our desires? On the day the scrolls are read, will we be happy with our decision? If we chase the world, we will lose out on the world and the hereafter. The next world is eternal. To jeopardise our eternity for this temporary world is foolish indeed. Decisions may be made in life that people do not understand. People will not lie in our graves. We will lie alone and the only thing we will take with us is our deeds. There are three questions we are going to have to be able to answer. The first one being: "Who is your Lord?" Let us ask ours...

Salat the second most important pillar of Islam I remember standing up to pray one day and someone saying to me: "Are you excited to pray?" I had never thought of it like that. When we pray we are meeting the King of Kings. We are meeting the Lord of the Worlds. We should be excited to pray. We are speaking to our Creator. Salat is not a burden, it is a beautiful gift from our Lord. The sad reality is today many Muslims do not pray five times Salat. Salat is the second pillar of Islam. It is second to faith. Our Lord has bestowed so many favours on us, yet many of us cannot even bow down our heads to pray. Five times Salat is compulsory wherever we are. Is it really worth disobeying our Lord simply because we are at work or a wedding? Iblis was the first one who refused to prostrate and he was thrown out of the heavens. We do not want to make Iblis happy by not prostrating. We want our Lord to be happy with us. For those of us that do pray five times a day, this is not...

To those that are struggling To the people who feel like they cannot go on To the people who feel all they want to do is cry To the people that feel like sometimes they want to die To the people who need something to believe in To the people who sometimes struggle breathing To the people who feel like they are worthless To the people who feel like they are a burden on those they love To the people who feel like the world would be better off if they were not in it I want to tell you You are a fighter You are a survivor You are amazing and beautiful People love you and you make a difference You are special and you are unique So keep on smiling and keep on fighting May Allah SWT help all those that are struggling around the world

Weddings This was a message I received the other week: "Moulana Yunus Patel rahmatullahi alaih mentioned : A sister wrote a letter to him stating, ‘As much as we wait for weddings in the family, the problems that come with them far supersede the true joy that should be experienced at the time of a wedding. So when my first cousin got engaged, the decision to make it a wedding to remember brought on the same financial, social and other burdens, which weddings, that are held to keep up a high standard, bring. There was plenty of expenditure. A lot of cost was incurred. Since I have a little Deeni knowledge, Allah Ta’ala gave me the ability to understand that if I attend a wedding of this nature, then despite everything, I am also part and parcel of all the sins that will take place and that I am no exception. I realised it was necessary that I adamantly refuse to attend. Even though I initially did, I was pressurised and told by my mother that I will have to attend. We were ...

Madinatul Munnawarah Our hearts have been left in Madinatul Munnawarah The place where our Habeeb SAW is laid to rest Our hearts have been left in Madinatul Munnawarah Where there walked Al Amin whose character was the best We are yearning to go back Our hearts have been left in Madinatul Munnawarah Its beauty we cannot explain From the peace in the air To the echo of KalamaAllah and the beautiful Azan We could have walked where our Beloved PBUH walked We could have sat where he talked The only place where we can say Assalamualayka Ya Rasulullah And though we know we are not worthy of meeting him We pray we meet him again and again Oh Allah take our souls away in Madinatul Munnawarah, with the kalima on our lips when You are pleased with us. As it is Friday send abundant Durood and do not forget to pray Surah Kahf.

Friendship What is friendship? Before you read on I would like you to answer the question yourself. If you asked me this question years ago I would have said “Friends are people that are there for you no matter what.” Recently my mindset has changed. A very inspirational woman told me in Palestine “If your friends don’t support you when you try to become closer to Allah, they are not really your friends.” Friendship is supporting each other in religion. It is encouraging towards good and forbidding evil. On the Day of Judgement friends will run from each other if they have influenced each other in a negative manner. Friends should remind us of Allah. What use is a gathering of friends if it is devoid of the remembrance of Allah? A bad friend has been likened to a blacksmith whilst a good friend has been likened to a perfume seller. Some of the dirt may end up on your body from the blacksmith or some scent from the perfume seller. If we have friends that use disgusting swe...

Surah Hijr Surah Hijr Hazza Al Balushi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UaYKCA2-ZM This truly is a beautiful recitation and translation.

Losing my brother On October 31 st 2017 I got a call to say that my brother passed away. Innalilahi waina ilayhi rajiun. May Allah elevate his status in Jannatul Firdaus and grant my family sabrun Jameel. Losing my brother taught me a lot of things. He passed away at the age of 23 and it was a reminder that life is so so short. Tomorrow could be the day we return to our Lord. When we hear about the death of older people it is almost as if we expect it. My brother was only 23. Every single one of us will return to our Lord and be answerable for our deeds. May Allah make us from those that enter Jannatul Firdaus without reckoning. My brother passing away is a reminder to all those close to him, a reminder that tomorrow could be our day. One and a half years prior to his passing, my brother became very ill. Prior to his illness he used to hibernate in the masjid for large periods of life. He was always telling me if I did something Islamically wrong. This led to me getting my back...

The month of my healing I am going to tell you a story and it is a story of my healing. I am going to tell you a story about the way I have been feeling There were days so dark that I could not get out of bed And voices in my head told me I would be better off dead There were days when I would just cry and cry And there were days where I just wanted to die There were two times in my life where I wrote a message saying bye And then came the most beautiful month And I knew that it would be the month of my healing I feel like a completely different person There are people that won’t understand The words that they will say Are why don’t you pray? But I know it’s hard Because I have been there And I didn't want to move I could happily lie there for hours and not do a thing But then I read and heard  the Quran Made Dua to my Lord every single day Attended gatherings which told me the meaning And through...