Today upon a bus I saw
A girl with golden hair;
She seemed so gay, I envied her,
And wish that I were half so fair;
I watched her as she rose to leave,
And saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch,
But as she passed--a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two legs--the world is mine.
Later on I bought some sweets.
The boy who sold them had such charm,
I thought I'd stop and talk awhile.
If I were late, it would do no harm.
And as we talked he said,
"Thank you, sir, you've really been so kind.
It's nice to talk to folks like you
Because, you see, I'm blind"
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two eyes--the world is mine
Later, walking down the street,
I met a boy with eyes so blue.
But he stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do.
I paused, and then I said,
"Why don't you join the others, dear?"
But he looked straight ahead without a word,
And then I knew, he couldn't hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two ears--the world is mine.
Two legs to take me where I go,
Two eyes to see the sunset's glow,
Two ears to hear all I should know,
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I'm blessed, indeed, the world is mine.
» posted by bint Mohammed on 20th December 2008 - 0 comments
One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well.
The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.
Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quietened down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
Live simply and appreciate what you have.
Give more.
Expect less.
» posted by bint Mohammed on 3rd December 2008 - 0 comments
Woolworths & MFI (amongst other retail shops) are closing down..... we rush to our local stores to quickly grab a bargain, hoping we find something we may need at a much cheaper price than usual.
80% of us would be amongst those at the sales or when we hear of shops which will cease to open after their stock finishes.
I'm not saying it's wrong, no not in the least, by all means go to these places, grab yourself a bargain best of luck to all of you ......
I just pray that with the same eagerness we approach the first 10 days of Zul Hijjah:
our usual 1 para a day quickly becomes 2,
our daily zikr increases by a 100 or more,
we find the time to keep fasts
and maybe even we give just that little bit more in Sadaqah then we already do.
The zeal of the Sahabah in competing with each other to gain more rewards comes to mind.
We also should try and race in gathering as much hasanat for our bank balances of the Akirah (hereafter).
So go grab yourself a bargain for the hereafter by increasing your daily aamals and making the most of the first 10 days of Zul Hijjjah.
We thank Allah for giving us the life & taufiq to do the above and
also to continue with our routine of Ibadaat for the rest of the year. Aameen
» posted by bint Mohammed on 1st December 2008 - 0 comments
Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil servants, he said, "We can't keep the Muslims from going to Mosque. We can't keep them from reading the Quran and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience with Allah. If they gain that connection with Allah, our power over them is broken.
So let them go to the mosques, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Allah. This is what I want you to do, servants. Distract them from gaining hold of their Creator and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"
"How shall we do this?" shouted his servants. "Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6 - 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon,their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"
"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-Islamic music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Allah.
"Fill the coffee table with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogues, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and emotional offering of free products, services, and false hopes.
"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so the husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Ha! That will fragment those families quickly!
"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week.
"Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead.
"Keep them busy, busy, busy!! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship,
"Involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions.
"Go ahead, let them be involved in soul winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Allah. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!"
It was quite a convention. And the evil servants went eagerly to their assignments causing Muslims everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and to rush here and there.
I guess the question is: has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge!
The Smart Husband, The Angry Wife, The Fast Hand And The Ferrero Rocher.
By Hadrat Mufti Ebrahim Salejee.
No two people are identical. In the close and regular interaction between husband and wife disagreements are bound to occur. When a wife is angry, the smart husband gets a Ferrero Rocher and places it expertly into her mouth when she stops in her tirade for a gasp of breath for her next round. This is a highly effective ta`weez which will immediately defuse a potentially explosive situation. She will least expect it and she won't know whether to laugh or cry.
Unfortunately, we also find the small hearted husband. He cannot allow anyone, especially his wife, robbing him of his 'self respect'. He needs to show his wife that she is wrong and he is right. How is he to win?This strategy is doomed to fail!!!
This consideration for Deeni reasons only, without any thought of worldly gain, is allowed and is commendable. It is our loss that we do not appreciate the importance of this in Islaam. In some cases, we unfortunately do not even consider this to be part of Deen.
This is what Islaam teaches and what our Auliya-e-Kiraam have demonstrated. They are a people with great levels of understanding of Deen. These are the people whose example we need to follow. The ability to reconcile conflicting demands is a gift that Allah confers on His accepted servants on account of their sincerity.
May Allah (swt) grant us this unique ability...Aameen.
(P.S it's a good idea to keep a box of Ferrero Rocher handy- either for the husband or wife.)
Nearly everyone in this age of modern technology has at some stage worked with a P.C. We have used it to draft documents, amend these documents,copied and pasted onto documents, used the 'undo' icon, edited documents, just to mention a few of the time saving operations that we find on this device.
After opening a document that we have worked upon previously and made the necessary changes and improvements a little box appears on the screen asking the question: Do you want to save the changes you have made to thisdocument? You are then given the option of selecting the YES tab or the NO tab. Selecting the YES tab will give you the desired results while selecting the NO tab literally takes you back to square one. All the effort made in editing, improving and shaping the document becomes an exercise in futility.
Don't we all find ourselves in a similar predicament when the blessed month of Ramadaan passes us? Just think of your book of deeds like a document on your P.C. During the month of Ramadaan we have done amongst other things the following:
• Increased our ibaadah and acts of charity
• Taken control of our feelings and emotion
• Responded with compassion and sensitivity to the needs of others
• Multiplied our good deeds
At the same time we have spent many hours on the Musallah begging forAllah's forgiveness for our sins, errors and transgressions.
The vital question that needs to be asked is: Do we want to save thechanges that we have made in the month of Ramadaan?, Are we going to press the YES tab or the No tab? Pressing the YES tab will leave us with a new, improved version. A version of heightened spirituality, a version ofrighteousness, a version that is pleasing to our Creator. Pressing the NO tab will take us back to square one; back to our old habits before Ramadaan, back to the life of sin and immorality, back to a life of heedlessness And back to a life subjecting ourselves to the wrath of the Almighty.
How do we improve on this document; the document of our lives, the document of our deeds, the document that we are going to present to Allah theAlmighty on the Day of Reckoning.
Here are some hints:
• Copy and Paste from the life of our illustrious master Muhammad (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam).
• Use the 'undo' icon by making taubah immediately after any transgression as the Hadith states "The one who repents from sin is like one who has committed no sin at all."
• There may not be a need to do a "spell check" but there is certainly a need to do a "sincerity check" and a "shari'ah check" Are we complying?
• There may be files and folders that we want to keep while there could be some others we would not even want others to know exist. Many of us begged Allah to "delete" our sins and dark deeds .We cried before Allah, shed tears of remorse and vowed not to commit those sins in future. Going back to the sins that we have asked Allah's forgiveness for would be like making a visit to the "recycle bin".
• What about viruses? P.C. users are also very wary about e-mails they receive and the sites that they visit, fearing the admission of a virus that may pollute their system and cause it to malfunction. Why do we then subject our minds and thoughts to immoral sites and dens of vice which would pollute our moral system and cause us to malfunction? What anti-virus software have we installed to ward off the variety of fitnahs that confront us everyday?
Fortunate is the person who has saved the changes. Even more unfortunate is the person who has made no changes as he /she has nothing to save.
» posted by bint Mohammed on 30th September 2008 - 2 comments
Dua is our direct link to our creator:Allah. All we need to do is raise our hands (sometimes even not that) and ask away whatever our needs maybe.
As we all know there are certain times when duas are more readily accepted especially in Ramadhaan like at Iftari, suhoor and on Laylat -ul Qadr (the Night of Power).
Dua to be recited on Laylatul Qadr Aisha radhiya Allahu `anha, that she said: “O Messenger of Allah! What if I knew which night Laylatul-Qadr was, then what should I say in it?” He said.- “Say.-
“O Allah You are The One Who pardons greatly, and loves to pardon, so pardon me.”.
(Tirmidhi)
We must endeavor to make as many duas as possible and not lose hope if we do not get what we have asked for in this world for Allah will definitely compensate us in the Hereafter.
It has been said that upon seeing the rewards Allah will give in the Hereafter, people will wish that none of their duas had been accepted in this world.
Dua for the deceased
The deceased should be remembered in our duas as the saying goes:
"What comes round goes round"
If today we remember the deceased when our time comes and we are in our graves, Allah will appoint people to remember us.
As another saying goes:
"every little helps"
Those duas could make a big difference in the Hereafter.
May Allah grant us all the taufiq (the ability) to make duas remembering the entire Ummah- the living & the dead frequently throughout our entire lives. Aameen.
» posted by bint Mohammed on 24th September 2008 - 0 comments
I was contemplating writing for a blog and lo & behold Allah sends this my way....
Hence I begin my first post. (bear with me i'm new to this)
I intend to merely post musings which may benefit the reader Insha Allah.
I leave you with this thought:
Khidmat Se Milta Hai Khuda
By getting out of our way to help others portrays a "nice" character in society as a whole but for a muslim it means so much more as we strive to gain the pleasure of the Almighty in all of our actions.
May Allah grant us all the taufiq (the ability) to do khidmat of others. Aameen
» posted by bint Mohammed on 21st September 2008 - 1 comment
