Why Am I Upset This Blessed Month?

Assalamualaikum WarahmatuAllah hi wabarakaatuhu!

Although I am very happy and blessed to be alive during this month and enjoying all the blessings and Rahmah of Allah subhanaAllah wa Ta'ala and having to have all the mercies possible, Alhumdulillah, there is some kind of sadness in my heart.

                              
Even after all the ibaadat is being done, I realized something that no matter how much ibaadah we do for the sake of Allah, it is never enough. Which is why it makes me feel as if I am not doing enough! subhanaAllah! How can it be enough when Allah is the Supreme Deity of the Universes? He deserves much more than that. The most amazing and mind boggling ne'mat is that He has prescribed for us these small number of things to do, like Pray Salat, give Zakat, enjoin good and forbid evil, be the best to your parents, maintain relationships with kins, help the needy, sick, poor, way traveler and neighbors, speak good words to one another, do hijab with your soul and body and abstain from Shirk, Murder, Fornication, evil heinous sins, wasting time. If you think about it, these are very little things. Then WHY can't we simply follow these? Why? What is the reason? 
It really upsets me for myself and for others as well who don't seem to be practicing in this Blessed Month of Ramadan as it is meant to be practiced. Of course majority of us are striving hard enough but then why aren't we achieving the goal of achieving total Taqwa? 
It really saddens me because this month there are no devils. We should be happy that the devils are chained up right? But what saddens me is every one of us has that devil within us which is let lose to do whatever we like and not fear Allah! :( AstagfiraAllah! We need to purify our souls, mind and heart from our inner devil. in sha Allah!
This is the month especially for us to train to fear Allah and remember that He is watching and Seeing us. We not only have to abstain from the haram but also from the halal. (which btw is an amazing training formula for the ones who really want to heighten their iman and taqwa levels, or simply not sin)

                           
It really saddens me because not only me but many are victims to this. Many say that they simply can't change, they simply can't give up their sins. What really makes me wanna do is applaud shaitaan for his wonderful job and this is out of hatred.... I am not talking about sins exactly but bad habits like watching t.v seriels, movies, gossiping, bad language, playing games all day waiting for the fast to just get over with, browsing internet all day long, chatting all day with friends, praying late, fighting with one another, cursing, lying, eating A LOT, sleeeeping for half of the fast and waking up 2-3 hours before the fast is over, facebooking & tweeting all day, uploading pictures and begging for attention and compliments. I don't really understand facebook and never will. We have to strive hard to give up these bad habits (or sins once they are done repeadtedly) because if not this month then which month are you going to drop it? Sigh! May Allah save us from this. Ameen
What also upsets me is that I see Muslims, in Syria, Palestine and other oppressed Muslim countries, fasting with no or very little food around. How can they do it when they have nothing except of Tawakkul Allah, when on the other hand we have everything, wasting half our day preparing for numerous kinds of meals just for ourselves and not even the poor? This is a disaster!
What really upsets me is that time is passing by so quickly that almost half of Ramadan is gone! Yes people its gone! What have you really done? I mean other than for yourself, what have you really done for others? Did you advice others to do good? Did you help your neighbors or even mingle up with them? Did you read enough Qur'an that you at least understood some of the ayats? Are you planning on giving your Zakat ul fitr this year? [Women and men who work and have had savings, gold or silver for at least one year and have it more than the nisaab (required amount), has to pay Zakat ul Fitr before Eid prayers. Just an off topic reminder]

Please continue to strive harder and harder and seek forgiveness from Allah as much as you can. Do your best. Worship as it is your last Ramadan and believe that you are going to die anytime and time is ticking. Pray to Allah to remove your bad habits and make you steadfast as a Muslim. Prepare yourself from now itself for your last ten days of Ramadan. What are you going to do and how will you be managing your time for the Qiyam ul layl and say In sha Allah after you've intended. Also, remember me in your duwas. 
 May Allah forgive all our sins and grant us Jannatul Firdous! Ameen

JazakiAllah hu khairan for Reading, Please rate, share and follow me. 

Ask me anything related to this topic here 
Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

DO'S AND DON'TS OF FASTING IN RAMADAN

"Shaitaan trains us the entire year just so that we mess up our Ramadan and Ramadan trains us so that we brighten the rest of our year!"

Assalamualaikum WarahmatuAllah hi Wabara kaatuhu!!!!
Kullu Aam wa antum Bukhair!! RAMADAN MUBAARAK! Alhumdulillah for granting us life and giving us another chance for pleasing Allah in this blessed Month. 

                   

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained."[Sahih Bukhari :: Book# 31 :: Hadith# 123]

Fasting is about abstaining not only the Haram but also the halal. (food & drink)
Many of us know what we are supposed to do in Ramadan but little to we realize what NOT to do. And even if we did know, most of us focus on what we need to do rather than what we need to stop doing!

I am quickly going to wrap this up and write in brief. 

DOs:

• Read Qur'an with the intention of gaining ajar and finishing it. Read with tajweed, slowly, with translation or with Tafseer. Do not read Qurán with haste but understand it most importantly. 
• memorize surahs from the last juz or any of your wish. If you already are a Hafiz, best time to revise your memory.
• Learn more about your Prophet Muhammad Sallahu alaihi wasallam and act upon his sunnah for constant Ajar. (reward)
• Add nawafeel prayers at the end of Zuhur, Maghrib and Isha.
• Add Sunnah prayers before Zuhr. Four sunnah before Zuhr and four sunnah before Asr and four sunnah before Isha. 
• Go for tarawih with the intention of gaining reward and increasing imaan and taqwa. 
• Do morning and evening Azkar without FAIL!
• Give charity every day either by words, money, food or smile. 
• Pay your annual Zakat
• hurry up in breaking fast (of course only at the call for Maghrib). Break fast with Dates. It is sunnah.
• Wake up for suhoor for there is blessing in it. Have dates at Suhoor time. It is a sunnah. 
• learn the duwa for breaking the fast and break the fast with the duwa.                         

                   

• finish all your kitchen or outside duties half an hour before maghrib azaan so you could spend that important time in duwa. (Duwa is accepted at that time)
• Eat less
• Worship more
• Seek forgiveness
• Forgive everyone
• play the recitation of Qurán if you are busy and can't read. The least you could do is listen to it. 
• lips should be busy more in Azkar and less in utter nonsense. Speak only when important. 
• fast like it is your last Ramadan and pray like it is your last Salat
• sleep early and wake up early. Be productive throughout the day
• train your taqwa level so that you can be a better muslim even after Ramadan
• Fast with sincere intention for pleasing Allah so all your past sins will be forgiven in sha Allah. 
• Try to do self-ibaadat more than automatic ibaadat like Read Qurán instead of listening, act upon your knowledge instead of acquiring knowledge through listening to lectures. Ramadan is more about Amal than knowledge. It is the time to act upon your authentic knowledge and gaining more ajar. (reward) 
• Even if you have not finished your shopping before Ramadan try to finish it before the last ten days of Ramadan. Although, it is better if you shopped way before Ramadan.
• Go to umrah at least once in Ramadan. It is equal to performing Hajj with Rasool Muhammad Sallalaahu alaihi wasallam.
• Attend all the prayers of the last ten days. If you can't for some reason, attend at least the odd nights; 21, 23, 25, 27, 29. 

• If you can't fast because of a chronic disease and can't make them up ever, please feed a meal per missed fast to a needy person. (better to feed than to give money) that is your kaffara. It is obligatory!
• Indulge yourself in Etekaaf. Go to the masjids (mosques) or take a break and go to Makkah or Madina. People who are not in Saudi Arabia could go to masjids and perform etekaaf. Best place is Masjid. 
• Women with Menstruation should do all the above except for praying Salat and fasting. You can read Qurán from your tablets or cell phones. Don't make excuses for not reading Qurán and stop being LAZY!

DON'TS:

• don't sleep more than required. Sleep less than required
• don't eat more than required. Eat less than required
• do not fast with the intention of losing weight or dieting. (minor Shirk)
• no smoking or drinking. (avoid major sins)
• stop watching anything related to entertainment be it during the fast or not

               

• no playing games, watching tv seriels, cricket, over dosed news, reading novels, watching unlimited youtube videos etc
• no sexual contact with your wife during fasting. 
• minimum usage of your cell phone. (the hardest of all is to minimize chatting) 
• minimum usage of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, snapchat etc. 
• Please stop posting your pictures with or without Hijab. Some people post pictures of themselves performing Umrah. We know you did umrah but it is best if we hide our good deeds from people. Remember we need to clean our intentions only for the sake of Allah! AND NO showing off!                                                                                  
• Stop your sins or bad habits like watching movies, wasting time, munching mouth, talking unnecessarily, shopping every night, having loads of Iftar parties etc.
• stop all the cursing or bad words that you use in your daily life. Do not goof around or make jokes. Don't be a snob but also don't be a clown. 
• Do not scream or shout or fight or create fights. If someone starts a fight with you, warn them politely that you are fasting. (doesn't mean you will take the matter outside after you finish fasting) 

For complete detail about Ramadan and Fasting please read this post from my group blog. 

Some other great Ramadan blog posts from amazing blogs to read:

1. Duwa Qunoot in Witr Prayer

2. Excellence of Spending out charity in Ramadan

3. Duwa for Ramadan and Fasting

4. The Virtues of Ramadan

5. Fasting in the Month of Ramadan

6. Stay healthy in Ramadan with patience
7. Suhur: The Pre-Dawn Meal During Ramadhan
8. Ramadaan Mubarak? OR Ramadaan Kareem?

If there are any more Do's and Don'ts that I missed, Please enlighten us all so that we may benefit!

If you have posted anything beneficial on the topic of Ramadan, do post your Links below so I shall publish them here in my post so that people could benefit in sha Allah!

Ask me anything related to Ramadan or Fasting here.  in sha Allah I will try to answer and get back to you soon.

JazakiAllah hu khairan for Reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and Follow my Blog.

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

-Manal Mirza

ARE YOU ARROGANT? FIND OUT

TAKABBUR [ARROGANCE]

What does arrogance mean? What does one need to do to be arrogant or chesty?

Anyone who thinks or considers himself superior over anybody in regards of money, knowledge, beauty, children, character, job, belongings, race, caste, fame, culture, lineage etc. are arrogant. They have pride and vanity. It is considered as a disease of the heart which is not an easy disease to cure oneself from. 

The prophet (S.A.W.) said, "One will not enter Paradise, if one has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his/her heart." [Imam Muslim and Tirmidhi]

That is such a scary hadith. What if we have that atom of arrogance bearing within us? Can we risk going to hell for that? NO! May Allah protect us from Hell Fire. Ameen

Iblees was arrogant. He said "…I am better than him (Adam), you created me from fire, and you created him from clay." [Surah Al Ar'af 12] 

The main cause for a person to commit sin is due to arrogance or ego. He feels that he is correct and pious and therefore doesn't need to improve himself. For e.g. if you advice a person to do hijab they will reply you why should I? I don’t need it! A murderer commits sins because of arrogance, a fornicator and an adulterer commits fornication and adultery because of arrogance. They do not fear Allah. If they feared Allah they would be humble and submissive and not fearless and arrogant!

"I am this and I am that." "Do you know who I am?" "Who do you think you are talking to?" "I have had many people who bowed to me in work!" "I don't need to hear your lectures!"  "Has she seen herself in the mirror?" "Look at him, He doesn't have a good car, therefore he is not one of us." "My god, Is she black?" "Oh My god, Is she fat?" "Oh no! she is only an Aalima!" "Oh My god I am the only Aalima and others have no idea about Islam!" "I am the smartest in my whole class!" "I dress the best in my whole group!" "I have the most money!" "I have the most number of friends!" "I told you so, ha!" "I have Lamborghini, what does he have?" "I have the latest Iphone 5, other people know I have the most expensive phone!" "I looked the best in that party!" "She looked the ugliest in that party!" "I think my hair is the most silkiest and longest!" "Oh my god, I show my underwear but look at those mullas who wear pants above their ankles, how cheap!" "Look at this frizzy beard, Ew! he should be clean shaved like me!" “why should I speak to her first? She should come to me!” “Do not speak when ‘I’ am talking” “Everything should go according to me” "My house is bigger than others" "Why does he pray so fast? He should pray so slow like me!" "Oh he is an Indian but I am a Saudi royalty" "Look at her, she looks like a Sl**!" "She is soo judgmental! (doesn't realize saying judgmental to others is being judgmental)"

And on and on and on and on! Have we forgotten our beginning? and How will we end?? We were born with a drop of Semen and will die back into the dust! 

If Allah has given us His nemats and His blessings of beauty, wealth and knowledge, don't you think we need to at least use those things for His Benefit of Deen? 

Allah says in Surah Isra: 37, "And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart], and you will never reach the mountains in height." 

Many people cat walk or with their heads up high. Let us all focus on our walks. in sha Allah!

The ayat above came after the prohibition of so many deeds from ayat 22 to 37 and the verse of arrogance being the last which shows us the nature of all the sins that is Pride and Takabbur. 

SubhanaAllah!

On the Day of Judgment, Allah (SubhanaAllah Wa ta'la) will not look with mercy at the ones who lengthened his clothes out of arrogance. The prophet (sallalahu alaihi wasallam) says, "Whosoever drags his clothes out of arrogance, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgment." Abu Bakr said: "O messenger of Allah: My garment slips (slightly off his waist) to the ground but I lift it!?" The prophet replied, "You are not among those who do it out of arrogance." [Reported by Imam Bukhari, Muslim and other]

We all have come across arrogant people and none of us likes to be in a position where one presents themselves to be self-important or conceited. So do not present yourself to be arrogant intentionally or unintentionally. Do not rolls eyes when you see someone, or wait for someone to approach to you. Its a total turn off and Allah loathes arrogant people. Allah destroyed the tyrants such as Phiraon and Nimrood and many more because of their arrogance and claiming themselves to be God and the Greatest of all.

Why does He hate? Because arrogance and pride is a quality and attribute exclusively for Allah alone. Allah (Az Wajal) says, "Dignity is my lower garment, and arrogance is my covering. If anyone competes with Me in either of these two, surely I torture him."  reported by Qudsi hadith and Imam Muslim. 

Allah subhanAllah wa Ta'ala says in Surah Luqman: 18] "And do not turn your face away from men with arrogance, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah does not like each arrogant boaster."

The opposite reaction of Arrogance is humility and humbleness. One should therefore be humble in character and personality in regards of everything they see, say and act. Do not consider yourself to be anything! We are slaves of Allah, We are nothing, We are no one! We are here in this world to please Allah and follow His commandments. We need to follow the footsteps of our beloved Messenger of Allah (Sallahualaihi wa sallam). He used to walk very simply as if he was walking down the mountain. So humble! mashaAllah! So let us not Raise our heads up high in Salat or while walking, Humble our postures with our parents and elders and suppress the word I and ME and use the word US and WE! in sha Allah

JazakiaAllah hu khairan for reading. Make sure you Rate, Share and comment. 

Ask me anything at http://ask.fm/manalmirza23 Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views.

- Manal Mirza