Let me be...

Let me be...

Let it start off dark, mostly night,

And one day let my darkness bring someone light,

I gladly go through it all for the purpose of a lesson,

That will hopefully turn out to be a blessing,

No second guessing,

Let me be an example of how strong His love is,

And to never put anything above His, 'cause what if,

It wasn't unconditional, then what would we do,

If He did how we do,

We know we wasn't supposed to do the things

That we did but we did 'em,

And if that wasn't bad enough then we hid 'em,

But you saw it all, So we only lie to ourselves

Help us, save us from hell,

Let me be!

(Dmx - Let me be your angel)

I Lose Myself

I lose myself

I don’t know why I lose myself
In worldly desire
Yes lose
Because there is no winning in sin
Yet I lose myself in
The bliss of a moment’s pleasure

A sacrifice I slowly make
Giving up what’s mine for the taking
Yet I lose myself
Am I just faking?


Am I a hypocritical internet scholar?
Who preaches to the masses yet cannot follow
Himself or his ego that rebels inside
I lose myself to these feelings inside

And until I pray to change the conditions of this heart of mine
The evil one will rule this temple until I die.

The Human Body

The Human Body 

A flawless structure with many fine details that are still yet to be discovered.  Scientists engaged in research using today’s advanced technology obtained astonishing results concerning the human body. One of these dealt with the tissues in the body.

Living tissues contain 26 different elements. 6 of these are the most common; carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur. These basic elements represent 95% of all tissues, this in turn represents important scientific evidence of the information revealed in the Quran.

The creation of man out of clay. The building blocks that constitute almost all the human body are present in the soil either in free or compound forms. The first human being was created by God who shaped clay into human form and breathed the soul into it.

This miraculous event is described in the Quran:

Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I am about to create man from clay: "When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in prostration to him." (Surah Sad :71-72)


In another verse God tells us that: We created man from an extract of clay. (Surah Al-muminun: 12)

The word translated as extract in the verse means representative example or essence. The information revealed in the Quran 1400 years ago confirms what modern science tells us; the fact that the same elements are employed in human creation as those found in the soil.

99 Names - Al-Malik

Al-Malik

الله Allah
Who is Allah? (Part 3)

And so the journey begins to understanding the One by looking at each of the 99 names in detail with reference to the Quran and life the Prophet (pbuh)

The first name I wish to examine is Al-Malik

Al-Malik

The Sovereign Lord, He who is the absolute king of the entire universe. 

Other translations include:

The Owner
The Ruler
The King
The Sovereign

 What one can gather from this name is that the One possess an extremely high status and is a Ruler, a King of all of his creations. Couple this with the beautiful meanings of Ir-Rahman and Ir-Rahim and we find that this King, and Ruler, is a Kind and Merciful one, who owns all and never ceases to shower his creation with his overflowing abundance of kindness and mercy.

Al-Malik appears in the Quran three times. Let us examine each area of occurrence and look at the context in which this name appears for us. The first occurrence is in Surah Al-Hashr, 59:23

Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to Allah! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him.

As you can see from this verse the name is also coupled with a few others which will we talk about later but the main thing is that it is not just a King or a Sovereign that is being mentioned, it is one who is a Source of Peace and a Guardian above all. 

The next occurrence of Al-Malik is in Surah Ta-ha, 20:114

 

High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth! Be not in haste with the Qur'an before its revelation to thee is completed, but say, "O my Lord! advance me in knowledge."

Here the name Al-Malik is coupled with an interesting concept. The truth. A King, or Owner of Truth. The remainder of the verse/sign (Ayat) states that this Owner of Truth must also be an Owner of Knowledge, as one must ask for knowledge in order to receive it. This is an interesting concept as it links not only Sovereignty of the entire universe as well as being the most Merciful but it also connects Truth and Knowledge with Ownership and Rule. 

The last and final occurrence of Al-Malik in the Quran is in Surah Al-Mu'minun, 23:116. 

Therefore exalted be Allah, the King, the Reality: there is no god but He, the Lord of the Throne of Honour!

This last reference almost completes our image of a King, one who is seated on a Throne of Honour.
The Owner of Truth, Provider of Knowledge, whose Mercy is boundless and who is enshrouded in Honour.
One more very interesting concept is that the name Al-Malik here is also accompanied by the phrase "the Reality", meaning that this wonderful being is not a fairy tale King, but a real one. 

InshAllah this journey will continue examining the other names while looking at the Quran and making comments. However I must add that my comments and opinions here are only my own and the word of God prevails above all. I hope InshAllah that I am able to convey a vivid and poetic image for you through my study to bring you closer to the One that you seek.

Peace and blessings to all x

The Time

Al-Asr

By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),

Verily Man is in loss,

Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

Surat 103

The Night of Power or Honour

Al-Qadr

We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power:

And what will explain to thee what the night of power is?

The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.

Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah's permission, on every errand:

Peace!...This until the rise of morn!

Surat 97

The Night

Surat Al-Layl 

By the Night as it conceals (the light);

By the Day as it appears in glory;

By (the mystery of) the creation of male and female;-

Verily, (the ends) ye strive for are diverse.

So he who gives (in charity) and fears (Allah),

And (in all sincerity) testifies to the best,-

We will indeed make smooth for him the path to Bliss.

But he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient,

And gives the lie to the best,-

We will indeed make smooth for him the path to Misery;

Nor will his wealth profit him when he falls headlong (into the Pit).

Verily We take upon Ourselves to guide,

And verily unto Us (belong) the End and the Beginning.

Therefore do I warn you of a Fire blazing fiercely;

None shall reach it but those most unfortunate ones

Who give the lie to Truth and turn their backs.

But those most devoted to Allah shall be removed far from it,-

Those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification,

And have in their minds no favour from anyone for which a reward is expected in return,

But only the desire to seek for the Countenance of their Lord Most High;

And soon will they attain (complete) satisfaction.

Surat 92

The Sun

Surat Ash-Shams

By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour;

By the Moon as she follows him;

By the Day as it shows up (the Sun's) glory;

By the Night as it conceals it;

By the Firmament and its (wonderful) structure;

By the Earth and its (wide) expanse:

By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it;

And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;-

Truly he succeeds that purifies it.


91:1-9

小林

Kobayashi 

He created us in pairs

To find comfort in each other

To look past our imperfections

So that we may love one another

You are my garment

You protect me from the cold

When I shiver from the wind

Your hand is always there to hold

And although you may not believe

In God, who created we

The beauty of your soul

Shimmers brighter than the sea

For your beauty is reason enough

For me to believe in the One

The sparkle in your eyes

From the land of the rising sun

His beauty and his mercy

All shine to me through you

And that is why my heart is full

Of peace when I'm with you

For you are my garment. 

You cover me from up above

You wrap me so gently in the smallest of forests

In his mercy and his love. 

“It is He who created you from a single soul, And made its mate of like nature in order that you might dwell with her in love....” (7:189)

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim.

الله Allah

Who is Allah? (Part 2)

To continue with understanding the One, let us have a look at the phrase
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim.

In order to analyse the deeper meaning behind this, let us break down the phrase into it's three elements and study each of those. This will help us understand the meaning of the phrase as a whole and take us one step closer to understanding the moral ethics of Allah.Brother Wahiduddin  has done such amazing work on this topic that there is not much I can further add. For the purpose of sharing information I will quote and summarise his work however I highly recommend reading his article for yourselves in order to get a full understanding of this concept.

He has broken down the phrase into three different segments and has looked at each one in its literal, idiomatic and poetic sense in order to fully understand and grasp the meaning behind this. 

He looks at the two moral attributes of the One, Rahman and Rahim in detail.

"rahman:

The term rahman describes that aspect of the source of all creation which is endlessly radiating, endlessly nourishing, regardless of who or what is receiving the endless flow of blessings.

Rahmân conveys the idea of fullness and extensiveness, indicating the great quality of love and mercy which engulfs all of creation without regard to any effort or request on our part.

According to Ibn Qayyum (1350 AD), rahmân describes the quality of abounding Grace which is inherent in and inseparable from the Almighty.

rahim:

On the other hand, the term rahim describes that aspect of the source which is issued forth only in response to the actions and behaviour of the recipient. It is in this manner that God takes ten steps toward us when we take even a single step toward God.

Rahîm conveys the idea of constant renewal and giving liberal reward in response to the quality of our deeds and thoughts.

According to Ibn Qayyum (1350 AD), rahîm expresses the continuous manifestation of the Grace in our lives and its effect upon us as a result of our own activities."

He follows and concludes by illustrating some poetic comments and verses on the topic which I found to be extremely enlightening as this is a phrase which we as Muslims use on daily basis, before doing any activity.

"There is no way for any one translation to capture the many facets of this beautiful phrase Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. Here are some poetic renderings that attempt to capture some aspects of the meaning without being literal translations:

With every breath that we breathe, may we be act on behalf of the Divine Presence,  the Source of all that we receive. 

With every step that we take, may we be instruments of the One Light which guides us, the Source and Nourisher of all of creation.

Every moment of this life is filled with your eternal radiance my Beloved, You are the Beneficent One who endlessly showers all of creation with nourishment and blessings, and the One who generously rewards those who live in harmony with Your Divine Will."

"ir rahman ir rahim:

Rahman points toward the Beneficent One whose endless outpouring of love and mercy are continually showered upon all of creation, while Rahim points toward the Merciful One whose love and mercy are manifested in that which is received as the consequence of one's deeds.

So, the phrase ir rahman ir rahim is a recognition and honoring of the very source of all existence, the source of all blessings, the source of all compassion, the source of all mercy who gives endlessly to us and who also responds according to our moral integrity, our harmony with all of creation and our love of Allah."

This phrase alone is enough to give us an insight into the concept of Allah. And the first attributes we find are love, mercy, honour, moral integrity and harmony. The fact that almost every chapter of the Quran begins with this phrase serves as a reminder to us that these are the strongest and most pinnacle attributes of Allah. Isn't it wonderful to know that the Lord whom I seek is One of Love, Mercy and Honour?

However the journey to understanding Allah with me is only beginning. To quote an Hadith:

Narrated Abu Huraira: Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”

Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 50 Hadith 894

And so with these 99 names my journey begins, to understand and embrace each one and to take one step at a time to get closer to the One.

Know thy heart

Know thy heart

Know thy heart

Do not deny it the purpose 

Of its creation

Fill it with the love of one

Who filled you with his love

A heart is a sanctuary 

For all you believe in

So take the key of faith

Hold it firmly 

Say a prayer

And unlock your chest 

For verily in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest. (13:28)

Spiritual Elevation

Ameen

The mysteries of the universe

All solved with one

Poetic verse

The distance between space and time

Are relevant inside this mind

As I close my eyes and fall into

The deep abyss of the dreaming state

I feel all kinds of feelings too

Like love and friendship, envy, hate

But when these big eyes open up

The fear is left behind

For the dream is just an illusion

Of a reality that we can’t seem to find

Without opening our hearts to the glory of God

And realising that our soul was created for him

His being is one we can’t comprehend

So we strive and struggle to search within

But we must first topple our egos

The demons that try

To destroy our path to one

By injecting our minds with these lies

And once we defeat the demon inside

The Devil can no longer whisper

His thoughts into our minds

And thus we elevate into a spiritual dimension

Understood by some

Who forget to mention

That this state of elevation is a sign of the struggle

That our souls undertake to burst from the bubble

Of this vessel that we are trapped in

Mankind

The heaven is waiting for us

So close your eyes

And remember that to Allah you belong

Remember that to Allah you will return,

Remember that this world is just a dream

Now open your eyes and read!

Ameen.

Birds

The Birds Whisper

The birds whisper

Food is here

As provision falls from the hand of man

So who feeds man?

If we provide for those that fly

Then a Splendid One
Must provide for those

Who stand firm under the sky

Love thy Lord

Love thy Lord

From being in a state

Of worry and loss

My heart finds content

In the words of my Lord

His loves lets me see

The beauty of mankind

My arrogance falls

In prostration

Soul calmed

Chest filled with light

Love all around

This beautiful night

Al Nafs

Al-Nafs

To turn an enemy into a friend 

One must choose his actions wisely

For words can touch the heart of men

But the soul must be moved concisely 

As there are parts of us that decay

Yet we cannot just throw these parts away

For without them we are not whole

So we must clean the decayed soul

And win him over as a friend

For when two become one the process of mending

Hearts and souls

Spirits and egos

Desire and Piety

Sin and redemption

Light and darkness

Merge as one

My friend is now me

The ego obeys

We’re on the same page

Until the end of days

InshAllah

Walking on water.

The strength of Imaan

Human beings have been given the greatest form, over all creatures. It's why the Angels were told to prostrate to man. One way we can keep this form of ours beautiful is through Deen. Deen is understanding what is right and what is wrong. However we don't want to become empty vessels or tin cans that say "muslim" on the outside but on the inside are something different.

We can't just say we are Muslims with our mouths, or write it with our words. It is our continuous action and Imaan that help us show who we are. It's like writing the word "fire" on a piece of paper and expecting to boil water with it. Yes the word "fire" is there, but it is not strong enough to serve the water. Just like our Imaan. Yes we may say we are Muslim, but just that alone is not strong enough to please our Lord.

Thus we must show our actions from our heart rather than our minds. If your heart knows what's right and wrong your body will follow. If your good actions please you and your bad ones fill you with remorse and pain then this a sign of Imaan. And we need to be the judge of our own Imaan everyday before we are judged upon.

One sign of a strong Imaan is love of Sunnah. We must enquire what Sunnah is and not separate it our label it under a different box, which unfortunately most Muslims are doing now. Even with our prayers we rush to complete the Fard but disregard the Sunnah. 

Allah (swt) will answer your calls and prayers but he will answer from your Imaan rather than your own thoughts and opinions. Only when your Imaan is beautified can you receive super divine help.
Most believe that these miracles are only given to Prophets or at the time of Prophets yet the Sahaba(the companions) were ordinary people yet received extraordinary blessings, because of their love of Sunnah, and the strength of their Imaan. E.g Crossing the ocean on foot. 

These miracles given to them show us that it is not just for Prophets but for us too.
Until the last day and for the very last person, the help of Allah(swt) is always there, if we acknowledge it and accept his way.

New ideologies and renovated thoughts cloud our senses causing us not to receive these miracles that are waiting for us. However if we follow the footsteps of the companions and the Prophet (pbuh) then many things are available to us.

Imaan is our strength. However from time to time we run out of it. Just like a phone needs to be charged to connect with our loved ones, our Imaan needs to be charged to connect with our Lord. One way to charge it is to spend time in good company or at places of worship (mosques). 

By doing this we are strengthening our qualities for our Imaan and most importantly our Deen. When using our qualities for the Dunya (this worldly life) we often find that we are never compensated. It's like working with water. We freeze it to make great sculptures but by the time we have invested all our money and effort into carving them they have turned back to water. 
So let's make efforts for things that are ever lasting. Things that will not trickle through our fingers and drip away like water. 
Let's make efforts for Jannah(Heaven), and instead of chasing the water down the drain, the waters will stand firm for you to walk across just like the companions of the Prophet(pbuh) before us. 

Who is Allah?

الله Allah

Who is Allah? 

The question that is on the minds of many Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and has been on my mind for a long time thus leading me to begin this search for Allah. 
In Arabic Allah can be translated as "God" or the single deity. The incomparable, One true God.For some the concept of this deity is hard to fathom. Even at 24 the concept of Allah is a mystery to me, but one I devote the remainder of my life to uncover and solve. 
Linguistically speaking the term has no plural or no gender which is common for most words deriving from the Arabic language. This makes it unique in the sense that it cannot be pluralised like the English word "God", therefore insinuating that there can be no comparison in phrase. Allah is Allah. 

"In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Say (O Muhammad) He is Allah who is One, Allah the Internal Refuge, Who has not begotten nor has been begotten, nor is there to him any equivalent" Surah Al-Ikhlas

The Quran, the words of Allah can verify and vouch for this notion that Allah is One. The uniqueness and authenticity of the Quran itself is such a deep and profound topic that I will talk about it in another post so I beg your pardon for the referential use of the Quran throughout this first post. I assure you it will make sense upon further reading. 
Much of what we as human beings can gather about Allah can be found from the evidence given to us from his word, the Quran. Language provides us with the best form of communication and also within each word and sound are morals and attributes that are embedded as clues for us. If one can see the connecting thread between language morals and attributes - understanding the concept of Allah is surely a task that anyone can undergo.  

However this is not the case for most. After writing a thesis at university and providing many evidential sources on how language and morality/ moral philosophy are linked I have decided to begin my search for Allah through words. Rather than believe in a bed time story told to children in order to adhere them from committing violent acts of sin, I decided to look for Allah through the scriptures and words left here many years ago which still to this date remain unedited and untouched.
I guess it is difficult to continue without talking about the Quran itself so here goes.

With the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Quran begin with the phrase:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Bismillah-ir rahman-ir-raheem.
Let us look at this phrase in detail to examine and extract the morals and attributes which make up this phrase in order to try and understand the One, Allah.
Upon doing some research I discovered a great Author who really illustrates the beauty of this phrase and in order to commend him on his work I will reference it as this brother deserves recognition for helping many to establish an understanding of one of the most pinnacle points of Allah's nature.
All the following information on this phrase can be found and read in more detail on Brother Wahiduddin's website.
Thus let us quickly proceed into understanding this beautiful concept.

Ah..before we begin if I may beg pardon for a moments digression, any adjectives I use to describe this religion or this journey for seeking the One, are solely chosen to illustrate my opinion. In the beginning I thought of portraying a slightly less biased version of my journey in order to make it more palatable for you, the reader, however without the vivid descriptions and emotion I feel that I cannot truly bring you the essence of this journey and for that I beg your forgiveness in advance for what may seem like my own personal bias.


For the non-Muslim readers my intentions are only to show you my journey and if you were to decide upon yourself to join me then I can only be humbly grateful. I am in no intentional way challenging your beliefs and I ask that if you do read this - please keep an open mind and respect my passion. And as Gandalf so eloquently puts it: "Bilbo Baggins! Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks! I am not trying to rob you! I'm trying to help you." :)


For my Muslim readers - there may be opinions or thoughts of mine that you disagree with and although we are but one Ummah, my journey and my relationship with the One is an individual one. For that reason alone I beg forgiveness in advance if there are things you may read on this journey that displease you. Some plants grow in sunshine and some plants grow in shade; Allah knows best where you will grow best, Trust Allah.
Thus let us finally proceed into understanding this ....Beautiful concept.

*See next post*

Peace and blessings to you all x