HD 9: Avoiding The Cure

Bismillah walhamdulillah

We’ve all been through those phases where we just can’t seem to memorize. It’s like there is something physically pulling us back. We know it’s irrational and we know it is wrong, but we can’t get out of it; it just keeps happening. Something interesting that people don’t really talk about when it comes to these moments, is that one of the most difficult parts about being in one of these moments is fully recognizing that you have a problem. The reason this part is the most difficult is because a lot of times, instead of “I have a serious problem,” this is what goes through our mind:

I’m just really busy right now, as soon as I find an open slot of time, I am going to get back on track.

I can’t start memorizing until I find a teacher, but I can’t just go and find a teacher and then be a disappointing student. So I better wait until I’m good and free, and then I’ll devote all of my time to memorizing.

It’s really not that big of a deal if I skip a day or two, I obviously have every intention of returning to it. And I can make up for this time — I’ll just pick up the pace when I’m more free, maybe during summer vacation.

These are the thoughts that fleet through our mind, sometimes without us even paying conscious attention to them.

You see a pattern right?

And who does this sound like? This the dialogue of none other than shaytan… Did you know he was leading you on?

All of these excuses sound really good, really legit. Even if you were to say them out loud, to another person, I doubt that they would argue with you on these points — except for the ones who are very clever and sincere, because they’ll see your flowery excuse for what it really is — an excuse.

One thing you have to tell yourself right now: your lack of time is not an excuse. It is not an excuse. You are the one who makes it an excuse. You are the one who labels things as “important” and “unimportant” in your life, and you’re the one who portions out your time amongst them. You know full well that if you really wanted, you could easily make time (dare I say it, at least an hour, if not more) to memorize Qur’an during your day.

Rather, what has actually happened is that this goal of memorizing the Qur’an has become something that no longer excites you as much as it used to. What has actually happened is that, even though you don’t want to admit it to yourself, you’ve subconsciously labeled it as “unimportant,” and your actions are a proof of this.

The question now is: why is this happening? You may find articles devoted to this phenomenon, but no one really mentions the reason. I’ve heard things like tiredness, laziness, busy-ness, stress, and more. For some reason, they don’t see that this and all of the other excuses are stemming from a very basic root: This is happening to you because your Imaan is going through a period of weakness.

I can already hear the clamor going on after I’ve made that statement. Arguments are erupting, trying to challenge it. But take a deep breath, step back and give it some sincere thought. Is it possible that what I’ve said is true?

I hope that you will also see, what I have seen, and that all of these other excuses will eventually boil down to the true reason: weak imaan.

For those of us who can remember a time when our imaan was high, we will remember that at that point, all we could think about was how to get closer to Allah swt, how to please Him swt. We weren’t thinking about sleep, or food, or other people, or this dunyah. We were utterly consumed with thoughts of the aakhira, and of our Meeting with Allah. At that point, you felt unstoppable, and the farthest things from your mind were excuses. Do you remember ever feeling like this?

This is why I made that bold statement.

* * *

And finally…. do you want to hear something so amazing about all of this? The cure for your illness is in the very thing that you are avoiding.

The cure for weak imaan is in the Qur’an, reading it, reflecting upon it, and memorizing it.

Even the very process of sitting alone, with nothing but the Qur’an, reading the meanings, repeating ayaat and knowing that they’ve now entered your heart, will bring an indescribable calmness and tranquility upon you. At the end of it, you will make every intention to do this every single day, and to never skip over it, no matter what… And that is precisely when shaytan will come to you with his whispers again, so be ready this time.

So stop waiting for that perfect time or that perfect situation. Now is the perfect time; rush towards your cure.

And Allah Knows Best

True Love for the Messenger saws – 2 examples

Narration of Sa’ad bin Mu’adh radhiallahu ‘anhu:

Before the battle of Badr and while on the road, the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wassallam, sought councel from his companions. He first turned to the Muhajireen, and he was reassured by Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and Al-Miqdad regarding their zeal to fight in the war. However, it wasn’t they whom the Prophet,  sallallahu ‘alayhi wassallam, was worried about, but it was the opinion of the Ansar which he worried. The Ansar were the majority of the army and their pledge didn’t oblige them to fight outside their home. After hearing from the leaders of the Muhajireen, he turned towards his companions, and said, “Advice me O people” intending to address the Ansar.

Sa’ad bin Mu’adh, the leader of the Ansar and their flagbearer, quickly understood the situation.

He said, “By Allah, it seems that you are addressing us, O Messenger of Allah?”

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wassallam replied: “Yes”

Sa’ad said: “We have believed in you, found truth in you, and bear witness that what you have come with is the haqq, and based on that, we have given you our pledge to listen and be obedient to you, so continue on your course O Messenger of Allah, By He Who has sent you with the haqq, if you were to bring us in front of a sea and choose to cross it, then surely we would cross it with you, not one of us will be left behind, and we don’t dislike that you will throw us in a battle against our enemies tomorrow, but we will be patient in battle, honorable in their presence, and we hope Allah will show you that which pleases your eyes, so lead us by the blessings of Allah.”

Narration of Bilal radhiallahu ‘anhu.

 Bilal radhiallahu ‘anhu said after the Prophet’s death: 

“I never called to prayer again. My legs could not carry me up and even when Ali and Abu Dharr helped me I broke down after the first words. My grief prevented me. I stood on the roof trying for words, finding one word, then half the next.

I could not complete his name, ‘Muhammad’ and had to go back to the beginning four times, stammering, sobbing, failing again.”

Shaykh Al Fawzan’s advice to those who went to the extreme in criticizing

 

Advice: Seek knowledge.

Certified Ninja: Can’t touch this.

The other day my sister suggested that she and I get haircuts. I wasn’t going to argue with that, because I knew I desperately needed one. It’s never a good sign when you become tangled by your own hair in bed. But I was still hesitant because I knew that the salon she was going to take us to, was one in which men freely walk around as if they own the place– one of them might actually own the place, though. So I brought up this concern to her, and I made sure that she knew that if I see men walking around, I will throw a fit. She said, she’ll take care of it.

So when we got there, I put my stuff down and she went to one of the ladies and told her: “We both cover, so can you please make sure no men walk through?” Wow, I thought, that was so civil. I should try that next time. (lol) So the lady walked to the end of the salon and closed the door to an adjacent Clothing Store. But I saw that it wasn’t fully closed so I got up from the couch and pulled it shut.

It was my turn first. I stood near the chair and began to take off my hijab and niqab. I sat down and she put the plastic apron thing on me. I then saw, from the reflection in the mirror, that the blinds were not properly shut. I knew it would be just enough to drive me insane so I asked her if I could adjust the blinds. She complied and I took my apron and fixed the blinds. I came back to my seat and sat down. My sister stood guard by the door with her arms crossed.

All right salon-lady, do your thing.

She quickly began cutting my hair. At first I was skeptical of her skills because of the speed at which she was cutting, but I thought, “It’s probably not a good idea for me to ask her where she got her Hair Styling Degree right now.” On one occasion, during this short cut, a man was about to walk into the salon with his wife. The salon attendees yelled to stop him. “Tell uncle not to come inside!” At the word “uncle” I began to move to try to cover myself. My hair-cutter stopped me. “Don’t worry, no one’s coming in” she said.

She finished up the cut and began blow-drying my hair. I felt like telling her to stop, that I was just going to cover it in the end. But I decided to just let her finish. At the end I stood up and put my hijab and niqab back on. I sat back down on the couch in the waiting area nearby.

The lady in the clothing store decided to open the door between her store and the salon. I hopped out of my seat and ran to it. She began to protest. “Why did you close the door? There no man in here. Am I man?”

I responded calmly. “…Because she and I cover.” And I gestured to my sister and myself.

She continued to protest, “Am I man?”

I jokingly responded, “I don’t know, are you?”

She smiled and winked and asked me to leave the door open. “There’re no men here,” she said.

I returned to my couch and checked my phone. Soon after, a woman with three kids began to make her way up the stairs to the salon. Her oldest son, about 7 years old, held the door open for her so that she could bring the stroller in. In the stroller was her youngest son, about 2 years old, and she also had a daughter who was about 6 years old.

The oldest son became increasingly amazed with the blinds in the salon and decided to start playing with them. My sister was still in the chair getting her haircut. So whenever he would adjust them, I would adjust them back, and he would take the hint. Then I sat in my chair and returned to checking my phone. I looked up and saw my sister trying to catch my attention. She was gesturing towards the blinds. The boys were playing with the blinds again, and one of them actually decided to sit between them, so that they were parted. I put my niqab on, got up and began to fix them, so he also got up from his place. He then sat down on the couch. I sat on a salon chair opposite him and leaned in so that I could talk to him.

“What’s your name?” I said. He answered and after making him repeat it twice, I gave up. The same thing happened with his sister. The names were just too exotic for my simple English-speaking tongue.

The older brother and sister were both sitting in front of me.

“Why do you wear that?” the boy asked.

Now, I had no idea that these people were already Muslim. So explaining niqab to (what I thought was) a nonMuslim child, was a new one for me. I figured this was going to be a very short conversation.

“Because…I’m a ninja.” (The good news is that I have taken Martial Arts classes before, so I was able to get away with this statement, but this is obviously not the default answer to give. (lol) Plus I made sure not to mention the color of my belt.)

“No you’re not!”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Ninjas don’t dress like that.”

Hmm…touche.

He continued “Can you get me one of those?” I knew he was referring to the niqab.

“I can’t, you’re not a ninja.”

His mom began to walk over, she was finished with her business. She grabbed the youngest boy who had gotten out of his stroller. She tried to put him back inside, so that they could get ready to leave. He was putting up quite a fight.

“Hey, it looks like your brother’s a ninja too” I commented.

The oldest boy jumped up to leave with his family as they began to make their way outside.

* * *

You know, some people have this strange belief that children fear the niqab. I would argue with that. Children of all ages have approached me and have not shown fear. No, it’s not that they fear the niqab. It’s the adults who have an issue with this particular form of obedience, who fear it and try to teach others to fear it, as well.