This post is absolutely spontaneous.
So.. I heard this sheik today talking about reda (satisfaction/being pleased) and patience.
He was talking about how it's like when a person faces crises or hardships, he or she has these two main stages to pass, so they can peacefully pass whatever their experience is.
The two stages are the reda and patience. He said that patience could be the "easy" one. Meaning, after that you or me face a hardship of whatever, it is manageable for us to patiently go through it, and to deal with the pain and the heartache with pure patience. However, reda is a higher level, or a higher state of spirituality. To be satisfied with whatever came over you! To be pleased with whatever God cause to happen. To be pleased with no matter what, knowing it is for the over all best, and that it will be compensated.. .
How great the spirituality of a person must be to go through a crises with such great attitude? And how hard it is to deal with tough life events with such manner?
Looking back at the latest "crises" you've been through, did you find yourself handling it with such patience and gratefulness? And if not, do you think one day you will?
I was sort of mesmerized by what I heard, and I found it sort of ironic because this whole subject has been one that I've been thinking and talking about a lot lately. And it also connects to me personally.
I felt a little bet touched when he was talking about this! I sort of looked back about some situations and events that happened to me, and how I dealt with them. Also, how I FELT about them.. .
The great differences that affect us when we deal with life and its struggles with such strong faith, reda, and patience is highly grater than when we do with such impatience and reluctance to what God had in store for us... .
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Faith in God and the unresolved / Salat al Istikhara (Guidance Prayer)
I have mentioned Salat Al Istikhara earlier in my previous post.
I haven't really perform this one so often before.And I may have, at a time, underestimated the benefit and the power of it.I is one of the many voluntary prayers ( not one of the main 5 prayers of the day - not a must do!).
During what I was going through, I have turned to this prayer. It is about seeking guidance of God. There is no wisdom and guidance better than Gods, so what could be better to seek? Now, so many people do perform this prayer but end up still feeling confused and unsure about whatever matter they have. Did God just bail on them? Did he listen but didn't answer back as he promised? Absolutely no - and these are not questions that only Muslims who pray this prayer or any other one ask, they are more global too. God is there, and he is listening, and he does answer back. I think we just truly need to be patient,very patient. Whatever is unresolved will eventually resolve, we just need to embrace it and handle it with patience and faith. Faith in God, faith that it'll pass.. it'll be OK.. .
I wasn't taking this much sense to myself in the middle of a crises, but I am learning to, and I am getting better, I think :) Alhamdo leallah(thanks to God).
I believe that even when whatever path doesn't seem clear, is it for a reason, a good one. Maybe there is a lesson to learn, or perhaps the answers lie within the unresolved itself and we just need to look closer!
Regarding the Istikhara,it is recommended that the person prays it more than just once. And that is what I did.I most certainly felt ambivalent and torn about what I should do next. I had my decision right at the back of my mind, but it was covered and burdened with lots of confusion and "what if" thoughts. I watched my uncertainty fade away little by little. It took me a while. I prayed and prayed.. I just believed that faith will get me there.
Now, we could be always unsure about what will happen or what if.. but if we rely on God, faith and what our inner instincts are guiding us to.. we'll be OK..
Being honest with yourself is as important as anything else..
Think about it..
Just have faith...
I haven't really perform this one so often before.And I may have, at a time, underestimated the benefit and the power of it.I is one of the many voluntary prayers ( not one of the main 5 prayers of the day - not a must do!).
During what I was going through, I have turned to this prayer. It is about seeking guidance of God. There is no wisdom and guidance better than Gods, so what could be better to seek? Now, so many people do perform this prayer but end up still feeling confused and unsure about whatever matter they have. Did God just bail on them? Did he listen but didn't answer back as he promised? Absolutely no - and these are not questions that only Muslims who pray this prayer or any other one ask, they are more global too. God is there, and he is listening, and he does answer back. I think we just truly need to be patient,very patient. Whatever is unresolved will eventually resolve, we just need to embrace it and handle it with patience and faith. Faith in God, faith that it'll pass.. it'll be OK.. .
I wasn't taking this much sense to myself in the middle of a crises, but I am learning to, and I am getting better, I think :) Alhamdo leallah(thanks to God).
I believe that even when whatever path doesn't seem clear, is it for a reason, a good one. Maybe there is a lesson to learn, or perhaps the answers lie within the unresolved itself and we just need to look closer!
Regarding the Istikhara,it is recommended that the person prays it more than just once. And that is what I did.I most certainly felt ambivalent and torn about what I should do next. I had my decision right at the back of my mind, but it was covered and burdened with lots of confusion and "what if" thoughts. I watched my uncertainty fade away little by little. It took me a while. I prayed and prayed.. I just believed that faith will get me there.
Now, we could be always unsure about what will happen or what if.. but if we rely on God, faith and what our inner instincts are guiding us to.. we'll be OK..
Being honest with yourself is as important as anything else..
Think about it..
Just have faith...
Growing Up Journey P1
Life has been nothing but a roll coaster over the last year and half. I've left home, Tripoli(Libya), and moved to the states. Coming here was a dream for me for as far as I could remember. So many people thought that I won't make it, but I did. I had my goal steadily set in my mind and I knew that God won't let me down. Indeed he didn't. I was lucky enough to have a great support of my parents. They have stood by me and supported my decisions all the time. My "new" life has been nothing but a spectacular growing up journey.
The first year, when I lived in SD, was utterly spectacular. I saw, lived, and learned amazingly so many things. I don't regret a thing, the good and the bad. It was truly mesmerizing. I am so very grateful to God for all of it, especially for the people that I had the chance to meet and the great friends that I made :). I just have so much to write about that period of time, but what I am getting the flow of right now is more current. It is more about the "second chapter" that started when I moved up to Washington state - but I will definitely go back later on the blog to write about last year. After coming back from my short visit to home, I had experienced a storm of problems. I started my freshmen year in style! Those of you who know me personally know about that. I, for the first time, really felt homesick. It was very hard with everything was going around. I thought that I was ready and all set to go, and I was. However, for some reason, I had a weird gut feeling that left me feeling.. super weird(that's the simplest way to describe it! As I look back, it is amazing how this whole chapter started. My flight from Tripoli was delayed for 4 hours and that wasn't a good sign. Then the Germans imprisoned me in Frankfurt airport for almost a day. I was stumbling, in pain, from place to another. I never felt that exhausted in my life. Despite all the effort that I made to stay calm, I eventually sort of lost control over my feelings. It was too over whelming to me. It was like one of those times when you've been just putting all together for a long freaking time and then it just get to the point where enough is enough!I just kept on praying and reaching for God for even a slight glimmer of inner peace because I damn sure needed it at that time. All the stress that I had had experienced during my flight just made me more ..fragile to what I had experienced next.
When I started my first quarter, I faced a lot of misfortune. I was so torn and lost. Honestly, I had a sixth sense that I will be facing some difficulties, but not THAT bad. Thankfully, I had a real good adviser that helped me to go through all the academic stuff, like registering for class and giving me the right names to go and talk to. I was sort of going through a maze. I just kept on praying and praying. Holding on to faith seemed like the best thing to do. I believe that faith will always get me and you there. I tried to focus on the very present and not to drain so much on the past and what could have been done differently, or worry too about the future. I was so indecisive and torn about what I will do next. I know this sounds vague for those of you who don't know me personally and what exactly I am talking about. I don't want to go thoroughly about what exactly happened. But, I have to say that I had to do major thinking about many things.
I think that having strong Imaan(faith) is very important element of the process.
It is so easy sometime to know what we should do, or how we should behave, yet extremely hard to apply those right beliefs and ideas. I have to admit that I succumbed to my pain, for a while. However, with time and prayers, I started to feel better and better. Salat al Istikhara helped me in so many ways. I slowly watched my pain vanishing during that period.And, I also felt some peace about everything at that time.
Experiences like this one prove to me more and more that God does send messages.. in so many different ways. I just had to look close. Once you ignore the first sign, you'll get hit by the next one. Moreover, God does listen. He just gives time before answering back,sometimes. God takes time but never forgets.. .
The first year, when I lived in SD, was utterly spectacular. I saw, lived, and learned amazingly so many things. I don't regret a thing, the good and the bad. It was truly mesmerizing. I am so very grateful to God for all of it, especially for the people that I had the chance to meet and the great friends that I made :). I just have so much to write about that period of time, but what I am getting the flow of right now is more current. It is more about the "second chapter" that started when I moved up to Washington state - but I will definitely go back later on the blog to write about last year. After coming back from my short visit to home, I had experienced a storm of problems. I started my freshmen year in style! Those of you who know me personally know about that. I, for the first time, really felt homesick. It was very hard with everything was going around. I thought that I was ready and all set to go, and I was. However, for some reason, I had a weird gut feeling that left me feeling.. super weird(that's the simplest way to describe it! As I look back, it is amazing how this whole chapter started. My flight from Tripoli was delayed for 4 hours and that wasn't a good sign. Then the Germans imprisoned me in Frankfurt airport for almost a day. I was stumbling, in pain, from place to another. I never felt that exhausted in my life. Despite all the effort that I made to stay calm, I eventually sort of lost control over my feelings. It was too over whelming to me. It was like one of those times when you've been just putting all together for a long freaking time and then it just get to the point where enough is enough!I just kept on praying and reaching for God for even a slight glimmer of inner peace because I damn sure needed it at that time. All the stress that I had had experienced during my flight just made me more ..fragile to what I had experienced next.
When I started my first quarter, I faced a lot of misfortune. I was so torn and lost. Honestly, I had a sixth sense that I will be facing some difficulties, but not THAT bad. Thankfully, I had a real good adviser that helped me to go through all the academic stuff, like registering for class and giving me the right names to go and talk to. I was sort of going through a maze. I just kept on praying and praying. Holding on to faith seemed like the best thing to do. I believe that faith will always get me and you there. I tried to focus on the very present and not to drain so much on the past and what could have been done differently, or worry too about the future. I was so indecisive and torn about what I will do next. I know this sounds vague for those of you who don't know me personally and what exactly I am talking about. I don't want to go thoroughly about what exactly happened. But, I have to say that I had to do major thinking about many things.
I think that having strong Imaan(faith) is very important element of the process.
It is so easy sometime to know what we should do, or how we should behave, yet extremely hard to apply those right beliefs and ideas. I have to admit that I succumbed to my pain, for a while. However, with time and prayers, I started to feel better and better. Salat al Istikhara helped me in so many ways. I slowly watched my pain vanishing during that period.And, I also felt some peace about everything at that time.
Experiences like this one prove to me more and more that God does send messages.. in so many different ways. I just had to look close. Once you ignore the first sign, you'll get hit by the next one. Moreover, God does listen. He just gives time before answering back,sometimes. God takes time but never forgets.. .
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Fasting
Fasting is not starvation or bringing heartache and weakness to your body and day. It is a spiritual discipline of the soul, body and mind. It is a practice that is done with heart and devotion. Fasting is, in my opinion, one way to one: approach God, Two: achieve mental clarity, and three: allow renewal of body and spirit and feelings.
So many stereotypes think of fasting as a way to get thinner or to just starve one’s body, but it is absolutely not true. You would be amazed how good fasting could do to your body, spirit, and brain. Fasting is an ideal way to activate the process of demolition and construction. The hunger that the body goes through pushes the inner organs to use lots of the weak cells and renew them, which allow your body to refurbish its energy and vitality. Fasting has also lots of dermatological benefits, while fasting causes lowering of water percentage in the blood, thus in the skin too ; it helps to decrease the vulnerability of the skin and resist microbes and microbial diseases. Also it lessens intestinal secretions of poisons and decreasing the proportion of fermentation, which causes acne and dimples. These are brief health facts about fasting. There are too many to write in this blog. I would like to emphasize about more than its physical health benefits.
Aside of those health benefits, there are mental ones. Through fasting, you could rise to a new level of mediation, spirituality and clarity. It is more of a deep spiritual experience then it is physically. Personally, when I fast, I actually find myself not thinking about food at all! I even got to the level where during fasting, I got rid of all the self impulses and negative feelings, such as sadness, grudge, jealousy, and anger. Moreover, it actually has made me go through many days where I have had too much stress and problems flowing around. It simply clears my mind. It gives me peace. Now, it is not easy to experience all this at once or right from the first time you try to fast. It took me a lot of devotions and heart to achieve a high level of clarity and peace. It actually took me quite A while to truly experience what fasting is really about. The greatest experience of fasting ever was last year. I was in a total different culture and in a whole different atmosphere, for the first time, where it was very difficult to actually fast and be able to maintain clarity of mind throughout all the craziness of the day. However, I took all those difficulties and looked at them as a tool for me to learn more about myself and to prove to myself that I could really deal with this and I could be strong and overcome it. No matter what bad could happen, during fasting, I simply try my very best to look at it as a thing that is just there to teach me something or as I thing that God is testing me through. While I was fasting, I was simply in a place where lots of stress and anxiety didn’t seem to get me. I was shocked about myself in many ways. I literally experienced fasting in a whole new level, like I never did before. It was hard to be away from home during time like that, but I was blessed by it. That is one of the many great things I have experienced so far by living here. Focusing on school and positive approaches and powers (hope, tomorrow will be better, faith) and letting go of the temptations and negative energy truly made me feel great, Ofcourse that is besides the prayers and the one-on-one contact that I have made throughout the day, with God. It was such bless and I thank God for it.
It is also important to know the limits of fasting. God was merciful and only had one month where he asked us, Muslims, to fast ( which is ABSOLUTELY possible and very manageable. It is NOT a lot). It is recommended not to fast more than 3 days month besides that, for those, like me, who practices it even aside from Ramadan.
Fasting is a pure spiritual experience for those who starve for clarity and inner peace. And Ofcourse the good deeds that counts behind it. And more purity within praying and contact with God.
I hope that this piece of writing has giving you a better perspective on fasting.
Salam
So many stereotypes think of fasting as a way to get thinner or to just starve one’s body, but it is absolutely not true. You would be amazed how good fasting could do to your body, spirit, and brain. Fasting is an ideal way to activate the process of demolition and construction. The hunger that the body goes through pushes the inner organs to use lots of the weak cells and renew them, which allow your body to refurbish its energy and vitality. Fasting has also lots of dermatological benefits, while fasting causes lowering of water percentage in the blood, thus in the skin too ; it helps to decrease the vulnerability of the skin and resist microbes and microbial diseases. Also it lessens intestinal secretions of poisons and decreasing the proportion of fermentation, which causes acne and dimples. These are brief health facts about fasting. There are too many to write in this blog. I would like to emphasize about more than its physical health benefits.
Aside of those health benefits, there are mental ones. Through fasting, you could rise to a new level of mediation, spirituality and clarity. It is more of a deep spiritual experience then it is physically. Personally, when I fast, I actually find myself not thinking about food at all! I even got to the level where during fasting, I got rid of all the self impulses and negative feelings, such as sadness, grudge, jealousy, and anger. Moreover, it actually has made me go through many days where I have had too much stress and problems flowing around. It simply clears my mind. It gives me peace. Now, it is not easy to experience all this at once or right from the first time you try to fast. It took me a lot of devotions and heart to achieve a high level of clarity and peace. It actually took me quite A while to truly experience what fasting is really about. The greatest experience of fasting ever was last year. I was in a total different culture and in a whole different atmosphere, for the first time, where it was very difficult to actually fast and be able to maintain clarity of mind throughout all the craziness of the day. However, I took all those difficulties and looked at them as a tool for me to learn more about myself and to prove to myself that I could really deal with this and I could be strong and overcome it. No matter what bad could happen, during fasting, I simply try my very best to look at it as a thing that is just there to teach me something or as I thing that God is testing me through. While I was fasting, I was simply in a place where lots of stress and anxiety didn’t seem to get me. I was shocked about myself in many ways. I literally experienced fasting in a whole new level, like I never did before. It was hard to be away from home during time like that, but I was blessed by it. That is one of the many great things I have experienced so far by living here. Focusing on school and positive approaches and powers (hope, tomorrow will be better, faith) and letting go of the temptations and negative energy truly made me feel great, Ofcourse that is besides the prayers and the one-on-one contact that I have made throughout the day, with God. It was such bless and I thank God for it.
It is also important to know the limits of fasting. God was merciful and only had one month where he asked us, Muslims, to fast ( which is ABSOLUTELY possible and very manageable. It is NOT a lot). It is recommended not to fast more than 3 days month besides that, for those, like me, who practices it even aside from Ramadan.
Fasting is a pure spiritual experience for those who starve for clarity and inner peace. And Ofcourse the good deeds that counts behind it. And more purity within praying and contact with God.
I hope that this piece of writing has giving you a better perspective on fasting.
Salam
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