Jeewan Online

Subhan Allah (Glory be to God), we have spent much time being more disciplined than we usually are. For many of us, we have a sense of joy, happiness that we increased ourselves in some way, made ourselves better and improved on where we were before the month began. For some of us, it didn’t feel the way we wanted it to, work and other activities made it difficult for us to be able to benefit the way we wanted to. Still, there is time to take some of the blessings of this month and apply it to the rest of the year, till, should we be blessed, our beautiful guest greets us again.

Consider setting some goals for yourself. Remember that if we fail to plan, then we plan to fail. So perhaps there is a need to choose three of four big goals and then track some of the other things on a daily basis to note your patterns of behavior and be able to determine areas for improvement.

It is extremely important that the process of goal setting is not a debilitating one. Sometimes people tend to focus on what they did NOT do as opposed to what they did. Goal setting should be empowering. With Allah’s help, you are making an intention to make a change. If you notice that you are not able to do what you initially outlined then what it requires is some thought and reflection.  The prophet peace be upon him reminded us that the best deeds are small but consistent. You don’t want to set up a million grand goals and then succeed at none. Instead try focusing on about four large goals that you outline some concrete steps and create a system by which you can track yourself. Some examples of this are provided in the chart below:

Now below gives certain examples, the list itself, I would say is too much for one person to do all on their own, all at once. The thing about setting goals is to make them as specific as possible and manageable in order to be able to be successful. In this example below, the grand goal is to Develop and Improve my relationship with Allah. However, we need a specific way/s to do so. If I currently don’t pray all my five prayers, maybe I will choose  pray my five daily salat. For some people, it may be difficult to start with five so they may choose to start with three.  So under the grand goal for personal development, you should only  choose one or two things to work on. If I pray my salat regularly, I may choose to make, praying my sunnah

Weekly Chart to monitor self after Ramadan

“oh you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, in order that you may attain consciousness of God” 2:183.

Oh traveller, what have you attained in the presence of our blessed guest? What have you been conscious of- your hunger and thirst or your relationship with your Lord and His creation? Have you longed for each fast to be over so you can resume the same activities that takes you away from the One Who loves you and gave you this opportunity to receive His mercy and forgiveness? Or did you allow the baraka (blessing) of each moment elevate your soul. Did you yearn for your Lord, did you turn to Him and ask for Him to help you attain consciousness of Him? Did you ask Him to make you a source of goodness to His creation? to your community? your society? to our world?

Will you awaken from the slumber you allowed to seize hold of your soul and awaken to the light of the true reality. This life is a temporary pass time. One in which you can profit or lose. How will you fare in the moments your family and friends throw dust on your grave? What will they say? Will your “work” be valuable to you then? Will the trinkets and money you accumulated and will leave behind be of any value to you?

As they walk their last steps away from you and leave you to the questions of the angels what will be your fate?

Did you remember your Lord in life, enough that you will remember Him in death? Will this lifetime bring you His eternal mercy and pleasure or was it filled with your temporary pleasures of “me and I” and doing what “I want to do whether it will earn me the pleasure of God or His displeasure…I only have one life..” A truer statement has never been said, we only have one life and there is no “second chance”. Wake up traveller, wake up before your slumber is permanent and your final bed is a narrow space, six feet within the bowels of the earth, far away from the eyes of people and the things you used to love. Work now so that your grave will be filled with light and space and the fragrance of Paradise. Wake up oh servant, your Lord never abandoned you, don’t you see He gave you this chance? He allowed this blessed guest to visit you. To come to you and surround you with His light and mercy sent on the wings of angels.

Don’t lose this chance traveller, the road is long, but the final destination has been determined. The choice of how you travel along this path is a choice given to you by Him, but one that has consequences.

Please brother, please sister…in these moments of solitude, let go of the chains that you allowed to imprison your heart and find freedom in your submission to Him. He is calling you to it, accept it now so that you can earn His pleasure and through the bounty of His mercy find eternal peace and true happiness.

Watch and reflect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J5Soaq8V3I

Oh servants of God, at no time do we come into contact with another soul without the possibility of affecting them in some way- positively or negatively. But why should we be concerned? Allah reminds us in the Qur’an “We shall place the just scales for the Day of Resurrection and no soul will be wronged in any respect, and even if there is only the weight of a grain of mustard-seed We shall bring it, and We are sufficient to take account.”Al-Anbiya (The Prophets) 21:47.

Have you stopped to think about your actions and how they affect others? Do you remember a day when you will give account for all that you have done? Scrolls of your deeds, every single action and word, rolled out in front of you, nothing left out.

It is interesting how in life we can be so self-righteous. Ready to judge others, making sure that anyone who takes away our rights should know and in some way make reparations for it. How it is easy not to forgive, families stop talking to each other, friends stop caring and people claiming to care for our mosques and institutions fight each other over them slowly pushing away those who love Allah.

Do we forget that one day we too shall all be gathered, from Adam and Eve peace be upon them, all the way to the very last person created to give account for our deeds and actions.

Imagine standing on a Day when nothing is left out…a Day when all will be judged and no act will be missed. All that we did in the open and all that we did behind closed doors.

When we take ourselves to account and we repent before God, it must be sincere and we should try to repair the damages, grain by grain. To reconcile ourselves with those we injured by talking about them behind their backs and to their faces, those we hurt by our hands and our bad opinions. We should actively seek to make peace with all of these individuals so that when we die, no soul can claim that we were unjust, that we caused hurt or pain to them. These are the ones who will gain entrance to Heaven with no reckoning.

As for those who choose not to try and repair their wrongs, apologize to those who were hurt by their words, deeds and actions, imagine standing on the Day of Account before Allah. And while we may think that we have enough good deeds and our scale on the right is heavy, as we look around we are surrounded by people who stand before Allah,

“He lied about me”, “She disgraced me”, “He stole money from me”, “…sold me defective materials”, “had unfair business dealings with me”, “sold me something but concealed the defects”, “was my neighbor but treated me unkindly”, “pushed me out of the mosque”, “took away my rights because I could not stand up for myself”, “used their power and positions to harm me”, “took my money away unfairly”…..this list goes on. On this day how we treated animals and the environment will also be considered.

On this day, there are no injustices that will be left un-dealt with. For those who thought they “got away” in this life, they forget that balance is a law of Allah and the balance of justice will be restored eventually. Sometimes we see it in our lives and other times we don’t. It is in the Hand of God.  And as the people we wronged plead to God, He will say, “Erase some of his good deeds”, “Erase some of her good deeds”.

Soon as we look at our scales, they gradually become more and more empty with nothing left behind. Standing bankrupt before God, because our arrogance and pride in front of people. Our desire to be seen as “the one in charge”, “the responsible one”, “the one who has power and can do what he or she wanted”. Even if we think that the persons we wrong are “not good people” we still have to give account for our actions and choices. The things we thought were funny when we hurt others, the “innocent” lies we told…

In a hadith related by Anas, the prophet peace be upon him said that Allah will say on the Day of Judgement, “ It is not proper for any of Heaven’s people, when any one of the people of Hell has been wronged by him, that he should take in place in Heaven until the latter has exacted retribution from him; neither is it right that any of Hell’s people should enter Hell’ when he has a grievance against any of heaven’s people until he  has exacted retribution from him, even for no more than a slap.”

What will we do then?

Allah SWT has given us a great opportunity to make something from nothing. By this I mean, we have an opportunity at each instant in our lives to transform it from something that may be seemingly insignificant to something that can change our lives forever.

In short, we have a choice.

Why are some people negative and others positive? Some people can find good in every situation while others see only the misery and hardships. Which type of person do you like to be around?  Which lens to life do you personally wear?

Recognize that Allah has control over all aspects of life, so when things are good, we should be grateful for that and when things appear to be difficult, instead of being miserable or drowning ourselves in self-pity, we should ask ourselves, “What does God want me to learn from this?” By keeping in mind that Allah is still with us and we turn our reliance to Him, will help us not to lose sight of the BIG PICTURE. This experience is for my highest and greatest good and meant to help me be the best person I can.

The same can be said for moments we think about as being “empty and insignificant”- standing in line; walking to the store; doing house hold chores, sitting in traffic are some examples. People sometimes feel that these are a “waste of time” yet they “must be done”, on the roads we see “road rage” and well today there are all kinds of other “rages”.

 This Ramadan, let us try to fill those moments with the treasures taught to us by the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and given to us by Allah. By simply renewing our intention, “I am doing this for Allah” and then use the opportunity to make dhikr (remembrance of God), we change that moment from being what we consider as useless to something that can have great benefits for us.

So the next time you are in a line or in traffic, instead of getting angry because someone took “your spot” or “cut you off” fill your time with saying any of the following: Subhan Allah (Glory be to God); Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest);  Subhan Allah wa bi hamdi-hee (glory be to God and to Him belongs the Praise) or Subhan Allah hil Adheem (Glory be to God, the Greatest and most Magnificent).  These are dhikr that are, “light on the tongue but heavy on the scales (of our deeds)”.

Take advantage of these moments and use them to help you. Instead of you losing your blessings (by getting angry) or losing the opportunity to increase your reward with God. Perhaps on the day of Judgement, it will make a bigger difference than we could have imagined!

What are the things that pre-occupy your time and your mind? Is it work? School? Family? Friends? Good stuff? Bad stuff? In other words, what are you conscious of? If you were honest with yourself, how many times in a day do you remember Allah? God- the source of your life? The One Who placed you in this world; Whose mercies surround your every moment of life? The One who granted you everything that is good in your life and presented you with every challenge you’ve had so that you would be able to grow and find your inner strength?

One way to know how much Allah remembers you is to reflect on the ayah (verse) Sura Baqara (2:152): “Then if you remember Me; I will remember you.” Consciousness is the core of worship. People sometimes restrict their understanding of worship to the ritual aspects of prayer and other acts that are required of us. And while these form the cornerstone and provide a foundation for our lives, it is important that we do not limit our understanding of Islam to this.

Potentially, all of our actions can be classified as a form of worship. When we clean our homes, go to work, learn and study, enjoy time with family and friends and face, look after the environment, give charity, enjoy simple and complex moments in our lives, are thankful for the good and the challenges that face us and look after the needs of the community, these are all forms of worship.  Moments to remember God, to be thankful, to supplicate and ask for His help and for his forgiveness.

This is why Islam is not considered to be merely a religion but in fact looked at as a complete code for life.  

So how do we live this deen (way of life), do we remember our duas (supplications) as we move from one thing to another,  do we make our intentions knowing when we go to school and work, we are doing so as a form of worship? Do we measure our words and actions? When was the last time we spent time doing work to benefit people other than ourselves- in our schools, work places, communities? 

  How do we raise our families to understand that we are here for a purpose greater than collecting “trinkets”, that we have a Divine Purpose and that collectively if each individual, each family maintained their consciousness of Allah, then that consciousness would only push them to re-prioritize their time, their goals and their lives because they would understand that we are only present on this earthly journey for a limited time.

Our goal should be to not fall into the typical routines that erase our time and make us lose the value of living completely and meaningfully. It should be to work hand-in-hand starting in our own families, to Know Allah and to serve His creation. Each a vital component of worshiping Him.

Allah has given you and I an opportunity to reach a personal potential higher than we can imagine, to elevate our souls and to own this world with our hands not our hearts because a conscious heart submits only to God not to jobs and tasks. We begin to see each thing as a part of the total whole and start developing ourselves and our family to work towards attaining the goal of God’s Pleasure.

Let us start reprioritizing our consciousness, remember our divine duties to transform ourselves and to serve society and make those the driving principles in our relationships.

True consciousness can only lead to freedom and eternal happiness.

As with all things, when we want to attain a goal, we must prepare for it. No one became a brilliant artist, writer, thinker, athlete without practice and preparation.It is a blessing that we are on the eve of Ramadan. How have you prepared for it? Have you fasted? Have you set aside time to get all your preparations out of the way? It is important that ahead of time, you plan for each detail. This email is much longer than the coming posts, this is because it contains a series of tips for various elements of Ramadan in order for us to gain as much of it’s benefit when it dawns upon us.

This Ramadan, I would encourage you to go to my website and download the Ramadan Personal Tracking Sheet available in both Arabic and English to help YOU keep track of YOURSELF this Ramadan.

It’s important that we do not reduce the value of Ramadan and make it become like other consumer-based holidays as it is not. Ramadan is not a period of starving the physical needs in the day and indulging them at night. It is a time of balancing all elements of the self- the body, the spirit and heart. Ramadan is about nourishing the body and soul with the light of sacrifice and patience. It is a time of giving without want of receipt. About finding the joy of submission and learning how to take this out of Ramadan into our daily lives. It must begin ahead of time and we pray last us through another year should we have life for that long.

Qur’an: Ramadan is a month that gained its significance because of the revelation of the Qur’an. Find time to re-aquaint yourself with it. Take it off the highest shelf and dust if off. Keep it on a lower shelf so you can reach it when you want. Set a goal for yourself. Reading some verses each day AND reflecting on them. While it is good to try and complete the reading of the Quran during the month, in many ways it will be more valuable to read and reflect on it. How has it taken root in our lives? or has it? What do we need to do? Let it’s tranquility sooth our souls and take away the noises that we often surround ourselves with.

1) If you have guests over for Iftar, try to make sure that you allow some time just before iftar for each of you to either collectively or individually read Qur’an, make dhikr and dua.
2) Try to prepare meals earlier in the day so that you are not losing the sweetest part of the day cooking. Let each member of the family make a committment to assist in those day to day things so as to give each person in the family an equal amount of time to engage in various forms of worship.

Shopping: We often spend time making extravagant iftars/meals for breaking the fast. We spend hours eating and waste much time at groceries and stores. This Ramadan let us make a committment to eat simply and enough. Sadly, today there are many who also waste food in Ramadan. Instead of learning or reminding ourselves of the value of time, we lose it engaging in activities that simply satiate our physical selves and reduce our ability to connect with our higher selves.

1) Make a meal plan, keep them simple so that those who cook dont have to spend their days in the kitchen and instead immerse themselves in other activities.
Each individual should realize that this Ramadan is an opportunity to improve their relationship with their Lord.
2) Keep Iftar invitations simple. Consider making simple meals and not too many dishes. The goal of breaking fast together is to get the blessing of remembering
Allah’s many blessings collectively.
3) Remember the prophet’s peace be upon him guidance of filling one third of our stomach with food, another third with water and the other third air.  Dont overfill
yourself or push guests to overfill themselves.
4) Buy your gifts now. Consider re-using bags and using recycled paper or newspaper to wrap it as we are caretakers of our earth as well.

Taraweeh prayer: Make a committment to at least pray this during Ramadan. Ideally at a mosque or musallah and if you are unable to, then try to do so on your own.

1) If you attend or plan iftars, please keep this in mind. Many people plan iftars and it becomes a social gathering filled with much idle talk and conversation. The rememberance becomes lost in a rash of jokes and senseless conversations. If you plan the iftar, let your guest know ahead of time what you plan to do about taraweeh and encourage them to pray with you. Remember this month is to spend time connecting our selves with our Creator. The best connections with people happen when we balance our connections between the social, the spiritual and the collective responsibilities.

Family:

A time to reconnect; A time to get rid of the excuses of work and all the “stuff” that fills our lives. A time to reflect on how you can maintain some of the sweetness that you gain from reconnecting.

A time to think of converts who may not have the support system in place that some may have. To invite them, to ensure that we care for them and include them as a member of our families.

Friends:

Rekindle to nectar of brotherhood and sisterhood. For too long we have allowed ourselves to become engulfed in insignificant stuff that fills our time. Take the time to make a call, to meet, to pray for and reconnect with the brothers and sisters who have made an impact in your life. A chance to say Thank You, as we cannot be grateful to Allah if we are not grateful to those who help us.

Do you have problems getting up for sahoor, arrange to get a friend to call you. If you need help with this let me know insha Allah.

Effort and Sacrifice:

Ramadan is not a time to sleep the day away. It is meant to be a training ground. To stretch us, push us and help us to realize our truest inner potentials. To reconnect us to the Divine and to help clarify our vision so our purpose becomes clear once more. No more, “remembering the good days” but starting to understand how to re-prioritize our lives so that we begin to live meaningfully once again.
Find events, community needs, and gather your friends and family to help support. Remember to give sadaqah (charity). Consider instead of preparing a lavish iftar, to keep it simple and make much more to give to a shelter. Find a way to give back to your neighbours and community.
This was the spirit with which the prophet peace be upon him lived. This Ramadan make a portion of each day for yourself, your family and your community.

Ramadan Reflections Blog:

This Ramadan, share your thoughts an progress or challenges on my blog by responding to the daily posts. You would be surprised that people will share in your journey and experiences. Your ideas, thoughts, experiences and challenges can assist others to become stronger better individuals. You dont have to post each day, but if you post at least once a week, you will give others a chance to share and learn with you. We are a community of people striving to become better indivduals. Join our Ramadan reflections community as we work to rekindle our inner lights, to support each other in the unveiling of the illusions that mask the true reality. Let this be a committment to change.

May Allah SWT help us along this journey.

A beautiful person before coming to the deen of Islam; his love for life and humanity only became more intense and passionate after embracing Islam. I was at home sick last week, and decided to call Dale, I had not spoken to him in sometime. He was just vacuuming but stopped to enjoy a moment with me. Our moment turned out to be over an hour as Dale and I talked about everything and anything. I always enjoyed hearing the enthusiasm in his voice. While talking, his daughter called just to say hi. He mentioned how much he loved her and his son. We talked about life, love, passion, drumming, people, Islam..how much he wanted his wife and children to see what he saw; to taste what he tasted..I told him to just give them time and to let them see it from what he did. Dale was masha Allah a beautiful person by all accounts. He could see the good in all things and all people. I ate cheese curds when I visited him at home for the first time. Seemed he always had a story, a lesson or something that he learnt from the most unlikely person/s. He talked about people’s surprise when he would say Subhan Allah or Alhamdulillah in the middle of his lessons….But the thing I enjoyed the most for him was his selfless giving way and ability to see good in all things and people. He truly was filled with love and the name he chose for himself could not be more appropriate - The Beauty of the Deen. He truly loved Allah and all of His mercies. May Allah bless him by the best of his actions and grant his family what he wished most for them and patience in these difficult times. Peace and Love to a dear brother whose life reminds us, “From Allah we have come and to Him is our return”.

Lately, I have been working hard going through the principal’s certification process. Added to that is some of the different things I do at school and my homeroom. I love what I do in education; I believe that it has the potential to change not only lives but the world that we live in. The demands in education however continue to grow. Increasing need to focus on student achievement means that there are also numerous additional pressures that come within educational territory.
I often wonder how much of it is because of these pressures/needs/desires for students to be successful or the prevalent big-city attitudes that often characterize our lives- we work to live- we live to work- we live to work-our work is our life?

Traditionally, work took place when we were at the work place; thereafter, workers had time to spend with their families, friends and get things done in their lives. Today, it seems that we are in a giant rat-race that never seems to end. Ironically, the technology  designed to keep us more connected has only invaded our lives and in fact made us more removed from the people we love and care about the most.

So as I continue on my track to become a principal, in a job that i truly love and am passionate about….today i sit and muse about what would happen if I were to just pack it all in and move to a farm somewhere and grow trees and plants….maybe I would not make as much but I would be doing something that I love (though not as much as education)…i would probably only need one computer (on dial up), I wouldnt be as connected as I am right now, but maybe out of all the insanity of too much work; too many connections to everything and everyone, I might have some time to go play with my kids, enjoy moments with my family and friends, do things to give back to those who dont have what I do and to not be as busy with the urgency of the many things that seems to fill our lives in the big city?…..

Asalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah

On behalf of my family and myself, I would like to wish you all Eid Mubarak! May Allah SWT accept all of the good that you did during the past month of prayer and service. This month has been a blessing for us in so many ways: by being more conscious of God; helping us to realize our strength; helping us to recognize the amount of time we have, if we change certain elements of our day; giving us a chance to reflect and ponder upon the deeper meanings of life and our purpose for being here; the chance to develop new habits and so much more. Of it’s blessings is that although we all experience it at the same time, we each experience it differently. It is my hope that you have realized how special you are, that you understand that you have a decreed role as a part of Allah’s plan strengthened yourself and developed into a better individual.

Thank you to those of you who sent me emails and feedback over the course of this month, it was most appreciated. I would also like to thank my wife, mother and children for all the time they sacrificed in order for me to do the reflections. If there is any good that came from it, it is from Allah and any mistakes are my own for which I ask your forgiveness.
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Thanks for sharing your time, energy and duas with me over this blessed month. May your Eid be a beautiful one, reflecting your inner beauty and filled with truth, love, happiness, health, sincerity, close family, friends and prosperity. May Allah light a path for you through this dunya that removes the veils that distract us from the true reality of life and opens the gates of Paradise to you and those you love. Ameen, Ameen, Ameen.

With love and salam
Your brother
jeewan