These are the moments that make life worth living (Part II)

Let's continue from where we left it last time. There have been many more instances and sweet nothings that made me smile and embed my life with a deeper meaning.
A few more defining moments of our otherwise not-very-introspective lives.
*Getting a hug from your dad. (That is so rare!)
*Watching your mom laugh at your silly cracks.
*Having a heart-to-heart with your sibling. (With whom you are always at dagger-ends:)
*Going on a drive with one of your best friends when you feel gloomy and ending up feeling so much more cheerful:)
*Feeling grateful to the Lord after a chat with an old friend.
*Two words: "School Reunion"
*Giving up something you really like for someone you love and realizing it wasn't that difficult.
(That someone can be The Lord as well:)
*Bumping into a friend after ages in the middle of nowhere!
*Having a simple meal with your family over a heart-warming chat.
*Getting a compliment from someone when you never expected it.
*Knowing that there are people who love you unconditionally and will be there (to bear with you ofcourse :D) no matter what.
There are so many more simple moments that can alter our lives and add the colours of love and gratitude to it.

It's all in the mind...

Look beyond what you see,
You'll always find a shadow.
There's nothing that light hides,
After a bright day, darkness has to follow!

It's such a negative outlook on life,
The day follows the night you'd defend.
It may all sound very pessimistically apt,
But what goes up has to descend!

Yet, there's another side of it all,
There's still elegance to it.
The night is adorned by the moon's grace,
Stars flanking, smitten by it!

You are in Love …

I read is article in a journal called Revival. I loved the article so much that I had to share it with everyone.

You are in Love …

You may be wondering how this secret love of yours is public, of whose intensity even you are unaware. You may not have realized, but in-fact you are in love with Allah(swt). Think about those moments of happiness that you shared with your Love. How happy you were when you made it to the mosque in spite of bad weather. The pleasure you felt when you left that scrumptious food just because you were not sure if it was halaal. And recall the way Allah(swt) reciprocated greater love by providing you with all the good things you desired and by bestowing you with the satisfaction that even the millionaires fail to enjoy.

Once you feel this love, then you dream about Allah(swt), about the moments you spent chatting with Him in the early hours before dawn, the small things you adopted just to please your Love, the small pains you endured for your Love. The tears that rolled down your face when you found the world and everything in it alien and missed your Love.... and to your surprise found Him at your side holding your hand and providing you with the support that the rest of the world failed to provide. You start counting the favors He bestowed on you and then try comparing your response. You feel sad by your attitude towards Him who really loved you and you showered all your attention on those things that would perish one day. While you are remembering Him, just realize that He is also remembering you, though you are just one of His creation and have no reason to be remembered by anyone. But He, the Ever Loving, remembers you more than you remember Him. If you remember Him and discuss your Love among your friends then He shall discuss you among an even better company.

On the authority of Abu Harayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (pbuh) said: Allah the Almighty said: I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assemble better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed. (Bukhari.)

The more your love for Allah(swt) increases, even more His love for you increases. You recite Quran and can see Him speaking to you directly. You eagerly wait for each prayer as it is your date with your Love, Allah(swt). You ask for forgiveness and He is ready to forgive anything and in any quantity. Time would come when you can't live without daily chatting with Him in the lonely night and spending hours in His worship. Discussing all the matters of the day and asking forgiveness for all the shortcomings and taking guidance for the future day. As your love increases so the desire to see Him increases, and you compete to attain the Firdous (Paradise) for whose inhabitants He shall provide His glimpse.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him. (Bukhari.)

Your Love, Allah(swt), is the Most Honorable. If anyone shows enmity towards His love then He declares war against that person, group or nation. What you need to do is attain the position of being His love and you can achieve it by loving Him more than anything else. Then you can also taste the sweetness of faith. The taste that shall linger on your lips forever and force you to return to your Love, time and again.

Narrated Anas(r.a.): The Prophet said, "Whoever possesses the following three qualities will taste the sweetness of faith:

1. The one to whom Allah and His Apostle become dearer than anything else.

2. Who loves a person and he loves him only for Allah's sake.

3. Who hates to revert to disbelief after Allah has brought (saved) him out from it, as he hates to be thrown in fire." (Bukhari)

Thus, don’t delay in expressing your love. You know you love Allah(swt), so let your actions be testimony to this love and He shall embrace you with His Mercy and love you immensely and shower such blessings upon you that you may never have imagined.

Let's explore this Love and compete in becoming the most loved one by Allah(swt). May Allah(swt), The Merciful and Ever Loving, help us all attain this position of "Muqarraboon". Ameen.

Syed Muti ur Rahman,

University of Illinois at Chicago.

Email: muti_ifit@yahoo.com

[Written for Al-Bayan newsletter]

Note: This has been posted by the permission of the writer without any change

A thought in the passing...

A heavy conscience is a cumbersome load. It bogs down your spirit, slows down your steps and brings you along. The only good it does is, strengthen your faith.

It's time...

I received a very good sms the other day. 'When you want to know how rich you are, don't count your money; just shed a tear and see how many hands reach out to hold it!' It is at times such as these that you realise what your priorities in life should be. Who should be a priority and what shouldn't get to your head. It makes me feel so blessed when I see my friends by my side in every despair and joy. I can see my pain, my joy, my exhilaration reflected in one of my dearest friend's eyes. My sorrow flows out of my best friend's eyes. Another close friend shows her concern by scolding me for my fallacy. It feels great that people actually expect me to be good and any error that I make makes them either upset, apprehensive or mad at me:) It is a bliss, having caring friends.

I feel sorry for all the time I spent wasting on things that were never worth it. Maybe in the process I might not have given the time that I should have given to the people who love me, who want the best for me, who will always be there for me, who care for me, no matter what, come what may.

We make mistakes and we learn from them and grow into a better, stronger person in the process. But, if we repeat a mistake, it becomes a sin. The self-pity, the injury to our dignity, the anguish and the wound that our pride suffers is a punishment in itself. We don't need any other reprimand or telling off.

When we get to suffer for a bad judgment that we made ages back, it becomes excruciating. When we don't even know the reason why we are made to go through stuff that we reckon we don't deserve. When we don't know what wrong we ever did. When nobody bothers to give us an explanation for a cold behaviour! When friends betray us and move on in life. When we bear the brunt of dejection for no sane reason. When this happens more that once!!! Like we are being punished for someone else's faults, though in fact, it is our own lapse that boomeranged!

Expectations hurt, a lot. But, that doesn't stop us from being optimistic, right? There are better things in life, unseen, just around the corner. The faith in the Almighty and ourselves will bring forth what we truly deserve.

Can you forget this, ever?

Kevin Carter's Pulitzer Prize winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudane famine. the picture depicts a famine stricken child being stalked by a vulture. The child is moving towards a United nations food camp, located a kilometer away.

No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer who left as soon as the photo was taken. He later confided in his friends that he wished he had intervened. Journalists at that time were warned never to touch famine victims for fear of disease.

Three months later, and only weeks after being bestowed with the Pulitzer prize, Kevin Carter comitted suicide.

You can learn numerous lesons from this one article.. What? I leave that to you...

Is the first opinion always the right opinion?

A few months back I met a girl, almost 4 years younger than me, studying in an Intermediate college in my college campus. She was scared of crossing the road. I was anyway crossing the road and it wasn’t a problem helping her out. When we entered our campus, I spoke to her for a while and at the end of the small talk, she thanked me and complimented me.

Well, that put me to thinking. Was the first impression so important? I hardly knew the girl, and there I am saying ‘thank you’s to her compliments! Just by a small gesture, can you tag a person to be good or bad? There are n number of people out there, just waiting to please the whole world! I read a saying sometime back that goes as “I don’t know the sure way to success, but the surest way to failure is to try to make everyone happy!” Again, this is one of my pet quotes. Indeed, you can’t make everyone happy! A few will find you arrogant, another few may be jealous and a few more may be indifferent to you. It’s part of being human!

Many people might mistake a pretty face or a sweet talking conceited person to be good or misjudge a very good person to be haughty or arrogant just because he/she didn’t speak to them! But, thankfully, illusions don’t last forever. We do wake up some day and realize that we had erred! It is very commonplace that people form an imaginary description of a person or pass a judgment just in one meeting or even a look! That’s ridiculous! How can a person be judged by just looking at him/her or for that matter in the fist meeting! Look at online friendship portals. You get impressed by someone’s profile and look no further! In actuality, more often that not, you’re shocked by their true revelation! It is a pity… Do give this a thought the next time you frame an imaginary picture of a person’s character in your mind…

HIGH ON HIATUS

Its been ages since I visited this place! I thought I’d keep this place updated on a regular basis. But, life makes commitments a priori without even dropping us a hint! Well, that is what happened exactly. We don't even realise how busy we get at times. Our schedule is thrown off track, the things we planned to do just remain as undone reminders!

Days fly away with super-speed and when you look back and try to recollect what you've done, all you can see is a blur. Well, I sometimes find my days deeply unsatisfactory, where I haven't done anything worthwhile. The other day one of my friends asked me about how I spent my day. I couldn't recollect what I did the whole day! Not a single thing! Slowly a mish-mash of images formed in my mind and I realised with a sadness that I had let another day go by! Another 24 hours which could have been put to a better use.

Another thing that I can’t comprehend is that, how can I be tired of doing things that I like! Like, I am drained at the very thought of reading or writing at times! I find it very intrusive. Stability is definitely not my best attribute!

Anyways, now when I’m NOT on rocky grounds, I should be posting more frequently. Let’s see…

Belief...

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959)

Give your parents roses while they are alive...

I received this short story as a mail. It's not my own composition. It is very touching, do read it till the end.

My mom had only one eye. I hated her... She was such an embarrassment. She ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected little weeds and such to sell... anything for the money we needed she was such an embarrassment. There was this one day during elementary school... It was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school, my friends asked, "Your mom has only one eye?!?!"...And they taunted me. I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world so I said to my mom, "Mom... Why don't you have the other eye?! If you're only going to make me a laughingstock, why don't you just die?!!!" My mom did not respond... I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that I had said what I'd wanted to say all this time... maybe it was because my mom hadn't punished me, but I didn't think that I had hurt her feelings very badly. That night... I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me. I took a look at her, and then turned away. Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one eye. So I told myself that I would grow up and become successful. Because I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty...

Then I studied real hard. I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too... Now I'm living happily as a successful man. I like it here because it's a place that doesn't remind me of my mom. This happiness was getting bigger and bigger,Then sometime later,someone knocked at my front door! Who's this...It was my mother... Still with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom's eye. And I asked her, "Who are you?!" "I don't know you!!!" as if trying to make that real. I screamed at her," How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter!" "GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!" and to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight. Thank goodness... she doesn't recognize me... I was quite relieved. I told myself that I wasn't going to care, or think about this for the rest of my life. Then a wave of relief came upon me...

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So, lying to my wife that I was going on a business trip, I went. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack, that I used to call a house...just out of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand.... It was a letter to me. My son... I think my life has been long enough now... And... I won't visit Seoul anymore... but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much and I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school. ...for you... and I'm sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you. You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mom, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye... So I gave you mine... I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did... The couple times that you were angry with me, I thought to myself, 'It's because he loves me...' My son. Oh, my son... I don't want you to cry for me, because of my death. My son, I love you my son, I love you so much."

"And I will provide for him whence he expects not. And he who puts his trust in Allah - He is sufficient for him. Verily, Allah is to fulfil His work. Undoubtedly, Allah has kept a measure for every thing."
Surah At-Talaq- The Holy Qur'an

TILL DESTINY DO US APART?

I had read somewhere that Allah says “You have your desire and I have my desire. My desire shall reign. But if you surrender yourself to My desire, I shall bestow you also your desire. And if you oppose My desire I shall tire you of fulfilling your desire and ultimately what is to happen will be of My desire” Praise be to the Lord! It is undoubtedly the Lord’s will to give us what we deserve, not what we desire! Sometimes, what we deserve is much better than what we desire.
If in the end, destiny has to decide what turn life will take, why do we go on clinging onto things, which are not in our control? Why can’t we leave everything to His hands and let Him write a destiny that we desire and deserve? Why can’t we trust Him? Why can’t we emancipate, let go? Because, we can’t! It’s an unkind tenet of nature, to desire things that are out of our reach. If we have to get what we ask for, inevitably we get it; without us having to put in much effort. There’s no doubt about that, absolutely. But, if that is something not written in our destiny how can we still defy it? We might move heaven and earth but still not get our wish. We eventually accept what we get. If we had let go of it earlier, maybe we wouldn’t have to go through pain. Maybe... I say maybe, because prayers have a power over destiny too.. As far as my rapport with life counts, it is true.

IF...

All seems well this moment and the next moment you feel that everything in your life is falling apart! You try pulling things together, clasp onto something, but only end up getting hold of thin air. Numerous people put in their best efforts to save a dying relationship, a withering friendship. Sometimes it works out; many a time, it doesn’t.
If only we could go back and amend just a single line that we said, a single word that ruined a timeless friendship!
If only once, we could turn back time and do things differently!
If only, we could apologize to a person we hurt, but have no courage to do so...
If only, we could accept our faults and work towards correcting them...
If only, we could see through people and save ourselves from getting hurt...
If only, we could elude betrayal...
If only, we could admit our failures with humility...
If only, we could become insensitive to pain!
If... If... If... It’s a very elusive two-letter word...

Unexpected Truth...

We always sketch things way ahead of time. We do whatever, always oblivious of what the future may hold in store for us. Planning is an untold, unquestioned part of our life. But, is it always necessary that everything happens in just the way we want it to? More than often life brings in unexpected surprises as well as anguish that we had not planned for. We embrace all good that comes our way with open arms without forethought but are always miserable about the unpleasant things that happen to us. That’s human nature; it’s the way we react to things. Still, if we get only what we desire, what would we have? Luxuries? Comfort? Money? Fame? Success? That’s it? The person we love? And? What else do we get? Do we always ask for the right thing? If we get only that which we ask for, the most basic happiness would be missing, leaving a gaping void in our lives. Do we ask for the flowers to bloom? For the wind to blow? For the birds to sing? For the clouds to break into showers of rain?? No! Yet, we enjoy all these simple things that life offers us. We get so many things without asking that we forget to be grateful. We forget to marvel at the Lord’s might. When we get so many things without asking for, why can’t we accept a few unpleasant things that come across in our life without cribbing? Life is but a test put forth by the Maker of the Universe. Why don’t we enjoy it with all that it offers us? The thrill when we receive something unasked for is inexplicable. It may be anything, good tidings or suffering. Aren’t surprise gifts the best of the lot?

Faith- The Absolute Healer

Ever wonder what life would be if we don’t have hope? If we never love for the reason that we may be hurt? Or never make friends for the fear of being betrayed or backstabbed? I particularly like two adages that go on as- “To love and win is the best thing, to love and lose the next best!” and “It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all!” Okay, agreed. Easier said than done. We hope and what we get back is despair. What if we do get hurt? What if we do get betrayed? It gets stifling even to think of the wound. Our heart knots with fear, with distrust, with misgivings. We wonder whether what we got is what we deserve. We see no way out of the noose. We wait for some miracle to materialize and liberate us of the pain.
They say that time is a great healer. Yet, I beg to differ. I believe in an altogether different truism. I believe in faith in the Lord. What the Lord plans for us is what I deem a better healer than time. Time has its own means of healing; time takes time! But, as soon as faith grips us, we’re cured of the lethal hurt that eats us on the inside. We feel so light, as if our bones are going hollow. That is the power of faith. No matter what obstacle comes our way, faith is what keeps us going, every single time.

The moments that make life worth living...

What is life? This is one of the very clichéd, insatiable questions. As I may put it, the small insignificant-looking moments best encompass life...
Singing out loud with your buddies like a delinquent, until your voice grows hoarse...
Feeling blissful when rain falls on your face and blends with your tears…
Surfing through old stuff and finding old cards that make you smile even after countless years…
Laughing at the inanity of it all, after making up with a dear friend with whom you had a row with…
Watching the sunset from your windowsill, until the stars start winking at you...
Taking a stroll all alone, for no reason at all, thinking whatever thing and enjoying every bit of it...
Watching yourself in the mirror, not liking what you see, but still loving yourself...
That’s life! Raising a toast to all these moments that define life! Cheers!

I miss you my friend...

As the adage goes, Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the weak and enkindles the great. I believe in this saying to the core, but with one change. I believe that absence is the same in friendship as well. One of my dearest friends is on vacation and I miss her, as I do not know what! (like hell I do!) My campus looks unfamiliar to me without her. The silly laughs that we shared and all the small talks that we had, I miss all that so very much!
I am simply not used to being myself without her around at my college! I feel like I am living someone else’s life. It all seems so alien to me! I feel there is something utterly missing! Maybe I will have to stay in this stupor for another 3 days! Whoa! Sounds like say, forever!
Essentially, she is the only person after my best friend with whom I can trust my life with, without batting an eyelid! She has been a pillar of strength, a channel of comfort for me. She has motivated me as no other person ever did. She has immense trust in me and that makes me feel so secure. It is so reassuring that someone believes in you. It feels like a warm blanket enveloping me on an icy night. Without her around, I do not have that safety cloak around me. It feels scary! However, she will be back soon and that belief is enough to keep me going.
I put this in writing (err... typing!) to let her know how much I miss her. I simply cannot imagine myself without you my friend!

Reach Out!

I see a child, innocent,
blue-eyed, and crying,
Its tiny fingers in his
mother’s hands prying.
The mother stands, her
heart weeping, eyes sore.
Her baby wont stop sobbing,
though she tells him a lore.
He weeps out of hunger, not
the same reason that she cries,
she has no food for her son,
not even dry rice.
A pitiful sight, yet
we’re mere spectators.
Not wanting to help,some
sort of moral traitors!

Lavish parties, outlandish bashes,
All jiving away into the toxic night.
Food leftover, drinks a flowing,
no one cares and no one might.
There’s always money for movies and fun,
but, never enough for the desolate.
A reality check could show us mirror,
Oh! yes, we’ve a blessed fate!
Crib-topics are a plenty, the phone
that your friend has, the shoes you must buy.
Ever realized, there are people, who
don’t eat for days, three, four or five?

A change of attitude, a
helping hand, a moment of care.
You don’t need to be a true altruist,
that’s all you need to spare!
The world isn’t fair, is what
we like to cry and shout.
Can’t you and I spread some mirth?
Is it so difficult to reach out?