June 5, 2008
Diseases of the Heart- IFS Girls Halaqah #5
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
I didn’t prolong putting this post up; it has just been a LONG time since we had a halaqah. No one recommended a topic, so it was about the diseases of the heart.
Diseases of the Heart
- We tend to lean towards certain vices.
- We were born pure, but our environment causes us to carry certain characteristics.
- Every time period has certain vices–to counter it are the Saviors of the Spirit-Mujadid
- Mujadid–>normal people who are unique–have special characteristics to battle the time period.
- Ex: IMAM AL-GHAZALI!!->He was in the time of debate, philosophy, excessive questioning, etc.
- And he mastered rhetoric and Allah gave him all they (people of that time period) knew and proved them wrong. RIGHT ON!
- Book: Savior of the Spirit –check it out
- Mujadid: they worked 24/7. Like, it was a characteristic that they didn’t need much sleep (they could be fine off an hour) and they were able to even bend time (do a lot in a little period) with Allah’s will.
- They also helped figure out social ills from society (from family habits, friends, or wholly)
- Our time period’s problem: Immodesty (It doesn’t seem wrong–in fact, it is even promoted)
- Diseases need to be understood-being around the disease weakens us and makes us susceptible to it. Read the rest of this entry »
May 22, 2008
Thankfulness to Allah-IFS Girls Halaqah #4
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum,
SO… this halaqah just popped itself out of the normal schedule and not many people came. But it was still really good and really beneficial. I personally thought it came at the perfect time for me. Actually, I think that topic can come at a *perfect time* for anyone. This halaqah’s topic was about thankfulness to Allah.
Due to the respect of the speaker, I can’t really type up the personal things she talked about, so I’ll type up the general stuff. And a lot of it was emphasis and repetition of being grateful, so my notes are a bit short. And I’ll probably add a bit of my own personal commentary. =) (uh-oh….)
Thankfulness to Allah:
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There are children BORN with physical ailments-some that can be fatal, lifelong, paralysis, and other major ailments.
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—From this, our lives could have been so different-even from birth-and those of us who don’t suffer physical abnormalities or *exceptionalities* should be grateful. We owe it all to Allah.
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Are the things we consider *normal* (i.e. the ability to see, use our fingers, hear, breathe) actually *normal* or gifts from Allah? He doesn’t owe us anything and He gave us all these physical and mental abilities. Read the rest of this entry »
Ways to Become Closer to Allah-IFS Girls Halaqah #3
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
There was so much said in this halaqah, it was hard to capture it all. And also there were some interesting questions at the end, but I didn’t record them, so I’ll try to put up what I remember.
Ways to become closer to Allah:
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Someone else making sincere duaa for you. (Particularly elders-parents, grandparents, and righteous people)
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—This form of duaa doesn’t always need to be verbal-it can be in the heart, or a kind of happiness they feel from you.
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Help other good, noble people, righteous people.
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Make sacrifices for Allah and He will draw you closer to Him and protect you.
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Dedicate your talents for the sake of Allah (not to make money, get attention, etc. etc.)
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—Keep in mind, our talents are from Allah and should be used for the sake of Allah.
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What ever part of life you are in, use what is in the environment around you or resources you have and use them to get cloer to Allah or to do good and that will help you get closer to Allah.
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Keeping to the rules of Islam are important (and being strict,) but what really helps a person get closer to Allah is to have compassion, be self-sacrificing, up hold morals and putting forth the effort to do the right thing for Allah. This is the different between and Muslim and non Muslim.
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Also be mindful of what you do in private and at home-the little things like smiling, giving a helping hand, listening to others are things that makes Allah happy. This is because it is our daily lives that Allah looks at, not only the major accomplishments. (The daily life is a major accomplishment on its own in a way =) ) Read the rest of this entry »
May 2, 2008
Hijab-IFS Girls Halaqah #2
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
I have gotten over a 100 views on my site today. =) That means there are people reading this.
I cannot mention a lot of this particular halaqah due to the wish of some, but I can mention some lessons and stuff I took from it. (I hope, if not, people part of this halaqah, email me ASAP.)
Our lives:
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Life is like a flight (primordial state, dunyah, akhirah) and the dunyah (our current life we are living) is like a rest stop before getting on our next plane. The destination is the akhirah, While on our rest stop, we have choices to make in how we use our time. Those who get carried away or too obsessed with this life miss their plane or catch the *wrong* one. So life is just a pit stop.
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From the above, that means that we shouldn’t get so caught up with worldly obsessions, or materialism. It is okay to take care of one’s necessities and have a few things, but when people get overly obsessed with materialism (i.e. media influences, personal looks, objects, television, etc. etc.) then we lose sight of the akhirah and to some degree, we hurt our spiritual selves.
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We were created with a natural *attraction* to God. And this life is a test to see if we can take care of that natural attraction and sight of God. Life is about getting to the akhirah, but a HUGE part of life is to develop our relationship with God through tests, trials, and even through ease (which is a kind of test on its own).
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We all have our individual paths to God, but life is about submission and giving ourselves away to God….
General things about the Hijab: Read the rest of this entry »
Peer Pressure-IFS Girls Halaqah #1
So anyone who actually looks at this blog, I plan on putting up notes or anything I find interesting here for others to see. I have just recently attended a halaqah at IFS for girls and I figured I can put up the notes here for other people to benefit from. Still new to this blogging stuff, so give me a break-
*Before the halaqah*
We were asked what we carry in our wallets/purses. The things we carry constantly are a reflection of what we value and who we are (to some degree). So different people pulled out different things: a bunch of movie tickets, borders card, receipts, and for me, my college ID. If any one found another person’s wallet/purse, we would see that person values movies, shopping for books, keep records of what he/she bought, and for me, that I am in college. =) One girl had a mini notebook in her bag and an ipod with the Quran and hadith on it. Masha ‘Allah, that shows what she values.
Well, to cut it short, the basic point is this:
We are so busy that we don’t have time to reflect on the valuable things in our life. And the most valuable thing in our life (or being) should be Allah swt.
(So consider carrying a mini salawat book or an ipod with Quran and hadith on it to listen to when you have free time. I normally have a slip of paper with few duaas of protection folded in my wallet to say whenever I forget to.)
Okay, now on to the halaqah: Read the rest of this entry »
Faith786 