Paradise One

If you haven’t already noticed, I’ve been making some changes to the look and layout of my blog. Much of the new graphics you see are taken from brother Yursil’s Flickr page, may Allah (swt) reward him for his work. ameen.

InshaAllah I will be in the process of making a lot more changes in the weeks to come.

Some of the new features already added are the ‘Islamic Resources’, ‘Sohbet’, and ‘Sultanul Awliya’ tabs. A few words on each:

The purpose of the ‘Islamic Resources’ page is basically to create an online database of links to various sites that contain beneficial Islamic knowledge. At the moment, I’ve added sites to the categories of Quran, Tafseer, Hadith, and Fiqh, but inshAllah my intention is to create categories for all the major Islamic sciences and disciplines as well as links to various institutes of knowledge.

‘Sohbet’ is basically a collection of discourses from my beloved shaykh, Shaykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi. MashaAllah, he is by far the most inspiring and influential person I have ever come in contact with and elhamdulilah, I cannot thank Allah (swt) enough for granting me the tremendous blessing of his company. His words are filled with light and wisdom, and inshAllah I hope that you will take the opportunity to benefit from them.

‘Sultanul Awliya’ is a page dedicated to my murshid, Shah Sultan Mevlana Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Hakkani. When I think about my feelings for this man, I remember the Hadith which tells of a type of person who is so beloved to Allah (swt) that He tells Angel Gabriel (alaihi salam) to announce throughout the entire heavens and earth that Allah (swt) loves so-and-so, and thus, all of creation begins to love this individual despite that fact that they may not have ever met them. SubhanAllah.

May Allah (swt) allow us all to benefit immensely from Shaykh Mevlana, and grant him a long, blessed life. ameen.

Stay tuned for more changes inshAllah.

Asalamu alaikum.

Asalamu Alaikum,

Amazing quote I came across on brother Yursil’s blog:

“And when, as a result of this soul searching you begin to read from books of Sufi knowledge, of the Prophet (S), of Abu Bakr (R) and Ali (R), of Rumi, of Attar, you only feel your longing more strongly and feel that you are even thirstier. Through all this reading you have tasted only a trickle, just enough to know how sweet a spring this is. By now you must realize that books are not the best vessel for wisdom of the heart, for the heart itself is the vessel, and the precious draught is passed from heart to heart. Where may such heart springs be found in a time that has turned verdant fields into desert wastes? Wandering through huge desert wastes, how many of us may just happen to stumble upon an oasis? First you may stumble upon one hundred mirages! But you must keep on, don’t turn back saying, “I have found only illusions.” No, no one said you have embarked on an easy journey, so you must be perseverant.”
- Shaykh Maulana Nazim al-Hakkani

InshaAllah, for those of us living in developed nations, lets stop taking things for granted. Engage in dhikr and reflection. And as the video suggested, get out and do something real!

please. InshaAllah.

:)

As evil hacks and rips at every corner of the world
The peoples voice will sing as one voice
Our voices sing in union

The Arabian sea to the coast of Chile
Watch your brothers back, watch your sisters back!

SubhanAllah.

I couldn’t sleep so I decided to take a shower and get some reading done before Fajr. I thought it would be a good idea to put on some ether so that I would smell good for Allah (swt) in case I later on decided to read Quran (which I did, alhamduliliah :] ). As I was about to put the cap back on the bottle, my hand slipped and totally knocked it off the sink, spilling it all over the bathroom floor.

Long story short: I’ve got one groovy smelling bathroom.

I also think this may be a sign that I need to spend less time in front of the mirror trying to fix my appearance, and more time engaged in prayer, dhikr, and meditation, trying to fix my heart. :\

Masalam.
Paradise One

Salamu Alaikum to those reading,

I know its been a while since my last post, but a lot has happened since then, some things good and some bad.

Alhamdulilah, I spent the past weekend at a camp where I met many awesome brothers and created strong bonds of friendship. It really was a great trip and I’m so glad I went. I guess sometimes you just need to be out in nature to be able to clear your heart and mind of all the frustration and stress you get in the material world.

In other news, my laptop broke :[
Actually, the main problem is with the hard drive and fan, and it would definitely help if I added some ram to it. This really creates a problem because all my files are saved on it and I was too dumb to re-save them on my desktop.

Lesson Learned: Never buy a Dell Notebook

I’m actually debating whether I should buy the new parts and get it fixed or switch to Apple. After all, the new Macbooks are definitely hot, and I’ve heard nothing but good reviews about them. So let me know what you think, inshaAllah.

If you’re still reading this, may Allah (swt) reward you for your patience with me. haha, I know I take a good minute to actually get to the point.

So at the end of todays Khutbah, the Khateeb told us a short story that really caught my attention. Although the story is only a few lines long, the meaning is incredibly powerful.

There was a very old man who was laying on his death bed. As he was taking his las few breathes he called out to his sons so that he may teach them one final lesson.
When they came to him he told them to go outside and bring back some sticks. They came back soon after and gave him what he asked for.

He gave a stick to one of his sons and told him to break it. The boy broke it.

He then put two sticks in the child’s hand and told him to break them. With some effort, the boy broke the sticks.

Next, he handed the boy a third stick and told him to break all three. With much more effort than before, they boy was able to break the sticks.

Finally, the old man gave the boy four sticks and told him to break them. Despite all his effort, the boy could not break the sticks.

SubhanAllah, of all the lessons he could have left his children with, I feel that he chose one of the greatest and most beneficial. He taught them the power of unity and companionship.  A trait that we as an Ummah are in such dire need of.

May we also take heed of the old man’s advise.

And may Allah (swt) unite us as One Nation. One Ummah. (ameen)

Imagine yourself in place of this firewood.

May Allah (swt) protect us from the Fire and, by His divine mercy, admit us into the highest level of Paradise.

Ameen.

Asalamu alaikum.

This time it’s from Hadithuna.

..kinda sounds like Zaytuna. Coincidence?

I’m still pretty new to this whole ‘blogging’ scene. I’ve yet to master the skill of writing down my thoughts in an organized fashion and i haven’t really posted anything of great importance yet. Be patient with me inshaAllah.

I really like the idea of a Muslim Blogging community though. This is definitely a good way for us to exchange ideas and spread knowledge. InshaAllah everyone who played a role in creating this will be rewarded for it.

Still figuring out how to work this thing. its actually a bit more complicated than ‘Blogger’ in my opinion.

But inshaAllah with difficulty there will be ease. ((inna mal usri yusra))

well. its 5am. and ill leave it at that.

until we speak again.

Masalam.

In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful
All Praise and thanks is due to Allah (swt) and may His peace and blessings be upon his Holy Messenger (saws)

Asalamu Alaikum.

InshaAllah this will be the first of many posts

Before beginning anything, i believe it is always best to purify ones intentions.
I’m doing this for many reasons. Namely for my Creator. To please Him and gain His Mercy.

But for many other, less significant reasons as well; networking, da’wah, gaining knowlegde from the vast amount that can be found on other blogs, and sharing what little I know.

I pray all these things will please my Lord, and that he will grant us everlasting success,
for all success is from Allah (swt).  ameen

stay tuned..