Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A journey of a Lifetime....



4 days left till I make the biggest journey of my life...wow. The feeling is so surreal. 


Those of you who have me on bbm know that I've been counting down to this since the day I booked my ticket. 

Alhamdulilah, with the help of Allah (swt) I will be going on Umrah on June 2nd, 2012 Insha'Allah.
  Something that i haven't shared with any of you is that for the past 4-5 months i kept repeatedly having dreams that i was standing infront of the Kabaa. I shared this dream with my mom and she told me that it means that my dream will come true soon. You know somali ladies, they say whatever they want.. so i just brushed it off. But low and behold subhan'Allah within the next couple months things started unfolding and my dream became true right before my eyes.

Subhan'Allah I feel that it came true during one of the most crucial times in my life aswell, and i sincerely feel blessed and grateful to the One who created me. Allah is truly Al- Wahab (The Giver of All, He who blesses all blessings to his creatures).
1. More info on the linguistic meaning of "Al-wahab" below.


Having graduated last year, and being out of school for a year, i've been trying to really trying to figure out what i want to do with my life next and what better way to start off a new chapter in my life with turning back to Allah (swt) and visiting the the Kabaa. What makes this a truly even bigger blessing is having the opportunity to take my mother to Umrah during my lifetime. Those of you who know me know that my mother is very dear and near to my heart. Having lost my father when i was born (Allahu Yarhamu) , my mother raised me and my siblings on her own for the past 21 years. She's the reason I am who I am today and being able to share this experience with her is more than i can ever ask for. This has been one of my lifelong dreams and all I can say is ALHAMDULILAH <3


In addition, often times when I speak to people who have went on umrah or hajj, they say it completely changes you for the rest of your life. I just feel that my soul was yearning for this for a long time. I really needed to take time off from the dunya and turn back to Allah (swt).  This is a beautiful excerpt written by Yasmin Mogahed before she embarked this beautiful journey:
 

I'm sitting at the airport, waiting to board, en route to the holiest place on earth. Parting advice to you and myself: 
Let go of your grudges. Let the bitterness die tonight. Make a decision today that it's time to move on. And begin again. New, this time. Never forget that what has passed you by was never meant to befall you. And what has befallen you, was never meant to pass you by. Know that sometimes Allah withholds from you, in order to give you something better. Keep your heart focused on Him, and He will take care of the rest. And remember: you will stumble, but that’s part of the path. Keep going. Keep rising, and refuse to give up.


I will be transiting through turkey so i will be there for about a day. Turkish airlines provides free city tours for transit passengers so i'm really excited to see the city of Istanbul and visit the blue mosque & taskim square. Insha'Allah i will post photos and share stories on my blog once i'm back.

May Allah accept my Umrah and make it an Iman filled experience & May you all visit the Haram once in your life time. Ameen. 

Keep me in your Duaas xoxo

Walaykum Asalaam warahmatullahi Wabarakatu










1. Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) is He Who gives you with no means and bestows His Favours upon you with no reason or cause. To truly understand the meaning of this beautiful name we must ask ourselves, what has Allah the most gracious given us?

In Arabic the word “Wahhab” is derived from the verb “wahaba”, which means “to give someone something as a gift, i.e. without getting anything in return.”…  (Source)
The Qur’anic Verses in which Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) are:

{Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and give us mercy from You. Truly, You are Al-Wahhab (the All-Giver)} (Aal-Imran, 3:8)

{To Allah does belong the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates what He wills. He gives female (offspring) to whomever He wills, and He gives male (offspring) to whomever He wills} (Ash-Shura, 42:49)


{And verily, I fear my relatives after me, and my wife is barren. So give me from You an heir} (Maryam, 19:5)



{At that time, Zechariah invoked his Lord, saying, ‘O my Lord! Give me from You a good offspring! You are, indeed, the Hearer of invocation!} (Al-Imran, 3:38)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Love List

                               
                                         Things that i absolutely fell in love with this week:

                                   A recent Ayah i came across thanks to Yasmin Mogahed,
                                                           is an ayah in Surah Shu' ara.


                                                        “Inna ma’iya rabee sa yahdeen…
                                   Truly my Lord is with me, He will guide me through.” 
                                                                      (26:62). 


                                 Suban'Allah this ayah hit me on so many levels. Do you ever
                                 have times where your going through something and you open
                                 up the Qur'an and you feel as though Allah is speaking directly
                                                                             to YOU?

                                                  This is exactly how i felt reading this ayah.

                                  Often times, we as humans worry and stress so much when what
                                  we really need to do is sit down and realize that guidance is with Allah.
                                  Allah is the one we should turn to when we have difficulties, not people.
                                  If Allah brings you to it, He and Only He can guide you through it.


On the authority of Abu Harayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) 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 assembly 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.
It was related by al-Buhkari (also by Muslim, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn-Majah).

Allah also says in Surah Ibrahim: 


And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "



So even when you feel that you've hit rock bottom, be grateful for everything you have and turn to Allah.  There are people around the world who are suffering in far more difficult states. Allah tests those whom he loves. 
So be grateful and continue to give shukr (thanks) to Allah for Allah is Ar-rahman Ar-raheem, the Most Merciful, the Always Most Merciful.




Some Ayats/Hadiths pertaining to having Sabr:



Allah's Apostle (SA) said,"No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn."
[Sahih Bukhari]

"O you who believe! be patient and excel in patience and remain steadfast, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, that you may be successful."
[3:200]

And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirun (the patient)". 
[2:155]

"Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning.''
[39:10]


Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "When Allah intends good for His slave, He punishes him in this world, but when He intends an evil for His slave, He does not hasten to take him to task but calls him to account on the Day of Resurrection.''
[At-Tirmidhi].




Wassalamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu













                                  



       




African Inspired Bracelet

So today at interest based mentoring my students were making bracelets so i decided to have a go at it. I must say i really enjoyed making it.

I decided to go with an african prayer bead style, i'm totally rocking it right now : ). Tell me what you guys think. 

I absolutely love it!










Monday, May 21, 2012

Moroccan Inspired Stencil

I recently gutted out all the storage in my basement and began a DIY journey. My goal is to turn my basement from the dungeon it is to an icy cool moroccan oasis. 

I saw an amazing youtube tutorial that teaches you how to do a DIY stencil of Moroccan arches. I gave it a try, and it turned out great. I will share the video below. 

Here are some step by step pictures that i took. Sorry for the horrible camera quality, i took the picture with my phone. 

This is a work in progress that will take quite some time to complete. My next steps is to attach baseboards and paint the exposed beams. I will post more photos once i'm done. 

Before

my cut out :) 

Traced it with a pastel crayon

After

After





Video: