The Importance of Repenting

Assalamu-alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

Every day we are busy running around, trying to fit our crazy schedule in the limited 24 hours that we have. From the minute we wake up we are continuously carrying out our daily routine. But sometimes we are soo busy that we don't realise some of the sins we commit. It easy for us to make mistakes, it's human nature. But how many of us repent after realising that we have made these mistakes.

We gossip, backbite, lie, and use foul language. This is just some of the sins that we do, the list is endless. We have become used to committing some of these sins that when we are told to stop we find it difficult to accept what we are doing is actually a major sin.

In order for us to purify ourselves from the mistakes and sins that we have committed, we should repent and ask Allah to forgive us. Allah Ta'ala knows we are human beings and that we are weak. Allah Ta'ala knows that Shaitaan is constantly tempting us to do wrong. Allah Ta'ala knows that our nafs  are trying to deceive us. So to help us Allah Ta'ala has given us the opportunity to repent over the mistakes that we have made.

In a Hadeeth it has been mentioned that ''The person who repents from a sin is like the one who has not sinned in the first place.''

So each time we sin, we should repent. By repenting, it is as tough we are deleting this sin from our record. It is a lifeline which will help erase our sins. And remember we can repent all day, every day at any time and at any place as long as we repent sincerely. If Allah has put no limit to how many times we can repent, why should we limit the amount we repent..

Don't let Shaitaan fool you and trick you into thinking there is no point. He will make you think that your repentance has no purpose. He will make you think things like 'look you keep doing the same sin again and again. You know you can't leave it. What is the point in repenting.

NO! Don't let him fool you.

He is making you think like this, so that he wins and you lose. There is a point to your repentance. Remember each time we repent it is as though we never did the sin. So we will be erasing the sins from our records.

It has been said that on the day of Judgement, Allah Ta'ala will call a person forward and the angels will be told to examine the persons book of deeds. The angels will say 'Oh Allah.. this person, he sinned then repented, then sinned, then repented ,then sinned, then repented and he did this his whole life.' Allah Ta'ala will say 'This means that my servant would fall into Shaitaan's trap. However after falling, he would get back up saying I will be faithful to my Lord. Then Shaitaan will trip him up again. My servant got up again saying I will be faithful to my Lord. and This would continuously happen. All his life he fell into Shaitaan's trap, but he repeatedly got up wanting to be faithful to Me. This shows that he wanted to obey me, so I have forgiven all his sins.

Subhan Allah. Allah has blessed us with a great yet simple way of making up for our sins. All we have to do is repent with sincerity and Allah will forgive our sins. In Sha Allah. Even when we do fall into Shaitaan's trap, if we get up and repent, Allah knows that we are trying to obey him and will forgive our sins.
There is a Hadeeth narrated by Hadhrat Anas, may Allah be pleased with him . Hadhrat Anas (ra) says that I heard the Messenger of Allah say, that Allah the Almighty has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its.”
Don't ever think that it's too late. Have hope and repent now. Spend a few minutes after each Salaah or before you go to sleep. Think about what have I done wrong today and ask Allah to forgive your sins. Ask Allah to forgive the sins that you commited knowingly and unknowingly because Allah Ta'ala knows us better than we know ourselves.

May Allah give me, you and all the Muslims the ability to make the most out of this opportunity. May Allah protect us from the whispers of Shaitaan.

Ameen

Exam Tips

Assalamu-alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

It's the time again for many of us where we are sitting exams or will be over the coming weeks. For many of us this is a very stressful time. But remember, DON'T lose hope. There is always someone who is waiting for you to ask for his help. A Muslim student should put his/her trust in Allah Ta'ala when facing any sort of test.

I thought I could share some tips for exam success.

1.      When revising, divide your time in such a way that you have time for a few breaks. This doesn't mean one every 10-15 minutes. Be reasonable when planning your breaks. Maybe study for one hour then have a 10-15 break. In this break try to do something that will benefit you. For example, do wudhu and read your namaz or read some quraan.

2.      Perform 2 rakaat nafl and after make dua to Allah for help and that He grants you success.

3.      Ask your parents to do dua for you because their dua will be answered. In Sha Allah.

4.      Whilst waiting outside the exam hall or inside the exam hall, do some Dhikr. This will help remove any worry and anxiety and tension.

5.      Start your exam paper with Bismillah. This will bring you many blessings, In Sha Allah. You should also recite durood shareef both before you start the paper and after. In Sha Allah this will help you.
 

6.      When answering the questions, highlight/underline any key words, write notes on the side which may help you answer the questions.

7.      Take your time doing the paper. Don't rush through it. Remember ''Calmness and Deliberation is from Allah and Haste is from the Devil.'

8.      Whilst doing the paper, if you find anything difficult pray to Allah to make it easy for you. If you find a question difficult, move on to the next one. Don't waste your time on one question. You may find by answering the other questions that they are easier and if you didn't answer them you could have lost marks.

9.      Save at least 10-15 minutes of your time to recheck your paper. This will allow you to find any incorrect answers and time to add more to your answers.

10.  After the exam, perform 2 rakaat nafl and thank Allah that the exam went well.

11.  Don't spend time complaining and worrying about what you could have done. What you have done will hopefully be enough In Sha Allah. Accept the will of Allah Ta'ala.

12. Whilst doing your revision or when in the exam, if you do get stuck, recite durood shareef. It is mentioned in a hadeeth that 'Whoever recites one durood shareef, Allah Ta'ala showers ten blessings on them.'

 

Below are some duas to read before doing your exams.

•  Allahumma la sahla illa ma ja’altahu sahla, wa ‘anta taj-alul hazna idha shi’ta sahla
• O Allah! There is nothing easy except what You make easy, and You make the difficult easy if it be Your Will.
• Allahumma inii as'aluka fahmal-nabiyyen wa hifthal mursaleen al-muqarrabeen.
•   O Allah! I ask You for the understanding of the prophets and the memory of the messengers, and those nearest to You.
• Allahumma infa’nii bimaa ‘allamtanii wa’allimnii maa yanfa’uunii. Allahumma inii as’aluka fahmal-nabiyyen wa hifzal mursaleen al-muqarrabeen. Allahumma ijal leesanee ‘aiman bi dhikrika wa qalbi bi khashyatika. Innaka ‘ala ma-tasha’u qadeer wa anta hasbun-allahu wa na’mal wakeel.”
• “Oh Allah! Make useful for me what you have taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me. Oh Allah! I ask you for the understanding of the prophets and the memory of the messengers, and those nearest to you. Oh Allah! Make my tongue full of your remembrance and my heart with consciousness of you. Oh Allah! You do whatever you wish, and you are my availer and protector and best of aid.”

Just in case you cant read the duas without the Arabic, I have found the Arabic to  some of the above duas and a few more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pray you find these beneficial and that Allah grants you success in all your exams both in this life and the hereafter. Ameen

Remember the biggest exam is the exam that we are sitting everyday.

Please remember me and all those people who have exams in your duas.

Jazakallah Khair

 

Its a New Year

Assalamu-alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

I am sure that you are all aware that tomorrow is the start of a new year. The start of a new year according to the Georgian calendar. The 1^stof January 2013. Alhamdulillah.

It is a common tradition that before the new year arrives people often think of New Year's Resolutions. Some sort of personal promise which you have to see as your target for the year ahead. And within the year to come you have to put your full attention(when and where possible)in order for you to reach your own chosen target. Some examples of New year resolutions are

1.Organise my things
2.Boost my confidence
3.Learn how to cook
4.Lose weight
5.Quit smoking

And there are many more. However if you look at the above mentioned resolutions, you may see that these are all things that people want to achieve to make them academically or physically successful. None of the above show that by doing this we may increase or better ourselves spiritually. As Muslims we should regularly stop and think How can I make myself a better person in the eyes of Allah. One of the answers to this question is we can do so by enhancing our character and devoting ourselves to Allah and also to Islam.

Many of you reading maybe thinking but the Islamic Year started more than a month ago. I am aware that more than a month has passed of the Islamic Year. For those of you who used the opportunity to change ourselves on Muharram 1^st 1434 Masha-Allah. May Allah make it is easy for you to reach your targets. But those of us who haven't, think of this as Allah's way of giving us another chance to change ourselves. Another reminder for us to set ourselves some targets.

Firstly we should all take this chance to thank Allah the most high for blessing us all with the new year. A reminder that there is still time to change ourselves. That there is still time for us to become better Muslims. Not at any point am I encouraging that we celebrate the arrival of the new year but take it as an opportunity for ourselves to better from.

Then we should also look back at the year that has just passed us. Look and think of the mistakes that we did. Then try to think of ways in which we could remove those mistakes from our lives from this day on.

We should think about on average how much time we may have wasted. Let's look at an example as to what happens if we spent 3 hours a day watching television. To help us resolve the problem we need to follow 4 steps...

1.STOP !

2.THINK !

3.DO THE MATHS !

4.Look for a solution.

In a year there is approximately 24 x 365 = 8760 hours

You spent on T.V 3 x 365 = 1095 hours

8760 ÷ 1095 =8

This means that in the last year you spent wasted an 1/8 th of the year on T.V.

It may seem like OH MY , that's a lot, but feeling guilty isn't going to resolve anything. We need to ask for Allah's infinite mercy, guidance and also forgiveness. Remember Allah says in the Qura'an

Indeed upon Us is guidance, Surah Al-Lail (Ayah 12)

We need to repent and look at our actions more regularly. See how we are spending our time and if what we are spending our time on is beneficial for us in the Hereafter. In Sha Allah with the help of Allah we can all make the most of this opportunity that has been given to us.

And rather than spending tonight contemplating over all the bad times of this year, why dont you start the year with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen. Then next year , empty it and see what good stuff happened that year. Just an idea.

Here is a quick story on how we can utilise our time wisely. This is not written by me, but taken from an article so I cant take credit for this.

Since last night my young son has been unwell. When I got back from Work this evening I decided to take him to hospital despite my exhaustion.
There were many waiting; perhaps we will be delayed by more than an hour. I took my number and sat down in the waiting room. There were many faces, young and old, but all silent. Some brothers made use of the many booklets available in the waiting room.
Some of those waiting had their eyes closed, while others were looking around.. Most were bored. Once in a while the long silence was broken by a nurse calling out a number. Happiness appears on the one whose turn it is, and he gets up quickly; then silence returns.
A young man grabbed my attention. He was reading a pocket-sized Quran continuously; not raising his head even once. At first I did not think much about him. However, after one hour of waiting my casual glances turned into a deep reflection about his lifestyle and how he utilises his time. One hour of life wasted! Instead of making benefit of that hour, it was just a boring wait. Then the call for prayer was made. We went to prayer in the hospital's Masjid. I tried to pray close to the man who was reading the Quran earlier in the waiting room.
After the prayer I walked with him. I informed him of how impressed I was of him and how he tries to benefit from his time. He told me that most of our time is wasted without any benefit. These are days that go from our lives without being conscious of them or regretting their waste. He said that he started carrying the pocket-sized Quran around when a friend encouraged him to make full use of his time. He told me that in the time other people waste he gets to read much more of the Quran than he gets to read either at home or in the Masjid.Moreover, besides the reward of reading the Quran, this habit saves him from boredom and stress. He added that he has now been waiting for one and a half hours. Then he asked, when will you find one and a half hours to read the Quran?
I reflected; How much time do we waste? How many moments of our lives pass by, and yet we do not account for how they passed by? Indeed, how many months pass by and we do not read the Quran? I came to respect my companion, and I discovered that I am to stand for account and that time is not in my hand; so what am I waiting for?
My thoughts were interrupted by the nurse calling out my number; I went to the doctor. But I want to achieve something now. After I left the hospital I quickly went to the bookshop and bought a pocket-sized Quran. I decided to be mindful of how I spend the time.

Note:-This is a reminder for all to utilise time wisely so that we can make the most out of the time that Allah has given us.

May Allah help us all. Remember me and the entire Muslim Ummah in your Duas.

Welcome

Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

All praise is to Allah, the Most Merciful the Most Kind.

Welcome to my Blog

This blog will feature a new post every week In Sha Allah Ta'alah.

If you have any suggestions or topics you would like me to write about please feel free to leave a message in the comment section.

I hope you find it beneficial and are able to take some useful tips and advice from these blogs.
May Allah help us all to become better Muslims and grant us all a place in Jannatul Firdaws.

Ameen

Wasalam
Sister Aishah