An Existentialist Crutch

A transient record of mostly mundane trivialities perhaps interspersed with a few rare moments of insight flitting across my mind

[aboonoor-deactivated20180121]

No sin is too great to be forgiven by Allaah.

Ibn Taymiyyah’s Fatawa (v. 2, p. 385)

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Pre-Iftar: Halaqa with Khalid Latif

"Forgiveness - Facing Fear and Finding Freedom"

ICNYU Pre-Iftar Halaqa, 6/29/16 "Forgiveness - Facing Fear and Finding Freedom" Ar-Rahman is an emphatic, a complete state of being at a given time. Al-Raheem indicates a continuous state. So Allah (swt) is merciful both in the moment and continuously always. You have to believe Allah's mercy is far greater than the worst of your sins. "Nothing is bigger than the worst of our actions. If your mindset tells you that you are not bigger than the worst of what you have done, it is going to be that much more difficult to believe that somebody else is bigger than the worst of what they have done to you. It's going to be that much harder to let go of things that people have done wrong by you. And in both situations where you can't forgive yourself or you can't forgive someone else, the person who will hurt the most...is you. You will carry that toxicity inside of you and it will shape how you see the world around you. Your heart is more precious than that. You are more deserving of things than that. Believe that you are bigger than anything that you have done and start a process of real healing." Practical strategies: -thinks about where it is that I am and what it is that is holding me down amidst the negativity. you need a space to interject positivity into so that you can begin to think about how to forgive past all of that darkness that is inside of you -if fasting, praying, having iftar with your community has been uplifting and good for you in this past month, don't stop after Ramadan. -you won't be able to forgive fully if your life is devoid of reflection and contemplation -take moments to breathe and think. your soul and heart are precious. not in an archaic salvation/damnation way. your heart is important because you are important. and the most important part of you is your heart. and when you're not taking care of it, that's when the decisions manifest with whatever darkness is there inside of you whether or not we're actually consciously thinking about it. Three levels of forgiveness in Arabic: 1) safha (صفح): the sin is still present but you're ignoring it 2) maghfira (مغفرة): the sin is covered up but still exists 3) ‘afw (عفو): real obliteration of the sin, like it never happened If we want real afw, we cannot be prone to the same internal conversations- Explore your emotions, take care of your heart. Engage in meaningful, substantive interaction with spaces that are positive. Take the lessons you might have gained from Ramadan and continue applying them to your life and heart in the future.

[thebeautyofislam]

Ramadan | 2016

May this month bring you all an abundance of blessings. May you all be kept under the protection and care of Allah. May all your prayers, fasts, and duas be accepted by Allah. May you all be rewarded for every single good deed carried out. May forgiveness be granted to you all. May this month bring you closer to Allah. For those whose hearts are torn, may you find peace and tranquility during this month. For those who will be spending it with loved ones, may you always be surrounded by those who love you for the sake of Allah. For those who may be alone this Ramadan, may Allah surround you with people who help brighten your path and have your best interests at heart. For those who are struggling in any way, verily with hardship comes relief, may your burdens be lightened. May this holy month of Ramadan chase away the depression and misery that is getting the best out of you. For those who are reverts, may Allah make the path ahead of you easier and illuminated.

May you all always be smiling. May Allah bless you all with happiness and a heart at ease. May Allah always guide you all throughout your journey in life and may we all meet in Jannah insha’Allah. Ameen. 

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

Constantly thinking about someone is a sign of true love—so how often do those who claim to love Allah remember Him?

Yasir Qadhi (via islamic-art-and-quotes)

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

You insist on looking at closed windows when He keeps opening doors of mercy upon you. Gratefulness comes from an awakened realisation of His blessings upon you. And He ‘azza wa jalla says, “If you are grateful, I would certainly give you more.”

Tawfique Chowdhury

Originally found on: soul-submission

(via islamic-art-and-quotes)

[veiledjournal-deactivated201606]

Turn back to Allah ❣️✨

Allah loves you. He has place you in these trials and tribulations for a specific reason. If you have forgotten Allah because of this Dunya, turn back, walk to Him and He will run towards you. He is the Most Merciful, Most Forgiving. He will forgive you if you have committed all the sins imaginable, so long as you sincerely seek His forgiveness! He will forgive you! He would have forgiven Pharaoh had he asked forgiveness sincerely. His Forgiveness outweighs our sins. Just turn back to Him. He does not judge His servants based on their past. He forgives  and wipes the sins off forever. Make tawbah and forget the past you. Allah is the Most understanding, the Most loving! He understands you and He still loves you! He has still blessed you with every heartbeat. He has given you a second chance to live yet another day! Don’t waste it. Don’t pull a blind eye on the blessings you posses!  He loves you more than your mother could ever love you. Trust Him. Turn back to Him. He wants you to come back to Him. He wants Jannah for you. He wants you to improve yourself, to develop yourself, to better yourself. Your Salah. Your manners. Your character. Your Iman. Your everything. Better yourself with the blessings He has given you. Many have died thinking they would live through the night and see today. Many will die thinking they will see today’s sunset. Many will die without thanking their Lord. Many will die with regret. Do not be like them. Use your time wisely. Pray like it is your last prayer. Increase your Dhikr. Remember Allah. Remember death. Work your way up from here. This life is just half a day, do not forget yourselves and lose yourselves in this Dunya!

Run back to Allah!

Prophet Muhammad ‎ﷺ‎‬ said,  Allah said: I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’” - (Sahih Bukhari)

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

[reblogged by request]

[wordsnquotes]

Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red.

Kait Rokowski (via wordsnquotes)

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“O Allah Waariyan

O main to haariyan 

O tooti yaariyan mila de oye”

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

Be indifferent to the world and Allah will love you; be indifferent to what people possess and they will love you.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (via islamic-art-and-quotes)

[tsamthepoet]

If only you knew how much you are worth in the sight of God. You’d rip out the sadness from your heart and fill its place with peace.

[ephemerallyperpetual-blog]

Lying in the gutter, aiming for the moon Trying to empty out the ocean with a spoon Up and up, up and up

How can people suffer, how can people part? How can people struggle How can people break your heart

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You can say smile and clench your fist And see each other as a gift

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We're gonna get it, get it together I know we're gonna get it, get it together somehow

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When you're in pain, when you think you've had enough Don't ever give up

[poems-and-words]

[aboonoor-deactivated20180121]

Why is it called Ramadan?

The word Ramadan (رمضان) comes from the word Ramad (رمض) which literally means “burning.”

إنما سمي رمضان لأنه يرمض الذنوب أي يحرقها با لأعمال الصالحة

Imam Qurtubi: “It was named Ramadan because it burns the sins of people with good deeds.”

Source: Tafsir al-Qurtubi (v. 2, p. 271)

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You have touched me with a garland of melodies

You gave my mind the flower of attachment/devotion

But why didn't you put love in my heart?

Where did you go run and hide after playing the flute?

The flower that you inspired to blossom is now drying out 

My heart cries for something I didn't even realize it had lost 

Whatever it is that you had wanted, why didn't you just take it away from me by force?

[wnq-writers]

I never knew what I truly craved for until I got what I thought I craved for and still felt as empty as ever.

18blackhearts (via wnq-writers)

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"Facing the Reality of Mental Health Issues: An Islamic Perspective with Dr. Omar Mahmood"

October 16, 2015, ICNYU

tl;dr: Tawakkul, having full faith in Allah(swt), gives you resilience. But you cannot just say if your iman is strong enough, you will never be depressed because the converse of that wrongly implies that if you are depressed, your iman is weak. We can't map those onto each other- you could have very strong faith and yet still go through very emotionally/psychologically impactful experiences. Suffering from powerful emotional experiences doesn't have a bearing on the strength of your spiritual state. Dua of the Prophet(s): اللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَ الْحَزَنِ ، وَ الْعَجْزِ وَ الْكَسَلِ ، وَ الْبُخْلِ وَ الْجُبْنِ ، وَ ضَلَعِ الدِّيْنِ وَ غَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ "O Allah, I take refuge in You from worry and sadness, From weakness and laziness, From miserliness and cowardice, From the burden of debts and from being over powered by men.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 7:158]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ_EouVDWcE Notice that the first two things that the Prophet(s) seeks refuge from are worry and sadness. Anxiety and depression are the two most common psychiatric disorders that people suffer from. Hamm = worry about future. Hazan = sadness over things in your past. When afflicted by these things, you are not living in present. You are stuck being sad about the past or worrying about the future. Modern day equivalents of hamm and hazan are anxiety and depression, and they prevent us from living in the moment and making the most of it. We all go through these feelings but sometimes they get overwhelming in certain situations. The Prophet(s) experienced many tragic events- the deaths of Abu Talib and Khadijah(r), the Year of Sorrow. Even years after the death of Khadijah(r), the Prophet(s) would still reminisce about her idiosyncrasies, showing how deeply her death affected him. Obviously the Prophet(s) has the highest iman; we would never question that. And yet he has experienced this intense sadness. Also consider the example of Prophet Yaqub(a) who cried until his "eyes became white" when Prophet Yusuf(a) left (12:84). This is not normal sadness. It is not normal to cry so much that you can't see anymore. But again, Prophet Yaqub(a) is a prophet and we would never question the greatness of his iman. To people who ask if depression exists in Islam, does diabetes exist in Islam? You can believe what you would like theologically with respect to why you might have diabetes, but then it should consistently apply to the former as well. You can believe Allah will take away any disease from you at any point if He wills. But we also believe in the means. The seatbelt doesn't protect you, Allah does. But you wear a seatbelt to invoke the qadr of Allah. To fight stigma in Muslim communities and start to help mental health patients in our communities, we need to have open conversations and train more Muslim mental health professionals, or at least more culturally competent mental health professionals.