Ibn al-Mubarak said: I have seen wrong actions killing hearts, And their degradation may lead to their becoming addicted to them. Turning away from wrong actions gives life to the hearts, And opposing your self is best for it.

Bismillah

Today is Friday! Well, at least here in Oregon it's still Friday. I was reading Surat Al-Kahf on my way to school this morning (as I usually do), and I came across this ayah:

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَاء مِن دُونِي وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ بِئْسَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ بَدَلًا
Which translates as:
18:50 Behold! We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam": They bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinns, and he broke the Command of his Lord. Will ye then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies to you! Evil would be the exchange for the wrong-doers!
When reading the Qur'an, most people don't really think about the full implications of the Qur'an. But subhanallah, a man once read this ayah and said, "Oh Allah, I will never exchange Iblis and choose him as my protector over you." What is the significance of this ayah?

Lets rewind and see what Iblis said on his first encounter with Adam. (Note: this is when Allah created Adam and let him dry when he was clay)
"This is a creation that is weak. If I am given influence over you, I will lead you astray. And if you are given influence over me, I will disobey you."

Well, what do you know, our BIGGEST enemy. Big Time. And yet, people take him as their protectors, their close friends, and their supporters over Allah. Think about it. The story of Adam is mentioned numerous times in the Qur'an. Probably one of the stories mentioned THE most by far. This means serious really serious business. When Allah told Iblis to prostrate to Adam, Iblis denied. Allah could have just destroyed him right then. After all, He does have all the power and might to do so. But Allah didn't. Instead, He gave Iblis the opportunity to dwell on this earth until the end of time. And Iblis is dedicating every moment of his life-from the being of time until the end- to lead US- the children of Adam - astray. And he gets better at it every time (people get better through experience, right?). Allah allotted for us a certain time frame to dwell on this earth. Let's use this time wisely and not in disobedience of Allah.

And Allah knows best!

A real nice story. mashallah.

The Secrets of Worship

You can not worship until you love
You can not love until you fear
You can not fear until you understand
You can not understand until you learn
You can not learn until you have been found
You can not be found until you seek
You can not seek until you yearn
You can not yearn until you remember
So remember,
Remember
La illah illa Allah
There is no God but Allah

-From Caravanserai

Bismillah

Inshallah, I plan to update you all on any art projects I am working on. I'm currently working on a couple of big projects and inshallah hope to post them up here once they are complete. This is actually a drawing I did a while back. I focused mostly on using chalk pastel, but I also used prisma colors to kinda help with the highlights. Just in case you're wondering, its not a specific masjid, its just a random masjid I decided to draw from the top of my head (people keep asking me what masjid it is). Done on 8X11 paper.



Allah is Enough for Me




This a surprising true story I heard from a friend
She was ridding a private bus home from the university in Saudi. Her stop was the last stop so she patiently waited to be dropped off. She watched as all her classmates were dropped off at their homes. Before she knew it, she was the only one left on the bus besides the bus driver. She saw the familiar stop she would always be dropped off at, but the bus driver just drove past her stop. Fear crept into her heart, not knowing what would unfold. Keep in mind that in Saudi, if any shameful acts were to occur between two genders, the girl is usually the one to blame. She began reciting Qur'an as the bus driver drove out of the city and into the desert. All of a sudden, a car stops in front of the bus and she finds people stepping out of the car. To her surprise, these people turned out to be her father and brother. These two men approach the bus, and the bus driver lets her out. She follows them back to the car and they drive her home without conveying a word to her. When she arrives home, she discoverers that her father and brother were actually in a deep sleep. Upon seeing this, she was left in surprise and wonder as to how this can occur. Thus, she decided to contact a Shaykh and tell him about the incident. The Shaykh asked her what she was doing the moment the bus stopped. She told him she was reciting the Qur'an. The Shaykh told her that those two men were in fact angles Allah sent to help her. He told her that it was Allah (swt) who sent them in the form of her father and brother so she would go with them and arrive home safely.
Subhanallah, if you put your trust in Allah, He will help you in ways you can never imagine.
Allah mentions in the Qur'an: أَلَيۡسَ ٱللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبۡدَهُ
Is not Allah enough for His servant?

And not only that, Allah has a special reward for those who put their trust in him!
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet said, "The people were displayed in front of me and I saw one prophet passing by with a large group of his followers, and another prophet passing by with only a small group of people, and another prophet passing by with only ten (persons), and another prophet passing by with only five (persons), and another prophet passed by alone. And then I looked and saw a large multitude of people, so I asked Gabriel, "Are these people my followers?' He said, 'No, but look towards the horizon.' I looked and saw a very large multitude of people. Gabriel said. 'Those are your followers, and those are Seventy thousand (persons) in front of them who will neither have any reckoning of their accounts nor will receive any punishment.' I asked, 'Why?' He said, 'For they used not to treat themselves with branding (cauterization) nor with Ruqya (get oneself treated by the recitation of some Verses of the Qur'an) and not to see evil omen in things, and they used to put their trust (only) in their Lord." On hearing that, 'Ukasha bin Mihsan got up and said (to the Prophet), "Invoke Allah to make me one of them." The Prophet said, "O Allah, make him one of them." Then another man got up and said (to the Prophet), "Invoke Allah to make me one of them." The Prophet said, 'Ukasha has preceded you."
In another narration, Ukasha asked the Prophet, "Am I one of them, O Allah's Apostle?' The Prophet said, "Yes."
Help from Allah, and entering to Jannah without reckoning. What more can you ask for?

Bismillah

I decided didn't really like my old blog look and decided to change it to this template. Hope you all like it.

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