How much do we actually need? Kibaha experiences!

Approximately 2 months back, I went to an orphanage in Kibaha, just outside Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

It was a two week summer camp in which we had islamic lessons in the mornings and we volunteered in the evening and sometimes at nights.

We also went to see the nearby homes and orphan shelter. We went to one orphan shelter that was really heart breaking. In one room, there were several children - more than 10 sleeping; but according to people, that is 'normal,' but there was another thing that was even more heartbreaking - these children had no pillows to sleep on!! Isn't is sad how some of us live the most luxurious life and just two hours away from us there is someone who does not even have a pillow to sleep on?

This brings me to the main reason of this article, how much do we really need in life? I am talking about material possessions; how many pairs of clothes, shoes, cars, handbags do we 'need.' I am first talking to myself before I tell anyone else. This article is the realisation I had in Kibaha.

I brought with me 2 pairs of shoes, 4 pairs of clothes, 5 scarves, 3 chaadhars, some toiletries and medicines, and my gadgets. I didn't take alot as I thought that it was near home. Incase I need something, It can either be sent to me or I can go pick it up..

The surprising thing was that I didn't need anything else. That was enough for me! I looked presentable daily with only so little! Realization upon realization dawned...

How much do you think you actually need?

QArabic Prophet Abraham L6 P3

Salaaam..

Hope you all are good and enjoying Eid! 

I was having a creative-mind mapping-block, and finally I got through it after months!! It feels great to get over that slump and finish one more QArabic Mind map! 

The words covered in this lesson are: Remember, We took, He chose, Upright, He was not, Truthful, Faith, She was, He named, and Nearest. Find the mindmap below:

QArabic L6 P3

Have a good day! 

Eid Greetings Video!!

Here's wishing all of you a Joyous and Prosperous Eid!! 

Enjoy the Biriyani!! 

Poem: A month ago..

A month ago we received a guest, 

It came knocking at our door, 

10 days earlier than last year.

It brought with it countless blessings, mercy and love.

My days are numbered it said.

Lets have the best month we've ever had.

A  month passes and I  neglect the guest,

It turns around to leave as I realise my mistake, 

I look at the guest leaving with tears, 

Hoping that if life allows, 

We meet again Next year!  

Poem: 19th Night Moon...

I look up to see the moon, 

blazing with light, 

tonight is the night, 

it witnessed a tragedy, 

1400 years ago.

The moon laments, 

with its brilliant light, 

tomorrow, the ill-fated day, 

Where Ali shall be stuck,

And Zainab shall weep, 

All before tomorrow, twelve noon.

I am sure the moon crisply remembers, 

The commader of the faithful, 

Going to the masjid to Pray to his Lord, 

And always the first to follow God's rule,

The moon is thankful for the clouds, 

For it shall not see, 

The daughters of Zahra,

 weeping and lamenting, 

The moon shines bright again tonight, 

Trying to show the world with its little light, 

What it sees, from far above,

He sees my master shedding tears tonight, 

by remembering the oppression on his kinfolk, 

And praying for his Reappearance, 

so he can undo the wrongs

and establish on this Earty justice and equity! 

That is the hope of the believer, 

And good news for the one who hears! 

A Gift for the Holy Month of Ramadhan!

To all my readers, I’d like to present a small gift through this article for the beginning of this holy month. This is something that I learnt in a recent series of Islamic lectures I attended at Wipahs, Kibaha in Dar Es Salaam. I would like to say a word about Dua. This is a word we hear often and its one of many relevant words of this holy Month.

This is the Month where Allah[swt] opens the doors of His mercy and His forgiveness. So much so that even breathing is considered as Glorification of Allah and Sleeping is considered worship!! This it the month where the Holy Quran was revealed. The month in which we ask Allah[swt] for our wants and needs.

With regards to Dua, we learn the method from Sahifa e Kamila in which there are many Duas and the Imam teaches us how to Ask Allah[swt]. The Imam[as] starts by praising Allah[swt] and mentioning the qualities of Allah[swt]. After praising Allah[swt], Imam mentions his own humility and his own nothingness infront of Allah[swt]. He then sends salutations on the Holy Prophet and his progeny. Now, he asks for his wants and desires by phrasing it in such a way that he is asking for the Duniya as well as the Akhirah. And then sends salutations to the Holy Prophet and his progeny whilst ending the supplication. 

The thing that struck me the most during these lectures was that How many of us ask Allah[swt] for things but not expecting to attain it? I know that I myself am guilty of this. For instance we ask Allah[swt] for things but then we apply logic and our own circumstances to the situation. For example I ask Allah[swt] for a Ferrari but in my heart I think that my pay is less and that I would have to save for 5 years to get a Ferrari or that my situation wont allow me to buy one! 

This mentality is incorrect when asking Allah[swt]. Some scholars say that Allah [swt] does not give us what we ask of HIM rather He gives us what we Expect of Him!! It is important to remember that we, Human beings are bounded by laws and Our Rabb, Our Lord can Do anything that He[swt] wills. Thus when we ask, We should remember to ask ONLY Him and remember that He is the only One who can give us what we desire and that He is not bounded by the laws - but the creator of those laws! Believe that He shall give and you will receive, Inshallah.

Finally, in this Holy Month when making Duas please remember my family and myself.

I pray that Your Duas are answered and you are enveloped in the mercy, grace and Love of Allah[swt]. 

Ma’salaam. 

Poem: Things need to be defined.

As the years go by, 

and understanding dawns upon you, 

there comes a point, 

where you realise that

things need to be defined! 

Ask questions deep down to yourself, 

what it is that makes you care, 

And ways in which you can help,

by bring peace to a person or two, 

and making this world a better place, 

even by a word or two.

When you find that place, 

be grateful that you have found, 

clarity in a world

that is in a mess.

This poem was inspired by a question  I didn't know how to reply to!  

Poem: Meeting Bahlool

I walk in the street, 

My head upwards in conceit, 

I look around to see, 

a man sitting beneath a gum tree, 

scruffy looking with torn clothes,

mumbling something under his nose, 

'For sale, For Sale, Here, for sale is Paradise'

I look around, and see no one in the shadows, 

As the sun continues to rise. 

He looks at me and says, 

'this is one chance, never to come again'

I think to myself, 'from this craziness I better abstain'

His name is Bahlool and he is know as majnun.

What will be the reaction to meeting Bahlool? 

A man who pretends to be crazy, 

On the orders from imam a ج, a command that is hazy, 

Yet he follows the orders to a T. 

I hear people calling him crazy, 

yet I know, he thinks of me the same way.

How you ask?  I am perfectly sane,

Bahlool would look at me and say, 

"Mahjabeen, you are crazy about the duniya again,

Is there a more delusional and destructive thing such as it?

Yet, they call me insane, unaware that this is the domain, 

Of God Almighty!  Where can I even begin to explain!"

I am once again dumbfounded by this realisation, 

That the world is but a temptation, 

blinded by it would lead nothing, 

and definitely not what people look for - liberation.

*The above poem was inspired by a recent majalis [religous social gathering] that I attended.