That Fajr Prayer

Assalmu alaikum, May peace be with you all. In the name of Allah, the most kind, the most merciful. May His choices, blessings and salutations, salaah and salaam be upon the Beloved Nabi Muhammad  , and may we also benefit from these blessings, ameen,ya rabil alimeen.

The pursuit of happiness begins with Salaah, so let our days begin with Salaat al Fajr.

I was scrolling through Instagram the other day, and came across this account called @fajreminders. Initially I followed the account, because I am a bit of a quotes fanatic, but I soon realised, these were more than quotes and inspirations. I’ve highlighted a few inspirations below.

Follow @fajreminders on Instagram

This post is merely a reminder for us to cement our intention to rise for Salaah.

As humans, we love our sleep! But if Allah is saying “Salaah is better than sleep”, then certainly, we should abandon sleep for His pleasure? The way is see it is two – fold, because in pleasing Him, isnt He Loving you? Rewards to the maximum!

Aisha R relates that Rasulullah S said “ the two rakaats of fajr (the Sunnah) are better than the world and all it contains”

 

Is it then not understood that we should be rising before the sun to offer this prayer to the Almighty before walking our dogs and donning expensive suits and elegant dresses, coffee in hand rushing through the traffic to participate in the world? Surely, if we start with Fajr, we will have the mercy and blessing of the One who commanded us and our days may just be a lot easier. It is also said in a narration, something to the effect that, we should place our worldly requests before Allah at this time, for He will take care of them for us. So will you rise before the sun and breathe the pure dawn air? So let’s be active participants in our religious obligation as much as we are in our worldly obligation.

We live in a society where we wake our kids up for school, but not for Fajr

We call ourselves muslim, and we do as commanded, but what about inculcating these habits in to our children? We know, that we have a responsibility to look after the children entrusted to us, from the Almighty. We don’t want them to fall on the playground and scratch their precious knees and we want them to raise the trophy at the end of the year #firstprize. But what about being the shining trophy in the eyes of Allah and kneeling on the ground before Him? If our kids are habitually waking up for school, but not fajr, we have failed them and our Lord. Yes – it may not be compulsory on them now, but it will be in the near future, why not make it easy for them to habitually rise at the call to prayer to please their Creator from the earliest age of understanding?

 

What is heavier? The Gym Bench or the Blanket for Fajr?

Please don’t give up your gym routines! Those are very helpful guys, but waking up a few minutes earlier and training your soul before your body is the ultumate option. The best form of exercise is salaah for the mind and the body. Our strength is in standing two feet firm on the musallah, in kneeling and bowing with full concentration on Allah and His command, Magnificence and Praise. The blanket is less than 1kg, let’s rise and raise the bar in obedience to the Nourisher, Sustainer and Provider.

theres just one more that i want to point out and that is,

Only the best may come from pleasing Allah

 

Allah never ordains that which may be harmful to us. So for those of us that have concerns about a lack of sleep, the idea has certainly been planted by Shaytaan and cultivated by our busy lives and nafs – think jihad an Nafs!

Fajr is designed to begin the day with light and with life, with positive energy and the presence of the Angels. The early morning sets the tone and energy for the entire day, and by beginning the day in the best possible way, in prayer and meditation, in spiritual practice, you will bless your entire day with barakah and noor, blessings and light.

Early morning is a blessed time and most conducive to spiritual awakening and the cultivation of consciousness, for while the world sleeps, the spiritual beings arise and assert that “prayer is better than sleep,” that consciousness, transcendence and divine purpose are greater than heedlessness, unconsciousness and loss of purpose.

I leave you asking that today, we all make the intention to observe the Fajr Salaah and that we ask Almighty to open our eyes and allow us to rise before the sun and all the birds and animals which awaken to praise HIM, In sha Allah

 

Some tips:

1. Eat Healthy, Eat Light: Light and healthy meals cultivate consciousness and feed our positive energy, whilst heavy unhealthy meals contribute to lethargy and laziness.

2. Sleep early with intention: Give your body the love and care it needs to obtain its maximum purpose for your maximum benefit. Our souls are housed by our bodies, we need to care for both in order to please Allah. Sleep in a state of purity, in wudhu and with intention to rise for Fajr salaah.

3.  Meditate daily: Center your mind, train your spirituality to enter every crevice of the mind and fill it with concentration and love for Allah and His invitation to meeting Him. A command is less burdensome, when you Love the commander.

4. Muhasaba: Take account for your day in Dunya,and you will have ease in answering in Akhira. Keep a conscious record of your worship and your spiritual growth and goals.

 

 

 

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Heavenly Peace

Paradise : And those who believed and did righteous deeds will be admitted to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein by permission of their Lord; and their greeting therein will be, “Peace!”

The Quranic definition of Paradise has thrown me in to a pool of reflection and introspection.  Why? The simple words explain the very idea of peace and satisfaction that we constantly crave.

I mean, I am certain that doing anything in a place so beautiful that words can not
even describe and abiding therein with the permission of the Almighty has to be the ultimate state of peace.

Allah is merciful and He loves us, I have said this before, His mercy has no limits. Allah tells us all these wonderful things and tells us how to achieve them too, Subhanallah! Here is this week’s naseeha: there is dunya peace – which is found in the righteous acts and in your salaah. The Quran tells us ‘those who do righteous deeds will be permitted entry’. But let’s take a minute to praise the Almighty – our acts that allow us ‘dunya peace’ are the same acts which are the keys to our ‘akhira peace’

May Allah give us all dunya and akhira peace and may we be guided to the righteous acts which please Him. Ameen

Do it Gracefully
Xx

HADITH OF THE DAY

Narrated by Abu Musa, The Prophet, May Peace and Blessings be upon him said ” Free the captives, feed the hungry and pay a visit to the sick” Sahih Al Bukhari

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ l

All praises are due to Allah, May the choices, blessings and salutations be upon the Messenger  ,

I recently attended company function. A beautiful event Ma’sha Allah, whilst I  was interacting with the guests and clients, I glanced over at my colleagues, who like me had their best outfits and brightest smiles – after all we were ambassadors of the company. 

A little while later, I pondered over the day and a thought crossed my mind. As a professional in any environment, we constantly trying to achieve the best results, may be approval from our superiors or in this case, purely promoting the company in the best spirit. And i thought to myself, Subhanallah, we can do this for a paycheck at the end of the month, but we are all born ambassadors of Islam! Alhamdulillah – our mandate is written, we are the best of nations with Muhammad May Peace and Blessings be upon him, as our leader. 

We ought to conduct ourselves as such in any situation. How we as Muslim’s portray ourselves is becoming increasingly important. A midst  all the negative media coverage and incorrect portrayal of Islam, it is our duty to start following the practices and character of Muhammad May be peace and blessings be upon him and the essence of Al – Quraan should be at our core. 

How is it possible that the word “ISLAM” means “PEACE” but the word thinks of terror every time Islam is mentioned? It is time to look closely at what Islam is and how we need to adjust our character to gain Allah’s pleasure and hold the flag of Islam up high. 

So lets begin, this week by welcoming our guests and family , one an all with Assalamu‘alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. May Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah be upon you. 

One of my favourite verses about greeting a fellow muslim is found in Surah Nur, “When a greeting is offered you, answer it with an even better greeting, or (at least) with its like. God keeps count of all things.”
[Surah an-Nur; 4: 86], 

The hadith illustrates this Umar (radiAllahu anhu) reports that he was riding with Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhu) on one mount. When they passed by people, Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhu) greeted them saying: ‘Assalamu alaikum’ and they replied: ‘Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatu Allah.’ Or he may greet them saying: ‘Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatu Allah,’ for which their reply was: ‘Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh.’ Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhu) commented: “Today, people have gained much more than us.” [Sahih al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad]

And remember that the antidote for Pride is Salaam. An individual with ounce of pride will not enter Jannah. Lets remember this Salaam is a blessing from Allah, we gain reward and we wish the best upon the next one. Let us be the first to greet every one, Assalamu Alaikum to you and to you and to you, but lets also be real – there is no such thing as “slms or slmz” and “wslms or wslmz”, lets not adapt the speech of Allah and His mercies due to our laziness and social etiquette. Even the word “Salaam” is not encouraged in greeting one another, so lets to stick to the greeting delivered to our father Adam, May Allah be Pleased with him and to the greeting of paradise, In Sha Allah.

For my reward, your reward and Allahs pleasure

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Do it Gracefully!