A Flickering Light

Bismillah, Assalam u alaikum! 

The topic of forgiveness is a vast topic with many hadiths and many stories. Inshallah I will tackle this topic in many future posts to come. However today we will look at a Hadith from Riyad-us-saliheen page 28 Hadith number 16.
It is as follows:

Abu Musa Al ash'ari (ra) reported : The Prophet (saw) said, " Allah the exalted, will continue to stretch out His Hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His Hand in the daytime so that sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west."  
[Collected by Muslim]

The Prophet (saw) said that Allah's Hands are stretched open to accept forgiveness in the night so that those who sin during the day may repent in the veil of the night, and those who sin under the cover of darkness, may repent in the confrontation of a new day, perhaps hoping for a brighter horizon.  Whatever the case, the doors or mercy are open to public till the day the horizon switches gears. 

Let's be real. We all sin. Whether it's manifest, or whether it's locked away in a room, there are times that we regret deeply. Now stop. You can only feel darkness if you have seen light. And darkness is not the absence of light. Just like peace is not the absence of war. In order to understand that you are in darkness, you must be able to SEE that darkness. That means that your heart has a grain of light. A flickering night light. It may be old and rusty, it may be broken and dirty, but it's there. 

And we are so scared to come close. Wrapped in dirty and torn rags. Mud and dirty streaks on our face. Stringy hair and a stench that swears never to be squelched. We are afraid that if we come close, our past sins may extinguish the little weak light we have. But we forget that the mere fact we are afraid, is a huge accomplishment. To have that guilt means that we are aware of our situation. 

Grab that light. Who are we to underestimate the mercy of The One Who has our soul in His Hand. 

Ya ilah, la tuzigh quloobuna ba'da ith hadaiy tana, wa hablana milla dunka rahma

Sidra k. Afzal

A New Start

Bismillahhir Rahman nirRaheem

I begin in the name of The Most Merciful, Most Beneficent.

                                           

Assalam u alaikum! 

It has been nearly 2 years since I last posted. If you are a past reader... You may have noticed the not-so-slight change in the name and overall look. So inshallah this blog will now be called A String of Pearls. I have deleted some of my old posts, but I decided not to create a new blog due to the sheer fact that I have been blogging since 2012. 

As I was reading my past blog posts, I literally laughed out loud. I was such a child back then... Lol. Bithinillah tho, I will update this blog weekly if not more -inshallah. Life in 2015 has been going crazy. My short story was voted #1 on Teen Ink, I won first in poetry competition, got interviews by the Wall Street Journal and inshallah a Representative will be meeting with me tmrw over my article! All praise is due to Allah and all thanks is due to Him! I thank him for this whole way he has brought me and make due that Allah keep us all guided on the straight path!

Over the years I have seen that there is always this one post that gets a lot of attention and that is Depression. So inshallah I will write more on that topic. :)

I will leave with quote: "Carpe Diem"

Sieze the day and don't wait for the perfect moment-take a moment and make it perfect! 

Wasalam!

Sidra k. Afzal

The Other Doors

Bismillah,
Something we should all read (not my story)... 
The Other Doors

Our 4 year old son has some fairly serious health problems, so we are "frequent fliers" at the local children's hospital. Two weeks ago, our son was there for several days having surgery.

As stressful as that was for us, my visits to that hospital almost always leave me feeling grateful. Why? Because of "the other doors."

As I walk the corridors of that hospital, I pass doors leading to many different departments. I pass the department where surgeons reconstruct children's faces. I pass the department where specialists treat children who have been tragically burned. I pass the department where children with cancer spend their childhoods battling a disease that terrifies most adults. Every day, people walk through those doors. I keep walking.

Occasionally, I walk through a ward, past the room of a dying child. I look in at the child, unconscious amid a mass of tubes and machines. I see the family, staring blankly into space, grieving for what is to come. I keep walking.

On the fourth floor, I pass the "catacombs" where parents with children in ICU watch their days and nights stretch into weeks and months, hoping against hope for good news. I keep walking.

It's late one evening, and I walk to the waiting room. Only one family remains, and their doctor arrives from surgery. He begins to tell them about the patient's injuries....a shotgun blast, self-inflicted ....massive facial damage.... a dozen more operations to come....a lifetime of disfigurement...a lifetime of asking "why?" I sit, half-listening, considering the doors, this family will face in the years ahead.

I stood up. I walk back to the preschool ward, to the one door I seek. Behind this door, our son is slowly recovering from surgery. And in a strange way, I am grateful for the "situation" that we live with.

Because there are a hundred other doors in this place that are far worse. And we could just as easily be in one of those rooms.

As you pray for strength to open the doors you face, be sure to thank Allah Ta'ala for the doors he has spared you.

Keep me in your duas!
Allahuma yahdina fiman hadaiy

Sidra Afzal
© TheUmmahVoice

Example of a Tree

Bismillah,

Don't you see how ALLAH sets forth a moral story? A good word as a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed, And its branches reach to the sky. Giving its fruit at all times, by ALLAH's Will, And ALLAH sets forth life lessons for mankind in order that they may learn. And the life lesson of an evil word is that of an evil tree, It is torn up by the root from the surface of the earth, It has no stability. [14:24-26]



Keep me in your duas!
Allahuma yahdina fiman hadaiy

Sidra Afzal
© TheUmmahVoice

One of the Best People

"The best of those among you is the one who learns the Qur'an and then teaches it to others. "[Prophet Muhammad]

Keep me in your duas!
Allahuma yahdina fiman hadaiy


Sidra k. Afzal
© A String of Pearls and Gems

Saying Salam =)

Bismillah,

Abdullah and Ahmed always say salam :) 

Hadith number 8 from Mishkatul Aathar,

An abdullah bin umar anna rajulan sa'ala rasullulah saw ayul islami khair? qala tut emut ta'ama wa taqra'us salama ala man arafta wa mal lam ta'rif.

It is narrated by abdullah bin umar that a man asked what is the best action in Islam  The Prophet (saw) said: To feed on another food and to say salam to those you know and those you don't know.  

Now a days when you see some one you know instead of going to them you turn around and walk the other way right? lol this has happened to me many times- but me being me went up to them...they kinda feel embarrassed too yah know wat im sayin? :D

Nasai narrates from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (ra) that the Holy Prophet (saw) said, "There are rights of a Muslim over a Muslim: Responding to salaam, visiting the sick, following the bier (A platform upon which the corpse rests), accepting an invitation (to a meal) and blessing a person who sneezes." 

So it is fard to reply to the salam but how do we deal with it?

2 friends are at the airport coincidentally and one says AS SALAM U ALAIKUM BRO!! across the waiting area- the second guy has 2 options. 1.Pretend he doesn't know the guy- which is 75% the response lol- OR 2. Murmur wasalam not today brother not today walk away.And then whisper under his breath "Did that idiot forget this is the AIRPORT ?!?...THE AIRPORT for cryin out loud. :D 

Truthfully in this situation i would pick...hmm neither cuz i would be the maniac screaming across the waiting area. :-D 

Actually once we were out on a long drive and i was soo bored. I read my books, i reviewed my surahs well most of them and didn't feel like drawing so i started waving to random people...yes i seriously was crazy enough. lollz my mom was saying they will think you are a mental patient in hijab...I'm like idc I'm not seeing them ever again :) 

Hence i began waving at people. Some people waved back or smiled or ignored. So there was this one uncle driving in the next lane to us and i started waving to him right? that's ok -until here- and then he wasn't looking n i was determined so i put my window down and realized his lane was turning to an exit.. so get this... i screamed hi out my window haha lol hes driving out the exit and he sees me like wth? Satisfied i closed the window and stated laughing ^_^

ahh.. the joy of saying hi to random people you will never see again :D 

So basically don't forget to say salam i mean its the best greeting. Peace and blessings be upon you.


Keep me in your duas!
Allahuma yahdina fiman hadaiy


Sidra Afzal
© TheUmmahVoice

Benefits of Surah Fatiha

Bismillah,

Surah Al-Fatiha "The Opening" is the greatest Surah of the Qur'an and no prayer is complete without it.

Benefits? Many! :)

Benefits of Reciting Surah Al-Fatiha Prophet Muhammad saws is reported to have said :
1. The reciter's status will be altered as per the desire of the heart.
2. The reciter's poverty is removed.
3. The reciter's debt will...l be cleared miraculously.
4. The reciter's disease will be cured.
5. The reciter cannot be overpowered or vulnerable.
6. The reciter's enemy will become fearful.
7. The reciter's friends will be friendlier.

Sidra Afzal

© TheUmmahVoice