|| ventilation : zero || .. an attempt at figuring out me ..

Thursday, November 29, 2007

undeniable Mercy

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Hadith Qudsi #8:
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)
from the Prophet (PBUH), who said:

A prayer performed by someone
who has not recited the Essence of the Quran (1) during it
is deficient (and he repeated the word three times),
incomplete.

Someone said to Abu Hurayrah:
[Even though] we are behind the imam? (2)
He said:
Recite it to yourself,
for I have heard the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be up on him) say:
Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He), had said:
I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves,
and My servant shall have what he has asked for.

When the servant says:
Al-hamdu lillahi rabbi l-alamin
(Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds),
Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He) says:
My servant has praised Me.

And when he says:
Ar-rahmani r-rahim
(The Merciful, the Compassionate),
Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He) says:
My servant has extolled Me,

and when he says:
Maliki yawmi d-din
(Master of the Day of Judgement),
Allah says:
My servant has glorified Me
- and on one occasion He said:
My servant has submitted to My power.

And when he says: Iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta in
(It is You we worship and it is You we ask for help),
He says:
This is between Me and My servant,
and My servant shall have what he has asked for.

And when he says:
Ihdina s-sirata l- mustaqim,
siratal ladhina an amta alayhim
ghayril-maghdubi alayhim wa la d-dallin
(Guide us to the straight path,
the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favors,
not of those against whom You are angry, nor of those who are astray),
He says:
This is for My servant,
and My servant shall have what he has asked for.

(1) Surat al-Fatihah, the first surah (chapter) of the Qur'an.

(2) i.e. standing behind the imam (leader) listening to him reciting al-Fatihah.

-related by Muslim (also by Malik, at-Tirmidhi, Abu-Dawud, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah.

Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He), had said:
I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves,
and My servant shall have what he has asked for.

as i was reading this,
it dawned on me,
Mercy that we humans are incapable of,
Mercy we couldn't even start to think of,
He gives us.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala,
Glorified and Exalted is He.
Mighty and Sublime that He is,
He has no needs.
The Creator of All,
He is Self Sufficient.

what we do or dont do, have no effect on Him.
and the acts He has commanded that we carry out,
He does not need them.

it is His Mercy,
they're for us.
they benefit us.

Allah does not need us,
Islam does not need us.

it is we, who is in need of Allah,
and we are the ones who needs Islam.

assalamualaikum kawan2
^-^

last friday was a public holiday :
the labor day.

and Alhamdulillah,
with the day off from work,
and with the kind invitation from alang and her husband azam,
good friends of mine from the jmc years,
Allah has eased up for me the way,
and given me a chance to visit the jamii mosque in yoyogi uehara for the first time.

i have always wanted to visit the place for some time now,
but what can i say, its no excuse,
it is my weakness and syaitan had always won.
either i was using my weekend for sleep, or play,
result was, i kept putting it off.
until last friday that is,
Alhamdulillah...
^-^

the mosque was beautiful!
the outside of the building,
the stairs, the walls, the minaret,
they were all marbled.

even the chandelier in the praying hall looked marbled!
and i just love the intricate details of the calligraphy on the stained glass,
the tiny lamps of the chandelier,
and how the sun's penetration seemed to be calculated
as it shined beautifully on the calligraphed wall in the hall.

the dome was beautifully calligraphed too.
other than the name Allah SWT,
and Muhammad SAW,
the names of our respected leaders:
Abu Bakar, Umar, Ali...
were beautiful in calligraphy up beneath the dome.

it was the first time for me, ever in my life,
to attend solat jumaat.

while it is wajib for the men,
i forgot that the rukun is sunat for the girls,
and i was all set up for zuhur and totally forgot that it was 2 rakaat,
hyahhh!!!!
after the salam only do i realized that, so mang hai laaaaa...
kelam kelibut machik!

Astaghfirullah Al Azim!!!
apa nak jadi nih?

well that's the shameful truth,
about how little my knowledge is.
things i have learned but forgotten.
tsk tsk!

Astaghfirullah Al Azim.
Astaghfirullah Al Azim.
Astaghfirullah Al Azimmmm!!!!

but it was really a wonderful experience.
when the whole men's jemaah said the word "Amin" after Al-Fatihah,
it gave me this thrill and i was so moved, i almost cried.

and it was wonderful to see the place crowded with people.
people of all various nationalities,
speaking various tongues.
it came as a renewed realization to me,
that islam is universal.

different backgrounds or color of skin,
but we are brothers and sisters,
worshipping One God,
under One Faith,
searching for the One Light.

totally moved me.

and it was wonderful to see the sisters with their own style of hijabs ^-^
and how we smile whenever our eyes met!
like we're all just one big family!
and we really are actually, one big family,
one ummah.
^-^

some of the sisters stopped and held out her hand as she greeted me Assalamualaikum.
i accepted their hands and greet them Waalaikumsalam.
^-^

i listened to the khutbah,
and the turkish imam talked about Surah Al Ikhlas,
the tauhid of the surah.
That Allah is One,
The One.

that He does not need,
and we do,
need Him.

^-^

he spoke about it in 3 different languages:
1st in japanese, then arabic, and finally in english.

^-^

after solat, they held an islamic class open for the non muslims to join.
there were a few of them who came for a peek.
i hope they bring back some thing good they can accept.
^-^

the experience was totally new to me,
and it was totally wonderful.

^-^

there was an islamic bazaar held that day,
and these were our lunch,
chicken curry rice!

we also had padthai, and tom yam soup too!
yummies!
^-^

it was a wonderful day, last friday.
and i am totally hooked!
i'm gonna try and make it an effort to visit it more.
on weekends maybe.
i should.

to find refuge,
and find myself,
and find Him.

insyaAllah.

they say that iman rises and falls like the tide,
to change in a split second, faster than boiling water,
they say that its the nature of the human heart.

they say, what matters more,
is how we strive through it when it falls.

Rasulullah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"Faith wears out in the heart of any one of you as clothes wear out,
so ask Allah to renew the faith in your hearts."

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

Ya Allah,
we ask You
by Your beautiful Names and Sublime Attributes
to renew the faith in our hearts.

Ya Allah,
make faith appear beautiful to us
and adorn our hearts with it,
and make kufr, sin and disobedience abhorrent to us.

Make us of those who are rightly guided.
Glorified be the Lord of Might
above what they ascribe to Him.

Peace be upon the Messengers and praise be to Allah,
the Lord of the Worlds.

Amin, Amin Ya Rabbal Al Amin.

"it meant the world to hold a bruising faith
now its just a matter of grace"

edri vented out at11/29/2007 02:04:00 PM
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