Reclaim Your Heart

  

   Salamalayk, last Monday on April 15th, 2013, Allah gave me the opportunity to attend this beautiful, inspiring and an eye-opener talk. Took about 5 hours to arrive at MATRADE, Jalan Duta right after my Test 2: Electricity & Magnetism ended. Apparently because I had to travel from college to Kelana Jaya Station then to IIUM, Gombak to meet up with my girlfriend, Fariha Aliah and then after Asar we started our journey to MATRADE. But Alhamdulillah, HE made it easy for both of us, HE kept me energetic despite sleeping only for 4 hours the night before, He protected both of us throughout the journey. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah! The journey was all worth it as what I gained that night will not be found or will not be taught in classes.

   We arrived at MATRADE around 1845 Hours after having to go through the massive traffic jams in the city of KL. When we arrived, people were already queuing either to get the tickets chopped or to collect the tickets. As for the two of us, we had to queue for about 20 minutes to collect our tickets before proceeded to buy food for dinner at the cafe. Later, we went to the Surau next to the main hall for Maghrib prayer. But, we had to perform ablution at the toilet which was not so cleaned and there was smell of urine... Errrk... Okay, forget about it. Yes, there was also booths set up outside the hall and I managed to grab 2 books titled Reclaim Your Heart by Sister Yasmin Mogahed herself and also Ameena's Ramadan Diary by Sara Kabil & Abubakr El - banna. Reclaim Your Heart was one of the books that is in my wishlists whereas Ameena's Ramadan Diary was bought because I found that the content is very eye - catching. We went into the hall approximately at 2030 Hours.

   The night started with greetings from the chairman of Viva Palestina Malaysia cum the representative of Light Upon Light, a 20 minutes video and a role play by students of ADNI Islamic School titled Palestine: A Story Must Be Told. The kids are very adorable! MashaAllah :))

Emcee of that night; Sister Wardina Safiyyah

One of the most inspiring sister I've ever came across

   Sister Yasmin Mogahed was then being invited onto the stage by Sister Wardina Safiyyah who was the emcee of the night, at about 2130 Hours. She is indeed one of the many 'pearls' that Allah sent from heaven. I love the way she gives lectures, the way she tells stories from the Qur'an. May Allah bless her at all times, InshaAllah.

   So, below are the points that I jotted down and compiled from the talk. Hoping that this will benefit all of us in many ways, InshaAllah...

"Every little deed counts, it makes a difference! If you ever think of giving up boycotting the Israelis, never have that intention. Because your small contributions will give impact to them slowly, without even you realise about it."

(I'm in the midst of doing research about this boycott issues. Will post it, later, InshaAllah)

"The Palestinians never asked, 'How long is this going to end?' Instead they make du'as so that Allah will give them victory."

"Read Qu'ran at least one page a day. Get yourself close to the Qur'an. Distance yourself from the things that keep you astray, keep you away from holding firmly on to the religion."

The followings were what Sister Yasmin shared with us that night.

a)  Adam & Hawa;

Allah responded to angels by saying, "I know what you do not know," when HE wanted to create Adam but the angels were reluctant with HIS decision.

We have potentials to be better, the ability to do something more than just eating, sleeping and reproducing.

Iblis said, "I am better than him (Adam). YOU created me from fire while YOU created him from soil, thus, why should I bow to him?"

Never allow arrogant to take over you.

When Adam slipped, his respond was different from Iblis. HE took responsibility of his own mistake. He understood his needs of Allah. Adam's du'a to Allah in repentance,

"Our Lord, we have done injustice to our souls. If YOU will not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall certainly have incurred a great loss."  Al - A'raf: 23.

But Iblis' respond was, "Because of YOU, Allah, YOU have kicked me out from Jannah." Iblis blamed others and vowed to take HIS slaves to Jahannam. Iblis comes from the word 'ablasa' which means to despair.

Not to despair, humbled yourself to Allah, keep coming back to Allah and seek forgiveness from HIM. Allah will forgive.

When hardships come and we know those are tests from Allah, brace ourselves, turn to the Creator for help. The reason why HE gives us challenges is so that we will turn to HIM and ask for HIS help before anything else.

Humility first. Adam repented and Allah forgave because it is human nature to slip.

We can be better than the angels but we can also be worst than animals (just by eating, drinking, sleeping and breeding).

Our situation will not change until we change ourselves, until we acknowledge Allah and until we prostrate to HIM as true believers.

b)  Yunus A.S;

When trapped in the belly of a big whale, he recited,

"There is nothing worthy of worship but YOU Allah is high above everything else. I have certainly done wrong to myself (so forgive me)." Al - Anbiya': 87.

We will not get through our external situation till we realise it is about turning back to Allah.

c)  Musa A.S;

Lived in the time where the tyrants killed babies. Musa was still in his mum's womb by then. Allah inspired his mum to let him go and put him in a river after giving birth to him.  Her trust in Allah was so strong that she knew HE will take care of him.

When you give up something for the sake of Allah, Allah will bring it back in the form of something better in the dunya and the hereafter, provided that you placed 100% trust in HIM.

Allah does not leave Musa's mum alone as she placed 100% trust in HIM. Allah returned him to her so that she will not be sad, so that she would know that HIS promises were true.

HE told him the importance of remembering HIM through Salah (prayers) and by making du'as.

We sometimes feel that no one will care when we are sad but Allah cares for us that much.

When Musa was being followed by the Fira'un, armies, tyrants and stuck in a place where in front of HIM is the Red Sea, Allah asked Musa to throw his stuff. He threw and it turned into a snake!

Some stuff that supported you, can be a snake that bite you. The creations may bite you as things change with time.

People who help you today, may hurt you tomorrow and may also help you again the next day.

Look at the sun, the stars. We are wowed by them but they will eventually set.  If we rely on the creations, they will let us down.

Never depend or lean on any creation as ultimately the control is in Allah's hand. HE controls our hearts.

Do not bend or loose in Dhikr

Musa's trust in Allah was,
"By no means,  my Lord is with me and HE will guide me through." Al - Shu'ara': 63.

Allah makes a way out from places that you will never imagine seeing.

All of the things we see, feel, hear, hold are HIS.

Our problem is that, we see the Red Sea, armies, tyrants but we did not see HIM.

"Whoever has God's consciousness, Allah will make a way out for them and HE will provide you from places that you never imagine. Indeed, in this a sign but most people do not get it."
At - Talaq: 2 - 3

d)  Ibrahim A.S;

No matter how important the creations are, these creations will make us sad, will leave us. When being thrown into fire, Jibrael came and asked Ibrahim, "Can I get a help for you?" Ibrahim firmly said, "From you, NO."

Knowing that Allah will take care of you, Allah will 'cool' the fire.

Even within hardships, you can feel peace inside, in the heart.

As Ibrahim gets older, he longed to have a son. So, Allah gave him Ismail. He dreamed of slaughtering Ismail. He accepted it as something from Allah and said, "Ya Allah, I love YOU more!" Allah then saved Ismail from being slaughtered.

We become so focus on gifts that we lose focus, lose hopes in Allah. HE will take the gifts and give something priceless and even worth than the gifts provided that we focus and ultimately be dependent on HIM.

When we are asked to sacrifice, to let go of something, do we actually say, "O Allah, I love YOU more" ?

Do not be sad if Allah separates you from something or someone you love. If only we knew what HIS plans were for us, our hearts would melt in the warmth of HIS love.

e)  Hajar;

In the dessert, there was no water. She carried her son and they were so thirsty.

Dependence in Allah must be instilled in the heart while you are still acting or striving.

Sa'ie means to strive. She strove hard to get water. She did not give up. She runs back and forth from Safa to Marwah.

Sabr, perseverance, keep trying and don't give up hopes.

After 7 times of running back and forth from Safa to Marwah, Allah sent a miracle to Hajar and her son.

We do not realise what we have are gifts from Allah.

Results come from Allah (HIS mercy), not your actions, deen and rights.

To sum up, she shared with us these;

The only reason Jinn and human are created is to worship Allah.

Enslaving yourself to Allah means you are freeing yourself.

Everything comes from Allah. The more you run after something in this life, the more it runs away from you. The more you become dependent or the more you need the creations, the more they run away from you. You do not get the love of people by running after them but by turning to Allah! By running to Allah!

To whom do we return for refuge? From whom do we seek for help? Why do we always depend on the creations first and only look for Allah as last resort?

During school tests, you cannot raise your hands and ask for help. But in the tests that Allah gives, HE loves it when you raise your hand asking for HIS help.

When you love the giver more than the gifts, then you will be gifted.

When Allah loves someone, HE will tell Jibrael, "O Jibrael, I love this person, so love him or her." And if Allah loves you, it is priceless!

"If God is your helper or if God supports you, no one can defeat you. However if HE abandons you, who would help you? The true believers trust in God." Ali - Imran: 160.

Allah is Al - Wadud, the source of love. If you want real love, you have to seek the One who created love. Only then, will you find true love.

Ikhtiyar is the act of limbs, tawakkal is the act of the heart. Both are needed in order to achieve success in dunya and akhirah.

When things are easy, we turn away from remembrance of Allah. When calamities strike, our hearts are away from Allah. We then do not have the strength to wake up or to regain the strength. Stay close to Allah so that when calamity strikes, it is easier to handle.

Focus in Allah in time of ease, so that HE makes everything easy for you.

Do not die except in the state of submission to Allah.

Prophet Muhammad always recited this du'a,
"O Turner of the hearts, keep our hearts firm on your religion."

The moment you become arrogant in your religion is the very moment when it is being taken away from you.

Always thank Allah for everything you have. Thank HIM every day. Thank HIM many times a day. Be grateful as HE will increase it. If you are ungrateful, Allah will take it away from you, HIS punishment is very severe.

HE is the God of all creations. HE does not need anything and anyone.

Everything you have, every deed and prayer you do or perform, is not a gift from you to Allah. Instead, it is a gift from Allah to you.

We get to Jannah by Allah's mercy not by our deeds. Every good deeds to Allah is actually a gift from Allah to us because HE is so merciful and this is how we take away arrogance from our heart.

If Allah leaves us in a blink of the eyes, we will collapse, TOTALLY collapse.

Sadness is when your heart is so hardened (dead) and your eyes are so dry that you cannot cry at all (you are so far from HIM).

Happiness is when you give and reclaim your heart to HIM.

True love is never based on false attachment. Detachment means you are the most generous in terms of love.

The best of families, friends, spouse are those who are not dependent fully on others but to Allah ultimately.

The heart is the actual lens of how we understand the world. If the lens are dirty, we cannot see the world clearly. We must be clean those lens.

We act, we strive, we put our effort. But remember, we have no power of the results. The results are from Allah. Work hard but trust HIM.

Whatever results you got even after giving 100% effort for it, accept it with open heart, accept it something from HIM. HE knows best.

Rich people who are ungrateful are needy as they need to buy a lot of things which they can never satisfy themselves. Poor people who are grateful of what they have are richer than the rich because what they have is enough to cover what they need.

   If you ever have the chance to attend one of Sister Yasmin's talk, I would strongly recommend you to go, listen attentively, ponder upon yourselves. Syukran Jazeelan Fariha Aliah for fetching me at the LRT station, Syukran Jazeelan for driving to MATRADE and for the supper at Restoran Haslam that night :)

P/s: Here's another link of blog whose the owner was also at the event on Monday (http://moslemische.blogspot.com/2013/04/let-it-go.html). If you happen to blog about it, share your link in the comment space below so that we shall exchange notes :) Jazakumullahu Khair

Till then, Wassalam