Happy New Muharram =)

Allah has created everything with movement. The galaxy is programmed to move and expand. The sun is designed to travel at fast speeds across the universe. The earth is made to spin on its axis. The moon is destined to run its cycle.  Darkness is told give way to light.  The seasons are instructed to shift and change. The winds are guided to blow on their course. The rain is brought down. Even continents rise, slide and sink.

The month of Muharram is a reminder that humans must make the conscious decision to move. Muharram marks the migration of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) from Makkah to Madina. This month captures the story of the epic journey undertaken by the first Muslims, 1437 years ago. This journey was made on principle, to preserve the purity of faith. This journey was made for the sake of Tawheed – Allah alone.  This journey is called Hijrah.  It is obligatory upon every Muslim to make Hijrah. It is our duty to emotionally travel away from sin; to physically distance ourselves from the disobedience of Allah and migrate to actions which Allah loves.

Just as we say good bye to the last year, let us say good bye to all our bad habits and sins. Time is an unfathomable asset. It is more precious than money, more valuable than people. We can always earn back the money we have lost. People constantly come in and go out of our lives. But time never returns; time can never be earned. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “People wake up in the morning and they bargain with their souls. Some – buy freedom and forever happiness and eternal success with their souls and others sell their souls in destruction, to perpetual pain and suffering.”

Let us ask ourselves this very moment, what am I buying with my soul? What am I doing with my time?

Allah made day and night for His worship. There are certain good deeds which are prescribed during the day and certain good deeds which are performed at night. Time itself is a tool, it is an instrument to draw close to Allah. The month of Ramadan motivated us to leave everything and focus on Qur’an. The month of Dhil Hijjah encouraged us to put our sins up for slaughter. Now in the blessed month of Muharram, we are given the chance to turn the page and start over, to rewrite our spiritual narrative with a fresh beginning.

When the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) came to Madeenah in Muharram, he saw the Jews fasting on the day of ‘Ashura’ – the 10^th of Muharram. He asked, “What is this?” The Jews said, “This is a good day, this is the day when Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy Pharaoh and Musa fasted on this day.” Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “We are closer to Musa than you.” So he (s.a.w) fasted on this day and told the people to fast so people can worship Allah and reflect upon Allah’s decisions.

Today is the 10^th of Muharram. It is very humbly to note that Allah saved the first Muslims from the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and, before us, Allah saved the Ummah of Musa (a.s) from tyranny and oppression in this month, on this very day.

Again Muslims around the world are desperately in need of Allah’s rescue and deliverance. The whole Ummah  is pleading and imploring for safety and security. This is really the time to get down on our knees, on our face and beg Allah to change the course of history.

In this article inshaAllah, I will share some lessons from the life of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and Musa (a.s) to help us shape a new year and a new Islamic era.

1.      We definitely live in an age of stereotypes and paranoia. Everyday there are new reports of racial attacks on Muslims and new laws are passed which systematically target Muslims. 10^th of Muharram teaches us a lesson of hope and optimism.

The voices against Allah will drown one day. Even if there are 1000s of channels and100s of  laws that depress you, try to weaken your resolve, tell yourself what Musa (a.s) said to himself when he stood at the edge of the Red sea... He was surrounded by a confused, disunited nation who mocked his religious sentiment and leadership. Behind him was the most fiercest army in the world, with the incredibly advanced torture weapons. Despite all the rejection and threats that he received, Musa (a.s) did not give up hope and optimism in Allah. He said, “verily, with me is my Lord, He will guide me.”

His certainty in Allah saved an entire nation. Through his courage and unshakable faith, the Muslims found their promised land. 

His sincerity to Allah, evoked a miracle. Pharaoh and his entire military – all the fear mongerers, war makers and propagandists were massacred right before their eyes.

2.      This brings me to the next point – when Musa (a.s) asked the Jews to migrate to the promised land – they said, ‘you and your Lord go fight for it, we are sitting right here.’ They refused to move an inch. We can’t ask Allah to change history when we do not want to change ourselves. Change also begins with an individual and if every person just worked hard to change themselves, the entire nation will change by itself.

We had elections this week. We were all at the edge of our seats but many of us did not get up to vote. When Allah calls us and invites us to success, (hayya al salah hayya al falah) but we wait for the last possible to respond. We complain about tyrannical governments overseas but we are bullies ourselves at home, on the road and at work.

Let’s be the change we want to see in the world. If we want the world to understand Islam, let’s learn about our religion. If we want the world to like Muslims, let’s be the best practicing Muslims that we can ever be. If we want oppression to end, let’s stop fighting amongst ourselves our families. If we want Allah to answer our duaas quickly, let’s hurry to Salah. 

Prayer before Work

I start my day with the niyyah to make my students love Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w).
I am privileged to have given my soul to this.
I ask myself, "How can I win their trust on what I say about our beautiful religion, unless I show them what beautiful things it has done for me?
Students don't care how much I have come to know, only how much I have come to grow.
How can I do this without showing on me love for Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w)?
What part of my ego will I let go today?
What part of my intolerance will I get over today?
What part of my frustrations will I forgive today?
How many times will I free my soul today from a being slave to this world to being a slave of Allah?

Indeed, nothing is easy except what Allah makes easy.
O Allah, make my job easy aameen. 

Prayer before Work

I start my day with the niyyah to make my students love Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w).
I am privileged to have given my soul to this.
I ask myself, "How can I win their trust on what I say about our beautiful religion, unless I show them what beautiful things it has done for me?
Students don't care how much I have come to know, only how much I have come to grow.
How can I do this without showing on me love for Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w)?
What part of my ego will I let go today?
What part of my intolerance will I get over today?
What part of my frustrations will I forgive today?
How many times will I free my soul today from a being slave to this world to being a slave of Allah?

Indeed, nothing is easy except what Allah makes easy.
O Allah, make my job easy aameen. 

First Day back to School

Who is God?A poor woman’s riches A hungry woman’s bread A sad woman’s joyA sick woman’s healthWho is God?A crippled woman’s legs A deaf woman’s ears A blind woman’s eyes An tired woman's restWho is God?A troubled woman’s peace A foolish woman’s wisdom A defeated woman’s victoryWho is God?An insane woman’s sanity A dead woman’s life A lost woman’s salvation

I want to take a moment to extend a very warm welcome to everyone this morning. Whether you're are a returning student or staff or coming to Madinatul Uloom for the first time, I am delighted that you are here with us today.

Just looking at you guys fills me with  so much excitement because you are the people whom Allah has chosen ... Allah has handpicked you from the hundreds of thousands of girls ... The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, when Allah wishes well for a person, Allah grants her the understanding of the religion.

You are not here for any other reason, except for the reason that Allah loves you and Allah wants you to be here.

Allah wants to be your riches, your joy, your rest.

Allah wants to be your legs, ears, and eyes.

Allah wants to be your peace, your wisdom, your salvation

Allah wants to be your sanity, your life.

When Abdullah ibn Masood came to learn Islam from the Prophet (s.a.w), the Prophet (s.a.w) took his hands in his own two hands and taught him. The Prophet (s.a.w) gave so much love and attention to each and everyone of his students. And today, I extend the same feelings toward you.  

Among us, are some of the best staff members and students in the country, the best friends and sisters anyone can wish for.

Alhamdulillah we are so lucky to be brought together, by Allah, under this building, where the framework and philosophy of our academic learning is grounded in Quran and hadith.

I'll quickly sketch some of our goals for this year:

First, our vision for the morning assembly, is to grow our staff and students in relationship with Allah. I have many stories and activities and prizes lined up – trust me, you do not want to miss them. Come here on time, get front row seats and I will show you a good time inshaAllah.

Secondly, we are all about students. Every student who walks through these doors is important to us, so if you ever feel like just another number, we are doing something wrong and I give you permission to tell me about it.

At Madinatul Uloom, we care about you and your family and we here not only to feed you intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, but to help in any way we can. We love doing it and it's why we exist! InshaAllah, I will introduce our guidance counselling and tarbiyah system to you shortly.

I pray that all your righteous dreams come true. I pray that you have a gratifying year. I ask Allah to make our education and our friendships meaningful and a means of nearness to Him amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and may Allah bless your studies and your personal endeavours amen.

Alhuda Reunion

Today I gave a warm welcome to some of my classmates from Alhuda, Taleem al Qur'an 2007. Just looking at them filled me with with so much excitement and camaraderie. It was very special and very meaningful day for all of us. Today we celebrated our friendships that began 8 years ago. I wanted to rekindle those friendships and appreciate how we have impacted each others’ lives and how we will always cherish each other.

For all of us, Alhuda held an ocean of memories. It was our imprint and paradigm because it helped us shape our models, our frameworks and our philosophies in life. That’s where we formed most of our religious roots; and, for the most part, that's when we had, for the first time ever, a very real connection with Allah. For many of us, Alhuda is just a building now but when we were doing the Taleem al Quran course together, or the Alhuda weekend course, it was our spiritual home, a site of our coming of age and where adult life started.

Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for everyone who arranged their schedules to be here. Their presence enriched the entire experience for everyone.  I know that there were some who were hindered by time and distance from attending, we missed them and remembered them in our duaas.  We remembered each and every one of our teachers and our group incharges, to whom we are forever indebted. There are not enough words in the world to complement them and thank them for their hard work.

Alhuda was the hub of our knowledge, our inspiration and friendships.  Like branches of a tree, our lives may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one.

It was definitely a nostalgic day, back to the good old days . Along with enjoying a pot-luck brunch we challenged each other to a hifdh challenge, MashaAllah Aaminah Khan was quick to complete an array of randomly selected verses from Juzz 30th. MashAllah Huma and Humeira performed and narrated ahadith on various good character traits in a charades game based on Husne Akhalq book. Azka Mariam caught all the clues  I threw her way and guessed the names of the Sahaba (ra) correctly. In the end, the kids whacked the living daylights out of the pinyata. 

After graduation we all went on to pursue our lifelong dreams. Alhamdulillah we all went on to living very gratifying lives  and had many meaningful journeys . We shared our family and professional achievements, any personal endeavours. All in all, it was great to meet some of my classmates.