young muslims « Seeking His Pleasure Through Patience

Intentions

February 6, 2009 at 22:00 | In General Musings, young muslims | Leave a Comment
Tags: allah, intentions, islam, native deen, niat, niyyah, Prophet, Rasulullah, reflections

Assalaamu’alaikum! (:

I’m not really a fan of hip hop or R&B or rap

But this song kinda won me over (:

Okaay, it’s the lyrics that did it (:

Intentions

by Native Deen

Waking up in the morning, gotta make my prayer
Am I really gonna’ make it, when there is no one there?
Taking trips to the masjid (mosque), even when it’s tough
Am I going for the sake of Allah? Am I showing off?
Gonna’ get me the knowledge, gonna study Islam
Am I going just to build my ego? so they call me “the Man”?
Does it matter if the people respect me, when its not for Allah?
When I know anytime He can take me, without one real du’a (prayer)
Does it matter if they say I’m a big shot?
when I get no reward for my deeds

And I’m dragged on the Day of Resurrection
Cause of the folks that I wanted to please
Plus I know that Allah has the power
To raise me up in their eyes if it need be
I should always make my intentions, for my Lord, Allah completely

Chorus: Are my Intentions alright? am I doing for Allah?
When I’m looking deep, deep down inside, do I have the right niyyah?

Wearing thoubs with a kufi, kufi
Miswaks leather socks like the old days
Am I trying to follow the Prophet? Or am I seeking praise?
Giving talks on Islam to people
I’d be quoting Hadith and Qur’an
Am I speaking so they like how I’m speaking? and they say I’m “the Bomb”
Donating to Islamic centers, giving money so the Deen can grow
Am I giving for the sake of Allah? or is it for show?
Many times I have found my intentions
Are not what I want them to be
I know I start on the right direction
But Shaitan starts talking to me
And I forget that without my niyyah, I’m just wasting my time
My intentions cannot bring the reward, when they’re out of line
So I pray to Allah to help me, to do everything for Him only

Doesn’t matter if the people despise me

Cause with Allah I can never be lonely

Yah Allah, accept this niyyah
Coming from young Muslims striving to be believers
So on the day, our deeds You’ll measure. Know we only did this strictly for Your pleasure, Your pleasure
Your mercy, Your ajur (reward), Your Jannah (heaven), forever and ever and ever
And reward us for those who listen
Heeded to the message, changing their condition
And know that everything up until this point I’ve ever written
I submit as my repentance
And if its blessings You’re sending my way
I beg You hold them to the judgement day
so maybe in Jannah you can look back and say…it was a lovely day, a lovely, a lovely day, yes a lovely day
Are my intentions, alright, am I doing for Allah
When I am looking deep deep down inside, do I have the right niyyah (intention)?

Chorus

~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me tell you about something related to this.

In my old blog, at beginning of 2008, I decided to change my niyyah for blogging from personal to educating others about Islam. Just like what I’m doing here.

Problem was, on Multiply, you could see who had viewed your posts. I kind of became obsessed with checking out who had viewed my posts. That’s when I knew that another not so good niyyah for blogging had developed: to seek attention.

It just kept on swaying between the two niyyahs: Share about Islam – attention – share about Islam – attention etc

Here in WordPress, I receive daily statistics. No names or faces attached to the people who have viewed this blog. Just numbers. That almost made me greedy at first; I worried about how can I increase the traffic to my blog.

Then I took a step back, and reminded myself of why I shifted here in the first place : it’s to spread the true Islam, not the misunderstood versions non-Muslims may have. The stats should not matter, nor should the number of comments.

I’m not seeking praise either. I kind of fear to be praised, it may lead people to form unrealistic expectations of me. In fact, I seek to be corrected if I’ve posted something doubtful or totally wrong.

I hope we can all now try to learn to realign our intentions for our deeds to be only for Him. I’m still trying to myself, so we’ll strive together okay?

Providing your deed is in accordance with Islam, of course (:

Fi Amanillah!

Easygoing

January 1, 2009 at 22:19 | In Articles, islam, nabi muhammad, prophet muhammad, qur'an, sunnah, young muslims | Leave a Comment
Tags: allah, islam, Prophet, Rasulullah, sunnah

Assalaamu’alaikum!

2009 already Masya’Allah. How time flies, eh?

Anyway, I wanna share with you one of my favourite web haunts. It’s this initiative by Young Muslims Canada called Friday Nasiha.

It’s like a weekly reminder series, and divided into three categories: Discussions on a verse of the Qur’an, the Sunnah and useful tips from books and websites. It’s really good, it’s like getting mini khutbahs every Friday

Here’s the Sunnah part for last week. Feeling slightly brain-dead right now so I shan’t discuss this but perhaps we can discuss through the comments

The Prophet (peace be upon him) once mentioned to his followers a covenant that the Arabs had concluded which had brought peace to their clans. He said that if he were ever invited to enter into such a treaty, he would do so. The treaty he spoke about had taken place before the advent of Islam.

It was a treaty which brought the people together at the same table to affirm their rights and their human dignity, and which put an end to the endemic warfare that they had been suffering from and that was consuming their lives and wealth.

Though the treaty took place before Islam, it was nevertheless in accordance with the innate moral sentiments that all human beings acknowledge. We all know that it is better to learn from one another and prosper. We all agree that hatred, conflict, and rancour are hated by God and condemned by mankind.

Clemency and flexibility in religious matters restore to people a healthy outlook, allowing them to live their faith in a way that is genuine and that accords with the nature that God has placed within them. It makes religion easy on the people, the way God intended it to be.

Once, a desert-dweller came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) complaining that Muadh prolonged the prayer too much. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the desert-dweller: “What do you say in prayer?”

He answered: “When I offer my tashahhud, I say: ‘O Allah! I ask You for Paradise and seek refuge with You from the Fire.’ As for me, I am not good at droning on the way you and Muadh do.”

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: “It is basically these things that we drone on about.” [Sunan Abu Dawud (22), and Musnad Ahmad (15333)]

We can see that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not impose upon the man to memorize what was too difficult for him. He took into account the man’s abilities. Maybe he was an old man, or had a weak memory, or was poorly brought up.

It is significant that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not interrogate the desert-dweller about his intentions. No doubt, the word the desert-dweller used to describe the prayer of Muadh – and of the Prophet himself – was quite unflattering and could easily have been construed as an insult. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not take offence. Instead, with his answer, he comforted the desert-dweller and reassured him that the simple words he was using in his prayers were essentially what Muadh was saying.

Clemency and an easygoing nature should be the spirit of our personal conduct and our social interactions. This attests to the truth that our innate, easygoing religious awareness is better than imposing difficulties in religion. It is also farther away from the dangers of pretentiousness, conceitedness, and showing-off.

I’ve recently been reading a book regarding Hijaab and Subhan’Allah… I’ve learn so much. I will share it with you soon Insya’Allah.

Fi Amanillah!