Nasyid: I am Near

Assalamualaikum everyone!

Hm... I haven't shared any nasyeed in a while... so.. decide to share one here.  Many thanks to a dear sister, Sarah, who shared this with me earlier today. I love the lyrics so much, masyaALlah. Hope you do too.

Do listen to this song with your heart, not just as an entertainment.  May Allah bless.

Song:  I am Near
By: Native Deen
Lyric Source: http://www.nativedeen.com/iamnear/

Ya Allah - Subhannahu wa ta'alla (Glorious and exalted)

Ya Allah - Samee' Li-duana (The One who hears our prayers) 

My Lord - I know that you hear me

Ya Rabbi (oh My Lord) - Cause He says

When they ask about me, my servants, I am near

Have no doubts about me,  and know I hear your prayer

Take one step towards me, and I'll come running to you

Just have faith and believe, and know I listen to you

Allahummah (Dear God) creator of the universe,

maker of this living earth

greater than we comprehend

Allahummah your the King of all Kings

created all things

on you we all depend.

Allahummah please forgive me my sins, 

my heart to be cleansed, 

my soul purified, Ameen!

Allahummahaa protect me desires that

Lead to the fire, its you who provides, Ameen!

Allahummah help the Muslims of world, 

Give them joy, give them love.

every boy every girl, Ameen!

Allahummun now this prayer I made,

Just to you I prayed

Cause indeed you said…

[Chorus]

Allahummah let my people understand me, 

Guide my neighbors, co-workers 

the human family. Ameen!

Allahummah help my people up in Palestine, 

Who be dying, 

Oppressed all the time, Ameen!

Allahummah give the folks in my community, unity

and help our youth to succeed, Ameen!

Allahummah bless my mother and father, my sisters and brothers

my wife and my daughter, Ameen!

Allahummah bless this group Native Deen, 

help us stay on the path

Siratal Mustaqim, Ameen!

Allahummah now this prayer I made, just to you i prayed 

cause indeed you said.

[Chorus]

Call on God, He is glorified,

We call him a lot but you don't even try

Call on God, you want to know why, 

Should I even call and will he reply

Call on God, raise your hands high

He wants you to call him every day and night

Call on God, he hears when you cry, 

He made it a promise and he would never lie.

Allah ya Rabbi, Ya Rabb

Help me increase my Iman (faith)

Allah ya Rabbi, Ya Rabb

Help me have faith in your plan

Allah ya Rabbi, Ya Rabb

Your blessings please never stop

Allah ya Rabbi Ya Rabb

Grant me peace in my heart!

[Chorus]

Beauty by Definition

assalamualaikum wbt. everyone!


How are you?  May Allah guide you, and me in the right path, towards eternal success, insyaAllah.


Today I would like to share a very nice video.  This brother made a poem, on 'beautiful'.  Very nice, masyaAllah.  But before you press the play button, I would like to ask you to take time and reflect for a while.. what is YOUR definition of beautiful?  


Think...


Think..


Okey, you can watch it now.. (^_^)

Hope you had watched it, and enjoyed it as much as I did.  Did it penetrate through your mind and have you re-define beauty as it had on me?  


A few highlights of the video...


Everyone loves beauty.  Everyone appreciates beauty, and wish to be beautiful.  Girls spend their time in front of the mirror, while guys try their best to look sharp in their ties, blazers and slacks.


Yet is that the limitation of beauty that we seek?  Is beauty, showing off sexuality, make-ups, injections, faking here and there?  Is that all there is?


But if the whole world was blind, then how many people would you impress??


Beauty by definition, should not be so vague.  If it is all up to sights.. then there must be a huge piece missing out of the whole picture.  Because beauty is obviously more than just about sights and smells.  It should be more than just face paints, hair dyes, and perfumes.


Love yourself first, before anyone else can love you.  And to love yourself, is to love The One of which to all love belongs.
Never thought of it this way... but yeah, in order to appreciate yourself, you must first appreciate your Creator and Sustainer.  The Most Beautiful.  Thus to be confident that Allah had made us, the best, is to love, and really feel that He, our Creator, is, first and foremost, The Best.  The Most Beautiful will indeed made us beautiful, as He loves beauty.  And thus we also realize that, because He created us, He'll know what's the best protection for us, to remain beautiful in His eyes.  Thus, we try our very best to obey Him.

Once, I've faced with a challenge.  Which opened up my own view of how some people view hijab, and of my own views and stand, too.  In primary school (Primary Four, if I'm not mistaken), I was once laughed at when a strong gust of wind blew and my hijab went right off.  Alhamdulillah, my friends back then were very supportive, and immediately surrounded me so that I can wear them properly again.  I was really mad at the boy who laughed.  And yes, a tad bit ashamed, too, at the time, perhaps.  But as I pondered upon the incident years afterwards, I guess... it was not his fault.  The boy is just a kid.  Stereotyping people is everywhere, and kids just follow others.  Yet , alhamdulillah, at the time, I have proudly persevered with my attire, for it represents me, as a Muslimah.  And I've to show that, despite what others say, I am not oppressed by what I choose to wear.  Without a doubt, his insults hurt.  I am just a kid.  But thankfully Allah sent me good friends who protect me and reassure that it is alright to practice what I understand. To backtrack a little, at the time, the Public School I went to had only two full time hijabis.  Me, and another Iranian girl who is two years older than I. Hence, his views and acts, were, I presume, an act done out of ignorance.  And yes, many others have faced much harder criticism and mockery than I had.  Undoubtedly.


Which brings me to this stanza: Maybe she doesn't even care what people think.  'Coz most people's opinion ain't even valid.


In this so called 'modern' world, so many people view hijab as oppression.  Others, in many parts of the Muslim society (even in Malaysia), view hijab as more of a fashion, rather than an act done willingly, in order to obey the Creator, because she truly understands and realize fully what the hijab meant for her.  Opinions, to girls, especially, seem to matter a lot, somehow.  "How do I look?  Is this zit so big that it showed?  Is my hair right today?"  are just some of the many questions girls ask themselves, again and again.  But through the hijab, Allah thought us to look at beauty in a different perspective.  Not as how others see you, but how did Allah look at you? What is His opinion?


The hijab should not just be a fashion sense.  Nor should someone wear them, just for the sake of obeying a teacher, or parents.  If so, then at another place, some other situation, at work, etc, she might just take them off again, because of what people see, because it is not the trend, or because of the weird way she's being seen.  


Enough of my own rants.  What is beauty to you?  Let's ponder and reflect.
May Allah bless....

Supplements, Pills… and Health

Bottles upon bottles of pills.  Some gel-like, others small, and some are huge.  Variety. Of different colours, too.  She took them, one by one, swallowing them faithfully.

No, don’t worry.  She’s not a drug addict.  Nor is she on slimming pills, frantically trying to loose weigh.

She had have a fever.  It had been almost a week now, and the fever does not really seem to improve, sadly.  Supplements?  She took four different kinds.  Drugs?  Well, she went to see her physician and got plenty.

That night, as she faithfully took some pills and drank them with water, a thought dawned on her.  Pills can never make her better.  She had been mistakenly pining her hopes upon them.

What?  Then what about all the medications that had been prescribed by doctors every day, and taken by so many people throughout the world?  They cannot make people better?  Then what’s the purpose of Pharmacists?  What about all the Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical companies everywhere?

Hold it… That is not exactly what I mean. 

As a health science student, I learned all about mechanisms of actions of drugs, the types, effectiveness and so on and so forth. 

What this girl realised is, that no matter how much drug she took, no matter how many different supplements she had, only her Creator was able to make her better.   That, she had somehow forgotten.

So… are the pills useless?  Absolutely not.  But they are just tools that we use, in order to try and get better.  At the end of the day, if she had indeed recovered, it is only with the help of Allah.  Although she did try numerous means to get well.

A very important thing to remember, that no matter what, ONLY IN ALLAH SHOULD WE PIN OUR HOPES.  Hopes to be happy, to get well, to get a job, to get good spouses, and so much more. 

Yes, put our hope on HIM, and HE alone will help you get better.  Because no matter how good a drug is, or how effective a herb is for the pain you face, only Allah can make them work for you.  Only Allah can defeat the bacteria or virus that is attacking your body.  When our defence system is weak, only Allah can help make them strong again. 

You don’t trust HIM?  Then who can you trust?  Because at the end of the day, in reality, Allah had indeed created you.  Every single cell of your body.  He knows, everything.  Everything that goes into our body and out of it.

Turn to Allah.  Not only at times of sickness.  But turn to Allah for everything.  In every phase of life.  For no matter what, HE knows best. 

Put hope in Him, pray, read the Quran, make zikrullah, and remember Allah, day and nights.  By the way… al-Quran is one of the best medication available.  It reconnects us to our Creator, and Sustainar.

~Sorry… an update that is long overdue from me.  Hope this is up to your expectation.  And most of all, I hope this serves as a reminder to you, and me.

May Allah bless.