Words of Wisdom

In the Name of the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful,

"You should desire for others what you desire for yourself, and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress, just as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others just as you would like good to be done to you. Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others. Accept that treatment from others which you would like others to accept from you. Do not talk about what you do not know, for what you know might be very little. Do not say to other what you do not like to be said to you."

                                                               ~ Imam Ali (A)





Peace,
S.

A high level of Love

In the Name of God the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful,

I stumbled upon a facebook picture of Mohammed Ali that says:

“I don’t smoke but I keep a match box in my pocket. When my heart slips towards a sin, I burn a match stick and heat my palm. Then I say to myself: ‘Ali You can’t bear even this heat, how would u bear the unbearable heat of Hell?’"

Had I come across this picture say 3 years ago, I would have been amazed by this quote and thought "What a great reminder!" However, when I came across it I thought that it wasn't a very high level of faith to only obey God in fear of hell or in love for paradise. It's something I've been pondering on for a while now...I believe that we're supposed to aim for higher levels; we're capable of reaching much higher levels than we think, but we're satisfied with simply refraining from haram and hope for paradise. Imagine abstaining from haram (unlawful) things and doing halal (lawful) completely, if one does this with neither fear of hell nor hope of paradise but out of love for God because He is worthy of it, one will start seeing God in everything. Every breath you take will be praising God (:


Peace,
S.

Eid e Zahra

In the Name of God the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful,

On Saturday I was invited to a dear friend of mine who wanted to get together after a long time due to Muharram and Safar. Eid e Zahra, or Eid e Shuja, is the day which marks the end of the mourning period after the events of the battle of Karbala.

So, a dear friend of mine invited me and other wonderful sisters to a Dutch-treat or you might call it a covered-dish supper where everyone is supposed to bring a dish of food or dessert to the party. Of course, there were a lot of yummy stuff for my tummy! Delicious food and lovely company was a great way to celebrate it. I'm laughing out loud just thinking about charades. We were about 20 very diverse bunch of gals that played charades. Can you imagine how it looked? It was the most fun I had had in a long time I must say (:

New Year's Eve & Stockholm

In the Name of God the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful,

The Stockholm trip with my friends was a lovely one! I fell in love with Stockholm; it's a charming city indeed with plenty of old buildings and a lot of history, definitely my cup of tea! (:

Now it's back to reality.

I have to finish my papers that I've been procrastinating since a month back. I constantly tell myself I'm not going to leave things till the last minute, but somehow I seem to forget every single time. I really don't want to procrastinate anymore. I hate the feeling of panic and anxiety that makes my tummy cringe. So much for my New Year's resolution...I have to come up with a better strategy to deal with this. I just remembered - my cousin and I made a pact to participate in a half-marathon in May in Copenhagen (Denmark), and the funny thing is, I can barely make it up the stairs at home. This shall be fun.

New Year Resolutions:

Stop procrastinating. Stay positive. Spread more joy and love around myself. Be more patient. More ambitious. Deepen my relation with Allah (swt). Start working out. Become more confident. Read more books. Don't let negative people get to me. Let go of the past. Live in the present. Stay better in touch with friends & family. Smile towards strangers. Do small acts of kindness every day.

Peace,

S.