Elders & Youth || Don't blame the badboy ||

This video is extremely relevant in emphasising my intentions when setting up the Kids Ramadhan Summer Camp and the ShadedYouth organisation alhamdulilah. Its a very very beneficial lecture, explained in a sincere and eloquent manner mashaAllah. Definitely shows great reflection about the Ummah and a praiseworthy thought process mashaAllah.

Please take the time to watch, there is great benefit - its very easy to listen to as the ustaadh speaks with great flow and I have no personal gain from this except the desire to share the good. Sharing is caring as the saying goes and thats what this blog be about :)

A Royal Love

Today I am thankful to Allah for making me British, because today the Diamond Jubilee celebrations have strengthened my conviction in the deen and love of the Rasool, walhamdulilah. How? Why? What? Yes.

I wasn’t too fussed about most of the hoo-haa surrounding the Jubilee weekend, but took a break from studying just as the final celebrations were being held. I caught the Queen coming on the balcony, with the heirs to her throne, as the soldiers led her praise and the hundreds of thousands who had gathered at Buckingham and Pall Mall sang with love and cheer the British National Anthem. Ahh the British National Anthem is a good as they get. Millions of people singing ‘God Save the Queen’, probably with some Ameens thrown in, and the Queen indeed does ‘long reign over us’ - God is All Listening after all!! It was something fascinating to see how much effort had gone towards this one person, in praising her.

Fascinating indeed to witness the amount of adoration her subjects have for her, and I mean seriously great love, to stand in the rain, amongst thousands of others, just for a glimpse of her smile, subhannallah, thats dedication and love to a public figure. This is a lady who is the head of a household of, according to the British atleast, noble lineage. Born into that family of ‘pure blood’, who has taken and held the role of Queen for 60 years, serving the commonwealth countries and charitable causes. A job which does take effort no doubt. She does appear to be a lady of dignity and I have respect for that. Alhamdulilah, that it is through seeing this and understanding this, I have increased in love for the king of the world. Our Habib. Habibullah!  For if this all that effort had gone for a Queen of a country, how incumbent is it on us to showcase with full belief our love for the best of mankind?

I mean, the national anthem is only ever sung for a current king/queen. And by people of the said country/nation. On specific occasions. Sung with love no doubt , people make Dua in effect, that God Blesses her. Then imagine the power and effect of salawat. Recited by people of all colour, nations and tribes. All united by a faith. All for the Final Messenger of God, the most perfect of humans. Recited not only on specific days, but every day, hundreds of times a day, throughout the world. And continually recited though he is no longer physically present. Imagine, the power of salawats! Thinking of the beauty of the Islamic Anthem of Praise for him of pure blood, him who held the most noble of lineages, what is even more astounding is how, each and every sender of peace to him, themselves is rewarded, not just in this life, but in the next life of eternity!!! Ya Rab Al ‘Alameen. This is love. 

And he, Rasoolullah, was not one who carried the message through wealth, ease and luxury. On being asked to choose whether he wanted ease and luxury, or simplicity, he himself, peace be upon him, chose the simple life. And so it was, and how many a story do we have of his humility and modest living. Yet, this is our King. The King of Kings. The Beloved of humans, angels and the beloved of the Creator himself!! 

They had a huge concert last night in honour of the Queen. Approximately 100,000 people attended in person. Songs were sung, hearts warmed. Today again I was wondering about songs, especially songs of love. Every artist writes atleast one song of love. Its what is wrote about, what is sung about. But pure love is something else. Imagine the ballads written in praise and love for a man who you haven’t met?! But who you are enchanted by. By his way of life, which has been preserved through not only narrations, but embodiment by generations of faithful. By his lessons and reminders and faith. Subhannallah, such ballads are born out of someone not seen, but someone loved. And from the best of these poems, is undoubtedly the Qasidah Burdah, Poem of the Cloak. I understand now on reflection, why everyone seeks love and writes about love and sings about love. There is undoubtedly the special feeling of being loved by another. And then there is the immeasurable feeling of being the lover. Being such a lover, a pure lover, that though one hasn’t seen the beloved in real life, they appear to one in their dreams! Subhannallah.

As the Queen stood on the balcony, looking content, with her family smiling gracefully, thoughts automatically turned to the Ahlul Bayt. The Royal Family is indeed the Queens Ahlul Bayt. So honoured by all the British and all those accross the world! So what then of the real Ahlul Bayt? How lofty is their status? How adored are they, MUST they be?! Subhannallah. Last year while watching Williams wedding, I was made to remember Fatima & Ali radhiAllahuAnhum - because if such a royal wedding was being witnessed, what then of the real royal wedding? Poetic flows came naturally and a couplet was written. Funny that on thinking about it,  the British Royalty always takes my thoughts back to the Real Royalty, peace be upon them, Prophet Muhammad sallalaualayhi wa salam and his family. 

And thus I respect the Queen and her family and thank them, because if nothing else, to see how great effort is made to appreciate them and how they are enthusiastically adored, they remind me of how seriously, epically, legendarily, great our REAL royalty is, how important it is to praise in great cheer and enthusiasm the beloved  Prophet and how timelessly honoured a place Habibullah & his family hold. 

For Kids, Jannah Always Starts With Chocolate

If you want to grab a child's attention... start talking about Jannah. Alhamdulilah this is one teaching method I have tried and tested and honestly, the way children suddenly become energised with the imagery, eager to respond to questions about what they want in Jannah,  yearn to find out the limits of what they can have, smile when you tell them... "there is no limit!!!" and have a glow in their eyes at the possibility, I have not found in teaching anything else. MashaAllah.

You see, the topic of Jannah links to pretty much everything. I wasn't teaching it as a topic itself this week, rather to my memory we were talking about the merits of saying Asalaamalaikum. But with every good deed in the deen, and how generous is our Lord that He Has Made even a greeting worth reward, everything can be a means to attaining His Favour and attaining Jannah. Now you're thinking, well what about sinning, that's not a means to attaining His Favour. But even there, staying away from the sin, away from the temptation itself is a mean of His Reward! How Generous is Our Lord?! May He Make us worthy.

With kids, Jannah always starts with chocolate. A mansion with a swimming pool made out of chocolate soon evolves into a palace made of sweets and cake. That palace became a palace the size of London, made of ice cream. "What if it melts?" a child asked. With no right or wrong answer, I had to ensure all bases were covered..."If it melts you start licking it! Or you wish for another one BHAM! it's back. Or you wish that it doesn't melt and it doesn't melt! Whatever you even think of you will have!" Is it false hope? Not at all. And its not far fetched dreams either, but rather pays homage to a child's fitra and how even in this day and age, with all electronic gadgets seeking to kill of natural creativity from a young age, children still carry vast imaginations. I guess it also shows why children especially love storytelling. And to be honest, I love telling the story of Jannah!!

In the Ramadhan Summer Camp Allah has Enabled me to run, our ice breaker for the children is for them to say their names, ages and what they want in Jannah. Best icebreaker EVER. Within 10 minutes, we know the children, the children know us and we all know why we are at the Camp. To learn the deen, hang out in good company, and seek His Favour. Also to find out the ways in which we can chill out in Jannah together! Subhannallah, my brother who runs the camp with me and I couldn't stop cracking up at the Jannah Icebreaker and the way it panned out. As we went round the circle, it was obvious each child wanted to out do what their classmate had said before them. It started of with mansions and rivers of chocolate (like I said, every time! Willy Wonkers factory's got nothing on our Chocolate dreams!), moved onto X boxes and Nintendos, flashy cars that I had not even heard of before, until one child said simply "I want to see my parents with me in Jannah." My brother and I praised the mini Muslim, amazed at the deep thought behind the answer. Now thought processes began to change. The next child, who mashaAllah has grown up in a household where love of the Nabi is focused on said "I want to see the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him!!" My brother and I were surprised that such a wish could be asked for in a circle of 6-13 year olds. MashaAllah we praised the dream. Now then, how does the next person beat this exactly? Nothing of this world will beat that we thought, and wished the next child good luck in their wish! Yes, my friends, the next child, and I say CHILD blew us all away in responding "I want to see Allah in Jannah!!!" Everybody laughed, hearts honestly alive. Subhannallah this story still cracks us up to this day!!

Discussing Jannah will always have a positive effect. I still remember the glowing hope and excitement I would feel when my older brother would discuss it with me when I was young. May Allah reward my older brother for spending time instructing us towards goodness when we were children. He is 12 years older than me and my twin brother and would often tell us to sit and read this thick spiritual manual called 'Irshad- master of the Sufi Way' with him. Inevitably my twin would say he needed to go upstairs to get something and never return back down. Reading even one paragraph from that book seemed like a task and a half. But honestly, the adults in our lives make us who we are and may Allah bless all children with inspiring adults in their lives, be they people in their families, their teachers or even those not physically with them, such as the sahaba, mothers of the believers and prophets. I went on a tangent and now I return. How time flies, yet this memory of walking down my road with my older brother remains strong. It seems like yesterday. My older brother started talking about Jannah and what I would like in it. We talked about all the fruits available and what I particularly remember is that we discussed how we wanted all mums cooking there. Especially the dishes she rarely made. I remember we concluded on mums lasagne and cream chicken being what we would eat the most in Jannah. And to be honest that walk down the road is one of my fondest memories of spending time with my brother and of learning the deen.

I was listening to a lecture on Jannah by Shaykh Hassan Ali not long ago. Adult's wishes for Jannah evidently move beyond fountains of ice cream, into rivers of non intoxicating wine amongst other things. An eternity of being a youth. An eternity of favour and reward. And Allah Has Promised us this for our patience and worship. One thing that particularly struck was when he jovially stated, "The only thing Haraam in Jannah is to leave it!!!" What a thought! Another video with spoken word about Jannah grabbed not only my attention but my heart in its lyrical beauty especially at the description of how we will be the same ages as our parents in Jannah. Amazing. Imagine!!

We are instructed to balance fear of Allah with hope in Allah. We can only attain Jannah through His Mercy after all and its important that we realise this, and teach it too. But Subhannallah, Jannah is such a stunning creation even the mere thought of it mesmerises us here on earth. Our eyes twinkle and the prospect of what is potentially to come, with His Mercy, makes us motivated to work towards it. Yes, believing and worshipping Allah just for attainment of Jannah may be of the lower of intentions, as I have heard and read (and when I find the exact wording will quote), while worshipping Him for His Sake alone and because He is our Creator and Master the highest, but Jannah has also been created and mentioned oft in the Qur'an for us to work towards and seek to attain! For children, I assure you it is a topic discussed with joy and awe.

May Allah enable us all to work for His Cause and remember Him with sincere hearts. May Allah have mercy on all Muslims and raise us in good states. May He Allow us to be in the Shade on the Day of Judgement. May His Mercy allow us to walk into Jannah with ease. And may we be of those who experience this moment as promised in the Qur'an. May He unite us with our loved ones in Jannah, May He Allow us to drink from the Prophet's hands in the Gardens of Bliss. May He Allow us to be of those blessed, blessed, blessed souls who see Him. May Allah grant true every child's dreams of Jannah, for infinity...and beyond! Ameen.