Sunday, April 6, 2014

The Hardest Surah Ever

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

After memorizing Surah Jinn, I called it 'The Hardest Surah Ever.'

Why?

Simply because it is. Even Surah Hashr is easier. In Surah Jinn, there are so many Wa Annaa's.

Anyways, today's reflection is from Surah Jinn. Jinns get burning flames shot at them when they try to listen to conversations between Allah and the angels. This is told in ayahs 8 and 9.

     And we have sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with powerful guards and burning flames. (8)
     And we used to sit therein in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him. (9)

I think this is because the Jinn's or Shaytaan's job is only to mislead us. If they knew Allah's future plans for us, they would try to ruin them the best they could. However in the end, Allah always wins.

That was a weak point, but I think there has to be more to fire being shot at Jinns.

-ReflectorN-

PS: Bet you're all disappointed that my reflections aren't long and funny anymore. I'm working on it.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Muflihoun


بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Hello humans!

أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ عَلَىٰ هُدً۬ى مِّن رَّبِّهِمۡ‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ (٥

These depend on guidance from their Lord. These are the successful. (5)

So that's all it takes to become one of the successful, y'all. When in trouble, ask Allah for guidance. Always depend on Allah for everything.

-ReflectorN-

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Abu Jahl

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Surah al-Alaq, ayahs 9-15. They talk about Abu Jahl, the guy who was Islam's #1 enemy. Ustadh Nouman discussed this in his old Bayyinah Dream tafseer stuff.
96:9
Have you seen the one who forbids
96:10
A servant when he prays?
96:11
Have you seen if he is upon guidance?
96:12
Or enjoins righteousness?
96:13
Have you seen if he denies and turns away -
96:14
Does he not know what Allah sees?
96:15
No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock -
--------------

So I assume everybody knows that story of when Abu Jahl tried to trample the Prophet SAW's neck while he was praying, but as he came near, he immediately ran away screaming and trying to push something away. And then Abu Jahl's buddies asked him what happened, and Abu Jahl explained that there was a ditch of fire blocking his way, and a roaring creature coming at him. Allah was truly protecting the Prophet SAW.

The Prophet SAW wasn't at all daunted by Abu Jahl's threats. He kept his faith in Allah, continued to pray, and he was therefore protected from Abu Jahl's evil foot that was planned to trample his neck during sajdah. Haha Abu Jahl!!

What's today's moral? Never lose faith in Allah.


-ReflectorN-

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Oh, Woe!!

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

I never thought this would turn up in the Qur'an!! Oh burrrnn, people of Prophet Shu'ayb!!!

Surah Mutaffyfeen, ayahs 1-4.
(since I'm on a terribly tiny palm top, I will write the ayah's translations here.)

1. Woe to al-Mutaffifeen, [those who give less in measure and weight (decreasing the rights of others)]
2. Those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, demand full measure,
3. And when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due.
4. Think they not that they will be resurrected (for reckoning),

Reflection
Cheating and lying are paired together, and the importance of why we shouldn't cheat and lie is mentioned in the ayah. It's based on the story of Prophet Shu'ayb's people. They cheated people in their business and their punishment was an earthquake. So reading this actually shocked me! I didn't know that this would be mentioned in the Qur'an. I never even knew what Mutaffifeen meant.

Actually, cheating and lying are pretty much the same thing. Let's say you cheated on a test.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!

*lights dim*

*stage light turns on*

*actors come to stage*

"The test will begin in one second! Which is NOW!" said the teacher. And she flared her nostrils at each syllable.

Everybody began writing furiously. Omar could not stop himself from peeking at the test of the person next to him. The person next to him was writing down reasonable answers, so Omar thought they were right. He didn't want to ask if he couldn't copy the answers because that kid next to him was a blabbermouth.

Yeah, even more of a blabbermouth than Omar himself.

Is that even possible?

Anyways, Omar decided to look at the other kid's test, the noe next to him who didn't talk much. His answers were probably right.

When the time was up, Omar turned in his test. He was excited about the results. He was probably going to get an A+!

Omar got his test with a large red A+ at the top. It looked a lot like blood, which Omar disliked, but he didn't care. Why?

Because

he

got

an

A

PLUSSSS!!!!

Omar grinned from ear to ear and eye to eye and nostril to nostril. His big MOMMA was gon' be as happy as some kid on Eid who got a new remote control car.

A month later, Omar had another test at school. He was going to use that same technique again.

So there he was sitting, in his seat, waiting for the test to begin. But just before the teacher handed out the tests to everybody, she announced [while flaring her nostrils again at each syllable]....

"Last month's test, most of you did a good job. But there's one thing we found out through our surveillance cameras, and that is..." As she waited for everybody to lean forward with suspense in their seats, she flared her nostrils as big as she could, [dang maybe she has a nose problem] and then she said, "MISTER OMAR CHEATED ON HIS TEST!!!"

Omar gasped, along with all the other kids. Then, slowly, everybody began to stare at him.

Omar was ashamed and very humiliated. Why oh why had he cheated on that kid's test? He should have remembered there were surveillance cameras!!!

Then he remembered something way more important. Allah was watching him too. There was a bad punishment for cheaters and liars in Islam. Omar didn't want that punishment!! Silently he asked Allah for forgiveness and then he turned his facwe to the teacher and said,

"I'm sorry."

The End.

Don't Cheat or Lie! This is a Lesson for Me Too!

-ReflectorN-

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Better Later

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Today the reflection is from Surah Taghabun, ayah 17.

64:17
If you loan Allah a goodly loan, He will multiply it for you and forgive you. And Allah is Most Appreciative and Forbearing.

This basically means that if you give up something in the dunya that you really want, Allah will replace with something better in the future. The loan part is loaning the event/thing you really want to Him and then He will give it back to you later in a different but better form.

This can easily be applied to real life. Sometimes you don't get what you want because of something that turns up at the total wrong time.

Like maybe your pet fish dies and you're devastated. Tears well up in your eyes as you drop your fish in the toilet. Your hand trembles as you reach for the flushing-thingy. Days later, a new family moves to your city, and you become friends with one of the kids. Your life gets better after your vain, week-long mourning for your fish. You realize Allah replaced your fishy friend with a better friend, someone you can talk to and play with, not someone you can just take videos of and talk to with no answer and train to swim through a hoop. You now have a REAL friend, 'cause before you were a friendless weirdo. lel.

So yeah that's how it works basically.

N

He Frowned & Turned Away

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Surah Abasa ayahs 1-4.

80:1
The Prophet frowned and turned away

80:2
Because there came to him the blind man, [interrupting].
80:3
But what would make you perceive, [O Muhammad], that perhaps he might be purified
80:4
Or be reminded and the remembrance would benefit him?
§


So even the Prophet was 'scolded' in the Quran. Y'all probably think prophets were wise, quiet people who thought "Kids should be been and not heard." But no. They're human. They have personalities.

Like for example, Prophet Musa had sort of an attitude, because he punched the Angel of Death when he came.

And Prophet Yunus was impatient with his people and left them, thinking Allah wouldn't find him.

So the prophets are human. When a blind man came to Rasulullah SAW, Rasulullah SAW ignored him and made sort of an annoyed face because he was talking to the Quraysh. The man was seeking knowledge, and Rasulullah SAW didn't give him the knowledge because he didn't have the time for him.

So how about you're at a party at the masjid, and some kid comes to you while you're having a convo with your friend. It's really exciting because you're talking about something that happened at school or something that happened when you were a kid. The kid who comes to you wants to ask if you can get a Quran from the shelf so he can practice for his upcoming class. The kid can't do it himself because the he's too short. Your immediate reaction would be:

"Go ask someone else!!"

But the kid asked you particularly because he's been watching you and he thinks you're cool. And when he needs help he asks you. Doesn't even ask his mom. The little stalker.

Same story about the blind man. He came seeking knowledge and at that time Rasulullah was one of the most knowledgable people because he was a prophet. Most importantly, the man wanted to ask about Islam.

Say the party was at the park and there were jumping balloons, and the kid was a bad daredevil boy. He comes to you asking if you can go to the jumping balloon and pull it down because you're tall enough. You refuse, and the kid begins complaining. But you say no because that's not the right thing to do.

That was based on a true story. Some kid came to me and Mar and asked exactly that ^^. I said no. She looked sad and partly annoyed. But seriously. Why??

N

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Rude & Hard Heart

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

 Credit goes to Qur'an Weekly. (Thanks, KamS for sharing this on G+ !!)

3:159
So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].
 The highlighted part is what we are focusing on today. This is what Quran Weekly reflected (it's really deep):

Allah coupled being rude in speech with being hard-hearted.
To know the state of your heart, listen to your words.

It makes sense. How can you say nice things when your heart is hard? Is it possible to say something rude while having a soft heart? 

Well maybe. lel.

But anyways. 

You can tell who a person is by what they say and how they talk, unless they're little fakers. 

I can't really say anything more. Quran Weekly pretty much summed it up. 

N

Monday, March 3, 2014

Don't BARGE In!!

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Allo.

I have to do four reflections. Sorry.

But anyway...

24:27
O you who have believed, do not enter houses other than your own houses until you ascertain welcome and greet their inhabitants. That is best for you; perhaps you will be reminded.

24:28
And if you do not find anyone therein, do not enter them until permission has been given you. And if it is said to you, "Go back," then go back; it is purer for you. And Allah is Knowing of what you do.

Surah an-Newr, ayahs 27 and 28.

This is mainly an important message for Z, H, and Mom. They always barge into my room without knocking. I mean, I knock on H's door and Mom's door but they don't pay me back. And Z just barges in 'cause we're so cool and he wants to be with us all the time. But sometimes we don't welcome him. Maybe we're gonna have to put up a 'Please Knock' sign again.

Anyways, if you're at somebody's house and you've already knocked three times, leave. Mom says three knocks is maximum then leave. If the people aren't home or aren't answering, maybe it's good for you. If you're told to leave then leave, although that's kinda rude. If the door is open don't enter unless you're allowed to. And this is important. You can watch Surah Nur part 2 on Bayyinah TV for Nouman's hilarious story.

Anyway, this is a real good ayah to use since it's so-relatable[.tumblr.com] lel.

I should have mentioned on my other blog that S's laptop broke down. Like, completely. Mom keeps saying a laptop will fall from the sky. Maybe she's right. S said that was impossible. But I said anything was possible, if you have faith in Allah. [I didn't say that last part because S might scream at me for being wise.]

So, in the old days before the laptop broke down, I did my work on my desk. Then at the stroke of about 7:10 am, Z would barge in the door.

"Go away Z!!" S would say.
"Why do you always have to be here?" I would say.

Then he'd annoyingly sashay out.

Then other times Mom would barge in to tell us about something, like "I just blatted." Or "Jom smayang!" Or "GUYS! I just learned about a new hair thing that will make your hair nice and ..."

H doesn't really barge in, but sometimes he does. Usually it's for an important purpose, like trash.

Or stealing ice cream from the chest freezer.

It's kinda sad how we treat sweet food like a bad thing. Dad always screams when he sees ice cream cups in the sink. Like, if you don't like them there then why buy ice cream in the first place? If you're angry about us not washing the ice cream cups I understand, but seriously!!

Anyway, one time Mom and S and I were at El's house. We knocked thrice and then Mom told us about standing aside from the door after knocking because if they open the door and you're standing right there in the middle of the doorway then you might see something inside that you're not allowed to see. I think we left or El opened the door. I'm thinking of two separate incidents.

Then we went to Nh's house one time to give her some food, and when we knocked thrice, we went to her neighbor Asm, and told her to give the food to Nh when she returned home.

N

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Put it Off, Dude

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Surah al-Insaan, ayah 27.

 (27)إِنَّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ يُحِبُّونَ ٱلۡعَاجِلَةَ وَيَذَرُونَ وَرَآءَهُمۡ يَوۡمً۬ا ثَقِيلاً۬

Lo! these love fleeting life, and put behind them the remembrance of a grievous day. (27)

--

Everybody likes to put things off for later. We remember an assignment we have to do and think, "I'll have more time at night. I'll do it then." But you can't predict the future. Something might come up 'later' and then you won't have any time to finish up your assignment. To make it worse, you might die before your 'later.'

Back to the ayah. 'These love fleeting life & forget the day of grief.'

About the first part, which is italicized, I don't really understand. We don't usually flee from life - our lives revolve around our lives. Mom, you need to help me on this.

As for the second part which is not italicized....

People like to forget the Day of Disaster. E.g. how people like to forget the anger of their teacher & put their work off for later.

I have my own story. Mom was angry at me. [Which is quite normal...?] Anyways, I think I was upstairs with her discussing one of my silly reflections. And then when we were done she asked me about my work. Specifically, my math. I told her I didn't do it because I didn't feel like it so I'd do it later. And then she said, "Well do it now. That's your 'later.'" And so that statement scared me very much.

Guess what? I am now trying to stop procrastination! Whenever I go on my Google Drive with the intention of doing my history or biology homework, I have that feeling of inclination towards my 'Stories' folder. But then I think, "I can write my stories later whenever I want, but this homework is a one-time opportunity." So I try my best to finish up my homework without taking a peek at my blog or my story or G+. I apply this to doing Qur'an vs. reading books too. So far it's working. Also I applied it when I was cooking today.

The End.

-ReflectorN-

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

"Hey - what caused you to end up in there?"


بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Surah Muddaththir Ayahs 40-47.
74:40
In gardens, questioning each other
74:41
About the criminals
74:42
[And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?"
74:43
They will say, "We were not of those who prayed,
74:44
Nor did we feed the poor,
74:45
And we used to enter into vain discourse with those who engaged [in it]
74:46
And we used to deny the Day of Recompense
74:47
Until to us came the certainty."




Paradise dwellers will ask the dwellers of the fire, "Why are you in the fire?" The fire dwellers will explain. Because they didn't pray, feed the poor, or believe in the Day of Judgement.

Shows that this is what we should do if we're striving for Jannah. It's a matter of meeting the requirements.

When we're about to take a class, be it online or in-person, we need to be prepared. Like for my art class, I needed an assortment of pastels, Strathmore sketching paper, tape, blending stumps, a lily flower template, and tracing paper. I had everything and made it through class successfully.

Or a better example would be baking. If you leave one essential ingredient out, the product will either taste nasty or it'll sink. Or better yet, explode the oven. I one time was making soft vanilla drops. They were drop cookies. The batter was too drippy, [dunno why] so I stirred in about a cup of oats. It fixed up the batter. The cookies turned out nice but huge and a little sickly. Mom liked them though. They tasted a little buttery though. And that was because I used spread butter instead of baking butter. So the cookies tasted a lot like... eh. No explanation. But I can still taste them.

In the early days of post-moving here from my old state, me and S and our friend MymH took a cake decorating class at Hobby Lobby. I remember this one ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly cake I decorated and it was extremely ugly because I only made one layer of cake and I didn't know that I was supposed to have a second layer.

Hey - I was about eleven years old! And at that time wasn't really interested in domestic doings.

So it was a one-layer chocolate cake with pink frosting as pink as the average cat's nose - so it was a not so pretty pink. Like so:~
http://cats-paradise.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/macro-cat-nose.jpg
Okay, maybe not so accurate. It was as pink as your flesh after peeling off burnt skin. Da flesh, right H?

So it was that color, and my other frosting colors were a dark barf green, a normal yellow, and a bluish purple. Yeah, I still liked colors, but just didn't have good color sense, unlike S. MUST BIG SISTERS BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING.

My cake was ugly, but the only nice thing was the roses, which S did because she claimed I'd ruin them. Here's a pic of it:~
http://nadiaschooldays.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/nwiltoncakefinalcombns.jpg
Snapshots of my very ugly one-layer chocolate cake..... >_<
via nadiaschooldays.wordpress.com

Do you see what I'm SAYYYY'N?

So I failed the best looking cake contest [which existed only in my mind] because I didn't meet the requirements. I had the frosting and a cake layer.

ONE CAKE LAYER.

HOW HILARIOUS IS THAT.

And get this!! I didn't even level the top so the cake was roudn at the top. The whole thing was like a hideous pink pig missing its needed extra layer of blubbery fat.

"Why did you fail the best looking cake contest, N?" asked my red blood cells.
"It looks fine to me," said my pinkie finger bone.
"Stop trying to be nice!" muttered my brain. "You know it's the ugliest creation ever. If you must know why, I failed the contest because I left out one thing, which was another cake layer."
My red blood cells and pinkie finger bone nodded understandingly. So did every other organ and muscle and blood cell in my body. Even the viruses.

S had apparently won the contest. "Why did you lose, N?" asked H.
"Cause I didn't have a second cake layer," N said.

"Heahea!" N didn't have a second cake layer and that's why it looks ugly heahea!!" Then he bounded away before N could attack.

--

Anyways. Ehem. That excerpt was an example of the Jannah people asking the Hell people why they ended up in the fire. Not saying I'm a Hell person, and not saying S is a Jannah person either. Ehehehe.

Anyways S needs to steal my computer so I end my post here.

~ReflectorN~