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-

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

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Surah Muddaththir Ayahs 40-47.

In gardens, questioning each other

About the criminals

[And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?"

They will say, "We were not of those who prayed,

Nor did we feed the poor,

And we used to enter into vain discourse with those who engaged [in it]

And we used to deny the Day of Recompense

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:~

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:~

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~

Well There's No Need to Get All Sensitive....

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ اَلرَّحِيم

Ayahs 10 and 11 of Surah Muzzammil.

And be patient over what they say and avoid them with gracious avoidance.

And leave Me with [the matter of] the deniers, those of ease [in life], and allow them respite a little.

[73:10-11]

~♥~

When we get teased or made fun of, we lose it. Right? Unless you're a patient person, sure. What we shouldn't do when pestered is go all crazy and get sensitive about it. They say patience is key. True. When you're being teased, deal with the matter with patience, because Allah will deal with it. Leave it all up to Allah.

I can remember a lot of the times I was teased back when I wasn't so... how shall we say this... brave? Nah, that doesn't fit right. Spunky and feisty would be right.

So, way back when I wasn't so spunky and feisty... I was this sensitive, friendless, quiet kid who got very touchy when it came to teasing and being made fun of.  I have anger issues. If you hit the spot, I'll attack with my physical strength. It can get really bad. :P I don't do that now though. Instead, I throw insults. Or I throw my stuff and they break.

When I visited relatives in Malaysia in 2010, they teased me and S a lot about the 'boy' matter. Ugh! The problem with old relatives is they don't think what it felt like when THEIR grandparents/uncles/aunts asked them about that dumb matter. I remember it lead me to the extremes of tears :P. I know, really crazy. Sure, it's 'Just Teasing!' Me and S and H have issues with the whole process of people liking one other. Look, I can't even write that word which is the main antonym of hate.

We call that whole bunch of words 'nasty.' Such as...

The opposite of:

1. divorce
2. hate

Then there's 'nasty party', 'nasty friends', and 'nastiness.'

THERE'S MORE BUT I WON'T SAY. ANYWAYS THAT'S OFF-TANGENT!!!

So me and S and H came back from an indoor amusement park and had just returned to Gramma's house. Gramma and Gramps and Uncle Z and the other uncles were eating at the table and me and S and H were getting ready to sleep 'cause we were gonna have a sleepover at Gramma's house. Then I forget how it it happened, but Gramps was teasing me and S about.... y'know.

UGH!! I wanted to go crazy and murder anything in my sight!!

I tried to not let them see I was crying through a fake smile. Then I went to my sleeping place in the living room so they wouldn't see me anymore.

End of the pathetic story.

Then in 2011... S and H teased me and even Mom!!

They know the story. Key words are soup kitchen and green guy. It's Mom's fault because she took the picture.

But NOOOWWWWWWW.... I've introduced myself to the act of ignoring and the act of going along with the joke. It's painful sometimes.

But anyway, I sound like some mature, emotional-breakdown girly-girl. I'd better stop. Bye.

-ReflectorN-

The Inevitable

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمَانِ الرَّحِيم

Surah Haqqah, ayahs 1-3.

1: The inevitable reality.
2. What is the inevitable reality?
3. And what can make you know what in the inevitable reality?

What IS this inevitable reality? It's the Day of Judgment. It's coming, nobody can stop it except Allah, and nobody can get out of it. And it IS gonna happen. There ain't no running from it.

Someone tells you to do something. You're doing something else at the moment, and you don't want to move from your current spot. But the request is still in the air. It's not going away until it is fulfilled. You'll have to do it eventually. You have to leave whatever you're doing for later.


The hereafter is coming. You have to purify yourself before it comes. The good deeds you have to do have to be fulfilled and the bad deeds and temptations must be kept at bay until you get to Jannah إِنشَاء اَللَّه.

This reflection is really old, so I'm posting it now.

N

The Weakness of Humans

Today's reflection is from Surah al-Jinn, ayah's 20-22.

Say [unto them O Messenger of Allah]: I pray unto Allah only, and associate with Him no partner.

Say: Lo! I control not hurt nor benefit for you.

Say: Lo! None can protect me from Allah, nor can I find any refuge besides Him.

--

These ayahs show how weak the human being really is. Allah is One only and we seek refuge in Him only. He has no partner, and declaring so is such a huge crime that it is mentioned several times in the Qur'an. We think we're powerful because of some silly things in the dunya enrelated to the religion most of the time. But we can't really do anything like bring someone back to life or provide somebody with food who's all the way in a different continent. We can't control anybody getting hurt or anybody getting benefited. Nothing can protect or hide you from Allah, and He is the only One you seek refuge in.

Tying this back to us! ☺
(aww ain't that a cute smiley face)

We should watch it when we say we're in power of anything. These ayahs also show the jinn that just because they're made of fire rather than dust, they're no better than Allah, because He created Jinn anyway. [no pun intended] We're not powerful. We're nobody's master and we belong to nobody except Allah.

Real Life Example:

Nothing can protect you other than Allah.

Let's say you're cooking in the kitchen alone and nobody's in the house except you. Then suddenly, due to your laziness, oil-splattered face, stained favorite clothes, and hate of cooking, you throw a dripping wet slab of boneless chicken onto the large oily pan. You know it's going to splatter, but you've survived things like that in the past. But this time, the pan had practically bathed in a vat of flammable oil [well, all oil is flammable] and the chicken had swum in an ocean five times. And you're so tired of cooking that your aim fails.

Yes, you're expecting me to say something extremely brutally disturbing, eh?

The very wet chicken splats on the uncovered fire [you didn't place the pot correctly so it's halfway on the fire practically] and foot-tall flames shoot up. Your eyes widen and your heart races. And, just because you've got flame-o-phobia, you scream and run out of the kitchen, but you watch the kitchen burn up from a distance. The fire races to the rest of the kitchen and burns everything you'd prepared. All your work is wasted.

You finally get to your senses and know that you have to get help. But your phone can't call 911. Everyone's out of the house. Your only choice is to turn to Allah.

If anybody else had been with you, you'd call them to help you first. But they still could have gotten burned and died and you'd eventually turn to Allah. So what I deduce from this is~

ALLAH IS ALL-POWERFUL. WE ARE WEAK!

~ReflectorN~

[I'm superproud of my reflection today, so I signed my name with fancy curly thingies rather than the normal hyphen. ☺]

Islam is Perfect

Today's reflection comes from Surah Tahrim, ayahs 10 and 11.

and

I just told S that Surah Jinn should be Surah #66 of the Quran. Heheh.

Anyway.......

10: Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said, "Enter the Fire with those who enter."
11: And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."

[from Quran.com]

You're probably all like, "What in the world can N reflect from these ayahs?"

Well, I can reflect....

Not all good is good and not all bad is bad. As you may have noticed, the bad women are wives of prophets, who are good people. And the wife of Fir'awn is a good Muslim.

Fir'awn is a bad guy. Prophet Nuh and Prophet Lut are good people.

So this shows people not to judge. You shouldn't expect good people to come from good people. Some Muslims are not that good. 

"If you want to study Islam, don't study the Muslims. Islam is perfect; Muslims are not."
-Anon

And not all non-Muslims are bad. Who are the people helping with the hurricanes, the winter-frozen cars on the roads, and homeless people soup kitchens? All the non-Muslims are doing it!! Not a single Muslim! We should all be ashamed of ourselves. Don't judge.

I'm done here. Buhai.

-ReflectorN-

Guard Yourself

Surah Maarij, Ayahs 6 and 7

6: Verily, they see it [the torment] far off.
7: But We see it quite near.

We think the DoJ is going to be far off in the future and we'll be dead by then. But Allah only knows when it will come. It could be even tomorrow. So we have to make sure everything we do is a good deed, and do it with effort. Do the good deeds thoroughly. Basically we should be on our guard, as if a tornado was coming. We should be prepared if the tornado comes. Just like how we should be prepard for the DoJ. It's coming, so be ready.

BE ON YOUR GUARD!!

As Ummi said in response to my reflection, "You know how people have tornado drills and stuff like that. But there's never a Yaumul Qiyamah drill. Imagine if there was a Yaumul Qiyamah drill. Everyone would be too scared to wrong anyone else."

Allah looks at effort, not at amount. Who do you think would get his status raised by Allah, one who does a little number of deeds done with effort, or one who does many effortless deeds?

The former.

Just like a science fair. You choose the project that has been done with the most care, with no signs of lazily glazed glue or torn construction paper or ugly handwriting. Some people prefer looks to personalities and character. Like at a cake fair, or flower fair, or anything fair-y. But fairies don't exist, so never mind.

One time, in the year 2008, we thought we were going to die Muslims. Here's the story.

[credit goes to mom because she originally wrote it]

If you're a little too lazy to go click on that link and read the story in my Mom's words, then I shall write it here for you.

WE'LL DIE MUSLIMS

rewritten by N

Mother's Day turned out a gloomy one in 2008. The tornado alarm went off.

"But it's not Wednesday!" S said. [Tornado drill was usually on Wednesday at that time. Dunno if they still do it now.]

We turned on the TV and looked at the weather channel. The storm range was in our state, but not in our town. It was above us.

H suggested we take cover.

"No, we have to pray Dhuhr first," said Mom.

How exciting was that?! A tornado, coming our way!

H suggested we take our money with us if a tornado was to come and we had to hide and everything was destroyed.

Well, I didn't want to have my cat toys destroyed [because at that time they were my most prized possessions] so I got my pillow and all my cats and brought them to the little jacket closet under the stairs, what we called the 'office' because it used to be Ummi's old sewing office.

The tornado did not come. A little bittersweet moment for us kids.

H said that S had a good dream about a tornado. "Maybe that means we'll die Muslims!" he said.

Later at night S said, "Today was Mother's Day. Maybe Allah sent the tornado because He was angry at them."

"For what?" Ummi said.

"For celebrating Mother's Day."

Mom was rendered speechless at S's stttraiking words.

THE END

 

-ReflectorN-

Patience IS Key

Surah Qalam, ayah 48.

Then be patient for the decision of your Lord, [O Muhammad], and be not like the companion of the fish when he called out while he was distressed.

This says to agree with Allah's decree even if you don't agree with it, because Allah knows best. Be not like the companion of the fish, i.e. Prophet Yunus.

BIOGRAPHY - PROPHET YUNUS
Prophet Yunus carried out the message to his people, but they didn't listen. They were all like, "Vhat ees zees nonsense?!" Exasperated, Prophet Yunus went to the shipdock and asked for a ride. He was allowed. The ship ride was alright until a storm hit the ship. The captain said, "We must throw someone off to stop this storm!" Prophet Yunus knew it was he who caused the storm kinda, and he volunteered to be thrown off. So he was thrown off, and was swallowed by a whale. Eee, scary. Prophet Yunus asked for repentance to Allah in the whale. Allah accepted Yunus' repentance and told the whale to let Yunus go in the shore. Then He made a plant grow over Yunus to cover him. So yeah, after that the people found him and then believed in him.

The moral of this story, or rather, ayah, is to be patient. This is a very good lesson for me because I'm a very impatient person.
--
TRAVELING:
Air:-

Me: Ughhh I'm tired of sitting! When's our flight? I'm hungry! Can I open the cooler? When will Abi be back with the ticket? I need to pee! [Etc.]
Road:-
Me: Geez when will we get there? My legs hurt in this position of sitting for like a million hours. I want to eat. I am gonna mandi when we get to the hotel. I feel disgusting. [Etc.]
--
COOKING/REHEATING FOOD:
Me: *puts a pot on stove*
Me: *walks away*
Ummi: EH N! STIR THE POT! IT WILL BURN! DON'T LEAVE IT! YOU GUYS ALWAYS LEAVE THINGS ON THE STOVE!!
{Excuse me mom, but one of us is NOT ALL of us. Who agrees?}
Me: *walks back and stirs*
Me: *walks around in circles in kitchen and stirs*
Me: Aahhh just HURRY UP AND HEAT! Why are you making scary sizzling sounds if you aren't even hot yet?
--
IN CROWDS:
Me: MOVE IT!! I NEED TO FOLLOW MY FAMILY BEFORE I LOSE THEM! JUST UNDERSTAND THIS; THEY ALWAYS ABANDON ME IN CROWDS!!
Me: *impatiently shoves past person* *mutters: sorry*
Me: Glad I got out of that.
--
Yeah, s'what I do on Eid. :D

So here's a morally story based on this morally ayah.

The Morally Story Based on a Morally Ayah
by Morally N
--
N was baking muffins in the kitchen. She was sifting flour over a bowl. Sifting flour was very tiring. What was the difference between scooped flour and sifted flour? N knew it, but seriously! It took so much time and muscle. N had man muscles

There was about a cup of unsifted flour left in the sieve, but N was DONE. Her hands, muscles and feet hurt, and she wondered why she even wanted to bake that day. She dumped the unsifted flour into the bowl and added the butter and all the other stuff. She put the batter inside the cupcake liners and put the tray in the oven.

The loud oven timer went off. BEEEEEEEEEEP!!

N took the tray of muffins out to cool. When they were cooled, N tried one.

Aaaaauuuuugghhh. It was like, as hard as the top of a brownie. Why is it like this? N wondered. She thought back to her actions and remembered that darned flour that had to be sifted.

Ugh! I should have sifted it if I wanted them to turn out right. Well, now I've just wasted so much time and ingredients.
--
Did y'all learn something from this morally story? You actually get two things from it. Be patient, and you won't waste anything. As in the story, N was not patient and she wasted ingredients and money. And her strength as well.

-ReflectorN-

Water Loss, Light Loss, Life Loss

Aayah 30 of Surah al-Mulk. It is the last ayah of Surah al-Mulk, talks about water, and my reflection on it is a day late.

Say: Tell me! If all your water were to be sunk away, who then can supply you with flowing spring water?

If you're not very smart, you're probably thinking, "How can all the water in the world go away? There is so much of it and it is so deep. It can never sink away! And why is N writing a post on this water ayah anyway? It can't ever relate to our lives!"

Comment: You're not wise, kid...e_e

If you're average, you're probably thinking, "Well, it is possible for all water to leave the Earth. An explanation is droughts. And even if all water does go away, can't we dig in the ground to get it?"

Comment: Well, who's your God, sir?

If you're very smart, you are thinking, "Allah does what He pleases, subhanallah. We must utilize our given rizq wisely."

Comment: Yes, lady. Correct. ^-^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WELL, I can relate to this very well.

The Story of No Water

based on a true story

by N

 ~PROLOGUE~

"Mom! Z's wasting water!" N yelled.

"Z! Don't waste the water!" Ummi yelled when she heard water going on at a blast in the bathroom downstairs.

Z meekly turned down the amount of water at the sink. Ummi went downstairs and called Z. Z came.

"Z, don't waste water. If you waste too much, Allah might TAKE away the water, and then you wont have water anymore! You can't drink, mandi, or kencing. Haaa, you don't want that, do you?"

Z's eyes widened. "Aaaaa!" he wailed, voice rising.

"Lol," said N.

--

It was a summer afternoon in July, and S was washing dishes. After soaping a dish, she turned on the faucet to rinse the soaped dish. But no water came out of the faucet.

"Ummi!" S yelled. "The faucet isn't working!"

"Ha?" Ummi yelled back, and thundered downstairs like a hippo in a water war.

"The water won't come out," S said.

"Alamak!" said Ummi.

Ummi called Abi to settle the matter, and Abi took the hose from outside and stuck it through the kitchen window. "We're gonna have to use that for a couple days," he said.

S rinsed the dish.

The next day, the kids filled the cooler with all the containers in the house they had. Then Abi drove everybody to the masjid. The masjid still had water, so all the containers were filled with the masjid's water.

The rest of the days were like that, using the masjid's water from the containers. Finally, the water came back on again.

N remembered that time Ummi had told Z about wasting water. Sheesh. Scary. Wasting too much water really did cause water loss. But at least it was in their house only.

"See Z, this is what happens when you waste water, Z," Ummi told Z.

--

That is based on a true story. Happened somewhere in 2011, I believe. I don't remember exactly how we found out, but we did have not water for a couple days, and we did go fill many containers with the masjid's water. I don't remember how we showered, but maybe the water loss lasted for a moment only. Don't remember. 

This ayah can also apply to light loss and blackouts and powerouts. We've had many of these, and the most recent blackout we've had that I can remember was in July of last year. If you want the real story, see this.

So don't waste and take advantage of what you have, because Allah may take it away from you anytime. This includes your life.

 

-ReflectorN-

YOLT

Ayah 10 in Sourate el-Mounaafeqoune. (The Hippocritts)

وَأَنفِقُواْ مِن مَّا رَزَقۡنَـٰكُم مِّن قَبۡلِ أَن يَأۡتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوۡلَآ أَخَّرۡتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ۬ قَرِيبٍ۬ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ (١٠)

(Credit: Quran Explorer)

10. And spend out of what We have 

given you before death comes 

to one of you, so that he 

should say: My Lord! why didst 

Thou not respite me to a 

near term, so thought I 

should have given alms and 

been the doers of good deeds?

This ayah shows you how short life really is. As they all say...

"Life is too short to frown,"

and "YOLO." (You Only Live Once)

Well, yeah. But YOLO isn't true. The truth is You Only Live Twice. And the second life is eternal.

Life is very long. Our life, no matter how long we live, be it even 200 years, is just a tiny dot on the lifeline, as Mom put it. Like how a little scar on your arm is nothing as long as the rest of your body is healthy. Or to be simpler, a little dot on the number line. Numbers go on forever. The alphabet just has 26 letters. But numbers can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and.....etc. Like life, until Allah chooses to end it.

We never know when Allah chooses to end our lives, so we have to make sure we put effort in every one of our actions. Say you were randomly invited to a party of non-Muslims, and the time for 'Asr came in. You tell the party host that you need to pray. The host goes all like,

"No way, boy. You can do that later when you leave, man. Forget that and enjoy the fun, dude! YOLO, y'know!"

And so you listen. You miss Maghrib. You miss Isha. Then, as you carpool with your drunk friends on the way home, you get in a car crash on the way home and you are one not among the survivors, unfortunately. 

So you die. And the last prayer you did, Dhuhr, was not even performed correctly. It was rushed, with no khushu'. 

Scary, isn't it? You've got to make every deed of yours perfect, because you may die any second, and be mindful of what you say. If you talk too much you might be talking before you die and the last word you say may not be very beneficial to you. You want a full good deed book on the DoJ, do you not? You know that feeling of regret when you've done something wrong and you know it? It's not a good feeling.

Now that I hope and think you've got my point, I will entertain you with a story. You all love my stories, don't you?

THE STORY

(original title, right?)

It was a breezy Thursday in March, and N was at the computer, nervously typing her last answer in for the virtual biology quiz. Then she clicked Submit. 

Ughhhh, thought N. Lind's probably gonna scream and give me a bad grade and stuff. And that was my last attempt.

 N waved off the thought and closed the virtual class site tab. The class site only allowed two attempts on the quizzes. Huh. Only two chances is a little risky.

Two days later, on Saturday, N went again to the class site. Results were shown on Saturdays, and N was quite concerned about her reulsts. That quiz was thirty questions plus, and N hadn't really studied.

N clicked on the quiz and braced herself for the results.

She stared.

Yikes.

18.25 out of 35.00.

N screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" (in her head, of course. because someone upstairs was sleeping.)

That grade was terrible, although her first attempt grade was even worse. It was 9.00 out of 35.00.

But still! N had already used up both of her attempts and she had no more. 

I should have studied, I should have studied. And I should have done it thoroughly, N thought over and over.

The poor damsel in distress was overcome by regret, and she could do nothing about it. 

SHE HAD NO MORE CHANCES.

THE END

So, studying for a quiz is like you living your life and doing good deeds, praying, being nice to your siblings (koff), etc. The quiz is life itself. Submitting your results is you dying and Allah is looking over all the deeds you did whilst living. Looking at your grade is looking at your book on the DoJ. 

Most importantly, YOU HAVE NO MORE CHANCES. No going back. Life goes on, people grow up, die, and new ones come into the world. Some are forgotten, some remembered depending on what they did while living. There is no goign back. We learn this every day. You can't redo or undo something you did. Like, if you move your arm, you can move it back, but moving your arm already happened. You can't erase that movement from your list of actions with that arm you moved.

That's all I've got for today, humans.

 

-ReflectorN-

Don't Spin

Sourate el-Gomoa, ayah 11.

And when they see some merchandise or some amusement they disperse headlong to it, and leave you (Muhammad SAW) standing [while delivering the Jumu'ah khutbah]. Say "That which Allah has is better than any amusement or merchandise! And Allah is the Best of Providers."

This ayah is based on an event in Muslim history. I learned this in the Fiqh of Chillin' class. Prophet Muhammad SAW was giving a khutbah and then there was the sound of a duff playing outside. It was a merchant selling food. All the people listening to the khutbah ran to get the food because at that time there was like a drought or no food or something. Only one man stayed, and I think it was Abu Bakr or some other person. Thus this ayah was revealed.

NOW, BACK TO US...

How can we tie this to our life?

 Put Allah before yourself and everything else. Here's an example, story-form.

It was a steaming hot Monday in June.

Z was spinning around in the living room, humming happily while everybody else minded their own business in their rooms. Then suddenly, the spinning Z's hand whizzed by a vase of snapdragon flowers. The vase tipped and fell to the ground. Dirt was all over the floor and among them, the snapdragons.

Oh no! Z thought. Good thing it fell on the carpet.

He began to clean it up, but at that moment, Z heard S coming out of her room. Z's eyes widened and he hid in the sunroom. He peeked at S through the sliding door.

"Who knocked the vase down?!" S yelled. "My best snapdragons!"

N came out of her room as well. "No one's out here. Maybe it fell by itself?"

"Couldn't have! It was square in the middle of the table, not at the edge! Someone for sure knocked it off!" S said.

"Well, Abi's at work, H is at the masjid and Mom is upstairs," N said. "There's nobody else except..."

"Z!" they both yelled at once.

"Oh no," Z whispered to himself. "I'm busted."

N and S came into the sunroom and saw Z. "Z!" S said. "Did you knock my vase down?"

Z didn't want to talk. He knew, if he told the truth, S was going to smack him and tell him to clean up the dirt on the floor and possibly buy more snapdragon seeds with his own money, if the situation got really bad.

On the other hand, if he lied, S would leave him alone.

Then Z thought deeper. What would the outcome be if he told the truth and got yelled at and smacked and all that other horridness? He for sure didn't want to get smacked. But the he remembered what Ummi had said about telling the truth and lying.

"Lying is a major sin, Z. If you lie, you get no reward, and your deed scale on the Day of Judgement will be heavier on the bad deed side. But if you tell the truth, you will get lots of reward for owning up and tolerating the yells and smacks you may get. And everything will be better in the future. Remember that."

Z decided to own up. Anyway, S and N already suspected it was him, and there was so much evidence why it could be him. They didn't have a cat, so Z couldn't use that old 'the cat knocked it down' excuse. So Z stood up straight and said, "Yes, S. I knocked it down. I was spinning around and hit it and it fell."

S's angry face got angrier. "Well, go clean it up, cow!" she yelled, and - yes she did - smacked him. 

Well, Z had to clean it up, and cry, and use $5.49 from his wallet to buy more snapdragon seeds. He had to plant them, water them, put them in the sun, and care for the snapdragons until they grew as big as the ones before. Life was, most of the time, terrible for Z and he almost wished he had not told the truth about spinning.

Two weeks later, Z and his brother and sisters entered a draw to win a laptop. The day after, a package was dropped at the front door, addressed to Z. He'd won the draw!

Z cheered, and as he did, he thought about the time he'd knocked the vase down and the aftermath. Since that day everything had been terrible for him, but today something wonderful happened.

This is the doing of Allah, Z thought. He made everything better for me, just because I told the truth.

And he knew it.

~♦~

If you tell the truth and endure all the consequences, most of which are not pleasant, everything will be better in the end, because remember, the dunya is only temporary. Sure, the smacking and yelling will only be for a short moment of time. It can easily be forgotten over the years. People grow up and die. Their dunya life is over once they die. But the Akhirah is endless. Would you rather lie and be safe now, and get a heavy bad deed scale in the Hereafter, or would you prefer to tell the truth, endure the bad consequences, but get a heavy good deed scale in the Hereafter?

Your Choice.

 

-ReflectorN-

Practice Before You Preach

Sourah es-Saffe, ayahs TEW and THWEE.

 

O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do?

 

Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.

These ayahs show the importance of why hypocrisy is forbidden. You can't tell someone to do something until you've done it yourself. 
So like...
"N, why don't you do your dhikr? Seriously!" said S after Asr prayer.
 "Okay, I'll do it," said N agitatedly. S grinned to herself because she herself didn't do dhikr. H stared at S. "You don't even do it yourself, S!" "Eeeiiiish. Don't preach what you don't practice lah S," said Ummi.
[This is not based on a true story.]
When N got to the masjid she slammed everyone and sat down. Then, fortunately for N, Mar came. "Hi N!" she said and was going to sit down when....
"Go pray your Tahiyatul Masjid, Mar," N said.
"Oops," said Mar. Then she went to go do her Tahiyatul Masjid.
N did not know that what she had done was wrong.
-ReflectorN-

The Good Friends and the Bad Friends

Sourate el-Moumtahena, aaya 9.
A'oothu billehi meenash shayTaani ar-rajeeme...

Allah only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers.

 Do not friend those who are against Islam.
You are in a summer camp.You have fun and eat the given-out snacks. You become friends with your classmates. But as the time for prayer comes...
I glanced at the clock on the wall and read the time. Five minutes to 4:30. Asr prayer was 10 minutes ago.
"Excuse me," I stammered. I began to get out of my seat, but my classmate stopped me.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To the bathroom," I said. It wasn't a lie. I had to make wudu', anyway.
"Oh, okay," she said, and let me go. I left the classroom by permission of the counselor and went to the bathroom to make wudu'. Then I took my prayer rug out of my bag and walked down the hall to the stairwell my dad had told me to pray under. I was almost there, when my classmate came walking by, on her way to the bathroom. She saw me going to the stairs.
"Did you go to the bathroom yet?" she asked.
"Uhh...yeah," I said.
 "Then what are you doing over there? Why didn't you come back to class?" she asked. "Don't you think it's fun?"
"Yeah," I said truthfully. "But I need to do something. It'll take only a few minutes, I promise you."
"What is it?" she asked.
I couldn't make any more excuses. "I need to pray!"
"Pray? Why would you need to pray? It looks funny. Don't do it. Come to class."
I knew she was wrong. But I was missing class. And it was almost Maghrib. I couldn't postpone this any longer. 
"Okay," I said. I could make it up when I got home, anyway. I followed her to the classroom and stayed till the end of class. But it was terrible, knowing that I had missed prayer. And even worse knowing that I had listened to my classmate instead of Allah.
So you see what I'm implying here.  Just to save yourself, you shouldn't listen to those against Islam, and sometimes those people are among the Muslims. If you do listen to these kinds of people, you are of 
EL-ZAALEMOUN.
Do you want to be of these people?

-ReflectorN-

Your Grade

I come to you again to present another reflection, on ayat 123 of Sourate el-Baqarah. The COW. Note that for once we are not talking about my sister. We are talking about the yellow cow.

It is this.

And fear the Day of Judgement when no person shall avail another, nor shall compensation be accepted from him, nor shall intercession be of use to him, nor shall they be helped.

The significance of this ayah is that we will all be so concerned about ourselves on that day that we will have no time to think about anybody else. Your brain is only centered on yourself.

For example (to them students):

As you walk into your classroom, you are nervous about the exam you will take in the next three hours. You sit in your seat and wait for your exam to be given to you. After it is given, you answer it as best you can, and after you turn it in to your teacher, you walk back to your seat. Beads of sweat roll down your forehead and your hands clasp together. As you sit in your seat, watching everybody else turning in their exams as well, you think of only one thing: Your grade.

What is my grade? Did I fail? Some of those questions were really tough. I hope I get a good grade. I hope all my answers were right. Oh please please let me get an A....

And then, BOOM! The bell rings, and you are dismissed. You walk out of the classroom, away from your exam, but the thought of your grade still haunts you.

Does this sound familiar to your life? (I hope it does...)

Walking into the classroom is like being born. Walking to the world. Coming to life. Your exam is practicing Islam. You practice it as good as you can, trying to make no mistakes. Turning in the exam is when you die, and all of your deeds are examined, or in other words, graded. The BOOM is the trumpet on the Day of Resurrection, and you and all your classmates getting up and leaving the classroom is like everyone coming to life again and walking to Allah to be resurrected. The haunting thought of your grade is you, on the Day of Resurrection, hoping you won't go to Hell and make it to Jannah.

Short reflection today. That is all I have, and more will come later today, Inshaallah.

Essalamualaekum, brethren.

-ReflectorN-

Beloved Brethen

Soorat el-Hashre, aayah 10.

And [there is a share for] those who came after them, saying, "Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful."

Ummi said this is a du'a. There is a pattern in this ayah dua. First you ask for forgiveness for yourself, then for your [mushroom] brethren, then you ask for brethren love to be inserted into your heart to replace the hatred or grudge you may have against your brethren. The pattern is....

Praying for yourself, then your brethren, then asking for love towards your brethren.

You >> Brethren >> You and Brethren

It's like when you are threading a necklace with multi-colored assorted lame plastic pony beads, and your pattern is: pink, blue, then two purples.

Relating this to my own life....

I HATE ALL MY BRETHREN!!!

No, just kidding, brethren. Listen. When asking for forgiveness (typically), it is for yourself. This is what Ummi called 'unique.' While asking for forgiveness for yourself, you add your BRETHREN in the du'a. Then you ask for yourself to love your brethren.

i.e......

S: N, go clean the potty! It looks so disgusting and I won't use it until you clean it! I feel like barfing just talking about it! You guys are so unsanitary! I never dirty the potty. (and on and on and on)
N: [fumes] (thinks) I'm not your SLAVE, dummy! Seriously! Being in class for six hours four days a week is really making her spoiled. She expects us to make breakfast for her, tells me to bring water for her... (and on and on and on and on)
N: [cleans potty and washes hands] You can go pee now, S.
S: [goes] AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH! A cockroach! You guys are so unsanitary that COCKROACHES come to the bathroom! N! Get it out!
N: [asks for forgiveness for having grudge against her brother sister and asks for forgiveness for her brother sister for being angry and asks for #nohate against brother sister]

Note that this was based on a true story.

That is all for today, my mushroom brethren.

-ReflectorN-

Gossip Gurls (and Guys as Well)

El-Mujaddalah, Aayatas Sab'ah....

Have you not considered that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth? There is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, of all things, Knowing.
(Credit: quran.com)

 Basically, the summary of this ayah is this. If there are three people talking in secret, Allah is the third one 'in' the conversation. And if there are four people, He is the fifth. If there are five, He is the sixth. And so on. And Allah will tell you what you said in your conversation on the Day of Judgement. So be mindful of what you talk about in your conversation, ESPECIALLY YOU GIRLS. Girls talk so much, and oftentimes they run out of things to talk about, so they begin to talk about people. For example.......

ME: [snickers] Oh my God Mar, that was hilarious.
MAR: I know right?
ME: [looks around] Okay, NOW what do we talk about?
MAR: [looks around as well] I don't know... [sees AR] Oh you know what my brother did to me yesterday? He's so annoying! He jumped on my bed...

ALLAH is listening!!!

Dot dot dot. You see what I mean?

So if Mar and I were talking, and then we ran out of events to talk about, we would look around, see people, and then find something else, or rather someone, to talk about. And this would lead to backbiting or gossiping and rumors maybe, if me and Mar were bad kids. But we aren't elhamdulillaahe. So, Mar, if you are stalking me and you happen to read this, just remember that Allah can hear what we say, for verily...

INNALLAHA SAMEE'UN BASEER!!!

-ReflectorN-

If Everybody is Through Having Private Convos...

Surah Mujaddalah, Aayat'l Ashr

Private conversation is only from Shaytan that he may grieve those who have believed, but he will not harm them at all except by permission of Allah . And upon Allah let the believers rely.

This ayah kind of ties back to Ayah 7.

From my discussion with Ummi, this is what I reflected.

This is a calming ayah. It reassures those being persecuted, oppressed, teased, bullied, etc. And how?

What the ayah said. "...but he will not harm them at all except by permission of Allah."

[I feel like one of the Teaching Textbook founders now. Those guys highlight EVERYTHING]

A simple summary of that ayah is....

Conspiracies aiming to embarrass/oppress/insult/do evil are inspired by Shayaateen. If you happen to be the target of some evil conspiracy, put your trust in Allah, and He will not let you be harmed.

"..And upon Allah let the believers rely."

So listen, Mar, and all them Muslim public-school going kids out there who happen to read this. And the Muslim adults who are working too. And the emotional and violent Muslim teenagers. And - oh, just all Muslims in the world, listen. I'm beginning to go off-tangent.

If you are being teased at school for your religion, the best you can do is IGNORE. I.G.N.O.R.E. If people are trying to bring you down, that means that YOU are higher in status than them. Ignore them and ask Allah to make them stop. The outcome will not be bad, inschyeaaa'Allah.

(Not trying to offend anyone here, but...)

MOM: [talking to friends] You knoh, when N was a bebi, she was SO CHABI. Wan dei ai was holdeeng huhh, and I was rabing huhh chabi leg. Eet was sooo soft, and den I look down, and laaah! I realize I'm rabing huhh bom. AHAHAHAHAHAHA
{Translation: You know, when N was a baby, she was SO CHUBBY. One day I was holding her, and I was rubbing her chubby leg. It was so soft, and then I looked down, and ohh! I realized I was rubbing her butt. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL}
N: [walks in the room and hears Mom's statement] (thinks) Mommmmmm!!
MOM'S AUDIENCE: [see me and grin awkwardly] (thinking) Hmm she's STILL fat now...
N: (thinks) Let her embarrass me, it will come back to her later anyway.

Note that this is not based on a true story, as most horror stories are. But anyway, see the point?

-ReflectorN-