Blessings of Fajr revisited

The baraka of Fajr time never ceases to amaze me. I seem to keep finding more and more things to be doing the early morning hours. And the things I seem to be accomplishing in this blessed time! Nothing grand, must I say... For example I was just amazed to see I could finish making lunch before 9 and fix my priorities in school until February. Those same 2 hours at any other time of the day would not be as satisfying. May we always take advantage of the hours granted to us by our Rabb...

A Du’a to Allah

by Sr. Aysha Khanom

Your Mercy enlightened my soul;
I found my purpose, and my reason,
You are my treasure, my light and my hope,
My tears of anguish, bring sweetness to my sorrows,
I fear Ya Allah, happiness in this world, may take me away from Your remembrance,
I seek struggle, only to call out to Your Mercy,
My tears for You, are like the diamonds to my treasure,
Your appearance is unknown to me, yet I have already felt so much of your beauty,
My soul was starving without Your Remembrance, & Your Mercy only filled it with sweetness, and brought me back to life,
You are the happiness of my soul, & it was the hearing of Your Mercy & Love that set it alight,
My attachment to this Duniya is my longing & yearning to
reach close proximity to You,
For if, by Your mercy I enter Jannah , I would reminisce on the times I felt your beauty through my worship, even when you were veiled from our eyes,
The vain pleasures of this Duniya are only temporary and a deception, & my struggle against them with Your remembrance,
& to feel the coolness in my soul, could never amount to what the pleasure I turned away from could give,
Even in my darkest hours, You make life beautiful just by knowing You are there,
You make my heart smile, which if all the treasures of this world were given to me, it would never have that effect,
You are my strength, my cure and my delight,
My longing to see Your face, is my Jannah in this world, nothing can bring harm to it, or take it away but by my disobedience to You,
Help me to remain firm Ya Allah on the Sirat-Al-Mustaqeem, & hold strong to Your rope, for if I am detached from You,
I will lose my reason to live, & I will lose my Jannah that I carry with me,
Help me to remain sincere & earn nothing but Your pleasure,
My desire is only to be one of your Beloved..
Ameen
Sr. Aysha Khanom

Tired Mother Energized.

"Mama, do you know we washed dishes yesterday?" asked Yusuf.
"Yes, I heard about it," replied a tired mother.
"That's why I'm scared to drink from the cups. I rinsed them and it had a lot of soap!" exclaimed Yusuf.
Mama suddenly felt energized and thankful to have beautiful kids to make her smile.

Respect for Children

Narrated Anas (radi Allahu anhu): “The Prophet was the best of all the people in character. I had a brother called Abu Umar, who, I think, had been newly weaned. Whenever he was brought to the Prophet, the Prophet used to say, "O Abu Umar! What did Al-Nughair (do)?” Al-Nughair was a nightingale with which he used to play.” [Bukhari]
This incident sheds light for us on the extremely compassionate nature of Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). He paid attention to little children and enquired about their pets. He gave them the importance that some reserve only for adults from whom they hope to benefit. Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) came as a mercy and kindness for all the worlds, and his kindness could be witnessed in all situations.

May Allah help us follow our Prophet (SAW)

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Give due respect and regard to your children and decorate them with the best of manners.” [Abu Daud]

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) would be the first to give salaam to children as he would pass them, thereby teaching them Islamic manners with his own example. He (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) would have sweets and dates for them. Once the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) was giving one of his grandsons a ride when somebody remarked, “What an excellent ride you have!” to his grandson. Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) immediately drew attention to the child instead by saying, “Don’t you see what an excellent rider I have!” This was the nature of Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), that he would give love and importance to children. Are you on the sunnah of Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam)?