The greatest travesty we do our souls is to forget the extent of God’s love
***
Joymanifest
Category: Interfaith
Muslims in America – a useful conversation
Assalaamu alaikum (peace be upon you)
I came across this on youtube and wanted to share it. It is refreshing to see an honest open conversation held in this way, where people are able to ask what is on their mind and in turn hear everyday Muslims answer.
Having said and shared, wanted also to share that I am currently blessed to be in the middle of the Canadian rockies, in Banff, Alberta. It is a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to visit the rockies since I was a little girl growing up in a tropical island halfway around the world, for some odd reason, hooked on to John Denver’s timeless music (lyrics mostly 🙂 )
God has indeed blessed me in ways I could never have imagined and my being here is testament to that. Alhamdulillah (all thanks and praise be to God)
InshaAllah (God willing) more from this trip later.
Below is the clip, hope you get to listen.
‘What the world needs now is Love, sweet Love’
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah (peace be on you and the loving compassion of God)
The talk I want to share here is by a great luminary in our tradition, a direct descendant of our beloved prophet;s (peace be upon him) couzin, Ali (Allah be pleased with him), Sh. Habib Ali Jiffry comes from a long line of scholars and can trace his ‘isnad’ (chain), I believe it’s called, a very long way..I think all the way to Muhammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). You see in traditional or classical Muslim scholarship, a scholar ‘graduates’ to be able to teach by obtaining ‘ijaza’ which is basically a ‘license’ to teach, from his teacher. And traditional Muslim scholarship is taught one-to-one, with often the student living with his teacher to observe the teacher’s characteristics, behaviours, manners etc. which together we use the arabic term ‘adab’ to denote. So really good Muslim scholars can trace their scholarly chain of transmission back a very long way and the more luminaries one recognizes in the ‘isnad’ the more one realizes the worth or the caliber of that particular scholar. You can read more about Sheikh Habib Ali Jiffry here (well worth clicking on this link, it will give you a taste for what authentic Muslim scholars are about). One thing I want to point out from Sh. Habib’s isnad is his noted taking of knowledge from female scholars, something apparently quite common in our tradition before but for some reason not understood in the mainstream today. In fact, one of the greatest scholars of all time in the Muslim tradition, is Ayesha, our beloved mother, the prophet’s wife (may Allah be pleased with her). She taught many men and women for years from all over the Muslim world and she is a source of much of our scholarly material.
Having said all the above, the talk itself was delivered at RIS last year. RIS stands for ‘Reviving the Islamic Spirit’, it is a twice annual conference held in Toronto and California, and it brings together amazing scholars, artists, etc. Truly living up to its name. You must have all heard of the ‘tedtalks’, well RIS, has now launched ‘ristalks‘, where you can listen to some great talks given at RIS. Do check out the website
Here is the talk, the title speaks for itself, everything in faith is really about love. Remove love from faith and what you are left with is something vacuous and even dangerous. So my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, let’s realize the place of love in our faith. Peace to all and please keep me in your prayers
NB – I apologize, Sh. Habib is a descendent of Ali (ral) not Muhammed (sal). I have corrected the sentence above so it is accurate. Also wanted to mention to those who don’t understand arabic, that while the brother translation is doing a great job, not all the beauty and depth of the arabic comes across. This is often the case with translating arabic, so much can be said with so few words that it very rarely can be translated well.
The Sustainer – Ar-Razzaq
Assalamu alaikum (peace be with you)!
MashaAllah (by God’s grace) almost a year since I began it, today I finished a painting that is rather special to me. After days and days of carefully controlled hours with not much free time, finally today it was a day of nothing scheduled to do and therefore the luxury of being able to paint. This piece is special because I began it at a time I needed to be reminded that God indeed is in control of everything. It was a time when much I had built my hopes on was falling apart around me, a lot of it due to my own wrong doing or that my own best efforts were not enough. I felt like a bird, adrift over an angry sea, trying to keep my wings held high and keep going without the waves washing over me, trying to ride the storm.
I was reminded of the Albatross, that amazing bird, the true master of the seas… a bird some say once airborne over the oceans does not come back to land for over a year if not many years. And I was reminded of one of the names of God, what we Muslims call the ‘asma-ul-husna’ (the names of beauty or goodness). We say God has 99 names. Actually what is meant by names is more like ‘attribute’. For each of the attributes, God is the ultimate, the absolute sense of it. For example, one of the names is ‘al-wadud’ which means ‘The Love’. So God is THE love, all love come from Him, His love is the purest and truest sense of love. One of the things I love the most about the Asma-ul Husna, is that half are considered names of ‘Majesty’ or ‘Jalal’ and the other half are names of ‘Beauty’ or ‘Jamal’. You can see the first half are essentially masculine in quality and the second half are essentially feminine in quality. To illustrate, ‘Al-Lateef’ meaning ‘The Subtle or near’ would be a name of Jamal (beauty = feminine) while ‘Al-Jabbar’ meaning ‘The Compeller’ would be a name of Jalal (majesty= masculine). Without going in to too much detail, let me end by saying that many Muslims have these 99 names memorized and sing them or chant them as a form of worship or remembrance. We say we must try to live our lives embodying as many of these names as we can and in the best way, not many of us can do all, but it is a good to pick a few we want to focus on building in to our character and manifest that 🙂
The name I was reminded of during my time of difficulty is ‘ar-Razzaq’ meaning ‘The Provider’ or ‘The Sustainer’. We say all provision is from Allah. Indeed it is true, for we cannot create energy. All that we need and we take is already made. The source is the One. And on the less metaphysical but more everyday sense, we say every animal and tree has it’s provision assigned by God. Same for us, whatever we need, has been assigned. There is a beautiful article on this majestic name here. Do read it, It is much more descriptive than I can manage.
So the painting is about that. That for every bird out there in the ocean, each albatross on its solitary journey for miles and miles and months and months, ar-Razzaq, The Provider, is watching over and will sustain and nourish as needed. This reminded me of a beautiful ayah (verse) in the Quran, which mashaAllah I put at the end of the painting. It is ayah 19 of one chapter 67. A chapter that is considered to have many healing properties in its recitation.
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا إِلَى الطَّيْرِ فَوْقَهُمْ صَافَّاتٍ وَيَقْبِضْنَ ۚ مَا يُمْسِكُهُنَّ إِلَّا الرَّحْمَٰنُ ۚ إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ بَصِيرٌ
Yusuf Ali Interpretation
Do they not observe the birds above them, spreading their wings and folding them in? None can uphold them except (Allah) Most Gracious: Truly (Allah) Most Gracious: Truly it is He that watches over all things.
Quran (67:19)
I will end with a link of a version of the recitation of the 99 names so you can listen to what it sounds like. And to end as always, to acknowledge that any good in me is from God and God alone.
Peace to all!
Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) series on youtube
Assalamu alaikum (Peace be unto you!)
I wanted to draw your attention to this series produced during the month of Ramadan of this year,1433 by the Islamic calendar. Unlike the Gregorian, the Islamic calendar begins its count with the ‘hijra’ or migration of the prophet (peace and blessing of God be upon him) and his small band of loyal followers, who are called the ‘sahaba’ meaning ‘companions’, from Mecca to Medina. It was a great thing to do, and I am sure even nowadays with skype, and phones and airplanes and what have you, when it is so easy to stay in touch, even now to migrate or immigrate is a big deal for people. It is a rebirth in a sense, a rejuvenation, a process that forces one to examine all one’s beliefs, mannerisms, culture and way of life whether one wants to or not. So the prophet may God elevate his beautiful soul, left his beloved hometown, the city that had persecuted and mocked himself, his message and his small number of followers for 13 years…where he had endured great torture and the first Martyr of Islam was made as well as its first follower; both women mind you (the former is Sumayya, freed African slave woman and the later Khadija the great, the prophet’s beloved wife and mentor, may God be pleased with them both), yet where his heart always would call home. He left to go to Medina and there welcomed with open arms, a nation-state was born. One of the first things he did when he settled in to Medina was to draw up a constitution for the governing of the city, remarkable. But I am digressing. So this was produced in 1433 hijri or 2012 by the gregorian calendar(!), a few short months ago, and with thanks to the producers that it is already up on youtube with English subtitles.
The series is about Umar, one of the prophet’s (peace be upon him) closest companions who at one time, wanted to kill him! He outlived the prophet (peace be upon him) by many years, and he lead the Muslim nation for much of that time. He died as he wished to die, martyred… it was also the first of many assassinations of the state’s head, the Muslim nation was to face. It is in 30 parts and I will post the first one below. You can youtube them all. It is a vast period in history to cover in 30 episodes and there is much to be commented on. But I don’t personally prefer to critique what is obviously a massive amount of work, except to say thanks for taking it on, thanks for the effort to make it as best as possible, and thanks for sharing it. So while there may be much to be improved upon, and much that has been left out or needs working on, it is a remarkable production and one of the most accurate ones out there in my amateur opinion.
I don’t want to go on too long. By watching it you will learn much about what this message is all about. It is actually nothing new. Only a renewal of messages before and a pointing toward a deeper examination of the meaning of existence, where we came from and where we are going. I learned about the importance of integrity, of being ‘upright watching it, and it reminded me of the hadith;
There is an important hadith (narration). A sound and authentic narration in which when the prophet was asked to say something only he could understand about Islam he said the below
On the authority of Abu ’Amr — and he is also called Abu ’Amrah — Sufyan bin Abdullah ath- Thaqafee(ra) who said:
I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about al-Islam which I can ask of no one but you.‘He (peace and blessing of God be upon him) said,
Say I believe in Allah — and then be Steadfast (the arabic word is Mustaqim, translated as being upright, righteous, a person of integrity and sound morality and patient etc.)[Bukhari]
I wonder why we Muslims complicate things so much. We are so worried about the external we have forgotten all about what this way of life is meant to teach and refine. It is meant to build character, keep us honest, people of truthfulness (yes, even if to our own detriment as the famous verse in the Quran enjoins) and self-awareness, people of joy and balance. All our ibadaath (acts of worship) are meant to train the soul, but we mask our soul from ourselves in all the clutter and noise. We cannot hear the voice of God, we are too busy trying to find the best way to listen! So watching this series was educational, for it reminded what it was all about, just being true to what one believes in, standing up for justice and for peace. For my non-Muslim brothers and sisters who stumble upon here or visit, I think it will be educational as well, for at least it will help to dispel all this nonsense myths circulating about Islam and Muslims (and by no means am I denying the Muslim nation has its share of rotten apples, as do all groups of people, but indeed the disgusting ones among the Muslims or so called Muslims do seem particularly evil. To clarify, those comments are as my mind goes to the Taliban when writing this, so no one misunderstands me. What is interesting is this same type so called ‘muslims’ existed even in the time of Ali, the great caliph! Some day I must blog about that episode. Human history has much to teach indeed).
To end, Muslims have given Umar the title of ‘Farook’ roughly meaning the one able to rightly judge, the one upon a true criterion. He was a strict and strong man. A lover of poetry. There is much to learn from his amazing life.
Enjoy the series. In keeping with Muslim etiquette, no image or voice from the prophet or his closest family is shown.
And to my Muslim brothers and sisters, Eid-ul-Adha Mubarak!
And to all, I leave you with the farewell of peace
Assalamu alaikum
BTW to watch the entire series, just youtube ‘MBC1 Omarseries English Subtitles’
Too good not to share…
I’ve been meaning and wanting to write for a while, but excessive travel, work and then sickness has meant many things were delayed. But just coming across this true story, so beautifully shared, it touched my heart and I had to pass it on. Do read please
Love to all and may we not be blind to the love and mercy surrounding us always
The article below is from http://www.suhaibwebb.com and is called The Puppy. Click here to be taken to original source
The Puppy
Maryam Amirebrahimi | October 5, 2012 5:00 amOriginally Published in October 2009. Pulished at http://www.suhaibwebb.com and copyrighted to the same, in accord with their copyright policy found here, so there is no blame on me on the day of judgement for reposting this.
We had just finished dinner. A group of us American girls who were studying in Egypt had decided we would eat at a local restaurant and when we finished, we had twenty Egyptian pounds leftover from the pool of cash we had put together. Figuring out what to do with the money, one of the sisters suggested, “There’s that boy who sleeps outside that one grocery store! You know, he’s got that puppy! And whenever he’s with that puppy, he’s like the happiest kid in the world.”
I realized whom she was talking about. There was a teenage boy who slept on the grass across the street from the grocery store. There was no trace of family, money, or anything—just a boy and a stray puppy who kept him company. “Let’s give the money to him!” the sister exclaimed. With purpose, our group began to head over.
From the restaurant, it took us about twenty minutes to get to the location of the boy. But he was nowhere to be seen. His puppy, however, was there…and he was thirsty. The puppy had in his paws a closed water bottle that he unsuccessfully attempted to open. Imagine the torment of feeling intensely thirsty, staring at water in paw’s length, and not being able to access it despite immense struggles and efforts. Realizing his dilemma, we quickly opened the bottle of water we had and began to pour it out for the puppy. The puppy came immediately, drinking the water in huge gulps, and not stopping for some time. Finally, relieved, the puppy eventually ran off to play.
We did not find the boy that night. As we walked back to our apartments I began contemplating the situation. We had walked about twenty minutes in search of a specific boy. We could not find him, and instead we found a puppy in extreme thirst, making great efforts to access water. Allah, The All Wise, had written for us to have extra money, helped us remember the boy in that moment, given us the strength, ability and time to take the twenty minute walk to find the boy, and instead, guided us to a puppy who needed our help to drink water. Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) had written for us, a group of foreigners from across the world, to have been in that place, in that moment of time, simply to help a puppy quench its thirst.
What about you, dear worshiper of God, who is struggling to please Him, stumbling upon blocks of heedlessness and difficulties? What about you who are trying to keep it together, find a job, get married, do well in school, deal with domestic issues at home or societal pressures all around? Dear believer who struggles to make your prayers, complete your fasts, lower your gaze and preserve your chastity—if that is the mercy that Allah, The Ever Merciful, has written for a small puppy, that He would subjugate human beings to simply help quench the thirst of a creature amongst His Creation…then what about the Mercy of Allah `azza wa jall on you, His struggling worshipper?
“Therefore flee unto Allah…” (Qur’an 51:50)
Peace be with you,
You sister.
PS – Sendie, my thoughts and prayers have been with you though I haven’t been able to reply yet. Allah help you and us all. Thank you so much for all you shared with me, I am honored and reach out to you with many hugs
Azaan – calling to prayer
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah,
The recent global events and events in my own life and in that of my circle of brothers and sisters, whether known ‘virtually’ or ‘in-person’ (Sendie, here’s a call out to you, I hope you’re fine) has made it a quiet time. A time of reflection and renewing, of one’s purpose and one’s plan to live and thrive in this world without becoming damaged or bitter. Truly, God does test those He loves and truly God does come to the aid of those He tests when they call out to Him, and Truly God does not place a burden on any soul greater than it can bear. References for these statements by Allah, the One and Only Creator below;
Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said,”When is the help of Allah ?” Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.
Quran (2:214)And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.
Quran (2:186)Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. “Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.”
Quran (2:286)
The last ayah (verse or better translated as ‘sign’, as each verse in the Quran is considered a ‘sign’ of the miracle of God), is the one which ends the longest chapter in the Quran (chapter 2), and indeed after the statement that God does not lay a burden on anyone greater than that soul can bear, God guides us to how to bear whatever we do have to bear – bear it by asking God to help you with it! For indeed Allah loves to hear the call of his creation and loves to answer that call.
This is a time when our patience is being tested in deep ways. We are bleeding at the disrespect they cause to our beloved prophet (peace be upon his gentle and exalted soul!) and saddened by their ignorance. May God guide us all to light!
Muhammed (peace be upon him) himself was taunted by much much much worse numerous times in his life. He never retaliated. One very telling short hadith gives us a glimpse of his attitude, at a time when they twisted his name to make fun of him, look at with what good character, light-heartedness and wisdom he replies;
Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 56, Number 733:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Apostle said, “Doesn’t it astonish you how Allah protects me from the Quraish’s abusing and cursing? They abuse Mudhammam and curse Mudhammam while I am Muhammad (and not Mudhammam)”The Makkans made fun of the Prophet (PBUH) by twisting his name because of its meaning being “The one deserving of praise” , and calling him Mudhammam (belittled one).
I leave you with a beautiful clip from a recent CelebrateMercy event. I urge you all to check out the celebratemercy website if you have not already. It is dedicated to the prophet, the prophet who was sent for all mankind, not just for arabs, not just for the 7th century, but for all people and all time.
And I leave you with two beautiful azans, one from the grant mosque in Medina, the city of the prophet and the other from a young muazzin (one who calls the azan) in Los Angeles, presented at a beautiful interfaith event in a Church.
Peace to all, as Muhammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family!!) taught us to say and live. Peace to all
Welcoming the month of months…Ramadan Mubarak!
Assalamu alaikum wa rahma Allah wa barakatuh!
O my dear brothers and sisters fortunate enough to witness another Ramadan, I greet you with joy and hope and pray that the light of Allah shines upon you and your loved ones this blessed month.
I have been meaning to write a long while, first to share all the beautiful events that I was a part of since my last posting. Not all pleasant mind you, but full of the teaching of Allah, as I journeyed through hurdle upon hurdle and learned much along the way. It is not easy to summarize and indeed I began this post to share some of the joy and pleasure of knowing it is once more, ramadan. But shortly put, as we continued upon our journey through the countryside of Sri Lanka, we came across many interesting and diverse scenes that spoke to much. A sad visit through what used to be a pristine mountain village by a famous waterfall now full of a type of tourism that unnerved me much…it was tourism for drugs it looked like. All these people in the middle of nowhere looking drugged and senseless…the local women staying off the streets and simple village men now stoned and with blood-shot eyes. It was telling, this never existed a few years ago. I guess when the war was on, this type of tourists did not visit the island. Now we hear, coccaine is grown in the jungles and it has become a hotspot. Or so the driver of our vehicle informed us later on as he reported being solicited by locals to bring more of the ‘right type’ of people through. Thankfully we were not the right type, and we were pretty quick to exit the place. There were other things that happened to us along the way, including a rather bizarre and incredibly memorable encounter with a wild elephant! MashaAllah Sri Lanka really is an incredible country.
Then that night we were staying a small guesthouse, with rooms by a paddy-field…mashaallah it was very pretty, when we heard that my beloved grandmother had suffered a bad fall. Alhamdulillah for the salah and the comfort of putting one’s trust in God. May it always be so for all of us! So then in the morning we rushed back to the city and it took us the day to get there. Thereafter began some good work, as that was the main reason I was in the island. MashaAllah we visited many a social service organization and medical center and learned a lot about what is needed and what needs to be done. Allah bless the brave and tireless people working to help all who need help. I have forgotten much about service, now living in this affluent western world removed from the constant reminder of need. I miss this, for in it there is a great healing and great blessing. There is a reason for suffering and want…I believe it brings us closer to being good people and open our hearts to be merciful…this when one is a sincere seeker or truth or a humble human being. These are some brief thoughts I am sharing, there is of course much more to be said. I pray that these experiences stay cemented in me and I am able to contribute in whatever way God wills. Please include me in your prayers too.
Then it was about leave-taking and coming back home again. Then about settling in and preparing for the month of months just around the corner, and now so swiftly upon us all. I am wordlessly happy! I will end with sharing a lovely youtube time-lapse video featuring one of my favourite anasheed, and this du’a
‘O Allah, please remove oppression from all those oppresed in the world and ensure a peace based on justice and mercy to everyone in the world. Bless us, forgive us and increase us in your light upon light. And bless and elevate our beloved Muhammed, the chosen one’
Sunrise on the mountain
MashaAllah (by God’s grace) here I am seated on the balcony of our little guest house and sipping green tea a little after six in the morning of a beautiful day. We are in ‘little England’, a hill-station located in the tea growing heart of my beautiful Island home, Sri Lanka. I arrived here a few days ago and have had much to do. But just yesterday we were able to put all that aside and take one our ‘good old fashioned’ road trips, Sri Lankan style.
Being in the mountains again was the ‘coolness of my eyes’ as the arabs say, a beautiful phrase denoting the peace entering one’s heart when re-witnessing one’s beloved. It is a beautiful phrase and indeed the way God chooses to describe how one’s spouse and children should be in the Quran! May God grant all of us spouses and children who are just this and may we also be just this to the nes who love us.
Last night we did the climb from Pusselawa to Nuwara-Eliya (the real name of this place we affectionately term ‘little England’) in the evening. It was a mad two hours of twisty-windy roads and some haphazard Sri Lankan driving. But oh so beautiful to see the sunset over the mountains, and the landscape of tea plantations, flowers, little village houses and peaceful villagers walking on the street, bathed in a soft golden-mauve light particular to my country I believe. I have not found a word to describe it yet.
Then before that we visited the Pinnewala Elephant orphanage, a first for me and mashaAllah suhch an educational time. Being close to those majestic creatures, their peace and wisdom apparent in their every step. Oh Subhahanallah! what a precious world we live in. There was a blind bull tusker there, and I got to touch a bullet lodged under his tough hide..more bullet marks were visible on the surface of the skin. It was a sad thing, the poachers had blinded him, I guess the only bullet that did it’s work was the one aimed at the eyes. Ah, what a sorry species Homo sapiens sapiens is! How short sighted and blinded by the non-essential. And how much we have, as a race, to answer for! God forgive us all.
As I speak, the mists are coming down the mountain and pass me by in cold fast waves…I am enveloped in cloud. Subhahanallah!
InshaAllah (God willing) today to continue our road trip and see more of the development in the Island that has taken place after the war ended, often spoken of. So hoping to visit many more regions, probably leaving the ‘upcountry’ and going down again to the ‘low country’.
Well, my companions on this journey of life, I hope you enjoyed this post. I will try to attach pictures. God is great and life is beautiful, so much to learn and see…may we wander well and learn quickly. Peace to all, Assalaamu alaikum!
Many thoughts of gratitude
Assalamu alaikum, peace be unto you,
Alhamdulillah (thanks and praise to God), I’ve had a lovely few day. First due to an amazing camping trip to a small island off the coast of Vancouver. I was touched and deeply humbled by the concern of my non-Muslim camping buddies that I keep my prayer on time…and I must say, there is no feeling as beautiful as standing under the trees on the grass close to the ocean in the state of ‘salat’ (the Muslim ritual worship, it is a physical ritual with meditative quranic recitation and repetitive praise of God made by the tongue or in the heart). Alhamdulillah! a deep peace and glimpse of utter serenity. Especially to wake up with the first light at about 4 am (impossible to sleep with sunlight streaming through a tent!) and be fully woken taking the ‘wudhu’ (ritual purification with water, the best translation of the word in to English is ‘lumination’, from the greek ‘lumos’, meaning to make light) with freezing cold crystal clear water and then to stand on a rock by the ocean and enter the salah. Mashaallah (by God’s grace) the weather was amazing, and the sunrise a beautiful pink and red. I wish I had taken pictures, but I did not want to wake my sleeping camping buddies…and perhaps it is that some images are better preserved in the heart. Having said that, I thank you my dear reader, for listening as I type out this verbal imagery, for indeed it stamps the memory on my heart and for that I am grateful.
There is much more I want to write and share, but enough of words from me for now. Let me leave you with a ‘du’a’ (this is more like what the English word ‘prayer’ means, it is supplication made to God) that was found some days ago recorded on the back page of an old notebook I had used when learning sacred knowledge. I do not know where it is from, but it is beautiful, wise, and universal. So I hope you benefit from it.
I will inshaAllah post some of the camping trips photos below for your pleasure 🙂
Du’a
O Lord, please help me to say the truth in front of those who have authority. And please help me not to say that which is false in order to gain advantage. And please help me to see the other side of reality. And please protect me from bearing false witness due to difference of opinion. O Lord if you give me money, do not take my money. If you give me health please don’t take my sanity. If you give me success don’t take my humility. If you give me humility don’t take my dignity. O Lord, please teach me to love others as I love myself. And teach me to question myself as I question others. And please teach me how to forgive. Because the ability to forgive is the greatest of qualities. And because revenge is a major sign of weakness and regression. Please O Lord, protect me from arrogance upon my success. And protect me from despair upon my failure. O Lord, please remind me that failure preceeds success. O Lord if you do not give me success, please leave me determination to overcome failure. O Lord if you do not give me health, leave me my faith. O Lord, if I hurt others please give me the ability to apologize and if others hurt me, give me the ability to forgive. O Lord, if I forget Thee, don’t forget me as You are the Forgiving (al-Ghafur), the Clement (al-Halim), the Great (al-Kabir), Dominant and Able to do all things (al-Qadir).
– Deer everywhere on the island…I was very happy with that!
– Campsite 🙂
– a precious moment as Otter arrive shortly after the dawn prayer (‘fajr), it was quite and still and I was thrilled by the sighting
-pretty island farmhouse. Idyllic and the best part is it is a functioning farm. The family that owns it, gifted much land to make a park for Canada!
– golden sunset on my way home. MashaAllahu ta’ala!!
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