Birthday Celebrations

ASAK...long time no post, unfortunately. This post will be relatively short. Just wanted to see what opinions you might have for the permissiblity of celebrating birthdays in Islam. Please make sure to provide any proofs such as Ahadith and Verses(Quran).

Thanks!

Prayer is a Priority

OK, before I begin with the actual post...when I first read the comment I had received, I translated it as "I am having issues prioritizing my prayers." As I was about to post this, I re-read it and realized it was actually referring to lack of concentration during prayer. Ah well, insha' Allah this post I made will not come to waste even though I misread the comment. To the person who commented: I will reply promptly to your concern in the form of a comment, iA(insha' Allah/God Willing).

Here is my post, then...please keep in mind my initial misinterpretation.

The first course of action would be to determine exactly why you and your friend are having issues focusing on your prayer. It is highly likely that you are struggling to define and practice what is or should be your priority(striving to become the best Muslim you can be). Perhaps you have distractions, perhaps you are busy--but think about it like this. Can you not spend at least 25 minutes a day to save and bless your soul in the Hereafter? (25 minutes=5 min for the 5 obligatory prayers)

"And they who carefully maintain their prayers –Those are the inheritors. Who will inherit al-Firdaus. They will abide therein eternally." (Surah al-Mu’minoon, ayah 9-11)


[And they shall be asked], “What put you into Saqar (Hell)?” They will say, “We were not of those who prayed… (Surah al-Muddaththir, ayah 42-43)



 Assuming one day is 12 hours, you are spending less than four percent of your day with those prayers. And they are so very important, so inexpressibly important. I'll list a few reasons below:

1). Keeps you close to Allah(SWT)

2). One step closer to Jennah/Paradise, one step away from Hell. OK, more than a step, probably. But still...it's as if you have bought one of your five tickets to Jenna, insha' Allah, as Salah/Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam.

 "Indeed, I am Allah . There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance." (Surah Ta-Ha, ayah 14)

3). Bottom line: Allah(SWT), the Compassionate and Merciful, Ordered the Believers to Do So. Let us be among them insha' Allah.





Once again, please feel free to suggest future posts' subject matter. Comments are very welcome

Assalamualaikum

Never Let it Go

Never let your faith(Iman) and your consciousness of Allah(SWT)/God(Taqwa) go. No matter how busy you are with school, with friends, with work, with the daily worries and joys of life. After all, all of this is because of Allah(SWT). He is the one who gives you everything you have and everything you will have...He's the one who has given you all that you have, and the one who can give you all that you want. Hopefully, it's Paradise in the Hereafter, most of all.  When I say never let your Iman go, I don't mean just remember God. If you truly remember God and mind that remembrance, then you will read the Quran regularly, pray sincerely, and do your best to improve yourself to be the most excellent embodiment of the good person.
A good friend of mine went through an experience in which she loosened her grip on her Iman. She didn't exactly start disobeying the rules of Islam...for example, she didn't start dating or take off her hijab, or stop praying, but she found her passion and firm conviction for Islam dwindling...she recently had become much more busy with work so I suppose that could be one of the reasons this happened. Anyway, she started hurrying her prayers so that they took up a very small amount of time, she stopped praying Sunnah prayers, and she barely picked up the Quran. During this time, she started becoming...not entirely depressed, but I saw her happy face a lot less often. I assumed it was because of her business but even when she spent time with friends, she wasn't relaxed and carefree. When she confided in me, she herself didn't even realize what was causing her to feel uncomfortable. I saw that what was causing her to feel sad and even gloomy at times was her distance from God. The entire experience of listening to her slow and gradual separation from her interest in her religion really made me grateful that Allah(SWT) Helped me to keep my Taqwa. She, masha' Allah, had always been a very strong Muslimah in my eyes, and I think the fact that she actually came to realize what was wrong proved that her Iman was strong and Allah(SWT) Rewarded her by giving it back to her. Particularly because she immediately adjusted her routine to include time to re-strengthen her relationship with Allah(SWT). I suppose I learned multiple lessons from this, and insha' Allah you will as well.
What I want you to walk away with:
1). The high importance of maintaining your relationship with Allah(SWT).


Please Comment with Opinions, Questions, Reflections, and Anything Else. Please be Courteous.


Assalamualaikum(Peace be Upon You)

I'm Back

Assalamualaikum, or Peace Upon You, everyone. I'm back after my...how long of a break was that? I haven't been on blogspot for a very long time, unfortunately. I apologize, and am aware that I have probably lost a good amount of my readers. In any case, I am going to begin blogging again Alhamdulilah and try my best to gain God's Pleasure.  I'm back, and insha' Allah will not be taking such a long break again. I'm thinking of what should be my first post after this long while but please comment with any suggestions. I will definitely, insha' Allah, post by Sunday night. Glad to be back!

Sincerely,

Aspiring Muslima