Why His verses don’t get to us sometimes

Reading the Quran often evokes many different emotions: fear, happiness, joy, anticipation, hope, etc. It's not often that a verse evokes a sense of sadness. However, every time I read the following verse in Surah Maryam, I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness.

Surah Maryam, verses 58:

‎أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ مِن ذُرِّيَّةِ آدَمَ وَمِمَّنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْرَائِيلَ وَمِمَّنْ هَدَيْنَا وَاجْتَبَيْنَا إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ خَرُّوا سُجَّدًا وَبُكِيًّا

"Those were whom Allah bestowed His Grace from among the Prophets, of the offspring of Adam, and of those whom We carried with Noah, and of the offspring of Abraham and Israel and from among those whom We guided and chose. When the Verses of the Most Merciful were recited unto them, they fell down prostrating and weeping."

The verse talks about how the righteous and guided, upon hearing the verses of God, fell in prostration and would begin weeping. Hearing the words of God would move them to their core. They couldn't help but be in awe when verses would be recited. 

This saddens me because when I hear this verse, I cannot help but think, "what happened to us"? Why am I often not emotionally moved by the words of God? Perhaps our hearts have hardened to the point where verses of God do not affect us as they affected those before us. 

As I read this verse and kept questioning myself, searching for an answer to why we are not emotionally moved by His words, I came across the very next verse in the chapter. And there lies the answer to my very own question. 

‎فَخَلَفَ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَاتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوَات

"Then, there a generation came after them who had given up Salah (the prayers) and followed desires..."

God says in the next verse that another generation will come that will neglect their prayers and follow their desires. This verse accurately described problems in our day today. 

I began thinking about my daily routine, my regimen, my prayers, my priorities. Do I pray on time? Do I focus in prayer? What is the status of my relationship with God? Am I in control of my desires? What are my intentions in every action I take? The answer to these questions also answers why we are not moved by the verses of God. We have disconnected from our prayers, our connection to God. We live for life, while our faith is placed on the back burner. Our prayers have become merely an exercise of movements and words we place no thought to. Our prayers are the foundation that puts our life in check. And we have neglected them. 

Reading these verses, comparing the older generation to ours, and contemplating on the state of our affairs, shook me to the core. May God help you and I be in control of our worldly desires, and may He help us build a righteous life with prayers being our priority and center of our daily lives. Perhaps after we do exactly that, we will be able to taste the sweetness of His words as those before us did.

I prayed in a church today

I prayed in a church today. It was 30 minutes before sunset when I realized I still hadn’t prayed Asr prayer, one of the five daily prayers for Muslims that’s prayed in the late afternoon before the sun sets. I was at a church this particular afternoon planning an event with mothers of various faiths and backgrounds for our children who were born with rare medical conditions. We dedicated a good chunk of this day to work together and come up with ideas for our special event on World Rare Disease Day.

What was beautiful though, as we were wrapping up and as I realized I was about to miss my Asr prayer, is these amazing women’s response to my dilemma of how to not miss my prayer. They watched my two daughters as I hurried to the bathroom to make wudu (ablution before the prayer) and as I came back in the room to perform the prayer, one of them looked out the window observing the sun and its definitiveness to set and proclaimed, “You better hurry.” I agreed and quickly began my prayer.

Here I was, an American Muslim, in a church of God, a Presbyterian Christian Church to be specific, praying one of the five daily prayers in Islam. Unity and diversity doesn’t get much better than this.

In the moments I prayed in the church, I couldn’t help but thank God for placing me in a peaceful place with such women of love and sincerity who God Himself chose to be mothers of rare children. What an honor to be amongst such advocates and warriors. And I couldn’t help but think of Prophets Jesus and Muhammad who came with a message of mercy and inclusion. I was reminded of the verses I recently read in chapter three of the Quran where Prophet Muhammad was addressing a group of Christians to come to peaceful terms together, worshipping One God and not associating any partners with Him.

In my prayer today, I regained my faith in humanity, in loving, empowering and supporting each other, and in the incredible strength of diversity. Alhamdulillah, all thanks to God.

#theycantdivideus #interfaith #abrahamicfaiths #lovewillprevail #thepowerofprayer #freedomofreligion #God #Jesus #Muhammad 

The dua Of Maryam’s mother

Do you know what’s amazing about the mother of Maryam (Mary)? This woman had a vision that she would have a pious son with a legacy. When she was pregnant, Maryam’s mother believed her child was a boy and she took an oath saying she would dedicate this boy’s life for God. She envisioned him studying under the knowledge of Rabbis and righteous people to learn and eventually teach about God. Now what happens next in the story is amazing.

God gives her a girl. In this moment, any of us could be upset at God for not answering our prayers the way we imagined. We could possibly take away all our wants of that child being raised for God. We could ask God why He would shatter a dream that was for His sake at the end?!

But that’s not what this woman did. Her child’s gender didn’t stop her from chasing after her vision. She still sent Maryam to study and learn about God. Because it wasn’t about the gender, and it wasn’t about God answering her prayers in the exact way she wanted. It was much bigger than that.

It’s at this time in the story where Prophet Zachariah is given responsibility of taking care of Maryam. Perhaps if Maryam were a boy, she would not have had that one on one with a righteous Prophet of God. Perhaps God heard the dua (supplication) of Maryam’s mother and answered it in the way He knew was best. And she trusted that.

Fast forward a few years and now Maryam is a pious woman and she herself is teaching Prophet Zachariah an important lesson: God grants who He wills in ways beyond imagination. This in turn motivates Zachariah to ask God for a son, despite his old age and his wife being barren. God answers his prayer and grants him a son, to which he replied with bewilderment as how God could possibly do that. But Maryam taught him that nothing is impossible for God. And she was living proof of that.

Maryam then underwent the impossible herself and carried the huge honor of bringing Prophet Jesus to life without a father. And through him God revealed the Gospel, helping him change society for the better, instilling faith and mercy in people’s hearts.

Now think back to the beginning of this story. This amazing legacy started from one woman who had a vision. And although her vision wasn’t implemented in the way she imagined, she let God facilitate. She was loyal and determined to what she dreamed of and at the same time, trusted that her faith wouldn’t let her down. Her dream of having a righteous son then turned into giving birth to the most honorable woman in history who would give birth to a righteous son without a father, who would then be a prophet and make a lasting impact on the world till the end of time. Wow.

Moral of the story. Don’t give up on your duas. They may not be answered in the way you want them to. They may look different in the way they’re being facilitated. But trust the Planner. He knows what He’s doing and He wants what’s best for you. 

Powerful lessons from Surah Alwaqi’ah

Check out this latest talk as we find some amazing treasures in chapter 56 of the Quran!

Navigating life through the Quran and the Stars: Powerful lessons from Surah Alwaqi’ah

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=SJ_AhTLdfpM

To Him we belong and to Him we return

Written on 6/6/18

I remember this day distinctly. I had moved out of home several years ago and lived 9 hours away from my parents by car. It was hard leaving them and my hometown initially and I never fully got over it. I was visiting them at home for Ramadan and was making a list of duas (supplications) to make during prayer. I was super excited about this one specific Dua. I very excitedly went to my mom to tell her this new Dua I was making. It was, “Oh God, return me to my family in a beautiful way.” My hopes out of this prayer was that maybe my parents would soon move to where I was or that we would move closer to them. Little did I know my mom’s reply would impact me in such a powerful way. She replied so instantaneously advising me to change the wording of the supplication. She said to ask God to return me back to Him, not my family, because it’s in Him where my Home is. I didn’t truly belong to her she added, for I came from God and one day we will all return to Him. This is one of the most profound statements my mom has ever told me and every time I remember it, it hits me. I was reminded of this Dua yesterday during prayer at the mosque when the Imam leading the prayer asked God to return us back to Him in a beautiful way. I pray we never lose sight of our true Home, our Creator, the Most Merciful, the One who gifted us with our families and loved ones. 

We know you are sad

Written on 6/9/18

You know what’s so interesting about the Quran is that not only is it a religious scripture where we can gather information about faith and doing good, but it’s also a school for learning about psychology and ourselves. There are countless stories of prophets and their dealings with surroundings that teach us that a huge part of our faith is in our interactions with humanity. And what I find most interesting is the way God speaks to Prophet Muhammad in the Quran. Prophet Muhammad was a walking mercy for his people. He was chosen by God to be the final messenger. He was guaranteed eternal bliss in the highest of heavens. But still amidst all this, Allah tells him in the Quran as he faced hardship, “We know you are saddened at what they say.” When the prophet was going through a hard time and disheartened at the people’s rejection of him and faith, it could have been easy for people to tell him something like, “Hey, you don’t have anything to be sad about, you’re literally guaranteed paradise.”  But instead, God validates his feelings and reaches out to his emotions. God acknowledges his pain. He tells him, “We KNOW you are sad.” And sometimes, that’s all you need: someone to tell you that you have a right to feel the way you are feeling. Just because we don’t understand why someone is sad doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to be sad. I think this is why so many people can feel so alone in their feelings. But the way God consoles the Prophet in verses like these teaches us that invalidation does no good. We see that in people of all ages who struggle with their emotions and feel invalidation from their peers. And here, in our scripture, in this glorious Quran, we see God Himself taking Prophet Muhammad’s emotions in and validating Him in the simplest yet most profound of ways. If you have a loved one struggling, acknowledge their pain, validate their emotions, and let them know they’re not alone in their feelings. They have every right to feel the way they feel, so start from there.

A supplication so powerful

Written on 11/1/18

As I was driving to the hospital for a short procedure for my daughter, I looked in the mirror and saw the look of exhaustion and loneliness. Alone in my thoughts, in my tiredness, in the bags under my eyes, in the tears I keenly carry in those eyes. Suddenly, as the morning prayers (athkar alsabah) were peacefully playing in the background, I heard the supplication: “يا حي يا قيوم برحمة أستغيث أصلح لي شأني كله ولا تكلني إلى نفسي طرفة عين." "Oh Ever-Living, Sustainer and supporter of all, I seek assistance through Your Mercy, rectify all of my affairs for me and do not let me depend on myself alone even for a blink of an eye.”

Wow, how incredibly powerful. If no one but Allah can see my eyes in their form, in their tiredness, and HE is the only one to depend on, the only ever-living and sustaining, then my worries suddenly dissipate to the background. How eloquently and poetically worded is this prayer? My mom often advised me to read this supplication when in distress, and today I finally know why. While driving, I slowly dissected each word of this supplication and was amazed that the prophet asked us to first call upon God in that specific name, the only one who will never cease. And next we ask His help through nothing but His mercy. And we ask Him to fix our affairs, without even naming them because He knows them all, and finally ask him to not leave us alone even for a blink. How healing of a supplication for someone who is feeling so alone and hopeless.

I am no where near this mindset 24/7, but I pray this prayer and prayers like these can be something we as submitters to God hold on to.