Specially for sisters who requested that I share some key takeaways from the session on Surah Luqman by Ustazah Nazeerah, here it is, Bismillah. But do note that no amount of words can describe how beautifully the kalam of Allah describes it. And my sharing here is just a fraction of all the wisdom that the surah contains - a reflection of how tiny and limited the human mind of mine is. Allahs greatness is without a doubt, bountless. Ustazah began the class by reminding us how blessed we are to be born a Muslimah. What we have to do is to strive to be a Mukminah (to internalise and practise the six pillars of Islam; especially the one on the acceptance of qada & qadar , a Mutqiyah (to be God-conscious always) and then a Muhsinah (a woman of excellence; following the sunnah and always full of adab). I asked her about the role of a Mujahidah. She shared that a Mujahidah would be the next stage after the four basic stages she mentioned have been fulfilled. She emphasized that ilm (knowledge) without amal (action) is just information. The Al-Quran reminds us that Muslims are with principles. We should not be lile lalang and live our lives like how hollywood has glamourized it to be. We are khalifahs (leaders) of all creations hence we should live our lives with honour and not cheapen it. Ustazah also reminded us about Al-Quran and its hikmah (wisdom). She said that hikmah constitutes the: - right words given to the - right person at the - right time with the - right dosage using the - right approach. It was a good reminder for me because coincidentally, my hub had just advised me the night before to sometimes just keep the new knowledge I have to myself, and not be too eager to share. :) Verse 12 of Surah Luqman mentioned wisdom. We were reminded to have the wisdom to be syukr (grateful) and not just express it through our words. We were reminded to sincerely have syukr in our hearts and express it through our actions. It was a powerful wake-up call when Ustazah reminded us that a person who does not believe in Allahs blessings (by complaining on what they do not have rather than always be thankful with Allahs countless blessings) can easily fall into the category of kufrs (disbelievers). I turned to my bestie and just like how I had tears in my eyes, her eyes welled up too. We were asking ourselves have we not been in that category? Have we not been complaining about what we do not have? Really really shame on us. Ustazah also shared that stress is the disease of people who do not trust Allah. Stress is the disease of people who are not grateful of Allahs countless blessings. Ustazah mentioned that during isra miraj, Prophet Muhammad (saw) saw women dominating hell. When asked why, he was told that women are creatures who find it very hard to be thankful, especially towards their husbands. Ustazah reminded us that to triumph in live and to be victorious in Allahs eyes, all we need to be is patient and grateful towards the tests that come to us through our husbands. Because when we win, we get what we want and that is Jannah, insyaAllah. Verse 13 shares that Luqman educates his child with love, gentleness of a nasihah (advice) and a reminder that we should never associate Allah (swt) with anything else. It reminds us on the importance of aqeedah and how we can easily fall into minor and major syirk. As defined by Prophet Muhammad (saw), even riyak (arrogance) and doing things without sincerity can fall under minor syirk. Major syirk would be a great injustice to ourselves and this is the inability to practise total submission to Allah (swt). We are all slaves to Allah and He is our master. How can we dare argue with Him or not conform to what He wants of us? How can we associate Allah (swt) with something else? Five conditions of being a slave was condensed to have (1) love (2) obedience (3) sincerity (4) absolute trust (5) understanding of the terms of a slave. Verse 14 then reminds us to be good (ihsan) towards our parents. It is so beautiful that this verse came right after the verse that reminds us of total submission to Allah (swt). Wahnan ala wahnan reminds us of the sacrifices after sacrifices that mothers go through for their children. We are reminded to be grateful for the parents we have even if we think they are not the best of parents. They are the best for us because Allah says so. Ustazah then went through with us basic rights parents should give their children and what children must give to their parents. Cross-references of versus from Surah Luqman and Surah Al-Baqarah were also made. Another powerful verse that was dived deep into was verse 18. Ustazah reminded us on the importance of establishing prayers (solah) after we plan. One who fails to plan would indeed be planning to fail. Verse 18 reminds us to enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong and have sabr (patience + commitment + perseverance + consistence). Solah is our mode of communication to Allah (swt) and it protects us against fakhsya (evil related to our chastity; nafs & lust) and munkar (eg; lying, backbiting, fitnah). We should also really see ourselves as ambassadors of Islam and should perform dakwah by first being a practising & walking Muslim. Through Verses 18 & 19, we learnt four core personalities a Muslim should have. And these qualities are those that one should have after having love for Allah (swt). They are: 1. To have taqwa (fear of Allah) 2. To have humility (and not walk on earth arrogantly 3. To remember that each of our actions reflect about us as a practising Muslim 4. To always tone down our voice Ending off the session was also a timely timely reminder as we come to the end of 2014 and that was about attaining kanaah (contentment). In Islam, we should always strive to be a better human being and a better Muslim everyday. But we must also learn to avoid envy to save us from being tomaah, and remember that we have a choice - to be syukr (thankful always) or kufr (to deny Allahs blessings).
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:41:44 +0000