Don't cry

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Why do you cry so much and feel so sad when you lose something--whether it is a loved one or a thing remembered? Would you cry and feel so sad when your friend took back his car which he let you use or her little baby after you held him?

Allah owns everything we have. He is the Owner of everything. So He can take anything back whenever He wants, no question asked. It is His prerogative. If He wants something to happen, it happens. If He doesn't want something to happen it does not happen.

So we should try to remember this and not let losses grieve us for too long--it is okay to grieve for a little bit relatively speaking. It is okay to cry because that is mercy, but try not to get yourself all round up until you lose all perspectives. It is also not good for your health.

A pious man once said to me a very wise thing, in an effort to console me when my mother died back home and I wasn't there (I already schedule to fly back to Malaysia that day to be with her but she passed on that same day). I cried so hard when I received the news and I could not stop crying. He said, "did your mother cry when you came here (America) to study." I said, "yes." "And you did see her again after you came here?" I said, "yes." And he said, "Just pretend that you are her and she is you right now." It immediately stopped my tears because I understood what he meant that this world is temporary and it won't be too long that I will see her again, inshaAllah. For the ones who love each other for the sake of Allah, they will be together again in the Hereafter, the eternal abode.

It is very important to have good righteous people around you to lift you up when you are down. They are your armor when the Shaytan tries to take you further down. Calamities can strike at any moment--least when you expect it. One moment we are laughing of joy, another moment we are crying of sadness. One moment you have someone, another moment you lose that someone. One moment you have your job, another moment you lose that job. You get the picture. They are like earthquake jolts--sometimes they are just tremors, sometimes just small jolts, that we don't even notice especially if it comes while we are sleeping or preoccupied with something. When the earthquake of 7.0 magnitude hit, we certainly can feel it (for those around the epicenter). If you are not prepared for it and your foundation is shaky, even an earthquake measuring 3.0 on the richter scale can shake you and bury you in your own rubbles.

So before the big jolt comes, equip yourself so you can better handle the devastation. Brace yourself with much remembrance of Allah and hasten to worship Him much sincerely and excellently. If you are a practicing Muslim, hasten to do more. Don't settle with where you are--there is always a better prayer, a better charity, a better fasting, a better character and so on. We keep learning and improve ourselves until we go to our graves, hoping that Allah give us enough time to work on reaching that highest level of Iman before we breathe our last. We only have one chance to be His best slave--in this life only--now. After this, it is accounting time!

May Allah forgive all of us, make our scales heavy on the good and enter us all in the highest Paradise by His Mercy. Ameen.

Wassalaam