بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah , Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Alhamdulillah, my children and I had an an exhilarating weekend at the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference in Long Beach, California, mashaAllah. For those who couldn't make it this time, inshaAllah you will be able to take your family to this convention next year. You learn a lot from this type of Islamic conference, if nothing else, you are in the company of many good and knowledgeable people, which is in itself a great boost to your Iman--which money can't buy!
Many of the things I heard were nothing new, and I am sure some of you who attended, feel the same, but we need to hear them over and over again. Our lives are full of repeats--albeit good or bad--but we don't mind repeating them. We have more than one child (that's a repeat), we choose the "wrong" spouse or friends more than once, we drive to work and back following the same route, we go to the same place for vacation. But when it comes to the deen and learning the deen, we don't like to repeat. When was the last time you learn how to pray or learn about prayers? For many people they never actually learn the prayers but simply follow the acts of others.
Qur'an is full of repetition. We are commanded to pray five times a day (but we can pray more if we desire nearness to Allah.) Why? Because we tend to forget a lot. Repetition is good for us so we are reminded of Allah when we forget.
One of the speakers at the conference talked about our responsibility in this life. Our foremost and important responsibility is to recognize Allah. Our relationship with Allah is not a few moments of worship but a deep relationship. We should strive to have this relationship with Allah, our Lord. The only way to have this deep relationship is through knowledge of Him. How can you know Him without learning and knowing His names and attributes? When you know Allah, you will love Him and all other love is subject to His love. You will want to do everything to please Him. Remember the sweetness of love that you experience with your spouse at one time? You have so much energy, nothing tires you for the sake of your love, everything is sweet. But when the honeymoon is over, the sweetness started to fade away and it becomes a normal thing, you take each other for granted, and for some it turns bitter. Not with Allah, if you fill your heart with the love of Allah, the sweetness stays and in fact it gets sweeter and sweeter, and He gives more and more. Your soul is always tranquil no matter what you experience outwardly.
May Allah brings us closer to Him and grant us that peace and tranquility in our hearts. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
