Allah Is Number One

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Life is about taking advantage of opportunities to win the love of Allah. We never stop doing things to please Allah and we do things with Allah in mind.

Even if you are traveling, in a gym or a supermarket, this doesn't change. Before we do anything, we ask ourselves, "what does Allah want me to do now."

Allah is always number one and no one else. When Allah is number one, talking with people about Allah comes naturally. You won't feel shy, embarrassed, afraid or intimidated. Remember, you represent the King of Kings. Never miss the opportunity to show Islam to people around you and to talk about Allah with people you meet, Muslims (practicing or not) or non-Muslims. Check your intention to make sure you are doing this for the love of Allah and for His sake alone, not to impress people or to show off.

I was at the London airport the other day and it was quite empty and quiet. Coming from Egypt, this was a huge change. But it was pretty nice actually because I could take off my scarf to make wudu' and it was easy to find a spot to pray. As I was walking around, I found a multi faith room so I figured I could pray in there and went in. I was quite impressed with the facility. It was nice and clean and even had a rock for tayammum. May Allah reward the people who put this together.

I looked for a qibla sign but could not find one in the room. So I went back out to try to find north. There was no sun and there was nothing for me to use to estimate the qibla direction (I forgot to bring a compass!). Never leave home without a compass. Always keep one in your purse or briefcase. I saw a flight attendant at one corner of the terminal who was about to leave. I walked up towards her, had to jump over a few ropes to a secured area, and asked her for a north direction. She smiled as if she understood what I need it for. She did some checking and told me where north is.

When I went back into the room to pray, there it was, a qibla sign on the carpeted floor, which I had missed before (because I looked up for it, not down). It confirmed the direction of the qibla based on the information that the flight attendant gave me. SubhanAllah.

It is a rule in Hanafi mazhab that we have to take reasonable steps to figure out the direction of the qibla for prayer. Once we have done that, even if it is later discovered that we had faced the wrong direction, the prayer is valid. But if we did not do that, then the prayer is invalid.

اللْهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fu 'annee

O Allah! You are forgiving, and you love forgiveness. So forgive me.

We ask Allah to guide us and forgive all our shortcomings. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam