A little Housekeeping

"In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate"

I finally did it- I changed the layout of my blog!!!

It was a bit of a heartache at first when I changed it... but now I feel that it's more... me.

I love a good cup of coffee anytime and it also represents me sitting down, pondering and musing over stuffs. Coffee as a stimulant for my musings. Heh. 

I also added a few more blogs to my following. I'm really happy to be able to have access to all the other muslimahs out there; tap on their wisdom and experiences. Alhamdulillah.

The house is finally in a clean condition- windows cleaned, toilets scrubbed, floors vacuumed and mopped, mirrors and ornaments wiped, bedsheets changed and curtains hung. Truth is, it is tiring to do all these by myself but I do it because of Allah and I do not whine when my mother asks me to do it. I only get angry when my brothers and my dad are sleeping away or watching tv and not helping out. But then again, more pahala for me!

It's 6.15pm and my mother has finally finished cooking. Alhamdulillah. She has to cook for my grandma too since everyone will be congregating there tomorrow. She's been up for 48 hours straight but I know she's doing this for her family and for Allah. May Allah reward her for her efforts.

I am hoping perhaps I could go for Eid prayers tomorrow morning. My dad wants to leave home after subuh prayers. I would love to go but I am not sure if the mosque they are going to will have space for females to pray (sometimes the men use the female area too) and also, my mom might need my help tomorrow to iron the clothes and prepare lunch for everyone. But I will ask her later.

I am quite upset that I missed the last 7 days of Ramadan because of my monthly crimson visit. I felt so lost, being unable to perform my solat, my terawih and even the qiamulail prayers at night. So maybe that's why I turn to doing housework and helping my mother out as much as I can to make up for it.

As Ramadan finally comes to an end, I feel very sad knowing that the spirits of our dead have to return to their graves to continue with their torture. When the takbir is sound on the last day of Ramadan, it brings tears to my eyes- for those who have passed on and for myself.

These past two Ramadan I have asked myself what have I done this year that was different and better from the last?

Alhamdulillah, I think this year I have become a better person; always in remembrance of Allah and slowly relearning as much as I can about my religion. Insyaallah, next year will be better.

May we begin this Syawal with much forgiveness for our past sins to each other.

Amin.

Expectations of Rewards from Allah

"In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate"

Today, it seems, Daily Reminders shared a wonderful link with us all; one which I'd like to put up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiRD0ONUjK0

The speaker in the video talks about achieving Ihsan 24/7.

So, what is this 'Ihsan?'

In Arabic, Ihsan means "perfection" or "excellence" and is applied most in matters of one's inner faith, iman, by showing it in both deed and actions. It is the Muslim's responsibility to obtain ihsan in worship, such that Muslims try to worship Allah as if they see Him. But, we know we cannot see Him, but we believe that He is always watching over us.

As said by our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, "[Ihsan is] to worship God as though you see him, and if you cannot see Him, then indeed He sees you." (Al-Bukhari and Al-Muslim)

So back to the speaker- is it possible for someone to achieve that level of Ihsan 24hours a day, 7 days a week? Masyaallah...

His answer is yes and this marks the difference between a Mukmin and a Mukhsin. The difference is in the level of expectations that the Mukhsin has with regards to the rewards from Allah. The speaker then goes to explain it in this way:

The average Muslim who prays 5times a day, has his niat to do worship to Allah in total of less than an hour. But compare that to someone who does everything with Allah in his intentions- he goes to school because of Allah, he goes to sleep because of Allah and he even goes to gym because of Allah... and he believes that he will be rewarded by Allah. Insyaallah.

But the speaker warns us that even when we're doing something good, but we have no intentions to do it for the sake of Allah, then it does not count. Although I agree, I also do think that this is up to Allah to decide.

I felt a bit humbled and humiliated after listening to the speaker in his video. Because this morning when I went to my blog, my intentions were to lay out why I was so angry at my Hubtobe for not finishing the food that I cooked.

As a wife, when she cooks for her husband, she does it to please Allah first, then please her husband.... not the other way round. And therefore, she should not take her husband's criticism of her cooking as a means to degrade her but as a means to improve her.

Allah knows how I'm feeling and only Allah understands, even if I didn't say it out loud.

Wallahualam Bissawab