Simple but no fool

A believer went to his Imam and said: "I know that I am simple person, Sheikh, but I don't know what to do about it. Please advise me what to do."

"Ah, akhi!" exclaimed the sheikh, in a complimentary way. "If you know your simple, then your certainly no fool!"

"Then why does everybody say I am a fool?" complained the simple believer.

The sheikh considered these words thoughtfully for a moment.

"If you yourself don't think yourself a fool," he chided him, "but only listen to what people say, then you surely are a fool!"

This camel-fucker is settled in

So here I am outside of my religion.
I rip myself open, so to speak, and out I climb.
I have danced with the stars, withdrawing intriguingly.
I have moved slowly in forbidden places.
Hey you down there! Hypocritical lump of clay!
Where do you think your going! No where good, that's for sure.
It looks very cold and unresponsive, the religion,
And sort of robotic where I used to be.
Come to think out it, it's not warm out here either
And not a soul around. This is ridiculous.
I think just venture back down and see how my soul's getting on.
And I'm climbing back into my religion and stitching myself up.
This camel-fucker is settled in.

Take time

Take time and reflect on still waters left by the tide and all the life it holds. On a single seed and all the beauty within it. On all the forests of the world, all its oceans, and all the life in creation.

Then reflect that all this Al-Muqeet has entrusted in our hands. And each believer must say to him or herself: "All this The Sustainer has placed in my hands alone."

Terraces

The terraces of Jebel Samhan!
Capture the image in
Your mind: Jebel Samhan.
This infinity of beauty,
Sky and mountain and all creation
Stretching away to the
Earth's edge.
These are the terraces of Jebel Samhan.

'Free'market inflation

Two Iraqi's went to live in London. After some time they met on the street.

"How are you making out in England?" one asked with a sigh.

"One step removed from my janazah," answered the other bitterly. "How about you?"

"Alhamdulillah! Why should I complain? I'm making a living. What more can a Muslim ask for these days? But I have been sick lately. Why, do you know that in the last three months I've spent £2200 on doctors and medicine!"

"Masha'Allah!" exclaimed the other with a homesick sigh. "Back in Baghdad you could have been sick on that money for three years."

I'd be really grateful

If you could manage to tolerate me,
I'd like very much to stay
and I can make myself useful around here.
I can clean, and cook,
and mend things, pretty much anything,
and it would be a pleasure, masha'Allah, really,
I'd enjoy it.
It is true that my daily routine is different.
I pray a lot, but I'm really clean,
I don't leave filth about and
I always clean the bathroom, so
if you could just overlook the, you know,
camel-fucker thing,
I'd be really grateful.

Whose sake?

Be careful --

Some follow a deen of ignorance for the sake of themselves.

Thrush at flight

Part of the wind:
Yemen Thrush
Dance in the vault of heaven
Weightlessly streaming
Through
The open skyways of
His
Sun-filled firmament.

Miserable luck

A poor believing merchant from Toronto's market area died. His widow collected five hundred thousand dollars from insurance.

"Subhan'Allah!" she complained. "For over thirty-five years we lived in poverty and now that Allah (swt) have made us rich, Ahmed had to go and die!"

Carpe diem

On that day
Words will spread,
Ideas will flow,
Burst, swell,
Jump forth like
A surging insurgent.

No holding back then,
No weak-kneed forgiveness,
Jihad is straight,
Right and keen.
A time to look lively.

Camel-fuckers are
many in number.
When we rise,
God knows what may happen.

The Light of Islam

A weak light burns so dimly a person cannot see by it. A strong light illuminates so brightly that it hurts the eyes. An intense light will burn and destroy.

But an An-Noor can go anywhere, for nothing can say to Him, "I cannot bear you! You are too weak or too powerful for me!" Wherever there is Islam, there it shines.

Shukran for the Help

"Besides Allah? Can they help you or help themselves? (26:93)

The Hassan family decided to go on a road trip. They stopped for a picnic luncheon in a provincial park. They were all tired of sitting in the van, so they ate their lunch as they walked and looked at the beautiful natural surroundings.

Mrs. Hassan took her baby to the sandbox. Mr. Hassan looked for wild berries. Ayoub and Miriam took some bread to feed the waterfowl who were swimming in the river.

Suddenly Miriam screamed!

Both parents looked toward the river and saw Ayoub struggling in the water. As they both ran over they saw him go under the water and then struggle to reach up again. Miriam reached out, took hold of this hand, and pulled his onto the riverbank.

Ayoub was dripping wet, but safe.

"What happened?" his father asked.

"We were just feeding the birds." said Miriam. "Ayoub just fell in the water."

"I didn't think it would be so deep by the riverbank." said Ayoub. He was shaking, not only because he was wet and cold, but also because he realized what could have happened to him.

The rest of the family rushed Ayoub back to the van. Soon he was dry, and everyone knew he would be fine.

"I want to thank Allah (swt) that I am still alive," said Ayoub.

He fell to his knees and pressed his forehead into the ground offering a Sajdat al-Shukr.

"Ya Allah." said Ayoub, "thank you for the gift of my life and saving me when I fell into the water."

"Allah didn't save you," said Miriam. "I did."

"Ya Allah," said Ayoub. "Thank you for sending Miriam to save me when I fell into the water."

"Ameen!" said the Hassan family.


Questions

1) Does Allah (swt) answer your prayers by sending people to help you?
2) Does Allah (swt) answer other people's prayers by sending you to help them?
3) If someone helps you, whom should you thank Allah (swt), or the person who helped you?


Dua'a

Ya Allah, let me love You as You deserved to be loved, and let me fear You as You deserve to be feared, and let me leave this world serving Your creation for Your sake.

It with a capital i

simple & one

the presence of an-Noor gathers within
the souls that revert to Itself

uniting to that which is Unity

perfecting them with Its own perfection

Allah leads them to cry out to the summit
of Al-Khaaliq to contemplate Its essence

aspire

be purified through ascetic labour &
see It work within you -- as the believer

The camel-fucker is uncomfortable

The camel-fucker sits in a hallway
his long shirt flows over his thighs onto the floor
isn't there a place for people like me

The camel-fucker goes to a social
people think that they can reach out and touch me
I bet you don't know how dirty you make me feel

The camel-fucker is becoming comfortable in his surroundings
you seemed to look through me before
maybe I'll get so comfortable, I can just disappear

The camel-fucker sits in the arena
anthems play, people stand, he remains seated
the camel-fucker feels uncomfortable

Center of the Universe

Many believers see themselves as the 'center of the universe'. It is because Al-Khaaliq has placed into each and every person a sacred nafs by which the believer may come to know the Creator.

Each living being holds inside the 'center of creation'.

Tears?

At the janazah salah of the wealthiest believer town a great many muslims turned out to pay their last respects to the dead. Among the many was a very poor man who cried uncontrollable as he took part in the procession.

"Are you a close relation of the deceased," someone asked him compassionately.

"I'm no relation at all!" he replied.

"Then why do you weep?"

"That's exactly why."

A Lasting Question

How
many
pockets
will your
burial
shroud
have?

The camel-fucker's reflection

The camel-fucker's reflection is one of faith,
his beard fully covers a plain, boyish face,
his eyes glitter and exude a peaceful calm
which runs wistfully into his laugh-lines,
tears come out in short bursts
and he is incapable of speech.
The camel-fucker is, in fact, a human being.

survival tools

A quality of awareness, consciousness & innocence may be necessary to the believer's survival.

Action

Have?

-- hold!

Know?

-- be silent!

Can?

-- do!

And Allah knows best.

Questions with bad answers

As the Imam sat deep in thought, a young boy came up to him and said:

"Sheikh, I don't know what do do. I'm guilty of a great sin. I failed to say 'bismillah' before one of my meals last month."

"Tsk, tsk!" Shaking his head the Imam said, "How can a believer eat without first saying the blessing."

"How could I say bismillah, Sheikh, when I hadn't even washed my hands?"

"Masha'Allah!" cried the Imam. "How can a believer swallow a mouthful with out first washing his hands?"

"But you see, Sheikh, the food was not halal."

"Not Halal! How can a Muslim eat food that is not halal?"

"But Sheikh, how in the world could it be halal; it was in the house of a Kuffar."

"What! You miserable boy! How could you eat in the house of a Kuffar?"

"But Sheikh, no believer was willing to feed me!"

"That's a wicked lie!" cried the Imam. "Who has ever heard of a believer refusing food to anybody who was hungry?"

"But Sheikh," argued the young boy, "it was Ramadan!"

Faith

I have my faith.

Other people have mortgages
or credit cards
or poker night with the boys
but I
have my faith.

The Real World

In this dunya humanity proclaims, "When you go to work, leave your Islam at home. Don't bother us with your religion, your morality, your quest of truth... That's all nice, but this is work. This is the real world."

Remember-- There is only one world, and it belongs to Allah (swt).

Near Perfect Life

Why the want of death?
The clean sheet.

One false line, a mistake, a
scratch, an error. Unerasable.

Obscure error by adding 1000's
more? Blend it! Cover it!

But the original error remains,
written on your scroll, shining.

Rather, return to Ar-Raheem.
Desire to live the near perfect life.

The camel-fucker confronts a breakdown

The camel-fucker decided to pray
because that is what camel-fuckers are supposed to do.
The media said: camel-fuckers are intolerant,
so that is one feeling which is not an issue;
the camel-fucker stopped feeling.
Camel-fuckers, said the media, should
integrate and believe in freedom;
the camel-fucker drank a cup of warm tea
to settle his despondant heart and prayed for freedom.
Camel-fuckers should not, said the media sternly,
worry about the war on terror or collateral damage;
the camel-fucker was not a drinker or a smoker,
so he considered making more time for prayer.
The camel-fucker felt tired all of the time
but the media said phlegmatically, that was sociological.
He brokedown one day; the media
was beside itself with joy, good,
it reported, an alleged terrorist brokedown today.

the external question

Some believers ask themselves:

"Why must I study and learn Islam? Is it's truth not already within me?"

The truth of Islam is locked within you, deep in sleep. It is awakened and freed by the truth that comes from the external question.