Poetry Contest!

POETRY CONTEST

Assalamualaikum everyone! Dont miss your chance to enter this Poetry Contest. Write a poem about any topic you want and then send it to iwaresa@aol.com. The winner's poem will be posted on Muslim and I Know It, islamisourlife4.blogspot.com. 

Deadline: Sept. 10, 2014

The winner will be announced on Sept 15th 2014. Have fun!

 Dont miss this opportunity for your poem to be featured on my blog!

Poisons Of The Heart

Unnecessary and harmful speech, unrestrained glances, and overindulgence in food, and bad company have the strongest negative impact upon the heart's functioning.

Unnecessary and Harmful Speech
"A slave (of Allah) may utter a word which pleases Allah, without giving it much importance, and because of that Allah will raise his or her ranks (of reward); a slave (of Allah) may utter a word (carelessly) which displeases Allah, without thinking of its gravity, and because of that, he or she will be thrown into the hellfire." (recorded by Bukhari)

 Narrated Sahl bin Sa'd: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Paradise for him." 

Guarding the mouth and tongue means protecting it from unlawful speech such as lying, backbiting, slandering, cursing, quarreling and the like. This also includes abstaining from foods and drinks which are unlawful.

Once words are spoken, they can cause extreme harm, which can be difficult to remedy. 

Unrestrained glances

In relation to modesty and protecting the private parts, Allah (swt) mentions the commandment to lower the gaze and avert it from anything that is unlawful.

24:30 Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do.

24:31 And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.

 Gazing at unlawful things may provoke the heart to evil such as attraction and desires, which may then lead a person towards forbidden behavior in order to fulfill those desires.

"Shaitan enters with the glance, for he travels with it, faster than the wind blowing through an empty place. He makes what is seen appear more beautiful than it really is, and transforms it into an idol for the heart to worship. Then he promises it false rewards, lights the fire of desires within it, and fuels it with the wood of forbidden actions, which the servant of Allah would not have committed had it not been for this distorted image."

Falling into these traps distracts the heart and leads one to forget more important matters, such as remembrance and obedience of Allah.
 It can also make the heart become blind due to disobedience, which makes it unable to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Overindulgence of Food

The believer is instructed in both the Qur'an and Sunnah to avoid excess in food and drink. Allah (swt) says, "...Eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess." (Qur'an 7:31).

Excess in eating leads to laziness in fulfilling obilgatory duties such as praying, as well as other recommended acts.

Chocolate, Waresa

Crazily craving
creamy and cool
Crispy,crunchy, chunky
is cool chocolate

Park Fun

Going to the park

right before the dark

with all your friends 

Eating snacks and sweets 

on the green grass,

chatting with your besties

having many laughs

Taking many pics

climbing up the trees

enjoying the view

and nice summer breeze

Hearts

Types of Hearts: 

1) The healthy heart:

This heart is free from any desires that oppose to the command of Allah (swt) and from any doubts that contradict what He reveals. It submits completely and relies on Allah (swt). 

This type of heart is humble, gentle, and lving. It is pure and only has love for and fear of Allah (swt).  It loves the things that Allah loves and hates that which He hates.

Signs of a sound, healthy heart are:

• considering oneself as belonging to the next world and not this word; eager to reach the hereafter
• feeling upset after committing sin, until repentance is complete
• feeling unhappy if he/she is missing daily recitation of the Qur'an or remembering Allah (swt) through praising and supplicating to Him.
• finding pleasure in worshipping Allah (swt) more satisfying than any other pleasure.
• finding that worldly worries and concerns are absent when praying
• being worried, above all else, with acting for the sake of Allah (swt)
• being more concerned with the correctness of a deed than with its performance
• trying to use time wisely instead of wasting time

2) The dead heart

The dead heart is ignorant of its Creator, neither knowing its Lord nor worshipping Him. 

It follows its whims and desires and is immersed in the pleasures of this world.  It will follow its own desires regardless of whether Allah (swt) loves those acts or not.

This is a harsh and dreary heart. When this heart hears the mention of Allah or the Qur'an, this heart reacts with aversion. 

Those who reject guidance have blind and deaf hearts. Their ability of reason  and perception id dead. When a person sins, the heart is marked or stained. Repentance and forgiveness may wash stain away but if a person doesnt repent the stain will deepen and spread more.

signs of dead heart:

• not feeling guilt, hurt, or pain when committing sins
• finds pleasure in committing sins and  acts of disobedience to Allah (swt)
• showing concern about less important matters while neglecting important ones
• disliking truth or having hard time accepting or submitting to it
• feeling discomfort among righteous believers, while feeling happiness and contentment among misguided people, sinners, or even evildoers
• being susceptible to misconceptions and doubts; being attracted to discussions related to misconceptions rather than to reading Qur'an or doing good deeds
• not being affected by admonition

3)The sick heart

This heart is between the first two kinds of hearts. It has some life but yet, is also defective. It contains love for Allah, but at the same time, it has the love of vain desires and the material world. This heart is wavering between safety and destruction. 

If a person engages in prohibited and doubtful matters, the heart will become weaker  and will be open to further attacks and diseases. This may lead it to become a dead heart if efforts are not made to purify it. 

The Soul

Levels of the Soul 

1) Commanding souls: These souls instigate people towards evil. This is the lower level of the soul. It "inclines toward the physical world and seeks bodily desires and pleasures."

The soul is controlled by its whims and desires, such that it is rebellious and commits sins effortlessly.

If people allow these lowly aspects  to take control, they will start to lose the sense of guilt, regret, and remorse for their sinful deeds. 

As they go down the path of sin and evil, they lose the ability to understand the truth.
Evil take over. Their hearts become hardened.
In the Qur'an, Allah (swt) says, "No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts if that which they were earning." (83:14)

People like this have refused to accept the guidance from Allah and take Allah as their supporter. In this case, Allah (swt) gives them another companion: Satan.

Satan will whisper to them and easily encourage them to do evil. Since this soul is already inclined to those kinds of acts, they willingly obey. 


2)Reproachful soul:
This is the soul which is self-reproaching. It recognizes evil deeds and blames itself for wrong-doing. It feels a sense of guilt and remorse. It blames itself for not doing more good deeds. 
After recognizing their evil deeds and natures, they seek repentance from Allah and attempt to correct and fix themselves.

These souls are constantly between doing good and evil.

3) Tranquil souls: 
As sincere and true faith becomes strong in a person's heart, the incline to evil within the soul becomes weak.
The soul becomes completely dominated by inclinations towards piety, good, and righteousness.  it loves and desires to do good and it detests evil deeds.  This is the level of the tranquil soul. 
Goodness dominates, thus, the soul feels tanquility and peace. These souls are obedient to Allah (swt) and are pleased with what He has decreed, relying upon Him alone in all matters. 


 Through the strong connection with the Creator, they calm their desires and passions , and they require little effort to repel evil inclinations. these people are in essence fulfilling the purpose of their creation which is the worship and obedience of Allah.




 This is the level that is possible  to achieve and succeed in this life and it provides the believers with the taste of joy and happiness awaiting them in the hereafter. 

Dreams

Three Types of Dreams

1) Glad tidings from Allah. 

2)What is suggested by Satan to scare the dreamer.

3) Reflection of thoughts and experiences one has during wakefulness.

Abu Hurayrah narrated Muhammad (S) said, "There are three types of dreams: a righteous dream which is glad tidings from Allah, the dream which causes sadness is from Shaitan, and a dream from the ramblings of the mind. (Sahih Muslim)

When you see should a good dream, you should share it with the people you love.

When you see a bad dream, you should spit on your left sde 3 times and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Stan and from the evil of the dream.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: glad tidings from Allaah, what is on a person’s mind, and frightening dreams from the Shaytaan. If any of you sees a dream that he likes, let him tell others of it if he wishes, but if he sees something that he dislikes, he should not tell anyone about it, and he should get up and pray.

Dessert Island, by Waresa

Climbing sticky Maple Syrup trees
Shopping at Sundae mall
Swimming in the Frosted ocean
fruity forest filled with cherry trees so tall.

Eat delectable danishes
Visit Reese's River
Roll down Brownies Hill
Have fruit custard for dinner

Climb Caramel Canyon
Learn at Cookie Academy
Go to Lollipop Park
So many delicious places to see!

COPYRIGHT MUSLIM AND I KNOW IT