Tonight, two of the three musketeers did terawih together. We were suddenly swept by the startling realization that it is crunch time (nearly). Our oral and mental test will be this Saturday on Chapter 36 of the Holy Qur'an. We realised that we still have a long way to go... and it is a mere 2 days away. Gosh!
I was originally slotted to lead the night vigil at a local mosque this Saturday, but I figured this is "Top Priority". I will try to get another Imam to replace me, insya-Allah.
Being the more 'brutal' of the three, I further suggested that perhaps, if our aim was not accomplished by the end of this Ramadhan, then a penalty is definitely in order. What that will be, shall be decided tomorrow after Friday prayers. I have in mind feeding the orphans or making a 'huge' donation to charity - either way, we benefit despite memorising surah Ya-sin or not. Alhamdulillah! Now... how to convince the other two musketeers tomorrow....
When we did our preliminaries tonight, we also spoke about how much easier it was to memorise those verses if we knew the meaning to them, and Alhamdulillah, all three of us are Arabic-friendly speaking musketeers.
But importantly, we also spoke about some verses of that chapter which sent shivers down our spine when reminded of the Day of Judgment and if things do turn out adversely for us - for there is nothing that we can hide from the Creator. In this chapter, Allah said: "Verily We shall give life to the dead, and We record that which they send before and that which they leave behind, and of all things have We taken account in a clear Book (of evidence)" ... Ya-Sin 36:12.
Surely we look forward to be placed in this category and "It was said: "Enter thou the Garden." He said: "Ah me! Would that my People knew (what I know)!- For that my Lord has granted me Forgiveness and has enrolled me among those held in honour!" ... Ya-Sin 36:26-27. Amin.
This exemplifies clearly the concept of "hope" and "fear" that Muslims live by. Hope - that Allah will accept our deeds and ignore our shortcomings, yet Fear - that maybe, perhaps what we did was not good enough. This balances things out - so we don't walk about the Earth with our heads held too high or too low. As His Creations, we perform what we have been tasked to do - and that is our responsibility which we have to account for on the Day of Judgment. What Allah does with our deeds is His prerogative - and we will never know how we will be dealt with in the end. Hence, we hope and yet we fear at the same time... That keeps us alive! Subhan-Allah!
Therefore, coming back to our memorisation exercise, despite daunted by the impossible, the three musketeers will put our Faith in Him and hope that our efforts will be blessed, insya-Allah. That is the only surety for success - for The Almighty also said in the same chapter: "Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, "Be", and it is! So glory to Him in Whose hands is the dominion of all things: and to Him will ye be all brought back" ... Ya-Sin 36:82-83
2 comments:
just last night i was explaining about our record book with Allah. I told her when we die, Allah has the book to look at what we did and did not do. Similar to the record book that she gets at school for her to understand that she needs to work for both this world and hereafter. For skipping fasting, i told her the doctor's MC is not valid when she faces Allah :)She has her own book that records the number of STARS that she gets when she fasts. She is 9.
Subhan-Allah!
What a beautiful and practical way of explaining to youths of this generation.
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