Ramadan Day # 3

Assalaamu alaikum,

Hello everyone! I pray that everyone is having an amazing Ramadan thus far!

My apologies for not posting about day #3. Here it is!

Day # 3 was on Friday and I went to Jummah salat. Alhumdulilah it was beneficial to be praying side by side fellow Muslims especially since I was experiencing some frustration the day before. Unfortunately I missed a bit on the Khutbah, AstughfirAllah, but from what I did get the chance to listen to was very beautiful. The khatib spoke about our intentions and how they can drive our success. He referred to the Islamic Golden Age when Muslims were the best architects, engineers, medicinal practitioners, philosophers, etc while the Western world was experiencing the Dark Ages. The khatib ascribed their success due to their intentions to excel at such skills for the sake of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) when they saw that their communities were in need of such expertise. It made me think, that if I were to go to school for Allah's sake, if I were to help those in my community for Allah's sake I would have the extra drive and push to be the best that I could possibly be. The want to excel wouldn't be for my own personal status or gain in this dunya, but to be worthy of Allah's pleasure and insha'Allah a space in Jannah where I can meet my Lord.

To further establish the khatib's point he had referred to the youth amongst the Sahabas and made the remarkable argument that if these earlier followers of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were told that they were too young where would our knowledge of Islam be? These are the individuals who were strong and held so much perserverance despite the great oppression that they faced. The khatib told a beautiful story about how he was talking to a class. He explained how he had to come up with a khutbah for the next Jummah salaat. At the end of his class a young girl approached him and handed him 3 pages of paper. He started reading what he was given, and realized it was a khutbah that was properly referenced with hadith and Al-Quran. He had asked the young sister, who wrote this? She replied, "I did." He told us that he had used her khutbah that Friday and there were many members of the congregation that were teary-eyed. SubhanAllah! The young girl was only 13 years-old. This story made me realize that there is nothing that can stop me from doing anything. Just as long as we keep our intentions pure insha'Allah we will have no barriers to do amazing things.

May Allah give us the strength to deflect the negative thoughts that prevent us from doing what we would like to do. And may we only do anything in the name and sake of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). Ameen.

- Aisha

Terminology Used in this Post
For any non-Muslims who are reading this blog I thought it would help to explain some of the arabic words I'm using.

Assalaamu alaikum: May peace be upon you
Jummah salaat: the Friday prayer where Muslims gather together and pray. There is a sermon or Khutbah that is held before.
Alhumdulilah: All praise and thanks is due to Allah/God
Muslim: one who submits their will to God
Khutbah: sermon
AstaghfirAllah: Allah/God forgive me. Said when we make a mistake intentional/or unintentional
The khatib: one who gives the Khutbah/sermon
Subhana wa ta'ala: is said after saying "Allah" it means may He be gloried and exalted
Dunya: world, this world would refer to life before the Hereafter
Insha'Allah: God Willing
Jannah: Heaven
Sahabah: the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): the Last and Final Messenger/Prophet that God has sent to humanity.
Islam: literally means submission to God. The religion and way of life that Muslims adhere to
Hadith: is a compilation of sayings and actions of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
Al-Quran: Literally means the recitation. It is the Holy Book of Islam that was revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The first revelation was given to him in the month of Ramadan.
SubhanAllah: Glory to God