No alternative explanation exists except that they were staying close only because of the interests they can fulfill through us, or the benefits they can derive from us during that time.

Hence, the new standard is:

No standard…

Experience results from different and sometimes contradicting scenarios: pleasant and harsh, smooth and tough, beautiful and ugly, bitter and sweet, etc.

Pride results in one scenario: an on-going and deeply-rooted sense of dignity and satisfaction that cannot be earned by all the money in this world.

Dedicated to somebody who made me truly proud.

P.S. Based merely on my personal views.

Should somebody’s entire existence be sacrificed in order to believe in certain facts and realize that we may have been surrounded by fake, hypocrite and corrupted persons?

What does a person’s vast practical experience, domain-centric knowledge, and quality mentality serve if they are fooled effortlessly by persons with shallow intellects, and lower capabilities, and have been subject of manipulation by such persons repeatedly without learning any lessons?

I am just wondering, in my quest throughout an experiment that failed to produce the expected results:

During our daily lives, and in critical situations where our entire characters, ethics, minds, and beliefs are challenged and questioned; where do we place ourselves on a continuum ranging from being pre-emptively Proactive, to Active, descending to being merely Reactive, and ending by being totally Passive?!

Wondering, and wondering, until some answers are found…

Like a diamond? Though diamonds are strong; they need a light to glow at most times.

Like a pearl? Not merely, pearls did not come from very pure origins.

Like a ruby? As blood flows in and back, it is another day his heart glows in the darkness surrounding her.

It is actually much more than these.

He takes her hand and leads her to a new portal… He walks the road, and she follows the marks of his footsteps.

As she breathes, she finds him next to her to ensure she breathes pure air, away from the polluted environment, and corrupted society.

He stands up confidently and faces the world for her and with her, no matter what it takes.

He never puts her in a situation where her integrity, manners, or beliefs would be questioned from people whose sole objective is to separate them.

She respects him because she knows that he understands very well that:

Every exposure kept sculpturing her, until she became the tough lady she is. She knows deep inside he confides in her, and trusts the steps she takes, even if not taken on his typical footsteps.

He realizes very well that:

Despite the tough lady she is on the outset she is ultimately a simple female who has basic needs: to lean on his manhood attributes, be protected and taken care of, take a break from thinking and being tough every now and then, etc.

He would give her sufficient space to act immature, without judging her; where he watches her play with the toys she loves, and still guards her. He knows that she sometimes gets tired of hiding the scared little girl behind the thick mask, and she just wants to be exposed freely in front of him without any judgment or criticism.

Strong as a diamond, unique as a rare pearl, and circulated with blood continuously and actively like a ruby, that’s why his heart glows in the dark.

Is it love?!

It is definitely much more than that…

Couple of years ago, they threw a surprise party on his Golden Jubilee birthday… It was amazing when he entered the place, and it was lovely with his kids and wife surrounding him and hugging him.

Couple of days ago, we were once again gathered for his sake, but to accept condolences!

Subhan Allah, how short life is, and how much time we waste waiting for the good moments to come when we should create these moments and celebrate the blessing of having a good family and good people in our lives!

In the condolences house, there was Aunti Umm … who spent the time speaking about her ex-daughter in law (her son divorced her)…

Four years ago, she spoke and complained about that same daughter in law, who was also divorced back then.

Four years ago it was the condolences house for my youngest cousin (who was another brother to me), and couple of days ago, it was the condolences house for my oldest cousin (oldest brother to the same cousin)…

That woman proved to me that some people move on and some others get stuck in the same spots in their lives!

Speech is a gift, so use it wisely.

Family is a blessing, so appreciate it and thank Allah for it.

Time ticks fast, so don’t wait for it to change things in your life.

May Allah rest your souls in peace, my dearest cousins.

Well, IT’S NOT, and this is based on a very simple and humble experience I went through.

We don’t need be serious all the time, yet; not everything should be treated with a sense of carelessness, sarcasm, and humor, because it might not be a funny situation!

A friend of mine posted that she’s lost, and not feeling well on Facebook and what was the reaction?

Somebody loved her status! And another one found it funny! Worse even, many people liked the status!

Is it what they really think or they just want to comment because they’re seeking attention?

Both excuses are terrible!

Simply, the status makes it obvious that she’s going through some hard times.

This is not the first time I see something like this on Facebook or a social network. I noticed that usually people go there to compensate for their inability to socialize with people through virtual communities or because they have nothing better to do with their time (I’m counting myself in here). This is no excuse to abuse a social network that was designed for a specific purpose.

People, stop abusing social networks and be objective! If you don’t have something good and helpful to say regarding certain situations then no need to say anything at all. Remember some people might be expressing themselves in a post, so basically it’s not about you.

Back in the days, a friend of mine shared the following display message ‘I want to commit suicide’. Chances are: this person is seeking somebody’s attention, yet; when I consulted an experienced person with some related background, they said ‘you should check what’s wrong because there is a probability that there is a serious attempt to commit suicide’!

“اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الأَمْوَالِ وَالأَوْلادِ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا وَفِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلاَّ مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ 20″ سورة الحديد

أتأثر كثيراً عند سماع سورة الأعراف، وفيما يلي بعض الآيات التي كلما سمعتها زلزلت كياني وخصوصاً الآية “ولقد ذرأنا لجهنّم كثيراً من الجن والإنس …”.

قال تعالى:

“سَاء مَثَلاً الْقَوْمُ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَأَنفُسَهُمْ كَانُواْ يَظْلِمُونَ 177 مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِي وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ 178 وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لاَّ يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لاَّ يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لاَّ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا أُوْلَئِكَ كَالأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ 179 وَلِلَّهِ الأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا وَذَرُواْ الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ 180 وَمِمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ بِالْحَقِّ وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ 181 وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ 182 وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ 183 أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُواْ مَا بِصَاحِبِهِم مِّن جِنَّةٍ إِنْ هُوَ إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ 184 أَوَلَمْ يَنظُرُواْ فِي مَلَكُوتِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِن شَيْءٍ وَأَنْ عَسَى أَن يَكُونَ قَدِ اقْتَرَبَ أَجَلُهُمْ فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ 185 مَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلاَ هَادِيَ لَهُ وَيَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ 186″ سورة الأعراف

ياربّ اجعلنا ممن يؤمنون بأسمائك الحسنى ويدعونك بها.

وحين يشتد الابتلاء أتذكر قوله تعالى:

“أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ 2 وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ 3″ سورة العنكبوت

الحمد لله الذي هدانا لهذا وما كنا لنهتدي لولا أن هدانا الله.

وختاماً:

اللهم أرنا الحق حقاً وارزقنا اتباعه، وأرنا الباطل باطلاً وارزقنا اجتنابه، برحمتك يا أرحم الراحمين

]]> http://backtojerusalem.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/%d9%87%d8%af%d9%89-%d9%88%d9%81%d8%aa%d9%86%d8%a9-%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%aa%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%86-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%86%d8%b3-2/feed/ 0 Jerusalem http://backtojerusalem.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/loops-cycles/ http://backtojerusalem.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/loops-cycles/#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:18:14 +0000 Jerusalem http://backtojerusalem.wordpress.com/?p=349 ]]> Salam alaikom Muslims,

What we go through in our daily lives might look ugly and tough, when we are inside the situation looking at it with our own eyes only. It gets worse with time, when our perception intensifies it to make it just more and more significant, while it might have been a tiny negligible detail not worthy of our attention.

We may find ourselves spinning in never-ending frustrating loops, and dragged lower and lower in negative cycles.

Personally; I have been trapped lately in a similar situation, where certain situations used to try controlling the flow of my life, which is completely unacceptable to a mindset like mine. In fact, this had been one of the lowest points (I did not notice back then), where I invested too much time and energy just to flow against the current, to keep standing still on my solid grounds. I have also forever hated hypocrisy, and disrespected fake socialization and compliments that are targeted towards attaining personal gains regardless the harm caused to others and it always showed on my face and reactions. Maybe this fight might not have paid well at certain points where I was subject to criticism, and attack, and I had to justify and explain to people who treat life in a pure extreme fashion, yet; being a non-vulnerable person helped me temporarily. I am also not very sensitive regarding exposures, and it is obvious that through my blogs, I do not mind exposing some personal experiences relentlessly on my blogs for others to benefit from. It requires being courageous especially when most people won’t take the risk to do so and make us feel like strangers.

Permanetly, what really helped me more than being courageous when I used to break out is asking Allah secretly for his help by praying “صلاة حاجة” aka the prayer of Need or Salat Al-Haja; a prayer which a Muslim prays when they are in need of Allah’s help. I remember leaning on the wall crying, after finishing the prayer, where my head felt very heavy, but the wall was still, and did not move, which made the situation less dramatic for me

Those lonely silent prayers paid back greater day by day, hamdulillah. And I learn that:

If we find ourselves spinning in never-ending loops >> we should step out of them or they will waste more and more of our time and energy

If we are being dragged lower and lower in negative cycles >> we should break them or our views will become pessimistic and based on those negative experiences

Remember:

We always need to take lead of our lives and not leave them to other people’s discretion or to the production of coincidence.

Waiting is a tactic, and never a strategy. Yet; trying to race badly with time to stay abreast of events might exhaust our brains only to find ourselves with an unexpected lag on the timeline. We should try to remain mature and determinant enough to balance at the end of the day.

And most importantly:

No continuous negative cycle is broken unless we break it

No consistent frustrating loop is overcome until we step out of it

It may take changing the place, engaging with new people, or adopting a new lifestyle, so think and plan wisely.

In all cases, we should not hand the steering to other situations or persons, which includes holding the responsibility of our actions and commitments, simply because:

We are here today because of decisions made yesterday…

The decisions we make today are the commitments of tomorrow…

May Allah bless what is remaining from the holy month of Ramadan for all Muslims, and grant them the power to invest their time wisely, to become more productive, effective, positive, and optimistic for the benefit of this life and the hereafter.

هم يعلمون ويخفون ظنّاً بأن من حولهم ليس لديهم أدنى فكرة!

أهي ثقةٌ عمياء في ذكائهم، أم سوء تقديرٍ لذكاء من حولهم؟

في كل الأحوال، نعلم يقيناً في قرارة أنفسنا أنه شعورُ مرير، وما يزيد ويعمّق من مرارته هو تكرره على مدى السنين؛ لنجد أنفسنا في نهاية المطاف مع خيبات أملٍ أعتى وأقسى من سابقاتها.

البعض لديه حاسّة سادسة فيرى الأحداث قبل حدوثها في مخيلته على شكل رؤىً ، والبعض يتوقع الأحداث بسبب حضور البديهة والفراسة والقدرة على قراءة ما بين السطور وربط الأحداث ببعضها.

قد نتوقع الحدث ونشعر بتفاصيله حتى أدقها في رؤى مصورةٍ ومفصّلةٍ في مخيلتنا في بعض الأحيان؛ لكن أن نواجه وقوع الحدث بالتفاصيل التي رأيناها فهذا أمرٌ آخر لايجنّبنا خيبة الأمل إطلاقاً.

مع كل خبرةٍ يحدونا الأمل بالمرور بأحداثٍ وأناسٍ أفضل مما ترسمه مخيلتنا التي تتأثر لاشعورياً بالخبرات السابقة بحسنها وسيئها، و قد نجد أنفسنا بعد بضع سنين كمن بنى قلعةً من الرمل على شاطئ البحر ولم يُبقِ لها الموج أثراً.

إيماني بالله، هو ما يعطيني الأمل دوماً بأنّ هناك فجرٌ جديد في انتظارنا رَغِمَ قوة الموج وقساوة الماضي وعدم اكتراث الأشخاص الذين قد لايتعدّوا في بعض الأحيان كونهم أكثر من مصدرٍ للأذى والألم في حياتنا.

فلله الحمد كما لم يتّخِذ ولداً ولم يَكُن له شريكُ في المُلكِ ولم يَكُن له وليٌّ من الذلّ…

قال تعالي: “وقل الحمد لله الذي لم يتّخذ ولداً ولم يكُن له شريكٌ في المُلكِ ولم يكن له وليٌّ من الذل وكبّرهُ تكبيراً” آية 111 سورة الإسراء