Eid ul-Fitr 2013

Assalamu Alaikum!

[It’s been a long long time I haven’t blogged anything yet. But inshaAllah, I am back! 🙂 I was in Konya, Turkey for this year’s Rihla (which I will share my exp. in the upcoming blog post inshaAllah!) and now just ended Ramadhan.]

Yesterday was our last day of Ramadhan. Our Imam at our local masjid recited the following in the first rakaa of maghrib prayer:

“Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may attain piety and righteousness.” -[2:183]

In the second rakaa, he recited Suratul-Qadr [97].

Ramadhan was summarized, and time wise, it was like those 2 rakaa. A month gone by just like that. We ended Ramadhan with those beautiful verses, verses that made our hearts yearn for the next blessed month to pass by again. Mixed feelings, mixed emotions. But in the end where to?

Instagram: TariqYusufzai

Let your moments of silence, your moments of khidma, your moments of Quran, your moments of Qiyam, and your moments of hopeful tears lead you to a stable life as a better Muslim.

So I leave you with a smile and many duas 🙂 EID MUBARAK to you and your family! May Allah accept it from you and I! Taqaballahu minna wa minkum. Ameen. And until you hit training grounds again in Ramadhan, know that life is not easy. Learn and grow.

Your brother,
tariqthepilgrim

Ramadhan 2013 – Brother Yousuf

I met a brother at our local mosque the other day. He is one of those special brothers who helps out during iftaar/taraweh and suhoor. Always there and ready to run around with a big lovely smile. The day I met him we exchanged greetings, smiles, and names. But brother Yousuf was unlike anyone I met. I did not show up to taraweh the day after and already when I met him a couple of days later, he smiled and questioned my absence. “Tariq, I didn’t see you yesterday. Everything’s okay?”

I met this brother like you would meet any random brother on Jummuah, offering salaams and nothing more than casual greetings “Hey, how are you doing?”. A min or 2, or even less.

But the fact that he was so aware, so God-conscious made me reflect upon some of our own state. We are never in the moment, and we forget people’s name!

But by Allah, some people like him are just so amazing. So real! They will remember your name and that’s something very special Allah has gifted some with, but on top of that they will show concern about your well-being. La ilaha illallah. These are the true people of khidma, and we look up to them. May Allah preserve and enoble them, ameen.