Daughters

One of the few things that I truly desire in this world is a daughter.  I hope that Inshallah one day, when I am happily married that I am blessed with at least one.  I think that this desire comes from my desire to have a sister.  I’ve never had a sister and so the way I see it, having a daughter would a good alternative. 

Its funny because the last few Jummas that I have gone to, I’ve been distracted  by the cute little daughters that the Uncle’s in front of me struggle to take control of.  They are just so cute.  Some of them will come in with their cute little hijabs on, getting wholly irritated when it doesn’t stay on their heads…when I see a little girl it just melts my heart. Everything about them; their hair, the way they cry and bug their parents, their innocence, their eyes, their smile, their laughter…just everything.

I frequently lay in bed and wonder what it would be like to have a daughter; how wonderful and colourful life would be.  I would just love to dress her up and decorate her with all the little girly things you can get at the store.  I just know that once I have a daughter, I’ll be grabbing every hair bow, every frock, every doll and anything else that baby girls play with.  I always picture myself taking her to the park or to Chucky Cheese’s and just watching her play and be happy.  I picture myself taking her to school on her first day, consoling her if she started crying and utterly missing her while I am at work.  I picture coming home after work and having her run up to me and hug and kiss me and tell me that she missed me.

I would love to watch as she grows and matures into a beautiful young woman, with her own ideas and accomplishments.  Frequently I can imagine having conversations about anything and everything; being a friend to her, having her confide in me, coming to me with her problems and concerns.  I imagine fighting with her, laughing with her, crying with her.  I imagine feeling crushed when something doesn’t go her way and feeling jubilant when everything goes her way.  I just imagine her…being.

I can’t wait until she is born.  I can’t wait until she starts crawling and walking.  I can’t wait until she begins to speak.  I can’t wait until she begins to develop her own thoughts and ideas.  I can’t wait until she grows up and gets married, has her own husband and kids.  I cannot wait until that one day where she realizes that she is truly happy. 

I consider daughters to be a gift from God.  They are like this little peice of heaven that God gives us to enjoy.  They are truly blessings of Allah.  Daughters become sisters, wives, mothers, grandmothers and in some cases, great grandmothers.  They keep humanity constant.  They bring life and happiness to a household.  They bring colour and goodwill, caring and love into a family. 

To this day, I cannot understand how people treat their daughters in the manner that they do.  All to frequently I hear of mothers and fathers treating their daughters as if they were a piece of meat, a slave or something that can be replaced.  Even as I write this post, I am speaking to a friend who is living in a poisonous environment at home.  I can’t understand these honour killings and how a father or the entire family can drive themselves to kill their daughters.  Perhaps I am naive.  Perhaps I will never understand it.  But everytime I hear a story like that, my heart breaks.  To do that to something that is so beautiful…its just heartbreaking.

I have already selected a list of names to consider for my daughter.  And as soon as I am in a position to do so, I will set up a little savings account for my daughter that I will give to her when she enters university.  I also want to set up a small savings account for her wedding.  There is a particular reason for this.  I once went to a wedding of this girl that I vaguely knew.  Sparing the details, her wedding ended up happening in their two bedroom townhouse in an area of the city that wasn’t the greatest.  Her mother was a sweetheart; one of the nicests and most endearing people I know.  Anyways, her daughter was having the wedding in their tiny little townhouse.  There were tires outside on the lawn.  The stairs were creaking when she came down.  There was hardly any room for us to sit.  There were spiders crawling on the carpet.  I can’t really describe it but it was just heartbreaking.  This Auntie did not deserve to have her daughter be married in the way she had.  And it wasn’t really her fault.  Circumstances were as such that they had no alternative.  I couldn’t bare to look at either Auntie or her daughter in the eye because I was embarrassed for them.  Again, it was utterly heartbreaking.  After that day, I vowed that I would never let me daughter go through something like this.  I vowed to save up money and give her the wedding of her dreams.

Even if I were to be denied every other desire for the rest of my life, I would consider my life complete to have even one daughter.  And Inshallah, I pray that Allah grants me this one wish of mine.

Amen.  

The Murder of Aqsa Parvez – Is This Islam?

I woke up today and was shocked to learn about the death of Ontario Teenager Aqsa Parvez.  Read about it here.  I was going to write a commentary on this whole situation but I found one here on WordPress that is pretty much bang on what I had in mind.  It can be found at The Discourses of a Highly Indebted Student.  I do, however, want to say this: We are living peacefully in Canada.  We are a vital part of Canadian society.  Criminal incidents that are related to religion harm all of us, not only Muslims but all Canadians.  Given the state of Islam today, these cases make it harder for us to be Muslims in our own countries.  I wish people that purported these crimes actually study Islam wholey and not just selectively learn bits and pieces.  But now, a daughter is dead, a friend is lost, a family is ruined forever.  This young girl will never be a daughter ever again.  She will never be a wife.  She will never be a mother.  She will never be a grandmother.  She will never be able to contribute her inherent good to her community, her society, her country. 

Innallaha Wa Inna Lillahi Rajioon. 

Oslo Mela, Javed Bashir and Atif Aslam

These clips that I am going to share for you here are pure gems.  The first artist featured here is Javed Bashir.  Currently he is the lead vocalist for the Pakistani band Mekhal Hassan Band.  Javed’s dad was a Qawaal himself and so Javed has been exposed to music his entire life.  Amazing voice.  The first two clips feature a Norwegian folk artist by the name of Sondre Bratland along side Bashir.  The last clip features Atif Aslam with a 2kx rendition of Mae Ni Main Kinnu Aakhan.  All these clips are from the Oslo Mela 2006 in Norway.  Hope you guys enjoy.

Eid Mubarak

I just want to take this opportunity to wish all of my readers Eid Mubarak.  I hope you all have a wonderful three days.  Please forgive those that have done wrong to you please be merciful to all you meet.  Rememeber, Allah is all forgiving. Stay well and stay safe!

-mast malang

Ramadan – Seek Reward

Whoever stays up (in prayer and remembrance of Allah) on the Night of Qadr fully believing (in Allah’s promise of reward for that night) and hoping to seek reward (from Allah alone and not from people), he shall be forgiven for his past sins. (Bukhari/Muslim)

Ramadan – Search For The Odd Nights.

Hazrath Aisha (Radhiallaahu Anha) reported that the Apostle of Allah said: “Search for the Blessed Night in the odd (nights) from the last ten (nights) of Ramadan” (Bukhari).

Ramadan – The Night Of Power

 

We have indeed revealed this (Message) in The Night of Power: And what will explain to thee what The Night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. (Holy Quran; Surah Al-Qadr; Ayah 1-3)

Ramadan – Patience

 

Allah’s Apostle (Sal-allahu-aleihi-wasallam) said: “Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shown resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it”. (Narrated by Suhaib ibn Sinan ar-Rumi (Razi Allah Ta’lah Anhu); Muslim transmitted it. Hadith No.5297 of Mishkat al-Masabih.)

Ramadan – Charity

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said: The messenger of Allah said:

“Each person’s every joint must perform a charity every day the sun comes up : to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoistingd up his belongings onto it is a charity: a good word is a charity, every step you take to prayers is a charity and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.” –Bukhari and Muslim

Ramadan – Believe

 When My servants ask you about Me, I am always near. I answer their prayers when they pray to Me. The people shall respond to Me and believe in Me, in order to be guided.  The Quran [2:186]