Friday 23 November 2018

Blocks

A game of balances,
undone and rebuilt,
it figures too hard
ease transmits
back to squares of cards
that read flashes of writs
an obligation not to be so hard
by breaking down to bits.
What am I talking about?
I forgot now.

- By Laila Ali Haid

Friday 14 September 2018

Shedding Sin, Deep Breathing and Loving God - Part 2

Shukr. The connotations of shukr vary for each Muslim, but there is an intrinsic understanding of it amongst the Ummah - it is to thank Allah verbally, by saying 'Alhamdulilah' (praise be to Allah, in Arabic).



Should the act of Shukr be constrained to a physical and outward sense of gratitude?



I think Shukr should emanate from the heart first, before migrating to our other actions to produce a holistic effort of Shukr to Allah.



A dear and very inspiring Muslim sister taught me about the real essence of Shukr and spurred this post.



I feel that the rewards and guidance of her wisdom shouldn't be hoarded through individual practice, but should flow to engage the lives of all my Ummah friends.



The first opening to tasting Shukr in your life comes from reflecting on your creation and the signs of it.



To even open our minds and hearts to throwing ourselves back to analysing our creation and its lessons - we should open the Qur'an, to benefit from the words of The Creator, as He reminds us of our creation -



It is He, Who has created you (Adam) from dust, then from a nutfah [mixed semen drops of male and female sexual discharge (i.e. Adam's offspring)] then from a clot (a piece of coagulated blood), then brings you forth as an infant, then (makes you grow) to reach the age of full strength, and afterwards to be old (men and women)- though some among you die before,- and that you reach an appointed term in order that you may understand. 
- (سورة غافر, Ghafir, Chapter 40, Verse 67)



This verse tells us that our staged creation coalesces to a final plateau, but by which we should understand something. According to Tafsir Ibn Kathir, this understanding refers to remembering our resurrection.



It all connects, yes.



Firstly, our structured creation is something we should recall when struggling to find gratitude within ourselves, in the midst of the rijz (shaytan's impurity - including his evil insinuations and whisperings) veiling our souls with notions of self-sufficiency.



Produced as infants and not as adults with full strength - we are a developing process, each and all of us.



This verse, which tells us how there had been an original creation, humbles the believer who looks on and reflects on it.



In understanding our beginning, from the dust and mud that Allah molded into the first human (Adam peace and blessings be upon him) any expedient postulations on human mortality and our state of being will be quelled by its limits.



Thus, the true believer recognizes their bond-servant position, whereby they cannot move forward or backwards, in transgressing the boundaries of their timed development.



How does this link back to Shukr/Gratitude?



Well affirming but accepting what you are, and having awareness and confidence in your imperfections and finite endurance on earth - and just reflecting on the heavy reality that once you were not mentioned or acknowledged (before our birth), breeds a gratitudinous mentality.



For instance, in submitting to the fact that you are constricted by a controlled schedule of growth - in our biology, psychology and intellect, then you have inched more closer to practicing a grateful attitude.




Indeed, there are a few ways to derive Shukr from looking at our timely creation - we have the opportunity to enjoy our maturation, and to observe the narrative that appears as the bright lines drawn across and around our living.


From the above, we are in the midst of lessons every day that teach Shukr, whether we know, acknowledge or overlook them.



As I had mentioned our resurrection before, it is important to remember that these lessons should add to, and not act destructively to our position in Judgement Day.



How many of humanity have mistook the meaning of their existing - which is to worship the Lord, from which gratitude is a part of - to forward confused and meandering arguments about their purpose.



Sure, it's your life, you can ascribe to these philosophies, but if we go back to the logical bases of such thought then its perfectly fine to employ Shukr to come to terms with submitting to the reality of life.



Gratitude is amply rewarded by Allah, as it is a form of submission to Him.


Since the term 'Muslim' translates to one who submits, we are fulfilling our essential roles by thanking Allah and accepting that we are passive agents that are fed and clothed by His mercy.



On the day of the account of our worldly works, it is vital that we belong to the camp of the truthful fair-thinkers, and not of the arrogant, who had lived in deception about their metaphysical status...

for the sake of our eternal success.

- By Laila Ali Haid

Friday 31 August 2018

Them Green Days - Part 1

Witnessing that grass blade come unstuck from my palm punctured my brain with steely memories of cool hate. Feeling warm this picnic happy day, I further synthesised into a confused mind-state, the paradox and wedge between emotions and environment engendering a parenthesis of despair. Free-associating a get-out plan, I scamper to a walking position.

Get ready.

Get ready people, I tell the muted voices surrounding my being. One single individual eyes my gaze before turning around. I wave towards the darkened body embracing the wind around us all.

"How are ya mate" the body yells.

Normalcy marries pithy pity in my interactions with the friend.

Today was indeed, in fact, filled with mediocre attempts at relaxation and living, as recommended by therapist number 4.

Breathing exercises, fast walking and social happenstances are supposed to give me light, not disintegration of speech and thought...

On the contrary, I have crawled into the little forbidden box situated in my gut that disapproves of the world at large, and of the moves I need to check-mate the catch up game.

- By Laila Ali Haid

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Love and self care, one more time

You should give self-love a second chance
in the game of heartless tugs and thrifty hugs,
you should give your gaze a minute's moment,
to escape prosecution in its explanation,
you shouldn't hate yourself
those platitudes have sighed
the whole world hates you
so why shouldn't I?
the pointing game has always been rigged
against compliments to you
but can you solve this rubiks cube,
of 'universal' beauty standards,
and love you?

- By Laila Ali Haid

Saturday 30 June 2018

The silver thing

A slip of a finger,
into the everlasting hole,
she's now tied
to the long-term war for human independence.
She breathes in baby breath and
exhales argumentation,
to the winded beats of blood filled drums
she cries and soon comes a speedy divorce.
temper, a tremolo pad and a quick exit
she finally makes it to the world of realism
which reveals as another one permanent headache
can you split from your self?

- By Laila Ali Haid

Monday 11 June 2018

27th of Ramadan

The nights allured us to make prostration and beg,
our Creator gives us these opportunities to not forget,
the jewel nights sparkle with anticipation,
the odd nights make loose of our daily trepidation,
the 27th brings a dearth of tears and moans from the earth -
and as the dawn pushes the sunrise to its birth,
signifying a return to the Creator, a tearful and penitent jama'ah,
harking back to the Hira cave,
remember their purpose.

- By Laila Ali Haid

Sunday 4 March 2018

Shedding Sin, Deep Breathing and Loving God

By Laila Ali Haid- 

The title infers that reaching a balance in spiritual life, good intentions, and open will is easy. The preceding sentence is merely a juncture between the title and this current line, a part of my next inchoate facade of substance beating style, but not really.

To get to the juiciest flesh bit on the bone, I must explain the actual point of this post.

I want this post, in sha Allah, to come to a conclusion on how live happily, healthily and introspectively (to an extent).

I don't want good living to be a notion in the air, a calculation of postulations that never reach ground.

I want the good life to be available to potential readers as much as myself.

As such, this post will articulate a guideline on how to find goodness in your life without changing your being, which I believe is static.

I accept that the concept of true happiness has been overly pontificated upon by everyone who has attempted to define it.

This is why I will give only 3 points, spread over a couple of posts, on how to claim the lofty idea of achieving happiness in simple steps and thought-shifts.

You all have a destiny, and the Lord is merciful. 

The story of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph - Peace Be Upon Him), is like an aromatic bright flower that is adorned in layers of vividly colored petals, and cloaked in a beautiful scent.

This Prophet's life is encapsulated in Chapter 12 of the Qur'an, called 'Surah Yusuf'.

This chapter has come to anchor my hopes, and I come across 'Surah Yusuf' many times ,when looking for help from Allah whilst reading the Qur'an in many of my stressful days.

Actually, there is one verse, which always undoes the despair which underwrites my slower days.

The verse (or Ayah as it is called in Arabic) in question is Surah Yusuf/Chapter 12, Verse 100:
And he raised his parents to the throne and they fell down before him prostrate. And he said: "O my father! This is the interpretation of my dream aforetime! My Lord has made it come true! He was indeed good to me, when He took me out of the prison, and brought you (all here) out of the bedouin-life, after Shaitan (Satan) had sown enmity between me and my brothers. Certainly, my Lord is the Most Courteous and Kind unto whom He will. Truly He! Only He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."
There are a certain ways in which this verse makes me feel that life truly has not only meaning, but a hidden structure.

Firstly, this verse/Ayat shows how fruitful a believer's life is, and dispels mundane existential worries over our living.

For example, in Surah Yusuf, Prophet Yusuf/Joseph (peace be upon him) recounts the events that happened after his enslavement, until he was beautifully reunited with his family.

But ! In this Ayat, Yusuf links these occurrences to a dream he had in childhood, which his father Prophet Jacob comments on at the beginning of the chapter:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَبُّكَ وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَىٰ أَبَوَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ -
12:6 :
And thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of narratives and complete His favor upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He completed it upon your fathers before, Abraham and Isaac. Indeed, your Lord is Knowing and Wise."
Thus, in achieving the dream's prophecy, Yusuf (peace be upon him) gains recognizance of the immense loveliness and beauty of Allah's guidance, favor and Guardianship.

Thus, Prophet Yusuf's story is a guidance for the drifting, down-beaten and lost Muslim. 

To Be Continued...

Sunday 4 February 2018

Marmalade

Let it marmalade
but conjecture into the whitened abyss,
Let it marmalade,
let it be sugar to your lips,
Let it be lovely marmalade,
the pink dust flies for the brightened wayside,
let it be nice, marmalade,
and cry for me in a life tried.
Please marinate the gritty soul song and
sway your great hips for tradition,
for what is life,
but a sugary bowl of cereal at night.

- By Laila Ali Haid

A Quran Translation

  Translation of the Noble Quran and Hadith Translated by Laila Ali Haid Chapter 1. Surah Fatiha In the name of the Lord, The Most Gracious,...