Laa ilaha il-Allah

Frankly, if you became Muslim for any reason other than this, then you
never understood Islam to begin with. And if you were raised Muslim
but were not taught the infinite importance of this single sentence,
then you were not really raised as Muslim. You were only taught
cultural practices.
This is Islam. This is what all reality is based on. This is what
religion has been since the beginning of time. This is what all the
Prophets brought (may Allah bless them all). Every element of creation
acknowledges this truth except us; every child is born on this truth
(which iswhy we are all "born Muslim"): This truth that we were
created by a single, indivisible God; that our Creator is Loving,
Merciful and Compassionate; that everything we are and everything we
own comes from Him; that we began with Him as a breath, and we return
to Him as dust; that He witnesses everything we do; that He rewards
the good and punishes evil; that He lovesus and wants good for us in
this life and the next; that He answers when we call and guides us
when weask; that we owe gratitudeto Him for every heartbeat,every lung
full of air, every bite of food, and every glimpse of truth.
No one deserves our love and obedience before Allah. Our first loyalty
is to Him.
No one can help us but Allah; and no one can harmus but Him. When
we're struggling and we cry out to ourselves, "What am I going to do?
Who will helpme? What is the way forward for me?", we need to address
those cries to Allah! The answers will not come from our own thoughts
or tears; the answers won't come from banging our fists or pullingour
hair. The answers will come from Allah.

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This is Who I Am

I can only come as I am to you, Allah
You're not the only thing inmy heart
But can't I still give it, full of everything as it is, back to you?
You're not the only thing on my mind
But can't I still ask you to help me with my random, sinful thoughts?
I'm not perfect, and You even said You wouldn't want this
You want those who can be forgiven
And I need forgiveness Yousee, because
I sometimes am fine with having more than just You in my life
I sometimes am fine with thinking things I shouldn't
I sometimes am fine with skipping a prayer or two
I sometimes am fine with eating a haraam burger
I sometimes am fine with saying a bad word
This is who I am Allah, a girl who is sometimes fine with sin in my life
But I don't forget You, everywhere I look I see You
And I'm just tired of being told to be someone else, just to come to You
I am who I am Allah, and while I am making my bad choices
I am also hating that people are being hurt
Whether it's by me or someone else
I am hating that people aremistreating one another
Whether in the name of Islam or any other cause
Allah I am who I am, and I am someone who loves goodness
I love fairness and compassion
My favorite thing is to see people come into a blessing of any kind
And find their heart's desire, to see them really find You
So this is who I am Allah, I am a contradiction
I am a lover of Your attributes even while I am rejecting them in my own life
By means of my own actions
I am messed up and hurt and scared, all while hopeful and trusting and strong
I cry that things don't go my way, and I cry at the story of Muhammad (saws)
I argue for the fun of it, yetsometimes Your words take the fight
right out of me
You are ultimate and real and deep and pricelessly complex
And I am whimsical, moody, emotional, nafsy and greedy
And all I want is to be able to come to You and be who I really am
While You make me who I was always meant to be.

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Advice from a Cloud (Ifa Cloud Could Speak)

Everyone deserves water to drink, so shower your kindness on sinners
and saints alike.
People will see different things in you: relief, or comfort, or a
fearsome signof a storm. Pay no attention to any of that; but do your
job peacefully.
It's a beautiful thing to provide shade on a hot day(to comfort those
in distress).
You sometimes drift aimlessly, but by the will ofAllah, you get in the
right drift and current again.
Oppose evil with thunder and lightning, but with others be soft as cotton.
Not everything is what it seems: the darker the cloud, the more water
it carries within, to cleanse the earth and bring new life.
Never forget, you are mainly made from water. Make sure to always
replenish yourself with pure sustenance.
There's a rainbow right behind the storm.
Can you think of any other advice a cloud might give?

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Islam is a Game Changer

Islam is a game changer. Every other system, every human-made "ism" –
feudalism, tribalism, nationalism, monarchism, capitalism, communism,
fascism – treats human beings like commodities or less. Every other
system simply plays around with variables like distribution of wealth
and labor, or elevates one group of human beings based on lineage or
geography, while devaluing others to less-than-human status.
All these systems are fundamentally uncivilized, even barbaric.
Islam changes everything. Islam says, we're going to uphold the
fundamental dignity of all human beings.
"And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them
on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and
preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite]
preference." – Quran, 17:70
Allah has honored all the children of Adam. Not only Muslims, not only
men, not one race or nation, not only the wealthy or beautiful, but
all humans. As for the nature of man, Allah says, "[So mention] when
your Lord said to the angels, 'Indeed, I am going to create a human
being from clay. So whenI have proportioned him and breathed into him
of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.'" – Quran,
38:71-72
A being into whom Allah breathed cannot help but be noble by nature.
Yes, wehumans are corruptible and shortsighted, but we don't have to
be. Our nature is pure. We can, at times, rise above our own
foolishness and become great.
When it comes to morality,Islam takes the approach of trusting human
beings to live by values like compassion, justice, fairness, help for
the poor, brotherhood and sisterhood, devotion to God, and
non-attachment to material luxuries.
That's what Islam is supposed to be!
This is why certain oppressive cultural practices found in parts of
the Muslim world are so abominable. I'm talking about so-called honor
killings, female genital mutilation, denial of education to women,
violence against religious minorities, etc. These practices must be
abolished. They are anathema to everything Islam represents.
Islam came to promote an idea of human dignity based on:
1- Our relationship with Allah;
2- The love and mercy we show one another;
3- The utilization of our free will for a higher purpose.
All human beings are created in the best of molds ( You Are Perfectly
Created ). All human beings are born on the fitrah , the pure and
natural way, withan inborn inclination to recognize the Creator and do
good. Racism and nationalism are abhorred and abolished. Women are
recognized as intellectual and spiritual beings, not property,
objects, or vassals.
That's Islam as it should be.It's a revolutionary system. Rather than
a limited material or tribal system, itis for the first time in
history a human system. If we're practicing anything less then we're
not practicing Islam. If we look down on certain races, if we hate
people because of their nationality or religion,if we subjugate women,
then we're practicing a fraud, and shaming ourselves before the world.
Islam rises above everything that came before. Islam came to change
the world, and to elevate the essential nobility all human beings, a
nobility not based on nation or tribe, but on our eternal souls.
That's the callof Islam. That's the path we must follow.

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