''Advise'':-:- Believe in Allah, Because He Believes inYou

I believe in Allah because He believes in me… and He believes in you
too. Believein His plan for you, have faith in Him, trust His guidance
to you, because He has faith in you, and trusts you.
Some people might challenge this assertion that Allah believes in us
and trusts us. To me, that's surprising. Allah created nothing in
vain. Everything He does has a purpose. His creation of humanity was
done with intent.
Why were we created? Many Muslims will automatically respond, "To
worship Allah." That's true, but why does Allah want to be worshiped?
Furthermore, why did He create everything else – the stars, planets,
forests, seas, mountains, animals?…
Without presuming to know Allah's intentions, and returning to the
realm of the human for a moment, I will make a simple observation. As
a writer, one of the reasons I write is because the act of putting my
thoughts and feelings on paper satisfies something deep within me.I've
been writing creativelysince I was a child, and to me it's not a hobby
but a calling. I'm a writer, therefore I write; and I am a writer
because I write.
The same is true for a painter or any other artist. I imagine if you
asked a painter why he paints, you might get many different answers:
*. "It makes me happy"
*. "It's my passion."
*. "To express my ideas."
*. "To make money."
*. "I don't know, I just do."
The bottom line is that it's the painter's nature to paint; it's her
calling, her
nextfunction. She is a painter, therefore she paints; or shepaints,
therefore she is a painter. Same difference.
Allah is Al-Khaaliq, The Creator. That is one of His names, one of His
attributes. He expresses this attribute by creating. You are a part of
that expression, and so am I. So is a blue whale, Mount Kilimanjaro,
the Grand Canyon, a dolphin, a mouseand an amoebum. Everything that
Allah created is amazing in its function and awesomely complex in its
design. Everything that He created is beautiful and
purposeful.Including you and me.
To create is an act of love. It is an act of faith. The Creator loves
you and believes in you. Believe in Him, believe in yourself, believe
in humanity, and believe in the unique path that Allah has chosen for
you.

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ISLAMIC ARTICLE -:- If you don’t speak their language…

I've learnt many things when it comes to speaking Arabic in Cairo
(indeed, in many Middle-Eastern countries), but nothing stares at me
so much in the face as the clear difference between Fus-ha (classical)
and ' Amiyyah (colloquial) Arabic.
My father once related a funny incident that happened when he was a
student in Cairo (paraphrased by me):
I was a young soldier out with my group when we suddenly got lost.
Now, because we were international students/soldiers under thewing of
the Egyptian Army,we were not yet fully exposed to normal Egyptian
life nor were we exposed to the intricate subtleties of the common
man's language! So anyway, the group got lost. We searched for a
wayback but it was hopeless. Then, alhamdulillah we saw an Egyptian
and decided to ask him for directions. The group put forward their
best student who spoke Arabic the best… but oh dear, he spoke only
fus-ha (classical Arabic) and so he stepped forward to the
unsuspecting Egyptian and said to him with a spur of confidence:
نَحنُ ضلَلَنا إلى الطريق
فهَلْ تُرشِدُنا إلي الصِرَاطِ المُسْتقِيمِ
We have gotten lost on ourway
So will you thus guide us to the Straight Path?
Lol, when I first heard this, I almost died of laughter. In a land
where the streets and general life is dominated by the colloquial
Arabic ('Amiyyah), a group of young soldiers coming out with such a
statement can only be described as being 'classical' (pun totally
intended). What was even funnier is that the studentsdidn't even give
the name of the place they were intending – they could've said "direct
us to the Kulliyat al-Harb (Military Faculty)" etc, but no, it had to
be the Straight Path!
This incident is an interesting one because it shows something that
many of us students encounter and struggle with when we first learn
Arabic – the war between fus-ha and 'amiyyah . You might find yourself
spending months and months learning the classical tongue only to find
that you can't use it in daily life because the general public don't
speak that way in their general affairs. I must admit, in the
beginning of my studies when I was just a teen, I was a staunch
advocate forthe fus-ha Arabic, almost militant in my stubbornness and
outright refusal to speak 'Amiyyah and let it taint my progress. I
remember whenever I went shopping,or popped down to the grocers, I
used to battle with the poor grocer. Oftenmy conversations with him(or
whoever I'd interact with in the market/various places) went something
like this:
Grocer : $*%^%$&^%&*#& [throws sentences at me in'amiyyah]
Me : Sorry, I can't understand you. Can you speak Arabic, please?
Grocer : I am speaking Arabic!
Me (ever so zealous): No, you are not! Speak Arabic!
Grocer (in 'amiyyah): Wallahil-'Azim I am speaking it! %#&%%^$%£#^&*#
[Repeats everything again in 'amiyyah]
Me : **Frustration point**
In reality, it need not be a war (although yeah, it tookme a while to
soften up and retract from my hard-line fus-ha views!) As a student,
you'll probably only be staying a few months and understandably most
of your effort will need to go towards your studies and learning the
fus-ha tongue as much as time will allow you. In the beginning, you
might find that people will advise you with different things; some
will say to learn Fus-ha only, others will say that you should learn
'amiyyah alongside the fus-ha and yet others will say something
completely different. It can be quite confusing. Looking back now, I
don't really regret the way I did things, although I ignored the
'amiyyah completely atfirst (except for some words that I eventually
learnt out of mercy for thatold grocer man lol) but once my fus-ha was
stable,I actually turned my attention to the 'amiyyah and began taking
it in too.
So what to do?
Well, it's really up to you todo what you think it's best for your own
personal circumstance. But I would perhaps advise anyone studying
Arabic to put their main primary effort into the fusha and learn that
really well because studying the 'amiyyah beforehand (or alongside)
the fus-ha can have detrimental affects on yourlearning and progress
of the fusha.

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ISLAMIC ARTICLE -:- In the Care of Allah:

I pondered over those whom Allah `azza wa jall has chosen for His
governance and those whom He has drawn close to Him. We have indeed
heard of their description and seen those whom we deem to be from
amongst them.
Thus I found that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not choose except
someone who is complete in his form without any fault in his way and
no shortcomings therein. So you see him possessing a good countenance,
is of proportionate posture, freefrom defects in his body, complete in
his inner self , generous , charitable , and intelligent . He is not
an imposter nor is he someone who deceives and betrays . He does not
possess hatred or envy and there aren't in him anyof these internal
flaws .
This is someone who (Allah) has raised from his infancy . So you'll
see him in childhood retreating from the other children as if he were
a shaykh (scholar) amongst them. Heis far removed from all ills and
vices, and he fears shortcomings. The tree of his high aspirations
continues to grow until he sees its fruits hanging overthe branches of
other youth. For he is passionate in (seeking) knowledge , preoccupied
with deeds , guarding and looking after his time , hastening to
seekout fadha'il (virtue) and in constant fear of falling short .
And if you only could see how the Guidance of Allah and Divine
Inspiration havesurrounded him, you would see how Allah takes him by
the hand when he trips , and prevents him from error when his soul
calls him to it, and He utilises him in all that's good and conceals
his deeds from him such that he does not even see any good from
himself ."
- 'Sayd al-Khatir' by Ibn al-Jawzi, pg. 441

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HADEES:->-

1]
Think positively of ALLAH for He has all the beautiful qualities.
Instead of expecting something bad to happen to you & calamities to
strike, put your hope in your Lord andtrust that He will be kind toyou
and set your affairs straight. It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (radi
Allahu 'anhu) said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllahu 'alyhi
wasallam) said:
•►"Allaah says: 'I am as My slave thinks I am, and I am with him when
he calls on Me.' ♥ "
[Narrated by al-Bukhaari - 7405 and Muslim - 2675]

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