"Keep at Room Temperature"

Recently, the weather in Leicester and also Birmingham has been quite unsettled; where at one moment it has been sunshine and warm and the next moment it is cold and snowing.

Due to this continuous change of weather, my eye has been frequently drifting towards a thermometer hanging over my daughter's cot to ensure that the room temperature is at a suitable level for her.

I am aware that we are all aware of the use of a thermometer and that we have used it at some point or another, but we often tend to forget that it is amazing piece of equipment.

The temperature in my room is kept between a certain amount which is regarded suitable for a child. I take necessary precautions to ensure that the temperature does not rise to a high level by controlling the heating in the room and I also ensure that it does not drop too low due to ventilation.

POINT

Not so long back, I read a post which quoted one of my greatest teachers, Shaykh Imran ibn Adam, advising an individual to use a 'love thermometer' to observe the progress of our love with Allah Ta'ala.

This point holds great importance to a person who relies and constantly checks a thermometer. We should be constantly monitoring our love with Allah Ta'ala through the thermometer of our body, the heart. The heart plays a great role in a believer's life as it monitors our connection with Allah and the degree of our love for Him and His Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم.

May Allah Ta'ala give us the realisation of the necessity to monitor our love for Him just as we monitor the temperature from time to time. May He incline our hearts to increase our love for Him in such a manner that His love exceeds the love of anything besides Him and that which He has commanded us to love. Aameen.

I 'Kneed' you

The day for someone in the United Kingdom would normally consist of the same routine; a routine that is repeated day after day, usually involving the same activity; so is the case for me. My usual week consists of the same activities which include teaching, administration, management, footballing and most important parenting my precious little daughter.

At times life becomes such a routine and norm that we tend to continue in our ways and methods without even thinking or having to strain our thoughts in regards to the activities we carry out. We get into our cars and without much concentration on the route we are taking we arrive at our destination; for the simple reason that we are always travelling on that route. This applies to many aspects of our life.

However, when a slight change occurs in our routine we seem completely lost. This is what occurred to me this morning when I woke up in terrible pain. I was unable to bend my knee and was praying to Allah to give me a quick recovery so that I could attend the office and not miss my teaching or appointments I had arranged. I was unable to lift or even bend my knee when I woke up and only then was I able to step back from my daily routine and realise...

POINT

We sometimes become so engrossed that we tend to take granted things which others are deprived of and do not have. We tend to forget Allah for giving us a normal life. Yet when Allah reminds us of Him by placing matters in our lived that turns our attention towards Him, we complain and ask ourselves why we deserve this pain and what have we done wrong.

Is it not selfish to forget all the blessings of Allah and overlook the 'normal' things that others in many places have not been gifted with? Sight, sound, functioning limbs and brain, and so forth; are these not a blessing from Allah that we should appreciate each morning? Or are we waiting for an non-functional limb to remind us Allah?

I also realised another point; we are so habitual in our worldly routine that without effort our tasks and actions become automated; we arrive at destinations without any effort or concentration. This happens to such an extent that a change in our routine makes our entire day incomplete and a 'real mess'. Yet how many of us have a system and routine of worshipping Allah to an extent that our tongues automatically begin to praise Him without any thought? How many of us have our days feel incomplete and unsystematic when we miss a prayer of forget to remember Him on a regular basis?

Let us all remember Allah time after time and take out moments to raise our hands and say this to him, "O Allah, I need you". This may be a short supplication, but it creates awareness of Allah and our dependence upon Him. It makes us realise who our Master is.

May Allah save us all from falling into such a routine which blinds us from His remembrance and from thanking Him. May Allah guide us and incline our hearts to such a system which inculcates His worship, remembrance and thankfulness throughout the day. May we remember Him in both good and bad days. Aameen.