As summer has begun, we see many people enjoying the weather, doing activities which would not have been possible in winter and generally the moods and atmosphere seems much more alive and better and improved.

This is the first summer of my daughter, Fatima, who enjoys traveling and going out as much as she can. Therefore, I thought let me make the most of this summer as we cannot trust the length and duration of how long it will remain.

With this in mind, I took my daughter out for a stroll, her in front and me behind pushing her stroller. She apparently enjoyed herself and made every effort to let people around realise that she was out and enjoying herself; her screams and laughter could be heard from far.

During my walk, I was extra careful when crossing the road, keeping my eyes open to cars, cyclists, other people and any dangers that might be around in order to keep my daughter safe from harm. Similarly, in the house, extra effort is made to minimise possibilities of hazards and harms.

Whilst crossing the roads I realised something, that usually when my attention is not too much on safety I never used to notice all the cars turning into the side streets and now that I was keeping an eye out, it felt as though every car wanted to turn into the street that I was crossing.

To cut a long story short, we went for a long walk, she had ice cream and enjoyed herself and I strolled along behind her for her pleasure.

POINT

There are a few points that I realised in this incident;

1. Firstly, it is Allah who brings good and bad days in our life; whilst one day it is raining, she surely brings after it a day of sunshine. Similiarly, he states in the Qur'an that after hardship (in this life) their will be easiness (in the Hereafter). Similarly, at times we experience Bast and Qabz in our life; where at times our inclination to worship is at a low, at times like that we should remain steadfast and wait for Allah to give us the inclination to worship Him.
   


2. By keeping our eyes open and remaining alert in regards to a specific matter we will notice it more often and clearly. In the same way, we should keep our eyes open and remain alert in regards to sins; by doing so we will realise how many of them Shaytaan sends our way which we fail to perceive without remaining observant.
   


3. A parent is the up-brings his child with love, care and dedication. He will not wish that child any harm. Similarly, Allah is our Rabb (nurturer); He loves us and would not wish us any harm. But at times, it is necessary to tangle us in minor difficulties to prevent us from being tangled in major difficulties.
   


4. Love for someone can make you do things which you might not necessarily enjoy, but their pleasure becomes your pleasure. Keeping this in mind we should create immense love for Allah and His Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. By doing so one will remain at peace and will be content for the pleasure of Allah will become his personal pleasure.

May Allah give us all the immense love of Allah and open our eyes to see the deception of Shaytaan and his efforts to misguide us. Aameen.