Some beautiful suggestions mashallah

Mashallah my beautiful sister-in-faith Eva Zaynab wrote some beautiful comments after reading my post on having the right intention I have benefited a lot from her beautiful advice that's why I would like to share her comments with you. Jazakllah khairan sis Eva :-)

She wrote: Your article mashAllah was beautifully written and you gave one of the most important reminders- always have an intention. In Hadith one of the famour 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi says:

‎" Actions are ( judged) by motives ( niyayah, so each man will have what he intended. Thus he , whose migration ( Hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, of for a wife he might marry, his migration is that for which he migrated." Al Bukhari and Muslim). when I was in Tarim, there was not a single time, where the word intention was not mentioned. Actions are indeed by intentions and the intention has to come from the heart. So a reminder to myself first, whateever we do, before we embark on any journey or any task have the right intention, always only for Allah swt and always , as you mentioned in your article with the " Bismillah".

Habib Umar bin Hafiz mentioned ones to the nearest meaning :" Any action that starts without the Bismillah is corrupt of blessings. A deed is not a deed unless there is a pious intention".Before every action, we must have a true sound will. and intention. May Allah swt give us all the ability to not be negligent in remembering intentions and honesty. I am sorry for the longish comments, but I wanted to say that I have truly enjoyed your last three articles. MashAllah, May Allah swt reward you, sis, for giving such reminders, for dedicating ur time and effort in writing them. Ameen

 

My little boy Muhammad Hamza is now 5 months old and exclusively breastfed. InshAllah I will do my best to fast, but if I see that my breastmilk is being affected or that my health deteriorates then I will stop. At the end of the way we need to remember that above all Allah subhana wa Ta Allah is Ar-Rahman and nursing mums and also people with health problems such as Type 2 Diabetes are excluded from fasting. And we should not feel in anyway that just because we do not fast, Allah swt is not going to shower his Mercy on us . We can do so much ibada during this month-Night vigils, reading Quaran and inshAllah finishing a Khatam, Dhikr, extra nafl prayers, getting up for Suhr and preparing the Iftar for ur spouses or our parents, giving sadaqa and so much more.Two years ago , as my daughter was born 10 days before Ramadhan, I really thought that I will not be able to make the most of that blessed month, as it can be quite tiring with a newborn and constantly breast-feeding . I had to remind myself that I have a limit in regards to what I can achieve and I should be realistic in my goals rather than having some very high expectations. so the end result- I didnt do a Khatam of the Holy Quran, but I made sure during the day , I read a few ayas. Some nights I was not able to do Qiyamat Layl but alhamdullilah i observed the blessed 27th of Ramadhan. But above all I made sure that I honoured the rights of my child and my husband , and no matter how tired I was, even if my husband insisted not, I would make sure I get up and prepare the suhur( which can be very hard when you lack sleep) and always did my best to cook our own iftar, At the end of the day instead of throwing a whole banquet of samosas, spring rolls, ahne, dali borah etc, we always had milk, dates, a rice dish and some fruits and my hubby alahmaudllilah loved it.

 

So a reminder to all the nursing mums or people with health problems, lets not forget that just because we dont fast, we cannot do other ibadah during this special month. Have the right intention and make the most of this scared month. Dont just let it pass and then feel guilty about it. As scholars have said : if we only knew the blessings of this month, we would want every month to be Ramadhan. May Allah swt give us all the tawfeeq to make the most of the coming Ramadhan and inshAllah to bring us close to the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and ultimately to Allah subhana Wa Ta Alla. Ameen.

And sorry just another thought about Tarawih prayers. For the last two years I never did my Tarawih prayers in the masjid and I often felt very lonely or as if I am missing something or not making the most of Ramadhan in that aspect. I shared this with my husband and he reminded me that my Salah at home is far superior than Salat in the Masjid. Narrated Umm Humaid As-Sa’diyah who once said to the Prophet (SAW): Messenger of Allah (SAW)! I love to pray with you (i.e. in the mosque)! Upon hearing this, Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said:

"I know that you love to say your prayer with me. However, the prayer you offer in your residence is more excellent than that you offer in your people’s mosque. And your prayer in your people’s mosque is better for you than you prayer in the (lager) congregational mosque." (Abu Dawud; Musnad of Imaam Ahmad; & At-Tabarani)


And to be honest I think I had the wrong intention as well, which was very sad, I used to think that if I go to the masjid with my baby, I can meet other women as well and have a chit chat after our Tarawih prayers. Masjid=barakah tots playgroup. Before having children , I used to see always mums with their newborns in their carseats or toddlers and you could see that some of them really came for the chit chat and it was quite disturbing. Some sisters used the opportunity to show off the latest designer abayas from Dubai , especially for Ramadhan. Some sisters were not even able to perform their Tarawih prayers because their babies were crying , some due to hunger, some due to the uncomfortable car seat ( believe me you may think it is comfortable, but come on, it is not the same as their comfy cot bed, or moses basket). So alhamdullilah the solution for me was- praying at home without a disturbed routine for my child, without dragging her out at 10 pm,when most babies are asleep and as for my chit chat or catch up with the sisters, I did it during the day.