June 7, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged god, good life, islam, quran, religion
To whoever, male or female, does good deeds and has faith, We shall give a good life and reward them according to the best of their actions. [The Bee: 97]
Oftentimes we think about religion in a way that is only good for our afterlife, but may be not good for our current life. Being religious is associated with kind-of not being with the norm., facing difficulties and challenges in our lives, etc.
But God promises that for any person who pairs good deeds with faith, He will give him or her a good life. That’s a really really encouraging statement. Sometimes thinking about the afterlife seems sooo far away (although God promises it will come as though it were a blink of an eye) and you just want to have a good life.
The key is to do good deeds AND have faith. It’s not enough to do good deeds without faith. You would have to think for yourself: “What’s the purpose and point of that? Why would you do that?” And it is also not enough to have faith without good deeds. What is the use of having faith if it will not propel you to do good for others and make a positive change?
June 6, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged birds, god, islam, quran, religion, senses
Here are two verses from the portion of “The Bee”:
It is God who brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and minds, so that you may be thankful.
Do they not see the birds made to fly through the air in the sky? Nothing holds them up except God. There truly are signs in this for those who believe.
[The Bee, 78-79]
I was reading this just now and trying to make the connection between these two subsequent verses. The fact that we came out from our mother’s wombs knowing nothing, and then were made to hear and see and think, is so amazing…what makes it more amazing is when God makes an analogy with the birds. Since many of us were children, we were fascinated with birds – how they fly, suspended in mid-air. How they have this ability that humans don’t have…as a child, it is amazing. Over time as we (at least, myself) get older, we tend to forget how we were initially so fascinated with this concept. In these verses it is as though God is teaching us to appreciate the wonders of the senses he gave us – they are just as amazing as the miracle of the bird flying in the sky. All thanks to God.
May 31, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
“We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives, and crops. But [Prophet}, give news to those who are steadfast, those who say, when afflicted with a calamity, 'We belong to God and to Him we shall return.' These will be given blessings and mercy from their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided." [Verses 155-157]
May 29, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
It is He who shows you the lightning, inspiring fear and hope; He builds up the clouds heavy with rain; the thunder sounds His praises, as do the angels in awe of Him; He sends thunderbolts to strike whoever He will. Yet still they dispute about God – He has mighty plans. [Verses 12-13 from The Thunder]
It is thundering today in Southern California, and that is truly strange. Yesterday I was just talking to our painter about how it thunders so much in Boston, where I used to live not too long ago. It is so powerful – thunder – it really makes me feel that God is shaking the earth.
Sometimes when you go through hardship, it feels so scary just like a thunderstorm. The problem bottles up immensely until you feel you are going to burst from its intensity. With thunder, you hear the rumbling and the pressure only to feel that the sky almost splits open and then the rain pours out, pure and blissful. I have felt that same feeling with different problems and situations. That after so much hardship, ease pours out and many beneficial things then come out of it.
May 29, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
Dear all,
I’ve been often reflecting on the state of this economy, and all the troubles and difficulties that surround us. I wonder, how can any of the people around me survive all of these difficulties without God in their lives? And then I think, the truth is, so many people are not able to survive. There are suicides, we are numbing ourselves sick with medications to forget, and the psychological ills are so many. I feel sad about these things. I wish I could help. I wish people would open up their lives to ask God to help them (He will.) and set their lives aright. ..for me, just reading His words helps immensely in any situation.
I am starting this blog to encourage and motivate myself to read the words of God more and reflect upon them each and every day. I need this in order to have a positive effect on my soul, my life, and connect me with my Creator. This gives me great peace in my life, no matter what may be going on around me. It helps to center my life not around the things going on every day, but on an afterlife that I wish, pray, hope will be all the better and more wonderful for me than this entire world and what is in it.
Won’t you join me!
Dunia
