; Hell-o-ween

I seem to always have something to say when it comes to Halloween every year. One of the many pet peeves I share with many sisters is when Muslims not only acknowledge this holiday but participate and ANTICIPATE attending related events.

I don't understand why some think it's alright to celebrate Halloween but Haram to celebrate Christmas & Valentine's or vice versa. Don't they all fall under the same category?

Halloween is a highly commercialised Pagan holiday called Samhain which is pronounced as "Sow-ween"

I have tried speaking about it to a handful of sisters but most just push it aside and say "We're not celebrating halloween, we're just attending the party" Lol what. When I try to explain to them that acknowledging a celebration that is out of the religion may fall under shirk or haram, they give me the "Are you a fundamentalist?" look.

If there are some of you who mistake for it to be a CULTURAL celebration like Chinese New Year then I'm telling you it's not. If you must know ( I have mentioned this before in my Halloween-related post a year ago), some Christians don't even celebrate halloween for they do not acknowledge for it to be a part of Christianity.

So Muslims, are we saying that this is part of Islam?

A'qilah Saiere

; Just a couple of Issues.

Perhaps I've spoken about this before but I'll speak about it again if it brings any good to anyone. It saddens me to see how brothers and sisters choose to spend their times arguing about rulings trying to prove to one another of who the better Muslim is.

What I don't understand is how these Muslims do not understand that their opinions do not determine how Islam should be. Allah subhanallah ta'ala completed our religion 1400 years ago and ever since, 'ulamas who lived from the time of the golden ages have debated and laid out numerous rulings for people like us to refer to and practise which we are most comfortable in practising. We spend our days debating about what WE think is seemingly right without having to think about the repercussions of our actions.

Change is constant in everything - everything except for Islam. We can debate day in and day out about little things we choose to fuss about and create massive chaos within the ummah but Islam will NEVER change with accordance to our opinions. We will eventually practise the Islam that we feel is right and whatever that Islam may possibly be it shall remain to be (inshaAllah) the religion that Allah subhanallah ta'ala has blessed us with and the one religion that Muhammad (sallahu 'alayhi wasalam) has taught us.

If only we could stop bickering and start to learn to be a servant, we'd all then realise the sweetness of having the shahadah at the tip of our tongues.

Now that I have brought that point across, I just wish to spread the word across to the Singaporeans reading this blog that FMSA (amongst the many other Muslim organizations) is organizing a Qurban programme for those who wish to conduct their sacrifice in the neighbouring SEA countries.

Here's the link for more info - http://www.qurban-fmsa.blogspot.com/

A'qilah Saiere

Why do we reduce our Lord's greatness?

We're all human and we tend to make a thousand mistakes a day. One of the many that we do is one to reduce our Lord's greatness.

Allah has many names to His incredible nature and one that we hear everyday is "Akbar".

He is the greatest.

One that we have at the end of our tongues before we do almost anything is "Ar Rahim".

He is the most MERCIFUL.

I have met so many brothers and sisters that speak about how there is no use in them seeking forgiveness from Allah subhanaAllah ta'ala because of their seemingly mountainous amount of sins. With that, they see no point in standing up in prayer or remembering Him in supplications and move on with their lives to commit the same mistakes/sins over and over again.

But do they not remember that Allah is He who forgives His servants.

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:

“Allah the Almighty said:

‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.’”

One of my biggest pet peeves is when Muslims make excuses for their laziness. You are not standing up in prayer not because you see no hope in being granted forgiveness but because you're lazy to spend a couple of minutes five times a day to stand before Allah.

Allah is Akbar, Allah is Ar Rahman and Allah is Ar Rahim -

How dare you reduce His greatness, generosity and mercy with your assumptions of how He wouldn't forgive you?

If you want respect, you earn it. If you want forgiveness, SEEK IT.

A'qilah Saiere

; Give them some credit will you?

When I actually get some time to spend my nights on the internet, I'd log onto youtube and check out some swagging Hijabi sisters on their vlogs or hijab tutorials or say outfit and fashion videos. I've been on youtube for ages and though I am not as active nowadays compared to how I used to last time, I still do see them keyboard warriors spamming people's profiles.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when MUSLIMS start to criticise their fellow brothers and sisters in their "attempts" of making da'wah. I see sisters commenting on these youtube stars' channels telling them how they deserve to be stoned to death because they are showing off their faces on the internet and cracking jokes and "encouraging their sisters to be wearing things they are not supposed to".

Look I can understand how maybe some sisters tend to reduce the value of the hijab to a mere fashion statement or say, they accesorise themselves to an extend that the hijab loses it's modest value but who are you judge them of their intentions.

Even if you do not agree with the way they wear the scarves or the way they dress there is no need for you to publicly humiliate them with your seemingly religious opinions. If you are genuine about wanting to make them realise then you should probably send them a private message. There has to be some sort of respect even if you wish to correct someone.

Also, have you any idea how many sisters have been motivated to wear the hijab because of them?

Give them some credit will you? This could be their form of da'wah to promote the hijab.

If we judge our own sisters and start creating fitnah and be critical of their intentions then who are they to rely on for protection? Who are they to rely on for support?

A'qilah Saiere