New and Improved *ME* v2.0

[Mandarina]

As-salaamu ‘alaykum!

I know that there are two AlMaghrib tribes which have already taken shaykh Muhammad’s BOC class and what I will write here is probably old news for you. But I have been so moved with the first weekend of this class that I can’t hold back. I just want to share some thoughts and some gems that really struck a cord with me. I hope that what I write here becomes a reminder for me so that I do not loose sight of what I’ve learned, and some of you may benefit from it as well.

You can use this thread to post your own thoughts and reflections on the class. I’ll actually inshaAllah start another thread where I’ll put some gems and why they meant so much to me.

=========================================

Shaykh Muhammad mentioned that someone from the previous tribes who took this class made a comment that the BOC should have been named “How to me a Muslim – 101.” He also mentioned that another possible name for this class was “Tarbiyya (i.e. raising and nurturing individuals with Islamic character) – 101.” I could not agree with these alternate titles more. They indeed provide very descriptive information on what this class is all about. And given how much distanced are we from the way of Allah and His Messenger, Muslims today very much need to be taught the basics of what it means to be believer in Allah.

I feel comfortable saying that this past weekend changed my life. I know that it may be a bit too early to say that because the time will show whether I really change or not, but what I know for sure is that by Monday I was not the same person I was on Friday. My plan for implementing my goals in life has totally changed, my view of my relationship with Allah has changed, I got to the bottom of many of my strivings and actions and I now understand what was the driving force behind them and I realize that it must change. (My wife very much feels the same but I’ll let her inshaAllah give her own reflections.) My life goal on Friday was the same it is on Monday – to get to jannah, inshaAllah. But I now have a totally different outlook on what I must do to get there inshaAllah. My plan for my own Islamic studies has changed, my plan for my day-to-day activities has changed, my plan for improving my relationship with Allah has changed... And alhamdulillah, I have already taken concrete steps towards implementing these plans and I pray that Allah swt gives me strength to be steadfast in carrying them out. I pray that this weekend was a not a weekend of motivation, but a weekend of building momentum. And I hope that you’ll keep me in your du’aas, inshaAllah. Before this class, I had all my priorities messed up and this weekend really opened my eyes and enabled me to realize what I should be focusing on. I now have flashbacks and I remember seeing many signs (even on this forum) telling me what my priorities are but I saw them only with my eyes – they never reached my ‘aql and my heart until the veil has been lifted from my eyes.

Brothers from IlmQuest had a table outside the classroom and the table had a poster about an upcoming program by shaykh Isam Rajab who has been with us on this forum. The title of the seminar is “You – Version 2.0 (Upgrade Yourse).” After this first weekend of BOC class, I feel exactly like the title of this upcoming program. I feel like: New and Improved *ME* v2.0.

Wa-s-salaamu 'alaykum

[Ha Mim]

BOC sure is a life chnging expericence i pray to Allah swt that we apply this knowledge and hope that this knowledge does not become a proof againt us on the day of judgement. May Allah give us all Taufeeq

[ikhlaas]

walaykum assalam,

mashaAllah brother, May Allah keep your plans on a firm foothold and further build your momentum...aameen. I loved your comments, may Allah reward you for sharing it with us...all I can say is, inshaAllah we'll try our best to get alMaghrib down here to California..please do keep us in your dua'as.

wassalam
akhuk,
--ikhlaas

[Abu MishMish]

Mandarina: Can you give an example on how it changed you.

[Mandarina]

Mandarina: Can you give an example on how it changed you.


I’ll be glad to share some examples with you brother. Please give me some time to find few minutes to sit down and write that up. In the meantime, you can visit this link:

http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=3408

It will inshaAllah give you an idea of some concrete steps that I’ll be taking.

Also in the mean time, here's another way for me to express how I now feel. :)

If there is such a thing as a “Born Again Muslim” then this past weekend made me one. :)

[*InshAllah*]

BOC sure is a life chnging expericence i pray to Allah swt that we apply this knowledge and hope that this knowledge does not become a proof againt us on the day of judgement. May Allah give us all Taufeeq


BOC was a life changing expierience, the best class I have ever been to in my life al7amdulilah, insha'Allah we will all apply the knowlege to our lives and change everyday CONSTANT NEVER ENDING IMPROVEMENT ..ameen

[Mandarina]

Mandarina: Can you give an example on how it changed you.

As-salaamu 'alaykum brother.

I did not forget about this question. On contrary, I've been thinking about it a lot.

There are several reasons why I have not responded to your questions yet.

First, I kept changing in the last few weeks a lot :-) and every time I would think “this is it, this is new me” I would get “enlightened” anew. What I mean is that, if I was *ME* v2.0 a week after the class, two weeks later I was already *ME* v3.0. By now I am probably at about *ME* v4.7. :-) The reason for this is that I kept thinking A LOT ever since the class and as I was thinking more and more I starter realizing more and more things (some of these things I talked about in Dilemmas #1 and #2) and then I decided to make changes in my life accordingly.

The second reason has to do with my own sincerity. Basically, I was asking my self “How do I answer this question and make sure that I am sincere to Allah.” This question “How do I do something and make sure I am truly doing it purely for Allah’s sake” has been hunting me for years now. Back in summer of 2001, I started reading a book by Ahmad Fareed titled “Al-Bahr-ur-Raa'iq fee az-Zuhdi war-Reqaa'iq”.^(see footnote at the bottom) By the time I read first half of the first chapter, I found what I read to be so powerful that I stopped reading and started pondering over what I read. I never went back to fully finish reading this book, while the message of that first half of the first chapter (which dealt with sincerity to Allah) kept resonating in my head ever since. So, the question here is how do I share with others positive changes in my life in order to, for example, stimulate them to do the same, or to explain to them how AlMaghrib classes can benefit them too, or to simply answer their question, while insuring that there is no “show off” involved and the act is truly done for Allah’s sake. I don’t know how you other people deal with this, but I find this to be a really difficult struggle. I used to think that simply saying to oneself “I am doing this for Allah’s sake” was sufficient, but I have learned over the years (including from my BOC experience) that this is sooooo not true. Shaytaan is so trick...it is unbelievable how he gets into your head and fools you into thinking “hey, I am doing this fee sabeel-i-llah” while in reality he is getting you to feed your own desires. Shaykh Muhammad spoke a lot about this in the first weekend of BOC class in Houston and this revived my concerns for my own sincerity and it led me to self-reevaluation. It was actually shaykh Muhammad’s courage for sharing his own imperfections when it comes to sincerity towards Allah in front of 250+ of his students that made most effect on me and helped me realize where I was and why was I doing some of the things I was doing.

So, I have finally decided to go ahead and answer your question.^^ Before I do that, I praise Allah swt and thank Him for selecting me as a recipient of His mercy delivered by the BOC class. I praise Him and thank Him for giving me the strength to implement these changes into my life. I pray (PLEASE sincerely say AMEEEN so that Allah may accept this du’aa) that He makes these actions solely for His sake and that He gives me strength to remain steadfast on them. I also pray that He accepts this post as something done solely for His sake. And I pray that you all find this beneficial. I also ask that you keep me in your du’aas.

==========================

* I am now regular for fajr at the masjid (~7 minutes drive away from my home). Needless to say, I have not been doing this before. Alhamdulillah, I was good with on-time fajr at home, but as for the masjid - I always had more important things to do. I was telling my self that farj at the masjid was not obligatory (I can’t hear the adhaan) while it was obligatory to work on the revival of the Ummah. So, I was telling myself, why lose 45 minutes for fajr when that time could be used to study the deen, do da’wah (on-line where many people are reached) etc. I now realized that I need that fajr at the masjid. I has such a great effect on me and it is that fajr that gives me strength to study the deen, do the da’wah etc.

* I started reciting and memorizing Qur’an regularly. Being as occupied as I was (and I’ll write more about this below), I did not have time for regular recitation of the Qur’an. Additionally, in the first few years after embracing Islam, I memorized about 1 juz of the Qur’an. Then, during the following 6-7 years, I memorized about 2 new pages. I’ve been saying to myself that it was more practically useful to study the meanings that come from the Qur’an (i.e. teachings of Islam), rather than spend time memorizing the verses. Basically, I was telling myself that this was better for the da’wah (meaning, if I learn the teachings of Islam and then do da’wah to others, I’ll be more beneficial to the Ummah than if I was to spend my time memorizing more Qur’an at the expense of studying the teachings of Islam). The fact of the matter is that I need this companionship with the Qur’an and this relationships gives me strength for the da’wah as well. So, I am now regular at the Qur’an halaqa. In the weeks since the BOC class, I’ve memorized full 5 pages of the Qur’an. All praise is due to Allah!

* I no longer sleep after fajr. I always new sleeping after fajr was not good and have always been trying to implement this but I have not been very successful, up until I took the BOC class. And now that I am not sleeping after fajr period, maaaan it feels so great!!! “Sleep does not give us strength!”

* I started working out. :) And this also feels great!!! I am still, however, getting my ducks in row on this one, but I’ve been pretty good. “Pleasure does not make us stronger!”

* I started fasting Mondays and Thursdays. I’ve been always trying to this as well, but I never managed to be consistent. Every year I’d generally fast 6 days of shawaal and then start fasting Mondays and Thursdays. I was always telling myself “Man, this is such an easy ‘ibaadah. I don’t have to dedicate special time for it; I don’t have to do anything extra. I can still go to work, go to school, read a book, and still be getting the reward for fasting.” But I still never managed to keep it going through out the year. I feel that this time it is much different, and I pray that Allah swt gives me strength to stick with this commitment. And although fasting is easy to do in terms of what I mentioned above, but it is still a hardship. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is hardship which makes us stronger!

* I started praying qiyaam-u-layl twice a week. Nothing fancy, just two reka’ats during the nights before Monday and Thursday. I do suhur and qiyam in one setting. Before BOC class, I’ve prayed qiyaam-u-layl about twice in my life. “Sleep does not give us strength!”

* I eat more sensibly. I eat smaller amounts. I eat healthier food. This is another area where I need much more work, but I’ve changed considerably. This is another thing I knew I need to change, but I never had the guts to actually do it. BOC gave me strength to actually change my eating habits.

* I started making du’aa regularly. One of my gems from the class is that “du’aa should be part of our daily life”. Before the BOC, for a long time, I’ve been saying myself “Allah knows my thoughts, He knows my strivings, He knows what I’m hoping for, He knows what I am working for.” So, the most I’d do would be saying “ya rabbee do so and so” on the fly. But I realized that this does not substitute (nor is there a substitute) for slave-master relationship in which hands are raised and sincere du’aa is made.

* I started spending more time with my family and friends. During the spring of this year (academic spring semester), my wife and I visited about 1 friend of ours and we had about 1 friend come visit us. We (i.e. mainly I) had no time for anybody. I also did not have time to spend any quality time with my wife and daughter. Now, every weekend (except this last one) we either had someone come over or we went and visited someone. My wife and I read Qur’an together, we often go to the masjid together, we drink tea together before I go to work, we read stories about companions together with our daughter, we started playing tennis on weekend mornings, we went on a picnic...

* I resumed my active study of Arabic. I’ve been studying Arabic on and off for many years now. And I’ve always been sidetracked by this or that. I’d move to a new location and lose a teacher, a teacher would move to a new location, I’d be busy with this college studies, then I’d be busy with graduate studies, then I’d be busy with Islamic studies in English etc. etc. etc. Lately, I’ve been telling myself that since the study of Arabic really needs lots of dedication and time, and since I was busy with so many other important things, and since (I was telling myself) “there is so much Islamic knowledge which I don’t yet have and it is available in English” I should concentrate on studying in English for time being and put Arabic on a side for a while. But then, BOC opened my eyes on this front as well and I told myself “Dude, I’ve got to learn Arabic NOW.” What made me realize this the most was this: Included in the 1 juz of Qur’an which I’ve known from my early years in Islam, there are first five pages of Surat al-Baqarah (up to aayah 48). In addition to having them memorized, I knew enough Arabic to understand their meaning as well. During the first weekend of BOC, we covered exactly up to aayah 48. As for the second weekend, we dealt with ayaat which I had not memorized and did not know their meaning. Consequently, studying tafseer (in English) during the first weekend (when I knew the ayaat and their meaning) compared with studying tafseer during the second weekend (when I did not know the ayaat nor their meaning) was like the difference between the day and the night, the light and the darkness, both spiritually and as far as absorbing knowledge is concerned. This is when I said enough is enough. I resumed my Qur’an memorization as well as Arabic study programs. Alhamdulillahi rabbil-aalameen!

By now you’re probably saying “This brother Mandarina must have been a real bum. If he now all of a sudden has time for Qur’an, Arabic, masjid, friends and family, he must have had so much free time which he was wasting doing nothing.” Well, the things aren’t that simple.

Most of us are extremely busy today. We barely have time to do anything which we say we should do (go to the masjid, study Islam, learn Arabic etc.) We’re so busy because we’re occupied with other things for which we believe we must busy ourselves with. So, each person basically has to decide for himself/herself which are the things that really matter in life and what is the priority. Then we should start working on those priorities. We start at the top of the list and we do the things that are on the top, until we run out of time (or other required resources). You then draw a line there and you say “this is it.” And although there will be many things bellow the line which you’d like to be involved with, you simply don’t. This may be hart braking sometimes (I have a story about this to tell but I’ll leave it for some other time) because many important things will be below the line. But we have to stick to our priorities because they are the most important.

So, what did I do to find time for Qur’an, Arabic etc.?

* I stopped my graduate studies in my professional field (although I am not paying a dime for it; my employer picks up the tab for everything, including the books). For at last 5 years, I was determined on a plan to pursue a PhD in my professional field. I thought that having a PhD would bring many benefits: it would provide me with more job security; it would provide me with more freedom of movement (anywhere in the world there are universities that need teachers, while only few countries have a job opportunities for an experienced semiconductor engineer, for example); being a professor (I thought) would give me lots of free time (both during the summers as well as throughout the year) which I could use for Islamic studies and da’wah; being a teacher would provide me with an opportunity to be with young people and inshaALlah influence them (and it is youth that is willing to change and that generally brings the change); having a PhD would also be good for da’wah (people are more willing to listen if they know that the person speaking has a PhD); once we have our Islamic State established, inshaAllahu ta’aala, there will be a great need for scientists etc. So, all of these benefits made my choice very clear. But then I read a book “PhD is not enough” (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201626632/002-8350339-9748020?v=glance) and instead of convincing me that “PhD is not enough” the book (as well as observation of many of my PhD student friends) actually made me start doubting that PhD is worth the trouble. And then came BOC after which I did lots of thinking and then I came to a conclusion that I really need something else which is much more important than a PhD. I concluded that we don’t really need more PhD in engineering and other dunya sciences. I realized that my graduate studies are taking me away from things that really matter and things that I should be focusing on. I told myself that I should start living my proclaimed belief that rizq comes from Allah which is something I always firmly believed but I was, I guess, still trying to “tie the camel” before putting my trust in Allah. But now I say that I’ve spent enough years of my life “tying the camel” since the education I already have gives me much more chance for employment than most people out there. So, on the first day of classes for Fall semester I withdrew from the university. I was not 100% certain at that point that I am doing the right thing, but it felt very good and I told my self that if I realize that I’ve made a mistake later during the semester, pausing for one term would not be too terribly bad and I could always go back in the Spring. But as the time goes buy, I feel more and more assured that this is the right thing to do. Wallahu ta’aala a‘alam.

* I dropped out of AOU for a semester, and maybe more (I hope that shaykh Muhammad does not get in trouble for this :)). On Monday, the day after the first BOC weekend, both my wife and I filled out our drop forms for the Fall semester. The reason I did this is that I wanted to take a semester off from there and go back and properly cover the material from some of the courses which I already took but for which I felt I did not give them their proper right. During the Spring semester, I was taking two graduate level courses (in my professional field) and four classes at AOU. This is, of course, in addition to working full time, having a wife and a daughter, being involved in da’wah projects etc. Back then I realized that I was being overburdened and that I needed to change things around. But still during the summer I took one graduate class and two classes with AlMaghrib. In all of this, I felt that I was not giving things their full right so I was going to reduce my load for the Fall. But BOC class made me I realized that beside my desire (proclaimed by me to myself) that I was doing all this so that I could benefit the Ummah, there was something else driving me. I was trying to fulfill my need of feeling significant, and having people like me. I was so determined to finish my bachelor degree there as soon as possible as if I was telling myself that the only way I could benefit the Ummah was by getting a bachelors degree in Islamic Studies. So, I told myself at that point that I was going to start doing things right. I was not going to rush to finish my degree there anymore. I am going to inshaAllah take my time but do things right. Bi idhnillah, I am not taking classes again until I am back on track with my Arabic and until I have digested the material from all previous courses.

* I have not watched a single movie since the BOC. I got rid of my TV long time ago, alhamdulillah (I wrote the story here on the forum), but I’ve had this major movie-craving even after that. So, I’ve been fighting this fight against the movies for a long time. At times I’d be very good (i.e. watching less), but then at times I’d be very bad (watching more). I also think that being overburdened contributed to my watching movies. Friday night would come, I’d be exhausted from the week, I’d have a ton load of lectures to watch/listen for my classes, pile of homework to do, exams coming up etc. So, not knowing where to start, I’d say “let me go get a movie, relax, get some rest, so that I can then be ready to tackle all of this work.” I pray that Allah swt gives me strength to stay movie-free. Please pray for me as I am an addict in recovery.

I think I’ll stop here. There are other small things as well but I hope inshaAllah this will suffice as a reply to the question. Overall, I've never felt this good about life, about being a Muslim...

Ya Rabbee, please make me steadfast in all of this!!! Ya Rabbee, make this be a reflection of a momentum and not just a wave of motivation.

Walhamdulillahi rabbi-l-‘aalameen.

Wa-s-salaamu ‘alaykum

================================================== ===

^ The title means something like “The Clear Sea of Asceticism and Refinement.” I have it in my native language, i.e. Bosnian. I’d highly recommend reading it if available even though I have not fully read it because I referenced to it on numerous occasions and found it to be great. Note: If you are (I am talking here to anyone reading this) one of those people who freak out :D when encountering anything which so much as smells like Sufi, don’t get scared by the word “asceticism” - the book’s like 100% non-Sufi. It was introduced to Bosnian readership as an alternative to Sufi meaning and teaching of zuhd/asceticism.

^^ As to why I decided to answer this question, here are the reasons:

1. While debating with myself whether to answer or not, I was also thinking what would I write if I decide to answer it. And every time I’d come to something that was presenting me in a bad light (e.g. that I was not reciting Qur’an regularly, that I watched movies, that I was sleeping after fajr etc.) I would get this bad feeling, a feeling of wanting to hide this, a feeling saying “what are they going to say when they hear this disappointing fact” etc. And then I told myself “you’re gonna answer this question, but you’re gonna tell it all.” So, I feel that saying all this here is my struggle against my own self. I feel that by saying it I am winning a battle against my own desires. Wallahu ta’aala a’alam.

2. I feel that if I say this publicly, I am making a bigger, even more serious commitment to it. What I mean is that, next time I get tempted to, for example, get up for fajr, pray at home and get back to bed, I would feel that this is nifaaq because y’all are thinking that morning :) how Mandarina is at fajr at the masjid while I am actually curled up under the blanket. And since I know the place of munafiqoon in jahannam, I’ll be extra scared and would fight extra hard to make it to the masjid and not sleep.

================================================== ===

P.S. To answer your question from the "solution" thread, I still struggle with Arabic (which is, I guess, obvious from what I wrote in this post), but if the book is only available in Arabic, I'd still like to know where it is available.

[Abu MishMish]

Very Interesting. may Allaah steadfast you, Ameen.

Concerning the book - I have a softcopy in English.

[Mursaleen AlKhurasani]

...may Allaah steadfast you, Ameen.
...
Ameen, Jazakallahu khairen Mandarina for sharing that.
May Allah keep us all steadfast...ameen

[abuomayr]

As Ustad said in the class, there is not stagnation in the life. Either goes upward or downward. Alahdu Lillah Allah (SWT) blessed you with taking it upward. Do not forget to pray for your other brothers and sisters.

[AbdulHasib]

As Ustad said in the class, there is not stagnation in the life. Either goes upward or downward. Alahdu Lillah Allah (SWT) blessed you with taking it upward. Do not forget to pray for your other brothers and sisters.

I loved that part of the Class. I'm writing a treatise on this and how the concept of EmanRush fits in (Based on Sh.Muhammad's Science of the EmanRush khutbah, me and another brother had been thinking about it a month before he gave it... but MASHALLAH ta'la the shiekh had an EXCELLENT khutbah)

Here is a small taste (from another thread... someone was asking advice on how to return children or teenagers back to the deen i.e. Who are on the "downward trend...stagnation" etc.):

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

WA'laikum Assalam wa rahmatAllah.

What do they like to do?

Replace it with something in ISLAM, how? Root them in the foundations. Before they can learn to love the Deen and Love Allah(swt) and His Messenger (saw) they have to know whoe He(swt) is and WHAT the deen is.

e.g. If someone plays 4-5 hours of basketball a day. Prays, but not w/ khushoo' and treats it more like a "task" OR doesn't pray at all or maybe a few times a day IF that. What is wrong with them? THEY HAVE A FOUNDATION PROBLEM. Not rooted in the foundations of the religion.

If the tree is not rooted then how can you taste the FRUITS of imaan?

Give them sh.Muhammad's "regret" cd. Make them listen to these awesome shiookh lectures. WHY? I KNOW someone out there is going.."dude... come on, the LAST thing they want to listen to is a LECTURE."

Check out my theory... Every person when he commits a sin, UNLESS his/her heart has been sealed by ALLAH(swt) (see Al-Baqarah. 18. "They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the Right Path)." May Allah(swt) protect us from that.), has a certain level of DISCOMFORT... this is because of a natural state of FITRAH (i.e. hadith of RasoolAllah(saw); we were all born pure and in a state of fitrah and then the parents turn the child into jew, christian, or magian ).

So what happens when that person goes back to Allah(ta'la)? AN EMANRUSH...

The "DISCOMFORT LEVEL" with their sin has gone to such an extent that they break down from the inside and HAVE to return to Allah(swt), because Allah(swt) IS the INEVITABLE, if they don't return they WILL not survive and we've seen many cases of this.

The person what usually happens is that they have ONE EmanRush and then they go back to being "normal" and their own self... and then you see them 4 months later and they have an EmanRush AGAIN and they regret AGAIN...discomfort is going up and down up and down up and down...like a SIN or COSINE graph...it reaches a "LEVEL" of low (meaning they CAN'T do something REALLY haram... i.e. drinking Khamr, Zina, etc.... because they were "raised Muslim" and they know the 'REALLY HARAM' things) and it reaches that level of HIGH (meaning the EmanRush where they realize the sins they commit, regret, feel sorry, etc.) and then there is that time between that where it's going UP to the EmanRush and then Down to the "low point" where they are committing sins.

http://matcmadison.edu/ald/lab/geometry/images/2D/sine.gif

OK so how to fix this? GIVE THEM A CONTINUOUS DISCOMFORT LEVEL... how to do that? Ground them in the Foundations of this deen. The more they know about Allah(swt), the religion, the Qur'an and Sunnah... the more they KNOW what they are doing, if they don't repent, they WILL get punished... which increases that EMANRUSH SINE graph into an exponentially increasing graph:

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/gif/expppf.gif

I can write more inshAllah ta'la (please excuse my lax of hadith and ayat)... i am writing about this currently but i'm late for my class. I will try to get some more in inshAllah if needed.

[B]May Allah(swt) return all of the misguided to the right Path. May He(awj) guide us and them. Ya muqallibal quloob thabit qoolooboona a'la deenak.

WAllahu Ta'la A'lam
WA Akhiroo da'wan anil hamduLILLAHi Rabul A'lameen.
WAssalamua'laikum wa rahmatAllah.

[AbdulHasib]

BarakAllahu feek Akhi Mehdi.. I love your posts and benifit from them every time akhi.

Did you read that book you asked me about the one fromg AHYA? InshAllah email me some feedback when you have the chance. :D

I LOVE YOU FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH (SWT) AKHI! I WANT TO SEE YOU THIS SATURDAY IN HOUSTON INSHALLAH! :D

WAllahu A'lam

[MrEspy78]

subhanallah - such a beneficial post...really puts things into perspective and I feel as though you were writing MY thoughts Br. Mandarina...

[al ilm noor]

I loved that part of the Class. I'm writing a treatise on this and how the concept of EmanRush fits in (Based on Sh.Muhammad's Science of the EmanRush khutbah, me and another brother had been thinking about it a month before he gave it... but MASHALLAH ta'la the shiekh had an EXCELLENT khutbah)

Here is a small taste (from another thread... someone was asking advice on how to return children or teenagers back to the deen i.e. Who are on the "downward trend...stagnation" etc.):

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

WA'laikum Assalam wa rahmatAllah.

What do they like to do?

Replace it with something in ISLAM, how? Root them in the foundations. Before they can learn to love the Deen and Love Allah(swt) and His Messenger (saw) they have to know whoe He(swt) is and WHAT the deen is.

e.g. If someone plays 4-5 hours of basketball a day. Prays, but not w/ khushoo' and treats it more like a "task" OR doesn't pray at all or maybe a few times a day IF that. What is wrong with them? THEY HAVE A FOUNDATION PROBLEM. Not rooted in the foundations of the religion.

If the tree is not rooted then how can you taste the FRUITS of imaan?

Give them sh.Muhammad's "regret" cd. Make them listen to these awesome shiookh lectures. WHY? I KNOW someone out there is going.."dude... come on, the LAST thing they want to listen to is a LECTURE."

Check out my theory... Every person when he commits a sin, UNLESS his/her heart has been sealed by ALLAH(swt) (see Al-Baqarah. 18. "They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the Right Path)." May Allah(swt) protect us from that.), has a certain level of DISCOMFORT... this is because of a natural state of FITRAH (i.e. hadith of RasoolAllah(saw); we were all born pure and in a state of fitrah and then the parents turn the child into jew, christian, or magian ).

So what happens when that person goes back to Allah(ta'la)? AN EMANRUSH...

The "DISCOMFORT LEVEL" with their sin has gone to such an extent that they break down from the inside and HAVE to return to Allah(swt), because Allah(swt) IS the INEVITABLE, if they don't return they WILL not survive and we've seen many cases of this.

The person what usually happens is that they have ONE EmanRush and then they go back to being "normal" and their own self... and then you see them 4 months later and they have an EmanRush AGAIN and they regret AGAIN...discomfort is going up and down up and down up and down...like a SIN or COSINE graph...it reaches a "LEVEL" of low (meaning they CAN'T do something REALLY haram... i.e. drinking Khamr, Zina, etc.... because they were "raised Muslim" and they know the 'REALLY HARAM' things) and it reaches that level of HIGH (meaning the EmanRush where they realize the sins they commit, regret, feel sorry, etc.) and then there is that time between that where it's going UP to the EmanRush and then Down to the "low point" where they are committing sins.

http://matcmadison.edu/ald/lab/geometry/images/2D/sine.gif

OK so how to fix this? GIVE THEM A CONTINUOUS DISCOMFORT LEVEL... how to do that? Ground them in the Foundations of this deen. The more they know about Allah(swt), the religion, the Qur'an and Sunnah... the more they KNOW what they are doing, if they don't repent, they WILL get punished... which increases that EMANRUSH SINE graph into an exponentially increasing graph:

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/gif/expppf.gif

I can write more inshAllah ta'la (please excuse my lax of hadith and ayat)... i am writing about this currently but i'm late for my class. I will try to get some more in inshAllah if needed.

[b]May Allah(swt) return all of the misguided to the right Path. May He(awj) guide us and them. Ya muqallibal quloob thabit qoolooboona a'la deenak.

WAllahu Ta'la A'lam
WA Akhiroo da'wan anil hamduLILLAHi Rabul A'lameen.
WAssalamua'laikum wa rahmatAllah.This is a very interesting theory; one that I think I'm a living example of. Although I was born into a Muslim family, I always say to myself that I never became Muslim until about 2 years ago. And when I think in retrospect as to how it all happened, well first and foremost of course it's because Allah swt chose to guide me, and if I thanked Him every second of my life for the rest of my life it would not be enough. I feel so honored that I was among those that Allah swt chose to guide, although I still have a lot to work on myself.

But as to events that caused my change, I can really only attribute it to, as you said, short little bouts of EmanRushes; in the beginning they were quite sparse, and then as time went on, as I started integrating more with my Muslim sisters instead of non-Muslims, as I started going more to the masjid, and reading more Qur'an and Islamic literature, the EmanRushes became more frequent and greater in magnitude. For the most part, the EmanRushes resulted from a discomfort, as a deep-down feeling inside that I'm not doing my duty to Allah swt. And as with every discomfort there is ease (fa inna ma'al 'usr yusra), the ease was the comfort I finally had in knowing what Allah wants from me and the firm resolve I had to change my condition.

I will forever be grateful to Allah swt and to those sisters who helped guide me without even knowing that they were doing so, may Allah swt reward them for it in this life and in al akhira. Ameen.

May Allah swt make our eman increase exponentially as you suggest in your graph!

And Jazzak Allah khair br. Mandarina for sharing your personal story.

[AbdulHasib]

This is a very interesting theory; one that I think I'm a living example of. Although I was born into a Muslim family, I always say to myself that I never became Muslim until about 2 years ago. And when I think in retrospect as to how it all happened, well first and foremost of course it's because Allah swt chose to guide me, and if I thanked Him every second of my life for the rest of my life it would not be enough. I feel so honored that I was among those that Allah swt chose to guide, although I still have a lot to work on myself.

But as to events that caused my change, I can really only attribute it to, as you said, short little bouts of EmanRushes; in the beginning they were quite sparse, and then as time went on, as I started integrating more with my Muslim sisters instead of non-Muslims, as I started going more to the masjid, and reading more Qur'an and Islamic literature, the EmanRushes became more frequent and greater in magnitude. For the most part, the EmanRushes resulted from a discomfort, as a deep-down feeling inside that I'm not doing my duty to Allah swt. And as with every discomfort there is ease (fa inna ma'al 'usr yusra), the ease was the comfort I finally had in knowing what Allah wants from me and the firm resolve I had to change my condition.

I will forever be grateful to Allah swt and to those sisters who helped guide me without even knowing that they were doing so, may Allah swt reward them for it in this life and in al akhira. Ameen.

May Allah swt make our eman increase exponentially as you suggest in your graph!

And Jazzak Allah khair br. Mandarina for sharing your personal story.

BarakAllahu feek ukhtee for that benificial post.

What you mentioned about how it relates to yourself, this is the EXACT reason why I chose to write about this. I'm in the process of writing a treatise on the subject. Nearly all people I've met give a similiar story. I've always thought about it but as soon as I got the concept of an EmanRush down... The puzzle came together.

InshAllah ta'la I hope this will be very beneficial for all the brothers and sisters who are either going THROUGH this... or they realize finally what is going on and they change their lives and a variety of other reasons, the first and foremost of which is Purely for pleasing Allah(swt) and seeking His(awj) reward.

May Allah(swt) accept this deed from us and May He(Swt) purify our intentions.

I will inshAllah ta'la someday make a thread and seek the advice of the brothers and sisters and THEIR experiences with it as well as a cool title, after consulting with my shiookh.

WAllahu A'lam
WAssalamu'alaikum wa rahmatAllah