Words For The Heart

As I'm waiting for this movie to buffer, I keep myself busy reading between a book and some helpful websites, blogs, news, etc. I happened to loiter at I Got It Covered which is an Islamic site that caters to contemporary muslim women. I have been looking for good religious reads that will boost or open my heart back to my faith. It's not that I completely lose my faith but oftentimes I forget worshiping The Almighty Allah SWT. It somehow feels like I have lost my connection to Him by missing my prayers. Prayers, as we know, is a form of meditation that enables us to talk to Allah, ask for forgiveness and express our heart's desires. I am completely aware also that I can not blame anything or anyone, such as clerkship, for missing my prayers. "If there's a will, there's a way.". What I'm trying to say is that shaytan has got the best of me by skipping one of the essentials of my faith, but He perfectly knows how I try to push the demon out of my way and run towards His path. While reading on some articles on the above-mentioned website, I noticed some quotes lingering on the side. These I wanna share:

"Things aren’t always as they seem. Umm Musa was told to throw her son in the river, Yusuf was left for dead in a well, Maryam delivered a child alone, Yunus was swallowed by a whale, Ibrahim was thrown in the fire and Umm Salamah thought no one could be better than Abu Salamah. Yet look at how it turned out for them… in the end. So don’t worry, Allah has a plan for you."

— AmatuAllah
"The medicine of the heart is five things: reading Qur’an and pondering its meaning; having an empty stomach; praying at night (qiyam al-layl), beseeching Allah at the time of suhoor; and keeping company with righteous people." — Yahya ibn Mu’adh 
"Don’t have a BRING-IT-ON attitude with shaytan; make du’aa to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to protect you from his tricks."-Muhammad Alshareef

"The wise person is the one who pays attention to his time and does not treat it as a vessel to be filled with cheap things and vain talk. Instead, he limits it to worthy efforts and righteous deeds that please Allah and benefit other people. Every minute of a person’s life carries the potential to raise his own status and to make his people happier, little by little."

— (Islam Q&A)

"The likeness of those who spend for Allah’s sake is as the likeness of a grain of corn, it grows seven ears; every single ear has a hundred grains, and Allah multiplies (increases the reward of) for whom He wills, and Allah is sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower."

— [Surat al-Baqarah, 2:261]

"What is this world but a dream that a sleeper sees – he delights in it for a few moments, and then wakes up to face reality."

— Hasan al-Basri
All this time that I missed countless prayers (5 times a day!!), I felt nothing but guilt! Guilt that He has blessed me so much and yet I am not doing anything for Him, to show Him how grateful I am that He has created me with complete senses to enjoy my surroundings, senses to be able to judge between right and wrong, that I was born into a pair of wonderful parents and that He surrounded me with intellectual people (my friends!!), and that He has answered most of my prayers. Guilt that I can only remember Him and prostrate whenever I'm in a verge of breaking down, whenever I am depressed, or whenever I am in utter need of His guidance. I am such an ungrateful creature!! You know why my heart clamors for words that can open it up towards The Almighty? Because, my heart has never been at peace than after a prayer. I was never at peace than being on my prayer mat, prostrating in worship to Allah SWT, reading the Qur'an (the English translation), and repeatedly praising Him. He, who grant me all these blessings, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful. I do not know what lies ahead, but with Him at the center of my life, InshaAllah, I have nothing to worry. :)

I met up with my Mom for lunch. Before the food was served, she told me to look after her stuff as she's gonna pray. I asked where, and she said "here". Yes, right there while she's sitting, she bowed for prostration. That's why I admire my Mom. And guess what I felt again? In capital and bold letters, G-U-I-L-T.