Soaring like an angel
Her eyes stare
Like a messenger on a wrong track
Her path swings
Speedily her venom strikes
Beyond her bars
Into the territory that knows her not
Vum! She is with the sky
Her abode of comfort
The children of the ground
Are now in pain and sorrow
Her young are missing
Like a mysterious light
With speed, she disappeared
You're a thief and a destroyer
The fate of the race without prayer
Give us our daily bread she preys
On the blood of the flesh without skin
That we may feed our bodies for more feathers
To the glory of the sky life we further
Food we must eat for survival
For the fittest strangles the large meat
To narrow the wide arrow of men
On us, just behind us
Though we all are doomed
On a day that knows our name
But before then, food is for the stomach, and life is for the living.
One misconception I’ve heard from some people is that Islam, or Muslims, somehow desire or welcome suffering, and that this is what distinguishes Islam from other faith traditions. This claim is inaccurate and I will explain.
Islam does not teach that Muslims should seek out suffering or wish for hardship. On the contrary, the Prophet (SAW) taught us to seek well-being (‘afiyah) and to ask Allah for ease and protection from trials.
However, when difficulties do occur, Muslims are taught to recognise that everything happens by the decree and permission of Allah. In every situation, whether ease or hardship, we strive to be content and patient with what Allah has decreed.
The Muslim should realize that one principle underlies all the prohibitions in Islam: Allāh is testing His slaves by means of these prohibitions to see what they will do.
One of the things that distinguishes the people of Paradise from the people of Hell is that the people of Hell indulge in the desires with which the Fire is surrounded, whereas the people of Paradise patiently endure the hardships with which the Garden is surrounded.
Were it not for this test, the obedient would not be distinguished from the disobedient. People of faith look at the difficulties involved from the perspective of the reward they will earn by pleasing Allāh, so obedience becomes easy for them.
There is nothing as disrespectful to the self as Zina. Not just because Allah forbade it, but because it strips you of dignity from within.
Allah says:
“Do not come near zina, for it is an abomination and an evil way.” (Qur’an 17:32)
Zina is an erosion of the soul.
A betrayal of the honor Allah clothed you with.
The Prophet said:
“When a man commits zina, faith departs from him and hovers above his head like a cloud. When he stops, faith returns.” (Abu Dawud)
Faith flees when you indulge.
Why? Because your body, your soul, and your mind are trusts (amānah) from Allah. To cheapen them for fleeting pleasure is to say: “My worth is less than my desire.”
That is the ultimate disrespect to your self.
We should extend more grace to our parents. They were human, just like us, carrying their own struggles, wounds, and limitations... most of which we will never know or understand.
We ask Allah to forgive them, to have mercy on them, and to accept the efforts they made with what they knew at the time.
Where we have to get honest with ourselves (without blaming anyone) is acknowledging that just because something was "normalised" in our childhood, doesn’t mean it was healthy. Just because it’s what we “know” doesn’t mean it’s the way it should be.