activeDimensions » Thoughtful

The Night Preceding ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’

Mx — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:22:22 +0000

It had been the practice of the Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, that he would not sleep in the night preceding the day of Eid-ul-fitr. This night has been named in a Hadith as the Night of Reward (Lailatul Jaiza). Almighty bestows his rewards on those who have spent the month of Ramadan abiding by the dictates of Shari’ah, and all their prayers in this night are accepted. Therefore, it is desirable to perform nafl prayers in this night. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, is reported to have said:

Whoever stands up (in worship) in the nights preceding the two Eids expecting rewards from his Lord, his heart will not die when the other hearts will die. (Ibn Majah)

To benefit from this opportunity, one should perform as much worship in this night as he can, and should pray for all his needs and desires.

Source: Gulf Times

Apnay Rab sae rishta jor ker tau deikhou!

Mx — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:49:04 +0000

Look around 360 degrees, every other person is occupied. Some in their life, others in worries. Gadgets, money, work, friends/social-networks occupy more than 80% of our day. The rest goes to family and the remainder to our Rab! An ordinary Muslim spends a maximum of 2 hours (out of 24) even if he prays 5 times of prayers. But do we even do justice in that? Our mind is heavily occupied with dozen of thoughts which lead to performing duty in unconscious state. And it lacks a connection!

Recently I observed couple of Muslims, who when offer prayers, do their RUKU and SAJDA in real hurry (in less than a second). May be that’s the way they offer prayers or it’s just that their mind is heavily occupied. I have myself been a victim of heavily occupied mind but we all can try to improve ourselves. Hmm, I did observe something different while I was in Qatar and on visits to the Holy cities, Makkah & Madinah. The Arabs prefer to have long RUKU and SAJDAH specially during Qayyam (in last 10 days of Ramadan). And it really makes your prayer beautiful!

Zindagi guzar rahi hae, aur guzar jaye gee. Jou kuch houna hae, woh Rab ki marzi sae hee houna hae. Mager phir bhi jub hum apnay Rab ke samnay jatay hein tau hum jaldi jaldi mein bhaag atay hein, aisa kyon? Ibadat hou ya kaam, uss ka HAQ tau ada karo! SAJDAH mein Rab sae banda sub sae kareeb houta hae aur woh hee sahi na karein tau bacha kya? Jub apnay Rab ke samnay RUKU aur SAJDAH karo, tau kuch ehsaas tau hou ke mera Rab mujhe deikh raha hae. Apnay Rab sae rishta jor ker tau deikhou! ~Mx

Perform your prayers in a manner that you feel connected with Allah, the rest shall become secondary because worries end where faith begins!

From the Right-side..

Mx — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:25:32 +0000

We shake hands with the right hand and eat with our right hand. But there is more to it. Islamically, we should always wear from the right side (right sleeve first). While entering mosque, we should always enter with the right-foot. Upon greeting a friend circle, we should always start from the right side. And if you’re stuck in the situation while entering a door (‘AAP PAHLE, AAP PAHLE’), then the person on right should proceed!

May Allah accept our deeds and guide us towards the right path

Hardly worth the effort

Mx — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:00:30 +0000

Few days back, a friend of mine shared a really good post from Seth’s Blog. And it read:

In most fields, there’s an awful lot of work put into the last ten percent of quality.

Getting your golf score from 77 to 70 is far more difficult than getting it from 120 to 113 or even from 84 to 77.

Answering the phone on the first ring costs twice as much as letting it go into the queue.

Making pastries the way they do at a fancy restaurant is a lot more work than making brownies at home.

Laying out the design of a page or a flyer so it looks like a pro did it takes about ten times as much work as merely using the template Microsoft builds in for free, and the message is almost the same…

Except it’s not. Of course not. The message is not the same.

The last ten percent is the signal we look for, the way we communicate care and expertise and professionalism. If all you’re doing is the standard amount, all you’re going to get is the standard compensation. The hard part is the last ten percent, sure, or even the last one percent, but it’s the hard part because everyone is busy doing the easy part already.

The secret is to seek out the work that most people believe isn’t worth the effort. That’s what you get paid for.

Source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/05/hardly-worth-the-effort.html

Today is your day, feel it!

Mx — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:42:51 +0000

“Certain things never happen YOUR way!” How many times have you felt like that? We all happen to follow the crowd because that’s the easiest part. Busy in our daily life jobs, doing what every other individual is doing. And we are least bothered about our future, our dream! Most of us today went to colleges and have a degree just because dad said so. We never bother to find out what we love to do, skills in which we excel, passion within us that can change everything around! Think think think..

I have seen people in my life, who are good at many other things but they are busy wasting their time in organizations where their skill do not mean anything. Not every employer will utilize you to your best potential. You might not get exciting new tasks every now and then. But then again, how many of us are really bothered? It will always involve certain risk factor for you to move on..

It’s about how much you believe in yourself. Today is your day so feel it – feel what’s best inside you before it’s too late. Focus on your core skills, on quality, on excellence..and remember ‘sky is the limit‘. Its not only about ventures, it’s about destiny!

Say NO to pirated softwares!

Mx — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:17:02 +0000

Most local shops that sell unbranded PCs will install a pirated copy of Windows for you. It happens not only in Pakistan but also in many other countries. I have myself experienced this when I purchased my very first PC in Qatar (Middle East). But not many of us realize the problem in using pirated softwares.

Islam protects copyrights and does not encourage acts that affect ones’ business. Once we install Windows (or any other OS), we install many other types of pirated softwares like anti-virus, games, development IDEs, photo-effect tools and what not. It’s really easy to go to a torrent website and get a cracked version of latest software that’s available in the market. But where is this all leading to? In our daily lives, we avoid every kind of bad deeds and neither would we do an act like ‘theft’ as we all consider it against humanity. Since what is ‘Haram’ is Haram and what is ‘Chori’ is Chori – either we do it in our real world or we do it in the virtual world, it’s all same!

Few people recently argued with me that I have become anti-Microsoft but that’s not the reality. I would prefer to use some other OS rather to pay for Windows as it does not satisfy my needs. To some people things click early, and to some they might click late. If you realize that you’re also heading in the wrong direction, do not hesitate for a change. Either you should pay for a commercial product or use free-ware products. Because if you’re using pirated softwares and earning through it, you know where you’re heading!

An 'Italian proverb'

Mx — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:01:46 +0000

After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box.

The Opening

Mx — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:20:02 +0000

Why are we here? What is the soul? Absolutely none of us is looking at it. Not delving, not yearning to solve the life’s mysteries. That’s not the human nature. Yet still we struggle to make a difference. And dream of hope!

Neglecting the purpose for which we’re created. Coating hearts with dirty sins. All of it is leading away from the straight path. It’s the duty of mankind, to seek the truth, analyze the signs of wisdom. And fill its soul with the true light of faith.

Because no matter whom you are where you belong – it all gets back to one single place that makes us ‘one’, that makes us connected!