2 years ago
11558 ♥
- More than 80 people died in three separate bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday — the bloodiest day the Iraqi capital has seen in 2016.
- At least 63 people were killed when a car bomb tore through a busy market in the Sadr City neighborhood on Wednesday morning. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
- Eyewitnesses described a “thunderous explosion” that shook the ground.
- Hours later, two further bombs struck the city: a car bomb in the Kadhimiyah neighborhood killed at least 15, before another blast in western Baghdad killed at least 7.
Iranian women share lunch after planting rice.
Mazandaran Province. Near the village of Zirab. Iran, 2001.
I consciously committed a grave sin while fasting by looking at things I shouldn't be looking at and backbiting others. This is the first time I deliberately sin in Ramadan. I've become too reckless when dealing with religion, it's transcended religion and now affecting my lifestyle. For this entire year I haven't studied and I find it much harder to pray and be committed. I don't know how my heart became so heavy, I'm a really conscious believer and I know much better so I have no excuse.
Anonymous“Excepted, however, shall be they who repent and attain to faith and do righteous deeds: for it is they whose [erstwhile] bad deeds God will transform into good ones - seeing that God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace,“ - The Holy Qur’an [25:70]
In Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir (exegesis) on this Ayah, he cites a Hadith from Abu Dharr:
“I know the last person who will be brought forth from Hell, and the last person who will enter Paradise. A man will be brought and it will be said, ‘Take away his major sins and ask him about his minor sins.’ So it will be said to him: ‘On such and such a day, you did such and such, and on such and such a day, you did such and such.’ He will say, ‘Yes,’ and he will not be able to deny anything. Then it will be said to him: ‘For every evil deed you now have one good merit.’ He will say: ‘O Lord, I did things that I do not see here.’” He (Abu Dharr) said: “And the Messenger of God smiled so broadly that his molars could be seen.”
Ibn Kathir continues, “…those evil deeds that have passed are turned into good deeds by way of the true and sincere repentance itself. This is because every time that person remembers what he had done, he regrets it, feels remorse, and seeks God’s forgiveness. In this way, the sin becomes an act of obedience.”
So repent, and realize that this heavy heart of yours is a pathway to God.
granted, the islamophoic rhetoric in the wake of the orlando shooting is out of order. but there is something to be said about the muslims who are adamant to separate islam from the shooter because ‘not all muslims’ are shooters, while ignoring the homophobic sentiment that manifests itself among muslim communities. attempts to derail the discourse on islamophobia in islam with reminders of how ‘peaceful’ islam is only perpetuates the terror lgbtq muslims deal with. it is unfair and paradoxical to lament anti-lgbtq hate crimes as ‘unislamic’ when it is known that this hatred is engrained in muslim spaces - lgbtq muslims would not feel unwanted, suicidal, alone and unsafe if muslim communities were not brimming with explicit anti-lgbtq sentiments. lgbtq muslims are actively shamed in mosques, which have become breeding grounds for bigotry. if these institutions participate in anti-lgbtq khutbas (that remain unchallenged) and ‘respected’ imams debate whether the lgbtq community is merely worthy of respect, does that not indicate how hollow the conversation about lgbtq is in islam, and how hypocritical muslims are? you have muslims on social media actively shaming the lgbtq community, only to suddenly turn around and defend ‘the religion of peace!’ because ‘not all muslims!’ anti-lgbtq violence in islam is taught; young and old muslims are taught to resent an entire community, and the aftermath of the orlando shooting is only a reminder of how self-vicitimising cishet muslims are
one habit islam teaches me is to say alhamdulilah.
it’s an affirmation of giving gratitude and appreciation.
alhamdulilah for this water. alhamdulilah i am awake. alhamdulilah i can afford train fare. alhamdulilah i am conscious of my breathing.
it makes me so much happier. honestly. i just poured myself a cup of water, and as i was pouring it, i said alhamdulilah, and my day just became instantly better.
