Dear diary,

assalamoalaikom. I hope you are in a state of increasing iman and good health. I am doing great by the mercy of Allah subhanahu watala.

So what is new on your side? Everything is much the same here since I last left you except that I have been very actively trying to do dawah on my facebook profile although I am unsure whether I should keep my account on facebook in the first place. That will be a topic of discussion for a later time inshaAllah. My studies at Islamic Online University has been coming along at a good pace too, praise be to Allah. And yes, my mother-in-law is here with me these days so she is teaching me all the  house managing and cooking tip to become more and more productive. May Allah bless her and give her infinite reward for this help. Ameen

Changing tracks, I think this year has been a year of suitcases for me. How, you ask? Well, first I prepared suitcases to shift from my mother’s home to my inlaws for my Rukhsati in July this year. That time, I was just moving from one area of Karachi to another and although there wasn’t any restriction to the amount of suitcases I could pack, the whole exercise of putting things inside of a suitcase made me realize how dependent I was on so many things apart from clothes, shoes, bag, etc, such as something as tiny as hair bands and hijab pins. And I also understood that most of us keep a variety of such things when even one or two is sufficient for survival. Only when we start putting our stuff in a suitcase that we realize how much physical and ‘mental’ baggage  we carry.

Next, I had to again prepare suitcases for my moving from Karachi to Swindon within 2 weeks of marriage. This time, I was moving from one country to another, from east to west, and I had to think what was important to me within the 60 -65 Kg limit provided by the Airlines using both mine and my husband’s luggage allowance. (my husband’s luggage was not more than 10 Kg, and the rest was mine 😉 ) There were so many things I wanted to carry and yet, I couldnt. Like my diary from school which was filled by my friends before we completed school, or the friendship and eid mubarak cards given to me by them, or the certificates, gifts and awards I had received in school for being a good student (Praise be to Allah) , etc. I learnt that I will have to let go of them sooner or later and that being emotionally attached to all these things will only be a barrier for me. Why? Because for then, I was only moving from one part of the world to the other; if I continued to be attached to all these belongings, how would I handle moving from this world to the next whenever death approached?  The more the things, the more will be the attachment to them, and consequently, the more difficult will it be to leave this world.

After coming to Swindon, I had travelled to London twice, usually staying over for a few days and had to carry something like a small handcarry suitcase. This was a good practice teaching me what EXACTLY essentials are. There was a huge cut down on items that I carried on my second visit as compared to my first. And even then, I realized in my second visit there were still too many! Next time I go, I will take even a smaller bag inshaAllah 😀

And now, alhamdolilah I am leaving for hajj this Sunday inshaAllah. Suitcases are again in the lounge and I think of adding or subtracting things every now and then. The overall rule while travelling is the same: ‘carry only the essentials,  that should be as light weight as possible and as small as possible (for less space).’

What the crux of my letter to you is, dear diary, that our entire lives are supposed to be spent like travellers, living as simply as possible and detaching ourselves from extra worldly things as much as possible, only taking along with us our necessaries. ‘What is necessary’ is a relative term and each of us have to work it out for ourselves.  There is a hadith of Prophet S.A.W which I recall:

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with them both), he relates that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) once held my shoulders and said:

“Live in this world as (if you are) a wayfarer or a stranger.” And Abdullah ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with them both) used to say: “If you live till night, then do not wait for the next day (i.e. do not have hopes that you will live to the next day), and if you wake up in the morning do not have hope that you will live till the night. And take (advantage) from your health before your sickness and take advantage of your life before your death (i.e. do every possible obedience in your life before death comes to you for then no deeds can be performed.)” [Bukhari and Tirmidhi]

One  important thing to know is that we cannot completely renounce the world because the world is necessary for our journey to the Jannah. Saeed Anwar (Renowned Pakistani batsman who has left international cricket and is now involved in dawah)  once came to IBA and gave an Islamic talk whereby he explained that the heart of the believer is like a boat and the world is like the water in a river. Water is necessary for the boat because without the water, the boat cannot reach its destination (i.e. jannah) However, if the boat lets the water inside of itself, it will drown and will not be able to reach its destination. Likewise, if the believer lets the love of the world inside his/her heart, he/she will be a failure and not be able to successfully reach jannah.

I hope and pray we are able to follow the beautiful hadith of our prophet S.A.W and are able to live a simple life, much away from the  physical and mental baggage. Ameen

Until next time in Swindon diaries, inshaAllah. Fee amaanillah.

– your sister in Islam, Nida

http://www.calltowardslight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/suitcase-1024x768.jpghttp://www.calltowardslight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/suitcase-290x290.jpgZauja Muhammad AlifeaturedSwindon DiariesBoat,essentials,hajj,Luggage,Saeed Anwar,suitcases,traveller,WaterDear diary, assalamoalaikom. I hope you are in a state of increasing iman and good health. I am doing great by the mercy of Allah subhanahu watala. So what is new on your side? Everything is much the same here since I last left you except that I have been very...The Diary of a Muslimah