Ode to expression

Ode To Expressions

By Madiha Naeem

To say what is in my heart. 
Is a desire I suppress. 
The way that you inspire me. 
Even poetry cannot express. 
The stars don't shine enough, 
To describe the sparkle in your eyes. 
Not a million clustered together. 
Through infinite number of skies. 
Why can I see the sunrise 
In a single grain of sand? 
Only if you've loved, 
Can you ever understand. 
My enemy is time, 
Like a candle burning hot. 
Melting quickly when I'm with you, 
And slowly when I'm not. 
If ever I dare to ponder 
This liaison we secure. 
I find a bizzare perfection 
which is best if left obscure.

A child an orphan

A Child an Orphan

By Madiha Idrees

Tear filled eyes 
And tortured emotions 
Battered thoughts 
confused commotion 
in my heart. 
No one understands 
what goes on with in me 
Tear streaked cheeks 
I'm craving devotion. 
The misplaced smile 
Those truthful lies 
I want love not 
fake devotion. 
Smoldering embers 
of fiery anguish 
I am a child in 
a wrecked position.

Written in 2001

Heart

Heart

By Madiha Idrees Motiwala

Every corner is taken 
Every crevice is filled 
with memories of happiness, 
sorrow and guilt. 
\The endless trickle 
of emotional treasure 
The harmony of jealousy, 
content and pleasure. 
\Bleeding in pain 
or hammering in surprise 
My heart throbs in 
continous disguise.

Written in 2000

Crying heart

Crying Heart


Lingering doubts 
cloud my mind 
at thoughts of all 
thats left behind. 
\The searing pain 
of love thats lost 
The treasured tears 
that know no cost. 
\The mind decieves 
The soul derives 
from the fathomless torture 
of the heart that cries.

Written 1999

A hole

There is a place in my heart which hurts
A place empty dark and grey
There is an abyss inside of me
Growing day by day

No one can hear the cries
No one can see the tears
That place inside of me clenches
Poisons me in every way

Emptiness gnaws inside
Depair is what i feel
At times i think
Oh Lord! Why me? Why me?  Why me?

This place inside of me
Took birth that very day
When you went slowly away
Leaving behind a gaping hole
This place inside of me.

Salaah is a Small Islam

It was amazing to read the paralells in this piece of work , i would love to share with you. I was reading this book my daughter 'Bedtime Stories' compiled by Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Khan and translated by Mufti Afzal hoosen Elias from Darul Huda Publications .

Salah is a small Islam.

This means that there is a bit of every other type of Ibadaah in salah. we can see the impotance of salah when we realise that whereas all forms of ibadah were made fard on earth, Rasulullah (saw) was called to the heavens when salaah was made fard.
The forms of ibadah that are found in salah are :

1. Fasting : Just as a person does not eat or drink when fasting, he also does not eat or drink when performing salaah.

2. Zakaah: By paying zakah , love for the world leaves the heart and Halaal wealth becomes pure. For salah, the body, clothing and place of salah have to be made pure too.

3.Hajj: Just as people have to go towards Kabaah for Hajj, they all have to face the Kabaah in salah.

4:Qurbani: Just as people sacrifice animals on Eidul Adha, they sacrifice the honour of thier foreheads in salah by placing it on the ground in front of Allah.

5.I'tikaaf: Just as people remain in the masjid during I'tikaaf and stop themselves from talking and going around and about, they also remain in one place when performing salaah and do not talk or move about.

In the salaah that the best of creations has recieved , we find the collective acts of worship of all the creations.

1. Just like the angels:

• Just as the angels recide durood for Rasulullah(saw) we also recite durood .



• Just as the angels recite tasbeeh for Allah and praise Him, we also recite surah fatiha in salaah and the Tasbeeh in Ruku and Sajdah.



• Just as the angels make dua for the people on earth, we give the angels duas of peace when we make salam at the end of salaah.



• The angels amke ruku and sujood so do we.



• Just as the angels are standing before allah all the time , we also stand in Qiyaan in salaah.

2: Just like the trees in Qiyaam : Just as the trees stand straight we also stand straight in qiyaam

3:Just like the Mountains in Tashahhus: Just as the mountains are seemingly sitting down, we also sit in salaah.

4: Just like the animals in ruku: Just liuke the animals are bowed down on four legs, we too bow in ruku.

5:Just like the fish and reptiles in sajdah: Just as the fish and reptiles are in a lying down postion all the time , we too go down in sajdah in salaah.

We there fore see that just as manis the best of creations his Ibaah is also the best because it includes the Ibadaah of all the creations.

Beautifull Paralells isnt it.

What Changed Your Life

What changed your life?

A lot of things in this life can bring about change in a person, but the most influencing thing is love. It could be love for money, power or success. It could be the love you have for another human being for example your parents, your partner, your child. It could be love for your Allah and Rasool.
Tiny seeds sprout into trees, like wise tiny things we can deem insignificant can bring about a momentous change in others. This quote by Mother Teresa "Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, and kindness in your smile. Because one of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody." Says it simply in a few words how significant even the smallest act of kindness can be.
Here are some life changing facts that having witnessed or read about, I can say have brought about magnanimous change in people who have gone through them or who have seen them.
The most important kind of love a person can and should feel is love for one's God. They should be in tune with it. It should be a part of them as hair, nails or teeth. This hadith says it very concisely
"O Lord, grant me your love, grant me that I love those who love you; grant me, that I might do the deeds that win your love. Make your love dearer to me than the love of myself, my family and wealth." (Tirmidhi)
And a certain things happen that could make Love for Allah Your focal point, It could be the death of a loved one, or a big shock from someone close or it just might gradually grow in your heart and mind till its so steeped in that you wouldn’t know where it started from. A lot of things can make you appreciate Allah and in turn bring about your direction towards your faith. "Allah loves you just as you love him for His sake." [Muslim].
The other kinds of love are for human beings, The Prophet has said "You will not believe as long as you do not love one another." - Sahih Muslim, Hadith 19. This love speaks of love for your parents, it can make you an infinitely better person if you love and listen to your parents.
"None of you truly believes (in Allah and in His religion) until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself".
This story relates how parental love can also affect children
An old man was sitting in the courtyard of his house along with his son who had received a high education. Suddenly a crow perched on a wall of the house. The father asked the son: What is this? The son replied: It is a crow. After a little while the father again asked the son: What is this? The son said: It is a crow. After a few minutes the father asked his son the third time: What is this? The son said: Father, I have just now told you that this is a crow. After a little while the old father again asked his son the fourth time: what is this? By this time some statement of irritation was felt in the son’s tone when he rebuffed his father: Father! It is a crow, a crow. A little after the father again asked his son: What is this? This time the son replied to his father with a vein of temper. Father: You are always repeating the same question; although I have told you so many times that it is a crow. Are you not able to understand this?
The father went to his room and came back with an old diary. Opening a page he asked his son to read what was written. What the son read were the following words written in the diary:
‘Today my little son was sitting with me in the courtyard, when a crow came there. My son asked me twenty-five times what it was and I told him twenty-five times that it was a crow and I did not at all feel irritated. I rather felt affection for my innocent child.’
The father then explained to his son the difference between a father’s and a son’s attitude. While you were a little child you asked me this question twenty-five times and I felt no irritation in replying to the question twenty-five times and when today I asked you the same question only five times, you felt irritated, annoyed and impatient with me.
The other and more selfish kind of love is love for money, success, beauty and honour.
This type of love can bring a negative change and alter their thoughts making a human selfish. It can cause you to look down on others who are not as beautiful, successful and groomed as you are or it can even make you say and do things which harden your heart and hurt the person in front of you.
This hadith is Allah's way of shedding light on this kind of love.
"Renounce the world and Allah will love you, and renounce what people possess and people will love you." a fine Hadith related by Ibn Majah.
But in some cases I have seen one particularly of the institutes Depilex Smile Again Foundation which helps women who have lost that beauty, honour and brings about success stories in their lives.
Love has changed me too. Love for my Allah, my children, my husband and my family. It has mellowed me as an individual, brought about profound faith that whatever
Allah decreed for us is actually better for us, for He is All-Wise and All-Knowing.
Allah says: "...and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know." (Surah Baqarah: 216) and a deep down belief in the fact that
" And if life has been difficult, worries surround you and calamities after calamities befall you, hear the good news from the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi WA Sallam): "Trials will continue to befall the believing man and woman, with regard to themselves, their children and their wealth, until they meet Allah with no sin on them." (Tirmidhi-- saheeh by al-Albaani).
Amen