To the Greatest Teacher, Muhammad Ali

Mohammad Ali (May he rest in peace)

There is still darkness where light shines. But it bows to the light. 

Submitting in awe at its fiery flames.
Muhammad Ali taught me that.
Even at the top of the ladder, at the top of the game, 

you never forget to help anyone at the first step.
Muhammad Ali taught me that.
A fighter never forgets where he got his energy from. 

Where he came from. To Whom he will return. 

He never forgets he belongs to God.
Muhammad Ali taught me that.
If you can imagine success, you're almost there. 

If you can accept failure, you're almost there. 

If you can get back up, you are there.
Muhammad Ali taught me that.
Put nothing before your faith, 

everything after your dreams, 

and anything is yours.
Muhammad Ali lived that.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
You were a teacher. You are a teacher. 

We're still learning your lessons. 
Thank you.

Real Tears of Joy

Tears streamed down his face as he slipped on the new pair of shoes he was handed. One foot in his old, torn shoe and one foot now in a new, black and shiny dress shoe. I had never seen tears of joy so real before. I looked at his old tattered shoe he was still wearing on his left foot—ripped at the edges with mud on the sides. I could tell they had been through so much. I could tell he had been through so much. How I wished I could be in his shoes instead of only being able to hand him new ones. How I wished I could fill the emptiness in his soul as he placed the soles of his feet into their new home. His home, though, he can’t call it a home anymore. He is a Syrian refugee now living in Turkey. I had the honor of teaching children like him during the summer this year. I noticed though that his tears were not filled with the woes of past misfortunes. They were filled with hope for a new journey. And he did not need more than one pair for that. I learned a lot from this boy. True blessings are not the materialistic things we adorn, but the feelings of gratitude that touch our hearts when we remember how much we have been given. Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Count your blessings. Clichés that become so real when you see real tears of joy.

In Nizip, Turkey Summer Camp for Syrian Refugees

An Easy Game of Tic Tac Toe?

Tic Tack Toe, three in a row. Just match the three symbols, X or O, and you're a winner I always thought. Notice a pattern and fill in the blanks, it's one of the easiest games I always thought. But play the game now with any intellectual mind, and you'll find a once too simple game something almost impossible to win. Cat's game, they call it. Life is a cat's game: you win some and you lose some and sometimes the winner isn't immediately known. It's not always as easy as filling in the last O--sometimes life places that O before you do and you have to find a way around it. Sometimes someone finds the pattern before you. Sometimes it's harder than just filling in the blank. But, ultimately, you win if you don't think you lose. Love the game. Appreciate the blessings that surround your day to day struggles and remember that life can be simple if you make it so. Remember you destination and your commitment to Allah, and you'll notice that the struggles in your life are either a lesson or a blessing--two things that you can ultimately benefit from. So if you find yourself frustrated by the events in your life or those happening around the world, remember that beauty can be found when we follow the simple instructions that God has given us. They are the answer to every puzzle. No matter the conflict, love the One who can give you strength to get through it all and have faith that Allah is on your side. Love what's around you. After all, it is XOXO.

Ego Amongst the Dead

Narrated Abu al-Darda: “Worship God as if you see Him, and count your ego amongst the dead, and beware of the supplication of the oppressed." (Quoted by al-Tabarani) In this hadith, we can learn a wide variety of things varying from conquering the ego to detaching from the world and its desires. In the first line we see what is described as “ihsan” or worshiping God as if we see Him. This level of spiritual excellence is not something easily achieved. In order to see God everywhere, one must not see oneself anymore. This means, we must extinguish our concupiscent desires and detach from the world in a humbling manner. Only by eliminating our egos and remembering our graves, can we begin to journey on this path towards “ihsan”. Before reaching this level, we must perfect the levels before it. Preceding “ihsan” are the levels of “Islam” and “Iman”. Islam involves the basics: practicing the five pillars sincerely and testifying that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad (pbuh) is his Messenger. In order to reach “Iman”, a deeper degree of acknowledgment is required. “Iman” is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both the good and the evil thereof. In all of this, the Muslim is aware that life is a test: that we will be held accountable for our actions and that the Angels on our shoulders record all of our deeds. The level discussed in this hadith however, is the highest level of spiritual excellence: worshiping God as if you see Him. This means you are aware that although you do not see Allah (swt), He sees you.This is the level of righteousness, the level of perfection, the level of doing and saying the ultimate good, the level of I'hsan. As Muslims, we must always strive to reach this level of Faith. And the easiest way to do so is to detach from the world and “count our ego amongst the dead”. By doing so, we forget our selfish desires and we focus on praising the One who created us, the One who sees all that we do. Whoever purifies his character will extinguish jealousy, hatred, greed, anger, pride and all the other maladies of the soul from his heart. Once the heart is pure, it will illuminate all that you see and do. With the recent events in Syria and all over the world, many have asked, “what can I do?!” and “why is there so much hate?” Eliminating these evil things, believe it or not, starts with you. If you want to eliminate all that his dark in the world, cleans your heart until it is able to provide light for the darkness and hope for despair. If you want to eliminate the hate in the world, start by loving for your brother what you love for yourself. Dua is a powerful tool that can help you reach this level of “ihsan”. We must remember to pray for the oppressed, detach from the world, and purify our hearts from impure desires…surely then we will find peace.      

Today, I got lost.

Eyes on the Destination.

Today, I got lost. It rarely happens these days for us to get lost while driving, but my GPS has been stolen 2 times and my cracked pantech can barely send texts properly. And so, it was just me and the road. When I was first learning to drive I actually used to get lost often...and although I don't get lost as much now I noticed I still do something similarly every time I get lost. I keep driving. I don't pull over and look around. I don't ask anyone for help. I don't stop and think. I just drive. And I get more and more lost. And now that I think about it, I can't help but parallel this to our journey in the dunya. It's easy to keep going on the same path, to ignore the fact that we're lost and continue driving. It's easy to miss those "exits" that are placed so perfectly to help us get back. It takes effort to make that stop: to realize where you are in the world and turn around if you have to. So today I learned that sometimes you have to take your foot of the gas, remember your destination, and just turn around.

“And He found you lost, and guided you” 

[Quran | 93:7] 

Faith and Hope

The Syrian regime has killed babies. It has starved families. It has blown up mosques. What it doesn't realize however is that God is not confined to the mosques, He is in the heart of every believer. Nothing can take away the Faith of the people. And that is the strongest weapon. Marching at one of the rallies downtown side by side with my brothers and sisters, it didn't matter that I couldn't feel my hands or feet because I COULD feel something that was truly beautiful: the love in each heart that chanted for a free and peaceful Syria. And that love and determination is what will create change, InshAllah ♥