A TRIP into MY TROUBLED MIND

A Mother's Plea!
Sweet heart put your clean clothes into the closet; ok mummy responded my elder daughter…Take 2: put your clean clothes in your closet honey, Ok! Ok! Responded my elder….Take 3: bla bla blab bla, OK! OK! answered again my elder. Not surprising to me that the next day the clothes were as is, in the same place. I said, honey you'd better remove those clothes, or you will be picking them up from the stairs, no response this time because she was busy putting away her clothes lest I do what I warned her of doing. Readers, WHY? WHY?

IBM anti-technology
OK readers sorry for the loud introduction, it is just the troubled mind of a mother of 3, blubbering again. You see I do love my daughters and baby boy a lot; the girls are sweet, obedient beautiful, hard headed, and they are probably being their age. It is the idea that everything in our society can be done later, no hurry, or as said in Arabic Inshallah, Bukra, Ma'alesh (IBM) (God willing, tomorrow, it does not matter) (Tuma, 1988). Please excuse the association of Inshallah to procrastination and laziness, unfortunately the association became a cultural thing here in Egypt. Of course I do not mean to generalize, but you have to admit that the IBM notion is to a great extent existent in our Middle Eastern society. I would like so much to break the association, if we just understood how precious time is on earth. We get so worked up with our lives, our kids, or our work, and then lose track of time, and forget completely about our ultimate goal, which is to get to be with the Prophet PBUH on the Day of Judgment.
“There are two of Allah’s favors that are forgotten by many people: health and free time.” (Bukhari 8/421).
Allah (SWT) favors time that is well spent because this is how progress on earth takes place. Progress in layman definition is lots of free time put together, and honestly dedicated to gathering and making use of knowledge. Technology is the product of time well spent, technology such as my washing machine, my PC, my TV, my dryer, my microwave, and how I love and respect these technologies!!

Free Time
Sitting on the couch all day watching TV, and hardly moving, I would categorize this as free time not at all well spent. I believe that free time affects your self esteem, for to waste your time without actually adding value to your life on earth is like throwing a wonderful, mouth watering, tasty, very well prepared meal in the garbage without eating it. The great feelings of finishing breakfast, you and your kids and your husband have eaten and you have this feeling of relief and satisfaction overwhelming you. Or when you change your baby's diapers, and have the feeling that he is clean and happy despite the fact that it can be a bit nauseating!, think a moment about it, and you will definitely remember that there was some sort of relief and satisfaction knowing that you have accomplished something that day. If you are working, and knowing that you are contributing to society even in the simplest of tasks, like photocopying a piece of paper, the feeling is nice and fulfilling, take a moment and enjoy the feeling.
I apologize again readers; my mind is drifting again. I would just like to say that you can enjoy every worldly halal thing as long as you recognize that you are making it for Allah (SWT) and his Messenger (PBUH), incorporate the concept of Tawheed in every step that you take in life, and remember the beautiful hadith that says:
"The Prophet (saw) said: "Actions are only by intention,
and every man shall only have what he intended. Thus he
whose hijra was for Allah and His Messenger,
his hijra was for Allah and His Messenger, and he whose hijra
was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in
marriage, his hijra was for that for which he made hijra."(Al Bukari and Moslem).

Spend your time wisely, and know that everything that you do is either for you or against you, Allah (SWT) says:
But celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and be of those who prostrate themselves in adoration. And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is certain (i.e., death). Qur'an (15:98-99).
Make sure that you do something each day that will benefit you in the hereafter, make it a daily ritual, just as you eat and drink, and before I leave you and take off with my troubles, here are a few Hadiths that will empower me before you ISA:
Narrated Abdullah Bin Mas`ud Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said:
"A man shall be asked concerning five things on the day of resurrection: concerning his life, how he spent it; concerning his youth, how he grew old; concerning his wealth, whence he acquired it, and in what way he spent it; and what was it that he did with the knowledge that he had."


The Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), used to call on Muslims to take the initiative to do good deeds before any obstacles arise. For instance, he said, "Lose no time to do good deeds before you are caught up by one of seven calamities awaiting you: a starvation which may impair your wisdom; a prosperity which may mislead you; an ailment which may damage your health; an old age which may harm your senses; a sudden death; the Dajjal (Antichrist); or Doomsday, which is indeed the hardest and most bitter." (at-Tirmidhi, al-Baihaqi)A smile suffices
Salam for now
Rania


References

Tuma, E. H.: 1988, "Institutionalized Obstacles to Development: The Case of Egypt", World Development 16, 1185-1198.

Sahih Al Bukhari