do you have ADD?
October 5, 2011I just cannot sleep before I blog about tonight. I’m so excited, I feel bad if I don’t share this with you guys. It’s a pretty lengthy post, so just take whatever you guys can la k.
I just came home from a talk by Imam Suhaib Webb.
He is like THE BEST speaker ever and whenever there’s a talk by him, the hall is always full. True enough, I had to sit on the floor tonight.
And some of the guys actually had to sit on stage because even the floor space was full! But it was cool, cos I had such a good view of him and I listened better.
So the topic tonight was DO YOU HAVE A.D.D.?
ADD would normally mean Attention Deficit Disorder, but tonight it was “Do you have Akhirat Deficit Disorder?”
And for most of us who went tonight, the answer is a big fat yes. Everything that matters now is usually the worldly stuff and the hereafter is like “we’ll cross the bridge when we get there” kind of thing. Everyone’s chasing for the ease in the world, but what about the ease in the hereafter? We hear these things all the time and it’s not like we don’t know, but it’s important to be reminded a lot.
Imam Suhaib starts off by saying that when he was in KL, he saw a lot of Sweet Charity posters and advertisements everywhere. Almost everywhere he went he was reminded of Sweet Charity and how they have a concert coming up here. So he acknowledges the point of advertisement and how it’s just the nature of human beings to forget. Then he related that to akhirat and life hereafter. How we always forget about the akhirat because we don’t see advertisements of it everywhere. If there was a “Hell is Hot” sign on every streetlight on the street, we’d all be amazing Muslims.
But actually, there IS advertisement of akhirat! He says that on every page of the Quran, the word hereafter is mentioned. Every single page of the Quran will remind us of the hereafter, so if only we read it, we’d remember akhirat all the time and not have “ADD”.
He reminded us the this world we live in, this dunia, is all a means, but should not be an objective. Our objective in life as a Muslim is to go to heaven, that is the only pure objective. And this worldly things surrounding us is a means to achieve our objective. Someone who has a lot of means, like money or fame, but doesn’t use it to achieve the objective is not a successful person.
I whispered to Asma’ who was beside me and pointed to her gorgeoussss Loubotin shoes. (We took off our shoes while sitting on the floor cos it got uncomfortable)
“Dude, remember, those are just means, not objective”
“Shut up and listen to the talk.”
So to be successful in life and not have ADD, one needs to know their direction in life. For one to have that, one needs NIAT. Niat is your direction, niat will let you focus on what you want to do. So have a good niat in everything you do, and everything will make sense and your life will be more meaningful.
He added that as Muslims, we should be inspirations to others. We should be creative and be proactive. Even our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. had non-Muslim “fans” and one wrote poems about him during his time. He inspired even his enemies and we should be inspired by this. As Muslims, we should not breed insecurity or fear to live or be so restrictive. He gave the example of a dog. Yes, Muslims can’t touch wet dogs etc, but in Egypt he said, they build water troughs for dogs! They used charity money to care for these dogs by giving them a place to drink water, because dogs are Allah’s creations too and they would feel responsible and answerable to God if these dogs died of thirst! See how creative they were??
Then he said something that really made me want to cry.
He said this.
In the Quran, there’s a lot of “We” in God’s words. We will protect you, We will comfort you. And that just goes to show how strong this intimacy between Muslims and God is. It’s like saying “We got your back, dude.” Like if we struggle in life, trying to uphold what’s right, trying our best to stay away from gossip, trying our best to cover ourselves, trying hard to pray 5 times a day, trying hard to memorise the Quran, trying hard to balance work and family, trying hard to stay away from the destructive pleasures in life. If we struggle in the dunia for Allah, Allah’s got our backs in the hereafter. He, of all things, knows what we go through in order to become better humans and He acknowledges all we do, even if no one else cares. If there are ever times we find it hard to do what’s right, don’t worry, Allah’s got our backs. If not now, He’ll reward us in the hereafter.
I was holding back tears, I don’t know why! And Ice Queen Asma’ also looked down. Ajjie was whatever la. She was nodding the whole time concentrating like mad.
It’s just so beautiful; Islam. It only asks you to do good things, but sometimes it’s hard. When no one else knows how we feel, we just have to know Allah’s there every step of our way. Allah cares. He’s got our backs. So all He asks in return is for us to care for Him too and live in the way of Islam. Why do we expect Allah to be there for us if we’re not there for Him?
It’s simple and it’s only humans who make it hard. I have to constantly remind myself everyday and really try to overcome my struggle, especially in the case of covering my aurat. Insyaallah, I won’t take that long.
So to summarise, he says the best thing to overcome ADD is the Quran and sunnah.
Where to start?
1) Baby steps – never stop learning everyday. Read the Quran’s meaning, learn the sunnah. Don’t read the Quran just as how it is revealed to you. Be proactive, he said. Actually find out the meaning and read it as if you’re walking along with the ayat.
2) Surround yourself with good friends – seriously, once your niat is right, suddenly good friends will just surround you! Suddenly you’ll find good people around you who come out of nowhere. My mom was right all along. CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS. Don’t waste your time with friends who take you further away from good deeds.
3) Attend educational talks and discussions – feed that brain, don’t be arrogant thinking we know it all. To keep myself updated, I “liked” the YMP Facebook fanpage or go to alkauthar.org website.
4) Be good to your parents – Imam Suhaib said that he had so much trouble memorising the Quran. When he went to his teacher, the teacher asked “How do you treat your mother?” Imam Suhaib’s mom is a non-Muslim and so Imam Suhaib wasn’t that close to her. So the teacher called him a fool. And Imam Suhaib started being nice to his mother, treated her nicely, helped her with housework. His mother was pleased with him and slowly, he started seeing that he could memorise the Quran, page by page. So never underestimate the power of mommy and daddy.
5) Be good to people in general. Respect people, be helpful, be kind, be beneficial to others.
Whatever we do, always have the hereafter in mind. Chase all the goodness we can find in this world, make something out of ourselves right now, have a career, get rich, be ambitious! But never neglect that book in the corner and the meaning it carries. Don’t be deceived by the ease and pleasure of this world, because they’re all temporary.
We all want a good ending in the end, so whenever it gets hard, just keep our eyes on the prize; Jannah.
Ok, baby steps now. Bismillah.
This post brought tears to my eyes. Thank you :’)
thanks for the post
Thank you for this post, V! I only found out about this in the evening from Toots’ blog, sadly it is already too late to attend.
I pledge to try hard to be good muslim and to practise Islam as my way of life!
Baby steps, but consistent steps!! My prayer for you, your family and all of us too…
VIVYY π Thank yoou!
thanks! very informative,,well written & well ddone (;
Well done Vivy for such inspiring, must read post! InsyaAllah let us all strive to be better Muslims. =)
I need to attend talks like this..this is so great.
thanks for sharing!
such a good entry! thanks vivy. baby step now too π
I’m actually holding back my tears too.
thank u for this post vivy. it means a lot.
baby steps, yes. i’ll get started.
u’re such an inspiration π
Thanks for sharing this dear..It means a lot=) Baby steps V. InsyaAllah.I will remember that. May Allah bless you and family.Amin
Hi! was a silent reader for so long until now! Love this post so much, tq vivi! A great start to my Wednesday morning! π Lets start together! Bismillah. :)))
thanks vivy for the post. anyway, since you always went to these islamic talks and i love to attend some but don’t know when & where, can you in the future, post any up-coming event on talks such as these on your blog?
it would be helpful for people like me who don’t know where to look for info on upcoming islamic talks.
thanks again, vivy
This is good. Thank you.
Assalamualaikum V,
I’ve read the ad. on Toot’s blog..Thanks for sharing…Alhamdullillah..a great start for me this morning π
<3 <3 <3 this post. I had wanted to attend the talk but duties as a Mom had to come first.
Thank you for sharing. May Allah SWT grant us all hidayah and keep us in that state till the end, Amin.
vivy,
Thanks for sharing. Yea, its a great start for me this morning too. Alhamdulillah.
Anyway, just wanna how to know who’s coming to give the talk?
Hope you could share it with us in future.
Thanks
Dear Vivy,
I read this very beautiful and ‘muhasabah diri’ entry at 2am this morning. The first person that i shared it was with my hubby. (Yes i always force him to read your writing =D). And now in the office, i forward it to my lovely friends.
Thank you for sharing it with us, Vivy. . Through a blogger like you, I feel like I was attending the talk too even though I couldn’t remember the last time i attended an Islamic Talk/Usrah (sad). Love ya!
Thanks for sahring ViVy..God bless u..
beautiful post!! thanks for taking the time to share this to the other side of the world:)
A good share, V! I was there too and it was one of the best talk i’ve ever been to. So many things i’ve learned from it. Thank u for writing this down… I pray that everyone of us will get beautiful lives -there!
P/s: we wanted to say hi to u but there was tooooo many ppl.. Maybe next time!
Subhanallah! May Allah reward you with pahala for sharing this ilmu.
Thank you so much Vivy π
thank you.really do.
π and that’s why your readers (including me hehehe) love you… thanks!
thanks for sharing this post. i love it every time that u come back from the talk, u’ll share the gist with us. this way, we could also take benefits from it although we didn’t attend the talk. thanks vivi XOXO
Good one Vivy, Thanks for sharing! Will start baby steps too… π
Thanks for the YMP Advertisement! π
We hope you enjoyed the talk as much as we did! π
Salam Vivy,
Thank you Vivy for the reminder.
Do you mind if I share this post?
Jazakallahu khairan. =)
Wasalam.
thanks for sharing…I’m going to post the link on my FB wall for all my friends to benefit too! Let’s be an inspiration to others – be creative and proactive…way to go Vivy π
salam and good day sis..tq for sharing the beautiful talk.am copying ur baby step move and stick it on my wall for my daily reminder with your permission.am currently trying to understand the meaning of al fatihah( someone used to mention to me that we recite al fatihah daily but do were aware of its meaning)..the meaning really touch my heart.no wonder its an important surah in prayer.
once again TQ very much for this spiritual sharing.
wassalam.
have a GREAT day ahead
thanks for sharing vivy.
guys,
Imam SUHAIB WEBB is very active on fb. find and Like! him quick! π His posts are always interesting and he usually updates where he’ll be. his website: suhaibwebb.com
oh and you should also like ‘young muslims projects’. they usually organise sheikh webb’s talks, so they will alert u on the next event inshallah
almaghrib institute is another one that organises brilliant islamic lectures. their speakers are mostly from the States so all of them are English speaking. I’ve only been to one of their classes and it was AWESOME. the next talk would be ‘The Shepherd’s Path’, seerah Rasulullah by sheikh abdulbary yahya. It’s coming next 2 weeks in Taylor’s College, i think. Like Qabeelat Ihsan page for more info.
and then there’s alkauthar institute. I’ve been to two of their classes. LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Not exaggerating, they really were brilliant! Like Vivy said, u will come out wanting to be a better person, inshallah π
Hope this helps
VIVY, RECENTLY I ALWAYS SAW U WROTE ABOUT ISLAM AND RELIGION.
AND ITS A GOOD THING FOR U AND YOUR READERS. BUT ONE THING FOR SURE, U NOT YET WEAR A TUDUNG..
SO I HOPE AND PRAY FOR U, ONE DAY U WILL CONSIDER WEARING A TUDUNG SINCE U ALWAYS TALK ABOUT BEING A GOOD MUSLIM, AND I GUESS WEARING A TUDUNG IS A BABY STEP BECAUSE WHEN U ALREADY WEAR IT, U AUTOMATICALLY WILL CONTROL URSELF AND BEHAVE FOR BECOME A GOOD MUSLIM..
INSYAALLAH.
If this was Facebook, I would’ve click the ‘Like’ button a thousand times!!
vivy this is so inspiring..i wish u all the best!
i missed last night talk, but for u to share it with ur readers, big big hug for u!
may Allah reward u π
p/s: first time i cried to ur post!
Thank you for sharing Vivy! May Allah bless you!!
thanks for this post, vivy… brought tears to my eyes and prompt me to write in my private blog that i have deserted since Nov last year. T__T
This is a much-needed reminder for people in todays generation. Thank you for sharing this with all your readers, vivy. Your writing has once again left a huge impact on me! Keep it up π
Just like any religion, a massive bunch of bullshit.
Assalamuaalikum w.b.t;
Terima kasih Mak Su for sharing the info.
marilah sama2 kita mulakan baby-step dgn lafaz ” Bismillah…mudah2an ALLAH bantu kita utk kekal istiqamah dalam melakukan kebaikkan & menjauhi kemungkaran,ameen yrb….
[…] morning when I read this [here], I am thankful that I have a reminder for the rest of the day (and weeks, months and years to […]
Subhanallah..such inspiring and beautiful post ever.Insyalallah, me to will pray for us to gets better and better. We got back to each other esp to those who always remind us towards Allah. Setiap muslim itu bersaudara.Allah got ur back,n we got ur back to Vivy. Insyaallah.
Subhanallah, thanks a lot Vivy!
you’ve brought tears to my eyes, thank you for the beautiful reminder on what a great religion Islam is.
you rajin sgt pergi YMP! I haven’t gone to one in a looonnnggggg time.
i’m ur silent reader all this while, thanks for sharing. this article touch me so much.
Alhamdulillah.
Nasihat saya, lebih baik anda mula berjinak dgn hijab seperti sahabat anda Toots. Menutup aurat itu adalah WAJIB dan tiada kompromi. Tiasa istilah ‘baby steps’ untuk hal yg wajib. Di waktu malaikat Izrail datang utk menyabut nyawa dgn perintah ALLAH SWT, bolehkah kita menyuruh malaikat hold dan step by step juga?? Mustahil bukan? Renung2kanlah…
thank you. thank you. thank you.a very meaningful post. luv it!
wow! your summary is perfect! i arrived late, had to sit on the floor too (in between chairs) so i hardly saw imam’s face π he was talking on NIAT when i finally settled down in the hall (had to wait outside the hall for about 5-10mins).
love this post! (and others too >_<)
“Imam Suhaib said that he had so much trouble memorising the Quran. When he went to his teacher, the teacher asked βHow do you treat your mother?β Imam Suhaibβs mom is a non-Muslim and so Imam Suhaib wasnβt that close to her. So the teacher called him a fool. And Imam Suhaib started being nice to his mother, treated her nicely, helped her with housework. His mother was pleased with him and slowly, he started seeing that he could memorise the Quran, page by page. So never underestimate the power of mommy and daddy.”
can i share this line in FB?
how do u know abt this ceramah Vivy? how can i join?
assalamualaikum vivy
vivy i da lama baca ur blog
sometimes i do feel like wanna share your post dgn orang lain
to make it easier
would it be ok if u boleh letak fb , twitter button untuk share link tu ?
π
thanks..happy friday. hehee
this is very inspiring.. <3