Islam: A Daily Struggle?

Salaam

A few friends of mine are new converts….they find Islam hard. Of course, putting on the Hijaab, learning/reading salaah, learning Arabic and fasting for the first time will be SO difficult for one who has never done it before.

It’s important of course, that they do everything on their own pace.

Most of us here were born into Muslims families….however, is Islam a daily struggle for us in our life?

According to a lecture I heard the other day, it should be.

Nothing of value can ever be easy. Personally, I don’t find it “easy” to wake up for Fajr, to wear the hijaab in the heat, or to attend/lead/prepare classes or to catch buses for programmes/meetings in the extreme cold.

In life, it’s always easier to conform than it is to rebel and be different.

A wise man once said ““We are perhaps living in times when living for Islam is more difficult than dying for it.”

Apparently a person can not be a good Muslim without involving themselves in struggles that require sacrifices.

And in Islam, those acts that require struggle and hardships always bring more rewards….a girl who finds it difficult to wear a hijaab will get a lot more reward then the one finds it easy….Also, in Islam the rewards for fasting is a lot more then the reward for Salaah…why? cos its not easy.

The people of our time have become very lazy and spoilt. If we look at those people who lived before us, the true devotees of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) who fought against the pagan Arabs, suffered tortures, became migrants, suffered unbearable hardships, but ultimately did raise aloft the message of the Holy Prophet (saw). They had rocks placed on their chest and were ruthlessly ripped apart, but refused to give up the beauty of Islam. Do we have it harder then them?

Imam Hussain (ra) had his family brutally killed in the battle of Karbala because he refused to accept a corrupt man as a ruler….such people knew the true meaning of the word sacrifice and struggle.

So…Is Islam a daily struggle in your life? Do you persevere with the things that you find difficult or do you just give up?

And in our time and society, what is the hardest part of Islam for YOU?

Share your thoughts….

Wasalaam

Salam

If your convert friends are finding Islam hard, then they are not following the true Islam. They are being mislead by extremist elements.

Islam is not hard.

Islam is six things:

It is simple.

It is easy.

It is clear.

It is beautiful.

It is enjoyable.

It is beneficial.

If you are on true Islam then you will find it like your lover.

Because the true lover is indeed enjoyable, simple, beautiful, clear, beneficial, and easy.

Omrow

"Omrow" wrote:

If your convert friends are finding Islam hard, then they are not following the true Islam. They are being mislead by extremist elements.

riiight

so if u never prayed, fasted, covered ur head etc for most of ur life and suddenly had to do it

would u find it a piece of cake? :roll:

Ive started noticing a trend on this forum

whatever sis says , whenever she opens a thread, or says a comment
Omrow responds with the exact opposite ?
I can give examples if you want ? but this thread is evidence enough

just wondering

is someone trying to get someones attention wink lol

nah jus a coincidence Dirol )

now to stay on topic

agree sis, islam is hard and requires dedication , motivation and most importantly love for God.
Especailly living in this country where we mix with non-muslims , who are free to commit sins as they like and seem to be having fun all the time
im generally talking regarding student life and the youth of islam in england

"raf786" wrote:
Ive started noticing a trend on this forum

whatever sis says , whenever she opens a thread, or says a comment
Omrow responds with the exact opposite :?
I can give examples if you want :?: but this thread is evidence enough

just wondering

maybe omro and Mr Admin are conspiring against her :shock:

maybe there is more then one admin

maybe little sis is muslim sister

maybe omrow is dying for attention from sis

who knows these things wink lol

"raf786" wrote:
maybe there is more then one admin

maybe little sis is muslim sister

maybe omrow is dying for attention from sis

who knows these things Wink Lol

yep-

all of the above are equally as believable as the so called conspiracy theory that Mr Admin and co have against u :roll: :roll:

"MuslimSisLilSis" wrote:
"raf786" wrote:
maybe there is more then one admin

maybe little sis is muslim sister

maybe omrow is dying for attention from sis

who knows these things wink lol

yep-

all of the above are equally as believable as the so called conspiracy theory that Mr Admin and co have against u roll roll

lol lol lol im sure some are false but also some are very true
but which ones ?

lets clarify the above

there is one Admin and many Mods-this is common knowledge

I'm am not MS-me AND sis met the revival team in the Unity conference so they can clarify that we are TWO diff people

the omro is NOT trying to seek attention-he likes to be controversial and and be difficult in every discussion

but regarding the personal vendetta against u

mmm

maybe u shud ask Beast more about that Wink

"MuslimSisLilSis" wrote:
the omro is NOT trying to seek attention

well thats certainly debatable... Blum 3 Wink

[size=9]I NEVER WORE IT BECAUSE OF THE TALIBAN, MOTHER. I LIKE THE [b]MODESTY[/b] AND [b]PROTECTION[/b] IT AFFORDS ME FROM THE EYES OF MEN.[/size] [url=, X-Men[/url]

"*DUST*" wrote:
"MuslimSisLilSis" wrote:
the omro is NOT trying to seek attention

well thats certainly debatable... Blum 3 Wink

i meant-trying to seek my sisters attention

you and muslim sister joined togheter e.g. 24 and 25 june

your names are incredibly similar
you have exactly the sames views about everything
you never interact on the forum togheter

but ill wait to hear what muslim sister has to say

"raf786" wrote:
you and muslim sister joined togheter e.g. 24 and 25 june

your names are incredibly similar
you have exactly the sames views about everything
you never interact on the forum togheter

but ill wait to hear what muslim sister has to say


are u kidding? :shock: muslimsis and lilsis are exactly that - sisters. the Ed and some other revival members have met em both, together, in 'real life'. it makes sense for them to have similar views if they're sisters... doh! Wink

and the 'joined' dates on this forum dont have any significance because we were all present on the old forums too...

[size=9]I NEVER WORE IT BECAUSE OF THE TALIBAN, MOTHER. I LIKE THE [b]MODESTY[/b] AND [b]PROTECTION[/b] IT AFFORDS ME FROM THE EYES OF MEN.[/size] [url=, X-Men[/url]

"raf786" wrote:

you and muslim sister joined togheter e.g. 24 and 25 june

yep-the forum is new

the old forum broke down and most of us joined on same day

"raf786" wrote:

your names are incredibly similar

yep-my name describes who I am

her younger sister

"raf786" wrote:

you have exactly the sames views about everything

most of the time-not always

"raf786" wrote:

you never interact on the forum togheter

we have only one computer-I'm only one when she aint on

any more lame assumptions? :roll:

dust thats all i needed to know

THEIR SISTERS

that explains it all

btw all this is nonsense we should not be debating us as individauls but debating issues regarding islam

admin delete my irrelevant posts if you want

"raf786" wrote:
btw all this is nonsense we should not be debating us as individauls but debating issues regarding islam

ur the one who brought it up... :roll: Lol

[size=9]I NEVER WORE IT BECAUSE OF THE TALIBAN, MOTHER. I LIKE THE [b]MODESTY[/b] AND [b]PROTECTION[/b] IT AFFORDS ME FROM THE EYES OF MEN.[/size] [url=, X-Men[/url]

"raf786" wrote:
dust thats all i needed to know

THEIR SISTERS

that explains it all

u didnt know we were sisters? :shock:

MuslimSisLilSis = Muslim Sister's Little Sister

and back to the topic :roll:

"MuslimSisLilSis" wrote:
"Omrow" wrote:

If your convert friends are finding Islam hard, then they are not following the true Islam. They are being mislead by extremist elements.

riiight

so if u never prayed, fasted, covered ur head etc for most of ur life and suddenly had to do it

would u find it a piece of cake? :roll:

the converts i know did not suddenly do it. They did it step by step....

therfore it was easy on them.

I liked some points Omrow mentioned...islam is not hard but simple.

And i know one who alhamdulillah took everything on straight away after converting....respect to her.

"*DUST*" wrote:
"MuslimSisLilSis" wrote:
the omro is NOT trying to seek attention

well thats certainly debatable... Blum 3 Wink

Highly

Salaam

Guys, stick to the topic please, if you wish to discuss my supposed alter ego then please start a new topic.

And Omrow, if you find reading Fajr early morning, fasting, lowering the gaze in summer, avoid backbiting etc etc etc incredibly easy then I rate you. In fact we should all aspire to be like you.

As you most probably know, to get closer to Allah (swt) we need to do jihad (struggle) against our Nafs (ego)…and the Nafs is ever inclined towards evil.

Yes, Islam is an “easy” religion…but that’s for those who have defeated their Nafs, and therefore face no internal obstacles….and that’s why for them acts of devotions is easy.

If we want to get closer to Allah (swt) we should be prepared to face difficulties and inconveniences….people didn’t becomes Sufi’s or Awliya’s without making sacrifices.

Wasalaam

Salam

Did you know that you don't have to kill yourself inorder to please God.

Just sit back and relax. Simply open your mind.

Let God do all the work. He can do wonders you know.

He is an Artist. Infact, the best in the Universe.

Once God has done to you that which He wants to do to you, then everything will be easy and rosy.

Omrow

Salaam,

Could I just share my thoughts?

I once heard a wise man say,
"If The Lord loves a servant then he sends suffering upon him. For through suffering his rank is increased and he gains closeness to his Lord."

Following on from this, who has suffered more than our beloved Prophet (may peace be blessed upon him) and likewise no-one is closer to The Lord than him...

This gives us a paradox, as Muslims we expect to receive the mercy of Our Lord yet at the same time we can find ourselves in situations that appear really un-merciful...
Yet this is not the fault of Our Lord, it is the fault of our own perception...
For Our Lord in his infinite wisdom, knows what is better for us...For many of us deserve the punishment of his wrath and we need suffering to cleanse ourselves...

During such times of perceived suffering, the virtue which is most harshly tested is the one of patience...

In fact the real test of suffering, is not the actual suffering, but how we cope with it. Do we take refuge in our own hate and resentment...
Or do we take refuge in Our Lord’s justice and mercy...

Let me share a poem with you concerning a wrongly accused prisoner, in ancient times.....That prisoner was the Prophet Joseph (May peace be blessed upon him). Both the Book of Genesis and the Quran stress how his confidence in his Lord's justice and mercy helped him to bear the lonely suffering in his cell.....and despite being exiled and imprisoned by his brothers, he refused to take refuge in hate:

Quote:
'For 10 years Joseph never slept at night. That prince kept praying to
God for the sake of his brothers:
O God, if you forgive them, so be it. But if not, then I shall fill the
whole world with my tears.
Punish them not, O Lord, for they are full of guilt for the sin that
suddenly overtook them!
Joseph's feet became blistered from his night vigils; his eyes full o
pain from weeping and wailing...

The lamentation spread to the celestial spheres and the angels, and the
Sea of God's Gentleness overflowed, and broke his chains.
Fourteen robes of honour arrived, and God spoke to Joseph, Jacob, and the
brothers:
"All fourteen of you are prophets, messengers, and chiefs among My
servants."
Such is the effort of the saints day and night, in order to deliver
creatures from torment and corruption.'

I found that very moving...

Yet, some of you may still ask, why [i]must[/i] there be suffering in our daily lives?
To answer this I'll leave you with the wise words of Dr. Abdal-Hakim Murad who wrote:

Quote:
“Allah has names of Beauty: the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Gentle, and many others. But He also has Names of Rigour: the Overwhelming, the Just, the Avenger...
The world in which we live exists as the interaction and the manifestation of all of the divine attributes. Hence it is a place of ease and of hardship, of joy and of sorrow. It has to be this way: a world in which there was only ease could not be a place in which we can discover ourselves to be true human beings. It is only by experiencing hardship, and loss, and bereavement, and disease, that we rise above our egos, and show that we can live for others, and for principles, rather than only for ourselves.....”

May peace be blessed upon you.

Docendo Discimus

I am mostly skint.

And guess what? that has shown me that Allah (swt) looks after me.

I never get hit by any large expenditures until I have managed to save some money (and consequently made plans to waste it on something).

If I had loads of money, I would waste it. And if I was struck with a large expenditure when I had no money it would be hard.

I am given the middle path.

As such I have taken the wrong lesson out of this. I am no longer too bothered about saving money. :oops:

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Islam is easy, and Islam is hard.

Waking up for fajr aint too hard, praying 5 times a day, once you get used to it, aint too hard. Fasting aint too hard once you used to it.

But, the hard part is stopping yaself from committing what ~I call Daily Sin. Back biting, slander, swearing, checkin out evry fit gyal that walked past etc etc.

Due to the society we live in we have been brought up thinking the above Sins are all good. Ya'ani fine and dandy. But we all know, the struggle against them seems eternal, sometimes you seem like you winning, and you find yaself at step one again. That is what makes Islam hard.

And, when you winning the battle against ya nafs, is when its beautiful.

_____________- -SupeRazor- -_______________

Some ppl make their goals the stars.
They may live n die n never reach the stars,
but in the darkness of the night, those stars will guide them to their destination.
Becuz they made them in their eyesight

"The Dark Paladin" wrote:

I once heard a wise man say,
"If The Lord loves a servant then he sends suffering upon him. For through suffering his rank is increased and he gains closeness to his Lord."

.

Nice. i think thats a hadith.

Salaam

If one truly someone….nothing to too much trouble.

One always goes out of their way to please their Beloved…they become deaf to the insults and taunts of other…nothing matters except the pleasure of their Beloved.

Similarly, if we had extreme love for Allah (swt) in our hearts, no act of worship would be a burden…in fact it’d be a pleasure.

When the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wanted Hadrat Bilal (ra) to give the call to prayer (azaan) he’d say “Bilal, please me”.

It was out of extreme love that our pious predecessors used to forsake their beds in order to spend the night alone with their Beloved Creator.

If our love for Allah (swt) was sincere and pure, no act of worship would be a struggle, however difficult it might be…

Wasalaam

Salam

"The Dark Paladin" wrote:
Could I just share my thoughts?

You dont need to ask. It is the reason why we are all here.

We love to hear whatever you have to say.

We only ask two things:

1. That you keep it decent. Because very noble and pious people come on this forum.

2. You speak from the heart. Even if everyone does not agree with you.

Omrow

"The Dark Paladin" wrote:
Salaam,

Could I just share my thoughts?

I once heard a wise man say,
"If The Lord loves a servant then he sends suffering upon him. For through suffering his rank is increased and he gains closeness to his Lord."

Following on from this, who has suffered more than our beloved Prophet (may peace be blessed upon him) and likewise no-one is closer to The Lord than him...

This gives us a paradox, as Muslims we expect to receive the mercy of Our Lord yet at the same time we can find ourselves in situations that appear really un-merciful...
Yet this is not the fault of Our Lord, it is the fault of our own perception...
For Our Lord in his infinite wisdom, knows what is better for us...For many of us deserve the punishment of his wrath and we need suffering to cleanse ourselves...

During such times of perceived suffering, the virtue which is most harshly tested is the one of patience...

In fact the real test of suffering, is not the actual suffering, but how we cope with it. Do we take refuge in our own hate and resentment...
Or do we take refuge in Our Lord’s justice and mercy...

Let me share a poem with you concerning a wrongly accused prisoner, in ancient times.....That prisoner was the Prophet Joseph (May peace be blessed upon him). Both the Book of Genesis and the Quran stress how his confidence in his Lord's justice and mercy helped him to bear the lonely suffering in his cell.....and despite being exiled and imprisoned by his brothers, he refused to take refuge in hate:

Quote:
'For 10 years Joseph never slept at night. That prince kept praying to
God for the sake of his brothers:
O God, if you forgive them, so be it. But if not, then I shall fill the
whole world with my tears.
Punish them not, O Lord, for they are full of guilt for the sin that
suddenly overtook them!
Joseph's feet became blistered from his night vigils; his eyes full o
pain from weeping and wailing...

The lamentation spread to the celestial spheres and the angels, and the
Sea of God's Gentleness overflowed, and broke his chains.
Fourteen robes of honour arrived, and God spoke to Joseph, Jacob, and the
brothers:
"All fourteen of you are prophets, messengers, and chiefs among My
servants."
Such is the effort of the saints day and night, in order to deliver
creatures from torment and corruption.'


I found that very moving...

Yet, some of you may still ask, why [i]must[/i] there be suffering in our daily lives?
To answer this I'll leave you with the wise words of Dr. Abdal-Hakim Murad who wrote:

Quote:
“Allah has names of Beauty: the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Gentle, and many others. But He also has Names of Rigour: the Overwhelming, the Just, the Avenger...
The world in which we live exists as the interaction and the manifestation of all of the divine attributes. Hence it is a place of ease and of hardship, of joy and of sorrow. It has to be this way: a world in which there was only ease could not be a place in which we can discover ourselves to be true human beings. It is only by experiencing hardship, and loss, and bereavement, and disease, that we rise above our egos, and show that we can live for others, and for principles, rather than only for ourselves.....”

May peace be blessed upon you.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

"Seek and you shall find."

"razor" wrote:
Islam is easy, and Islam is hard.

Waking up for fajr aint too hard, praying 5 times a day, once you get used to it, aint too hard. Fasting aint too hard once you used to it.

But, the hard part is stopping yaself from committing what ~I call Daily Sin. Back biting, slander, swearing, checkin out evry fit gyal that walked past etc etc.

.

The covering part, not talking to boys, not mouthing back to parents and keeping away from bad friends is what I find hard.

Namaaz and fasting has always been easy for me.