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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| A celebration of life |
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| UmmWafi |
| 03/30/03 at 11:19:17 |
| [slm] ikhwani wa akhwati It's been some time since I pen my thoughts here (what a relief right ? Yeah yeah, I heard you folks at the back bench :) ). The silence was not due to a need for estrangement from my beloved brothers and sisters. Rather, it was forced by the need to actually pass my exams and complete some papers. Still, my thoughts have always been with all of you, and indeed with everyone and anyone who is hurting at this point in time. May Allah SAW Bless all of us with His Mercy, Amin. Next Saturday my lil daughter will turn 4 years old. She couldn't stop talking about the little walimah we will have for her. She brags to her brother that I will buy her the best chocolate cake ever, better than his for his last birthday (of course at this juncture the brother will go Ummiiiiiiiii). She also hinted very broadly how happy she will be at receiving a big beautiful bicycle (okay a tricycle but dont tell her that) with ribbons tied on the handles :) What a joy to watch her....bright eyed, flushed cheeks and immense confidence that her birthday will be a beautiful one. Suddenly, everything else seem surreal to me. The images of screaming and crying children bombed in their Iraqi homes. Images of soldiers dead and wounded. Images of hospitals frantically fighting the SARs virus, hoping that one more life won't be claimed. I feel as if it is beyond me to reconcile the two, of life and death. The full weight of being a mother is now borne on me. How does one explain to Solehah that the start of her life is the end for others ? How does one explain to Wafi that I truly cannot point out the good guy and the bad guy on TV ? How does one wield a shield over them so that they are safe from any virus ? Indeed....I am a mother. I am human. Truly...I am weak. It is amazing at times to know the extent of our arrogance. We, who depend on Allah for every single thing right down to the air we breath, yet feel powerful enough to take the life of others when we can never have the ability to create our own life. It is amazing how we think we can decide the rights and wrongs of others when we sometimes take the wrong turn in life. We are amazing...and yet, depraved. Still, come Saturday, Insha'Allah, there will be a beautiful chocolate cake for Solehah and a beautiful bicycle with ribbons on the handles. Insha'Allah, come Saturday, we will celebrate life for indeed death is certain. Wassalam. |
| Re: A celebration of life |
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| BroHanif |
| 03/30/03 at 17:58:30 |
| salaams Hmm celebrating birthdays you ummwafi ! hmm very strange. Is this a common theme over there ?. Anyway, it got me thinking as well, while my fats(fatimah) is going down a slide at the park I know someone else is being placed in their coffin(s). Yet life goes on, its not that we don't feel for those suffering, we do. I guess sometimes we need to appreciate Allahs wisdom, for whatever happens, it happens from Allah. We do not certainly have the answers but we know who to turn to. Salaams Hanif |
| NS |
| Re: A celebration of life |
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| UmmWafi |
| 03/30/03 at 23:13:28 |
| [slm] BroHanif I do not celebrate my or any adult's birthday but I do organise a small walimah for my childrens'. It's not the party hats with singing and clapping kind of celebration though. We usually start the walimah with the recitation of Surah al-Fatihah by my son Wafi. Then we have du'a session headed by my father, the kids grandpa followed by naseehah and wishes for the birthday child by my husband. The cake is an excuse to indulge and the gift is to allow the child to be a child and make them feel special. We rarely give them gifts otherwise. Wasalam. |
| Re: A celebration of life |
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| Tesseract |
| 03/30/03 at 23:59:24 |
| Assalamu 'alaikum, [quote]Anyway, it got me thinking as well, while my fats(fatimah) is going down a slide at the park I know someone else is being placed in their coffin(s). Yet life goes on, its not that we don't feel for those suffering, we do. [/quote] Gotcha uncle Hanif :). This is what we meant when we were having our cricket world cup discussions and u were so mad at us. Anyways, life has gotta keep rollin' with sadness and happiness both. Wassalam. |
| 03/31/03 at 00:00:44 |
| Tesseract |
| Re: A celebration of life |
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| Halima |
| 03/31/03 at 04:56:09 |
| Ever since the war started, my stomach has been tied in knots. I feel pain and overwhelming sadness. For I too, have children. I watch them sleep peacefully, watch them eat their breakfast, I watch them go to school and all the while, I am thinking of an Iraqi child dying every second, of an Iraqi mother or father helplessly watching their child die due to an unjust war. Of an Iraqi teenager dying while my teenage son is safe and sound. Of an Iraqi child about to become a teenager dying before he or she could be a teenager while my younger son will become a teenager in a few months time. My children are old enough to understand the horrors of war. Yet they can not fathom why Iraqi children have to die because of Saddam or because the U.S. and Britain think so. They try to imagine those children living in constant fear, expecting to die any second. And they ask me why Amercica and Britain do not respect the RIGHTS OF THE CHILD as espoused by UNICEF: "For Every Child:- Health, Education, Equality, Protection: ADVANCE HUMANITY". I say to them: 'it because America and Britain are no better than any terrorist that they claim exists.' And I watch my children who will become young men in a few years while their age mates are being sacrified in Iraq. And see those young men and women who are being killed and maimed in Iraq and wonder who and what they might have become if their lives was not cruelly cut short or destroyed. I wonder if somehow, Allah will not hold all us responsible. Those who have given his holy lands as the launching pad for this senseless war and those of us who just sit by helpless and blame the people who are waging this war. Ya Allah, what is wrong with us??? |
| Re: A celebration of life |
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| BUSHRA |
| 03/31/03 at 08:25:10 |
| [wlm], We are living in strange and puzzling times. Everyday, we hear about the calamities and adversities, that our fellow brothers and sisters in Islam face every day. These past few weeks I've heard distressing news from all over the world and even close to home. A relative of mine was diagnosed with what is now terminal breast cancer. As I see her slowly approach her last few days in this earthly abode , I marvel at the contrast in my own personal circumstances and those of my fellow bretheren. Due to the enormous blessings of Allah, my personal life has flourished greatly in the past year and it seems so surreal now that everything else around me seems to crumble. I have truly never experienced a shared pain of hurt and anguish with my fellow muslims , as I feel now. And in such moments of despair , Alhamdolillah I turn to my own children who never fail to bring a smile to my heart and face. Oh well, I guess this is what they call "mixed blessings". May ALLAH protect us and our eman and grant us patience and wisdom and shower his rahmat upon us all. Ameen. Bushra. |
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