What Deserves To Live Rent-Free In Your Head?

Feb 13, 2024

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Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatuLlah wa barakaatuh.

A few days ago, I watched the ‘highlights’ of the AFCON semi-final on Whatsapp. I am not a football fan but I do love my country and could not miss out on the opportunity to cheer them on from the corner of my room. Alhamdullillahi we won and the joy that came from the victory was everything! Please do not ask me what happened at the finals, I have no response for you.

Back to the semi-finals, victory is sweet ooooo and contagious too! Anyway, that ended and I was supposed to move on with my life no? Instead I got carried away and went to different platforms reading posts and enjoying some of the banter that was going on. Most messages came with a soundtrack and that was how the distraction began. Now there is one tune stuck in my head, that has refused to go! It is even in the background as I am writing this to you.

For someone with experience of things making their way into my heart, you will think that my judgement will be better . But, no o, I entered this one with my eyes wide open.

It has been over 5 days now and this tune, that carries no benefit whatsoever, is now living in my head rent-free. When I get up in the morning it is there, while I am eating it makes an appearance and even during my super focused moments, it rears its ugly head! Subhannallah, what kind of thing is this? It is not even funny I I have NO space for it. Ramadan prep has started, my goals need memory space.

This experience reminds me of what made me walk away from music in the first place . I just realized how much space it took up in my head and how little effort I required to retain it. When it now comes to memorizing Surahs, I will be stuttering up and down the nation. I also did not like how it influenced my actions and language and most irritatingly, its ability to show up without an invitation and live rent-free in my head! Ah, it had to go! It was an unwelcome guest. Please make Dua for me that this line or two, that is running in circles in my head, fizzles out asap!

This whole incident really makes me think of all the unwelcome guests that we have given space in our head. Some of them are living pretty comfortably and doing us more harm than good. It is time for us to be more conscious of what we consume and protect the pathways to heart with everything we have got.

To be frank, it is time to let them go. Instead, consider filling up that space with beneficial knowledge, Surahs from the Quran and Dhikr. That is a better and highly rewarding use of your memory space. As you can already tell, this advice is for me first!

Now, if you will excuse me, if I have some polishing to do! Istighfar on repeat!

REFLECTION OF THE WEEK

Brothers and Sisters, QuranReflect Family, welcome to Sha’ban! The platform at which we wait to embrace Ramadan! We do not wait here idly, rather we prepare for the journey into Ramadan. We prepare by getting into the motion so we can hit the ground running for Ramadan. Recite, reflect, repent and rectify to reform yourself in Ramadan.

The first matter which we should attend to is our intentions. Namely, intending that we truly want to grow closer to Allah and to make the most of Ramadan this year. Sha’ban gives us this opportunity, it makes the ground ready for Ramadan. One of the proofs of a sincere intention is the preparations we make to embrace Ramadan - Hammad Fahim

Read The Full Reflection Here

I love love Isra Al Miraj sessions! I think it is impossible for me to get tired of them. There are so many lessons for us in the year of sadness, the ugliness at Taif the miracle of the Night journey and the blessing of Solah and pretty much all of it. I really love it when our teachers tease out the lessons for us and teach us about patience, perseverance, trust in Allah and grief etc. Dr Rania’s session in the Celebrate Mercy one is soooooo gooood! Her insights and how she relates it to mental health is so powerful! LOVED IT! Then the way Mufti speaks about the relationship between our beloved Prophet and Allah is beautiful and Shaykh Jangda’s bit is amazing! I loved all of it.

You can check it out below.

Sha’ban is HERE! Alhamdullilahi robbil alameen! can you believe it? Is is not a blessing that we are one step closer to reaching Ramadan! May Allah bless us to reach Ramadan! Ameen! The resources have started rolling in but my plan is not to overwhelm you, so I will share this simple yet impactful article from a Life with Allah. I find all their content useful including their Dhikr and Dua app and I love how straightforward this article is. It took me less than 5 minutes to read.

Read It Here

They also have a children’s teaching resource that you can download here as well and I pray that Allah makes it super beneficial for you.