An Oasis of Sunshine...

Isn't it amazing? You know ... the warm, squirmy feeling you get when you realise ... it's actually possible for your heart to feel true, sincere and indescribable .... love.

It's been over a year and a half; since I 're-discovered' a gift that changed my life... for good. To be precise it all started in Ramadhan 1427 - Oct/Nov 2006, when Allah (Swt) bestowed upon me a spiritual urge, the realisation that: Allah is with those that remember Him [Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 10553]. If I asked you, who the noblest of human beings are, what would you say? Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (rahimahullah ta'ala) beautifully informs:

"The noblest of human beings who revere Allah is the man whose tongue is ever moist with His remembrance, who reveres Him through His laws and makes remembrance his watchword. For by his reverence will he achieve recompense and reward - to enter Paradise and be delivered from Hell.

By his remembrance will he achieve a spiritual station: nearness and intimacy with Allah (Swt)."

In fact dear readers, Ibn Qayyim (may Allah truly have mercy upon his soul, ameen) also states in 'The Invocation of God' that nothing is sufficient to resemble Allah (Swt) relationship with someone who remembers Him. "The relationship is even more particular than the one that occurs to the doers of good deeds or the reverent. Beyond expression or description, it is something known through direct experience."

Alhamdulillah, everyday, succeeding the moment I realised how much I needed, and will always need, to be near my Lord (Swt), has been an amazing learning curb. For those that have followed my journey, our magnificent journey, since January 2007, you're probably aware of the states - stations, tests - hardships, ups and downs of it all. You'll remember my: 'penny-drop' moments, 'sweetness of faith' realisations and my 'silent inner cries', alhamdulillah. The feeling I am inclined to disclose to you all is, to me, like one of those; 'I can't believe this is happening to me' moments. You know when you've longed and waited for something so much, so intensely, and yet as much as you've longed for that special something, there was always an atoms weight of doubt lingering at the back of your mind - will I ever really get there?

Recently, Allah (Swt) blessed me with something that touched the core of my heart and the depths of my soul. As I sat contemplating what this blessing meant, I cried, in a way that I hadn't cried for a while. Alhamdulillah, some of you know that I write for a few organisations, one of them being SISTERS Magazine (may Allah bless all their writers, ameen). Whilst those of you that simply know me as Umm Thameenah will have seen this 'disguise' besides a number of my works, insha'Allah. Alhamdulillah, I've been writing since I was eleven years old, masha'Allah, and have always viewed my writings as precious - 'my precious babies'. So when Allah (Swt) gave me the opportunity to write something, an article, on a topic that, (anyone who knows me will testify) couldn't have been a more beloved topic for me to address. Not only was the topic one of my favourites, but the notion that it would be read, shared and, insha'Allah, benefitted from, was overwhelming.

The topic 'The Greatest Love of All' is one that resides in my heart, lingers in my soul and brings true warmth to my self-being. Alhamdulillah, as I use a pseudonym, only a hand-full of sisters are aware of my published works, thus it enabled me to do what it is that Muslim writers should always feel free to do ... write simply for the sake of seeking Allah's (Swt) Pleasure.

For what is the use in writing something just for the sake of seekig approval, being praised, loved or honoured? No thank you. Let me be completely honest with you all, when I sat reading Issue 6 of SISTERS Magazine: 'Love is All Around', it reaffirmed and strengthened in me, what my heart had been trying to tell me all along. SubhaanAllah, my heart would silently cry through dark lonely nights as a result of me not acknowledging a basic fact ... this heart has no room for temporary fulfilments; for the pleasure of Allah (Swt) is all it truly seeks.

As one course lecturer once stated: "Modernity teaches: 'you are free to do what you want. But Islam, frees you from wants".

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillhi Rabbil 'alameen. Dear readers, I am free, free from the unattainable wants, baseless desires and insignificant concerns and worries of this temporary world. So, the futile and idle pursuits of this transient world will just have to find another victim to pursue.

And just as I narrate these inner thoughts to you, the words once spoken to me by my secondary school History teacher comes to mind:

"You are an oasis of sunshine in a mad forsaken world."

And that, dear readers, is now exactly as I feel, alhamdulillah :-)