The spiritual rihla never ends...
Assalam Alaykum wa rahmatullah!
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem
Bismillah wa salaatu wa salaam `ala Rasulillah
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon the last prophet and messenger.
May Allah bestow light to the left of us, to the right of us, above us, below us, within us, on our tongue, in our eyes, in our hearts...
Alhamdulillah I have made it back "home"-- rather back to Upland. Physically I am here, but spiritually and mentally, my heart and soul remains in Madinah and Mecca. As Imam Zaid put it, our physical rihla--or journey-- has ended, but our spiritual journey, which is the journey of an entire lifetime to Allah, never ends.
I long and pray that Allah invites me back to the two blessed cities, because the feeling and experience I have felt there is something I yearn for, and they are feelings no one can experience unless there are in those two cities, and alhamdulillah, Allah has made those feelings so special that they can ONLY be felt in Madinah and Mecca, subhanAllah. I and other students discussed how much we want to retain the knowledge, implement it all into action, and constantly feel what we felt-- the peace, the tranquility, the love for the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salaam, and Allah; however, Imam Zaid recommended that we shouldn't be disappointed with ourselves that we don't retain everything, because in reality we won't; but we have to strive to implement the knowledge into action so that this physical rihla impacts and strenghtens our spiritual rihla.
When I was in Madinah, I found my true home; and upon returning to my house in California, I now feel estranged. This to me is how we should all feel in this world-- we are strangers in this world, and we should know that our true home is in the Hereafter. Verily, that is where our souls were created, and thus our souls and hearts should yearn to return to our real home-- to our Lord. In Mecca as well, I felt at peace. We were only there for 3 days, but subhanAllah, spending time in front of the ka`bah was an experience that inshaAllah I will never forget.
There is so much to say, and insha'Allah I will be posting up some of my journal reflections I had written during my time away (rather my time at my real home in Madinah), as well as pictures of sacred sites. Alhamdulillah, we were so blessed to visit sites that no one visits, that barely any people know of, and we were able to learn about the significances of all these places.
I would have to say that this rihla has had a very big impact on my perspective on everything, and the one thing it has really contributed towards is my immense amount of love for the beloved of Allah, the prophet sallalahu `alayhi wa salaam, as well as our Gracious Lord. SubhanAllah how much the prophet peace be upon him has done for us, and how much he has prayed for us. Similarly we should be grateful to our Lord for all the bounties He has bestowed upon us. The first time I saw the ka`bah I forgot about everything-- all the stress and anxieties that I faced, I forgot about everything I wanted to pray for; things I thought I "needed"; all I could think of is what immense blessings Allah has bestowed upon me and how much I want to please Him, how much I yearn for Him, how much I wished that He would also come closer to me.
That's all for now, but inshaAllah I will try to keep this up and going...
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem
Bismillah wa salaatu wa salaam `ala Rasulillah
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon the last prophet and messenger.
May Allah bestow light to the left of us, to the right of us, above us, below us, within us, on our tongue, in our eyes, in our hearts...
Alhamdulillah I have made it back "home"-- rather back to Upland. Physically I am here, but spiritually and mentally, my heart and soul remains in Madinah and Mecca. As Imam Zaid put it, our physical rihla--or journey-- has ended, but our spiritual journey, which is the journey of an entire lifetime to Allah, never ends.
I long and pray that Allah invites me back to the two blessed cities, because the feeling and experience I have felt there is something I yearn for, and they are feelings no one can experience unless there are in those two cities, and alhamdulillah, Allah has made those feelings so special that they can ONLY be felt in Madinah and Mecca, subhanAllah. I and other students discussed how much we want to retain the knowledge, implement it all into action, and constantly feel what we felt-- the peace, the tranquility, the love for the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salaam, and Allah; however, Imam Zaid recommended that we shouldn't be disappointed with ourselves that we don't retain everything, because in reality we won't; but we have to strive to implement the knowledge into action so that this physical rihla impacts and strenghtens our spiritual rihla.
When I was in Madinah, I found my true home; and upon returning to my house in California, I now feel estranged. This to me is how we should all feel in this world-- we are strangers in this world, and we should know that our true home is in the Hereafter. Verily, that is where our souls were created, and thus our souls and hearts should yearn to return to our real home-- to our Lord. In Mecca as well, I felt at peace. We were only there for 3 days, but subhanAllah, spending time in front of the ka`bah was an experience that inshaAllah I will never forget.
There is so much to say, and insha'Allah I will be posting up some of my journal reflections I had written during my time away (rather my time at my real home in Madinah), as well as pictures of sacred sites. Alhamdulillah, we were so blessed to visit sites that no one visits, that barely any people know of, and we were able to learn about the significances of all these places.
I would have to say that this rihla has had a very big impact on my perspective on everything, and the one thing it has really contributed towards is my immense amount of love for the beloved of Allah, the prophet sallalahu `alayhi wa salaam, as well as our Gracious Lord. SubhanAllah how much the prophet peace be upon him has done for us, and how much he has prayed for us. Similarly we should be grateful to our Lord for all the bounties He has bestowed upon us. The first time I saw the ka`bah I forgot about everything-- all the stress and anxieties that I faced, I forgot about everything I wanted to pray for; things I thought I "needed"; all I could think of is what immense blessings Allah has bestowed upon me and how much I want to please Him, how much I yearn for Him, how much I wished that He would also come closer to me.
That's all for now, but inshaAllah I will try to keep this up and going...
posted by Ruby at 11:36 AM
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