Today, while scrolling through my computer, I came across something that I had written a while ago, and decided to share it with all of you. It is very different from my normal posts, but I hope you enjoy!

Slowly, lifting my head up to regain my composure, I decided to attempt the questions, once again. After completing each question that I retried, the next question would become that much easier. I wasn’t trying to comprehend the question, yet the answers were becoming so apparent. I sat there in mere shock at what was happening. I continued to do a few more questions, and once again, the answers began to make there way onto the paper. I stopped, face pale, wondering what was happening. ‘It’s Allah!’ I thought. I could hear the second hand finger of the clock, tick away. Suddenly, my thoughts were disturbed by the teacher’s announcement, “15 minutes remaining folks!”. I grabbed my pencil and went through the exam one last time. One question in particular stood out to me. I had spent 10 minutes on the answer the first time around, so why did the answer look so...wrong? I decided to scribble out what I had and change it to the simplest and most random answer I could think of '20(0.5)=10', and time was up. Upon giving my exam to the teacher, I sat at my desk, heart pounding, arm aching. “Why did you do all this math?” he said, pointing to the question I had just changed. “Uhm, I didn’t know what I was doing, but here’s my new answer” I said, pointing to the '20(0.5)=10'. He reached for the pen in his pocket, placed the exam on my desk, and checked it off, a big huge checkmark. I was relieved! At least now I knew I had gotten 3 marks out of the 100.

On the bus ride home, I pondered on what had happened while writing that exam. Was it actually Allah? I was praying for weeks to do well on that exam. I had even asked Him to stand by me while I wrote that exam. Was my prayer coming true? 

That night went by the same. The events of the day, replaying in my head. From what I can remember, as I slept, I heard words being said to me. I wasn’t completely asleep, nor was I entirely awake. My first instinct told me to grab my phone, which I opened to the Notepad App, typing out the words that I had just heard. Tucking the phone under my pillow, I went back to sleep. 

The next morning, I made my way downstairs to watch the Friday Sermon. Around 20 minutes in to it, I suddenly remembered that I had written something on my phone, but what the words were, I couldn’t remember. Upon opening the note that was written on my phone, I read:

3:36AM: God weakens those, who’s eyes weaken Him. God strengthens those, whose eyes strengthen Him.

I could feel the cold leather of the couch I was seated on send goosebumps up my spine. What could these words possibly mean? I rushed to my laptop, opening up, www.alislam.org. I proceeded to type the words in the Holy Qur’an Search Bar. Unfortunately no results matched. Unsure of what to do, I typed the event onto my Social Media in hopes that my Muslim friends might know what it meant. 

A few hours later, my phone vibrated. It was a reply! I excitedly clicked on the notification, and was redirected to a reply stating that it could be a Hadith-e-Qudsi. I wasn’t too sure what that was, so I did some more research. I came upon a site that defined it as follows: Hadith-e-Qudsi is a term which signifies that the meaning of the Hadith is from Allah, and the words are related from the Messenger(saw) of Allah, unlike the Qur’an where the meaning and the words are both from Allah. “Hmm...” I thought, maybe they’re right. I decided to read through the list of Hadith, maybe I would be lucky enough to find something similar to what I had heard. I came accross the following, which sounded pretty similar to me:

Book 97: Oneness, Uniqueness of Allah

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Allah said, 'I am to my slave as he thinks of Me, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him). (See Hadith No. 502)

But, I still wasn’t too sure. I decided to see Hadith No. 502 as was recommended:

Volume 9, Book 93, Number 502:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "Allah says: 'I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.' "

“That’s it!” I thought. How did it take me so long to figure this out? I am certain that this was sent to clear away any doubts in my mind. I had prayed that Allah would help me out throughout that exam, yet I doubted Him. How could I doubt Him? I remembered Him, so He remembered Me! I remembered Him while doing that exam (‘in a group of people’),  I ‘walked towards Him’, when I completely gave up on trying to understand the concepts during the final moments of that exam. So could He have ran towards me? It was all becoming clear to me now. It was as if the fog in my mind had cleared away. I still can’t believe it, even as I write this. My heart’s still pounding, and my hands are still shaking. Alhamdulillah (Praise to God) is all I can say.

Answering the questions that come our way, in the best way that we can.

A lot of the times at school/university we are approached about certain topics of Islam, that we ourselves are unsure of the answers too. This causes us to make up certain reasonings based off of our sometimes limited knowledge of Islam. But we must remember that this uncertainty in answering the questions comes through as trying to hide something or making up an answer on the spot. But we are the ones who can redirect the youth to Islam, and if our answers are unreasonable, we may end up repelling people from Islam as opposed to attracting them to it.

Below are simple answers to the common questions that we tend to face:

WHY DON'T YOU SMOKE? IS SMOKING HARAAM?

The answer to this is simple. Smoking is not religiously prohibited in Islam. In fact, it isn’t stated anywhere in the Qur’an to not smoke. It is, however, discouraged due to its negative effects on health. Islam does’t place guidelines and restrictions on everything, some things are left for us to decide. It (Islam) has allowed us to choose whether we care for our health or not. 

WHY DON'T YOU (AHMADIS) PRAY BEHIND NON-AHMADIS?

WHY DO YOU (MUSLIMS) HAVE TO FOLLOW SO MANY STRICT RULES AND GUIDELINES? 

I can't tell you how much times I have been asked this question. If you look within the Qur'an there is no guideline that has been set by Allah that doesn't benefit us in this life or the next. So to some it may seem as if we have a lot to abide by, but these guidelines all create peace and better our lives. Believe it or not, Islam isn't the only religion with rules. Every religion has rules, but many people allow society to make them believe that they no longer need to be followed. 

I decided to leave this question for last, as it truly goes along with many of the above topics that I touched upon. So think about a party/prom/dance. What do you do at these events?

• Dress Up: All of these events require a girl to wear something that is revealing and tight because all the other girls are wearing it. But Muslim girls are supposed to be modest in every aspect. We may be wearing a hijab on our heads, but we are also showing off our body in a tight fitted dress. As well, Hudhur (aba) has told us girls to wear a coat up to our knees. But would you want to go to a party/prom/dance wearing this? No. So why would you get yourself into that situation anyways when you can perhaps get together with your girl friends and be more comfortable without sacrificing your modesty. 
• Dance: What's a party without a little dancing? Or a lot of dancing. We all know that these parties always have huge dances. Once again, dancing is not allowed in Islam especially when you are in a setting where girls and guys are together. For this reason, Hudhur (aba) has even stopped dances from happening at Mehendi's since there are both guys and girls present. Even if you yourself may not dance, why would you want to go to a party, where everyone else is dancing?
• Alcohol: Alcohol is usually always available at the bars in these parties. But, as I stated earlier, alcohol is prohibited in Islam. We shouldn't have to be around it either, as people can easily pressure us into drinking it. 
• No Segregation: Islam practises segregation to protect both men and women from lusting over the opposite gender. We don't want to be in a setting where we can easily be influenced into thinking about the opposite gender, and being seen with the wrong intentions by someone of the opposite gender. 

If you were to go to a party/prom/dance while abiding by these guidelines of Islam, it would have to be as follows: wearing a hijab and burka, not dancing, not drinking, and not looking at the males with a bad intention. Overall, it would be a very awkward situation that I suggest no girl should have to deal with. Why not just invite a few of your close girl friends over, where you don't have to worry about your hijab and coat, and you can eat all you want and watch movies. Sounds like a way better idea to me!

In the end there are still so many questions that I haven't tackled in this post. However, upon doing a survey, these topics were the most common topics that were questioned upon. There is so much more information that could have been given on each topic, however I wanted my responses to be short so that when these questions come up in the future you remember the shorter answer as opposed to a huge answer that you will probably forget. InshAllah, in the future there will be longer, more detailed, posts on the above topics. So stay tuned! 

May Allah enable all of us to continue to gain knowledge about Islam, and show all those that cross our path, the true meaning of Islam, Ameen!

As the annual Ijtema begins to take place at a local, regional and national level around the globe, I decided to remind everyone of the importance of this blessed event. 

Just like every other gathering that the Jama'at (Ahmadiyya) holds, this too is a great source of knowledge, self-reformation and way of coming together with other members of the Jama'at to gain and share knowledge. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) stated that "When people gather together for the remembrance of Allah they are surrounded by Angels, and covered by mercy from their Lord". 

MY IJTEMA HISTORY

Upon turning 7 years old, the importance that my mother placed on me taking part in Ijtema was immense. She would help me prepare months ahead of time and would encourage me to take part in every little thing on the syllabus. I have to admit, I was probably the most shy nasirat in these Ijtemas, but I still continued to take part. I remember receiving my first medal at National Ijtema Canada at 7 years old for 4th place in Tilawat-e-Quran. I couldn't have been happier. It also encouraged me to willingly take part the following years. Alhamdulillah, my participation in Ijtema continued, and continues to this day only because of the love that I developed for it as a child, thanks to my mother.

THE INFLUENCE THIS HAS HAD ON ME

It was only because of my mothers' strength of preparing me and taking me to these Ijtemas that the love for them that I had, continued to grow. I saw my mother take part when I was younger, and so that motivated me to take part as well. Ijtema became a reason for me to memorize the Qur'an and learn about topics given in speeches, that I may not have otherwise. The knowledge I gained planted itself into my heart, and continues to grow. It is one of the many reasons that I have a strong bond with the Jama'at now whilst in Lajna, Alhamdulillah.

WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?

One of the many things that I learned and continue to see today is that the young girls that took part in these Jama'at events (particularly Ijtema) when they were younger, are now the Lajna members that take part and make their children take part as well. It's not hard to see that those girls, who from a young age weren't shown the importance of these events, are not only distancing themselves, but distancing their own children from the Jama'at and Islam. 

A MOTHER'S ROLE

I can honestly say, that if it weren't for my mothers' love for the Jama'at and her pressure of me taking part in these Ijtema's as a nasirat, I would never take part as a Lajna member now. We are the mother's of the generations to come. What we do now can influence the future of the Jama'at and society as a whole. Many times mother's don't realize that even learning one little Surah, is increasing her child's knowledge. A two minute speech on a given topic, may not be very knowledgeable for the mother, but it will definitely be a learning tool for the child. If a mother herself allows the excuse of school work, time, and being busy to be a valid excuse, then what more can we expect from her children? The child will assume that if the mother isn't giving it importance, then it must not be very important. Moreover, if your child is unable to participate, then at least bring them to the event. Although they themselves may not be taking part, they will definitely learn and become motivated upon seeing the other participants present. 

It saddens me to see the number of participants in these Ijtema's decrease year by year. Mother's are no longer allowing their children to bond with the Jama'at through such events. We can't expect our children to be close to the Jama'at and want to take part if we ourselves don't give it any importance. Children learn by example. 

So I hope and pray that many people take part in Ijtema this year and in the years to come, and realize the many benefits of it, Ameen!

Throughout my life and experiences so far, my belief in Allah has drastically increased. With this increase in the belief of Allah has come a greater belief and trust in His e n. I understand that sometimes life can throw so much at us, that it can be quite difficult to see the positives of the situation. We become so blind sighted by everything going wrong, that we fail to see everything that's going right. Take a moment to reflect back on your life so far. Could you ever have imagined that you would be where you are in life right now? I've learned that Allah has a miraculous way of making everything fall swiftly into place. 'Everything happens for a reason', has slowly become a daily reassurance I give myself when anything goes wrong. It allows me to reflect on all the positives of a situation, rather then the negatives.

Let me give you a few examples:

Getting a bad mark on a test or assignment: Something all of us can relate to having been through at a certain point in our lives. Most of the time we get so caught up in the mark written on the corner of the paper that we lose all thankfulness to Allah. Instead, we should think of it as an opportunity from Allah to do even better the second time around, or on the next assignment/test. It may be an opportunity from Allah to learn something, like how to prioritize and be more productive with our time. 

Now let's think of a different situation. What about getting lost while driving to an important event - oh and your car breaks down. Pretty frustrating, huh? Once again, we lose all gratefulness to Allah because we are so caught up in being lost - in a car that decides to break down - and not getting somewhere on time. But what about the positives? Perhaps Allah just saved us from a drunk driver on the road, where we could have been at that very moment if we hadn't gotten lost. He may have just saved our life but we're too busy to see it.

What i'm trying to say is that everything does indeed happen for a reason. Allah has plans that are far better than ours. Trust me, He knows what He's doing. We cannot show thankfulness only when things go our way and show ungratefulness when things do not. Just remember all the good of the situation instead of focussing on the bad. This will not only make you a happier and more grateful person, but will also bring you closer to Allah.

Say Alhamdulillah, in the good and the bad.

May Allah enable all of us to show patience and see the brighter side of situations, Ameen!

I wanted to redirect all of the Lajna members to a great book, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah strengthen his hand), always presents extremely knowledgeable sermons at any occasion. The sermons included in this book consist of:

This book is a great source of knowledge for Lajna, both young and old. It tackles so many of the questions that we have, but fail to find answers for: Ahmadi women's role in society, marriage, Taqwa, using our resources to spread Islam, women in Islam's history, raising children with the love of Islam and fulfilling our pledge.

I recommend this book to be read by every Lajna member as it truly reminds us of our responsibility as the mother's, daughters, sisters and wives of Islam.

A common issue that arises between Muslim girls, at school, in the workplace, and out in public is that nail polish can't be worn when a girl has to pray Salat. Different scholars and sects have a conflicting stance on this subject, but my opinion is that 'No, nail polish does not impact one's wudu'. Before the comment section fills up with an outpour of commentors stating otherwise, let me just outline the reasons why I take this stance on the subject.

WHY IS IT SEEN AS A BARRIER?

For one to understand the reason that nail polish makes ones Wudu incomplete, we must understand why this claim has been made. For ones Wudu to be complete, water must reach all the parts of our body which are involved (in Wudu), to remove the dirt that has built up in those parts or any perspiration that may come from the human body. Most scholars claim that with nail polish on, the water isn't reaching our nails, making our Wudu incomplete. 

BUT WAIT...

...if water must reach every part of our body that is involved in Wudu, then why is our Wudu still valid if we have socks on? If we perform Wudu and put our socks on, then our socks act as a barrier between our feet and dirt. Then why isn't the same claim made for nail polish? 

PROOF

From my knowledge of the Qur'an and Hadith, I can honestly say that there is no Hadith that states the invalidity of Wudu with nail polish on our nails. However, the one Hadith that many like to use to prove that indeed we can't pray with nail polish on is: 

"If you find water, then let it touch your skin, for that is good." -Narrated by Abu Daud 

But once again let me go back to the point I made earlier. What about socks? Are those not a barrier, preventing water from touching our skin?

PRACTICALITY IN ISLAM

Islam is a practical religion. It doesn't want to make our life difficult, rather fill it with ease. So why would Allah make women remove their nail polish 5 times a day to pray? He wouldn't. The same goes for makeup, we are allowed to do Wudu and put on makeup, and pray all day if our Wudu is still valid. We aren't forced to remove that makeup and reapply it 5 times a day. 

NAILS

We must remember that nail polish is applied to our nails, which are already dead. So in fact, the passing of water to all the other parts of our body is permissible to that degree, but the nail does not matter. Adding nail polish to something that is already dead, doesn't make it any cleaner. The cleanliness is guaranteed with nail polish in that, washing the nail polish becomes the same as washing the nails. 

EXPLAINING IT SIMPLY TO SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT AGREE

"The reason that you believe that nail polish makes one's Wudu invalid is because nail polish doesn't allow water to seep through. Right? If you think of it in that sense, then nothing should be able to seep through. Right? Then how can dirt seep through? If dirt isn't getting through the nail polish, to the nail, then the need for Wudu doesn't arise. So if our hands are already cleaned, and we have completed our Wudu prior to applying nail polish, then shouldn't the nail polish act as a barrier, preventing dirt from going through? Meaning, that the need for Wudu shouldn't arise, since the nail remains clean and our Wudu, valid."

Unfortunately, these things are given far more importance than they need to be given. Such things were never 'wrong' during the time of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), so they shouldn't be seen as wrong today. Even with nail polish, when the whole hand is washed, your purpose of Wudu is achieved.

Take Care, Allah Hafiz