Hop on | Grateful for 2016

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah

What more can I say, 2016 has been awesome. But it's almost time to jump to a happy new year.

Change is good. Taking a step forward is good. Embracing the unknown with high hopes and a strong faith is good.

Yesterday, I had my 10th Quran lesson, and like a kid I was excited to move on to Surah Ali Imran. I had also studied the 8th salawat. My ustaz and I was amazed at how beautiful and deep and all-encompassing the meanings were. One salawat was about asking Allah to make salam for the Prophet as much as Allah's knowledge, another salawat was about asking Allah to make salawat as many as things that will be created and that were created. And there's one which made me reflect a bit more. 

In 2016 alone, imagine how many people were forgetful of the Prophet? Must be plenty. And how many people remembered him? Perhaps not as many as those who forgot him. So let's end 2016 with this salawat practised and recommended by the late Habib Ali bin Jaafar al-Idrus. The person from whom I heard the lesson of the salawat had also passed away. May we benefit from them. They were both warak and areef.

Here goes:

Allahumma salli 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad
kullama zakaraz zakirun
wa salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad
wa ala ali Sayyidina Muhammad
kullama ghafala an zikrihil ghafilun

Bless Ya Allah, our master Muhammad
whenever those who remember him do so
and bless our master Muhammad
and the family of our master Muhammad
whenever those who neglect to remember him do so.

Let's hope we belong with those who remember him salallah alaihiwasalam continually.
That we are among the "zakaraz zakirun".