Math-wise | 67,525 + n

Bismillah.

The conversationalist side of me resurfaces for some reason, for the moment.

As I was casually, (how dare you O self) but that's what it was; as I casually recited 200 after 200 of Istighfar on my way to the "magic number" prescribed by Habib Umar bin Hafiz, I came to a realization.

For this month of Rajab the habib recommended three types of Istighfar to be recited 5000x each. So that's 3 x 5000 = 15,000 before moving on to recite selawat 5000x at the minimum.

At first I thought that's a LOT! Then my left brain independently decided to do some maths.

50 (one's age) - 13 (average age when solat becomes obligatory for you) = 37 × 365 (days in a year) = 

13,505 days x 5 solat per day = 67,525 solat.

Imagine seeking forgiveness for each solat obligation all your life, even if you did not miss any, think of the quality of your solah, how your mind wandered far on the 1st minute upon performing takbiratul ihram.

Compare that with 15,000.

What's the ratio? 

OK you may be young so the ratio is smaller. But let's just say you should have recited at least 100 selawat a day. So how does the equation look like? What is 15,000 compared to the quantity, let alone quality of prayers and selawat that should give you bare minimum qualification as a Muslim, not even a Mukmin, hello!

It goes without saying that we are on a "calorie deficit" if we were to count the number of transgressions committed on a daily basis eg. being rude to your mother, and not having a good opinion towards the Lord, so on and so forth. So what is 15,000 as a redemption voucher, if you like? 

In my case, at the very basic, 1 out of the 15,000 istighfar is to redeem 4.5 solah. I don't have the heart to discount my lady-off-days because the Lord did not go on leave, mind you. Yes, the istighfar is short but hey 4.5 solah carries a lot of credit towards one's "degree".

So think about it. Let's give a little more feel to each istighfar, a lot more consciousness for the weight it warrants. 

Let's not rush it.

- A novice's rambling

Rajab Reflections| Rajab 1442 Hijri/Feb 2021

Bismillah.

In the long run, it would prove useful to have this documented here bi-iznillah. The blogosphere, though a passe as far as the current socmed lingo is concerned, its searchability is incomparable. 

Rajab Shahrullah is here, Alhamdulillah. It is the month of Allah, thus it's best to strengthen our resolve that all else fall second-place i.e. the unrelenting noises, save He.   

Let each action we take serves as a spoke of the wheel directing us towards the redha of Allah. Ilahi anta maqsudi wa redhaka matlubi. Speaking of redha, I learned from a majlis taalim live-streamed from Masjid An-Nur Glenmarie in Malaysia, about four levels of provisions (rizq). Yes, only four. Ustaz Mohd Hazizul Ghouth quoted Shaykh Mutawalli As-Sya'rawi on those four levels of rizq. Guess what, the lowest is one's properties, the highest, as you might guess is Allah's redha. So if you are blessed with the highest level of provision, you need not worry about the other three i.e. if you had enough properties, if you did not have good health or pious children who'd pray for you. Allah's redha is the numero uno mission as it is the ultimate vision one should have.

That said, I remind myself to be cognizant of other worthy goals to have as a Muslim, better still, a Mukmin. The Quran, as pointed out by Ustaz Hazizul is for the Mukmin, not Muslim, mind you, as stated in the Quran: zaalikal kitaa bula rai bafi huda lil muttaqin. 

As you may be aware there are plenty of good goals that we should be aiming for as propagated in the Quran but this faqir will only mention a few that she is aware of and strive for, like having mahmudah qualities, having qalbun salim, exhibiting sobrun jamil, being blessed with saadah and being amongst the saabiqun khairat, tholabul ilm and ulul albab.

I think the ultimate...truly ultimate goal is to be deserving of Allah "taking over" if I may say so, of our hearing, sight, hands and limbs...subhanallah so then we can be sure we will not hear, see, do or move based on our lowly personal motivations under the delusions of our ego, desires, greed, hubbul jah and what not. That divine "take over" is as mentioned in a hadith qudsi. It is a lofty reward for those who toil through the nawafil acts.  

Alright, let's get on with these Rajab "prescriptions" from the venerable Habib Umar bin Hafiz, may Allah make us benefit from his counsel.

 

For ease of reference, the first istighfar is from Ali-Imran:147; the second is from Al-Mukminum:118 and the third is from Al-Araf: 23. Habib Umar recommends that we recite each for 5000x, including the selawat.

Allahumma solli wa sallim 

'ala Sayidina Muhammad 

wa 'ala aali Sayidina Muhammad

waq firli fil aakhirati wal uulaa 

wa az hib huzna qalbi 

fiddunya wal aakhirah.

Sources: 

Habib Umar's notes from Muwasala IG/FB and Lentera Tarem FB

Quran screenshots from https://www.corequran.com/

Masjid An-Nur Glenmarie FB https://www.facebook.com/masjidannurglenmarie

O Allah, I dare not complain about any of the seemingly unpleasant circumstances, for Your blessings have outweighed them. To name but one blessing that I am humbled and deeply grateful for is that You have made it easy for my tongue to memorize a handful of selawat taught by Habib Umar all these years. Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah. I am thankful so please grant more.

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Let the haters hate.

lol.