Allah's promise

People in love never want to admit that human promises are temporary. They promise each other faithful love, a good and easy life...they promise "forever." But we are only human.

People break their promises all the time, sometimes out of ill-will, and sometimes simply out of their fragile humanness. It is only Allah (swt) whose promises are never broken and whose promises are eternal.

"Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment" (9.72).

Allah promised believers Jannah, and His approval and satisfaction with us. When Allah (swt) promises us something, it is not like a promise of a human being. His promises are not contingent on other people or circumstances or a short lifespan. He is the Ever-Living and His promises are absolute.

We also promised something to Him. We made a covenant with Allah (swt) when He first gathered all the souls that would ever come into existence. We all recognised and testified to His Oneness, acknowledging that no being is worthy of worship except Him. That was our covenant, our contract, our promise. Most of humanity has broken this promise.

But still, He gives us blessings and He grants us all that we ask and He promises us something far better than what we have. There's something better waiting for us than the broken pieces of this life that we are desperately trying to glue back together. He promises us forever. On the condition that we fight against our fragility and selfishness to uphold our promise to Him, too.

"So be patient. Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth" (30:60)

- Asmaa Hussein

Like a dandelion, I sway in the wind, struggling everyday to be Your better servant Ya Allah, Ya Rahman, Ya Raheem.
O Ya Allah, forgive me for all my broken promises to You. Please forgive me.

Spring break in DC

It is finally Spring. And does time pass by so quickly these days. It is already the second week of April. Temperatures are rising though there have been sunny days but terribly cold due to the wind.And believe it or not, we had snow on the first day of Spring. What a way to celebrate Spring eh!  Today is Sunday and boys will be back in school tomorrow after about one and a half week of Spring break. We went to DC last Friday evening for the weekend and was home by Sunday evening. Could not get away longer as the other half could not get any doctors to replace him at the clinic, thus leaving for DC at 8pm that Friday. Well, alhamdulillah, it was better than nothing. Boys had a chance to see most of what DC is known for. In short, we spent the whole of Saturday at the National Mall. For those who are not familiar with DC, the National Mall is not a shopping mall. It is basically a stretch of area where you have all the monuments and museums on your left and right, and at one end is the Lincoln Memorial while the other end is the Capitol Building. So here is where you find the Smithsonian castle, the Air and Space museum, the Natural History Museum, the Art Gallery, the Sculpture Garden, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Museum of American History, the Washington Monument aka the Big Pencil, among others, and I mean many others. Trust me, one day is not enough to cover everything. Especially when there is a long line for the museums. One end to another is about 2 miles/ 3.2km walk and did we walk, haha. Thank God the boys were good with all the walking we did. They used to complain when we had to walk a lot but this time, they were really good about it. 

The gorgeous Smithsonian Castle

We did not manage to cover everything, just the Smithsonian castle, the national art gallery, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War memorial and a few gardens that we walked through, and the Air and Space Museum after the second try (we walked away after the first try due to too many people with the longest lines ever). We only sat outside the Natural History Museum as there were also lines. But Thaqif had gone there mid last month as he was in DC as one of his school's representatives to the Model United Nations Conference in Washington DC area. So he was not complaining about not being able to get in. And Ruiz was like, "oh we can always come back". Hmmm...

We meet again Mr President

Anyhow it was a very very windy day that Saturday. Wind aside, it was actually a beautiful sunny day. There was a pillow fight taking place at the park between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Not too sure what the pillow fight was for but it got bigger each time with more and more people joining in. I believe most of them were students and as we walked back to the Smithsonian area, we met young adults carrying pillows heading for the park. Some others were there, flying kites so it was a pretty good and colorful sight. There were many food trucks and that caught my attention and my tummy's attention. Long lines there too and most of the food trucks had 'Halal" written on them, so it was way easier for us. We had lamb on rice and lamb gyros picnic style, sitting in the park, on the grass under a shady tree, scrambling to cover our food each time the wind blew like crazy.

The Washington Monument

All in all, it was a good getaway for us despite it being just a short weekend. The other half drove around the Embassy Row the next afternoon before we left DC and the areas around Dupont Circle. The houses and surroundings there reminded me of the suburbs of London. It was like stepping into suburbs like St. Albans (which I had dreamt of staying at once upon a time, many many years ago) and it was simply beautiful. I said aloud that maybe when Thaqif  goes to George Washington University if he is actually and truly interested in political science (since he is into all this UN stuff), we could probably move there and have a house there in that particular area, in one of those gorgeous looking London suburb look-alike houses, and get a chance to keep an eye on Thaqif's progress. And he quickly quipped  , "I thought you said you want to camp outside West Point because Ruiz will be there and you need to keep an eye ON him." I rolled my eyes. Yes, ok, thank you for reminding me that.

Statue of Gandhi at the Embassy Row