I’m reading Quran nowadays and I’m trying to learn more about this guidance from Allah (SWT). And in it, there are signs for those who believe. I’m all for logic so yeah, most of it seems powerfully evident to me. SubhanAllah.

I’m thinking a bit more about Quran nowadays and I realize that every time I do, my worldly matters start becoming trivial. He said, she said, he did, she did…all fade away. You fade away. Your stings fade away. I still have to struggle to focus on what I’m reading but insha-Allah I’m getting better. I open up a translation of the Quran that I can follow easily and every page/surah I read.

It’s an easy to get to sanctuary, this Islam of ours. It’s safe and it protects us immensely. The guidelines within are written for mere mortals to follow. And every single guideline in there protects us. Safeguards us. Constantly. Without fail. Just think about that for a second: I’m going to give you an amazing system that will help protect you every single second of your life. And if you’re good with it, it will protect the people that you love too.

We’ve forgotten the Quran very largely in our lives. We read up rulings and fatwas and he said this and that speaker gave a fantastic lecture and i feel so inspired and we need to change the world. That’s great Alhamdulilah. Change the world. Amazing. How can you change the world when you haven’t changed yourself or equipped yourself?

So, where does it all come from? From Allah (SWT). And then where next? His Quran. Then next? His Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

I know you, smart reader, know all this. Sure you do. If you know this so well, then do you know where your Quran is right now? I didn’t. I had to go find one.

Please go pick up your Quran.

I walked a lot those days and that’s how I slowly developed my love/hate relationship with walking. I understood its intricacies and its beauty. I also understood why we rarely walked in the Middle East. (12 years later, I am in Singapore and end up walking 7-9 kms on a two-day trip. I now love walking in the right conditions).

Football season is coming soon and I’m learning how intensely passionate Americans are about their football. Store walls are covered in posters of the players. Hallways in every building have them pinned up to any open space available. This year they are marketing a new message: Family comes first. It puzzles me at first. This is something you need to be told? Ofcourse it comes first. I walk away amused.

In 1997 I lived with my sister and brother respectively. Their house was basic yet full of love, constant wisdom and lots of dishes to wash. I was, as my brother used to kid, his intern and at his beck and call. I never ever minded that – not even the time he asked me to walk across town, go up the street, buy him food and deliver to where he was studying. Or the time he promised to study Arabic with me but had other things to do. I have stories. My brother did things that back then blew me away and today, he is one of my role models in life. May Allah (SWT) guard his heart, make his ebadah sincere and give him/his children characters that He loves. Ameen.

Time and time again bro has demonstrated what it means to be family to me. He’s been there for me when I was being blatantly jaahill (ignorant). He was there for me when I accepted my Islam again. And he was there to pick me up by the freezing curb in winter 97. He’s maintained communication and applied PMP techniques to make family relationships work. After years of seeing him in action and integrating my own skillsets, I understand, though not fully, what family means.

I’ve told these stories a few times over the years – the ones about walking and the ones about my brother. Walking, everyone gets. But as time has passed by I’ve come to certain conclusions about how family is perceived by others. And I guess I’ll learn more as time flies by. That’s OK because it has merely firmed my faith in how I want my kids to be. It’s a simple and powerful philosophy I think. The evidence of its application are in abundance – the outcomes are amazing. Either way, you need to remember the cost and consequences of your actions. As an adult, I’ve managed to muck up a few things with family and have paid the price. Cost and consequences + foresight = deep aha moments.

I know I’m not alone in thinking about family as such. I’ve met countless people who have acted similarly. Family comes first – it’s a no brainer. And yet, to some this is news. SubhanAllah, may Allah (SWT) protect us all.

These are some lessons I remember from my college years. I’m not always good with them but I think I try. Walk whenever you can. And family comes first.

Keep these 5 points in mind when you recite Quran:

1. Letters can be heavy or light
2. Letters live somewhere (throat, lips, mouth)
3. This Cat Feels Awfully Cool
4. What gets stretched & how much (north/south – east/west)
5. Don’t bounce what don’t need to bounce

1. Deprived of knowledge. Knowledge is light and illumination, and if there is darkness of sin in the heart, then you will not be illuminated. Imam Shafi’ee complained to Waqi about his bad memory and was told to check his heart and lifestyle and abandon the sin. The light is not given to a sinner.

2. Denied of provision from Allah (subhanahu wata’ala). Hadeeth: sometimes Allah deprived a person of provision due to the sin committed. The more sins a person commits, the less provision. There is no barakah.

3. Feeling of loneliness in the heart. When a person is lonely, he does not come close to Allah and feels as if he is on his own. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) warned us from accepting that feeling. When you commit a sin, you feel so guilty and do not feel like you are worth being with the people who are good. You think that you are not on their level and ruining the gathering with your sins. This is not what Allah asks of you. Allah wants you to be close to Him regardless of what you do.
You feel lonely even when people are around you. Why? You are not like them and they won’t accept you if they knew who you are. This is worse. You are physically with them but feel alone. The Shaytan goes after the one who is separate from the crowd mentally and psychologically. Life becomes difficult for them. Of these influences: darkness in your heart (cannot distinguish between right and wrong).

4. Darkness in the heart. Cannot distinguish between right and wrong.

5. Takes a toll on the body and heart. Spiritually and physically exhausted. Ibaadah becomes very hard.

6. Deprived of the sweetness of ibaadah.

7. Makes your life shorter. In terms of barakah and age. In terms of age: you are stressed out all the time or some people commit suicide because of the sin. Someone committing a sin goes after one sin after the other. This may cause physical damage to the person. The most important thing is the barakah of the time.

8. The sin breeds the sin. This is one of the worst effects of the sin. If you do a sin and enjoy it, then it will lead to something new.

I share this as a reminder to myself first, and then to you reader.

I’m not alone in my sins. I’m not alone in my mistakes. I’m not alone in what I do. I’m not alone seeking repentance. I’m not alone falling down. I’m not alone. I’m not alone.

I’m sorry and I’m going to try again. Thank you Allah (SWT).

I’m going to many places, meeting many many people and doing quite a number of new things. It sounds amazing and it probably is. I just need to remember.

I need to remember who I am and what I stand for and what my values are. Because every place I’m going has a history and I’m not used to walking beaten paths and resetting history.

Life has taken me on a powerful journey, moving me from one place to another and allowing me to create experiences that were never before. Beatles takes me to the slopes of Maryland. DMB transports me to an old apartment. Save Tonight is Math B10 basement and WinAmp in Indiana. That torn bandana in that ancient satchel in my closet? Yeah I remember, I remember and forget it all.

In all of this, I have rarely had the opportunity to go back. My lines in the sand have remained untouched for ages/eons.

I’m going to some places I thought I would never see again and just the thought of them has brought me to my knees – Alhamdulilah. I’m going to some places I have avoided semi-earnestly and now almost there, I have to decide myself and make a few choices.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me on certain days and in certain places.

This isn’t cheesy or cliché: I am going to believe in myself and who I am. And the answers will come insha-Allah.

This is Waleed ibn Abdul Jameel, Muslim. I will see you soon insha-Allah.

And when it comes to you my friend, I do believe how incredibly sad you are. Believe me.

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

16 random things I should write about…I can do that.

1. I see a lot of sadness in the world around me. I sincerely wish people would choose to see the better side of life.
2. I love traveling by trains. It’s my favorite way to see the world.
3. I drink a lot of water. So much that when knicq met me for the first time, he was convinced I was an undiagnosed diabetic. It worried me and I had blood tests done with karvakerala reviewing my results over the phone.
4. TV is my nemesis.
5. I’ve only been to one concert in my life and I still have the tshirt I bought from there. Wifey saw it for the first time a few weeks ago and wouldn’t stop staring.
6. I’ve met the founder of WordPress, Matt.
7. I’m on my way to meet the founder of Moodle
8. I am also on my way to the Singapore Night Safari right now
9. I was convinced that I was an insomniac in college, to the point I did a presentation on why I was an insomniac in my Comm class. I don’t remember what grade I got because I was so sleepy but not asleep
10. I like to give random people compliments. I don’t do it enough.
11. I don’t think I know how not to be married anymore. Alhamdulilah I’m blessed with an incredible woman who constantly tries to burn all my food accidentally. It’s a love-ate relationship.
12. I have slightly weak hearing and slightly weak taste buds. This means I listen to everything loudly and all my food is spicier then need be. Green chillies are a regular item on our dining table.
13. I am losing weight and am rather enjoying it. I even bought a home gym and it looks great and serves as a fantastic towel dryer so far
14. I don’t think there are enough Muslims doing amazing things in the world. That’s seriously sad.
15. I was born Muslim. However, I accepted Islam into my life when I was in my 20s. Being a cultural muslim was a poor existence. I learnt how to live.
16. I find the sociological and psychological aspects of Islam to be utterly fascinating. Here’s a system, designed by our Creator, to attend to us inside out. That’s incredible.
17. Bonus: There are 2 lectures I recall strongly from the era of my islam acceptance. One of them was how muslims should act and react to support the economy in the system they inhabit. The other lecture I mentioned in my blog years ago.

Time to pass the baton. Since I don’t blog-surf much anymore, I tag my wife, Abez.