Be fully human

By: Yasmin Mogahed

Why is it that we refuse to accept the full human experience, the full design of the human experiment? We want the happiness without the sadness. The light, without the dark. The ease without the hardship. We want to learn to walk, without struggling through the falls. When a child learns to walk, the falls are part of the process. The fall is just as important as the rise. The slip of Adam was a lesson, not an oversight of God. God gives us the strength and the weakness. Not as an oversight, not as a flaw in the design. He gives us both because each part plays a purpose in our development, and our ultimate success. Don’t stunt the process of your growth but trying to limit the spectrum of the human plan. So many of us fear failure so much, that we are afraid to try. But reflect on this: was it through your successes or was it through your failures that you learned your deepest lessons? Our successes encourage us. But it is our failures that teach us. In life, we need both. Success gives us the encouragement and motivation to keep going, while failure, teaches us the difficult, often painful, but necessary, lessons we need to grow and fulfill our ultimate purpose.

The Essence of Islam: Are We Missing the Point?

By: Yasmin Mogahed

Source: http://www.yasminmogahed.com/

To some, a Monet is only a collection of dots. To others, it is a perfect masterpiece. To some, Islam is nothing but a code of rules and regulations. But, to those who understand, it is a perfect vision of life.

As Muslims, we often focus so much on Islam’s dos and don’ts that we miss the bigger picture. Islam came to perfect our manners, and yet we are willing to scream and shout to win an argument about moon sighting or zabiha meat. Islam came to increase us in humility and yet while we wear our beards and hijabs, we look down on others.

How to Have a Sound Heart?

Source: onislam.net

By: Yasmin Mogahed

The topic today that I wanted to speak about is keeping the heart alive; that is the title that I wanted to work with.

So the question we have to ask is why is it even important to keep the heart alive?

What is so important about our heart?

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said in a hadith: “In the body there is a lump of flesh, and if that lump of flesh is set right then the entire body is set right, and if that lump of flesh is corrupted then the entire body is corrupted, and verily it is the heart.”

To all those drowning in their attempt to please people

By: Yasmin Mogahed

Pleasing Allah is NOT dependent on pleasing people. Say this a million times, until you absorb it! We *can’t* please people. We can only do our part, as best we can, for the sake of Allah. The result comes from Allah. Not from us. If we are not successful at pleasing people, it does NOT mean we’ve failed! You have not failed. You are not a failure. You need to start to accept and value who you are. You need to value yourself. And stop trying to mold yourself into what you are not, in order to please those around you. Your goal is to please Allah and Allah did not ask you to become something you’re not. Nor did Allah expect you to please people. That’s not your job. Your job is to please Him.

Protection of the Heart

By: Yasmin Mogahed

Many people try to solve the problem of heartbreak by hardening their hearts. But the hardened heart is the most distant from Allah. So by hardening the heart, you aren’t protecting yourself. You’re killing yourself. The heart that’s alive is by definition entirely soft, fragile, and vulnerable. It is by definition breakable. That’s why we are taught to surround it with layers upon layers of protection. Thikr (remembrance of God) works to protect the heart, while at the same time softening it. And the more we remember Him, the more protection we build for a softer and softer heart.

Yasmin Mogahed: Take Your Heart Back! (Video)

 877-Why-Islam presents a talk by Yasmin Mogahed. Celebrities, influential people and the fantasies that they create have always shaped the world views of civilizations. However, idols of the present time tend to be more influential due to their visibility compared to those of the past. Idols of the present time will be compared to those of the past in an effort to critically evaluate their influence to capture the hearts of society and hence their true worthiness of the status of “idol”.

Tawakkul: Trust in Allah

By: Yasmin Mogahed

If you want to understand the concept of how tawakkul (trust in Allah) will ease the pain of your hardships, imagine a scenario in which a stranger picks you up and starts driving. What will you feel? Not understanding what’s happening, you will feel extreme anxiety. But what happens if you find out with all certainty that the stranger was sent by your mother? What happens to your fear and anxiety? It suddenly disappears. And the more trust you have in your mother, the less anxiety you will feel. Why? Because even if you don’t know why you are being taken along a certain path, you know with full certainty that your mother always has your back. You have *full trust* that your mother only wants good for you and would never send something to harm you. So it is this trust that gives your heart peace–even when you don’t understand the path your being taken on.

Yasmin Mogahed: Jewels of The Qur’an – Inspirations From Those Nearest to Allah (Video)

Website: http://www.yasminmogahed.com/

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf: A Moral Vision For The Future (Video)

 Reflections on the core values that bring us together to build the beloved community – a moral vision for the future. Hamza Yusuf is a president, cofounder, and senior faculty member of Zaytuna College. He is an advisor to Stanford University’s Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. He also serves as a member of the board of advisors of George Russell’s One Nation, a national philanthropic initiative that promotes pluralism and inclusion in America. In addition, he serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of Islamic sciences in the world. Recently, Hamza Yusuf was ranked as “the Western world’s most influential Islamic scholar” by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, (2009).