Before I begin today’s entry, I would just like to give my sincerest thanks to all the fellow Singaporean tumblr peoples who stepped up to purchase the soaps from Palestine. May Allah bless each and every one of you, ameen! <3 Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah!

Image Source: Boston.

UPDATE 23/08/11, 2:26PM : SGD$720 Pledged! Alhamdulillah, we have pooled together enough for TWO braille Qur’an! Let’s see if we can waqf one more, biiznillah :)

As we find Ramadhan coming to a close and a bigger number of us see ourselves spending more time in the masjid, doing sujud after sujud on the intricate patterns of the carpet and reading more pages of the Qur’an in an effort to reap the gargantuan benefits found only during the last ten days of this blessed month, perhaps it is time that we take a breather and look to see if there is anything that we have forgotten.

The thing is, perhaps a great number of us in our du’as for forgiveness and wanting to be given the rezqi of iman, of ‘ilm, of wealth and health etc, have forgotten to actually be thankful, to have syukr, for all of the blessings that Allah swt has already given us.

In the first paragraph of this entry itself I have highlighted an example of just ONE of the blessings that almost all of us overlook on a daily basis - the gift of sight.

Without sight, we can never see the straight lines that automatically form, shoulder to shoulder, with just one verse, “Hayya ‘ala as-salah!”. Without sight, the beautiful designs on the carpet of the masjid would remain something etched perpetually only in our imagination, without any real confirmation to the reality of things. And most importantly, without sight, we would only be able to hear the beautiful miraculous verses of the Qur’an, with but a remote chance of reading it and reciting it ourselves.

When we are at our lowest, many of us just have to reach out to the countless Qur’ans lying around our house or in our iPads and iPhones to seek comforting words from Him… but how about our fellow Muslims who are blind?  

My dear sisters and brothers, do you realize that in Indonesia alone there are over 3 millions Muslims who are visually-handicapped and have no means to purchase a braille Qur’an (One braille Qur’an costs 1.5 million rupiahs)? And how can we forget our own Muslims in Singapore who too, have no access to the Book of Allah swt due to their disability? 

Project Waqf: Braille Qur’an from Nur Fadhilah on Vimeo.

My fellow tumblrs, BAPA is currently running a Waqf Project to purchase the Braille Qur’an for blind Muslims in Indonesia and Singapore and perhaps it is time that on top of the words of gratitude that wet our lips, we actually give up just a little of the money He has given us and share this immense blessing of being able to READ the Qur’an with those who are unable to do so.

As each set of a complete braille Qur’an costs SGD$350 which I understand is a big amount of most of us who are students, I was thinking that perhaps, if just 35 out of the 827 (that’s 4%!!)  followers of this tumblr were to donate just $10, we could all pool together enough funds to help a blind Muslim read the Qur’an, for the first time in his/her life... MasyaAllah.

For those who are interested to work together with me in this project, please drop me an email at fadhilah.wahid@gmail.com and insyaAllah once we reach 35 people who want to work together, I’ll elaborate further on the technicalities :) 

OR otherwise, you can also go directly to BAPA’s website (click!) for details on fund transfer, cheque, or-nets! :) Whichever way is good as long as the niyyah is the same, insyaAllah <3

Let us not be amongst those said in the Qur’an:-

And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless. [Qur’an 7:179]

Abu Qataadah r.a. reported that Allaah’s Messenger s.a.w said:

“The best that a man can leave behind after his death are three things: a righteous child who makes du’aa for him, an ongoing sadaqah whose rewards continue to reach him, and a knowledge that continues to be implemented after him.” [Ibn Maajah]

Sadaqah AND knowledge, masyaAllah! Please help to spread the word! Jazakillah khayr :D

Image Source: Solid.phase

I watched the mimosa leaf close as my finger gently caressed its sides. My gaze hovered over the green patch beneath me as the one mimosa leaf that I touched began to create a ripple effect; slowly, one by one, bumping into the leaves surrounding it, and they, the leaves surrounding them, until after a few seconds all the leaves within my view were closed.

And then it struck me how beautiful a metaphor it is that Allah has created for us in His creations… SubhanAllah :’)

As all of you reading this would already know, just a week back I put up an appeal on this blog for funds to contribute to the Braille Qur’an Project. My goal was, to me, realistically achievable - 35 people, $10 each, to waqf just one copy of the Braille Qur’an.

Fast forward to today, alhamdulillah we managed to pool together the total amount of SGD3,020 and RM520. That’s approximately ten copies of the Qur’an! Allahuakbar!!

How did it happen? Let us go back to the metaphor of the mimosa plant that Allah swt has given us…

You see, the basic fact is that as single individuals what we can offer is more often than not, limited. But what we forget too often is that Allah swt said in the Qur’an, 3:110

You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah…

We Muslims are the best nation (ummah)… which means that it is in our fitrah to not be an island, but instead to be bound together as a whole! And when we enjoin what is right, we do so not just by ourselves, but as an ummah! 

And this was exactly what had happened during the project, masyaAllah.

I, the single mimosa leaf, was surrounded by a limited number of people and could only reach a certain ceiling as to the amount that I could collect from them. But what I forgot at that point of time was that, my family, friends and tumblr readers, leaves surrounding me, too had leaves surrounding them, and those leaves had leaves surrounding them, and this fact just goes on and on until we reach the capacity of the people in this world! 

Allahuakbar wa la hawla wa la quwatta illa billah! Never underestimate the strength and reach of the Muslim Ummah if we all work together biznillah :)

To sum it up, in doing good deeds, be a mimosa leaf who calls to others to do the same. You are ONE mimosa leaf, but if everyone has the same mentality in enjoining what is good as an ummah, the next thing you know, the whole field will be full of closed mimosa leaves, insyaAllah :)

And lastly, I just though I’d share one of my favourite hadith,

Muslims in their caring, mercy, and support for each others, is like one body, when a part of it suffers from pain, the rest of it would suffer by a fever and sleeplessness.

:) Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah.

May Allah swt accept all our deeds this past Ramadhan and multiply them manifold, and may He grant us the opportunity to meet the next Ramadhan… InsyaAllah.

Jazakumullah kheir to the many of you who contributed, and my many thanks for the number of you who pulled in the leaves surrounding you to contribute as well; this project wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if it was just me, biiznillah.

All good is from Allah, and the mistakes mine. Please accept my apologies for all my kedhaifan, and please make du’a for the ummah. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, everyone! <3

P/s. For those who missed this project, donations can still be made directly to BAPA here, insyaAllah!