See, the thing with sleeping upright is...
... it's exceptionally bad for circulation and now not only are my hips in the balance but I have swollen legs and feet and look like an elephant. The swelling has gone down a little on the base of my feet meaning I can walk without pain now, but on the whole I look like one of those fat ladies you see whose ankles are as wide as their thighs. ... oh wait.... I *am* one of those fat ladies you see ... when did *that* happen?
Sigh.
Then, my hayfever really took off today as well, which has made my face swell, my eyes swell and my nose and lips go bright red. All in all I don't think INSHA'ALLAH I could look any worse than I do. I look like somebody hit me with the ugly stick and got carried away and caused GBH instead. I look like a whale with hair. I look like a FAT whale with hair. I said this to DH today and in a romantic voice he said "Aw, don't say that, my darling", and whilst I waited for his kind comments of how I still look beautiful to him, he hit me with the punchline, "Just think what the poor whale would think if he heard you say that". :
Anyway, hips slightly better today alhamdulillah so I think the bedrest (ie. the not moving them on and off anything yesterday and sitting bolt upright for 24 hours) did them good. Doesn't feel as bruised :D
Boss fell over and really grazed his knees this afternoon aw... his first real knee bruises of his childhood - real beauties. He didn't cry and I put plasters on, then in good-old Boss fashion he proceeded to imitate me and walk round the house taking in sharp-breathes and going "ooh", "Ah", "Ya Allah, dat hurts" with teeny tiny steps. :S
AWorld tomorrow - if I can walk I may go insha'allah. The thing I hate is that I have to pray there; I really don't like doing it :S Boss needs to see children and has been babbling non-stop about Aunty H's B - asking if I would ring Aunty H up and ask if we could see them again. He has genuine love for his friends even though he acts like a maniac around people. I am sure he will grow out of the manic phase ... right?
How many days left? OOoooh........ now my hips don't hurt as much even I'M excited now ... :P
posted by Unknown @ 6:46 pm
7 comments
Diary
7 Comments:
I know it's best to pray at beginning time, but still plenty of time when you get back -no?!
Well we follow the opinion that once the Jamia masjid have offered salah it becomes qazr, so ... no. :S I might just turn up late if hubby doesn't object - he likes to be in the masjid an hour before jumah for the dhikr, so we'll see...
just turn up late with me!
i will feel less freaky!
kdja
LOL. Hm... the obligatory five prayers have their set times - fajr, dawn; zuhr, noon; asr, mid-afternoon; maghrib, sunset; and isha, evening. They are non-negotiable and anybody who has abandoned offering the prayer has left Islam. Sometimes people offer them late, known as "qazr" which means they offer their prayers but not in the window of allowable time - ie. they offer fajr when they wake up for work which is not dawn; some people offer zuhr at asr times etc. This is punishable on Judgement Day and something we all try to avoid. But depending on different Schools of Thought within Islam depends on how you classify a late prayer. Some people take the opinion that so long as you offer a prayer before the start of another then this is fine. My husband and I follow the opinion that once the Jamia Masjid, or "main mosque" has offered the prayer in congregation any prayer after that is considered late. And Allah knows best.
Allah states in the Qur'an that the reason we were created at all is to come to know and worship "Him" - that is the reason we exist - for reflection, remembrance, celebration and worship of God. However, by the nature of the world which our animal appetites gravitates towards which makes us slothsome, self-centred, greedy and self-serving we forget this "call" to God and we forget why we are created and we forget where we are heading and by such forgetfulness we loose the connection with our Creator - the source of our spiritual nourishment and guidance.
As such, the more forgetful we become the more likely it is we will never remember or come back to the path of righteousness. To counteract this Muslims engage in "dhikr" which literally means "remembrance" which can take a number of forms, one of which is using the prayer beads and reciting a praise of God over and over again, whilst the main form of remembrance is the ritual prayer, or "salah". These are ordered and non-negotiable, present in Qur'an and hadith. By establishing these official times of remembrance at the various stages of the day we are constantly pulled back into line. A man may wake up forgetful, but on offering salah he has recentred himself and reminded himself of his ultimate destination (ie. death and the meeting with Allah on Judgement Day). Then he goes to work and may get embroiled in materialistic concerns - he may even be tempted or through forgetfulness fall into error and unrighteousness - but the midday prayer calls and once again he recentres himself, establishes a connection with the Divine and regains his consciousness of his Creator. By so doing he shuns wrong-doing.
Each of the stages of the day represent our life - we are born, we reach maturity, we grow old and die, but also by breaking up the day into stages whereby life is measured by which salah time we are in rather than what we want to do next we are constantly "on guard" with regards to behaviour - we know for example in half an hour we have to offer a prayer so we work around that and it keeps us focused rather than doing what we want when we want.
And it isn't about discipline, but just awareness of why we are here and what Allah expects of us. I am the laziest person I know, but as I know salah is non-negotiable then I simply offer it whether I like it or not - and sometimes it is really hard - especially in summer at either ends of the day. But then what choice do I have - it's an Order. And in a way I'm glad it is - if I was left to my own devices regarding spiritual nourishment I'd be like a toddler being left to his own devices with physical nourishment - all junk food and bad habits. I'd never pray. Allah orders us to do what is in our own best interest so even at my laziest lowpoint I get on the prayer-mat; sometimes out of fear of punishment, but more often than not out of gratitude to a creator who is worth praising. And I can honestly say that through this constant "remembrance" since I converted it has changed me inside-out.
Anyway, the short answer is: so we don't forget God and our own destination. :S
Yeah, you've been in my thoughts a lot today as well. Weird that. (Me thinking that is...)
Nothing to report btw - not even a twinge >:\
A busy in a way I like - its quite a refreshing change to have to *think* rather than just *do*.
Keep them coming.
Really interesting read - thought you guys had had this discussion irl so was pleased to find it here!
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