{"id":15860,"date":"2025-11-25T06:22:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/?p=15860"},"modified":"2025-11-25T06:22:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:22:58","slug":"life-love-happiness-freedom-and-peace-in-one-word-allah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/25\/life-love-happiness-freedom-and-peace-in-one-word-allah\/","title":{"rendered":"Life, Love, Happiness, Freedom, and Peace in One Word: Allah"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n(Quran 3:31)<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, [O Muhammad], \u201cIf you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.\u201d [3:31]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After I returned from Hajj, I made a decision to transform completely. I changed in innumerable aspects, but perhaps the most apparent of them is the way I dress. A few people asked me why I changed my dressing style and wear these abayas now. The answer to this question requires a long, deep and elaborative response, but the short, simple answer is this: because I truly love Allah, more than anyone and anything this life and this world has to offer. This is the story of how I found true love\u2014 love for Allah and His Deen.<\/p>\n

The past three years of my life were the most unstable and difficult years I\u2019ve had. During this time I went on a mental and spiritual journey to regain a happiness I had lost. Every time I thought I had found it and that the light had finally shone on my life again, it wouldn\u2019t last, as I would be plunged back into darkness soon afterwards. It happened over and over and over, with me losing a little more hope every time. I kept pinning my hopes on different things, but almost everyone and everything proved to bring me pain. The light at the end of the tunnel only appeared when I finally established a strong connection to Allah.<\/p>\n

The mistake I made is that I kept depending on certain things I shouldn\u2019t have depended on for my happiness. Certain people. Certain places. Certain times. Certain activities. Certain goals. You see, all these things are transient and unguaranteed. All these things could be taken away at any moment. People could leave you, move away, or pass away. Imagine that someone you love dies. Does your happiness die with them? You could be forced to leave a certain place, or you could return to it to find that it has changed and will never be the same dear place you remember. Imagine that you have no option but to leave your hometown for a job opportunity. Does your happiness leave you with it? Imagine that the city of your dreams is obliterated by an earthquake. Is your happiness obliterated with it? Times are always evolving, and yesterday is never quite the same as today, just like tomorrow will never be quite the same as today. Imagine that tomorrow brings bad news, or that the good old days of a specific phase in your life are gone. Is your happiness gone with them? A particular activity could become something that you can no longer practice. Imagine that you are injured in an accident and can never play the sport that you\u2019re passionate about again. Is your happiness over? One of your ambitions could become unattainable to you. Imagine that your dream was to become a singer but you develop vocal cord paralysis. Does your happiness end there? I came to the realization that everything in life\u2014 and life itself\u2014 is temporary. Nothing ever lasts. Everything has a beginning and an end.<\/p>\n

Except Allah. Allah is the one and only permanent and eternal Being. When your source of happiness is something impermanent, then once it\u2019s gone, so is your happiness. But when your source of happiness is Allah, it will persist forever. No matter what you lose, no matter who goes away, as long as you have Allah, you\u2019re satisfied. I\u2019m not saying that you can\u2019t love certain individuals, pastimes and places, or that you can\u2019t have goals and dreams, and that they can\u2019t provide you with joy. Of course not. Spending time with your family and friends pleases you? That\u2019s awesome. Playing basketball is something that brings you thrill? Great. You have a passion for medicine and your dream is to become a successful doctor? Good for you. All these things can bring a smile to your face, of course. However, you can\u2019t rely on them as your ultimate source of ecstasy. While you may derive pleasure and delight from them, you must understand and accept that they can vanish in an instant, and if they do, that doesn\u2019t mean that your sense of contentment has to vanish along with them. You could be miserable and devastated for a while, but at the end of the day you recognize that it is Allah who brings true elation and that just because these things are gone doesn\u2019t mean that your life is over. Allah will bring other people and things into your life that will make you experience glee again.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t possibly count the number of times Allah has given me a miracle and the number of times He has saved me. There were times when I was in utter despair, and I could only cry and beg Allah for miracles\u2014 miracles that I didn\u2019t even think were possible. And guess what? He granted me miracles. He answered my prayers. He gave me more than I could\u2019ve ever asked for. Every single time. He gave me everything. He gave me life and love and bliss. Isn\u2019t it enough that every milliliter of blood my heart pumps is at His command, every molecule of oxygen my lungs breathe is at His command, trillions of biochemical reactions in my body occur every second at His command, and every single cell in my body is alive at His command? I don\u2019t think people really ponder this, but they should. Do you understand the magnitude of what Allah really does for us? A single malfunction could occur in your body at any second that could give you a disease or kill you. But you are kept healthy and alive by His will. Isn\u2019t it enough that He has given me a comfortable life, good health, a loving family, more than enough food, shelter, safety, a good education, and access to healthcare? What more do I want?<\/p>\n

Not to mention that Allah directs our lives and fates in ways that we could never even begin to imagine. Have you ever tried to connect the dots in your life and understand how things would\u2019ve been drastically different if this certain event hadn\u2019t happened or if you hadn\u2019t gone through that particular experience? Every little thing that happens in your life happens for a reason. Allah made you run into this specific person because they would have a positive influence on you. He made you start that career because it would change your life. Even things that might seem random are not. He made you not feel hungry on that specific day because the food at the gathering you went to was spoiled. Even the things that are apparently bad for you at first turn out to be good later, whether you realize it or not. He made you go through this pain so that you could become stronger. He made you miss that flight because the plane would crash. He made you get rejected by this university because the other one would be better for you. He made you ill on that day because an unpleasant incident would\u2019ve happened to you at school. Literally every little seemingly irrelevant occurrence in your life is meant to play a certain role and have a certain effect on you. Perhaps most people don\u2019t notice these things because they\u2019re not deeply reflective the way I am. But I see Allah in my life everyday, in everything. Bear in mind that this is only a tiny fraction of what He provides us with; these are only the things that we know of. 99.9999999999% of the blessings that Allah bestows upon us are things that we\u2019re not even aware of. Knowing this, how could I not be grateful? How could I not love Him? How could I possibly disobey Him, or at the very least not feel extreme guilt and shame when I do? Allah gives us so much and only asks very little of us. What He asks of us is nothing compared to what He gives us. We owe Him everything, yet we can\u2019t even obey His simple commands. And it\u2019s not like what He asks of us benefits Him in any way; in the end it\u2019s for our own good, whether we understand why or not. I made a vow to Allah that I would change, and I have. I\u2019m never breaking that vow. Life is the ultimate test and I\u2019m not going to fail it. I\u2019m never going back now.<\/p>\n

Words can\u2019t describe how glad and comfortable I am to wear abayas. People might say that hijab restricts freedom, but it doesn\u2019t. If you think you\u2019re \u201cfree\u201d and wear what you want, think again. What you believe is what you want is not actually what you want; it\u2019s what the fashion industry wants. Let\u2019s be real here. You\u2019re not wearing those Nikes because out of the all the shoes in the world, they happen to be the ones that you like or find most comfortable. You\u2019re only wearing them because they\u2019re Nikes. You\u2019re only wearing those jeans because everyone else wears them. You\u2019re only carrying that purse because it\u2019s the latest trend. You\u2019re only wearing that dress because the media brainwashed you into thinking that you look gorgeous in it. You only have that outfit on because you\u2019re trying to impress someone. You see, whether you like it or not, whether you\u2019re aware of it or not, and whether you acknowledge it or deny it, the media and fashion trends shape what you \u201cwant\u201d to wear, on some level of your subconscious or conscious. They determine what you consider to be beautiful or ugly. Yes, you\u2019re brainwashed by all the content you\u2019re exposed to and what you take in on a daily basis. And this doesn\u2019t just apply to clothes; this is true for everything in life. You\u2019re not free; you\u2019re a slave of the media and of society and of bandwagons and of people. If I\u2019m going to be a slave of someone or something anyway, then I\u2019d rather be a slave of Allah.<\/p>\n

Even if you truly do what you want, you\u2019re still a slave of your own desires. You give in to them and allow them to lead your life. You don\u2019t control your desires; your desires control you. These yearnings are a weakness Allah put inside of us. You\u2019re weak against them. You can\u2019t resist their temptation even when you know they\u2019re bad for you. Just look at the unhealthy food you can\u2019t stop eating and the cigarettes you can\u2019t stop smoking and the alcohol you can\u2019t stop drinking. Just look at the toxic relationship you can\u2019t end because of your attachment to that person. Just look at the girl or guy you can\u2019t stop chasing because of your desperate longing for them. Just look at the bad habits you can\u2019t get rid of and the addictions and obsessions you can\u2019t free yourself of. Desires chain you, and your love for Allah and willingness to obey Him sets you free and makes you strong against them. You\u2019re not even aware that most of the time these cravings aren\u2019t even really your own thoughts but merely the whisperings of Shaytan (you just can\u2019t tell the difference), which means you\u2019re only fulfilling Shaytan\u2019s wishes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve confirmed that following my desires leads me nowhere and ultimately destroys me. I\u2019ll wear what Allah wants me to wear, because what Allah wants has become what I want. I\u2019d rather submit to His will than succumb to my own yearnings. Because the truth is, Allah knows us better than we know ourselves. You think you know what\u2019s good for you but most of the time, you really don\u2019t. Obeying Allah is what grants you true freedom; you don\u2019t have to blindly follow the crowds anymore, you don\u2019t have to worry about your appearance and reputation anymore, and you don\u2019t have to impress this person and that person anymore. All you have to worry about is pleasing Allah and no one else. If that\u2019s not ultimate freedom and peace of mind then I don\u2019t know what is. Plus, I genuinely do feel happier and more comfortable like this. I love abayas. In a society where women have become sexually objectified, I feel more empowered covering up. Now you can no longer judge me by my physique or appearance; you can only judge me based on my character. I don\u2019t want people to notice, analyze, or comment on my body, especially since I started working out. I want to feel like I work out for my own health and fitness and out of honest love for it and not just to build a more attractive body and show it off like most people do. I don\u2019t want to try to get attention from people; I want to try to earn Allah\u2019s love instead. If people think you\u2019re beautiful, yes it\u2019s flattering; but if Allah thinks you\u2019re beautiful, it\u2019s the greatest honor.<\/p>\n

I know that some of my friends are not happy with the new me, and that\u2019s fine by me. I don\u2019t expect everyone to understand. I can talk about Allah and Islam for the next ten years, but the truth is that people will only truly understand when they reach the level of faith that I have reached. This is something that can\u2019t be taught or passed on; this is something that you must experience on your own in order to grasp. I know that I\u2019m on the right path and that I have changed for the better. I\u2019m a far happier, stronger, healthier, more confident, and more tranquil person now. I\u2019m a more forgiving, respectful, polite, and honest person now. And I aspire to become kinder, more generous, more loving, and pure-hearted. To me, religion isn\u2019t just some sort of obligation like it is for a lot of people. It\u2019s a way of life and a means of developing a genuine relationship with Allah. I don\u2019t pray just because I have to and to get it over with like most people do; I pray to speak to Allah. I don\u2019t read Quran just because it\u2019s some sort of task I have to complete and get out of the way; I read it because Allah speaks to me through it. Life is a journey to Allah, and I know for a fact that Allah made me go through all these experiences so I could find Him. I couldn\u2019t be more grateful. Being who I am today is worth all the suffering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Quran 3:31) \u201cSay, [O Muhammad], \u201cIf you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15861,"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15860\/revisions\/15861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jislam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}