قال انما اشكو بثي وحزني الى الله واعلم من الله ما لا تعلمون

قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أَشْكُوا۟ بَثِّى وَحُزْنِىٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

The patience of Prophet Yaqub Aleyhisalam sets a benchmark for people dealing with emotional crisis 24/7  like us, especially in Indo-Pak culture where the definition of patience is eerily inhuman – where one must suppress all the negative emotions of grief, sorrow, and trauma, even before the Almighty.

The prevalent notion here is: 'To be a good Muslim, bottle up your emotions, go contradictory to human nature, and showcase your faith by strangling your feelings whenever you're afflicted.' Unfortunately, this is the definition of patience and trust in Allah that we've inherited.
But the Quran challenges this narrative through describing these few moments from Yaqub's AS exemplary patience. 'PATIENCE NEEDS EXPRESSION, NOT DEADLY SILENCE'

Now The question remains who to express to?
Quran teaches us to express our grievances to none other than Allah. Yaqub Aleyhisalam confession testifies it.
We're comfortable sharing our woes with people, but when we pour out our hearts before our Lord, we  label ourselves impatient and ungrateful, simply because our understanding of 'Inherited Islam' has conditioned us to believe that true patience means silence. When Yaqub Aleyhsalam says 
اِنَّمَاۤ اَشْكُوْا بَثِّیْ وَ حُزْنِیْۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ
there is deep notion of attachment here. اشكوا primarily means being the opening of a small skin to show water or milkَ شَكوَة and showing what is in it.  What a beautiful concept! When afflicted by adversity and overwhelmed by sorrow, a believer pours out their heart before their Lord, laying bare all their pains, grievances, complaints and anguish. This is the essence of patience that empowers the faithful servants.

It is with these patient souls that the Lord stands, and when you bare your heart before Him, He heals and mends it with His gentle compassion and mercy. He grants steadfastness to His Yaqub-like servants, who courageously expose their vulnerabilities. 



Tears witnessed only by Allah have a special quality. 

Just Him and you in conversation. 

There is no misunderstanding, nor unhelpful advice offered. So, turn to Him who understands you better than you understand yourself.

In truly feeling your neediness and utter reliance on Him, you realise aspects of ubudiyyah (servanthood). 

When circumstances make you feel low, your brokenness in front of God elevates you.

Bismillah! 
There are times in a people's lives when they cannot explain the anguish and sorrow to their family or closest friends. 
I find this ayah a beautiful reminder of turning to Allah, Who is always there. Truly, always there! He is never tired of listening to His servants.

I miss your reflections sister please come back! 

When we talk to Allah, there lies an actual solution and not just a conversation.

Jazakumullah Khairan for sharing this..This reminded me of someone I know whose solution to roadblocks was to talk to Allah through Solah..If he had a challenge or needed direction on something,he simply went to pray. Throughout his life,he would tell us with so much confidence how he always found his answers from prayer  Subhannallah.. It is truly not just a conversation,like you've mentioned. Thanks for sharing 

Bismillah

This Ramadan, I pledge to guard my tongue and my heart. 

I will turn my grief and sadness to Allah alone, seeking comfort in dua rather than complaints to people. No words of frustration will escape my lips except in prayer, and I will not lighten my burden by backbiting or speaking ill of others. Allah knows my pain, my struggles, and my silent battles—there is no need to seek validation or relief from anyone but Him.

It is a subtle but dangerous habit—to confide in people about our sorrows, hoping to feel understood, only to find that our hearts remain heavy. True reliance is to complain only to Allah, as Ya’qub (AS) said: 'I only complain of my suffering and grief to Allah.' (Yusuf 12:86).

Patience is the key to His reward. 

Every hardship endured in silence, every tear shed in sujood, every moment of restraint for His sake—it all counts. To dwell on what is lost blinds the heart to what still remains. Gratitude and remembrance of Allah will be my refuge, for sadness should never overshadow the countless blessings He has given.

This Ramadan, I will strive to purify my heart, to replace complaints with dua, frustration with submission, and sadness with gratitude.

Ya Allah, make this Ramadan a means of purification, protect us from heedlessness, and grant us the reward of those who remain patient. Ameen.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

Imagine that you have lost someone so beloved to you, but the cause of this loss are also the people beloved to you. What sort of mental state would this cause a person? Who can help at this point? Who can remove the pain and suffering? Who is it that can cause peace to enter the heart when the situation seems perplexing, unjust and deeply painful?

I’m sure that the majority of us will face different sorts of confusing, deeply agonising and sorrowful situations at a point in our lives. Who do we go to? 

- We go to Allah, the writer of our decree,
- We go to Allah the changer of the hearts;
- We go to Allah knowing that we do not have the wisdom nor knowledge of what lies ahead, or why certain things happened? But we know He has Power and Knowledge over all things:
- We go to Allah to show our commitment, our trust;
- We go to the Able with all of our sorrows and vulnerabilities;
- We are under His care and His protection and we know He listens to our prayers.

This deep sadness then becomes a way to Allah, the One Who looks after each and everything; both the growing foetus and it’s mother when no one else does. Accepting whatever is His decree and submitting as well as surrendering to His will we hand over what is not within our capacity to Allah, but we expect only from Him and we expect that there will be a time when we will find a reward for all that we went through with faith. 

We come to realise, there is no relationship to invest in as much as the relationship between you and your Lord and all the relationships which we invest in and are part of, are all because of His Mercy.

If you are in a profoundly baffling situation call upon Him. He listens and soothe your heart with the understanding that He is in  charge and the best disposer of all the affairs.

Didn't Yaqub ( as) know Allah doesn't love the impatient?  





' I have seen many parents crying, crying as if both body and soul were drenched in tears, people come to console them, urging patience, saying their son or daughter is now in paradise, but these words are of no avail, they can’t stop weeping, truly, they can’t, Pain is eating them alive, they ask Allah why this happened, some even wish for death themselves, many fall ill, the kind of sickness that never leaves, some are left alone, people stop visiting them, and they struggle in silence until they pass away, I have even seen Yaqub (as) in a state like this, crying, weeping, shedding tears until he went blind, I heard him say, 'I will be patient,' but then, why did he cry for years? Was he contradicting himself? Didn’t he know Allah does not love the impatient?
I’ve seen beggars on the streets beating their chests, crying out that they have no one left, asking for help for the sake of Allah, I’ve seen mothers in Gaza holding the shattered bodies of their babies, shedding tears like we’ve never seen since childhood. Are all these people impatient? And are you one of them? I asked my friend, who had recently confided how crushed and sad he’s been, afraid that Allah might be displeased with him for being impatient. 'Are your pains heavier than theirs?' I asked. He quietly shook his head.
'All those parents, even Prophet Yaqub (as), they never stopped believing in Allah. They suffered, but they still said, ‘Allah! Allah!’ They carried His name on their tongues. Yaqub (as) said, ‘I know something from Allah that you do not know,’ and he kept praying to be reunited with Yusuf and Benjamin. He didn’t give up. You see the astonishing truth? People don’t give up, no matter what happens to them. They still rely on Allah. They don’t abandon Islam. They still glorify Him. That’s real patience. We are not stones. We can cry. We can weep. We are human, with emotions. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to mourn a loss or struggle through hardship. That’s not impatience.
Impatience is when you give up hope in Allah, when you stop relying on Him, when you let go of your faith, something Yaqub (as) never did.'
And then I saw a beautiful smile gently appear on my friend’s face as he listened.

#inspiredbyYusuf #YusufTaughtMe

When someone gives you a gift you don’t like, you fake it... or at least you try to. You smile and say thank you in hopes of not hurting their feelings, because 'it’s the thought that counts.'
But what about when Allah ﷻ gifts you with something you don’t like... what then?

You can’t fake it.
Not with Him.
'And Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal.' (16:19)

And even with yourself, you can only fake it for so long.
'They [try to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves, and they perceive [it] not.' (2:9)

Last week I turned 30, and it feels like a new chapter has begun.
As I reflected on this past year, I asked myself: if I were to choose a word that described this year’s biggest struggle, what would it be?
Discontentment. 
Astaghfirullah.

Alhamdulillah, I’ve been very vigilant of this blameworthy trait (as listed by Imam Al-Ghazali in The Book of Knowledge). It wasn’t a constant state, but it was consistent enough to really worry me. I tried various things to remedy the negative feelings I had about my circumstances.
Some worked. Others didn’t.
But things only truly began to change when I took a new approach.

I’m a lover girl.
I love love.
So I used that to my advantage.
I had to genuinely learn to love where I was and what I was faced with. Not for what it was, but for Who gave it to me.

Loving His intentions for me.
Loving His guidance.
Loving the challenges and the consistent call to growth and elevation of self.
Loving people, forgiving them, and extending mercy that I didn’t receive from them, all for the sake of Allah ﷻ.
Loving as a way to counteract negative emotions like resentment or bitterness.
Loving the nomadic life of the heart that doesn’t settle in dunya, but keeps moving toward the Hereafter, by His mercy and permission, until it reaches its true destination.

Before this epiphany, I was being too rigid. I thought I needed more discipline, more sabr.
But really, I needed more love.
More compassion for myself when the weight of the trial felt too heavy.
More devotion and perseverance for the sake of it, like Hajar عليها السلام running back and forth in search of water in the same place she had already searched before.
More quality in my ‘ibadah, not just more quantity, since I was already doing more than what was obligatory, mashaAllah.

Discontentment is tricky because it often manifests in ways we normalize.
The biggest is in complaints. And it’s not just your tongue that complains, they can also settle in the heart, weighing it down.
Complaints and contentment cannot live in the same heart without one overpowering the other.
And not all complaints are equal.
Criticism, fault-finding, nagging, or the constant focus on the problem and the frequent expression of dissatisfaction all erode contentment.
Because what we pay attention to truly is all that we have.

But bringing your emotions and humility to Allah ﷻ is different. 
You’re not harboring ill feelings about the trial; you’re expressing your weakness in carrying it, your pain in the test, your desire for Him to strengthen you, and your call for relief from the only One who can provide it.

I follow the example of Prophet Ya‘qub عليه السلام. He kept his pain to himself and only shared his true emotions with Allah ﷻ.
'I only complain of my suffering and grief to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you do not know.' (12:86)

Because there’s no way to fake it with Allah ﷻ.
So you have to be honest with yourself, with Ash-Shaheed as your witness, by admitting how you truly feel and praying for His help.
I was ashamed to admit to Allah ﷻ that I felt disappointed with His decree, because I knew I had no right to. 
I knew it was better for me.
'…But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not.' (2:216)
But when I stopped avoiding the truth and confessed it to Him, He showed me how to move out of that low emotional state.

Al-Wadood’s perfect love reminds me that for us as servants, love cannot be reduced to just an emotion. It is a state of being, something that fuses with our identity when we surrender to Him and His Will, allowing its powerful emotions to flow through us and our actions.

Before this trial, I had prayed for contentment and to meet Allah ﷻ in the state of the nafs al-mutma’inna after a life maintaining that state. So when what I perceived to be my 'worst-case scenario' came, I knew instantly what I was being tested for and which qualities I was being called to release, and which I was being called to embody.
But that didn’t make the trial any easier. 

Until I chose to do what already came natural to me: love.
Because truly, love is the only option.
'…This is by the grace of my Lord, to test me whether I will give thanks or act ungratefully…' (27:40)

Man, did I need to hear or read this! JazakAllahu khairan for sharing. Some tests and trials are so long, it gets really arduous. May Allah swt grant us all relief, Ameen. 

When the Past Haunts You….

Yusuf (AS) had a past too.
He was betrayed. Sold. Imprisoned. Forgotten.
But he didn’t let it poison his heart.

Sometimes, we relive things over and over…
Regrets. Loss. 'If only…'
And those 'what ifs' become chains.

But Surah Yusuf shows us that Allah can rewrite the meaning of every wound.
Your pain isn’t pointless.
Even the memories that hurt—
He can use them to raise you, cleanse you, strengthen you.

'Indeed, he who fears Allah and is patient—then surely, Allah does not let the reward of the doers of good be lost.' (12:90)



When the Present Feels Heavy — and You Don’t Know Why

'Burden, anxiety of now ….don’t know why.'

That’s one of the hardest places to be.
When your chest is heavy, but your eyes don’t even know what to cry for.
You’re functioning maybe even smiling. But inside? Uneasy. Exhausted. On edge.

Sometimes, that’s the soul’s way of signaling that it needs closeness with Allah.
Not punishment just a gentle call.

Like Yaqub (AS) in Surah Yusuf
when he lost Yusuf, he didn’t collapse.
He turned inward, pouring his pain only to Allah:

'I complain of my sorrow and grief only to Allah…' (12:86)

That one verse is a lifeline.
Because no one truly understands the heaviness…
except the One who placed the heart inside you.


When I Think About the Grave and What Comes After

I think of lying alone in the earth.
Of Munkar and Nakir.
Of whether your deeds will protect or expose me.
Of the moment the trumpet will blow.
And it terrifies me 

It should. That fear isn’t weakness it’s awareness.

But listen:
Yusuf (AS) saw death not as an end, but a reunion.

'Take my soul as one who submits to You, and join me with the righteous.' (12:101)

He didn’t fear it…
because he knew who he had lived for.

So ask yourself gently:
Are you trying? Are you repenting? Are you seeking Allah even through your fear?

Then your fear is not a curse.
It’s a sign of a living heart a heart that wants to meet its Creator safely.

'And those whose hearts tremble when the name of Allah is mentioned…' (Surah Az-Zumar 39:23)
That trembling? That’s you.
And Allah sees it.



When You Fear for Your Kids in This World of Fitnah

This is the cry of every mother, every father:
'What kind of world will my children grow up in?'

With Dajjal, deception, shamelessness, broken values, spiritual numbness all around—
you’re afraid. Rightfully so.

But remember:
Yusuf (AS) was raised in a palace filled with temptation.
Yet Allah protected him.
Not because of where he was
but because of the dua of his father…
and the sincerity in his own heart.

So never underestimate your prayers for your children.

Cry for them.
Beg for their protection.
Teach them Surah Al-Kahf.
Cover them in the last two ayahs of Surah Al-Baqarah.
And believe that Allah can guide even in the darkest times.


When You Imagine the Day of Qiyamah

The sky torn.
The earth flattened.
The scrolls opening.
The weight of every word ever spoken.

It overwhelms the soul.
But here’s a whisper of hope:

'That Day, no soul will be wronged at all…' (21:47)
Not even a grain’s worth of unfairness.
Allah knows the nights you couldn’t sleep.
The tears you wiped alone.
The burdens you carried without a word.

He sees.
And on that Day
He will honor every ounce of sincerity, even if the world never saw it.

      Final Heartfelt Du’a 

Ya Allah…
Heal the wounds of my past.
Lighten the burdens of my present.
Protect me in my grave and make my last breath one of faith.
Shield my children from every fitnah hidden or seen.
Strengthen us to survive the deception of Dajjal.
Grant me a heart that trembles for You but trusts You completely.
And when the Day comes, let me run toward You not in fear, but in longing.
Make me among those You are proud of on the Day You gather all souls.

I have been making dua for my all children’s to become light for the creations of Allah Subahanu wa’tala that shines till the day of judgement' Ameen 🤲🏻🥺

 #personalReflection #surah
#dua
#quranreflection

Ameen! Beautiful reflection masha Allah, thanks for sharing it. Jazakallah khayr 

If you complain to Duniya, it will listen you for a while and backbite and ruin your reputation the moment you start feeling better.

If you complain to Allah, He will guide you, heal you, protect you, till you die.

Death doesn't wipe you out of existence. You don't really die, it's just your soul seperating from your bodies. The soul belongs to Allah, and the body will be resurrected in Day of Judgement.

Thinking about Allah is the true reality, this Duniya is a separation and distraction from our ultimate purpose, meeting our Rabb!

Do not please the creation, please the One who sustains the creation!

Do not worry, think of the One who created thought!

#Allah

 لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِٱللَّٰهِ ٱلْعَلِيِّ ٱلْعَظِيمِ 
'There is no power nor strength except by God (Allah) help and assistance'.