الله الذي خلقكم من ضعف ثم جعل من بعد ضعف قوة ثم جعل من بعد قوة ضعفا وشيبة يخلق ما يشاء وهو العليم القدير

۞ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةً ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفًا وَشَيْبَةً ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْقَدِيرُ

Quick reflection: #weakness       #crying       #need       

Allah ﷻ reminds us often about our weakness. The time when we were nothing but a baby, tiny and incapable of doing anything except crying. It makes me wonder... why were we made this way?

Every animal in the animal kingdom has at least some capabilities and strengths even when they are newly born. Foals can stand upright. Baby fish can swim and search for their own food. Not many creatures begin their lives in a weaker state than the human being.

Not only is it humbling but it also made me think... what is the one special thing about the human being? What is the one skill we need right from the point we are born, without which we cannot survive?

It is the skill of expressing our needs. The ability to call for help. 

And so maybe every weakness and every sadness was a polishing of that skill — to cry out to the One Who designed us in weakness and designed us with the innate ability to cry.

And He is All Knowing, Most Capable... سبحان الله

In Surah Ar-Rum, Ayah 54, Allah describes the trajectory of our lives through a lens of fluctuating strength:
"Allah is He Who created you in weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then after strength gave you weakness and grey hair..."

When reflecting on this, it becomes clear that our lives are divinely divided into three distinct stages: childhood, adulthood, and the elderly years.

1. Childhood: in our first third, we are defined by a lack of accountability. We are physically and intellectually weak; the responsibility for our growth, guidance, and protection and lies entirely upon our parents.

2.  Adulthood: then comes the middle third, where the word "strong" is used to describe us. This is the only window of our lives where we possess full ownership, command, and accountability for our actions. This strength is a loan. It is the bridge where we must look backward to care for our aging parents and forward to raise our young children.

Though this stage is often defined by intense stress, physical exhaustion, and the weight of being the "provider," there is a profound mercy hidden within it: Allah only expects us to operate at full capacity for a fraction of our total existence. Imagine the crushing weight if we were held to the standards of full adult strength from birth until the very moment of death?

Adulthood is not guaranteed to be filled with perfect health or endless opportunity, which is precisely why a moral and divine compass is non-negotiable.

To navigate this 1/3 of life blind and wandering, clueless of our purpose or unable to get our act together is a calamity. This window is far too brief and far too valuable to be thrown away on hedonistic, self-indulgent behaviors that jeopardise the very essence of why we were placed on this earth. 

3. Old age: as we age, we return to a state of reliance. Just as we once relied on our parents, we may eventually rely on our adult children. In this final third, the burden of responsibility shifts away from us and onto the next generation, who are commanded to speak to us with "noble words" and treat us with the same mercy we once gave them.

Our strength is a temporary gift, we must ensure we spend it with taqwa - purposefully, morally and ethically - before the grey hair arrives to weaken it. Prevention of collapse in societal values and the fabrics of a just, moral civilisation relies on us getting that strong 1/3 of our lives, right.

Bismillah 

Scared of old age?

Now a days old age homes are popping up.We are hearing many cases of Alzheimer’s and some are scared too. May Allah keep us all in afiya Āmēn 

If we are habitually in the habit of reciting morning and evening duas or duas after salah then we are seeking Allah’s protection from senile old age . سبحان الله 

There is always a solution in our Deen even before we anticipate the problem. That's why we need to stick to Sunnah and this is a reminder for all of us to continue reciting azkaar regularly.

I will share duas here if anyone wants to learn. 

One of the Dua after salah 

اَللّٰھُمَّ اِنِّیْ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنَ الْجُبْنِ وَ اَعُوْذُبِکَ اَنْ اُرَدَّ اِلٰی اَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ وَ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الدُّنْیَا وَ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ۔ 

O Allah! Verily I seek refuge in You from cowardice, and *I seek refuge in You from being returned to an abject old age*, and I seek refuge in You from the trials of this world and I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave. 

Another dua is from Morning & evening duas is 
اَصْبَحْنَا وَ اَصْبَحَ الْمُلْکُ ِللهِ وَ الْحَمْدُ ِللهِ لَا اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِیْکَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْکُ وَ لَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَ ھُوَ عَلٰی کُلِّ شَیْءٍ قَدِیْرٌ، رَبِّ اَسْاَلُکَ خَیْرَ مَا فِیْ ھٰذَا الْیَوْمِ وَ خَیْرَ مَا بَعْدَهُ وَ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا فِیْ ھٰذَا الْیَوْمِ وَ شَرِّ مَا بَعْدَهُ، رَبِّ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنَ الْکَسَلِ وَ سُوْءِ الْکِبَرِ رَبِّ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ فِی النَّارِ وَ عَذَابٍ فِی الْقَبْرِ۔


We and the entire dominion have entered a new morning for Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, there is no true deity except Allah, the One, Who has no partner with Him. His is the Sovereignty and all Praise is due to Him and He has power over all things. My Lord, I ask you for the good of this day and the good that follows it, and I seek refuge in You from the evil of this day and the evil that follows it. My Lord, I seek refuge in You from laziness, and from the helplessness of old age. My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the hellfire and the punishment in the grave.

جزاكم الله خيرًا

جزاك الله خيرا كثيرا  shaykh 

Day 21, Answer 21, #AyahLookup   Challenge

(Question was posted here: https://quranreflect.com/posts/23640#comments) 

We are Weak! 
Sorry if this statement hurts our ego! 
Sorry if this goes against whatever motivational quote we may have read in a self-help industry, 
Sorry if this shakes our self-confidence (Hint: in Islam we are taught to honor ourselves, but only have confidence and trust in Allah! so there is nothing in ourselves to be confident about)

You might be reading this Ayah in the peak of your strength, 
or you might be closer to one of your weak moments of life: the weakness of childhood, or the weakness of old age. 
Regardless, 
Just the fact that we go through these stages without our will, is another indication of our weakness. 

We ask Allah to keep the strongest asset in our lives: our relationship and connection with Him and His book, Ameen

PS:
 To learn about the challenge: please check: https://quranreflect.com/posts/22122 