QOTW!

(Question Of The Week)


So, as most of you may know, in my culture marriages arranged by the parents/elders are more common as opposed to picking  your own spouse. I feel like I am in the middle when it comes to this topic. I have seen arranged marriages work out extremely well, and those that turn out terrible. I have seen love marriages that turn out in a disaster, but have also seen some successful ones.  It is really hard to say which one is 'better' because I really think it varies from person to person and from family to family.  I feel like there are problems in every single marriage, it wouldn't be normal not to have any at all. It is human nature, we all are different, have different opinions, there are no 2 people that are alike in every single aspect.  
I just want to make it clear though, that I am not for parents who don't give their children any choice what-so-ever or who just force their decision on their children! Neither am I for children who completely don't listen to their parents opinion or at least consider it. After all, they are only trying to protect their children. 




Arranged marriage VS. Love marriage, what is your opinion and why?

QOTW!

(Question Of The Week)


Its so sad to see what this world has come to.  It seems like people become heartless by the minute. Each step of life, we learn things that change us as a person, inside and out.  This week has definitely been one of those weeks.   My grandfather passed away Monday night in Pakistan (May Allah SWT grant him a place in Jannah, Ameen).  I feel like I've learned so much about life, but know I still have a lot more to learn.  I still have that feeling that I will see him again, and that he will come back to the US and live with us, but unfortunately that isnt possible. I think this is the first death I've experienced of someone close to me, or someone who I actually spent time with and have grown to love. 


From what I've seen/heard during this whole time I'm pretty hurt at the fact that people don't respect their elders, whether its their own kids even.  I would like to share a few details of a Hadith:


In a final ḥadīth:  A man came to the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, my father has died, is there anything I can do to bring him benefit?”  If your parents are alive, you need to do as much as you can physically and financially, be in touch with them, call them, have good relations with them, and visit them as frequently as possible.  If one or both of them have gone on, the rights of the parents don’t end even after they have left this earth.  The Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “Of course, there is so much you can do.  You can make du‘ā’ and istighfār for them and seek forgiveness for them – O Allāh, make their qabr a vast place, O Allāh increase their ranks in Jannah and O Allāh forgive their sins, O Allāh put away any evil they have done’ – and you can give ṣadaqah on their behalf and you can give udhiyah on their behalf and you can go for Hajj on behalf of your parents (this is one of the best things you can do for them as long as you have done Hajj for yourself), and you can do ‘umrah on behalf of them.  Visit the relatives and friends your parents had who you do not have much relationship with but you resurrect those relationships and friendships in order to bring about the memory of your parents.”  One of the things we can do is if your parents had distant relatives or friends who are not a part of your circle of friends, visit them for the sake of birr of your parents.


See link for more wonderful info: (http://navedz.wordpress.com/tag/parents/)

Do you ever think about how you treat your elders? What are your fears/concerns about when you will get "old"?