RAMADAN NIGHTS : Why is my Dua not being Answered ?

Has any of you ever asked why your duaa wasn't being answered ? Have you ever wished and needed something so bad but, it just never happened ? Have you ever felt like Allah subhana wa talah wasn't listening ?

In the Quran {2 :186 } Allah Subhana wa Tala Says :

وإذا سألك عبادي عني فإني قريب أجيب دعوة الداع إذا دعان فليستجيبوا لي وليؤمنوا بي لعلهم يرشدون"

"And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided."

~

It can be frustrating sometimes when you want something so much and nothing is happening for you and you cry and ache and think 'why am I being tortured, what have I done wrong ?' But you need to remember , that Allah never wants to hurt you. He LOVES YOU ! Allah is the only one who is always here for us, He knows you even more than you know yourself and most importantly He knows what the future holds and what is BEST for you.

Allah doesn't reply to your duaa's and needs with words , he replys to them with ACTIONS . Sometimes, this action may only take a few seconds after the duaa for it to come true and sometimes it may take 50 years . All is with reason. Everything, that He does is to guide you to the right path, to make you good and happy and made for Jannah.

"To completely trust in God is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if he does not call for the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is looking after him." –Imam Al Ghazali

Times when duaas are most readily accepted:

* Duaa at the time of Sehri (Surah Ale Imraan, Ayat 17)
* Duaa between azaan and iqaamah (Tirmizi- Anas ibn Maalik (R.A.))
* Duaa made after azaan (Abu Dawood- Sahl ibn Saad (R.A.))
* Duaa after fardh salaat (Tirmizi- Abu Umaamah Al Baahili (R.A.))
* Duaa at the time of Zawaal (midday) (Musnad Bazaar- Ayesha (R.A.))
* Duaa on the day of Arafat (Tirmizi- Abdullah ibn Amr (R.A.))
* Duaa in the month of Ramadhaan (Tabraani- Ubaada ibn Saamil (R.A.))
* Duaa on the 15th of Sha`baan (Sahih ibn Hibbaan- Mu`aaz ibn Sahal)
* Duaa upon completion of Quran (Tabraani- Irbaad ibn Saariyah)
* Duaa at the time of drinking Zam-Zam water (Haakim/Darul Qutni- Ibn Abbas (R.A.))
* Duaa on Wednesday between Zuhr and Asr (Musnad Ahmed- Jaabir (R.A.))

* Duaa on Friday at the following times:
When the Imaam ascends a mimbar for the khutbah till he completes the Jummah Salaah.
-Time between Asr and Maghrib
-The last few moments before maghrib (Sahih Muslim – Abu Hurrairah (R.A))

“I respond and accept the duaa of the one who supplicates unto me”. (Surah Al Baqarah: Ayat 186)

Make lots of Istaghfaar & Pray to Him. He is the only one who can help you.

All will be revealed in time.

Inshallah.

Stay Blessed,

Ramadan Nights : Facts you never knew about Salah (prayer)

Did you know ? 

1) Between each Salah you make, the minor sins of yours are forgiven? & Between each Jumaah Salah you make, all the sins of that week are forgiven ? 

Did you know ? 

2) When you carry out proper Wudhu, your sins are washed away. For example,  when you wash your face, all your sins that you committed with your eyes e.g. not lowering your gaze, get washed away too and the same thing applies to when you wash your hands, all the sins that you committed with your hands get washed away likewise with your feet! So by the time you finish Wudhu, you are FREE from sins !

Did you know ? 

3) When you decide to pray in a mosque, every step you take towards the mosque is a sin forgiven and your rank risen in Jannah !

Did you know ? 

4) That when you decide to pray, angels pray for you before you even pray.

Did you know? 

5) When you begin to pray all your sins are on top of you like a mountain and with every sujood you make your sins fall off !

Did you know? 

6) Every time you make a sujood to Allah your rank is risen in jannah and a sin is forgiven ? 

Did you know ?

7) If after each prayer you said :

Subhanallah - 33 times

Alhamdu'allah - 33 times

Allahu Akbar - 34 times

&

La Illah Ila Allah Wahdahu La Shareek Lahu, Lahu Al Mulk Wa Lah Al Hamd Wa Hu Al Alyy Al A'deem - 1 time

.... then ALL YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN !

and remember .... 

.... So why are you not praying yet ? 

Stay Blessed & Ramadan Kareem , 

Ramadan Nights : Pray your way to Jannah

Salah (prayer) is one of those important daily islamic rituals that unfortunatly many Muslims take for granted. Simply because they don't think they have enough time during the day to dedicate 2 minutes to praising God, or they just don't believe in it's amazing effects on one's life.

Ramadan, is the perfect time to regenerate that connection with God. After all, that is what Salah is all about ; spending a few minutes in deep conversation with God. Personally, after Salah I always feel refreshed and complete. The only times when I don't get that feeling is when I have rushed my Salah or sadly, let other matters get in the way of my concentration. However, this Ramadan I am ready  to make a difference in my prayer practise and I'd like you to join me.

Tips for making the most out of your Salah :

1) Before making your Salah, think of this : Have you ever considered the fact that you are praying to the king of kings ? That when you hear the adhan or check your prayer times, you get this overwhelming feeling that your lord is calling you upon him?

2)  Rather than considering salah as one of those long daily rituals you have to carry out because it's part of the 'deen' - why not look at it as meanginful conversation with God. A time during the day where you put all your worldly matters in the hands of God and ask him to bless you and help you. You know He can.

3) When you're praying avoid looking up at the sky or around you, no matter how fidgety you can be. This only makes you distracted and will take the worth out of your Salah. How would you like it if you are having a conversation with someone and they keep turning away ? The best way to stop this from happening, is praying in a quiet room away from all the noise and distractions of life.

4) Avoid being paranoid . By that I mean, don't overthink stuff like 'did you carry out wudhu properly' 'how many sajadah have you got left' again that will only distract you. It's also shaytaan's greatest weapons against you to make you stay away from practising the perfect prayer. So whenever you feel paranoid istaeed be Allah from the shaytan .

5) Don't recite your prayers silently and don't recite them too loud. Try to reach a medium. This will stop your thoughts from getting you confused with your recitation and also increase your concentration levels.

6) Give each letter, each movements and each duaa its moment. Just because 'allahu akbar' takes less time and less effort than the 'tashawud' doesn't mean you take it less seriously.

7) Take your time! That soap opera your watching is not going to vouch for you on judgement day. Set your priorities straight.

DID YOU KNOW ?

Namaaz means Compulsory Prayer.

A practise that I'd like to do during this holy month is incorperating Sunnah Salah to my daily compulsory salah.  I have always wanted to do this however, life tends to get in the way and I never really got the chance. However, this Ramadan is the perfect time to make a new habit.

If you don't know what sunnah salah is, its basically the extra prayers that Prophet Muhammed PBUH used to do along with his compulsory prayers.

The Sunnah Prayers are :

Fajer : 2 extra Rak'ahs before compulsory fajr salah

Dhuhr : 4 extra Rak'ahs before compulsory dhuhr salah and 2 Rak'ahs after.

Maghrib : 2 Rak'ahs after compulsory maghrib salah

Isha : 2 Rak'ahs after compulsory isha salah and 1,3,5,7 or 9 Rak'ahs of Witr.

Let's make our Salah as perfect and as complete as possible during this Ramadan. Inshallah this will become one of the many GOOD habits that we develop this holy month.

Stay Blessed,

Secrets of Truly Happy People

Hey Dolls !

I recently found this really inspirational video on YouTube that , changed my day by making me even more inspired and helped me deal with this little dillemma that has been taking over my life lately.

Bubz Tips in a Nutshell

1. Your FUTURE has no room for your PAST.
2. SUFFERING comes from believing your thoughts. So never hesitate to question your thoughts, just like you'd question everything else.
3. Always focus on, SOLUTION , LESSON LEARNT, ACCEPTING then of course MOVING FORWARD!
4.  Mind your own business, worry about your life.
5. Focus your energy on being positive than being negative.
6. What you give you recieve - so give out happiness and you will receive happiness!

I also really liked Bubz story about the wolves , the bitter wolf and happy wolf . It reminded me of another story I read in Rhonda Byrne's bestseller 'The Power', where she referred to emotions as wild horses. So whenever you find yourself angry, sad or just frustrated you just think of yourself as being on a wild horse that represents that emotion and then laugh it off and tell yourself to get off the horse !


Always aspire to be the best you can be. You're the main star of your lifestory so what do you want to be ? ♥

Stay Blessed,

Success in Life

I've recently stumbled on some really inspirational lecture videos presented by my favourite Islamic lecturer - Nouman Ali Khan. They are really motivational and I'm posting them up for all my lovely readers, so hopefully they can inspire you as much as they have inspired me.

I really recommend for all of you to listen to them because they honestly can  have a great impact on your mind & encourage you to think a different way about controversial things, that will make you (inshallah) wiser and a better person.

As always, I don't think it matters whether you're muslim or not whilst watching the video - because although the message he is presenting is in islamic context and presented to an islamic audience , I believe anyone can learn from it. That's the beauty of Islam, it's a way of life for everyone. :)

Here are the two videos I listened to this morning...

Video #1 : Take hold of your future by Nouman Ali Khan

Video #2: The man with two gardens by Nouman Ali Khan

For more of this amazing man's videos, check out this insightful youtube page ~> Nak Collection. Which has a large collections of Nouman's lectures to listen to and watch.

Stay Blessed,



February Swag ♡

Posing on the Train Station

Train Ride with my Bag

Comfy, sexy boots with a cute , preppy bag to match - that's the look I like to go for, when I am putting together an outfit. As I live in London and I am constantly moving around the city, it's all about the comfy shoes and being able to carry all my things at the same time.

The boots, which my mom bought me as a present ; are to die for ! It was love at first sight. They are so much comfier than they look and I especially love the 'wooly' look on the inside and outside - they are so fun to walk in. As for the bag, it's actually my school bag, I use another bag for my 'out of school' outings. But it's pretty big and light on the shoulder. I also keep getting stopped and asked where I got it from , as apparently it's trop cute. What do you think?

Tweet me HERE and tell me what you think.

Stay Blessed,



Peel Off the Stress ♡

One of the downsides of January, is it's back to school and work season. Which means, dealing with the joys of stress and added work to catch up on because of the winter break. Especially, for schools and universities that like to kick start their January back to school season , with an end of unit exam! Yaaaaay... no. I don't know about you , but when I stress out , my face becomes a breeding ground for bacteria causing acne. Yep, that's right , I break out so bad that even my mother starts telling me to jog on to the dermatoligist and get some help. The worst thing is, I never knew the cause of the breakouts due to the fact, they always like to arrive a week after the stressing event. So, last week whilst preparing for the big exams that I had this week, I decided to stock up on some exfoliating and soothing masks - just so, after I finished all my exams, I'd have a nice treat for my facial skin, to remove all the excess dirt and oil that may have accumulated on it during the week.

The first mask, which I used is the 'exfoliating superfruits mask' - with raspberry scent, that I purchased off Superdrug, for the good price of 99p. My first impression of it when I ripped off the satchet, was that it smelt so good ! The raspberry scent comes off so strongly. The actual mask, consists of a rich creamy texture (for this mask it was a pale colour of lilac, which just added to theme of the product) once you apply it to your face, it covers it up fully - so you definitly need to apply it sparingly and equally around your face. Oh and don't look in the mirror once you're done, otherwise you'd be faced with a purple coloured look-a-like of yourself !

The best thing I liked about this mask, was that once I applied it - it dried quickly and in the 5 - 10 minutes that I was waiting for it to dry , it didn't crack or make my face feel particularily dry, like some masks tend to do. Another thing, was the amazing feeling that I had, when I was washing the mask away - my skin felt instantly soft and velvet like and all the red marks and excess oil around my face and nose, were gone and replaced with soft, porcelain - ish , skin. Lovely. I was so happy, relaxed and just ready to enjoy my weekend exam free and most importantly stress - free !

So what do you do , to get rid of stress acne ?

Stay Blessed,



SNOG ! ♡

Ok, so it's January. You're cold. Tired. Overworked and the weather is too dull for words. You can't stop reminincing about last christmas and you've already broken half of your new year's resolutions on a nice juicy big Mac... Don't worry, I feel exactly the same and it's not even halfway through the month yet!

One great way, I found to help cure me of the after christmas season blues , is a nice old visit to the frozen yoghurt cafe near my house called 'Snog'. Apart from the , mouthwatering frozen yoghurt they offer complete with your choice of either fresh fruit, or nut dressing (you can have as much as you want btw) The design of the place is absoloutly gorgeous... it's so pink! Complete, with cheeky little signs on each table that state the seat is reserved for snogging, which my sister and I couldn't stop giggling about whilst guzzling down our delicious frozen treats. It's just a very unique concept I suppose, that makes the place so lively and attractive to go to and try out.

The main Snog in West London, is situated in Westfield and it's ALWAYS packed. I definitly recommend for you guys to check it out. Especially , if you are out with your love, or having a girlie day out - check it out and try out their natural frozen yoghurt with pistachio and chocolate. It's delish! Ofcourse, if you have a sugary tooth, don't worry they have both healthy and less healthy choices at hand. Just ask one of their helpful waiters to give you some advice and they will show you the entire range. Oh and for those who are skeptical about how much of the dressing is put on to their yoghurt or any health and hygenic reasons... they make the yoghurt right in front of you. In my opinion, it's a bit like a frozen yoghurt version of the Subway, for those who love to have a nice, sweet, cold treat to make their day. Oh and the prices ? Well they range at about £3.20 + depending on the size you order, the yoghurt type and the dressing.

Stay Blessed,

Hello January ♡

Hey Lovelies,

I'd like to wish you all a very happy new year, filled with blessing and success. 2011 was a GOOD year, but lets make 2012 an AMAZING year!

This January, I have so many things planned and things that I want to accomplish, that range from academic success to running this very blog. So look out for a month filled with , beauty reviews, restaurant reviews ( I plan to have a lot of brunches this month) and of course a healthy lifestyle tips post. This month, I will be introducing a new segment in my blog, which is 'my monthly favourites' and that will probably be up at near the end of the month. I also will be launching my YouTube channel, with a surprise video coming up . So keep a look out for all these exciting things coming up.

Contact me at : nouralovee@rocketmail.com
Tweet me at : http://twitter.com/nouralovee
Or Comment !

What are your goals for this month?!

Stay Blessed,