Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl...

A week or so ago, a couple of my girlfriends and I decided to go out, and since there is really nothing to do in Columbia we went to…Starbucks

As we were lounging waiting for our mocha frappaccinos, green ginger tea, americano with an extra shot and a banana mango vivano with extra energy and protein (I actually don’t remember what everyone ordered, I just wanted to sound cool =)) a group of Muslim boys walk in…

Now the plot. Half of the boys were on something, the other half were roudy and abnoxious and almost all of them had girls all over them…(plus there were girls just chilling with them)

So they all order and decide to sit near our area...not only was it disgusting, but it was really uncomfortable. i felt like my body was going to explode with different emotions…I was angry, hurt, sad and betrayed…I couldn’t help but wonder…what has become of our deen? Not only did the Muslim boys fall into this trap, but a lot of the girls I grew up with did too…

In Surat Al-Nur ayas 30-31, Allah says: “Say to the believing men to lower their gaze and their modesty. That is purer for them, and Allah is aware of what they do. And say to the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty”
Also, Imam Muslim narrates from Jarir ibn Abdullah (RA) who says: “I asked Allah’s Messenger about the sudden glance on a non-mahram. He commanded me that I should turn away my eyes.”

In light of the above, it is obvious that the free intermingling of both sexes is not allowed. Islam teaches us that both men and women have to lower their gaze in the presence of eachother…how can that be accomplished if Muslim guys and girls are hanging out together, whether it be on campus, going out for lunch or even going to starbucks?

A couple of days after the “incident” I was thinking about what happened and was still pretty upset about it. It is very easy for us to get sucked into the “college life.” You know, chillin on campus for the hell of it (even though we don’t have anything to do), going to lunch with a big group of people (guys and girls) etc etc…
We are prone to fall into temptations of sin and the whispers of shaytan…Allah says, Put your hope in Me. Man was not created sinful, but he was created weak.
It’s important to realize that yes, we are gonna screw up but we should always turn to Allah (SWT) and call upon Him, ask him for forgiveness and know that there is hope cuz he is the most merciful.

On the authority of Anas, who said: I heard the messenger of Allah say:
Allah said: “O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hopes in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and then you would meet me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it.” –Hadith Qudsi

In the hadith, Allah gives us hope (woot woot) =) he truly is al-Rahman (the most compassionate) and al-Raheem (the most merciful). The hadith taught me the importance of realizing Allah’s mercy and having both faith and hope in Him. It’s really important to ask for forgiveness and to repent.

I pray that Allah will guide us all towards the straight path especially us, the youth still in college and facing all these temptations. I ask Allah to forgive me for any judgment I might have felt towards those guys and pray that inshallah our iman will defeat our shaytan. Ameen

May Allah give us the strength of Umar Ibn Al-Khatab (RA), the loyalty of Musab Ibn-Umair (RA), the presistance of Salahudeen Al-Ayoobi and the faith of Abu Bakr Al-Sideeq (RA). Ameen