Truth & Beauty is going on hiatus.
I don't know if I can articulate all the reasons why, but I find myself in need of a spiritual retreat.
I may return someday, insha-Allah.
Thank you to everyone who has read over the years, particularly when I was unwell. Your prayers and solidarity were truly part of my sustenance during that difficult time and I have come to deeply value our diverse, thoughtful and supportive Blogistan community.
I hope to continue posting photos at Beauty in Creation
I leave you with a beautiful article by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf on the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, whose parting words were:
"Treat your women well, and do not oppress your servants, the prayer, the prayer, don’t be neglectful of the prayer. O God, my highest companion, O highest companion."
May we all grow in love for him and the Lord of us all, ameen.
My deepest respect and blessings to you all. Please keep me in your prayers.
Thank you for your companionship on this journey.
About Me
- Baraka
- San Francisco: The Most Beautiful City on Earth (TMBCE)
- Pakistani-American Muslim woman, mama wannabe, dreamer, seeker, writer, thief of hearts, uberpoet, nation drifter, juice imbiber, style junkie, line crosser, reflective dweller, girl scout mint cookie, hip chick, & MS-warrior. Full-time human rights & responsibilities advocate. Married to my soulmate. Skirter of manhole covers to avoid being sucked into an alligator-infested underworld.
Gravity & Grace: On Illness
Baraka's Pick o' the Week:
Glossary of oft used terms/abbreviations for people, places, & Muslim phrases in Arabic
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
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Blog Archive
37 comments:
Salaam
I pray your difficulty is made easy, inshAllah, and ameen to your duas.
I will hold you in my prayers, dear Baraka. All the best.
your site is one of the few i surf to constantly; i will miss it.
if i can do anything for you, please let me know.
We'll have to keep in touch via other ways at last, my dear :)
aw, man! insha'Allah, we'll see you return sooner rather than later.
Salamaat,
I will miss you. Your writings have been really inspiring for me in so many dimensions. A stranger you may be, but I feel connected to you somehow (or perhaps this is my ego flattering herself :)
I understand your decision though; and am grappling on whether I should do the same myself.
take care of you and may He continue to guide and shower you with His mercy and compassion. (amin).
Come back soon inshallah; we'll all miss you.
Thinking of you; wishing you blessings during this time.
Retreat is Required/Essential to Integrate our Journey's Experiences... The Micro and the Macro of the great Weaver, our InterBeingness with all things...at Peace with all energies, despite the dualities.
May you have ease of well being and I'm sending you over Oceans of Peace...ETN
Salam, I love your site, such great articles although I seldom comment I gain a lot from here. It will surely be missed. Hope you have a wonderful future and may allah's blessings always be with you.
I will miss you. Thank you for the lovely comment you left on my blog. May Allah fill your life with light.
Salaam,
I love your writings and will miss them. I will keep you in my du'as and insha Allah, a soaring high will following this current low.
All the best dear sister,
Very warmly,
Safiya
Khush raho, abad raho aur muskurati raho
Aameen
May Allah grant you love and ease of pain and difficulty. A spiritual retreat is a great idea :) I will miss your strong and intelligent voice. If you need to talk, you know how to reach me. I am at your service.
Ya Haqq!
baraka you mean a lot to me and so many others out here in blogland. lots of duas for you...do feel better and return soon.
hugs and more hugs
Assalamu Alaikum
May Allah bless you Baraka and reward you. From the Mere Islam post you linked to about the Prophet:"When he spoke he was always brief and reflective. He spoke when he saw benefit and spent long periods in silent contemplation". I pray that your period of silent contemplation is a productive one inshaAllah. We'll be here when you get back :)
I hope everything goes well for you. Guess i'll just have to surf your archives!
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
may Allah guide you and open many paths through these difficult times. There is a prayer of the prophet which i read especially when i feel trapped in a difficult situation:
Allahumma ya mufattihal abwab iftahlana khayral bab ( O Allah, O the one who opens doors open me a door with blessings) amin!
You will be terribly missed. Because your blog had so much 'goodness' and 'thoughtfulness'... and it's rare to find that these days. Many many times, it moved me to think and question and reevaluate my own life's direction. For all of this and move, I am ever so grateful.
If you change your mind, start another blog, please consider inviting me to it.
And I would love if we stayed in touch.
Take care, you are in my prayers.
Assalamualaikum Dear Sis,
I came to your blog today after a long time and emotions burst into gentle tears when I read your last blog.
And I wanted to thank you for all the "good" that you've done. For giving soo much of yourself in service of others. I want to thank you for that beautiful sentence that you had given me, "Turn to God". It again brought direct focus on what was important when I was feeling down and lost.
You may be leaving, but our prayers are with you. God Bless You.
Our love and prayers are always with you!
Want to thank you again for ALL that you've really done. You've made differences.
-TR
I just read this... I unerstand. I'm going through something similar myself. I hope you feel better. I hope that you return one day... but only if you want to....
I hope to keep in touch with you through other means insh'allah and hope you pursue your writing in other capacities regardless.
Love you!
Aisha
Dearest Baraka:
Even though we have never met you, I hold you near and dear my heart and prayers. Please take the time to seek out what you need and hurry back to enlighten the rest of us. Salaam.
Dearest Baraka
InshAllah may Allah keep inspiring you with the beauty that you experience and have us experience through your words... Its truly a gift from Allah and may Allah give you and B health and happiness and we hope to see you back here soon :) inshAllah .. take care Saniya.
Salaam,
Your prayers, support, words and thoughts really mean a great deal to me.
Thank you & bless you all!
Warmly,
Baraka
Ameen indeed. I understand what you mean, you do what you have to do and may God bless you always. Hope to see you back whenever the time is right for you inshallah.
You will be missed larki!
Salamaat/ SS
Salaam,
In addition to all you have written on your blog, I also really enjoy your articles at the religion and spirituality site. You are a very talented and insightful writer, mashallah.
May Allah bless you and give you ease in your difficulties.
God bless you.
I miss you.
interesting blog, keep on the nice work
Dear Baraka,
Come back already!
Love,
RI
You have a lovely blog! Have a great day!
We just launched a mega event with the name "I Still Love Pakistan Do You !" at BuzzVines.com, and would love if
you join up and spread the word around. we are inviting all the bloggers of Pakistan so hurry join up!
PS: this is not spam i visited your website personally to leave the message.
I miss you, B.
I used to read your blog and liked the confluence of Islam with west about which you wrote. I remember at one point reading somewhere on truth and beauty that you are planning to make it a private blog.
I would like to be on the list.
I'm very sorry to hear of your illness. You mention "Gravity & Grace," which is the title of my new double-CD: http://www.myspace.com/stuartbalcomb
It is the soundtrack for a 3-hour yoga DVD that I scored, and is very percussion based. Every note is imbued with healing and love. I hope it may offer some sense of peace to all who hear it.
Stuart Balcomb
Hi, I apologize for the 'form' letter but it is the easiest way to pass word most quickly.
I am thrilled with the response to the MS Blogger project started at my blog, Brass and Ivory. I appreciate all those who took time to post about it on their blogs. I have discovered even more bloggers who have MS, whether they blog about the MS or not. A new listing is available at MS Blogger Community Project Revised.
Secondly, I'm looking for submissions for next week's Carnival of MS Bloggers. Information can be found at the end of each issue archived at Carnival of MS Bloggers. What I'm looking for this week are posts related to creativity. I discovered so many new bloggers who quilt, or knit, or crochet, or write, or photograph, etc. Basically, what do you do to express yourself?
Thank you so much for participating.
Lisa Emrich
P.S. I also apologize for any increased 'spamming' of blog comments due to my growing linklist of bloggers with MS. For that I am sincerely sorry.
Shalom,
Will be waiting for your return.
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