asma halai's blog

I love cooking. It’s one of my favourite things to do ever. I love trying new foods and making new recipes and just the whole shebang. Today I made Chinese Steamed Eggs.

I saw a recipe on Pinterest and ran straight downstairs to start whipping them up. The recipe is simple: eggs, vinegar, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion.

1. Take a bowl and add two eggs, and 3/4th cup water, a touch of vinegar and another touch of salt. Mix it real good.
2. Strain it to remove goop, and then steam it however you want. I used a wok.
3. Let it steam for like 9 minutes then take it out, cut into squares in the pot you cooked it in.
4. Top with one tbs sesame oil, and oil tbs soy sauce and dazzle with green onion.

I made it with some octopus hotdogs :).

It was delicious. Like, really delicious. I now have a whole new level of respect for eggs. A personal goal of mine this year has been to not have my phone anywhere near me while I’m eating. To be present and respectful to the food I’m consuming. As I sat and ate, here’s what I thought.

I am so fulfilled. This meal fulfilled me in a way that showed me that contentment comes from within. And it can be practically effortless.

We often spend a lot of time draining our energy into things that we think are going to make us happy, but then end up doing the opposite, really. Making those eggs was so simple, so effortless, it felt like it was exactly what I needed to do. And it fulfilled me in the best way. I didn’t have to slave away for it. I don’t think you have to be a slave to this world to be happy. Like people say, “You need to spend your 20’s and 30’s working so hard and then chill the rest of your life. And all that matters is hard work. Hard work beats talent.”

It took me a while to unlearn those ideologies. And to understand that they’re wrong.

Let’s begin, shall we?

The center of everything is Allah. Allah is Everything. He made all that there is to make, and He sustains all that needs sustaining. Every part of everything you perceive was created by Allah. Now, with that logic, would it not also be fair to say that Allah creates “hard work” and the desire and will to want to do it?

Last year and the year before that were probably the years in which I look back in my life, and I think I worked the hardest. Like everything I did, school, work, projects, it was a lot and felt like I was always working so hard and just a slave to my “accomplishments”. But I was drained; it felt like every day I was just depleted.

The past 6 months have been completely different because I made a change. I decided to align myself with Allah SWT, and with that came the best 6 months of my life. I have accomplished more than I was able to in the past 5 years. I learned so many new things, and I just feel alive again. Someone may look at what I’m doing and say wow she’s working so hard, and to that, my response is no, I’m just doing what I’m meant to do, because my alignment is right. Everything I’m doing doesn’t feel like hard work; it just feels like conscious effort that I actually want to exert. Writing doesn’t feel like hard work. School doesn’t feel like hard work. Life doesn’t feel like hard work anymore. But if you go and look at my metrics, you’ll see that I’m performing the best in this quarter than in any quarter of my entire life.

If you go outside and look at nature, you’ll be in awe of Allah’s creation. How Allah sustains everything, each blade of grass, each animal, each creature in the wild. Allah SWT is Ar-Razzaq (The Sustainer), He sustains literally everything, and you think He won’t sustain you?

You’re not in control, no one is, so just let go. Let go of the stresses and calamities and put your trust in Allah SWT. After all, He is Al-Muhaymin (The Controller). You can push for rigidity and control all you want, but you’ll just be doing yourself a huge disservice. Let go, and accept the favours of Your Lord.

Surah Ar-Rahman (55:13)

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ ١٣

Then which of your Lord’s favours will you ˹humans and jinn˺ both deny? 

I believe that to love is to know. To love Allah SWT is also to know Him. As humans, our knowledge of Allah SWT is microscopic; honestly, even microscopic is too big. But using what we can to learn about Him will guide us.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

[Bis-mil-lah Hir-Rah-maan Nir-Ra-heem]

What does the phrase we say every day, multiple times a day, mean?

“In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious and The Most Merciful.”

“In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate.”

The names of Allah, Asma ul Husna, tell us about Our Creator. And we should be conscious and present when we say Them. Before eating, say [Bis-mil-lah Hir-Rah-maan Nir-Ra-heem] but say it with presence. Be present in the fact that you are repeating two beautiful names of your Creator and reflect on their meanings.

So much to say about this, so much I tell you. But for now, I think that’s all. To conclude, yes, maybe hard work beats talent, but I’ll tell you a truth. Hard work will never beat Allah SWT.

Best eggs ever.