What Have We Done to Ourselves?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا كُنتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ ۚ قَدْ جَاءَكُم مِّنَ اللَّـهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿١٥﴾ يَهْدِي بِهِ اللَّـهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلَامِ وَيُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ ﴿١٦

O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book. (15) By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path. (16)

[Qur'an Maida 5:15]

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِن رَّحْمَتِهِ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٢٨﴾ لِّئَلَّا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ أَلَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مِّن فَضْلِ اللَّـهِ ۙ وَأَنَّ الْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ اللَّـهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ ﴿٢٩

O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (28) [This is] so that the People of the Scripture may know that they are not able [to obtain] anything from the bounty of Allah and that [all] bounty is in the hand of Allah; He gives it to whom He wills. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty. (29)

[Qur'an Al-Hadid 57:28-29]

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the guiding light to the straight path--the path that will take us to Allah, Dhul-Jalali wal-Ikram (the Lord of Majesty and Bounty).

Our nafs, ego and desires want something and the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, wants something different. If we love the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, more than we love ourselves, we will find it easy within ourselves to let go of the things that we desire and take upon what the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, desires for us.

If someone oppressed us or did injustice to us, our nafs wants to retaliate but the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, wants us to repay evil with good.

هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانُ ﴿٦٠﴾ فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ ﴿٦١

Is the reward for good [anything] but good? (60) So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny? (61)

[Qur'an Ar-Rahman 55:60-61]

ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ السَّيِّئَةَ ۚ نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَصِفُونَ ﴿٩٦

Repel evil with that which is better. We are Best-Acquainted with the things they utter. (96)

[Qur'an Al-Mu'minun 23:96]

وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ۚ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ ﴿٣٤

And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. (34)

[Qur'an Fussilat 41:34]

وَالَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ أُولَـٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ ﴿٢٢

And those who remain patient, seeking their Lord's Countenance, perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and spend out of that which We have bestowed on them, secretly and openly, and defend evil with good, for such there is a good end; (22)

[Qur'an Ar-Ra'd 13:22]

The light of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, fills this existence. Why does the world today not see it? It is because Allah has made it His Sunnah that the light of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, that are so eminent, mirror of those people who embody the characteristics of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace.

We are the mirrors of the light of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, in this existence. But, sometimes the mirror does injustice to the light by the filth that is built up in front of it, covering the ability of the mirror to reflect light.

When the onlookers look at the Muslims, they see a type of darkness. Just look at the state we are in. What have we done to ourselves? Rather than looking outward and say the enemies have conspired and they have done this and that, look inward and polish our internal mirrors so when they look at us once again, they see the light that has been reflected by the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. If we are to polish our internal mirrors, the world will come fleeing to the light they see being reflected on our mirrors, and those who reject will be few, and the light will spread throughout the earth.

Be a lover of the Prophet's sunnah and hadith. Encourage and help your family to learn the Prophetic tradition and make it your family tradition.

Read. Begin with these three types of books about the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace: 1) Seerah -- the life of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, 2) Qasaa'id -- special things attributed to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, 3) Shama'il of Imam At-Tirmidhi -- characteristics and noble character of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace.

After you have completed a book, move on to the next and keep reading. Read about the righteous of the past too. Indeed, in the past, there were people who traveled to East Africa, West Africa, South East Asia and various far away lands, and they embodied the life of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. So when they entered into lands, the whole population changed because of such individuals that carry the light of the beloved Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. If you do this, you will see an immense result in the people around you and the society as a whole.

May Allah shower us with His Light and make us examples of the righteous, and bring peace to all the lands of this Ummah. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

Recommended reading and listening:

Stories of the Righteous audio -- Habeeb Al Ajmi

Shama'il At-Tirmidhi

Qasida Burdah of Imam Busiri Shaykh Diya, Amman

Imam Bajuri's on some verses from Burdah of Imam Busiri

Is the Claim That There is “Blatant Shirk” in the Qasida Burda of Imam Busiri True?