Baik Sangka Terhadap Allah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

Allahummaa salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

Jangan kita ada bersangka tak baik terhadap Allah.

Sejak bila Allah bersikap tak baik terhadap makhlukNya? Jika kita nak kira semua pemberian dan RahmahNya memang tak terkira.

Untuk kita jangan sampai bersangka tak baik denganNya, Allah mengisytiharkan kepada kita yang Dia telah mengharamkan kezaliman untuk DiriNya.

"Wahai hamba2Ku, Aku telah mengharamkan kezaliman pada DiriKu dan mengharamkannya di antara kamu, jjadi jangan menzalimi sesama sendiri...."

Syaitan menggoda manusia dari satu pintu maksiat

tapi syaitan meyesatkan dari 300+ pintu kebaikan.

Ulama' dulu berdebat dalam masalah benar (haq) atau salah (baatil) tapi sekarang ramai berdebat untuk membenarkan pendapat masing2 sehingga tak nak terima yang haq.

Semoga Allah tunjukan kita sesuatu yang baatil itu baatil dan yang haq itu haq, dan jauhkan yang baatil dari kita. Aameen 

Allahu 'a'lam

Wassalaam

Life Is Fragile

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate 

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

Every moment is a blessing, yet it is taken for granted. 

When we wake up, thank Allah. There is no guarantee that we would go to sleep and rise again in the morning. 

When the evening comes, praise Allah, for it is by His Mercy that we would have health for another day. 

Life is fragile and we often forget that while being caught up with the world. Pause sometimes and reflect. 

Use every moment to show gratitude, make the most of good health before sickness arrives and of life before the death comes.

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar (RadhiyAllahu ‘anhuma), who said: The Messenger of Allah (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) took me by the shoulder and said,

“Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.”

And Ibn Umar (RahiyAllahu ‘anhuma) used to say, “In the evening do not expect [to live until] the morning, and in the morning do not expect [to live until] the evening. Take [advantage of] your health before times of sickness, and [take advantage of] your life before your death.”

[Reported by Bukhari]

May Allah grant us husnul khaatimah. Aameen.

Allahummaa salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all. 

Wassalaam

Good Character -- Patience

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate 

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam

Good character is becoming rarer and rarer around us. But it is more important than ever before for our Iman (Faith), families, work, societies and the world.

Good character empowers you to achieve Allah’s love by learning the most important qualities that will transform your interactions with Him and His creation.

By focusing your character development around pleasing Allah you’ll discover that those very qualities will make people love you.

When you build good character you build the foundation that anchors you in trials, fuels you towards your goals and dreams, and frames how you perceive others and are perceived by them. In short, it is the most important quality you have for success in this world and the next.

Mus'ab bin Sa'd narrated from his father that a man said:

"O Messenger of Allah! Which of the people is tried most severely?"

He said:

"The Prophets, then those nearest to them, then those nearest to them. A man is tried according to his religion; if he is firm in his religion, then his trials are more severe, and if he is frail in his religion, then he is tried according to the strength of his religion. The servant shall continue to be tried until he is left walking upon the earth without any sins." (Tirmidhi)

When a person’s religion is strong, the tests get harder, but the reward is that you may be walking around completely sinless. You need to patience to pass the trials.

Positive traits like patience, caring, loving, gentleness, and self-control have to be taught and learn. It is no wonder that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “I was only sent to perfect good character.” 

Most people, children and adults the like, have a hard time exercising patience from time to time. It can be really hard. But learning to do so is important to a person’s overall character, and therefore worth reaching for.  We have to remember that everyone from the generation of the companions to ours has been able to grow into better versions of themselves. So we too can change.

In a world where instant gratification is everywhere, we may need to purposefully delay some things for no other reason but to teach ourselves and our children patience. 

One area where our culture has become increasingly impatient is with consumer habits. Train yourself and teach your children to manage buying things and to wait until you can truly afford an item before making a purchase. Resist the urge to borrow money or buy something on credit.

Good charcater is not formed within a week or two. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

May Allah grant us patience. Aameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam

Good Character -- Truthfulness

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate 

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam

If I was introducing the Quran, I have to look at myself first and say, "Am I a credible presenter of the Quran? Do I embody at least some of the things that the Quran tries to teach us?" This is because the Quran can be a proof for you or a proof against you. There will be people who recite the Quran and they are actually reciting against themselves, not for themselves. The meaning here is that they are not living up to what the Quran is asking them, what Allah wants them to do. The biggest detested thing to Allah is to say what you do not do.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ ﴿٢

O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? (2) [Quran, As-Saff 61:2]

It is important to understand that the transmitted sciences, rational sciences, scientific knowledge are tools to ultimately prepare us for the ultimate knowledge, which is the knowledge of Allah. This inheritance is vast and you can take as much as you can carry. It is not like the inheritors of faraid (inheritance) and wealth. Anyone can take this inheritance as much as he wants, regardless of age, color, race, economic status, strength, size, etc. The inheritance of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is for everybody and it is waiting for you.

From this inheritance is the khuluq (character) of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). It is his khuluq that Allah praised him.

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ

And indeed, you are of a great moral character. (4) [Qur'an, Al-Qalam 68:4]

This should be what people should associate you, as Muslims, with--not your beards, turbans, thawbs, hijabs, niqabs, jilbabs, not the fact that you don't eat pork nor drink (intoxicates), not the fact that you don't eat and drink in Ramadhan, etc. When people say "Muslims", it is good character.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam defines what character is. If you want to see Quran embodied in one individual human being in a manner that never be embodied by anyone else, you should look at the Prophet's character. The character of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is beyond anything that we can imagine. Just by attempting to be like him, we reach the best that is in us. From that character was his honor and his love for his family and relatives.

'Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked about the character of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and she replied, "Didn't you read the Quran? His character was the Quran."

Good character will make you beloved by Allah and beloved by people. One of the greatest of those characters is truthfulness.

In fact truthfulness is so transformative that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

Adhere to truth, for truth leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise, and a person continues to speak the truth and makes truth their object until they are recorded as truthful before Allah. And beware of lying, for lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to Hell, and a person continues to lie and makes falsehood his object until they are recorded as a liar before Allah. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Truthfulness with Allah leads to sincere worship and repentance.
Truthfulness with yourself leads to humility.
Truthfulness with others leads to righteousness and their love.
Truthfulness leads to paradise.

Let’s commit to truthfulness in this new year. 

Even simple things like when someone is waiting for you and asking you where you are, don't say OTW (on the way) when you are not actually OTW. Don't think this is a small matter just because you normally can get away with it. A lie is still a lie, no matter how inconsequential you might think. You are clearly lying if you say OTW while you are still in the house. Instead, why not be clear as to where you are and the approximate time you will be at the meeting place? 

May Allah make us of truthful people. Aameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all. 

Wassalaam

Nawawi's 40 Hadith -- Intention

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate 

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam

Some people think that Islam is all about robotically performing religious rituals. These erroneous perceptions of Islam don’t do justice to the religion’s beautiful simplicity and sound reasoning.

A Sahih Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim informs us that Allah judges all deeds by their intentions. He will reward everyone for their actions based on their intentions. If one migrates to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger. This is perfectly in line with the person’s noble motive for migration. On the other hand, one may migrate to attain some worldly gain, or perhaps for marrying a wife. In this case, his migration is to what he migrated for and not to Allah and His Messenger.

It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu'minin, Abu Hafs 'Umar bin al-Khattab (ra) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) say: "Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated."  [Bukhari & Muslim]

This hadith clearly demonstrates the necessity for every Muslim to have the correct intention when performing an action. Indeed, the acceptance of one’s faith and deeds by Allah is dependent on one’s intentions. The same applies to one’s general day to day actions.

The comprehensive nature of Islam means that one’s whole life can be an act of worship, as long as one’s sole aim in life is to please Allah. Thus, ordinary daily activities can become acts of worship if one performs them with pure intentions while seeking Allah’s pleasure through them.

There are certain conditions for everyday acts to be worthy of reward from Allah. Firstly, the action should be permissible. If it’s something that is forbidden, the doer is deserving of punishment. Secondly, Islamic law must not be violated in any way. One’s action should be free of any deceit, persecution, and injustice. Finally, the action should not be something that obstructs one from fulfilling his or her religious duties.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all. 

Wassalaam

Unanswered Du'a

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate 

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam

Some people complained about their du'a was not answered. 

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 

"The supplication of any of you is answered as long as he does not get impatient and say, 'I made supplication and was not answered.'"                     

أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ‏:‏ يُسْتَجَابُ لأَحَدِكُمْ مَا لَمْ يَعْجَلْ، يَقُولُ‏:‏ دَعَوْتُ فَلَمْ يُسْتَجَبْ لِي‏.

Fear Allah when it comes to your sustenance because the more pure your sustenance, the higher the chance of your du'a will be answered. 

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):

The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “Allah the Almighty is Good and accepts only that which is good. And verily Allah has commanded the believers to do that which He has commanded the Messengers. So the Almighty has said: “O (you) Messengers! Eat of the tayyibat [all kinds of halal (legal) foods], and perform righteous deeds.” [23:51] and the Almighty has said: “O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you.” [2:172]” 

Then he sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty, and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying “O Lord! O Lord!,” while his food is haram (unlawful), his drink is haram, his clothing is haram, and he has been nourished with haram, so how can [his supplication] be answered? [Muslim]

When Adam alayhissalaam and his wife ate from the forbidden tree, immediately their blessings were taken away and they were stripped of the clothing they were wearing. And when they repented, Allah forgave them and blessed them again.

وَقُلْنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ ﴿٣٥﴾ فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ ۖ وَقُلْنَا ٱهْبِطُوا۟ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۖ وَلَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ ﴿٣٦﴾ فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ﴿٣٧

And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers." (35) But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time." (36) Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. (37)  [Quran, Al Baqarah 2:35-37]

May Allah grant us from the pure and halal sustenance. May Allah forgive all our sins and make us of those who constantly repentant and purify themselves. Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.  

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّ‌ٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all

Wassalaam