بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The friends of Allah do not only enjoy
the benefit after they die. Rather they enjoy tranquility and happiness
that everybody all over the world is looking for, but no one finds it
except the true slaves of Allah.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam, has shown us things to do with our lives. Through these
actions, among them reading Surah Kahf every Friday, transformation
takes place. Such a person if he asks Allah for something, Allah will
give it to him. Why? Because Allah loves him. So strive to continue this
Friday tradition until you die. Don't let shaytan whisper to you
otherwise and take you away from your opportunity to be loved by Allah.
إِنَّ
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ
أَجْرَ مَنْ أَحْسَنَ عَمَلًا ﴿٣٠﴾ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتُ عَدْنٍ
تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهِمُ ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ يُحَلَّوْنَ فِيهَا مِنْ أَسَاوِرَ
مِن ذَهَبٍ وَيَلْبَسُونَ ثِيَابًا خُضْرًا مِّن سُندُسٍ وَإِسْتَبْرَقٍ
مُّتَّكِـِٔينَ فِيهَا عَلَى ٱلْأَرَآئِكِ ۚ نِعْمَ ٱلثَّوَابُ وَحَسُنَتْ
مُرْتَفَقًا ﴿٣١
“Indeed, those who have believed and done
righteous deeds - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any
who did well in deeds. (30) Those will have gardens of perpetual
residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein
with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and
brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward,
and good is the resting place. (31)”
[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:30-31]
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تُحِبُّوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ شَرٌّۭ لَّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ٢١٦
But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not. [Quran, Al Baqarah 2:216]
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Narrated by Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both), ‘One day I was riding behind the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) when he said, “O lad, be mindful of Allah and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you shall find Him with you. When you ask (for anything), ask it from Allah, and if you seek help, seek help from Allah.” [At-Tirmidhi]
Narrated by Ibn Al-Firasi (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to the Messenger of Allah:
"Shall I ask people (for help), O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "No, but if you have no alternative but to ask, then ask the righteous." [Sunan An-Nasai]
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
When you feel alone and sad, remember Hajar (Allah be pleased with her) being left alone with her infant son, Ismael (may Allah grant him peace,) in an arid desert of Makkah with no food and water. Hajar did not know what Allah had hidden for her but she obeyed and remain patient. And now you know some of the tremendous things that were hidden for her--which include millions of people following her footsteps between Safa and Marwah during hajj every year until the Day of Judgment inshaAllah! We cannot imagine the reward she is getting in Paradise for her patience.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اصْبِرُوا وَصَابِرُوا وَرَابِطُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٢٠٠﴾
O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful. [Qur'an AleImran 3:200]
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Narrated `Abdur-Rahman bin Samura:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O `Abdur-Rahman bin Samura! Do not seek to be a ruler, because if you are given authority for it, then you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking for it, then you will be helped in it (by Allah): and whenever you take an oath to do something and later you find that something else is better than the first, then do the better one and make expiation for your oath." [Bukhari]
وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُم بِإِيمَـٰنٍ أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَآ أَلَتْنَـٰهُم مِّنْ عَمَلِهِم مِّن شَىْءٍ ۚ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَ رَهِينٌ ﴿٢١
[Qur'an, At-Tur 52:21]And those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith - We will join with them their descendants, and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds. Every person, for what he earned, is retained. (21)
On the authority of Tameem ibn Aus ad-Daree (may Allah be pleased with him):
The Prophet (ﷺ), said, “The deen (religion) is naseehah (advice, sincerity).” We said, “To whom?” He said, “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk.” [Related by Muslim]
Naseehah to Allah -- have correct belief in Allah, purify our relationship with Him, know how to implement the shariah of Allah in our lives and how to journey towards Him.
Naseehah to Allah’s Book -- have pure and sincere relationship with the Quran, make His words paramount, carryout it’s guidance.
Naseehah to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) -- knowing him, loving him more than anything else, obeying him, rejecting those whom had enmity towards him, being loyal to those who gave allegiance to him, honoring him, and reviving his manners and sunna.
Naseehah to the Leaders of Muslims -- make du’a for them that Allah guides them, protects them and enables them to carry out their responsibilities.
Naseehah to common people -- guiding them towards that which will correct their affairs in both this life and the next, protecting them from harm, helping them in times of need, providing what is beneficial for them, encouraging them to do good and forbidding them from evil with kindness and sincerity, and showing mercy towards them.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The story of the man with two gardens in Surah Al Kahf described the event of two men, one of whom had a lot of wealth and, proud of it, he refused to accept that there is any life after death, and if there is one, he claimed, he will be given more wealth and reward therein. His argument was that if Allah was not pleased with him, he would not have this amount of wealth in this world.
The other person, though less than him in wealth, was a true believer. He refuted the argument of the former one by saying that the worldly wealth is not a sign of one's being close to Allah, because the worldly benefits are given by Allah, in one way or the other, even to the disbelievers and sinful persons, rather to the snakes, scorpions and beasts. It is a terrible mistake to presume that they are the signs of one's being approved by Allah. Therefore, neither your wealth is the proof of your behavior being approved by Allah, nor my lesser wealth is a proof of disapproval by Him. Allah's approval or disapproval depends on one's faith and deeds alone and not on the amount of wealth one has.
وَلَوْلَآ إِذْ دَخَلْتَ جَنَّتَكَ قُلْتَ مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِٱللَّهِ ۚ إِن تَرَنِ أَنَا۠ أَقَلَّ مِنكَ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا ﴿٣٩﴾
And why did you, when you entered your garden, not say, 'What Allah willed [has occurred]; there is no power except in Allah '? Although you see me less than you in wealth and children, [Quran, Al Kahf 18:39]
About the statement: : " مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِٱللَّهِ [Everything is] as Allah wills. There is no power except with Allah," it has been reported that he Prophet (ﷺ) said, "whoever sees something, likes it - and says 'Mashaa Allahu la quwwata illa billah' - nothing will harm it (that is, what he likes will stay protected).' And it appears in other reports, 'whoever recites this kalimah when he likes something he sees, it will stay protected against the evil eye.'
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s messenger as saying that “ لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ There is no might and no power except in Allah” is a remedy for ninety-nine diseases, the lightest of which is anxiety.
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ دَوَاءٌ مِنْ تِسْعَةٍ وَتِسْعِينَ دَاء أيسرها الْهم»
May Allah protect us from calamity and the trials and tribulations of this life and the next. Aameen.
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Bismillah
Why does someone not pray? Allah has answered in this ayah,
إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ ٱلْمَسَاقُ ﴿٣٠﴾ فَلَا صَدَّقَ وَلَا صَلَّىٰ ﴿٣١﴾ وَلَٰكِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ ﴿٣٢﴾
To your Lord, that Day, will be the procession. (30) And the disbeliever had not believed, nor had he prayed. (31) But [instead], he denied and turned away. (32) [Quran. 30-32]
It means you are a Muslim in your head, not in your heart. Sometimes you know something but you don't think about it. Because that's missing that's why many people don't pray or they miss prayers. Their hearts are distracted. Allah doesn't need your prayer and if you prayed because someone couldn't get off your case, it has no value.
Actions have no value unless they have the right intention. The only one who can benefit from your prayer is only you.
What is the purpose of prayer? You might think if you don't pray you will be thrown in hell or the angels will curse you. Prayer is not to get away from something negative but to run towards something positive. Take for example, the one who study because he doesn't want to fail is trying to escape from something negative, the student who study because he loves the subject, he is going to something positive and he enjoys every moment of it.
Allah told Musa alayhissalaam
إِنَّنِىٓ أَنَا ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۠ فَٱعْبُدْنِى وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ لِذِكْرِىٓ ﴿١٤﴾
Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance. [Quran, Ta-Ha 23:14]
Your relationship with the creation is very limited but your relationship with Allah started a long time before you even came to this world and will continue after you leave this world. That relationship is worth remembering because every good thing that comes to you, comes as a result of that relationship. If you want all the positive things to stay in your life, you must remember where all the good, the blessings, the provision, the guidance come from. So Allah says the best way to remember that is prayer.
Just because you are doing it for the right reasons, there are benefits too.
There is benefit when you truly remember Allah. Allah says,
ٱتْلُ مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ ۗ وَلَذِكْرُ ٱللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ ﴿٤٥﴾
Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do. [Quran, Al Ankabut 29:45]
Prayer has the benefit of stopping you from falling int things that are bad and indescent. Indescency is all around you and no one can stop you from being exposed to it -- indecency is at eid party, school, phone, workplace. Indescency is everywhere. Every time you go towards indescency, your heart will get damaged. Allah says if you maintain the prayer, that will protect you from indescency. It is like breathing in pollution, at first you will cough. But if you stay long enough, you will get used to it. Your immune systems has gotten corrupt. Then you are ready for more toxic behavior and even doing worst things.
The prayer will stop you from going down a negative path in your life. This is why you should pray. At the end of this whole journey, the decision is entirely yours. If you really want to honor that relationship with Allah, then pray.
As parents, the more you try to control your children, the more frustrated you can become, and the more you try to push the religion on your children with control, the more your chidren rebel in the strangest way.
The opportunity you have with your children is not to make them surrender to your instructions but the opportunity that you have with your children is to make them think about things that only you can make them think about. Make them love things only you can make them love. Your child loves basketball because he sees you play basketball. He loves video games because he sees you play video games.
You can put a love in your child because of how you are. If you keep on instructing your child "go do your Quran homework!", "go to the masjid and pray!" he is not going to be 20 years old and say "I love the Quran" or "I love the masjid," but he will say " I love basketball, my dad used to play basketball!" What you love will get transfered over but what you instruct will get rejected. That's your own reality -- some of the things you love about your parents are the things that were passed down by love, and some of the things that you hate about your parents were the things that they forced you to do.
May Allah grant us steadfastness and enable us to be good role models for our children. Aameen.
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Quran describes the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wassallam, as a beautiful example:
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا ﴿٢١﴾
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often. [Quran, Al Ahzab 33:21]
Qatadah
reported: I said to Aisha, “O mother of the believers, tell me about
the character of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon
him.” Aisha said, “Have you not read the Quran?” I said, “Of course.”
Aisha said, “Verily, the character of the Prophet of Allah was the
Quran.” [Sahih Muslim]
The Quran and Hadiths build up
of the Prophet’s virtues and character, sallallahu alayhi wassallam:
integrity, honesty, steadfastness, courage, kindness,
compassion, courtesy, and other qualities too numerous to list. To know
what the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wassallam,
did, is to know what we all should do.
So the Prophet’s sunnah, emulation of which becomes the life work of a believer in
his or her journey to Allah and the life hereafter.
‘Allah’s Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wassallam, was the mildest of people and
also the warmest and most generous of them. He would mend his own
sandals, patch his own clothes and help his family with the daily
errands. He was very shy; shyer than a virgin in her chamber.
He would respond to the invitation of slaves, visit the sick, walk alone [without guards or fanfare], allow others to saddle-up with him on his mount, accept gifts, eat food that was sent as a gift; though he never consumed anything that had been given as charity. He did not have enough dates with which to be sated, nor was he sated with barley-bread for more than three consecutive days. He would eat whatever food was readily available and he never criticized food. He never ate reclining, and ate from what was nearest to him.
He loved perfumes and disliked foul odors. He honored people of
virtue, and kept affectionate ties with nobles and dignitaries. He never
snubbed anyone and would accept the excuse of those who presented
excuses.
He would joke, but never would he utter anything untrue. He laughed, but not loudly. He would not let any time pass without being in the service of Allah, exalted is He, or being engaged in whatever was essential for his own self-development.
He never cursed women, nor abused servants. Nor did he strike anyone,
except for in jihad in Allah’s cause. He did not exact revenge for his
own sake, but did so when Allah’s limits had been transgressed. If he was
presented with two options he took the easier of the two, unless it
entailed disobedience or the severing of ties – in which case he would
be the furthest away from it.
Anas remarked: “I served him for ten years and he never once rebuked
me in the least; nor did he say about anything I had done, ‘Why did you
do it?’ or anything I had not done, ‘Why did you not do it?’”
His description in the Torah is: “Muhammad, the Messenger of God and
My Chosen Servant. He is neither harsh nor severe. He does not shout in
the market places, nor repay evil with evil, but instead he pardons and
forgives” …
He would sit in an assembly wherever it was convenient and would
mingle among his Companions as one of them, such that when strangers
came they couldn’t distinguish him from others, save after inquiring as
to who he was. He would take to long periods of silence, but when he did
speak he did so measuredly and clearly, repeating himself so that he
would be understood. He used to pardon, even when he was in a position
to punish, and he would not confront anyone with what they did not like.
He was the most truthful of men, one who most fulfilled his trusts and commitments; the easiest going of people, the most affable, and the most generous in friendship. Whoever gazed upon him unexpectedly, was awe-stricken by him; whoever knew him, loved him. His Companions, whenever they spoke about worldly affairs, he would join in with them; and when, in recollecting their pre-Islamic days, they would laughed, he would simply smile. He was also the bravest of men. One Companion recalled: When the fighting became intense, we would seek shelter behind Allah’s Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wassallam.’1
May Allah increase our love for the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam and enable us to follow his footsteps. Aameen.
1. Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin (Damascus: Maktabah Dar al-Bayan, 1999), 157-8.
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The benefit of the righteousness of parents reaches children, and their children. This is one of the lessons we can derive from the story of the meeting of Prophet Musa and Al Khidr, may Allah grant them peace.
وَأَمَّا ٱلْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَٰمَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُۥ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَٰلِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَآ أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُۥ عَنْ أَمْرِى ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا ﴿٨٢﴾
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience." [Quran, Al Kahf 18:82]
The statement وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَٰلِحًا (and their father had been righteous) carries a hint that arrangements were made to have the buried treasure secured for the orphan children through al-Khidr because the father of the orphan children was some righteous man dear in the sight of Allah. Therefore, it was to grant his wish and to bring benefit to his children that Allah made this arrangement. Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir says: 'It is because of the piety and righteousness of a servant of His that Allah protects his children, and the children of his children, and his family, even the homes built around his own.' (Mazhari)
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous. [Quran, Al Furqan 25:74]
Aameen.
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