بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In The Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well
Out of Allah's infinite mercy, He has created us as part of the best and most honored nation ever to inhabit the earth. We are also the last and final nation until Judgment Day.
"You are the best Ummah singled out for mankind: you enjoin what is right (ma'ruf), forbid what is wrong (munkar), and believe in Allah." Qur'an AleImran 3:110
The head and the highest ma’ruf is the belief in Allah and the rest of the pillars of Islam. The head of the munkaraat (plural of munkar) and its most evil manifestation is kufr in all its forms. We must avoid the munkar, deter others from it and warn others from falling into it.
But, knowledge precedes action. Before we can enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, we must acquire knowledge on what is right and what is wrong. Then only then we can call others to abide by the ma’ruf and abstain from the munkar.
So, it is imperative that we seek knowledge of this religion so we can fulfill the condition of being the best Ummah.
Qatadah, Allah be pleased with him, said, “We were told that Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Allah be pleased with him, recited this verse during a Hajj that he performed, when he saw that the people were rushing. He then said, "Whoever likes to be among this (praised) Ummah, let him fulfill the condition that Allah set in this Ayah (3:110)."
Aren't you among this best and honored Ummah?
Watch this short video
May Allah guide us and grant us tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Showing posts with label AleImran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AleImran. Show all posts
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Your Clock Is Ticking
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that that you are well.
Say "If you do love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Qur'an AleImran 3:31
When you love somebody, you would put them in high esteem, think about them a lot, you would sacrifice yourself for them. So love is not lip service, not something you can just claim how you feel. There is no love without giving. Love is not an abstract feeling, but a feeling and an action.
'Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Allah be pleased with him, loved the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, very much and one day he told the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, "O Messenger of Allah, I love you more than everything except myself." The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, told him, "Not until you love me more than yourself." 'Umar came back and said, "O Messenger of Allah, now I love you more than everything including myself." With that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Now you have attained a complete faith."
If you love the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, you would consider his sunnah to be more important than your own interest and when the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, ask to do something in the hadith you would be willing to do it regardless of what people think of you. You should not just think the sunnah as the outward sunnah but also how the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant peace, lived his life. He lived his life being an example, teaching and fighting in the way of Allah.
In order to know about the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, you have to put time learning Islam. People often complain about not having the time to study the religion, not even to go to weekly Islamic study groups at the masjid or yearly Islamic conventions because they are busy (you name it what they are busy about), busy working, working hard for time is difficult. But this is not an excuse.
As Muslims, you need to work for this life and work for the next life. You cannot do for one and forget the other. You need to do for both. So you have to work harder. In order to succeed, you have to cut your sleep, you have to cut your entertainment and idle time, you have to stay away from arguing, fighting, backbiting and gossiping. A Muslim can't afford to waste time. Allah already ordained the exact amount of time you are in this world. Your clock is ticking. Every minute that passes by, you are that much closer to death--to meeting your Creator. What have you prepared for that moment?
May Allah bless our time and only take us at the highest of Iman. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that that you are well.
Say "If you do love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Qur'an AleImran 3:31
When you love somebody, you would put them in high esteem, think about them a lot, you would sacrifice yourself for them. So love is not lip service, not something you can just claim how you feel. There is no love without giving. Love is not an abstract feeling, but a feeling and an action.
'Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Allah be pleased with him, loved the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, very much and one day he told the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, "O Messenger of Allah, I love you more than everything except myself." The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, told him, "Not until you love me more than yourself." 'Umar came back and said, "O Messenger of Allah, now I love you more than everything including myself." With that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Now you have attained a complete faith."
If you love the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, you would consider his sunnah to be more important than your own interest and when the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, ask to do something in the hadith you would be willing to do it regardless of what people think of you. You should not just think the sunnah as the outward sunnah but also how the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant peace, lived his life. He lived his life being an example, teaching and fighting in the way of Allah.
In order to know about the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, you have to put time learning Islam. People often complain about not having the time to study the religion, not even to go to weekly Islamic study groups at the masjid or yearly Islamic conventions because they are busy (you name it what they are busy about), busy working, working hard for time is difficult. But this is not an excuse.
As Muslims, you need to work for this life and work for the next life. You cannot do for one and forget the other. You need to do for both. So you have to work harder. In order to succeed, you have to cut your sleep, you have to cut your entertainment and idle time, you have to stay away from arguing, fighting, backbiting and gossiping. A Muslim can't afford to waste time. Allah already ordained the exact amount of time you are in this world. Your clock is ticking. Every minute that passes by, you are that much closer to death--to meeting your Creator. What have you prepared for that moment?
May Allah bless our time and only take us at the highest of Iman. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Friday, June 4, 2010
No More Excuses
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Excuses are tools of incompetents
that build monuments to nothingness
and those that use them seldomly
accomplish anything
those who specialize in them
are seldom
good in anything
but excuses excuses excuses
(author unknown)
Quoted as from Delphos Daily Herald Friday, December 14, 1894 Delphos, Ohio
No wiser remark was ever made by Dr. Benjamin Franklin than a severe sentence which he once uttered to a young man who had an appointment with him and missed it. Next day the young man came and began to make a very fluent excuse to the doctor for his absence the day before.
"Stop!" said Franklin. "You have said too much already, my good boy, for the man who is good at making an excuse is seldom good at anything else.''
Remember this when we try to make an excuse not to do something for which we were created for. Allah did not create us and then leaves us out on a limb. Nothing is going to break if you do as He commanded.
"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned.... (Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:286).
So if you want Allah to love you, follow His Messenger and obey Allah and His Messenger.
'Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.' Say: 'Obey Allah, and the Messenger.' But if they turn their backs, Allah loves not the unbelievers." Qur'an AleImran 3:31-32
Make lots of du'a, not excuses.
"Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us; our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Maula (Patron, Supporter and Protector, etc.) and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
"Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray." Qur'an Al-Fatiha 6-7
May Allah makes us among the the righteous and the good-doers. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khrain.
And Allah knows best
wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Excuses are tools of incompetents
that build monuments to nothingness
and those that use them seldomly
accomplish anything
those who specialize in them
are seldom
good in anything
but excuses excuses excuses
(author unknown)
Quoted as from Delphos Daily Herald Friday, December 14, 1894 Delphos, Ohio
No wiser remark was ever made by Dr. Benjamin Franklin than a severe sentence which he once uttered to a young man who had an appointment with him and missed it. Next day the young man came and began to make a very fluent excuse to the doctor for his absence the day before.
"Stop!" said Franklin. "You have said too much already, my good boy, for the man who is good at making an excuse is seldom good at anything else.''
Remember this when we try to make an excuse not to do something for which we were created for. Allah did not create us and then leaves us out on a limb. Nothing is going to break if you do as He commanded.
"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned.... (Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:286).
So if you want Allah to love you, follow His Messenger and obey Allah and His Messenger.
'Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.' Say: 'Obey Allah, and the Messenger.' But if they turn their backs, Allah loves not the unbelievers." Qur'an AleImran 3:31-32
Make lots of du'a, not excuses.
"Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us; our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Maula (Patron, Supporter and Protector, etc.) and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
"Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray." Qur'an Al-Fatiha 6-7
May Allah makes us among the the righteous and the good-doers. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khrain.
And Allah knows best
wassalaam
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Best Supplication (Du'a)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends,
I pray that you are well.
When you lose something that your life or your happiness depended on--wealth, job, status, friends, relatives, husband/wife, children--what will happen to you? You lost your job, no job interviews, and now all your savings are gone, the creditors have not stopped calling asking you for payment. Your friends who you hang out with a lot don't even answer your emails or return your calls. Now your spouse left you and took all your children. What will you do? Some people, they will jump off the cliff, some people they will go into a deep depression, some people they will become angry, and some people regress. InshaAllah, all of us will remember the All-Merciful Lord and turn to Him in supplication.
This time when you turn to your Lord, the experience is not going to be like the supplication that you normally did. This du'a is when you feel a sense of intense need. Why? Because all of the other doors have been closed in your face. You have no other recourse besides Allah, Most Compassionate, All Generous. You will feel an utter need, a sense of worthlessness. You will turn to Allah and feel in your heart that only Allah has the answer to your problems. This du'a is the essence of worship.
Worship is the expression of one's slavehood. For most of us, this kind of supplication only appears from the heart in times of extreme need. But for some, this type of supplication is always like that. They don't need to be fired from their jobs, to be run out of money, to be abandoned by their friends, to lose their loved ones, in order to feel this way. If everything is in their hands, this is how they make du'a when they turn to Allah.
What is it that keep most of us from making this kind of du'a? It is our attachment to the object of the supplication. For most of us, the only reason we make du'a is in order to be given what we want. We ask Allah to give us a job, to give us wealth, to make us pass the exam, to give us a big house, to give us a beautiful wife or a rich husband, to give us many children or a son and all those endless things we ask Allah to give us. While this asking is not wrong because we turn to Allah for everything, we should work on making the du'a with our hearts attached to Him instead of our hearts attached to these things. You go to Him because you need Him, not because you need things from Him.
When we make du'a and received a response, the response is pure generosity of Allah. So, inwardly you should have gratitude and you should feel no sense of importance. Before you came into existence and before you did anything, there was nothing but Allah's pure largess and mighty bestowals. Any blessing that you have is purely from Allah.
So when you make du'a and you ask Him to fulfill your needs, you are not reminding of anything that He was heedless of. Don't imagine that because of your du'a He is giving you what you asked for. Allah knows everything and He did not learn about what you want from you. If you imagine that, your du'a will be a veil from Allah.
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَٰسِعُ ٱلْمَغْفِرَةِ ۚ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌۭ فِى بُطُونِ أُمَّهَٰتِكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تُزَكُّوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۖ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ ٱتَّقَىٰٓ
"Very well He knows you, when He produced you from the earth, and when you were yet unborn in your mothers' wombs; therefore hold not yourselves purified; God knows very well him who is Godfearing." Qur'an An-Najm/Stars 53:31
Allah chooses for His mercy to give to whomever He wills. It is pure generosity from Him.
يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
"He singles out for His mercy whom He will; God is of bounty abounding." Qur'an AleImran 3:74
So, if you have the traces in your life of obedience or closeness to Allah, you have nothing to be proud of but everything to be grateful. Your job is to turn to Him with gratitude.
We still need to supplicate, pray and obey Allah. The effort need to be there because Allah's mercy is near those who excel in goodness. In the end there is a need for gratitude.
إِنَّ رَحْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
"Verily, the mercy of Allah is near to those who excel in goodness" Qur'an Al-'Araf 7:56
The du'a becomes a means to take you to Allah rather than distracts you from Him. Check your heart next time you ask Allah to give you wealth, don't start thinking about what nice company you will have or the vacation you always want to take with your loved ones (for example).
May Allah make us among His thankful slaves and bring us closer to Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends,
I pray that you are well.
When you lose something that your life or your happiness depended on--wealth, job, status, friends, relatives, husband/wife, children--what will happen to you? You lost your job, no job interviews, and now all your savings are gone, the creditors have not stopped calling asking you for payment. Your friends who you hang out with a lot don't even answer your emails or return your calls. Now your spouse left you and took all your children. What will you do? Some people, they will jump off the cliff, some people they will go into a deep depression, some people they will become angry, and some people regress. InshaAllah, all of us will remember the All-Merciful Lord and turn to Him in supplication.
This time when you turn to your Lord, the experience is not going to be like the supplication that you normally did. This du'a is when you feel a sense of intense need. Why? Because all of the other doors have been closed in your face. You have no other recourse besides Allah, Most Compassionate, All Generous. You will feel an utter need, a sense of worthlessness. You will turn to Allah and feel in your heart that only Allah has the answer to your problems. This du'a is the essence of worship.
Worship is the expression of one's slavehood. For most of us, this kind of supplication only appears from the heart in times of extreme need. But for some, this type of supplication is always like that. They don't need to be fired from their jobs, to be run out of money, to be abandoned by their friends, to lose their loved ones, in order to feel this way. If everything is in their hands, this is how they make du'a when they turn to Allah.
What is it that keep most of us from making this kind of du'a? It is our attachment to the object of the supplication. For most of us, the only reason we make du'a is in order to be given what we want. We ask Allah to give us a job, to give us wealth, to make us pass the exam, to give us a big house, to give us a beautiful wife or a rich husband, to give us many children or a son and all those endless things we ask Allah to give us. While this asking is not wrong because we turn to Allah for everything, we should work on making the du'a with our hearts attached to Him instead of our hearts attached to these things. You go to Him because you need Him, not because you need things from Him.
When we make du'a and received a response, the response is pure generosity of Allah. So, inwardly you should have gratitude and you should feel no sense of importance. Before you came into existence and before you did anything, there was nothing but Allah's pure largess and mighty bestowals. Any blessing that you have is purely from Allah.
So when you make du'a and you ask Him to fulfill your needs, you are not reminding of anything that He was heedless of. Don't imagine that because of your du'a He is giving you what you asked for. Allah knows everything and He did not learn about what you want from you. If you imagine that, your du'a will be a veil from Allah.
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَٰسِعُ ٱلْمَغْفِرَةِ ۚ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌۭ فِى بُطُونِ أُمَّهَٰتِكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تُزَكُّوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۖ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ ٱتَّقَىٰٓ
"Very well He knows you, when He produced you from the earth, and when you were yet unborn in your mothers' wombs; therefore hold not yourselves purified; God knows very well him who is Godfearing." Qur'an An-Najm/Stars 53:31
Allah chooses for His mercy to give to whomever He wills. It is pure generosity from Him.
يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
"He singles out for His mercy whom He will; God is of bounty abounding." Qur'an AleImran 3:74
So, if you have the traces in your life of obedience or closeness to Allah, you have nothing to be proud of but everything to be grateful. Your job is to turn to Him with gratitude.
We still need to supplicate, pray and obey Allah. The effort need to be there because Allah's mercy is near those who excel in goodness. In the end there is a need for gratitude.
إِنَّ رَحْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
"Verily, the mercy of Allah is near to those who excel in goodness" Qur'an Al-'Araf 7:56
The du'a becomes a means to take you to Allah rather than distracts you from Him. Check your heart next time you ask Allah to give you wealth, don't start thinking about what nice company you will have or the vacation you always want to take with your loved ones (for example).
May Allah make us among His thankful slaves and bring us closer to Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Friday, May 14, 2010
Forgive! Forgive! Forgive!
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
We try our best not to sin but a sin that drives you towards Allah is better than the worship that make you feel that you are better than others. Don't look down upon a sinner for the wheel is still spinning. Tomorrow the sinner might repent and he/she becomes the beloved of Allah. Allah is at-Tawwab. He not only is the One who accepts repentance but also the One who guides us towards repentance, and he guides whomever He wills. When someone sincerely repents, he is similar to the one that has no sin.
If people do wrong to you, forgive, forgive, forgive them--don't even hesitate. You don't lose anything by forgiving people. In fact, you gain the key to Paradise. In this life you will feel like a butterfly--light and free. Why? Because that weight of holding grudges, hatred and bad feelings disappear from your heart. Your heart is now lightened. So why would you not want to forgive people, why do you want to hold on to your bad feelings, grudges or hatred? How is this--you want Allah to forgive you but you don't want to forgive people?
Remember, Allah is the One who created our final abodes. Our concern should be where we are going to land after this world, not who did what to us from ages ago or even from yesterday. Move on towards Allah, the King of Kings, the best of Judges.
Maybe you cannot see Allah, but you can see Allah's great attributes. They are clear in our lives. But often we just pass them by because we are too busy with our lives or simply not interested.
"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for people of pure understanding. Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). So, save us from the torment of the Fire." Qur'an AleImran 3:190-191
So accustom and occupy yourself to look and reflect on Allah's creations instead of bickering among yourselves.
"Only those believe in Our signs who, when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrate and proclaim the praise of their Lord, not waxing proud. Their sides shun their couches as they call on their Lord in fear and hope; and they expend of that We have provided them. No soul knows what comfort is laid up for them secretly, as a recompense for that they were doing. What? Is he who has been a believer like unto him who has been ungodly? They are not equal. As for those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, there await them the Gardens of the Refuge, in hospitality for that they were doing. But as for the ungodly, their refuge shall be the Fire; as often as they desire to come forth from it, they shall be restored into it, and it shall be said to them, 'Taste the chastisement of the Fire, which you cried lies to.' Qur'an As-Sajda/Prostration 32:15-20
May Allah guide us and give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
We try our best not to sin but a sin that drives you towards Allah is better than the worship that make you feel that you are better than others. Don't look down upon a sinner for the wheel is still spinning. Tomorrow the sinner might repent and he/she becomes the beloved of Allah. Allah is at-Tawwab. He not only is the One who accepts repentance but also the One who guides us towards repentance, and he guides whomever He wills. When someone sincerely repents, he is similar to the one that has no sin.
If people do wrong to you, forgive, forgive, forgive them--don't even hesitate. You don't lose anything by forgiving people. In fact, you gain the key to Paradise. In this life you will feel like a butterfly--light and free. Why? Because that weight of holding grudges, hatred and bad feelings disappear from your heart. Your heart is now lightened. So why would you not want to forgive people, why do you want to hold on to your bad feelings, grudges or hatred? How is this--you want Allah to forgive you but you don't want to forgive people?
Remember, Allah is the One who created our final abodes. Our concern should be where we are going to land after this world, not who did what to us from ages ago or even from yesterday. Move on towards Allah, the King of Kings, the best of Judges.
Maybe you cannot see Allah, but you can see Allah's great attributes. They are clear in our lives. But often we just pass them by because we are too busy with our lives or simply not interested.
"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for people of pure understanding. Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). So, save us from the torment of the Fire." Qur'an AleImran 3:190-191
So accustom and occupy yourself to look and reflect on Allah's creations instead of bickering among yourselves.
"Only those believe in Our signs who, when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrate and proclaim the praise of their Lord, not waxing proud. Their sides shun their couches as they call on their Lord in fear and hope; and they expend of that We have provided them. No soul knows what comfort is laid up for them secretly, as a recompense for that they were doing. What? Is he who has been a believer like unto him who has been ungodly? They are not equal. As for those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, there await them the Gardens of the Refuge, in hospitality for that they were doing. But as for the ungodly, their refuge shall be the Fire; as often as they desire to come forth from it, they shall be restored into it, and it shall be said to them, 'Taste the chastisement of the Fire, which you cried lies to.' Qur'an As-Sajda/Prostration 32:15-20
May Allah guide us and give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Jazakum Allahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Friday, May 7, 2010
Signs For People Who Reflect
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for people of pure understanding. Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). So, save us from the torment of the Fire." Qur'an AleImran 3:190-191
People of pure understanding are those who remember Allah not only when they are standing or sit or lying down but they remember Allah throughout their lives. This was the state of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. His wife, Aisha, Allah be well pleased with her used to say, "He (the Prophet) used to remember Allah in all of his moments."
You can only remember Allah if you forget about what you want. Most people can't remember Allah. When they start to pray, they start thinking about their work, the test that is coming up, the people that need to be pleased, the money that need to be earned, the bills that need to be paid, the problems that are about to come and the ones that already came, their doctor's appointment, their horrible marriage, their nightmares. When they sit and recite the Qur'an or start the dhikr of Allah, just after a few verses, just after a few SubhanAllah, their hearts, their minds, start to wander and then they want to get up and run away. Why is this? Do we forget that work, people, money, time are all creations of Allah? Why are we submitting to creations of Allah? This is because we have these desires and these desires pull us towards them and so we can't focus on Allah, the Creator of these things that you are thinking about.
But for someone who doesn't want and desire anything or anyone except Allah, when they enter the prayer or sit down to recite the Qur'an or say the dhikr, his heart and soul will be quiet and he will remember Allah. It is being in this state that enables us to reflect on the creation in the heavens and the earth the way we should be reflecting on. You take your prayer, reciting of the Qur'an or dhikr of Allah to your life instead of taking your life to the prayer, reciting of the Qur'an or dhikr of Allah.
Someone who can remember Allah without being distracted, their thoughts will be clear. Someone who does not have a clear thought, when they look at the creation of Allah, they see them as exciting, entertaining, pleasurable, or the opposite--problems, burdens, pain. But someone whose heart has been opened, when they see the creation of Allah, they will forget about themselves. They feel insignificant before the power they see before them. They will see this as a sign that point to the power, greatness, majesty and glory of Allah and so they will want to worship Him and want to do what Allah bid them to do.
One of the signs that point to the power of Allah is the creation of wives for men. People who do not have a clear thought, they will see this creation as an object of pleasure and after some time, they see it a burden. But someone whose heart has been opened, when they see their wives, they see a beautiful creation of Allah that they will feel insignificant before the power of Allah and that will drive them to worship Him.
Like every other creations of Allah, women are created to help men to worship Him. You are worshiping Him if you do what Allah bid you to do. Allah commands men to treat their wives kindly, so you treat your wife kindly--you don't oppress her and harm her in any way--or you have gone astray.
"Among His signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose and comfort in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for people who reflect." Qur'an Ar-Room 30:21
"O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allah through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All¬Watcher over you." Qur'an An-Nisaa 4:1
"...And live with them honorably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good." Qur'an 4:19
"He has created from him his wife (Eve), in order that he might enjoy the pleasure of living with her." Qur'an Al-Araf 7:189
The hadiths are filled with words enjoining kind treatment to women and to wives.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The best of you is the one who is best to his family (wife) and I am the best of you to my family."
"The most complete of believers are those with the best character; and the best of you are the best of you to your spouses. (Tirmidhi)
The relationship between a man and his wife should be one of love, mercy and mutual understanding. The marriage is to bring people closer to Allah. When this type of marriage cannot be achieved, the man is ordered by Allah in the Qur'an:
"And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled the term of their prescribed period, either take them back on reasonable basis or set them free on reasonable basis. But do not take them back to hurt them, and whoever does that, then he has wronged himself." Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:231
Our mother, Zaynab bint Jahsh married to Zayd Ibn Haritha (the beloved one of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and once his slave and adopted son), Allah be well pleased with them both, for the sake of obeying Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. They divorced for fear of disobeying Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace.
"O you who believe! Fear Allah and keep your duty to Him. And let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what you do. And be not like those who forgot Allah (i.e. became disobedient to Allah) and He caused them to forget their own selves, (let them to forget to do righteous deeds). Those are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah)." Qur'an al-Hashr 59:18-19
Remember, we are created to worship our Creator. Nothing matters except Allah. Don't lose sight of this.
"And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)." Qur'an Adh-Dhariyat 51:56
Reflect on His creations and you say: "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). So, save us from the torment of the Fire."
May Allah make us among those with pure understanding and among the righteous. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Ameen.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for people of pure understanding. Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). So, save us from the torment of the Fire." Qur'an AleImran 3:190-191
People of pure understanding are those who remember Allah not only when they are standing or sit or lying down but they remember Allah throughout their lives. This was the state of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. His wife, Aisha, Allah be well pleased with her used to say, "He (the Prophet) used to remember Allah in all of his moments."
You can only remember Allah if you forget about what you want. Most people can't remember Allah. When they start to pray, they start thinking about their work, the test that is coming up, the people that need to be pleased, the money that need to be earned, the bills that need to be paid, the problems that are about to come and the ones that already came, their doctor's appointment, their horrible marriage, their nightmares. When they sit and recite the Qur'an or start the dhikr of Allah, just after a few verses, just after a few SubhanAllah, their hearts, their minds, start to wander and then they want to get up and run away. Why is this? Do we forget that work, people, money, time are all creations of Allah? Why are we submitting to creations of Allah? This is because we have these desires and these desires pull us towards them and so we can't focus on Allah, the Creator of these things that you are thinking about.
But for someone who doesn't want and desire anything or anyone except Allah, when they enter the prayer or sit down to recite the Qur'an or say the dhikr, his heart and soul will be quiet and he will remember Allah. It is being in this state that enables us to reflect on the creation in the heavens and the earth the way we should be reflecting on. You take your prayer, reciting of the Qur'an or dhikr of Allah to your life instead of taking your life to the prayer, reciting of the Qur'an or dhikr of Allah.
Someone who can remember Allah without being distracted, their thoughts will be clear. Someone who does not have a clear thought, when they look at the creation of Allah, they see them as exciting, entertaining, pleasurable, or the opposite--problems, burdens, pain. But someone whose heart has been opened, when they see the creation of Allah, they will forget about themselves. They feel insignificant before the power they see before them. They will see this as a sign that point to the power, greatness, majesty and glory of Allah and so they will want to worship Him and want to do what Allah bid them to do.
One of the signs that point to the power of Allah is the creation of wives for men. People who do not have a clear thought, they will see this creation as an object of pleasure and after some time, they see it a burden. But someone whose heart has been opened, when they see their wives, they see a beautiful creation of Allah that they will feel insignificant before the power of Allah and that will drive them to worship Him.
Like every other creations of Allah, women are created to help men to worship Him. You are worshiping Him if you do what Allah bid you to do. Allah commands men to treat their wives kindly, so you treat your wife kindly--you don't oppress her and harm her in any way--or you have gone astray.
"Among His signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose and comfort in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for people who reflect." Qur'an Ar-Room 30:21
"O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allah through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All¬Watcher over you." Qur'an An-Nisaa 4:1
"...And live with them honorably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good." Qur'an 4:19
"He has created from him his wife (Eve), in order that he might enjoy the pleasure of living with her." Qur'an Al-Araf 7:189
The hadiths are filled with words enjoining kind treatment to women and to wives.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The best of you is the one who is best to his family (wife) and I am the best of you to my family."
"The most complete of believers are those with the best character; and the best of you are the best of you to your spouses. (Tirmidhi)
The relationship between a man and his wife should be one of love, mercy and mutual understanding. The marriage is to bring people closer to Allah. When this type of marriage cannot be achieved, the man is ordered by Allah in the Qur'an:
"And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled the term of their prescribed period, either take them back on reasonable basis or set them free on reasonable basis. But do not take them back to hurt them, and whoever does that, then he has wronged himself." Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:231
Our mother, Zaynab bint Jahsh married to Zayd Ibn Haritha (the beloved one of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and once his slave and adopted son), Allah be well pleased with them both, for the sake of obeying Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. They divorced for fear of disobeying Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace.
"O you who believe! Fear Allah and keep your duty to Him. And let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what you do. And be not like those who forgot Allah (i.e. became disobedient to Allah) and He caused them to forget their own selves, (let them to forget to do righteous deeds). Those are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah)." Qur'an al-Hashr 59:18-19
Remember, we are created to worship our Creator. Nothing matters except Allah. Don't lose sight of this.
"And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)." Qur'an Adh-Dhariyat 51:56
Reflect on His creations and you say: "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as partners). So, save us from the torment of the Fire."
May Allah make us among those with pure understanding and among the righteous. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Ameen.
Wassalaam
Friday, April 23, 2010
What is your sorrow?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Everyday our hearts and our thoughts are filled with everything but not (much) Allah. We think about our work, our children, our spouses, our next shopping, our next vacation, our bills, our plans for our next big event of our lives, why people do this to me, what if this and this, what if people say this or that, ...., and we keep forgetting Allah.
Is there something else more precious than Allah, more beautiful than Allah, more knowledgeable than Allah, more powerful than Allah? Is there anyone who can take away things from you without Allah letting it be; hurt you or pain you without Allah allowing it; give you good without Allah wanting it for you? If He takes your sight away, is there somebody who can give it back to you? SubhanAllah.
Now that you know that Allah is the One who does all these, why are you always thinking about people and not the Lord of people. We should be afraid that Allah will ask us in Day of Judgment about this--was there anything greater than Him that we remembered the creation and we forgot the Creator?
We should really try to get to a point where we say, "O Allah, your contentment is my only goal, my only sorrow." It was said that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that the one who makes from his sorrows (illness, financial, marital...) only one sorrow and this is the encounter of Allah, then Allah will take his sorrows for his account and then he will prosper.
"Surely those who say, 'Our Lord is God' and then go straight, no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow. Those are the inhabitants of Paradise, therein dwelling forever, as a recompense for that they have been doing" Qur'an al-Ahqaf 46:14
"This is an exposition for mankind, and a guidance, and an admonition for such as are godfearing. Faint not, neither sorrow; you shall be the upper ones if you are believers." Qur'an AleImran 3:138-139
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al−Khudri and Abu Huraira, Allah be well pleased with them: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that." Bukhari
May Allah bring us closer to Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Everyday our hearts and our thoughts are filled with everything but not (much) Allah. We think about our work, our children, our spouses, our next shopping, our next vacation, our bills, our plans for our next big event of our lives, why people do this to me, what if this and this, what if people say this or that, ...., and we keep forgetting Allah.
Is there something else more precious than Allah, more beautiful than Allah, more knowledgeable than Allah, more powerful than Allah? Is there anyone who can take away things from you without Allah letting it be; hurt you or pain you without Allah allowing it; give you good without Allah wanting it for you? If He takes your sight away, is there somebody who can give it back to you? SubhanAllah.
Now that you know that Allah is the One who does all these, why are you always thinking about people and not the Lord of people. We should be afraid that Allah will ask us in Day of Judgment about this--was there anything greater than Him that we remembered the creation and we forgot the Creator?
We should really try to get to a point where we say, "O Allah, your contentment is my only goal, my only sorrow." It was said that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that the one who makes from his sorrows (illness, financial, marital...) only one sorrow and this is the encounter of Allah, then Allah will take his sorrows for his account and then he will prosper.
"Surely those who say, 'Our Lord is God' and then go straight, no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow. Those are the inhabitants of Paradise, therein dwelling forever, as a recompense for that they have been doing" Qur'an al-Ahqaf 46:14
"This is an exposition for mankind, and a guidance, and an admonition for such as are godfearing. Faint not, neither sorrow; you shall be the upper ones if you are believers." Qur'an AleImran 3:138-139
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al−Khudri and Abu Huraira, Allah be well pleased with them: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that." Bukhari
May Allah bring us closer to Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Love for Allah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
I pray that you are well.
The sign that you love someone for Allah is when you are able to hate that same person when he/she disobeys Allah. And when he/she repents, you are able to love him/her again.
When you love Allah then you like what He likes and you hate what He hates. If you love Allah you follow the teachings of His beloved, Allah bless him and grant him peace.
"Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.'" Qur'an AleImran 3:31
Your love for Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, should be more than anything else. "Say: 'If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your clan, your possessions that you have gained, commerce you fear may slacken, dwellings you love -- if these are dearer to you than God and His Messenger, and to struggle in His way, then wait till God brings His command; God guides not the people of the ungodly.'" Qur'an at-Tawba 9:24
Obeying Allah's commands is the fruit of love of Allah.
"O believers, whosoever of you turns from his religion, God will assuredly bring a people He loves, and who love Him, humble towards the believers, disdainful towards the unbelievers, men who struggle in the path of God, not fearing the reproach of any reproacher. That is God's bounty; He gives it unto whom He will; and God is All-embracing, All-knowing." Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:54
May Allah loves us and make those who love Him love us and grant us righteous deeds so He loves us. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
I pray that you are well.
The sign that you love someone for Allah is when you are able to hate that same person when he/she disobeys Allah. And when he/she repents, you are able to love him/her again.
When you love Allah then you like what He likes and you hate what He hates. If you love Allah you follow the teachings of His beloved, Allah bless him and grant him peace.
"Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.'" Qur'an AleImran 3:31
Your love for Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, should be more than anything else. "Say: 'If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your clan, your possessions that you have gained, commerce you fear may slacken, dwellings you love -- if these are dearer to you than God and His Messenger, and to struggle in His way, then wait till God brings His command; God guides not the people of the ungodly.'" Qur'an at-Tawba 9:24
Obeying Allah's commands is the fruit of love of Allah.
"O believers, whosoever of you turns from his religion, God will assuredly bring a people He loves, and who love Him, humble towards the believers, disdainful towards the unbelievers, men who struggle in the path of God, not fearing the reproach of any reproacher. That is God's bounty; He gives it unto whom He will; and God is All-embracing, All-knowing." Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:54
May Allah loves us and make those who love Him love us and grant us righteous deeds so He loves us. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Friday, April 2, 2010
Truth and Lying
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Beneficial
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Truth is to state what corresponds with reality, how things are, and is the opposite of lying.
Lying is a serious vice in our religion. It is a great sin. It is a heinous crime to speak even a word of lie. No one tells a lie to save themselves except they fall in a greater predicament that they are in either soon and generally it won't be long before they fall into worse predicament. Even if you experience difficulty or blame in the present circumstance, by immediately telling the truth Allah will give in exchange for that the rectification of very important affairs. We should train ourselves and teach our children to to be truthful.
Lying is a despicable vice and it is rampant in our society. Public figures lie, government lies. It is more despicable when Shaykhs and religious teachers lie. They should know better that their lying contradicted with what they teach and their lying would be a cause of ruining the splendor and beauty of true speech, and this behavior would cause people to turn away from Islam and look down upon Muslims. An exposed lie undermines trust and sows suspicion, because a person who has been lied to is likely to mistrust the person who lied in the future.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked: "O Messenger of God, can a believer commit fornication? He said: Yes, he can. O Messenger of God, can a believer be a liar? He said: No. Then he recited the following verse: They only forge falsehood, who believe not in the signs of God, and those -- they are the liars." Qur'an An-Nahl 16:105
Truthfulness is the foundation of character of a Muslim and in their emulation of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Truthfulness is necessary to save us from the calamity of hypocrisy and from the cause of humiliation and curse from Allah. Allah said: "...So lay God's curse upon the liars." Qur'an AleImran 3:61
Lying is tied to hypocrisy as described by the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, “If anyone has four characteristics, he is a pure hypocrite, and if anyone has one of them, he has an aspect of hypocrisy until he gives it up: whenever he is trusted, he betrays his trust; whenever he speaks, he lies; when he makes an agreement, he breaks it; and when he quarrels, he deviates from the truth by speaking falsely." The Prophet’s teaching is that we try our best to free ourselves of hypocrisy by keeping our trusts, telling the truth, keeping our promises, and not speaking falsely.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, stressed the importance of always being truthful and the seriousness of habitual lying. "Truthfulness leads to piety and piety leads to the Paradise. A man should be truthful until he is written down as truthful with Allah. Lying leads to deviance and deviance leads to the Fire. A man will lie until he is written down as a liar with Allah.
Narrated Samura bin Jundab: Whenever the Prophet finished the (morning) prayer, he would face us and ask, "Who amongst you had a dream last night?" So if anyone had seen a dream he would narrate it. The Prophet would say: "Ma sha'a−llah" (An Arabic maxim meaning literally, 'What Allah wished,' and it indicates a good omen.) One day, he asked us whether anyone of us had seen a dream. We replied in the negative. The Prophet said, "But I had seen (a dream) last night that two men came to me, caught hold of my hands, and took me to the Sacred Land (Jerusalem). There, I saw a person sitting and another standing with an iron hook in his hand pushing it inside the mouth of the former till it reached the jawbone, and then tore off one side of his cheek, and then did the same with the other side; in the meantime the first side of his cheek became normal again and then he repeated the same operation again. I said, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we went on till we came to a man Lying flat on his back, and another man standing at his head carrying a stone or a piece of rock, and crushing the head of the Lying man, with that stone.Whenever he struck him, the stone rolled away. The man went to pick it up and by the time he returned to him, the crushed head had returned to its normal state and the man came back and struck him again (and so on). I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on; so we proceeded on and passed by a hole like an oven; with a narrow top and wide bottom, and the fire was kindling underneath that hole. Whenever the fire−flame went up, the people were lifted up to such an extent that they about to get out of it, and whenever the fire got quieter, the people went down into it, and there were naked men and women in it. I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on. So we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him, facing the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out, the other one threw a stone in his mouth and caused him to retreat to his original position; and so whenever he wanted to come out the other would throw a stone in his mouth, and he would retreat to his original position. I asked, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we did so till we reached a well−flourished green garden having a huge tree and near its root was sitting an old man with some children. (I saw) Another man near the tree with fire in front of him and he was kindling it up. Then they (i.e. my two companions) made me climb up the tree and made me enter a house, better than which I have ever seen. In it were some old men and young men, women and children. Then they took me out of this house and made me climb up the tree and made me enter another house that was better and superior (to the first) containing old and young people. I said to them (i.e. my two companions), 'You have made me ramble all the night. Tell me all about that I have seen.' They said, 'Yes. As for the one whose cheek you saw being torn away, he was a liar and he used to tell lies, and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So, he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection. The one whose head you saw being crushed is the one whom Allah had given the knowledge of Qur'an (i.e. knowing it by heart) but he used to sleep at night (i.e. he did not recite it then) and did not use to act upon it (i.e. upon its orders etc.) by day; and so this punishment will go on till the Day of Resurrection. And those you saw in the hole (like oven) were adulterers (those men and women who commit illegal sexual intercourse). And those you saw in the river of blood were those dealing in Riba (usury). And the old man who was sitting at the base of the tree was Abraham and the little children around him were the offspring of the people. And the one who was kindling the fire was Malik, the gatekeeper of the Hell−fire. And the first house in which you have gone was the house of the common believers, and the second house was of the martyrs. I am Gabriel and this is Michael. Raise your head.' I raised my head and saw a thing like a cloud over me. They said, 'That is your place.' I said, 'Let me enter my place.' They said, 'You still have some life which you have not yet completed, and when you complete (that remaining portion of your life) you will then enter your place.' " (Bukhari)
May Allah protect us from lying and make us of the truthful. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Beneficial
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Truth is to state what corresponds with reality, how things are, and is the opposite of lying.
Lying is a serious vice in our religion. It is a great sin. It is a heinous crime to speak even a word of lie. No one tells a lie to save themselves except they fall in a greater predicament that they are in either soon and generally it won't be long before they fall into worse predicament. Even if you experience difficulty or blame in the present circumstance, by immediately telling the truth Allah will give in exchange for that the rectification of very important affairs. We should train ourselves and teach our children to to be truthful.
Lying is a despicable vice and it is rampant in our society. Public figures lie, government lies. It is more despicable when Shaykhs and religious teachers lie. They should know better that their lying contradicted with what they teach and their lying would be a cause of ruining the splendor and beauty of true speech, and this behavior would cause people to turn away from Islam and look down upon Muslims. An exposed lie undermines trust and sows suspicion, because a person who has been lied to is likely to mistrust the person who lied in the future.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked: "O Messenger of God, can a believer commit fornication? He said: Yes, he can. O Messenger of God, can a believer be a liar? He said: No. Then he recited the following verse: They only forge falsehood, who believe not in the signs of God, and those -- they are the liars." Qur'an An-Nahl 16:105
Truthfulness is the foundation of character of a Muslim and in their emulation of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Truthfulness is necessary to save us from the calamity of hypocrisy and from the cause of humiliation and curse from Allah. Allah said: "...So lay God's curse upon the liars." Qur'an AleImran 3:61
Lying is tied to hypocrisy as described by the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, “If anyone has four characteristics, he is a pure hypocrite, and if anyone has one of them, he has an aspect of hypocrisy until he gives it up: whenever he is trusted, he betrays his trust; whenever he speaks, he lies; when he makes an agreement, he breaks it; and when he quarrels, he deviates from the truth by speaking falsely." The Prophet’s teaching is that we try our best to free ourselves of hypocrisy by keeping our trusts, telling the truth, keeping our promises, and not speaking falsely.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, stressed the importance of always being truthful and the seriousness of habitual lying. "Truthfulness leads to piety and piety leads to the Paradise. A man should be truthful until he is written down as truthful with Allah. Lying leads to deviance and deviance leads to the Fire. A man will lie until he is written down as a liar with Allah.
Narrated Samura bin Jundab: Whenever the Prophet finished the (morning) prayer, he would face us and ask, "Who amongst you had a dream last night?" So if anyone had seen a dream he would narrate it. The Prophet would say: "Ma sha'a−llah" (An Arabic maxim meaning literally, 'What Allah wished,' and it indicates a good omen.) One day, he asked us whether anyone of us had seen a dream. We replied in the negative. The Prophet said, "But I had seen (a dream) last night that two men came to me, caught hold of my hands, and took me to the Sacred Land (Jerusalem). There, I saw a person sitting and another standing with an iron hook in his hand pushing it inside the mouth of the former till it reached the jawbone, and then tore off one side of his cheek, and then did the same with the other side; in the meantime the first side of his cheek became normal again and then he repeated the same operation again. I said, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we went on till we came to a man Lying flat on his back, and another man standing at his head carrying a stone or a piece of rock, and crushing the head of the Lying man, with that stone.Whenever he struck him, the stone rolled away. The man went to pick it up and by the time he returned to him, the crushed head had returned to its normal state and the man came back and struck him again (and so on). I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on; so we proceeded on and passed by a hole like an oven; with a narrow top and wide bottom, and the fire was kindling underneath that hole. Whenever the fire−flame went up, the people were lifted up to such an extent that they about to get out of it, and whenever the fire got quieter, the people went down into it, and there were naked men and women in it. I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on. So we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him, facing the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out, the other one threw a stone in his mouth and caused him to retreat to his original position; and so whenever he wanted to come out the other would throw a stone in his mouth, and he would retreat to his original position. I asked, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we did so till we reached a well−flourished green garden having a huge tree and near its root was sitting an old man with some children. (I saw) Another man near the tree with fire in front of him and he was kindling it up. Then they (i.e. my two companions) made me climb up the tree and made me enter a house, better than which I have ever seen. In it were some old men and young men, women and children. Then they took me out of this house and made me climb up the tree and made me enter another house that was better and superior (to the first) containing old and young people. I said to them (i.e. my two companions), 'You have made me ramble all the night. Tell me all about that I have seen.' They said, 'Yes. As for the one whose cheek you saw being torn away, he was a liar and he used to tell lies, and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So, he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection. The one whose head you saw being crushed is the one whom Allah had given the knowledge of Qur'an (i.e. knowing it by heart) but he used to sleep at night (i.e. he did not recite it then) and did not use to act upon it (i.e. upon its orders etc.) by day; and so this punishment will go on till the Day of Resurrection. And those you saw in the hole (like oven) were adulterers (those men and women who commit illegal sexual intercourse). And those you saw in the river of blood were those dealing in Riba (usury). And the old man who was sitting at the base of the tree was Abraham and the little children around him were the offspring of the people. And the one who was kindling the fire was Malik, the gatekeeper of the Hell−fire. And the first house in which you have gone was the house of the common believers, and the second house was of the martyrs. I am Gabriel and this is Michael. Raise your head.' I raised my head and saw a thing like a cloud over me. They said, 'That is your place.' I said, 'Let me enter my place.' They said, 'You still have some life which you have not yet completed, and when you complete (that remaining portion of your life) you will then enter your place.' " (Bukhari)
May Allah protect us from lying and make us of the truthful. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Hold fast to the rope of Allah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
When I was at an airline counter the other day wanting to inquire about our connecting flight, the airline representative ignored me for quite sometime. At first I thought she was busy but after a while I realized that she wasn't going to serve me. Finally, I said, "Excuse me, are you very busy, I just have a quick question!" She looked at me and asked me what I want. So I asked her my question--if we had to go through security again for our connecting flight. Apparently there were people watching what was going on which caught my attention. So I said to them, "If I were to wear something like yours they won't ignore me." And they smiled nodding!
This story is not for entertainment. The point here is that we have to change this. But we can't change this if we are not united. What will unite us as Muslims comes from dedicating ourselves to Allah. People need to make a real change in their own lives inwardly and outwardly--start praying, fasting, giving charity, being honest, helping people, praying at night, praying at the masjid, etc. We need to set a good example to our children and show our dedication to Allah for them to carry it to the next generation. If we start taking care of this today, there will be successful tomorrow for us inshaAllah. We will have the upper hand and people will look up to us and want to follow us. Otherwise, we will see worse things happening to us.
"O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims. Hold fast to the rope of Allah all together, and do not separate. Remember Allah’s blessing to you when you were enemies and He joined your hearts together so that you became brothers by His blessing. You were on the very brink of a pit of the Fire and He rescued you from it. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will be guided. Let there be a community among you who call to the good, and enjoin the right, and forbid the wrong. They are the ones who have success. Qur'an AleImran 3:102-105
May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
When I was at an airline counter the other day wanting to inquire about our connecting flight, the airline representative ignored me for quite sometime. At first I thought she was busy but after a while I realized that she wasn't going to serve me. Finally, I said, "Excuse me, are you very busy, I just have a quick question!" She looked at me and asked me what I want. So I asked her my question--if we had to go through security again for our connecting flight. Apparently there were people watching what was going on which caught my attention. So I said to them, "If I were to wear something like yours they won't ignore me." And they smiled nodding!
This story is not for entertainment. The point here is that we have to change this. But we can't change this if we are not united. What will unite us as Muslims comes from dedicating ourselves to Allah. People need to make a real change in their own lives inwardly and outwardly--start praying, fasting, giving charity, being honest, helping people, praying at night, praying at the masjid, etc. We need to set a good example to our children and show our dedication to Allah for them to carry it to the next generation. If we start taking care of this today, there will be successful tomorrow for us inshaAllah. We will have the upper hand and people will look up to us and want to follow us. Otherwise, we will see worse things happening to us.
"O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims. Hold fast to the rope of Allah all together, and do not separate. Remember Allah’s blessing to you when you were enemies and He joined your hearts together so that you became brothers by His blessing. You were on the very brink of a pit of the Fire and He rescued you from it. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will be guided. Let there be a community among you who call to the good, and enjoin the right, and forbid the wrong. They are the ones who have success. Qur'an AleImran 3:102-105
May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Secret to be loved
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, direct me to an act which if I do it, (will cause) Allah to love me and people to love me." He, Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered: "Be indifferent to the world and Allah will love you; be indifferent to what people possess and they will love you." Ibn Majah
The secret of getting people to love you is not to compete with them in their beloved world (dunya). If people feel that you come to them for a share of their dunya their guard will go up. People love people who are genuine and sincere--those who do things for the sake of Allah and use the dunya for the sake of the next life.
One thing that brings us closer to Allah and to be loved by Him is al-zuhd (the indifference towards the world). Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked one day if someone owns one thousand dinar, can he still be a zahid? He replied yes, if he does not feel rejoice if the money increases and he does not become sad if it decreases. We must not become slaves to our worldly possessions. Instead we should work our worldly possessions for the worship of the One who bestow them to us--we use and spend them sincerely for Allah's sake only.
The dunya is cursed because it distracts people from Allah. It is a test for us. We either use it in the right way and be rewarded or we use it in the wrong way--compromise principles and indulge in disobedience--and fail the test.
"We have appointed all that is on the earth for an adornment for it, and that We may try which of them is best in works." Qur'an al-Kahf 18:7.
"Brief is the enjoyment of this world whereas the life to come is best for him who fears God." Qur'an An-Nisa 4:77
"The present life is but the joy of delusion." Qur'an AleImran 3:85
"O my people, surely this present life is but a passing enjoyment; surely the world to come is the abode of stability. Qur'an Ghafir 40:39
"As to these, they love the fleeting life, and put away behind them a Day (that will be) hard." Qur'an Al-Ihsan 76:27
"But you prefer the life of this world although the life to come is better and more enduring." Qur'an al-A'la 87:16-17
"... patient men, desirous of the Face of their Lord, who perform the prayer, and expend of that We have provided them, secretly and in public, and who avert evil with good -- theirs shall be the Ultimate Abode" Qur'an Ar-Ra'd 13:22
May Allah love us and make those who love Him love us and grant us righteous deeds so He loves us. Amin. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, direct me to an act which if I do it, (will cause) Allah to love me and people to love me." He, Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered: "Be indifferent to the world and Allah will love you; be indifferent to what people possess and they will love you." Ibn Majah
The secret of getting people to love you is not to compete with them in their beloved world (dunya). If people feel that you come to them for a share of their dunya their guard will go up. People love people who are genuine and sincere--those who do things for the sake of Allah and use the dunya for the sake of the next life.
One thing that brings us closer to Allah and to be loved by Him is al-zuhd (the indifference towards the world). Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked one day if someone owns one thousand dinar, can he still be a zahid? He replied yes, if he does not feel rejoice if the money increases and he does not become sad if it decreases. We must not become slaves to our worldly possessions. Instead we should work our worldly possessions for the worship of the One who bestow them to us--we use and spend them sincerely for Allah's sake only.
The dunya is cursed because it distracts people from Allah. It is a test for us. We either use it in the right way and be rewarded or we use it in the wrong way--compromise principles and indulge in disobedience--and fail the test.
"We have appointed all that is on the earth for an adornment for it, and that We may try which of them is best in works." Qur'an al-Kahf 18:7.
"Brief is the enjoyment of this world whereas the life to come is best for him who fears God." Qur'an An-Nisa 4:77
"The present life is but the joy of delusion." Qur'an AleImran 3:85
"O my people, surely this present life is but a passing enjoyment; surely the world to come is the abode of stability. Qur'an Ghafir 40:39
"As to these, they love the fleeting life, and put away behind them a Day (that will be) hard." Qur'an Al-Ihsan 76:27
"But you prefer the life of this world although the life to come is better and more enduring." Qur'an al-A'la 87:16-17
"... patient men, desirous of the Face of their Lord, who perform the prayer, and expend of that We have provided them, secretly and in public, and who avert evil with good -- theirs shall be the Ultimate Abode" Qur'an Ar-Ra'd 13:22
May Allah love us and make those who love Him love us and grant us righteous deeds so He loves us. Amin. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan
Wassalaam
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Surely we belong to God, and to Him we return
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Alah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Yesterday we had an announcement after Jumah prayer of the passing of a young member of our community, a medical school student, due to a car accident. May Allah have mercy on him and forgive him and admit him into the highest Paradise, and may Allah grant abundant patience to his parents and family. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un
Narrated Abu Huraira, Allah be very pleased with him: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "(A believer) who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is offered and the burial ceremonies are over, he will return with a reward of two Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the (Mount) Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial, will return with the reward of one Qirat only." Bukhari
It has been said that whenever someone escorts the funeral of his brother Muslim, Allah orders the angels to escort his own funeral and pray over him when he dies.
"Who, when they are visited by an affliction, say, 'Surely we belong to God, and to Him we return (Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un)'" Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:156
"Those whom the angels take while they are goodly, saying, 'Peace be on you! Enter Paradise for that you were doing.' " Qur'an An-Nahl 16:32
"Those who have said, 'Our Lord is God.' then have gone straight, upon them the angels descend, saying, 'Fear not, neither sorrow; rejoice in Paradise that you were promised. We are your friends in the present life and in the world to come; therein you shall have all that your souls desire, all that you call for, as hospitality from One All-forgiving, One All-compassionate.'" Qur'an Fussilat 41: 30-32
رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْوَهَّابُ
"Our Lord, make not our hearts to swerve after that You have guided us; and give us mercy from You; You are the Bestower." Qur'an AleImran 3:8
رَبِّنَا لَمَّا جَآءَتْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ
"Our Lord, pour out upon us patience, and gather us to You as Muslims.'" Qur'an al-'Araf 7:126
Ameen
Wassalaam
In the Name of Alah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Yesterday we had an announcement after Jumah prayer of the passing of a young member of our community, a medical school student, due to a car accident. May Allah have mercy on him and forgive him and admit him into the highest Paradise, and may Allah grant abundant patience to his parents and family. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un
Narrated Abu Huraira, Allah be very pleased with him: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "(A believer) who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is offered and the burial ceremonies are over, he will return with a reward of two Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the (Mount) Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial, will return with the reward of one Qirat only." Bukhari
It has been said that whenever someone escorts the funeral of his brother Muslim, Allah orders the angels to escort his own funeral and pray over him when he dies.
"Who, when they are visited by an affliction, say, 'Surely we belong to God, and to Him we return (Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi raji'un)'" Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:156
"Those whom the angels take while they are goodly, saying, 'Peace be on you! Enter Paradise for that you were doing.' " Qur'an An-Nahl 16:32
"Those who have said, 'Our Lord is God.' then have gone straight, upon them the angels descend, saying, 'Fear not, neither sorrow; rejoice in Paradise that you were promised. We are your friends in the present life and in the world to come; therein you shall have all that your souls desire, all that you call for, as hospitality from One All-forgiving, One All-compassionate.'" Qur'an Fussilat 41: 30-32
رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْوَهَّابُ
"Our Lord, make not our hearts to swerve after that You have guided us; and give us mercy from You; You are the Bestower." Qur'an AleImran 3:8
رَبِّنَا لَمَّا جَآءَتْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ
"Our Lord, pour out upon us patience, and gather us to You as Muslims.'" Qur'an al-'Araf 7:126
Ameen
Wassalaam
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tranquility
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that this finds you in tranquility. Ameen.
If we follow the rules of Allah even though we might go through difficulties, Allah promises us ease. "So, truly with every difficulty is ease; truly with every difficulty is ease." Qur'an Ar-Sharh 94:5-6
In the Battle of Badr, the first meeting between the Muslims and the non-believers, it was a very difficult moment for the Muslims because they didn't know what the outcome would be. They saw with their eyes an adversary, more in numbers (more than 3x their number) and better in preparation while they were few (about 300 men). In this difficult times with difficult feelings in their heart, Allah gave them tranquility--Allah gave them sleep.
"Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus May ye show your gratitude." Qur'an AleImran 3:123
"After (the excitement) of the distress, He sent down calm on a band of you overcome with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, Moved by wrong suspicions of Allah-suspicions due to ignorance." Qur'an AleImran 3:154
At the battle of Hunain, the Muslim had a big army and they felt confident of victory. When the enemy arrows were falling on the Muslims from every direction, Muslims were caught by surprise and most of the 12,000 Muslim army started fleeing from the battlefield. They lost trust in Allah. Camels were stumbling on one another--it was a chaotic scene and the alignment of the Muslim army was gone. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, started calling them who were running towards the sea. It was a very difficult time. But Allah revealed tranquility on the Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and on the believer and He supported them with soldiers, and this changed the situation in ways unimaginable.
"Assuredly Allah did help you in many battle-fields and on the day of Hunain: Behold! your great numbers elated you, but they availed you naught: the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and ye turned back in retreat. Then Allah sent down His Tranquility on the Messenger and on the Believers, and sent down forces which you did not see: He punished the Unbelievers; and that is the recompense of the unbelievers." Qur'an at-Tawbah 9:25-26
Even though the world around you can be a great mess, Allah can give you sakinah, tranquility, peace in your heart. On the other hand things could be great and peaceful, but Allah can put in the heart the exact opposite feeling--feeling of despair. So we cannot judge the affair from the outside but what is important is what is inside you. Tranquility descend upon those with Iman, those who have trust in Allah (tawwakkul), depend on Allah and are grateful to Allah. If we depend on Allah and attribute our successes to none other than Allah, the help of Allah will come in times of difficulties. Otherwise, even on a land that is wide and spacious, you will feel congested and constrained.
May Allah pour upon us tranquility, make the best of our lives the end of it, the best of our deeds the last of them and the best of our days the day we meet Him. Ameen.
Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that this finds you in tranquility. Ameen.
If we follow the rules of Allah even though we might go through difficulties, Allah promises us ease. "So, truly with every difficulty is ease; truly with every difficulty is ease." Qur'an Ar-Sharh 94:5-6
In the Battle of Badr, the first meeting between the Muslims and the non-believers, it was a very difficult moment for the Muslims because they didn't know what the outcome would be. They saw with their eyes an adversary, more in numbers (more than 3x their number) and better in preparation while they were few (about 300 men). In this difficult times with difficult feelings in their heart, Allah gave them tranquility--Allah gave them sleep.
"Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus May ye show your gratitude." Qur'an AleImran 3:123
"After (the excitement) of the distress, He sent down calm on a band of you overcome with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, Moved by wrong suspicions of Allah-suspicions due to ignorance." Qur'an AleImran 3:154
At the battle of Hunain, the Muslim had a big army and they felt confident of victory. When the enemy arrows were falling on the Muslims from every direction, Muslims were caught by surprise and most of the 12,000 Muslim army started fleeing from the battlefield. They lost trust in Allah. Camels were stumbling on one another--it was a chaotic scene and the alignment of the Muslim army was gone. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, started calling them who were running towards the sea. It was a very difficult time. But Allah revealed tranquility on the Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and on the believer and He supported them with soldiers, and this changed the situation in ways unimaginable.
"Assuredly Allah did help you in many battle-fields and on the day of Hunain: Behold! your great numbers elated you, but they availed you naught: the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and ye turned back in retreat. Then Allah sent down His Tranquility on the Messenger and on the Believers, and sent down forces which you did not see: He punished the Unbelievers; and that is the recompense of the unbelievers." Qur'an at-Tawbah 9:25-26
Even though the world around you can be a great mess, Allah can give you sakinah, tranquility, peace in your heart. On the other hand things could be great and peaceful, but Allah can put in the heart the exact opposite feeling--feeling of despair. So we cannot judge the affair from the outside but what is important is what is inside you. Tranquility descend upon those with Iman, those who have trust in Allah (tawwakkul), depend on Allah and are grateful to Allah. If we depend on Allah and attribute our successes to none other than Allah, the help of Allah will come in times of difficulties. Otherwise, even on a land that is wide and spacious, you will feel congested and constrained.
May Allah pour upon us tranquility, make the best of our lives the end of it, the best of our deeds the last of them and the best of our days the day we meet Him. Ameen.
Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Who will our children marry?
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
When Hafsah, Allah be very pleased with her, became widowed, her father, Allah be very pleased with him, offered her hand to 'Uthman, Allah be very pleased with him, but 'Uthman said he was not thinking about marriage again. The he went to Abu Bakr, Allah be very pleased with him, and offered same but he was silent. 'Umar took the silence as a rejection. He took this very personal, very upset and complained to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. And the Prophet responded Hafsah will marry someone better than them. You can imagine the euphoria of a father to have the Prophet to be his son-in-law! Beyond his wildest dream! SubhanAllah.
We cannot have our daughters marry a prophet but we help our daughters marry righteous men. But righteous men look for righteous women. A righteous men want a wife who would be good to him, who would bring him closer to Allah, who would be a good mother for his children. And this criteria only exist in a righteous woman. This apply to our sons as well--if we want our sons to have a righteous wife and a good mother for our grandchildren, our sons themselves have to be righteous.
Part of raising our children well is we have to think long term--long term here is not saving money for their college education or prepare them for the highest college education, but who they are going to marry and bring forth generation of good Muslims--our offspring. Do we want our offspring 30, 40 or 50 years from now say this to their friends or someone they just met wearing hijab: "You know my parents were Muslims, or my grandparents were Muslims." Allah! What about him/her? If this person were your offspring talking, you would be rolling in your grave! May Allah protect us from this and have mercy on us.
However, this is a sad reality--I have heard comments like this among the people I know who came from generations of Muslims but they don't practice or worse they don't identify themselves as Muslims. Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi ra ji'un. Who is responsible for this? Perhaps you don't think it will happen to you? But don't think you are an exception--just look around you, look at what we are exposing our children to, what we are giving our children to help them learn and practice Islam--everything except love of Islam, love of Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. We, as parents, are responsible to make sure we teach our children Islam (#1 priority) so they know their responsibility, they don't become fitnah for the opposite gender, so when they have children, they can teach their children and their children can teach their children and so on. Otherwise Islam will be lost in their lives and we are responsible if we do not put our utmost effort now.
I was with a few beautiful young girls the other day at the masjid. They were the ones who would always approached me and gave salaams to me and hugged me the moment they saw me. I always teased them about how they look and always comment on their dress or hijab. Their hijabs were usually showing their hair and they sometimes wore tight jeans or pants. I usually corrected them and they listened and fixed whatever they could fix. But it is the same again the next time I saw them and again I corrected them....and again and again! That day, I had to be a little serious about it. I said to them after telling them how great they were for coming to the masjid and I was always happy to see their cheerful selves and how much I want them to be successful and for Allah to love them. They listened and smiling. While I was fixing one of the girls' hijab, I said to them. If you all want to marry a good man you have to start putting hijab not just at the masjid. If I were to look for a wife for my sons, first, I would be looking for a full time hijabi who wear hijab since puberty. Then I asked them: If my sons want to marry someone who doesn't wear hijab, do you think I will let them?
Reflect on these verses:
"And say to the believing women, that they cast down their eyes' and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them cast their veils over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment save to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or what their right hands own, or such men as attend them, not having sexual desire, or children who have not yet attained knowledge of women's private parts; nor let them stamp their feet, so that their hidden ornament may be known. And turn all together to God, O you believers; haply so you will prosper." Qur'an An-Nur 24:31
"Corrupt women for corrupt men, and corrupt men for corrupt women; good women for good men, and good men for good women -- these are declared quit of what they say; theirs shall be forgiveness and generous provision." Qur'an An-Nur 24:26
"Decked out fair to men is the love of lusts -- women, children, heaped-up heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, cattle and tillage. That is the enjoyment of the present life; but God -- with Him is the fairest resort. Say: 'Shall I tell you of a better than that?' For those that are godfearing, with their Lord are gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever, and spouses purified, and God's good pleasure. And God sees His servants who say, 'Our Lord, we believe; forgive us our sins, and guard us against the chastisement of the Fire' -- men who are patient, truthful, obedient, expenders in alms, imploring God's pardon at the daybreak." Qur'an AleImran 3:14-17
"And the believers, the men and the women, are friends one of the other; they bid to honor, and forbid dishonor; they perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and they obey God and His Messenger. Those -- upon them God will have mercy; God is All-mighty, All-wise" Qur'an At-Tawbah 9:71
May Allah help us to raise our children well and guide us all to excellence. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Please forgive me for my shortcomings. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
When Hafsah, Allah be very pleased with her, became widowed, her father, Allah be very pleased with him, offered her hand to 'Uthman, Allah be very pleased with him, but 'Uthman said he was not thinking about marriage again. The he went to Abu Bakr, Allah be very pleased with him, and offered same but he was silent. 'Umar took the silence as a rejection. He took this very personal, very upset and complained to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. And the Prophet responded Hafsah will marry someone better than them. You can imagine the euphoria of a father to have the Prophet to be his son-in-law! Beyond his wildest dream! SubhanAllah.
We cannot have our daughters marry a prophet but we help our daughters marry righteous men. But righteous men look for righteous women. A righteous men want a wife who would be good to him, who would bring him closer to Allah, who would be a good mother for his children. And this criteria only exist in a righteous woman. This apply to our sons as well--if we want our sons to have a righteous wife and a good mother for our grandchildren, our sons themselves have to be righteous.
Part of raising our children well is we have to think long term--long term here is not saving money for their college education or prepare them for the highest college education, but who they are going to marry and bring forth generation of good Muslims--our offspring. Do we want our offspring 30, 40 or 50 years from now say this to their friends or someone they just met wearing hijab: "You know my parents were Muslims, or my grandparents were Muslims." Allah! What about him/her? If this person were your offspring talking, you would be rolling in your grave! May Allah protect us from this and have mercy on us.
However, this is a sad reality--I have heard comments like this among the people I know who came from generations of Muslims but they don't practice or worse they don't identify themselves as Muslims. Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi ra ji'un. Who is responsible for this? Perhaps you don't think it will happen to you? But don't think you are an exception--just look around you, look at what we are exposing our children to, what we are giving our children to help them learn and practice Islam--everything except love of Islam, love of Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. We, as parents, are responsible to make sure we teach our children Islam (#1 priority) so they know their responsibility, they don't become fitnah for the opposite gender, so when they have children, they can teach their children and their children can teach their children and so on. Otherwise Islam will be lost in their lives and we are responsible if we do not put our utmost effort now.
I was with a few beautiful young girls the other day at the masjid. They were the ones who would always approached me and gave salaams to me and hugged me the moment they saw me. I always teased them about how they look and always comment on their dress or hijab. Their hijabs were usually showing their hair and they sometimes wore tight jeans or pants. I usually corrected them and they listened and fixed whatever they could fix. But it is the same again the next time I saw them and again I corrected them....and again and again! That day, I had to be a little serious about it. I said to them after telling them how great they were for coming to the masjid and I was always happy to see their cheerful selves and how much I want them to be successful and for Allah to love them. They listened and smiling. While I was fixing one of the girls' hijab, I said to them. If you all want to marry a good man you have to start putting hijab not just at the masjid. If I were to look for a wife for my sons, first, I would be looking for a full time hijabi who wear hijab since puberty. Then I asked them: If my sons want to marry someone who doesn't wear hijab, do you think I will let them?
Reflect on these verses:
"And say to the believing women, that they cast down their eyes' and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them cast their veils over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment save to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or what their right hands own, or such men as attend them, not having sexual desire, or children who have not yet attained knowledge of women's private parts; nor let them stamp their feet, so that their hidden ornament may be known. And turn all together to God, O you believers; haply so you will prosper." Qur'an An-Nur 24:31
"Corrupt women for corrupt men, and corrupt men for corrupt women; good women for good men, and good men for good women -- these are declared quit of what they say; theirs shall be forgiveness and generous provision." Qur'an An-Nur 24:26
"Decked out fair to men is the love of lusts -- women, children, heaped-up heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, cattle and tillage. That is the enjoyment of the present life; but God -- with Him is the fairest resort. Say: 'Shall I tell you of a better than that?' For those that are godfearing, with their Lord are gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever, and spouses purified, and God's good pleasure. And God sees His servants who say, 'Our Lord, we believe; forgive us our sins, and guard us against the chastisement of the Fire' -- men who are patient, truthful, obedient, expenders in alms, imploring God's pardon at the daybreak." Qur'an AleImran 3:14-17
"And the believers, the men and the women, are friends one of the other; they bid to honor, and forbid dishonor; they perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and they obey God and His Messenger. Those -- upon them God will have mercy; God is All-mighty, All-wise" Qur'an At-Tawbah 9:71
May Allah help us to raise our children well and guide us all to excellence. Ameen. Please keep us in your night prayers. Please forgive me for my shortcomings. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
"If you love Allah, love me"
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well and in high spirits of Iman. Ameen.
Narrated Aisha, Allah be pleased with her: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to offer prayer at night (for such a long time) that his feet used to crack. I said, "O Allah's Messenger! Why do you do it since Allah has forgiven you your faults of the past and those to follow?" He said, "Shouldn't I love to be a thankful slave (of Allah)?' When he became old, he prayed while sitting, but if he wanted to perform a bowing, he would get up, recite (some other verses) and then perform the bowing. (Bukhari)
Narrated Aisha, Allah be pleased with her: I heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and listened to him before his death while he was leaning his back on me and saying, "O Allah! Forgive me, and bestow Your Mercy on me, and let me meet the companions." (Bukhari)
This is our beloved Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, a thankful and humble slave of Allah, who we should love and strive to emulate him. And Allah will love us and forgive our sins. InshaAllah.
"Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.' Qur'an AleImran 3:31
May Allah increase our love for the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and give us tawfiq. Ameen.
Wassalaam,
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well and in high spirits of Iman. Ameen.
Narrated Aisha, Allah be pleased with her: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to offer prayer at night (for such a long time) that his feet used to crack. I said, "O Allah's Messenger! Why do you do it since Allah has forgiven you your faults of the past and those to follow?" He said, "Shouldn't I love to be a thankful slave (of Allah)?' When he became old, he prayed while sitting, but if he wanted to perform a bowing, he would get up, recite (some other verses) and then perform the bowing. (Bukhari)
Narrated Aisha, Allah be pleased with her: I heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and listened to him before his death while he was leaning his back on me and saying, "O Allah! Forgive me, and bestow Your Mercy on me, and let me meet the companions." (Bukhari)
This is our beloved Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, a thankful and humble slave of Allah, who we should love and strive to emulate him. And Allah will love us and forgive our sins. InshaAllah.
"Say: 'If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you, and forgive you your sins; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.' Qur'an AleImran 3:31
May Allah increase our love for the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and give us tawfiq. Ameen.
Wassalaam,
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