بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Why do we need to struggle to explain why bad things happen to good people, to children, to innocent people?
Allah is the Creator of everything. He can do whatever He pleases. He can let bad things happen to anyone.
لَا يُسۡـَٔلُ عَمَّا يَفۡعَلُ وَهُمۡ يُسۡـَٔلُونَ
"He cannot be questioned for His acts, but they will be questioned (for theirs)." Qur'an Al-Anbiya' 21:23
What now? Are we going to stop praying? Are we going to forget Islam? Bad things happen to bad people, to non-Muslims, to atheist too! Bad things are not going to stop happening.
There is wisdom and benefit in every difficulties.
When our child get bullied in school, he will learn from the difficulty and he will be better equipped to deal with people when he grows up. You know this but your child doesn't know. You can try to explain this but he probably won't understand.
We, compare to people who are closer to Allah are like children. They see the wisdom but we don't see the wisdom. As we come closer to Allah, as we have greater and stronger relationship with Allah, there is more wisdom we will see, inshaAllah.
يُؤْتِى ٱلْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُؤْتَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِىَ خَيْرًۭا كَثِيرًۭا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ
"He gives wisdom to whoever He wills and whoever He gives wisdom has been given a tremendous good. But none remember (will receive admonition) except men of understanding." Qur'an al-Baqarah 2:269
When bad things happen, we should be reminded of the Power of Allah, put away our pride and humble ourselves to Allah.
May Allah save us from the trials of this life and the next. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Showing posts with label benefit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefit. Show all posts
Friday, November 26, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Looking at Detriment and benefit
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Imagine you want to be a lawyer or a doctor. Lawyers and doctors can tell you the pains of the journey to become one but a very rewarding journey nonetheless regardless the many years of many sleepless nights, bags under our eyes, feeling miserable, anxieties, spending lots money, no social life. Then after we graduated, it's not over yet--another big test--the Bar exam or the Board exam (for the doctors). Oh yes, I know about the Bar exams--passing the bar is not easy---20 to 40% passing rate in California--it is not so much a test to see how much we know (that was already done in law school exams)--but how much we can work under pressure, how much we can endure 3 solid days of doing nothing except working our brains off reading hundreds of cases, sifting through issues and applying the law! You don't hear anyone say, "bad law school, bad State Bar, for denying me my sleep, my leisure--I have no life because of you, you take all my money, you make me sick! You don't question this, but you struggle patiently until you pass the Bar exam. You are thrilled to death when you receive the long awaited news of passing the Bar exam--almost every lawyer could tell you a story of that moment no matter how many decades ago they received this tremendous news--they could still remember the place, the time, the hows and the whats as if it was just yesterday. It was the most memorable time of a lawyer's life, perhaps their entire life! This is how we take the matters of this temporal life.
You don't mind the pains--lost of sleep, spent all your money, borrowed money, even endured divorce (law school is also a test of patience for the other spouse). Why? Because you see the gold mine at the end of the journey--wealth, status, prestige, and the like. (This is not to say some people don't have high goal which is to serve Allah with their degrees/career but most people don't go to law school or medical school having this goal in mind). You understand that you have to follow the rules of the Bar, Medical Board, etc, study hard and put your life on hold for many years is a huge detriment but it is a necessary detriment for that great benefit that ensued. (You can think of many other examples that apply to you but you get the idea.)
Likewise, you have to follow Allah's rules to rise in the ranks with Allah. You have to give up, among other things, your sleep to pray tahajjud, eating and drinking during fasting, your money to perform hajj or pay zakat or give charity. You have to endure people's chastisement for your scrupulousness and "being or looking different," etc. This is a huge detriment but remember the benefit is tremendous--eternal bliss, Allah's noble countenance in Paradise--this outweighs the detriment which is relatively a short period of time. Even if it is difficult, just keep doing it, do it and do it...until it become part of you that you don't care what people think of you anymore--this may take 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years but eventually you will get there inshaAllah. And the road to Him become easier and easier. And you would be able to experience the sweetness of being His slave even in this life. Allah loves the believers but you have to earn His love, i.e. obeying Him. You must follow His rules no matter how difficult or uneasy--do them, do them...after a while inshaAllah they become easy and become part of you. No benefit is without a detriment but find solace that the benefit outweighs the detriment--His love, which is what we have to strive and ask for. So stay up at night, go for a time without food in fasting, wear the hijab, give charity, etc. Learn what Allah wants you to do and keep learning, teach to others and apply what you learn. If you learn and apply something of sacred knowledge each day, you will see a big difference in your coming near to Allah in no time, inshaAllah.
May Allah give us all tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllah khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Imagine you want to be a lawyer or a doctor. Lawyers and doctors can tell you the pains of the journey to become one but a very rewarding journey nonetheless regardless the many years of many sleepless nights, bags under our eyes, feeling miserable, anxieties, spending lots money, no social life. Then after we graduated, it's not over yet--another big test--the Bar exam or the Board exam (for the doctors). Oh yes, I know about the Bar exams--passing the bar is not easy---20 to 40% passing rate in California--it is not so much a test to see how much we know (that was already done in law school exams)--but how much we can work under pressure, how much we can endure 3 solid days of doing nothing except working our brains off reading hundreds of cases, sifting through issues and applying the law! You don't hear anyone say, "bad law school, bad State Bar, for denying me my sleep, my leisure--I have no life because of you, you take all my money, you make me sick! You don't question this, but you struggle patiently until you pass the Bar exam. You are thrilled to death when you receive the long awaited news of passing the Bar exam--almost every lawyer could tell you a story of that moment no matter how many decades ago they received this tremendous news--they could still remember the place, the time, the hows and the whats as if it was just yesterday. It was the most memorable time of a lawyer's life, perhaps their entire life! This is how we take the matters of this temporal life.
You don't mind the pains--lost of sleep, spent all your money, borrowed money, even endured divorce (law school is also a test of patience for the other spouse). Why? Because you see the gold mine at the end of the journey--wealth, status, prestige, and the like. (This is not to say some people don't have high goal which is to serve Allah with their degrees/career but most people don't go to law school or medical school having this goal in mind). You understand that you have to follow the rules of the Bar, Medical Board, etc, study hard and put your life on hold for many years is a huge detriment but it is a necessary detriment for that great benefit that ensued. (You can think of many other examples that apply to you but you get the idea.)
Likewise, you have to follow Allah's rules to rise in the ranks with Allah. You have to give up, among other things, your sleep to pray tahajjud, eating and drinking during fasting, your money to perform hajj or pay zakat or give charity. You have to endure people's chastisement for your scrupulousness and "being or looking different," etc. This is a huge detriment but remember the benefit is tremendous--eternal bliss, Allah's noble countenance in Paradise--this outweighs the detriment which is relatively a short period of time. Even if it is difficult, just keep doing it, do it and do it...until it become part of you that you don't care what people think of you anymore--this may take 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years but eventually you will get there inshaAllah. And the road to Him become easier and easier. And you would be able to experience the sweetness of being His slave even in this life. Allah loves the believers but you have to earn His love, i.e. obeying Him. You must follow His rules no matter how difficult or uneasy--do them, do them...after a while inshaAllah they become easy and become part of you. No benefit is without a detriment but find solace that the benefit outweighs the detriment--His love, which is what we have to strive and ask for. So stay up at night, go for a time without food in fasting, wear the hijab, give charity, etc. Learn what Allah wants you to do and keep learning, teach to others and apply what you learn. If you learn and apply something of sacred knowledge each day, you will see a big difference in your coming near to Allah in no time, inshaAllah.
May Allah give us all tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllah khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Intimate conversation
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Whatever Allah commands us to do--whether He tells us to do something or not to do something--it is not for Him. He doesn't need us and He doesn't need our worship. He is free of need. We are not even a dot even as a group that we should think if we don't worship Him that He would mind. We are the ones who is in dire need of Him. We want Him to love us.
When He asks us to pray 5 times a day, it is totally for our benefit. If you think you don't need Him, that you have your parents taking care of things for you, you have a nice husband who pampers you, a loving wife who give you warmth at night, your children who will take care of you when you are old, you have your boss giving you your paycheck and put food on your table, you have lots of great friends who lend their ears for you, wait when He takes your parents away or your husband away or your wife away, or your children away, or your boss fired you or He take your friends away--death, divorce, and other forms of separation, perhaps as a test for you, perhaps as your punishment. Allah knows best. What will happen to you? Where will you go then? If Allah have mercy on you, you will realize that you have misdirected your focus all along and Allah wants you to come back on course, that He alone do you worship and He alone do you seek help, and your mother, your father, your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends and so on are merely means for you to worship Him and come close to Him.
So, before they are taken away, be close to the One and only One. So when the day comes, when Allah take them away from you, you are prepared. You know you have someone who will always be with you and someone you can turn to, and the loss won't be too upside down for you. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by the means so that you cannot be close to Him, cannot worship Him properly, cannot pray on time and for some who don't even pray, may Allah guide them.
I want to mention a little bit about prayer. No one is excused from prayer. Even in battles, the Muslims prayed at its time, which shows us how important this obligation is. What excuse do those who are sitting in the comfort of their homes or those who are busy seeking the pleasures of this world have for not praying on time? All other forms of obligatory worship have conditions in which one don't have to do it--e.g. if one doesn't have the resource, one is not obligated to perform hajj. if one is ill, one doesn't have to fast that day, if one doesn't have money, one doesn't pay zakat. Prayer is the most important pillar of your faith. If this pillar is shaky or weak and not tended to it will eventually gone, it is a like a main pillar of the house if it is weak--the house will quickly collapse. So don't let this happen. Be grateful that you still have Iman and nurture it with more presence of heart during prayer and with more prayers (including the emphasized sunna prayers and night prayers.)
If you pray out of feeling of neediness, fear, awe, hope, gratitude, love of the Lord, then you will find solace and comfort. There was a story of a companion who carried on with his prayer despite enemy arrows were being shot at him one after another! Another, had his leg amputated without anesthesia while he was in sujud. There are many examples of our pious predecessors and perhaps you know many many people still alive who find prayer the coolness of their eyes. You should have this desire to be like them. At the minimum, rush to prayer when the time comes or sit and wait anxiously to pray before the time even entered. Humble yourself to your Lord, take your time in every movement (don't be a woodpecker) and show your neediness. Prayer is where you are the closest to your Lord.
When you recite the Al-Fatiha at least 17 times a day during 5 obligatory prayers, you are having an intimate conversation with the Lord of the Worlds, the All Merciful, All Compassionate, All Generous. Why wouldn't you rush and leave everything and focus on Him alone?
Allah the Exalted says: I have divided the prayer into two halves between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks. When the servant says: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, Allah the Most High says: My servant has praised Me. And when he (the servant) says: The Most Compassionate, the Merciful, Allah the Most High says: My servant has extolled Me. And when he (the worshiper) says: You alone do we worship and your help alone we seek, He (Allah) says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for. Then, when he (the worshiper) says: Guide us to the straight path, the path of those to whom Thou hast been Gracious not of those who have incurred Thy displeasure, nor of those who have gone astray, He (Allah) says: This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks. (related by Muslim)
May Allah make us understand our responsibilities and fulfill them with excellence. Ameen. Please remember me in your night prayers.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Whatever Allah commands us to do--whether He tells us to do something or not to do something--it is not for Him. He doesn't need us and He doesn't need our worship. He is free of need. We are not even a dot even as a group that we should think if we don't worship Him that He would mind. We are the ones who is in dire need of Him. We want Him to love us.
When He asks us to pray 5 times a day, it is totally for our benefit. If you think you don't need Him, that you have your parents taking care of things for you, you have a nice husband who pampers you, a loving wife who give you warmth at night, your children who will take care of you when you are old, you have your boss giving you your paycheck and put food on your table, you have lots of great friends who lend their ears for you, wait when He takes your parents away or your husband away or your wife away, or your children away, or your boss fired you or He take your friends away--death, divorce, and other forms of separation, perhaps as a test for you, perhaps as your punishment. Allah knows best. What will happen to you? Where will you go then? If Allah have mercy on you, you will realize that you have misdirected your focus all along and Allah wants you to come back on course, that He alone do you worship and He alone do you seek help, and your mother, your father, your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends and so on are merely means for you to worship Him and come close to Him.
So, before they are taken away, be close to the One and only One. So when the day comes, when Allah take them away from you, you are prepared. You know you have someone who will always be with you and someone you can turn to, and the loss won't be too upside down for you. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by the means so that you cannot be close to Him, cannot worship Him properly, cannot pray on time and for some who don't even pray, may Allah guide them.
I want to mention a little bit about prayer. No one is excused from prayer. Even in battles, the Muslims prayed at its time, which shows us how important this obligation is. What excuse do those who are sitting in the comfort of their homes or those who are busy seeking the pleasures of this world have for not praying on time? All other forms of obligatory worship have conditions in which one don't have to do it--e.g. if one doesn't have the resource, one is not obligated to perform hajj. if one is ill, one doesn't have to fast that day, if one doesn't have money, one doesn't pay zakat. Prayer is the most important pillar of your faith. If this pillar is shaky or weak and not tended to it will eventually gone, it is a like a main pillar of the house if it is weak--the house will quickly collapse. So don't let this happen. Be grateful that you still have Iman and nurture it with more presence of heart during prayer and with more prayers (including the emphasized sunna prayers and night prayers.)
If you pray out of feeling of neediness, fear, awe, hope, gratitude, love of the Lord, then you will find solace and comfort. There was a story of a companion who carried on with his prayer despite enemy arrows were being shot at him one after another! Another, had his leg amputated without anesthesia while he was in sujud. There are many examples of our pious predecessors and perhaps you know many many people still alive who find prayer the coolness of their eyes. You should have this desire to be like them. At the minimum, rush to prayer when the time comes or sit and wait anxiously to pray before the time even entered. Humble yourself to your Lord, take your time in every movement (don't be a woodpecker) and show your neediness. Prayer is where you are the closest to your Lord.
When you recite the Al-Fatiha at least 17 times a day during 5 obligatory prayers, you are having an intimate conversation with the Lord of the Worlds, the All Merciful, All Compassionate, All Generous. Why wouldn't you rush and leave everything and focus on Him alone?
Allah the Exalted says: I have divided the prayer into two halves between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks. When the servant says: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, Allah the Most High says: My servant has praised Me. And when he (the servant) says: The Most Compassionate, the Merciful, Allah the Most High says: My servant has extolled Me. And when he (the worshiper) says: You alone do we worship and your help alone we seek, He (Allah) says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for. Then, when he (the worshiper) says: Guide us to the straight path, the path of those to whom Thou hast been Gracious not of those who have incurred Thy displeasure, nor of those who have gone astray, He (Allah) says: This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks. (related by Muslim)
May Allah make us understand our responsibilities and fulfill them with excellence. Ameen. Please remember me in your night prayers.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Sunday, January 31, 2010
He is closer than your jugular vein
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 feel down and as if the whole world is caving on you and no one to turn to, remember that you are not alone. There is someone with you. Your Loving Lord, the all Knowing, the all Aware, your Helper and Protecting Friend. Keep asking Him to help you, give you patience and strength to bear it. Try to resolve this in your heart that He sent this to you and that He did not send this to you to harm you but only to benefit you. We may not see the benefit, but what do we know--we are only a creation of His. He knows everything and He knows what is good for us. This is His choice for you at this time. Tomorrow it might be different. We simply submit to His choice and hoping for His love.
There is nothing more beloved to Him than our sincere expression of slavehood to Him. We continue in constant remembrance of Him, worshiping Him alone--but not because He promises us great rewards for our patience and good deeds, but for who He is. He is Allah and we are His slaves. What better love can we ask for other than the love of the Grand and Magnificent Lord. And He is here closer than our jugular vein--if truly we know, we would love Him and no other. When He is your beloved, whatever He gives you become beloved to you. May Allah allow us to reach this level of attachment to Him.
"Those who believe, their hearts being at rest in God's remembrance -- in God's remembrance are at rest the hearts." Qur'an Ar-Ra'd 13:28
May Allah give you peace. 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 you are well.
When you feel down and as if the whole world is caving on you and no one to turn to, remember that you are not alone. There is someone with you. Your Loving Lord, the all Knowing, the all Aware, your Helper and Protecting Friend. Keep asking Him to help you, give you patience and strength to bear it. Try to resolve this in your heart that He sent this to you and that He did not send this to you to harm you but only to benefit you. We may not see the benefit, but what do we know--we are only a creation of His. He knows everything and He knows what is good for us. This is His choice for you at this time. Tomorrow it might be different. We simply submit to His choice and hoping for His love.
There is nothing more beloved to Him than our sincere expression of slavehood to Him. We continue in constant remembrance of Him, worshiping Him alone--but not because He promises us great rewards for our patience and good deeds, but for who He is. He is Allah and we are His slaves. What better love can we ask for other than the love of the Grand and Magnificent Lord. And He is here closer than our jugular vein--if truly we know, we would love Him and no other. When He is your beloved, whatever He gives you become beloved to you. May Allah allow us to reach this level of attachment to Him.
"Those who believe, their hearts being at rest in God's remembrance -- in God's remembrance are at rest the hearts." Qur'an Ar-Ra'd 13:28
May Allah give you peace. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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