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
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Blessings of free time and health
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Free time is a blessing which few have. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace said: There are two blessings that many people fall short in benefiting from--health and free time.
We work, study, take care of family and social responsibilities and these take a toll on our time. When we are finally free of these at the end of the day, we must acknowledge this favor from Allah, the One Who created us and sustains us in every breadth we take. We pray and pray more--pray the sunnah connected to the obligatory prayers, the various sunnah prayers, the mid morning prayer, the night prayers, read the Qur'an everyday, do the dhikr of Allah and send blessings upon the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, much. Don't run to your computer, to friends at yahoo messenger or facebook or CNN or Al-Jaziera or email before you have these worship incorporated in your daily lives. This is the way to show gratitude to your Generous Lord who give you the free time and your health. Don't get this idea that we can save the world while our relationship with Allah is still iffy. The problems in the world are not going to change if we haven't changed our attitude towards Allah. Islamic civilization was great back then because the Muslims were strong in their iman and in their worship. Allah gave them victory because of their taqwa and complete submission to Allah.
So first thing first, use our free time to take care of our own connection with Allah before anything else. In the day of judgment, the first thing Allah is going to ask you is about your prayers, not whether or not you have saved the world. So, use your free time to be close to Him.
Narrated Aisha, Allah be very 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 wound get up, recite (some other verses) and then perform the bowing. (Bukhari)
The greatest desire of those close to Allah is Allah Himself. They desire His pleasure, His closeness and to be granted works pleasing to Him. You cannot achieve any of these without tawfiq from Him. So, ask Him. Allah says, "and towards your Lord then state your desires." Qur'an Expansion 94:8
May Allah make us among His grateful slaves. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
Free time is a blessing which few have. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace said: There are two blessings that many people fall short in benefiting from--health and free time.
We work, study, take care of family and social responsibilities and these take a toll on our time. When we are finally free of these at the end of the day, we must acknowledge this favor from Allah, the One Who created us and sustains us in every breadth we take. We pray and pray more--pray the sunnah connected to the obligatory prayers, the various sunnah prayers, the mid morning prayer, the night prayers, read the Qur'an everyday, do the dhikr of Allah and send blessings upon the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, much. Don't run to your computer, to friends at yahoo messenger or facebook or CNN or Al-Jaziera or email before you have these worship incorporated in your daily lives. This is the way to show gratitude to your Generous Lord who give you the free time and your health. Don't get this idea that we can save the world while our relationship with Allah is still iffy. The problems in the world are not going to change if we haven't changed our attitude towards Allah. Islamic civilization was great back then because the Muslims were strong in their iman and in their worship. Allah gave them victory because of their taqwa and complete submission to Allah.
So first thing first, use our free time to take care of our own connection with Allah before anything else. In the day of judgment, the first thing Allah is going to ask you is about your prayers, not whether or not you have saved the world. So, use your free time to be close to Him.
Narrated Aisha, Allah be very 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 wound get up, recite (some other verses) and then perform the bowing. (Bukhari)
The greatest desire of those close to Allah is Allah Himself. They desire His pleasure, His closeness and to be granted works pleasing to Him. You cannot achieve any of these without tawfiq from Him. So, ask Him. Allah says, "and towards your Lord then state your desires." Qur'an Expansion 94:8
May Allah make us among His grateful slaves. Ameen. Please don't forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Blessings of peace and food
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
There is no single blessing you possess but it is from Allah. Look at everything around you.
That leftover food in the fridge waiting for you to eat is a big blessing, but you don't know it and you don't like leftovers, so you throw them in the garbage. Then suddenly there is a big earthquake and the 2nd storey of your house collapse and your fridge and your pantry are smashed. You cannot get to the stores, everywhere is chaos--sirens, roadblocks, accidents, fires, roads flooded by broken fire hydrants, you can imagine the disaster! You have to wait for the red cross helicopters to drop you food packages. Now your stomach is crying, your children are laying there like fish out of the water--they haven't eaten for 2 days. You wish that leftover in the garbage to come back but the flies have gotten to it first!
There are two blessings that we cannot truly understand them until we lose them: blessings of peace and blessings of being fed.
For those who are living in the US, we are so blessed that we can stick our head out from the window when we lost our way and ask for directions without having the fear of being shot at. We were so appreciative of the guy who was nice enough to stop and give us the direction--we said thank you! But no thank you to Allah! the One Who gave your speech to ask for direction, the One Who made it possible for the guy to give you the directions, the One Who sent the earthquake to Haiti instead of to your area, the One Who gives you the peace and stability so that you can move around freely! The smallest of things that we take for granted in this life is a blessing from Allah and some don't care to thank Him. And Allah Al-Karim (the Generous), As-Sabur (the Patient One) still shower us with abundant blessings despite our ingratitude.
When I was in Egypt, I wanted to visit Jerusalem (I really wanted to pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa) but I couldn't because they won't let my sons enter Jerusalem--they have restrictions on young men at least at the time. When there is no peace, people are afraid of each other and movements are restricted or banned. You might think that something like this will never happen in "peaceful" countries like America. We don't know, only Allah knows. Allah can destroy a nation and can build a nation. Kun fa yakun. Be and it be. The Qur'an has many examples of this. Tomorrow we could wind up in the ocean--remember the Tsunami? There is nothing we can do. So while we are still free to move, live--but with a different attitude. The attitude should be of gratitude and living for next life. So Allah will remember us and not let us perish just like that.
When you look at your food next time, appreciate what Allah has given you. Have a heart full of appreciation and gratitude of what in front of you. The mark of this appreciation and gratitude is that you are humble and lower yourself in front of the blessing. All the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is speaking to us--that we are so small, undeserving of the blessings of Allah, and the very food in front us is a treasure and we are lucky to have it and we really respect it. We are not merely saying on the tongue "Bismillah" at the beginning and "Alhamdulillah" at the end. We feel this before we eat and all the way beyond eating to the leftovers. All these have to be covered in deep veneration of Allah.
Don't cook too much that you have leftovers that food wind up in the garbage cans. Suffice to cook less for the stomachs then throwing food away. There is so much waste everywhere and it is very sad to see food go into the garbage--you see this a lot at the masjid! We tend not to respect food anymore. When I was 6 or 7 years old, my mother would not even let me drop a grain of rice when washing the rice before cooking it. If there was a grain of rice in the drain that fell out of the pot while I was washing it and touched filth, she would tell me to pick it up and give it to the chickens. But nowadays, we callously throw enormous amount of food. That is being disrespectful to food. Make a conscious effort not to waste food, the gift of Allah to us.
We must have a sense why we are doing something, what the purpose is, why we are eating. If you are eating for no purpose, then this is a big problem because this means you are living to eat instead of eating to live. Allah created the world for us, not us for the world, and He created us for Him. So we partake the world within His guidelines.
We eat to worship Him. Ultimately you are what you eat. Food and eating must be in line with the teachings and the sunnah of Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Otherwise, this most basic blessing and act that we enjoy can turn into a curse, ruin one's heart, ruins one's worship, becomes an obsession and many other matters that push us away from Allah.
The way the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, acted was reflecting a state that we meant to be following, to be slavely. We are expected to take this attitude from the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. How best to incorporate them other than to approach blessings the way he approached blessings. The more we can approach things the way our Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, approached things, the easier it is to be like him in state. So learn the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and incorporate them in your life as much as you can.
Let the waves of love for Allah, not the chain of afflictions, push you towards Him--show Him your gratitude for all His blessings. May Allah give you tawfiq and bless your day. Ameen. And please keep me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
There is no single blessing you possess but it is from Allah. Look at everything around you.
That leftover food in the fridge waiting for you to eat is a big blessing, but you don't know it and you don't like leftovers, so you throw them in the garbage. Then suddenly there is a big earthquake and the 2nd storey of your house collapse and your fridge and your pantry are smashed. You cannot get to the stores, everywhere is chaos--sirens, roadblocks, accidents, fires, roads flooded by broken fire hydrants, you can imagine the disaster! You have to wait for the red cross helicopters to drop you food packages. Now your stomach is crying, your children are laying there like fish out of the water--they haven't eaten for 2 days. You wish that leftover in the garbage to come back but the flies have gotten to it first!
There are two blessings that we cannot truly understand them until we lose them: blessings of peace and blessings of being fed.
For those who are living in the US, we are so blessed that we can stick our head out from the window when we lost our way and ask for directions without having the fear of being shot at. We were so appreciative of the guy who was nice enough to stop and give us the direction--we said thank you! But no thank you to Allah! the One Who gave your speech to ask for direction, the One Who made it possible for the guy to give you the directions, the One Who sent the earthquake to Haiti instead of to your area, the One Who gives you the peace and stability so that you can move around freely! The smallest of things that we take for granted in this life is a blessing from Allah and some don't care to thank Him. And Allah Al-Karim (the Generous), As-Sabur (the Patient One) still shower us with abundant blessings despite our ingratitude.
When I was in Egypt, I wanted to visit Jerusalem (I really wanted to pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa) but I couldn't because they won't let my sons enter Jerusalem--they have restrictions on young men at least at the time. When there is no peace, people are afraid of each other and movements are restricted or banned. You might think that something like this will never happen in "peaceful" countries like America. We don't know, only Allah knows. Allah can destroy a nation and can build a nation. Kun fa yakun. Be and it be. The Qur'an has many examples of this. Tomorrow we could wind up in the ocean--remember the Tsunami? There is nothing we can do. So while we are still free to move, live--but with a different attitude. The attitude should be of gratitude and living for next life. So Allah will remember us and not let us perish just like that.
When you look at your food next time, appreciate what Allah has given you. Have a heart full of appreciation and gratitude of what in front of you. The mark of this appreciation and gratitude is that you are humble and lower yourself in front of the blessing. All the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is speaking to us--that we are so small, undeserving of the blessings of Allah, and the very food in front us is a treasure and we are lucky to have it and we really respect it. We are not merely saying on the tongue "Bismillah" at the beginning and "Alhamdulillah" at the end. We feel this before we eat and all the way beyond eating to the leftovers. All these have to be covered in deep veneration of Allah.
Don't cook too much that you have leftovers that food wind up in the garbage cans. Suffice to cook less for the stomachs then throwing food away. There is so much waste everywhere and it is very sad to see food go into the garbage--you see this a lot at the masjid! We tend not to respect food anymore. When I was 6 or 7 years old, my mother would not even let me drop a grain of rice when washing the rice before cooking it. If there was a grain of rice in the drain that fell out of the pot while I was washing it and touched filth, she would tell me to pick it up and give it to the chickens. But nowadays, we callously throw enormous amount of food. That is being disrespectful to food. Make a conscious effort not to waste food, the gift of Allah to us.
We must have a sense why we are doing something, what the purpose is, why we are eating. If you are eating for no purpose, then this is a big problem because this means you are living to eat instead of eating to live. Allah created the world for us, not us for the world, and He created us for Him. So we partake the world within His guidelines.
We eat to worship Him. Ultimately you are what you eat. Food and eating must be in line with the teachings and the sunnah of Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Otherwise, this most basic blessing and act that we enjoy can turn into a curse, ruin one's heart, ruins one's worship, becomes an obsession and many other matters that push us away from Allah.
The way the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, acted was reflecting a state that we meant to be following, to be slavely. We are expected to take this attitude from the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. How best to incorporate them other than to approach blessings the way he approached blessings. The more we can approach things the way our Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, approached things, the easier it is to be like him in state. So learn the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and incorporate them in your life as much as you can.
Let the waves of love for Allah, not the chain of afflictions, push you towards Him--show Him your gratitude for all His blessings. May Allah give you tawfiq and bless your day. Ameen. And please keep me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Monday, February 22, 2010
Allah, Al-Fattah, The Opener
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
When you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, know that there is Al-Fattah (The Opener) Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. When Al-Fattah wants good for His servant He will close all doors in the hands of the creation and open the door where no one carries the key. He will open the door that can only be opened by the Creator.
Remember Prophet Yusuf, Allah give him peace. How could one become a prominent figure in Egypt coming from a poor family, thrown into a well by his jealous brothers. He came out of the well only to be sold as slave. Then accused of desiring the wife of his master and even when the master knew that he was innocent, he was still thrown in jail. Feel the patience and trust in Allah that Yusuf had. He stayed in jail for 18 years, some say as long as 30 years! His father grieved for him until he became blind. But he did not despair. Allah reward him the highest position in Egypt and the reunited him with his family--"And he lifted his father and mother upon the throne; and the others fell down prostrate before him..." Qur'an Yusuf 12:100 (beautiful surah with great lessons. read it over and over again) Such is only a reward on this earth for His patient servant. What then would the reward be in the Hereafter?
When you go through problems after problems, calamities after calamities, headaches after headaches, heartaches after heartaches, setbacks after setbacks, try to remember Al-Fattah, the Opener. Know that He is bringing you to the light He wants you to get to. This is the moment that He is actually opening things for you and not closing things for you. Allah is not the Closer, it is not in His attributes.
When you are on the path of Truth, keep going even if all odds are against you. Don't worry about what people think of you, talking bad about you, trying to sabotage you. Be patient. There will be a good ending inshaAllah.
Please accept a beautiful gift from Allah, attached--listen to His beautiful names! How could you not love Him and get goosebumps every time you hear this alone, no soul around you! SubhanAllah! Don't ignore Him.
Also at your leisure at your leisure http://www.scribd.com/doc/23605981/If-Truly-I-Know
And Allah knows best.
May Allah give you a good opening. Ameen. Please remember me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
When you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, know that there is Al-Fattah (The Opener) Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. When Al-Fattah wants good for His servant He will close all doors in the hands of the creation and open the door where no one carries the key. He will open the door that can only be opened by the Creator.
Remember Prophet Yusuf, Allah give him peace. How could one become a prominent figure in Egypt coming from a poor family, thrown into a well by his jealous brothers. He came out of the well only to be sold as slave. Then accused of desiring the wife of his master and even when the master knew that he was innocent, he was still thrown in jail. Feel the patience and trust in Allah that Yusuf had. He stayed in jail for 18 years, some say as long as 30 years! His father grieved for him until he became blind. But he did not despair. Allah reward him the highest position in Egypt and the reunited him with his family--"And he lifted his father and mother upon the throne; and the others fell down prostrate before him..." Qur'an Yusuf 12:100 (beautiful surah with great lessons. read it over and over again) Such is only a reward on this earth for His patient servant. What then would the reward be in the Hereafter?
When you go through problems after problems, calamities after calamities, headaches after headaches, heartaches after heartaches, setbacks after setbacks, try to remember Al-Fattah, the Opener. Know that He is bringing you to the light He wants you to get to. This is the moment that He is actually opening things for you and not closing things for you. Allah is not the Closer, it is not in His attributes.
When you are on the path of Truth, keep going even if all odds are against you. Don't worry about what people think of you, talking bad about you, trying to sabotage you. Be patient. There will be a good ending inshaAllah.
Please accept a beautiful gift from Allah, attached--listen to His beautiful names! How could you not love Him and get goosebumps every time you hear this alone, no soul around you! SubhanAllah! Don't ignore Him.
Also at your leisure at your leisure http://www.scribd.com/doc/23605981/If-Truly-I-Know
And Allah knows best.
May Allah give you a good opening. Ameen. Please remember me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
Ask not what they can do for you...
BismillahirRahmaniRahim
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
We had a beautiful khatm Qur'an on Friday at Masjid Al-Ittehad with young members of the community reciting the last juz 'Amma beautifully followed by du'a. MashaAllah. May Allah accept our worship and reward everyone very well for participating in this event every month. Ameen. InshaAllah, please continue to strive to read at least a juz a day of the Qur'an with your family. Our next khatm will be on Friday, March 19, 2010.
To continue with our sharing...
Muslims are selfless, grateful and worshipful, not selfish, greedy and indignant. A grateful, thankful servant of Allah obeys Him. Obedience to Allah benefits us in this life and the next life. Obedience to Allah takes you to Paradise by His Mercy.
"And when your Lord proclaimed, "If you are thankful, surely I will increase you, but if you are thankless My chastisement is surely terrible." Qur'an Ibrahim 14:7
We should not be lax with our responsibilities. Always on the look out on other people's need. Just like we try to instill a sense of responsibility in our children, we should have this in ourselves towards our Creator and other people--our parents, family, relatives, teachers, neighbors, friends, fellow Muslims and humankind.
We have a lot of work to do--we can't afford to waste time, but don't despair because Allah will make way for you to do all these if you are sincere. Pray as if you are going to die tomorrow and work as if you are going to live forever. We need to constantly reevaluate ourselves to make sure we are fulfilling our responsibilities and we are doing things in the manner that Allah wants us to do.
"...Help one another to piety and godfearing; do not help each other to sin and enmity. And fear God; surely God is terrible in retribution." Qur'an Al-Maidah 5:2
Everyone of us have rights in our dealings with one another that Allah grants us, but we should not be demanding our rights, rather we look at the other side for what they need and give, and be sincere and generous in your giving, and you will have the forgiveness and a tremendous reward from Al-Karim in this life and the next.
"Allah has promised those that believe, and do deeds of righteousness; they shall have; forgiveness and a mighty wage." Qur'an Al-Maidah 5:9
This is a good way of looking at our responsibilities. Based on a famous inaugural speech, ask not what your spouse, your parents, your children, your community, .... can do for you -- ask what you can do for them.
If each one of us take our responsibilities seriously and ask ourselves this before we start demanding our rights, the world will be a better place. We can't change people, but we can change ourselves and tawfiq is from Allah. So start with ourselves today and make du'a for Allah to guide everyone.
And Allah knows best.
May Allah guide us and grant us tawfiq in discharging our responsibilities excellently. Ameen.
Wassalaam
Assalaamu alaykum
I pray that you are well.
We had a beautiful khatm Qur'an on Friday at Masjid Al-Ittehad with young members of the community reciting the last juz 'Amma beautifully followed by du'a. MashaAllah. May Allah accept our worship and reward everyone very well for participating in this event every month. Ameen. InshaAllah, please continue to strive to read at least a juz a day of the Qur'an with your family. Our next khatm will be on Friday, March 19, 2010.
To continue with our sharing...
Muslims are selfless, grateful and worshipful, not selfish, greedy and indignant. A grateful, thankful servant of Allah obeys Him. Obedience to Allah benefits us in this life and the next life. Obedience to Allah takes you to Paradise by His Mercy.
"And when your Lord proclaimed, "If you are thankful, surely I will increase you, but if you are thankless My chastisement is surely terrible." Qur'an Ibrahim 14:7
We should not be lax with our responsibilities. Always on the look out on other people's need. Just like we try to instill a sense of responsibility in our children, we should have this in ourselves towards our Creator and other people--our parents, family, relatives, teachers, neighbors, friends, fellow Muslims and humankind.
We have a lot of work to do--we can't afford to waste time, but don't despair because Allah will make way for you to do all these if you are sincere. Pray as if you are going to die tomorrow and work as if you are going to live forever. We need to constantly reevaluate ourselves to make sure we are fulfilling our responsibilities and we are doing things in the manner that Allah wants us to do.
"...Help one another to piety and godfearing; do not help each other to sin and enmity. And fear God; surely God is terrible in retribution." Qur'an Al-Maidah 5:2
Everyone of us have rights in our dealings with one another that Allah grants us, but we should not be demanding our rights, rather we look at the other side for what they need and give, and be sincere and generous in your giving, and you will have the forgiveness and a tremendous reward from Al-Karim in this life and the next.
"Allah has promised those that believe, and do deeds of righteousness; they shall have; forgiveness and a mighty wage." Qur'an Al-Maidah 5:9
This is a good way of looking at our responsibilities. Based on a famous inaugural speech, ask not what your spouse, your parents, your children, your community, .... can do for you -- ask what you can do for them.
If each one of us take our responsibilities seriously and ask ourselves this before we start demanding our rights, the world will be a better place. We can't change people, but we can change ourselves and tawfiq is from Allah. So start with ourselves today and make du'a for Allah to guide everyone.
And Allah knows best.
May Allah guide us and grant us tawfiq in discharging our responsibilities excellently. Ameen.
Wassalaam
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