LESSON OF THE DAY 688

Ayah of the Day:
Don't you see that all beings in the heavens and all beings on earth bow to God, including the sun and the moon and the stars, and the mountains and the trees, and the animals and many humans? But many are worthy of punishment too; and no one can dignify those whom God disgraces, for God enacts the divine will. [22: 18]

Hadith of the Day:
Hellfire is veiled with desires and Paradise is veiled with displeasures. [Bukhari & Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Even if you studied for a hundred years and collected a thousand books, you would not be eligible for the mercy of God the Exalted except through action. [Imam Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
O you who have received the great gift of intelligence from your Lord, use it! Use it to test your deeds and your praise of your Lord. Your Lord knows what you do: it is enough achievement that you know what you are doing. No one else has to know. When you evaluate your actions, do not forget to remember the benefits of sincerity and the damage done by hypocrisy in your life. The best decision is to stop exhibiting your good deeds: only this will close the gates of hypocrisy altogether. Yet there are certain circumstances when your actions should be shown in order to encourage others to follow your example.

Even when your intentions are the best, you will be obliged to defend your hearts against the evil temptations of your ego. Hypocrisy enters the heart through three gates: the hope that your deeds will be recognized by the public; the wish to be praised and given honor and high position as a reward for your actions; the acceptance and enjoyment of this popularity and the rewards it offers.

We must reject all these temptations. We should consider that in reality, to be publicly singled our---even by people's praise for a devout, pious, honest, and generous person---is sufficient to lead us into the worst troubles of this world and the Hereafter. We must believe that the one who praises us is our enemy, because he is the ally of our ego, our worst enemy. And we must know that succumbing to these temptations will eventually attract Allah's wrath and punishment upon us. If we resist in this way, our resistance will let us the ugliness behind the false facade of momentary attraction. Then we will be able to refuse. [The Path of Muhammad]

Food for Thought:
He that has learned to obey will know how to command. It is never wise to slip the hands of discipline. You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension, and discipline are taken out of your life. What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are. What we are is the result of previous years of self-discipline.