LESSON OF THE DAY 1315

Ayahs of the day:
O you who believe, be conscious of God, and disperse that what remains of usurious interest, if you are believers. And if you do not, then take heed of war from God and God's messenger. But if you repent, you may have your capital; do not be unfair and you will not be treated unfairly. [2: 278,279]

Hadith of the day:
How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for all his affairs are good, and that does not apply to anyone except the believer. If something good happens to him, he gives thanks for it and that is good for him; if something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience, and that is good for him. [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
The wealthiest person is the one who has abundance of taqwa. [Dhunnun al Misri]

Guidance of the day:
Nothing is more harmful to mankind, in this world and the next, than sins. Almost no evil nor harm befall them except due to these. Therefore, a believer should be wary of sins to the extreme and ever remain as far away from them as possible. Should he commit  one, he must hasten to repent to God, for He accepts the repentance of His servants, pardons evil deeds, and knows what you do.

Those who do not repent, they are unjust. They have done themselves an injustice by falling into sin, then persisting in it by not repenting as God had commanded them, while promising them to accept it. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al Haddad]

Food for thought:
Spiritual courage is to wage war against one's egotism and to resist one's appetites. Moral courage is to speak the truth even when bitter, to be a witness for the truth even against oneself or one's kin, and to enjoin good and forbid evil against opposition.

We need to focus on ourselves....

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "O you who have entered Islam with your tongues but whose hearts faith has not entered: do not slander people, and do not search out people's shameful points. Whoever searches out the shameful points of his brother, Allah will search out his shameful points, and if Allah searches out a person's shameful points, indeed He will disgrace him even if he should remain in the middle of his house." [Abu Dawud]

This hadith teaches us a number of things:

1. It points to the difference between being a Muslim and being a Momin. A person who has embraced Islam but not reformed his/her heart and inner self through it, is called a Muslim but not a Momin.

2. One characteristic that differentiates a Muslim from a Momin is that a Muslim may be on the look out for people's hidden flaws and shameful secrets: but a Momin would never waste his/her time in such a disgraceful activity. This is because a Momin knows that in the Final Reckoning he will be asked about his/her own faults and not the faults of others.

3. The punishment for someone who tries to find flaws in others is that Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) will surely disgrace him/her by making his/her  shameful deeds public. These may be things we considered done and hidden forever. But if Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) chooses to disgrace somebody, there is nowhere he/she can hide to escape the wretchedness of disgrace.

We waste so much time looking for and discussing the faults of others. Allah  (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says, Believers, you are responsible for your own souls. Those who stray cannot harm you when you heed guidance. To God is where you will all return, and then God will tell you about what you used to do." [5: 105]

We need to focus on that which is our foremost responsibility and in our control  --  Our own selves!!!

Pearls of Wisdom 345

1. During prayer I give myself over to the Lord
    delight myself in zealous worship.
    The window of my soul opens wide
    and the Book of God comes in view
    to fill my house with grace and light.

2. Demolish this house that a hundred more
    may be built. Do not be afraid that treasure
    lies beneath this house. A thousand houses
    more shall you build with just one treasure in
    hand. This house is destined to fall to ruin.
   That treasure is bound to be unearthed, but
   then that treasure will not be yours.

3. Your power comes from the power of God,
    not from the veins or the beating heart.
    The power of the saints comes from God,
    not from feasts and trays of provisions.
    They are created from the light that
    transcends the angel and the spirit alike.

4. The light of God is an ornament of wisdom.
    That is the meaning of "light upon light."
    The light of reason draws toward the earth.
    The light of God carries you aloft.
    Things of reason are of the lower world.
    The light of God is an ocean,
    reason merely dewdrop.

5. Knowledge has two wings. Conjecture is
    one wing. Conjecture alone is lacking and
   cuts short the flight. The one-winged bird
   continues to struggle, hoping to reach the
   nest somehow with one wing. And then wisdom
   shows his shining face. Delivered from conjecture,
   the bird now spreads both wings (and soars once
   again). [Mawlana Rumi]

LESSON OF THE DAY 1314

Ayahs of the day:
God deprives usury of blessing, and grants increase for charities. And God does not love any ungrateful sinners. [2: 276]

Hadith of the day:
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or else keep silent. [Bukhari]

Wise quote of the day:
Even after burying your own parents you take no lesson; knowing with certainty that death is inevitable, you chose to remain heedless of it, and knowing full well that you have many faults, you actively seek out the faults of others. [Ibrahim al-Adham]

Guidance of the day:
The best of the hearts, the most beloved by God, is that which is clean and pure of falsehoods, doubts, and all other evils, and receptive to the truth, right guidance, and all that is good and correct.

A hadith says, Four are the hearts: A heart that is smooth, containing a luminous lamp, this is the heart of a believer and the lamp within is its light. A heart that is black, turned upside down, this is the heart of the disbeliever. And a heart made of layers, containing both faith and hypocrisy.

Faith increases by persevering in good works in abundance and with sincerity. As for hypocrisy, it increases by evil works such as abandoning duties and committing prohibited acts. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Things do not change we do. Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.

Eid Mubarak & Something to think about....

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...We will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again..

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling... It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.... Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied..

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?'

Which one are we? Are we the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do we wilt and become soft and lose our strength?

Are we the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did we have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have we become hardened and stiff? Does our shell look the same, but on the inside are we bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or are we like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. Are we are like the bean, when things are at their worst, we get better and change the situation around us. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do we elevate ourselves to another level? How do we handle adversity? Are we a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May we have enough happiness to make us sweet, enough trials to make us strong, enough sorrow to keep us human and enough hope to make us happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; we can't go forward in life until we let go of our past failures and heartaches. When we were born, we were crying and everyone around us was smiling.. We need to live our  life so at the end, we are the one who is smiling and everyone around us is crying.

May we all be the COFFEE!!!!!! !

Pearls of wisdom....344

1. The words of the Qur'an have both an outer and
    an inner meaning, the latter overpowering. Do
    not regard the surface alone, for the devil never
    regarded Adam as mere clay. The surface
    meaning of the Qur'an is like a human torso,
    features visible, but the spirit hidden.

2. Little by little God takes the beauty away.
    Little by little life's luster decays.
    Listen to the passage, "To whom We
   grant a long life, those We cause to decline."
   Seek the essence and not the structure.
   The beauty of heart shall forever abide, for it
   is enriched with the water of life.

3. Every prophet to the world came alone,
    within him carrying a hundred unseen worlds.
    The cosmos was charmed by his depth
    and folded itself into his modest frame,
    The foolish thought he was lonely and weak.
    With the King as his companion,
    how is he weak?

4. We honored man by the gift of free will.
    Half of him is honeybee, the other half snake.
   True believers are stores of honey.
   Stores of poison are those who do not believe.

5. Many prayers are declined because of the
    rank odor of a corrupt heart rising through the
    beautiful words. Let the words be wrong, but
    the meaning right. That flawed utterance is
    dearer to God.  [Mawlana Rumi]

••• Never to Give Up •••

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

 Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and begin to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.
Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and totted off!

Moral -- Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is to not to get bogged down by it.

We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping. And by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

LESSON OF THE DAY 1313

Ayahs of the day:
Those who consume usurious interest are only in the sort of business in which one maddened by Satan's touch engages. That is because they say trade is like usury; but God has permitted trade and forbidden usury. Whoever gives this up with admonition from his Lord comes to him, let bygones be bygones; his case is up to God. But those who repeat are inmates of hellfire, wherein they remain. [2: 275]

Hadith of the day:
O people, repent to Allah, for I repent to Allah one hundred times a day. [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
Repentance of liars is mere lip service, for the true repentance liberates one from sins. [Rabia al Basari]

Guidance of the day:
A distracted heart is that which is distracted from remembering death often, as well as what comes after it, the conditions of the blessed and those of the wretched, and not to dwell on these at length.

It is distracted not  assiduously to keep company of those who know God and His religion, who remind of His days, His graces, His promises, and His threats, who exhort, with both words and deeds, to His obedience and to avoiding disobedience.

Those who are unable to find such people should make up for that by reading their books. However-God willing -- the earth will never be entirely devoid of them, even when  corruption is rife and falsehood and its champions dominate, when everyone has turned away from God and from supporting the truth, except those whom God wills, and a very few are they. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
Be slow of tongue and quick of eye. Among mortals second thoughts are wisest. Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness. It is a good thing to learn caution from the mistakes and misfortunes of others.