Pearls of Wisdom....321

1. You may have wealth, O mighty monarch,
     but it is other than you; one day it will be gone.
     Become your own fortune, O chosen one,
     before you are left destitute.
     Seek the bounty within yourself;
     when you are the bounty,
     how can you lose yourself?

2. If you desire light, be ready to receive light.
    Nurture vainglory and become separated
    from light. If you long for a way out of this prison,
    bow down in worship and draw near.

3. I surrender myself to no other god but God.
    If He desires my bloodshed,
    then so be it! I have no fear.
    I may be disgraced in your world;
    before God honor will be mine.
    A laughing stock in the eyes of the world,
   in God eyes cherished and acclaimed.

4. God asked, "What did you earn in your term
    of respite?" When he heard these words in his
    prayer, from shame he bent downward in complete
    awe. From shame he could stand no more; with
    knees bent he prostrated himself and glorified God.

5. What did you accomplish in your life?
    How did you consume your sustenance and strength?
    Where did you lose the luster of your eyes?
    Where did you lose all the five senses?
    I gave you bounty. Where is your gratitude?
    I gave you the capital. Come show Me the interest. [Mawlana Rumi]

Lesson of the day 1320

Ayahs of the day:
Say, "Whether you conceal what is in your hearts or reveal it, God knows it. And God knows what is in the heavens and what is on earth. And God is capable of all things." [3: 29]

Hadith of the day:
The Muslim is the brother of his fellow-Muslim. He does not wrong him, let him down or despise him. [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
The whole matter of love and slave hood rests upon fear, hope and the love of the Divine. [Shaqeeq al-Balkhi]

Guidance of the day:
Ali -- may God be pleased with him -- said. "The thing I fear most for you is that you follow passions and have long hopes. As for following passions, it repels one from truth; and as for long hopes, they make one forget the hereafter. He who forgets the hereafter does not work for it, he who does not work for it reaches it bankrupt of good works, and there is neither salvation nor gain in the hereafter without them. Should he seek to be returned to this world at that time to do these good works, he will be prevented from doing so. Then his remorse and sorrow will be immense, at a time when remorse will avail nothing." [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
Bread caste on the waters comes back to you. The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected tome. If you never see the good deed again -- at least you will have made the world a better place, after all, isn't that what life is all about.

Minor Sins....

Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "O Aishah, abstain from the sins which are looked upon as trivial, for they too will be inquired about by Allah." [Musnad Ahmad, Nasa'i]

Sins are termed as major or minor essentially because of their gravity in terms of their effects on individuals and society. Thus, some sins are considered most heinous and incur divine wrath. Among such sins are: shirk (associating partners with Allah), displeasing one’s parents, murder, bearing false testimony, adultery, fornication, practicing black magic, devouring riba (interest), stealing from an orphan’s wealth, etc.

Minor sins, on the other hand, are minor in so far as the punishment for a single act of one of these is not as severe as for a major sin. Nevertheless, all sins require tawbah (sincere repentance).

Sincere repentance involves four steps:

The first is for a person to be deeply remorseful of the sin;

Secondly, to refrain from it and all of the circumstances that led to it; thirdly, to make a firm resolution never to do it again;

And finally, to follow it up by whatever good deeds one can possibly do.

Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) says in the Quran, “Verily good deeds wipe out bad deeds.” [Hud: 114]

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) further explained this by saying: “Allah does not wipe out bad deeds through bad deeds; rather He blots them out through good deeds.”

To repent, one must quit sinful behaviour and also cut oneself off totally and entirely from all associations or circumstances that led him/her to such sins. He/she cannot hope to change for the better without such serious measures. If, instead, one persists in the sin, he/she will end up losing the purity of their heart, their moral conscience.

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) warned us against the pervasive effects of sins on our souls. He said that when a person commits a sin, it falls like a black dot on the clean slate of his heart. If he repents, the dot is erased. If, however, he persists in the same and continues to sin, the dot continues to expand until it covers his entire heart, in which case his spiritual soul becomes completely sealed off. As a result, he fails to recognize good as good and evil as evil.

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said that this is what Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has warned us against in the Quran: “Nay, their hearts have been sealed by the sins they have accumulated.” [Al-Mutaffifeen: 14]

Abdullah bin Mas'ud (radi Allahu anhu) reported Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) as saying: "Beware of minor sins, for they will gather together on man so much so that they will kill him. [Musnad Ahmad]

Muharram Mubarak....

With the sighting of the new moon the Islamic new year has started. The first month Muharram, is a month of great reward and virtue. Muharram itself means 'sacred'.

Muharram has been blessed with certain specific virtues: Prophet (peace and blessing upon him) said "The best of the fasts besides the month of Ramadan is the fasting of the month of Muharram (Muslim).

"The one who keeps a fast in the month of Muharram will receive the reward of thirty fasts for each fast (in this sacred month)" (Tabarani).

Although the fasts of the month of Muharram are not obligatory, the one who fasts in these days out of his own will and choice is entitled to a great reward by Almighty Allah.

Although the month of Muharram is a sacred month as a whole, the 10th of Muharram is the most sacred among all days. The day is named 'Ashura'. It is one of the most important and blessed days in the Islamic calender.

Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) has exhorted and encouraged the Ummah to fast on this day -- "This fast is a compensation for the (minor) sins of the past year" (Muslim).

" Observe the fast of Ashura and oppose the jews -- fast a day before it or after it" (Bayhaqi).

It is important to either fast on the ninth and the tenth or the tenth and eleventh of Muharram. To fast only on the day of Ashura is Makruh (disliked).

Let us resolve to observe this great month and through its blessings -- rest of lives in His obedience and try our best to earn His pleasure and refrain from all actions which will  bring His displeasure and deprive us of His blessings.

May Allah guide us all upon the straight path and save us from every action which brings His displeasure, ameen.

Pearls of Wisdom....320

1. This world is a play ground and death the night
    to which you return empty of purse all worn out.
    The earnings of faith are love and inner peace.
    The flesh craves all that is passing away.
    How long will you covet the vile? Let go.

2. The pleas of the devoted ascend to heaven,
    the smoke of their sincerity ascends to heaven,
    and the angels entreat God in earnest:
    "O You who answer every prayer,
   Your protection is being beseeched.
   Your devotee in utter humility pleads.
   Hear him, Lord.
   He knows only to depend on You.

3. This world is full of remedies. But you have no
     remedy until God opens a window for you.
     You may not be aware of that remedy just now.
     In the hour of need it will be made clear to you.
     The Prophet said God made a remedy for
     every pain.

4. The divine bounty filled him with peace and
    strength, strength that helped him cheerfully
    endure all the afflictions that knocked him
    about.

5. Liberated from suffering and search
    I have tied myself to the skirt of God,
    If I fly, I look at the summits I ascend.
    If I go around in circles,
    I observe the axis on which I revolve.
    If I am dragged by a burden,
    I know where I go.
    For I am the moon, and the sun is my guide. [Mawlana Rumi]

Lesson of the day1319

Ayahs of the day:
Say: Shall I tell you of something better than what you have? For those who are conscientious there are gardens in the presence of their Lord, below which rivers flow, where they will abide; and pure spouses, and acceptance from God. And God sees the devoted, those who say, "Our Lord, we believe, so forgive us our sins, and save us from the torment of the fire." [3: 16,17]

Hadith of the day:
Do not regard any act of kindness as insignificant, even meeting your brother with a cheerful countenance. [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
The one who takes his wealth through unlawful means is deprived in trusting in Allah. [Abdullah ibn Mubarak]

Guidance of the day:
Long hopes lead a person to concentrate on this world and neglect the next. Whenever the thought of death occurs to him, or that he ought to be preparing himself for it with good works, he resolves to do so sometime in the future, once he can free himself from working for this world, as if it was his to decide when to die. This is the evil consequence of long hopes, beware of them -- and shift delays and procrastination to worldly matters, while dealing with those of the hereafter immediately and resolutely. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
Imagine that you are to die the next day and return to God to stand before Him to be asked to account for your knowledge, behavior, and all affairs and states. What you see there as most important and useful to you is precisely what you must give priority and attachment to.

The Five Questions....

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, "The two feet of the son of Adam will not move from near his Lord on the Day of Judgement until he is asked about five (matters) concerning his life - how he spent it; about his youth - how he took care of it; about his wealth - how he earned it; and where he spent it and about that which he acted upon from the knowledge he acquired." [Tirmidhi]

There is no escape from being questioned about:

1. Our life - how we spent it. Was it in righteousness and piety or in sin and transgression?

2. Our youth - how we spent it. Was it in acts of obedience or acts of sin?

3. Our wealth - how we acquired it. Was it halaal means or haraam?

4. Our wealth - how we spent it. Did we give others their rights in it - our relatives, the needy, the orphans, the mujahideen... or did you squander it on ourself alone?

5. Our knowledge - how we acted upon it. How much of our knowledge of Allah’s Deen did we put into practice? Did we study Islam to live by its teachings or did we acquire knowledge of the Quran and hadith to appear knowledgeable with it or gather wealth through it?

These things we seldom think about or question ourselves over. Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has promised us our rizq, but not promised us forgiveness. Yet we fret over the acquisition of wealth but not over acquiring Allah’s forgiveness. Doomed is the person who does not question himself, but waits to be questioned!

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