1. Give priority to the hereafter over this world, because you will then gain both of them.
2. Before you can preach to others, there is a necessary precondition to be met: you must be a Believer. It is not proper for the servant to summon his fellow creatures to the Lord of Truth before having personally attained Him.
3. Every single one of the people of Allah has a police force to protect his heart, they combat the lower self, the natural urges, the passions and highway robbers on the road to Allah.
4. You must soon return to the Lord of Truth, who will ask about your deeds. He created you for a purpose of affirming His Oneness.
5. He did not create you for the sake of this world, nor for the sake of the hereafter -- but rather He created you for Himself.
6. This world can neither satisfy your hunger nor quench your thirst. It is deceitful and cunning. Your tragedy is due to the attachment you pay to your lower self.
7. Your fascination with the superficial aspect of this world is due to the controlling influence of your lower self.
8. If you become detached from your lower self, your heart will speak to you. Then the inner most being will relate to you both. Then the Lord of Truth will befriend you.
9. Assign your outer being to the creation and your heart to the hereafter. As for the inner most being you must lodge it to the Lord of Truth, beyond both this world and the hereafter. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jillani]
Friday, November 29, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Who do we really love?
A man asked the Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), "When will the Hour be established O Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) asked, "What have you prepared for it?" The man said, "I haven't prepared for it much of prayers or fast or alms, but I love Allah and His Apostle." The Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, "You will be with those whom you love." [Bukhari]
Three important points to be noted are:
1. There is something more important than knowing when the Day of Judgement will occur. The more important thing is our preparation for that Day. What good or bad deeds have you sent forth for that Day? Each person's Judgement begins as soon as they die, and their grave becomes either a pit of fire or a garden of Paradise. Therefore, the most relevant thing to worry about is our daily deeds, as we never know when we will die and our Judgement commence.
2. The questioner in the hadith did the Fardh (required) prayers, fasts, and charity but not a whole lot extra. Some people do the opposite; they neglect the Fardh while doing a lot of the nafil (supererogatory). This is misguidance, because the greatest reward is for Fardh deeds and punishment is for neglecting the Fardh, not the nafil
3. Most sobering is that we will be with the people we love on the Day of Judgement. If we love the righteous, God fearing Believers, we will be with them and will follow them to Jannah. We can peek into our heart to see who it is we really love -- the proof of love is in appreciating and trying our best to do what they. This will tell us where we will be on the Day of Judgement.
May Almighty Allah fill our hearts with the love of His lovers, ameen.
Three important points to be noted are:
1. There is something more important than knowing when the Day of Judgement will occur. The more important thing is our preparation for that Day. What good or bad deeds have you sent forth for that Day? Each person's Judgement begins as soon as they die, and their grave becomes either a pit of fire or a garden of Paradise. Therefore, the most relevant thing to worry about is our daily deeds, as we never know when we will die and our Judgement commence.
2. The questioner in the hadith did the Fardh (required) prayers, fasts, and charity but not a whole lot extra. Some people do the opposite; they neglect the Fardh while doing a lot of the nafil (supererogatory). This is misguidance, because the greatest reward is for Fardh deeds and punishment is for neglecting the Fardh, not the nafil
3. Most sobering is that we will be with the people we love on the Day of Judgement. If we love the righteous, God fearing Believers, we will be with them and will follow them to Jannah. We can peek into our heart to see who it is we really love -- the proof of love is in appreciating and trying our best to do what they. This will tell us where we will be on the Day of Judgement.
May Almighty Allah fill our hearts with the love of His lovers, ameen.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Lesson of the day 1342
Ayahs of the day:
If you avoid the worst of what you are forbidden, We will efface your evils from you and introduce you to noble behavior. [4: 31]
Hadith of the day:
None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. [Bukhari]
Wise quote of the day:
Every one in this world is a guest, and his wealth is but a loan. The guest must go sooner or later and the loan must be returned. [Ibn Mus'ud radi Allah anhu]
Guidance of the day:
Night vigils are among the most difficult things for the soul, especially for one to rise after having slept little. However, they become lighter to bear when one becomes accustomed to them and performs them regularly, when one has patience in enduring hardship and strives hard at the beginning. Then the door is opened to intimate comfort with God, the sweetness of communing with Him, and the pleasure of being alone with Him.
At this point one not only no longer finds night vigils too difficult, nor is inclined to surrender to indolence, but on the contrary remains ever eager for more. This happens to the virtuous among God's servants. So much so that one of them said, "If the people of the Gardens are in a state similar to ours during night, they are living pleasantly indeed." Another said, "The people of the night in their nights have more pleasure than the people of frivolity in their play." Yet another said, "Were it not for the night vigils and the company of the brothers in God, I would not have wished to remain in this world." There are innumerable well known anecdotes to this effect. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al Haddad]
Food for thought:
A happy family is but an earlier heaven. The family is one of the nature's masterpieces. Family life is too intimate to be preserved by the spirit of justice. It can be sustained by a spirit of love which goes beyond justice.
If you avoid the worst of what you are forbidden, We will efface your evils from you and introduce you to noble behavior. [4: 31]
Hadith of the day:
None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. [Bukhari]
Wise quote of the day:
Every one in this world is a guest, and his wealth is but a loan. The guest must go sooner or later and the loan must be returned. [Ibn Mus'ud radi Allah anhu]
Guidance of the day:
Night vigils are among the most difficult things for the soul, especially for one to rise after having slept little. However, they become lighter to bear when one becomes accustomed to them and performs them regularly, when one has patience in enduring hardship and strives hard at the beginning. Then the door is opened to intimate comfort with God, the sweetness of communing with Him, and the pleasure of being alone with Him.
At this point one not only no longer finds night vigils too difficult, nor is inclined to surrender to indolence, but on the contrary remains ever eager for more. This happens to the virtuous among God's servants. So much so that one of them said, "If the people of the Gardens are in a state similar to ours during night, they are living pleasantly indeed." Another said, "The people of the night in their nights have more pleasure than the people of frivolity in their play." Yet another said, "Were it not for the night vigils and the company of the brothers in God, I would not have wished to remain in this world." There are innumerable well known anecdotes to this effect. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al Haddad]
Food for thought:
A happy family is but an earlier heaven. The family is one of the nature's masterpieces. Family life is too intimate to be preserved by the spirit of justice. It can be sustained by a spirit of love which goes beyond justice.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Unique quality of a Believer -- Never gets tired of doing good
The Messenger of Allah (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “A believer never gets satisfied doing good until he reaches Jannah.” [Tirmidhi]
According to this hadith, it is a quality of a Muslim that he or she is very concerned about acquiring virtues and doing good, and never tires of struggling for and living by virtuous deeds. This is because “a believer sees his sins as if he were sitting under a mountain which, he is afraid, may fall on him; whereas the wicked person considers his sins as flies passing over his nose and he just drives them away like this. Abu Shihab (the sub-narrator of this statement of Abdullah ibn Masud’s) moved his hand over his nose in illustration.” [Sahih Bukhari]
High achieving students never stop studying because they never feel satisfied that what they know is sufficient. They don’t limit themselves to the bare minimum amount of knowledge needed to pass. One who does so is in danger of failing. Even when they are well prepared they feel that they could know more, or that they might make a mistake which they would have to compensate for with something else. Another reason that high achieving students keep on studying is because of their love for learning.
Similar is the case of a Muslim with good deeds. They love to please Allah (Subhana wa ta’ala) and enter His Jannah. Additionally, they are afraid that what they have prepared of good deeds may not be sufficient so they keep doing what is pleasing to Allah (Subhana wa ta’ala). A borderline pass is not what they aim for, because one could easily make a mistake and end up failing. They aim for a high ‘A’. They do not underestimate the enormity of the sins that they commit and see their sins as a huge mountain looming over them. Thus, they are always trying to compensate for their shortcomings. In this struggle a Muslim reaches the end of his or her life. Such is the successful person for he achieves Jannah.
http://dailyhadith.adaptivesolutionsinc.com
According to this hadith, it is a quality of a Muslim that he or she is very concerned about acquiring virtues and doing good, and never tires of struggling for and living by virtuous deeds. This is because “a believer sees his sins as if he were sitting under a mountain which, he is afraid, may fall on him; whereas the wicked person considers his sins as flies passing over his nose and he just drives them away like this. Abu Shihab (the sub-narrator of this statement of Abdullah ibn Masud’s) moved his hand over his nose in illustration.” [Sahih Bukhari]
High achieving students never stop studying because they never feel satisfied that what they know is sufficient. They don’t limit themselves to the bare minimum amount of knowledge needed to pass. One who does so is in danger of failing. Even when they are well prepared they feel that they could know more, or that they might make a mistake which they would have to compensate for with something else. Another reason that high achieving students keep on studying is because of their love for learning.
Similar is the case of a Muslim with good deeds. They love to please Allah (Subhana wa ta’ala) and enter His Jannah. Additionally, they are afraid that what they have prepared of good deeds may not be sufficient so they keep doing what is pleasing to Allah (Subhana wa ta’ala). A borderline pass is not what they aim for, because one could easily make a mistake and end up failing. They aim for a high ‘A’. They do not underestimate the enormity of the sins that they commit and see their sins as a huge mountain looming over them. Thus, they are always trying to compensate for their shortcomings. In this struggle a Muslim reaches the end of his or her life. Such is the successful person for he achieves Jannah.
http://dailyhadith.adaptivesolutionsinc.com
Friday, November 15, 2013
Pearls of Wisdom 341
1. If someone puts into practice the knowledge he has already acquired, Allah will endow him with knowledge of what he does not know.
2. If someone devotes himself sincerely to Allah for forty days, the fountains of wisdom will gush forth from his heart onto his tongue.
3. Conduct yourselves properly in this abode, so that your religion, your outward and inward may be kept safe and sound until you are made to stand before Him at the Resurrection.
4. Make no one but Him the object of your affection. Make friends with no one but Him. Open your feelings to no one but Him.
5. The believer must ask, as a way of calling himself to account and improving his behavior: "What did I intend by saying what I said? What did I intend by taking the step I took? What did I intend by eating what I ate? Why did I act as I did? Is this in accordance with the Book or Sunnah?"
6. If it should ever happen that your heart is tempted by the beauty and charm of this world, you must get away from it in a hurry, for it will no doubt chase after you.
7. Take from this world in proportion to your need, not for idle sport and to accumulate great wealth.
8. When Islam becomes real through submission, you will surrender your own self (nafs) to the hand of His destiny (qadar).
9. Wake up now, before death brings you to your senses! Be your own preacher and subdue your own self! Spread your wealth around! You are merely a traveler passing through.
10. Your true friend is he who warns you to take care (of your hereafter). [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jillani]
2. If someone devotes himself sincerely to Allah for forty days, the fountains of wisdom will gush forth from his heart onto his tongue.
3. Conduct yourselves properly in this abode, so that your religion, your outward and inward may be kept safe and sound until you are made to stand before Him at the Resurrection.
4. Make no one but Him the object of your affection. Make friends with no one but Him. Open your feelings to no one but Him.
5. The believer must ask, as a way of calling himself to account and improving his behavior: "What did I intend by saying what I said? What did I intend by taking the step I took? What did I intend by eating what I ate? Why did I act as I did? Is this in accordance with the Book or Sunnah?"
6. If it should ever happen that your heart is tempted by the beauty and charm of this world, you must get away from it in a hurry, for it will no doubt chase after you.
7. Take from this world in proportion to your need, not for idle sport and to accumulate great wealth.
8. When Islam becomes real through submission, you will surrender your own self (nafs) to the hand of His destiny (qadar).
9. Wake up now, before death brings you to your senses! Be your own preacher and subdue your own self! Spread your wealth around! You are merely a traveler passing through.
10. Your true friend is he who warns you to take care (of your hereafter). [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jillani]
Monday, November 11, 2013
First things first....
وَعَجِلْتُ إِلَيْكَ رَبِّ لِتَرْضَىٰ
"And I hurried to You, my Lord, so that You'll be pleased."
[Taahaa, [20: 84]
A Qur'aan teacher always advised her students to live by this Ayah:
She told them, "This Ayah is what moves me. When I hear the Adhaan and I'm occupied and in the middle of something, I remind myself of this Ayah and so I get up to pray."
"When my alarm goes off at 2am and I want to go back to sleep I remember: "And I hurried to You, my Lord, so you'll be pleased", and so I get up.
Her husband had the following arrangement with her: On his way home from work he'd call her so she'll get the food hot & ready, so he can come home and eat & sleep.
One day he asked her to make Mahshi (stuffed grape leaves) - very time consuming. You wrap many of them and put the pot of them on the stove to cook. She had 3 more to wrap then she had to put them on the stove to cook.
But the Adhaan came in. So she left the 3 remaining grape-leaves (which would have taken her 5 mins) and went to pray. Her husband kept calling & calling her phone but there was no answer.
He came home and found her in Sujood and food not ready. He saw there were only 3 grape-leaves left. So he got upset & said, "You could have just finished them & put the pot to cook then pray!"
No response.
He went to her to discover she had died in her Sujood!
SubhaanAllaah, had she waited like any of us to "finish whats in her hand" she would have died in the kitchen! But a person dies upon what they lived on. And they are resurrected on what they died on.
When we keep our priorities straight, insha'Allah we will find amazing results --barakah in our time and much more.
"And I hurried to You, my Lord, so that You'll be pleased."
[Taahaa, [20: 84]
A Qur'aan teacher always advised her students to live by this Ayah:
She told them, "This Ayah is what moves me. When I hear the Adhaan and I'm occupied and in the middle of something, I remind myself of this Ayah and so I get up to pray."
"When my alarm goes off at 2am and I want to go back to sleep I remember: "And I hurried to You, my Lord, so you'll be pleased", and so I get up.
Her husband had the following arrangement with her: On his way home from work he'd call her so she'll get the food hot & ready, so he can come home and eat & sleep.
One day he asked her to make Mahshi (stuffed grape leaves) - very time consuming. You wrap many of them and put the pot of them on the stove to cook. She had 3 more to wrap then she had to put them on the stove to cook.
But the Adhaan came in. So she left the 3 remaining grape-leaves (which would have taken her 5 mins) and went to pray. Her husband kept calling & calling her phone but there was no answer.
He came home and found her in Sujood and food not ready. He saw there were only 3 grape-leaves left. So he got upset & said, "You could have just finished them & put the pot to cook then pray!"
No response.
He went to her to discover she had died in her Sujood!
SubhaanAllaah, had she waited like any of us to "finish whats in her hand" she would have died in the kitchen! But a person dies upon what they lived on. And they are resurrected on what they died on.
When we keep our priorities straight, insha'Allah we will find amazing results --barakah in our time and much more.
Friday, November 08, 2013
Lesson of the day 1341
Ayahs of the day:
O human kind, be conscious of your Lord, who created you from one soul, and created its mate from it, and propagated from the two, many men and women. And be conscious of God, by whom you ask of each other; and of relationships; for God is watching you. [4: 1]
Hadith of the day:
Fear the supplication of the one who has been wronged, for there is no barrier between it an Allah. [Muslim]
Wise quote of the day:
Raise your words not your voice -- it is rain that grows flowers, not the thunder. [Mawlana Runi]
Guidance of the day:
It is part of keeping the prayer with care and propriety to be humble therein, presence of heart, reflect on what one is reciting, understand its meanings, feel submission and powerlessness before God when bowing or prostrating, have a heart full of magnitude and holiness of God when uttering the takbir and tasbih, as well as throughout every part of the prayer, avoid incidental thoughts and worldly preoccupations, and turn away from the ego's ruminations.
One should concentrate solely on the proper performance of the prayer, in the exact manner that God has prescribed, for prayer accompanied with distraction and lack of humility or presence is not good enough. Strive to be humble and present in your prayer. Reflect on what you recite of the words of your Lord. Do not be hasty in your recitation, for reflection cannot co-exist with haste. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al Haddad]
Food for thought:
The highest form of vanity is love of fame. (George Santayan)
Fame is vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character. (Harace Greeley)
O human kind, be conscious of your Lord, who created you from one soul, and created its mate from it, and propagated from the two, many men and women. And be conscious of God, by whom you ask of each other; and of relationships; for God is watching you. [4: 1]
Hadith of the day:
Fear the supplication of the one who has been wronged, for there is no barrier between it an Allah. [Muslim]
Wise quote of the day:
Raise your words not your voice -- it is rain that grows flowers, not the thunder. [Mawlana Runi]
Guidance of the day:
It is part of keeping the prayer with care and propriety to be humble therein, presence of heart, reflect on what one is reciting, understand its meanings, feel submission and powerlessness before God when bowing or prostrating, have a heart full of magnitude and holiness of God when uttering the takbir and tasbih, as well as throughout every part of the prayer, avoid incidental thoughts and worldly preoccupations, and turn away from the ego's ruminations.
One should concentrate solely on the proper performance of the prayer, in the exact manner that God has prescribed, for prayer accompanied with distraction and lack of humility or presence is not good enough. Strive to be humble and present in your prayer. Reflect on what you recite of the words of your Lord. Do not be hasty in your recitation, for reflection cannot co-exist with haste. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al Haddad]
Food for thought:
The highest form of vanity is love of fame. (George Santayan)
Fame is vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character. (Harace Greeley)
Monday, November 04, 2013
Muharram Mubarak!!!!
Opportunities for the Believers
Winter -- long nights and short days -- an opportunity to get closer to our Creator through our tahajjud at night and fasting during the day, inshaAllah. Let us get used to doing these (best possible things) when it is sooo easy, and afterwards inshaAllah they will still continue (during summer), because of the sweet taste we will develop for them and the result will be -- we will never want to quit.
These two things were always part of the routine of our righteous predecessors -- whose footsteps if we follow we will inshaAllah succeed in this world and the next. May Allah Most High give us the resolve to do them and make them easy for us, and make this new year a very special experience for us, ameen.
Please read the worthwhile articles below on how to get started and the proven spiritual and health benefits of regularly fasting.
http://productivemuslim.com/ramadan-series-creating-a-habit-of-fasting-after-ramadan-2/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/fasting-health_b_1557043.html
Winter -- long nights and short days -- an opportunity to get closer to our Creator through our tahajjud at night and fasting during the day, inshaAllah. Let us get used to doing these (best possible things) when it is sooo easy, and afterwards inshaAllah they will still continue (during summer), because of the sweet taste we will develop for them and the result will be -- we will never want to quit.
These two things were always part of the routine of our righteous predecessors -- whose footsteps if we follow we will inshaAllah succeed in this world and the next. May Allah Most High give us the resolve to do them and make them easy for us, and make this new year a very special experience for us, ameen.
Please read the worthwhile articles below on how to get started and the proven spiritual and health benefits of regularly fasting.
http://productivemuslim.com/ramadan-series-creating-a-habit-of-fasting-after-ramadan-2/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/fasting-health_b_1557043.html
Friday, November 01, 2013
Diffused Congruence: Zahra Billoo of CAIR
For the second episode of the new podcast examining the many fascinating conversations within the American Muslim community, co-hosts Parvez Ahmed and Zaki Hasan are joined by Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco-Bay Area chapter of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), for an in-depth conversation on the goals, history, and criticisms of the venerable civil rights organization (it marks its second decade next year), and her own efforts to bridge interfaith understanding both before and after becoming a part of it. Download or stream the show below, as well as via iTunes. Send any questions and concerns to DiffusedCongruence@gmail.com.
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