The most appropriate response to praise....

All praise is Allah's alone....

Two things one should bring to mind when one is praised:

1) "I know myself, and my own shortcomings, better than the one praising me."

2) "Allah knows my shortcomings and the darknesses within my soul better than me and the one praising me."
   
(As such I know I do not deserve any praise -- all praise belongs to the One Who has concealed my faults from others.)


Two prayers one should implore Allah with when one is praised:

1) "O Allah, please do not hold me accountable to what they think and say about me! For you know my shortcomings dearly!"

2) "O Allah, make me better than what they think and say about me! For you know how far I have yet to go!"

Lesson of the day 1368

Ayahs of the day:
Believers, if any of you turns from religion, God will bring forth a people whom God loves and who love God, humble toward believers, powerful against scoffers, struggling for the sake of God without fearing the blame of the critic. That is the blessing of God on whomever God wills. And God is all-encompassing, all-knowing. [5: 54]

Hadith of the day:
Whoever follows a path seeking knowledge thereby, Allah will make a path to Paradise easy for him. [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
A sign that Allah has turned away from a servant is that He makes him busy with matters that are of no concern to him. When a person reaches such a point, he must repent and ask Allah to guide him to those matters that are important and beneficial. [Hasan al-Basri]

Guidance of the day:
Among the things that God had bid them join are kinship bonds. Be careful to preserve the kinship bonds. Beware of severing them, for it is one of the greatest sins and its punishment is hastened in this life, after which there shall be severe punishment and painful torment prepared by God in the hereafter. Similarly, the reward for benevolence and nurturing kinship bonds is hastened in this life, after which there shall be immense reward in the hereafter.

Ali by al_Husayn (may God be pleased with both) counseled one of his children thus, "Beware of keeping the company with one who has severed his kinship bonds, for I have seen such a one being cursed in the Book of God the Exalted". The prophet (may blessings and peace be upon him) said: "Mercy doesn't descends on people among whom is one who has severed his kinship bonds." Now if mercy doesn't descend on people in the midst of whom is one who has severed his kinship bonds, how much more does the man himself deserve this? How immense shall God's loathing for him be and His cutting off from all goodness! [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
Bad temper is a sign of inferiority. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Exaggerated sensitiveness is an expression of the feeling of inferiority. The greater the feeling of inferiority that has been experienced, the more powerful is the urge to conquest and the more violent the emotional agitation. The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.

Pearls of Wisdom 364

1. Laziness of the common folk in worshiping their Lord is a grave matter, but that same laziness from the teachers and students of Sacred Knowledge is even more so.

2. The arrogance of wealthy is something to be detested, but that shown by the poor is even more so.

3. It is Jihad which lays down the last brick of Imaan.

4. Rein in your tongue from complaining about others, and you will be granted a life of happiness.

5. Weep regarding that day which passed by without any goodly acts adorning it.

6. The reward for every virtue has its measure, yet the reward for patience has no measure.

7. The thankful Believer is closest to well-being.

8. Your fear of Allah is commensurate of how well you know Him, and your lack of fear regarding Him is commensurate with your ignorance of Him.

9. You are determined to lose yourself in the baggage of this world, while the world is equally determined to remove you from itself.

10. Taking pains to remove the pains of others is the true essence of generosity. [Abu Bakr radi Allah anhu]

Latest means to understanding "hijab"

Once, a girl bought an iPad. When her father saw it he asked,
"What was the first thing you did when you bought it?"
"I put an anti-scratch sticker on the screen and bought a cover for the iPad," she replied.
"Did someone force you to?"
"No."
"Don't you think it's an insult to the manufacturer??"
"No dad, in fact they even recommend using a cover for the iPad."
"Did you cover it because it was cheap and ugly?"
"Actually, I covered it because I didn't want it to get damaged and decrease in value."
"When you put the cover on didn't it reduce the iPad's beauty?"
"I think it looks better, and its worth it for the protection it gives my iPad."
The father looked lovingly at his daughter and said ...
"Hijab..."
Nothing else..

Lesson of the day 1367

Ayahs of the day:
But God is relenting toward anyone who repents and makes amends after having done wrong; for God is most forgiving, most merciful. [5: 39]

Hadith of the day:
May Allah make radiant the face of the one who hears something from us and conveys it as he heard it, for perhaps the one to whom it is conveyed will understand it better than the one who heard it. [Tirmidhi]

Wise quote of the day:
One who often thinks and reflects develops his foresight and vision. [Ali radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the day:
The most important duty for parents as concerns their children is to teach them virtue and courtesy, so that they may grow up loving goodness, accepting truth, respectful of religious matters, but disdainful of worldly ones, always giving priority to things of the hereafter.

Those who fail to bring up their children in a disciplined and virtuous manner, but plant in their hearts the love of this world and its appetites, and render them careless as concerns religion, then they see them rebelling against them, let them blame only themselves. Loss is more likely to affect the neglectful. Much of the disloyalty witnessed these days is due to neglecting what has been mentioned earlier. This becomes evident to anyone who observes and reflects on how things are. Power and ability are only by God, the High and Formidable. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
If you have great talents, hard work will improve them; if moderate abilities, hard work will supply their deficiencies. Nothing is denied to well-directed labor; nothing is ever to be attained without it. Hard work is the soul of business and the keystone of prosperity in this life and the next. In ordinary business of life, industry can do anything which genius can do, and very many things it cannot.

Pearls of Wisdom 363

1. Reliance on God, contentment, and frugality are such a treasury and wealth that they can be exchanged for nothing. [Badi Uzzaman Nursi]

2. When it has been said that the angels spread out their wings in the path of the one seeking sacred knowledge, then just imagine what Allah has in store for such a person. [Abu Ali Daqqaq]

3. Wisdom takes root in the heart only when dunya and its trappings have been uprooted from it. [Abu Ali al Daqqaq]

4. The greatest I'tikaf that one can observe is that the Divine commands and prohibitions never leave his sight. [Abu Othman Sa'ad]

5. The accomplished spiritual is he who has achieved the precarious balance between hope and fear. [Abu Othman Sa'ad]

6. Those who love the beloved of Allah (Awliyas) are counted by Allah as being from them. [Abu Othman Sa'ad]

7. The greatness of a believer is in his God-Consciousness, and his pride in his obedience and his courage lies in his display of good character under all circumstances. [Omar radi Allah anhu]

8. The tranquility of both worlds lies in the understanding of these two words -- generosity towards friends, and forbearance towards enemies. [Hafiz Shiraz]

9. Know that it is not your family and friends, but rather your deen which truly looks after you. [Hasan radi Allah anhu]

10. In the Divine court lineage has no place, rather it is the righteousness of action which is the ultimate arbiter. [Owais al Qarni]