“As-salámu 'alaikum wa rahmatul láhi wa barakátuh!”
“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem.
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi,
Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh!”
Amma Ba’ad:
Today I would like to welcome all of you, students, teachers, families and specially those who have traveled long distances to achieve their dreams and in the process will become a part of the youth on campus. I hope in sincerity, inshallah, that this orientation program will give you some insight of what a Muslim student’s life is at this campus and in this community, at large. I hope in sincerity, that today you will get to know the people who care about you and the people in whom you will see your own spiritual reflection. I hope in sincerity, that wherever you will move on from here, you will carry with you memories of a time well spent and a time well used in the a’boodiyah of Allah SWT.
When we look at the lives of the companions of the Prophet SAW, we will see many examples that will make us wonder about ourselves. We will see examples from the youth of that era that will make our hair stand on their ends.
Some say, that Muslims always talk about stories a thousand years old and they love to live in the past glory. Well yes that’s true. We do live in the past, but we don’t isolate ourselves in the past. We learn from our values, our mistakes, our accomplishments, our achievements and then move on to the next level which is to transform ourselves into a better human being. We read about the lives of the Saliheen, We smile on their humor, we weep on their sadness, we show emotions on their anger and hence we connect ourselves to their lives, for they spent lives in complete submission to the will of Allah SWT.
They were the people of great understanding of religion…. Which doesn’t mean that they spent all day reading books and collecting information.. they laughed, they joked, they used to pray together, they used to compete against eachother in various sports… but all that was done within the circle of Sharia, within the boundaries prescribed by the Word of Allah SWT. This reminds me of an incident…
INCIDENT OF NUAYMAN IBN `AMR (RA)
Once Nuayman went to the suq and saw some food being sold which appeared to be tasty and delightful. He ordered some and sent it to the Prophet as if it were a gift from him. The Prophet was delighted with the food and he and his family ate of it. The vendor of the food then came to Nuayman to collect the price of it and an-Nuayman said to him: "Go to the Messenger of God it was for him. He and his family ate it." .. The vendor went to the Prophet who in turn asked Nuayman: "Didn't you give it to me?" "Yes," said Nuayman. "I thought you would like it and I wanted you to eat some of it so I had it presented to you. But I don't have any dirhams to pay the vendor for it. So, pay, O Messenger of God!" The Prophet had a good laugh and so did his companions. The laugh was at his expense, literally, for he had to pay the price of the unsolicited gift. Nuayman felt that two benefits came out of the incident: the Prophet and his family ate food that they enjoyed and the Muslims had a good laugh!
Yes, they were people who knew how to have fun, but when it came to religious obligations, they were the first to sacrifice, they were the first to devote themselves, and they heard and practiced the word of Allah SWT like no other. Their day to day lives, habits, and actions were according the guidelines of Quran and Sunnah.
Allah SWT has commanded us in Quran that we spend time in His remembrance. He commands us to pray 5 times a day. Allah SWT also says in Surah Al Ara’af
وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ تَضَرُّعاً وَخِيفَةً وَدُونَ الْجَهْرِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالآصَالِ وَلاَ تَكُن مِّنَ الْغَافِلِينَ
“And remember your Lord by your tongue and within yourself, humbly and with fear without loudness in words in the mornings, and in the afternoons and be not of those who are neglectful.” [7:205].
All these commandments are for a reason, to make us strong in our faith, to keep ourselves away from evil and above all to give us an identity. An identity that is true to the concept of servitude towards Allah SWT. An identity, that binds us all in the end together. As a Muslim student in this part of the world, this identity means even more to us because that’s how we are looked upon, judged upon, and ultimately recognized upon. Having established the fact that when you come to this society and establish yourself therein, the only thing that gives you a complete sense of presence and association is your identity as a muslim, we can now move on to some of the hurdles that may present some challenge to us in our life here.
SALAT
The first and the foremost challenge that we will encounter here is the establishment of our salaat. It is a direct commandment of Allah SWT that requires us to establish salaat in all conditions. One has to realize that if we were to maintain our identity in this environment as muslims, we must switch from a passive contributor to an active contributor in our community. The environment at the school will test us at many levels where it will be required of us to provide explanations for our religious actions. We can no longer choose to be approached by others to establish the salaat, rather we have to assume this duty ourselves and take responsibility of establishing salaat. Some of our brothers are already engaged in these activities on the campus. We must contribute our share of effort towards this important cause, for Allah SWT says in the Quran:
إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ
5:55 Your (real) friends are (no less than) Allah, His Messenger, and the (fellowship of) believers,- those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship).
Sometimes, there is a conflict between our salaat and the class timings, so you will see many of us sacrificing our classes to establish the salaat. Some of us are spending extra hours after school to make up for that missed time. An outsider may question us if it is worth it? But a believer knows it is all worth it, for if the Creator is not happy with us, nothing we achieve is of any value to us in Aakhira.
My example – salat on campus – people interested to know about it
WUDU
The next challenge you may face in the university environment is the pre-requisite of the Salaat, i.e. Wudu. We may not find the same facilities on the campus as we are used to in our own countries. We may feel shy or inconfident to use public washrooms on campus to perform wudu. Remember, our salaat is not for someone, not even for ourselves; rather it is to please Allah SWT. Allah SWT will reward us many folds for each action that we carry out in His path. It has happened to me many a times in public washrooms, where I have to wash my feet in the sink and somebody walks in, and gives me a look like “Whaaaaa?” So before they say a word, I say, “We need to be clean before we make worship, right.” And most of the times, they will smile and nod but there are a few times when they cannot understand. Sometimes they inquire and it becomes a reason to explain to others what the tenets of my religion are. In my heart, I don’t feel hesitant because my salaat is for Allah SWT and my wudu is to make that salaat as perfect as possible.
FASTING
Ramadhan is coming soon and to maintain the spirit of Saum on campus can be a little frustrating. On one side we are trying to keep ourselves away from the evils, and on the other hand we are surrounded by all kinds of distractions. In addition to maintaining our devotion to the remembrance of Allah SWT and salaat, we have some extra restrictions on us. We cannot raise our temper, we cannot involve ourselves in idle activities, we cannot use harsh words against one another, we keep ourselves away from eating or drinking or having any kind of sexual contacts, and on top of that we still have to maintain a social circle where people have to accept us as one of their own. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. A muslim’s life on campus is therefore a constant struggle against all these difficulties and each of these difficulties when conquered gives a new boost to the morale and a new confidence and a new strength to our faith.
The above are few examples of the challenges on a personal level and are related to physicality of our worships. There are some challenges that may be categorized as mental challenges or spiritual challenges.
IDENTITY:
In order to understand the challenges that you face or will face, we have to look upon our origin. We ought to know where we came from and what are we capable of. We ought to know our identity, define it and then live by it. All of us came from different countries with different backgrounds, where we never questioned as to what our identity is because it is never asked of us. Now people will question us, of who we are and to what we associate ourselves to? We will be asked of what we adhere to and why? We will be asked of why we follow such and such? There are many answers to these questions… because I am from Africa, I am from Pakistan, Palestine…. Or because I am an Indian or because I am an Arab or a Chinese… but before we can utter any word from our mouth we ought to think as to what is common among all of us that binds us together.. and that is Islam, our religion… suddenly all the shades, colors, creeds, nationalities, linguistic boundaries disappear when we are confident to call ourselves Muslims, our real identity suddenly shines and all our actions become self explanatory.
SOCIALIZATION:
Islam gives us a very strong perspective on the importance of socialization. The spread of the word of Allah SWT is achieved through socialization. We, as muslims must keep contacts with others surrounding us, for we may become the reason for the spread of the true Word, the Quran.
There is no doubt that the company of friends influences the formation of our characters. For this reason, Allah's Messenger SAW, said, "A person is influenced by his companions religion, so watch who your companions are." (Abu Dawood,
Tirmidhi)
This influence is acquired from two aspects: 1. The first is acquired in the company of relatives, neighbors, school and all those with whom a person is compelled to spend time.2. The second type of influence is acquired within more religious company which is likely to meet those who are less concerned. Though they pray and fast, they are less serious in carrying the message of Islam, dawah, sacrifice, etc. And if a person's faith is weak and is inclined towards desire and negligence, he will find comfort in this company. The effects of this influence become apparent through certain factors that include doing things he never used to do before. He begins considering those on the deviated path as examples in life and as a result, he starts imitating them saying, "If he can do this, why can't I?" He begins to please others at the expense of pleasing Allah by performing actions never done before or abandoning some good deeds. He abandons, for example, praying sunnah, or starts showing up late for congregation salaat, starts getting used to watching and hearing forbidden things- as a result, he even stops forbidding the evil. All this is no doubt a consequence of weak imaan and the influence of either a bad company or a group who are less serious with Islam and more inclined towards desire.
If the companions are pious and muttaqi, then chances are, we may also keep our faith strengthen. If the companions are involved in the evil practices, the chances will be that we will indulge in those practices giving a blind eye to the commandment of Allah SWT. The peer pressure can drive people far and beyond and when one realizes, then there is only regret. One should therefore make sure that the circle of friends that one chooses is of the Saliheen and Aabideen so that the company itself becomes the remembrance of Allah SWT.
CONFUSION BETWEEN RELIGION AND CULTURE:
Because of our varied background, we are sometimes confused about which of our customs originated from the teachings of islam and which of them came from our culture. Sometimes, we believe that a certain action that we have been accustomed to in our countries is a teaching of our religion, but we find out by doing a little research that those actions and habits actually originated from our culture and have nothing to do with the teaching of Islam. This confusion is not only limited to our muslim friends, and sometimes we see that lot of non muslims on the campus are in the same confusion when they meet us muslims. They have trouble differentiating if a certain thing that we do is from our religion or from our culture. For example, one may ask me if my outfit is a requirement by Islamic law, so I can clarify to him, that I am required by my religion to wear loose clothing and style may vary from one muslim country to another. Or if one asks a muslimah sister, “Is this Hijab a requirement by Islamic Law?” Then she would explain that, It’s a religious requirement for a muslim woman to cover her hair, although the style of the hijab may vary from one muslim country to another. In order to differentiate between the two we must be clear about the commandments ourselves. We must be clear about the difference between the teachings that came from our religion and the customs that were given to us by our culture.
STEREOTYPES
While maintaining our muslim identity on campus, we may from time to time run into people who have certain stereotypes against muslims. This may be due to the current Media distortion of the Islamic image, or due to some other reasons, but one does experience it from time to time. The only thing that helps us to defend ourselves in such circumstance is our faith and the conviction that this is a test from Allah SWT. Although at first it may be a negative experience but one can use the situation to explain our point of view. Most people who stereotype us realize that they are too quick to judge us and that there is more to Islam than what they have been watching on the television.
Example – salat in the mall – tim hortons. – ready to fly – whats wrong down there dear –
These are just a few example of challenges that we may face in our university environment. One has to think of how to rise to these challenges. There is no quick solution to any of these problems but there are couple of things that we can do to confront them.
UNITY & COMMUNICATION
We must at all times have open communications between our muslim friends. This will give us a sense of comfort that there is somebody who shares the same struggles. Also it will give us a sense of association, since we have the same religious background. We will know whats going on in the muslim community and vice versa. It will give us an avenue to share our problems and voice our concerns regarding our personal matters as well as anything that is troubling us.
I am sure there are a lot of things that I have not touched base with in this speech that were important, but I took the liberty of bringing out the key points regarding the challenges that a muslim youth faces in the universities. If you think that there is something that I missed, or something that should be discussed, Inshallah bring it to our weekly halaqa, we all would love to discuss it
Wa Aakhuru Da`waana Anil `7amdu Lillah i Rabbilaalimeen.
September 2005
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Journey to Allah SWT
Insignificance of a Human Being and Significance of Creation
Allah SWT has created us from nothing and into something that all creations envied. The status of the creation of Insaan has been described by Allah SWT as a clot or as a germ cell or sperm cell. That is in reality what our origin is, and nothing more.
Allah SWT made us to realize this aspect from the first verses that were revealed:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ -خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ-اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ-الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ-عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created-
Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood:
Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,-
He Who taught (the use of) the pen,-
Taught man that which he knew not.
-Asking man to ponder over where he came from
ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ
Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!
-Asking man to wonder of how he was created and transformed into this beautiful form
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ
We have indeed created man in the best of moulds,
-Realization of the creation and the realization of the creator
-Once realized, will understand the responsibility towards Allah, towards other creations, towards other human beings, towards himself
Allah SWT has instilled in ourselves a system of understanding good or evil and use our intuitions to follow one or the other. Insaan now thinks that he has explored the outer space so he has achieved something…he has explored the seas, so he has achieved something… he has invented new technology to please his nafs,so he has achieved something… The truth is that insaan has forgotten of Who created this fitrah to explore, to invent, to find solutions… he has forgotten his creator.
A human being that comes into this world, comes with a pure mind and pure heart and that is all he has when he steps into this cruel environment, that sometimes teaches him to become thankful to Allah SWT and sometimes it pushes his Nafs to a level where he becomes munkir of Allah SWT.
So Allah SWT reminds us that although the insaan is created in the best of its forms that is the most stable in physique, the most ideal in psychology, the best in terms of the Zaahiri aspect and the best in terms of the baatini aspect for any being but that this insaan should not forget that his origin was merely a speck , a germ cell or
Or a dot.
Now I would like to share a poem with you that deals with this amazing journey of Insaan towards his creator. Look at this person who came to this duniya with all the pure thoughts and whose mission was to find his creator and suddenly he finds himself trapped in the duniya and the fear of becoming part of it. Then a low point comes in his life when he sees others around him trapped in materialism and he almost looses his hope but still keeps on reminding himself about his own reality. After much struggle he does finds others who are also searching for Allah and that gives him some relief that by keeping this company of righteous people, he will be able to overcome all the hurdles of this tyrant duniya.
Walking on the muddy path I cross the forest of Solitude,
The greenery, the freshness, is magnificent, let alone the magnitude,
My mind is all focused, my heart full of courage,
The journey begins to search for my Creator, to respond to His Message,
O Allah! This is I, a speck, a clot, a dot!
The cold breeze go by my face, makes my hair swim in the air,
Trees swaying, plants dancing, creating harmony everywhere,
Somewhere I see streaks of rays of golden sparkling sunlight,
Forcing their way through the canopy, I wonder at Allah's might,
O Allah! This is I, in search of you, a dot!
There I see a drop of dew just about to fall,
In it are seven colours of life, all trees short and tall,
I hear the water flowing in a nearby stream,
Singing glories of my Creator, knitting a beautiful dream,
O Allah! This is I, in search of you, a dot!
I enter into a town, a town called Materialism,
Where people are known to be selfish, trapped in their own prism,
They have their own values, misery and greediness,
This all looks so dark, full of sadness and no happiness,
O Allah! This is I, in need of Your help, a dot!
Walking on the side of the street, I see many faces in cry,
It seems they have lost the path, the destiny, the urge, the hope to try,
Their looks are so empty; their desires have no aim,
They like to pull each other's leg to get all the fame,
O Allah! It's I, trapped in dunya, a dot!
Women walk bare-chest, attracting others on the way,
Men hovering around them like bees, forgetting about the Day,
Tears flow in my eyes, trickle down the cheeks and dry,
These are specks, dots, clots, who gave up to try,
O Allah! Be Merciful, I am just a dot!
Absorbed in my mind, I cried, my tears soaking the ground,
When suddenly I heard some footsteps that made me turn around,
I saw some people looking at me with hope in their eyes,
Who want to follow the Truth, the Message, and not the made up lies,
O Allah! Be the Guidance, I am just a dot!
The hopelessness will perish; the faith will prevail,
We will work together, to succeed and not to fail,
The Creator will guide us to spread the Truth to all,
So that we may all rise, and not to face the Fall,
O Allah! Bless us with Your Mercy, we are just dots!
My journey carries on to search for my Creator,
Telling others His Message and that no one else is greater,
He is the Master; we are the slaves,
Who showed us the light and let us out of the caves,
O Allah, it's still I, a speck, a clot, a dot!
Wama Taufiqi Ilallah Billah!
June 23, 2006
Allah SWT has created us from nothing and into something that all creations envied. The status of the creation of Insaan has been described by Allah SWT as a clot or as a germ cell or sperm cell. That is in reality what our origin is, and nothing more.
Allah SWT made us to realize this aspect from the first verses that were revealed:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ -خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ-اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ-الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ-عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created-
Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood:
Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,-
He Who taught (the use of) the pen,-
Taught man that which he knew not.
-Asking man to ponder over where he came from
ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ
Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!
-Asking man to wonder of how he was created and transformed into this beautiful form
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ
We have indeed created man in the best of moulds,
-Realization of the creation and the realization of the creator
-Once realized, will understand the responsibility towards Allah, towards other creations, towards other human beings, towards himself
Allah SWT has instilled in ourselves a system of understanding good or evil and use our intuitions to follow one or the other. Insaan now thinks that he has explored the outer space so he has achieved something…he has explored the seas, so he has achieved something… he has invented new technology to please his nafs,so he has achieved something… The truth is that insaan has forgotten of Who created this fitrah to explore, to invent, to find solutions… he has forgotten his creator.
A human being that comes into this world, comes with a pure mind and pure heart and that is all he has when he steps into this cruel environment, that sometimes teaches him to become thankful to Allah SWT and sometimes it pushes his Nafs to a level where he becomes munkir of Allah SWT.
So Allah SWT reminds us that although the insaan is created in the best of its forms that is the most stable in physique, the most ideal in psychology, the best in terms of the Zaahiri aspect and the best in terms of the baatini aspect for any being but that this insaan should not forget that his origin was merely a speck , a germ cell or
Or a dot.
Now I would like to share a poem with you that deals with this amazing journey of Insaan towards his creator. Look at this person who came to this duniya with all the pure thoughts and whose mission was to find his creator and suddenly he finds himself trapped in the duniya and the fear of becoming part of it. Then a low point comes in his life when he sees others around him trapped in materialism and he almost looses his hope but still keeps on reminding himself about his own reality. After much struggle he does finds others who are also searching for Allah and that gives him some relief that by keeping this company of righteous people, he will be able to overcome all the hurdles of this tyrant duniya.
Walking on the muddy path I cross the forest of Solitude,
The greenery, the freshness, is magnificent, let alone the magnitude,
My mind is all focused, my heart full of courage,
The journey begins to search for my Creator, to respond to His Message,
O Allah! This is I, a speck, a clot, a dot!
The cold breeze go by my face, makes my hair swim in the air,
Trees swaying, plants dancing, creating harmony everywhere,
Somewhere I see streaks of rays of golden sparkling sunlight,
Forcing their way through the canopy, I wonder at Allah's might,
O Allah! This is I, in search of you, a dot!
There I see a drop of dew just about to fall,
In it are seven colours of life, all trees short and tall,
I hear the water flowing in a nearby stream,
Singing glories of my Creator, knitting a beautiful dream,
O Allah! This is I, in search of you, a dot!
I enter into a town, a town called Materialism,
Where people are known to be selfish, trapped in their own prism,
They have their own values, misery and greediness,
This all looks so dark, full of sadness and no happiness,
O Allah! This is I, in need of Your help, a dot!
Walking on the side of the street, I see many faces in cry,
It seems they have lost the path, the destiny, the urge, the hope to try,
Their looks are so empty; their desires have no aim,
They like to pull each other's leg to get all the fame,
O Allah! It's I, trapped in dunya, a dot!
Women walk bare-chest, attracting others on the way,
Men hovering around them like bees, forgetting about the Day,
Tears flow in my eyes, trickle down the cheeks and dry,
These are specks, dots, clots, who gave up to try,
O Allah! Be Merciful, I am just a dot!
Absorbed in my mind, I cried, my tears soaking the ground,
When suddenly I heard some footsteps that made me turn around,
I saw some people looking at me with hope in their eyes,
Who want to follow the Truth, the Message, and not the made up lies,
O Allah! Be the Guidance, I am just a dot!
The hopelessness will perish; the faith will prevail,
We will work together, to succeed and not to fail,
The Creator will guide us to spread the Truth to all,
So that we may all rise, and not to face the Fall,
O Allah! Bless us with Your Mercy, we are just dots!
My journey carries on to search for my Creator,
Telling others His Message and that no one else is greater,
He is the Master; we are the slaves,
Who showed us the light and let us out of the caves,
O Allah, it's still I, a speck, a clot, a dot!
Wama Taufiqi Ilallah Billah!
June 23, 2006
Tauba
Assalam o allaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu, my dear respected brothers, sisters and elders.
Qalallau Taala Az Wajal, Allahu la ilaha illa hual Hayyul Qayyum……..
In the name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most merciful. Salutations be upon our august master Nabi Mohammad SAW, his noble companions and the pious scholars who transmitted this true deen to us.
One day Adam AS said to Allah SWT that O Allah you have given so much power and control to Shaytan over me. How will it be possible for me to save myself from Shaytan. You have given so much power to Shaytan over myself and I am expected to not follow the footsteps of Shaytan in this imbalance of power and temptation.
Allah SWT then said to Adam AS that O Adam, I have appointed such beings over every one of your kind, means over each and every child of Adam AS to protect them from the onslaught of the Shaytan. It is mentioned in the Ahadeeth that every human being has Malaikah or angels over them to protect them. If it were not the mercy of Allah and these angels, the human beings would have been destroyed by the attacks of Shaytan or probably would have not even been existing in the state as we are today or if existed probably would have been worse than the animals.
Adam AS then requested to Allah SWT, that O Allah SWT, You have blessed me with this bounty, then give me another bounty. Allah SWt then said to Adam AS, O Adam, every good thing that you do, We will multiply it by 10 times and if you will do any bad deed it will be counted once. This has been a great bounty of Allah SWT.
Adam AS then said to Allah SWT, O Allah increase for me. Then Allah SWT obviously talks about the increase in the context of Shaytan having power of mankind. Allah SWT then said, My doors of repentance (tawba) will be open right until a person dies.
Now these are three bounties that Allah SWT has given to each one of us as a deterrent against Shaytan.
The Faqeeh and Muhaddith Abul Lays Al Samarqandi narrates an incident from Rasulallah SAW that gives a glimpse of how vast the mercy of Allah SWT is.
Once Umar RA came of Rasulallah SAW and he was crying very very severly. Umar RA, you know what type of a person he was and those who have learnt from ahadeeth will know that he was person of strong heart and when Rasulallah SAW saw him crying, it was very surprising for the prophet.
Nabi Kareem SAW said, O Umar, Ma U'teeka... What is that is making you cry?
Umar RA said that there is youngster that is standing at the door. He is crying so profusely that his crying is making me cry. Rasulallah SAW said to Umar RA that , O Umar call the youngster inside. Rasulallah SAW asked the youngster, Why are you crying? You cried in such a manner that you made even a person like Umar RA cry?
The youngster replied that he had committed a major major, a severe sin. Rasuallah SAW told him, If your sins are equivalent to the seven skies, seven earths and all the mountains on the earth, even then you do not have to worry because Allah SWT will forgive you.
The youngster replied that O Prophet of Allah, my sin is even more than the seven skies, seven earths and the all the mountains on the earth. Rasuallah SAW then asked him, Is your sin greater than the Kursi of Allah SWT?
He said, O Prophet of Allah, according to the understanding I have, my sin is even greater than the Kursi of Allah SWT. Rasuallah SAW then asked him, Is your sin greater than the Arsh of Allah SWT? He said, O Prophet of Allah, my sin is even greater than the Arsh of Allah. Rasuallah SAW then asked him, Is your sin greater than Allah SWT himself? It is a rhetorical question, Is your sin greater or Allah SWT greater. Obviously Allah SWT is greater over all things.
Nabi SAW then asked him, What is the sin you committed that is greater than seven skies, seven earths mountains, the kursi of Allah and even the Arsh of Allah SWT ? He said, O Prophet of Allah, I was a thief who used to steal the Kafan ( the burial shrouds) from the graveyard. Once a young girl was buried in the grave yard and after the family left, I took off her shroud, leaving her naked, and I ran away from there. When I was running I was over-powered by Shaytan and I returned to the grave and committed zina with that dead girl in the Qabr.
Abu Layth Samarqandi says, that, Then Allah SWT out of His Qudrat and Mercy gave life to that girl.
The girl addressed to that man, Are you not ashamed, firstly that you left me naked in the army of the dead where everyone had kafan except me and on top of that you left me infront of Allah SWT in a state of Janaabah. Don't you feel ashamed about it?
So this sin of mine left me paralyzed in my mental faculty and I believe that it is a sin that is greater than the seven skies, earths and the mountains and the kursi and Arsh of Allah SWT.
Nabi SAW heard this, and Nabi SAW sent him away. This person after the meeting with Rasulallah
SAW spent his time making tawba to Allah SWT.
For many days he would ask Allah SWT to forgive him and he made a dua to Allah SWT that if Allah SWT were to forgive him, then first inform Rasulallah SAW about his forgiveness.
Jibraeel AS came to Rasulallah SAW and asked him,
Did you create creation, or Allah created?
Allah created.
Do you provide sustenance to the creation or Allah SWT provides?
Allah provides.
If a person disobeys Allah, is he disobeying Allah or is he disobeying you?
He is disobeying Allah.
Then Jibraeel AS informed Rasulallah SAW that this person made such sincere tawba that Allah SWT has forgiven him. Faqeeh Abul Layth Al Samarqandi says that Rasulallah SAW called this person and gave him the bashaarah of his tawba.
Allah SWT has made each one of us weak and Shaytan does overpower us due to this weakness but one should not feel despondent and should not give up hope from Allah SWT. Each one of us is in the same boat and one should not feel that since our sin is so big we will be left alone by our creator. No, Allah SWT, will definitely forgive us , only if we seek repentance from Him sincerely.
One of the sahabi of Rasulallah SAW known as Wahshi RA. He was the qatil of Hamza RA ( the uncle of Prophet SAW) in the battle of Uhud. He wrote a letter to Rasulallah SAW, that I wish to accept Islam but I have some reservation. The reservation is that Allah SWT says in Quran al Kareem that those who do not commit shirk with Allah SWT, those who do not kill other people, and those who do not commit zina, Allah SWT forgives them. I would accept Islam but I have reservation, that all these three things mentioned in the Quran, I have committed all of them. I committed shirk, I killed people including your uncle and I also committed zina.
So if my tawba is accepted then that means that it is as if I have not done these three things but I HAVE done these three things. So Rasulallah SAW, wrote him back and said,
إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
25:70 "Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful,"
Wahshi RA sent a message back, I still have a reservation. Allah SWT says in this verse that one has to repent, believe and do amaal saalih. This puts the conditions on my forgiveness. I want a forgiveness that is unconditional, what if I don't do amaal al Saleh, then my forgiveness is not complete. To this Rasulallah SAW replied to him,
إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاء وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَى إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
4:48 "Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed."
So Nabi Kareem SAW made clear to him Allah SWT says that Allah SWT will forgive anyone except that who does not commit shirk. So as long as he does not commit shirk, he has high chance of forgiveness.
He writes back to Rasulallah SAW,
For this too I have some reservation that Maghfirah is Muallaq on the Masheeat of Allah SWT. What this means is that although I seek forgiveness from Allah SWT, it is upto Allah SWT to forgive me. There is no way of knowing if indeed I am forgiven or not. I want to be forgiven completely and unreservedly. Upon that Rasulallah SAW replied to him with the ayah:
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
39:53 SAY: “[Thus speaks God:] ‘O you servants of Mine who have transgressed against your own selves! Despair not of God’s mercy: behold, God forgives all sins - for, verily, He alone is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!’ ”
That Allah SWT says those who have become despondent of Allah’s mercy, do not lose hope for Allah’s mercy has no bounds.
So my dear respected brothers and sisters, do not let ourselves lose the sight of the vast mercy of Allah SWT. The doors are open and it is upto us to take the path of tawbah and ikhlas. If we take this path, the mercy of Allah SWT is waiting for us and with this mercy our duniya and akhira can become successful. May Allah SWT give us the taufeeq to ask forgiveness for our past sins and give us the ability to be steadfast on the path of righteousness. Ameen.
November 03, 2006
Qalallau Taala Az Wajal, Allahu la ilaha illa hual Hayyul Qayyum……..
In the name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most merciful. Salutations be upon our august master Nabi Mohammad SAW, his noble companions and the pious scholars who transmitted this true deen to us.
One day Adam AS said to Allah SWT that O Allah you have given so much power and control to Shaytan over me. How will it be possible for me to save myself from Shaytan. You have given so much power to Shaytan over myself and I am expected to not follow the footsteps of Shaytan in this imbalance of power and temptation.
Allah SWT then said to Adam AS that O Adam, I have appointed such beings over every one of your kind, means over each and every child of Adam AS to protect them from the onslaught of the Shaytan. It is mentioned in the Ahadeeth that every human being has Malaikah or angels over them to protect them. If it were not the mercy of Allah and these angels, the human beings would have been destroyed by the attacks of Shaytan or probably would have not even been existing in the state as we are today or if existed probably would have been worse than the animals.
Adam AS then requested to Allah SWT, that O Allah SWT, You have blessed me with this bounty, then give me another bounty. Allah SWt then said to Adam AS, O Adam, every good thing that you do, We will multiply it by 10 times and if you will do any bad deed it will be counted once. This has been a great bounty of Allah SWT.
Adam AS then said to Allah SWT, O Allah increase for me. Then Allah SWT obviously talks about the increase in the context of Shaytan having power of mankind. Allah SWT then said, My doors of repentance (tawba) will be open right until a person dies.
Now these are three bounties that Allah SWT has given to each one of us as a deterrent against Shaytan.
The Faqeeh and Muhaddith Abul Lays Al Samarqandi narrates an incident from Rasulallah SAW that gives a glimpse of how vast the mercy of Allah SWT is.
Once Umar RA came of Rasulallah SAW and he was crying very very severly. Umar RA, you know what type of a person he was and those who have learnt from ahadeeth will know that he was person of strong heart and when Rasulallah SAW saw him crying, it was very surprising for the prophet.
Nabi Kareem SAW said, O Umar, Ma U'teeka... What is that is making you cry?
Umar RA said that there is youngster that is standing at the door. He is crying so profusely that his crying is making me cry. Rasulallah SAW said to Umar RA that , O Umar call the youngster inside. Rasulallah SAW asked the youngster, Why are you crying? You cried in such a manner that you made even a person like Umar RA cry?
The youngster replied that he had committed a major major, a severe sin. Rasuallah SAW told him, If your sins are equivalent to the seven skies, seven earths and all the mountains on the earth, even then you do not have to worry because Allah SWT will forgive you.
The youngster replied that O Prophet of Allah, my sin is even more than the seven skies, seven earths and the all the mountains on the earth. Rasuallah SAW then asked him, Is your sin greater than the Kursi of Allah SWT?
He said, O Prophet of Allah, according to the understanding I have, my sin is even greater than the Kursi of Allah SWT. Rasuallah SAW then asked him, Is your sin greater than the Arsh of Allah SWT? He said, O Prophet of Allah, my sin is even greater than the Arsh of Allah. Rasuallah SAW then asked him, Is your sin greater than Allah SWT himself? It is a rhetorical question, Is your sin greater or Allah SWT greater. Obviously Allah SWT is greater over all things.
Nabi SAW then asked him, What is the sin you committed that is greater than seven skies, seven earths mountains, the kursi of Allah and even the Arsh of Allah SWT ? He said, O Prophet of Allah, I was a thief who used to steal the Kafan ( the burial shrouds) from the graveyard. Once a young girl was buried in the grave yard and after the family left, I took off her shroud, leaving her naked, and I ran away from there. When I was running I was over-powered by Shaytan and I returned to the grave and committed zina with that dead girl in the Qabr.
Abu Layth Samarqandi says, that, Then Allah SWT out of His Qudrat and Mercy gave life to that girl.
The girl addressed to that man, Are you not ashamed, firstly that you left me naked in the army of the dead where everyone had kafan except me and on top of that you left me infront of Allah SWT in a state of Janaabah. Don't you feel ashamed about it?
So this sin of mine left me paralyzed in my mental faculty and I believe that it is a sin that is greater than the seven skies, earths and the mountains and the kursi and Arsh of Allah SWT.
Nabi SAW heard this, and Nabi SAW sent him away. This person after the meeting with Rasulallah
SAW spent his time making tawba to Allah SWT.
For many days he would ask Allah SWT to forgive him and he made a dua to Allah SWT that if Allah SWT were to forgive him, then first inform Rasulallah SAW about his forgiveness.
Jibraeel AS came to Rasulallah SAW and asked him,
Did you create creation, or Allah created?
Allah created.
Do you provide sustenance to the creation or Allah SWT provides?
Allah provides.
If a person disobeys Allah, is he disobeying Allah or is he disobeying you?
He is disobeying Allah.
Then Jibraeel AS informed Rasulallah SAW that this person made such sincere tawba that Allah SWT has forgiven him. Faqeeh Abul Layth Al Samarqandi says that Rasulallah SAW called this person and gave him the bashaarah of his tawba.
Allah SWT has made each one of us weak and Shaytan does overpower us due to this weakness but one should not feel despondent and should not give up hope from Allah SWT. Each one of us is in the same boat and one should not feel that since our sin is so big we will be left alone by our creator. No, Allah SWT, will definitely forgive us , only if we seek repentance from Him sincerely.
One of the sahabi of Rasulallah SAW known as Wahshi RA. He was the qatil of Hamza RA ( the uncle of Prophet SAW) in the battle of Uhud. He wrote a letter to Rasulallah SAW, that I wish to accept Islam but I have some reservation. The reservation is that Allah SWT says in Quran al Kareem that those who do not commit shirk with Allah SWT, those who do not kill other people, and those who do not commit zina, Allah SWT forgives them. I would accept Islam but I have reservation, that all these three things mentioned in the Quran, I have committed all of them. I committed shirk, I killed people including your uncle and I also committed zina.
So if my tawba is accepted then that means that it is as if I have not done these three things but I HAVE done these three things. So Rasulallah SAW, wrote him back and said,
إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
25:70 "Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful,"
Wahshi RA sent a message back, I still have a reservation. Allah SWT says in this verse that one has to repent, believe and do amaal saalih. This puts the conditions on my forgiveness. I want a forgiveness that is unconditional, what if I don't do amaal al Saleh, then my forgiveness is not complete. To this Rasulallah SAW replied to him,
إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاء وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَى إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
4:48 "Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed."
So Nabi Kareem SAW made clear to him Allah SWT says that Allah SWT will forgive anyone except that who does not commit shirk. So as long as he does not commit shirk, he has high chance of forgiveness.
He writes back to Rasulallah SAW,
For this too I have some reservation that Maghfirah is Muallaq on the Masheeat of Allah SWT. What this means is that although I seek forgiveness from Allah SWT, it is upto Allah SWT to forgive me. There is no way of knowing if indeed I am forgiven or not. I want to be forgiven completely and unreservedly. Upon that Rasulallah SAW replied to him with the ayah:
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
39:53 SAY: “[Thus speaks God:] ‘O you servants of Mine who have transgressed against your own selves! Despair not of God’s mercy: behold, God forgives all sins - for, verily, He alone is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!’ ”
That Allah SWT says those who have become despondent of Allah’s mercy, do not lose hope for Allah’s mercy has no bounds.
So my dear respected brothers and sisters, do not let ourselves lose the sight of the vast mercy of Allah SWT. The doors are open and it is upto us to take the path of tawbah and ikhlas. If we take this path, the mercy of Allah SWT is waiting for us and with this mercy our duniya and akhira can become successful. May Allah SWT give us the taufeeq to ask forgiveness for our past sins and give us the ability to be steadfast on the path of righteousness. Ameen.
November 03, 2006
Care for our fellow human beings
Bismillahirahmanirrahim,
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalimeen, Wal Aqibatu Lil Muttaqeen, Wasalatu Wassalam o ala Rusulihil Kareem,
Amma Baad,
Assalam o allaikum Wr. Wb Dear brothers, sisters and elders,
In the name of Allah, the most benevolent, the most merciful, the master of the day of judgement, who has blessed with the naima of this life and who has sent Quran for our guidance towards the successful path. The one, who sent His last messenger as a haadi to all mankind. Salutations be to this guide and the companions who transmitted to true knowledge of the words of Allah SWT
Come and witness this scene which the Qur’an depicts in the verse: “Sulaiman
gathered an army comprised of Jinn, men and birds; they were all kept under strictdiscipline. Once in expedition he was marching with his army when they came across a valley of ants, one of the ants said:
حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِي النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
“O ants get into your habitation, lest Sulaiman and his army crush you under their feet without them noticing”.
So Sulaiman smiled laughing at their statement, and said:
فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ
“O Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for the favours you have bestowed on me and on myparents, and to do such good that will please, and admit me, by your mercy among your righteous servants.”
Here it was; Sulaiman, the messenger of Allah, passing by among his range of troops comprising Jinn, men and birds, in order and harmony. You can imagine this great number of troops who were all under his command. Sulaiman went by a valley that was occupied by a community of ants; hence Allah named it the Valley of Ants. The kingdom of ants, like its counterpart the bee, is a complex organisation with differentiated roles for different sectors- a true division of labour. They enjoy working in support of each other with administrative, management and legal obligation on all. All this is achieved subconsciously and in impressive harmony; something that perhaps mankind fails to achieve despite what they have been given in terms of knowledge,intellect and comprehension.
As soon as one of the ants saw this formidable army it called out(its now immortal, instruction which the Koran has recorded):
“O ants get into your homes, lest Sulaiman and his army crush you under their feet without them noticing”
Yes the Koran has recorded this statement from a mere ant which we would barely be able to see…Why should these words be written down out of all words that are uttered? It is invariable that an endless number of words are said by the various creatures in this wide globe. But it is by Allah’s Divine wisdom that He has chosen to preserve the ant’s short statement.
Allah has preserved these words as they contain wisdom, justice, pure sincere advice, and consideration for the Prophet Sulaiman who was the ruler and king at the same time. It is also a reference to the right of society on the individual.
These, dear brothers and sisters, are noble and high values which are at the core of Islam.Within this short statement is an indication of the responsibility of the individual towards their community. The ant could have sought survival for itself alone, leaving behind each to fend for themselves, or face their fate. But it did not; it sounded a warning to them all, stating clearly what the threat was (“Lest Sulaiman and his army crush you”) and informing them that it wasn’t deliberate, but rather an inadvertent threat. The Ant knew that it was justice which came from Heavens that prevented such an event and further it was not in the tradition of Prophets to kill without right, even ants!
Just as (the ant) sought survival for itself, it desired it for the others too. It felt direct responsibility for their safety. Such has been the command of Islam as the Prophet has stated:
“Desire for your brother what you desire for yourself”
Islam asserts the individual’s responsibility towards the wider community. Every individual within a community is in charge of an aspect in life. The Prophet says: “You are all responsible, and each one of you will be asked about his responsibility”. Each Muslim must have a similar sentiment to that of the ant. Each one of us must sense that he is responsible for Islam, his community, in addition to the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil which is but another feature of the individual’s responsibility towards society.
One should not seek escape for himself alone or to be isolated from their surrounding.Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And watch out for a tribulation that will not inflict those who commit wrong alone”.
We, as individuals of this community have similar obligations upon us. We as individuals here will responsible for our roles here on the day of Judgement. We, as individuals here, will be held accountable for these obligations.
Caring about our fellow muslims is the first step to be closer to them. This is the blessed month of Ramadan and there is no better time to shake ourselves within and ask ourselves that we have a task to do. The work to take care of those around us. If we are breaking our fast, then the thought should come in our minds if the brother next to me has enough to break the fast. If we are to enjoy a bounty of Allah, the feeling should come within us if the muslim next to me has the same liberty to enjoy that bounty. The effort should be made to know more about the muslims we know so we can learn what situations they are in and effort must be made to help them in anyway we can.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Be as the Qur’an has told you about the ant and as the Prophet described the believers: Believers, in their bond and sympathy towards each other are like a single body. If an organ within it falls ill, the whole body gathers in support by staying awake.
Be like this one whole body.
Wama Taufiqi Ilallah Billah
September 29, 2006
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalimeen, Wal Aqibatu Lil Muttaqeen, Wasalatu Wassalam o ala Rusulihil Kareem,
Amma Baad,
Assalam o allaikum Wr. Wb Dear brothers, sisters and elders,
In the name of Allah, the most benevolent, the most merciful, the master of the day of judgement, who has blessed with the naima of this life and who has sent Quran for our guidance towards the successful path. The one, who sent His last messenger as a haadi to all mankind. Salutations be to this guide and the companions who transmitted to true knowledge of the words of Allah SWT
Come and witness this scene which the Qur’an depicts in the verse: “Sulaiman
gathered an army comprised of Jinn, men and birds; they were all kept under strictdiscipline. Once in expedition he was marching with his army when they came across a valley of ants, one of the ants said:
حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِي النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
“O ants get into your habitation, lest Sulaiman and his army crush you under their feet without them noticing”.
So Sulaiman smiled laughing at their statement, and said:
فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ
“O Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for the favours you have bestowed on me and on myparents, and to do such good that will please, and admit me, by your mercy among your righteous servants.”
Here it was; Sulaiman, the messenger of Allah, passing by among his range of troops comprising Jinn, men and birds, in order and harmony. You can imagine this great number of troops who were all under his command. Sulaiman went by a valley that was occupied by a community of ants; hence Allah named it the Valley of Ants. The kingdom of ants, like its counterpart the bee, is a complex organisation with differentiated roles for different sectors- a true division of labour. They enjoy working in support of each other with administrative, management and legal obligation on all. All this is achieved subconsciously and in impressive harmony; something that perhaps mankind fails to achieve despite what they have been given in terms of knowledge,intellect and comprehension.
As soon as one of the ants saw this formidable army it called out(its now immortal, instruction which the Koran has recorded):
“O ants get into your homes, lest Sulaiman and his army crush you under their feet without them noticing”
Yes the Koran has recorded this statement from a mere ant which we would barely be able to see…Why should these words be written down out of all words that are uttered? It is invariable that an endless number of words are said by the various creatures in this wide globe. But it is by Allah’s Divine wisdom that He has chosen to preserve the ant’s short statement.
Allah has preserved these words as they contain wisdom, justice, pure sincere advice, and consideration for the Prophet Sulaiman who was the ruler and king at the same time. It is also a reference to the right of society on the individual.
These, dear brothers and sisters, are noble and high values which are at the core of Islam.Within this short statement is an indication of the responsibility of the individual towards their community. The ant could have sought survival for itself alone, leaving behind each to fend for themselves, or face their fate. But it did not; it sounded a warning to them all, stating clearly what the threat was (“Lest Sulaiman and his army crush you”) and informing them that it wasn’t deliberate, but rather an inadvertent threat. The Ant knew that it was justice which came from Heavens that prevented such an event and further it was not in the tradition of Prophets to kill without right, even ants!
Just as (the ant) sought survival for itself, it desired it for the others too. It felt direct responsibility for their safety. Such has been the command of Islam as the Prophet has stated:
“Desire for your brother what you desire for yourself”
Islam asserts the individual’s responsibility towards the wider community. Every individual within a community is in charge of an aspect in life. The Prophet says: “You are all responsible, and each one of you will be asked about his responsibility”. Each Muslim must have a similar sentiment to that of the ant. Each one of us must sense that he is responsible for Islam, his community, in addition to the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil which is but another feature of the individual’s responsibility towards society.
One should not seek escape for himself alone or to be isolated from their surrounding.Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And watch out for a tribulation that will not inflict those who commit wrong alone”.
We, as individuals of this community have similar obligations upon us. We as individuals here will responsible for our roles here on the day of Judgement. We, as individuals here, will be held accountable for these obligations.
Caring about our fellow muslims is the first step to be closer to them. This is the blessed month of Ramadan and there is no better time to shake ourselves within and ask ourselves that we have a task to do. The work to take care of those around us. If we are breaking our fast, then the thought should come in our minds if the brother next to me has enough to break the fast. If we are to enjoy a bounty of Allah, the feeling should come within us if the muslim next to me has the same liberty to enjoy that bounty. The effort should be made to know more about the muslims we know so we can learn what situations they are in and effort must be made to help them in anyway we can.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Be as the Qur’an has told you about the ant and as the Prophet described the believers: Believers, in their bond and sympathy towards each other are like a single body. If an organ within it falls ill, the whole body gathers in support by staying awake.
Be like this one whole body.
Wama Taufiqi Ilallah Billah
September 29, 2006
Ramadan - A month of Bounties
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalimeen. Wasalaatu Wassalam u Ala Rusulihil Kareem.
My dear respected brothers, elders and sisters in Islam,
Assalam o allaikum
In the name of Allah SWT who has blessed us with great bounties, One who eases our difficulties when no other can console us, one who is Ar-Rahman, the merciful, and who is Ar Raheem, the compassionate and salutations upon His last messenger, Mohammad SAW who was sent as a Hadi , as a Rahmatulil Aalimeen, one who taught us the meaning of the words of Allah SWT, who showed us the practice of the true path by his sunnah.
My Dear brothers in Islam, Allah SWT has blessed us once again with the great month of Ramadan, a month that is full of barakah and full of opportunities for us. It is a month that is an Eid in its true meaning for us, a celebration, and not only that, Allah SWT has made it easier upon us by restricting the shayateen in this blessed month, so that we can achieve more and get closer to Allah SWT.
There are three things that can give us a feeling to be near to our creator in this month. The first are the Ibadaat that are given to us by Allah SWT. Then we see how Allah SWT rewards us for these Ibadaat which is many folds. The salaat and the dhikr during this month increases these rewards many times but there is another ibadah that is not graded by reward and that is Fasting.
Allah has made this fasting obligatory upon us , as He says in the Quran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,-
Abu Umamah RA asked the Prophet Mohammad SAW, O Messenger of Allah! Tell me of an action that can take me to paradise!. Rasulallah SAW replied, ‘Adopt Fasting!, there is nothing like it!’
Rasuallah SAW is reported to have said:
"Every action of the son of Adam is given manifold reward, each good deed receiving ten times its like, up to seven hundred times. Allah the Most High said, 'Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I will give recompense for it, he leaves off his desires and his food for Me.' For the fasting person there are two times of joy; a time when he breaks his fast and a time of joy when he meets his Lord, and the smell coming from the mouth of the fasting person is better with Allah than the smell of musk." [al-Bukhaaree]
The second thing that makes us feel closer to the being of Allah SWT is our effort during this month. Rasuallah SAW is reported to have said that when a slave goes a palm length towards Allah SWT, Allah SWT comes an arms length towards him.
The effort to get close to Allah SWT starts from a small action in the day by the niyyah to keep the fast for one’s creator, and then it moulds into a bigger action of controlling the physical desires and internal desires and disciplining oneself towards the slavery of Allah SWT. This effort to a human seems useless, as to why one has to keep themselves hungry for long hours, why one has to deprive oneself from the worldly joys but in the eyes of Allah SWT, the giving up of these desires is a supreme sacrifice and that’s why Allah SWT rewards those who follow his commands in a supreme way.
Sahl ibn Sa`d said that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: "Indeed there is a gate of Paradise called ar-Rayyaan. On the day of Resurrection those who fast will enter through it; no one enters it except for them, and when they have entered, it is closed so that no one enters it, so when the last of them enters it, it is closed, and whoever enters it drinks, and whoever drinks never becomes thirsty." [Ibn Khuzaimah, Saheeh].
This very act of Fasting will become a means of Nijaat for us on the day of Judgement when we will be held accountable for our deeds. This Fasting will plead to Allah SWT on our behalf as mentioned in one of the hadeeth:
On the Day of Judgement, "Fasting will say: O My Lord I prevented him from food an desires so accept my intercession for him." [Ahmad, al-Haakim and Abu Nu'aim, Hasan]
So we should take this ibadaah in high regards for it can become a source of our success in the hereafter.
The third thing that makes this month a means of closeness to Allah SWT is that Allah SWT restricts the movement of Shayateen in this month. Shayateen who are the main source of our distractions from our creator in our daily life are locked up during this month. In other words, our Nafs that is more prone to be attacked by Shaytan out of Ramadan is now more in our control and it comes down to us how we groom it during this month. It is an opportunity to change our desires, from that of the worldly to that of being slave to One Creator. It is due to this fact that it is said Ramadan is a precursor to changing one’s life. One’s life cannot just change because he lives through Ramadan. One’s life will have changes in effect if he lives through Ramadan with all the protocols that this month demands from us.
Some of us, we spend this month by keeping us hungry all day and sleeping or watching TV to pass the time until iftar. This is exactly what Fasting is not about. Fasting is about suppressing your inner desires and focusing on the bigger goal, of Ma`arifa , companionship of Allah SWT during this month.
So my dear brothers and sisters, particularly those who are my younger brothers, promise to yourself that this Ramadan will be the one where you actually make the change, the change that you have been thinking about for so long, the change that is in your mind, but has not been materialized. Shun the activities that take you away from the remembrance of Allah SWT during this month and focus on Dhikr and focus on your ibaadah and focus on getting closer to your Creator.
May Allah SWT give us all, the tofeeq to be the slaves of Allah in its true meaning.
Wa akhiru Da`waana Annilhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalimeen.
September 22, 2006
My dear respected brothers, elders and sisters in Islam,
Assalam o allaikum
In the name of Allah SWT who has blessed us with great bounties, One who eases our difficulties when no other can console us, one who is Ar-Rahman, the merciful, and who is Ar Raheem, the compassionate and salutations upon His last messenger, Mohammad SAW who was sent as a Hadi , as a Rahmatulil Aalimeen, one who taught us the meaning of the words of Allah SWT, who showed us the practice of the true path by his sunnah.
My Dear brothers in Islam, Allah SWT has blessed us once again with the great month of Ramadan, a month that is full of barakah and full of opportunities for us. It is a month that is an Eid in its true meaning for us, a celebration, and not only that, Allah SWT has made it easier upon us by restricting the shayateen in this blessed month, so that we can achieve more and get closer to Allah SWT.
There are three things that can give us a feeling to be near to our creator in this month. The first are the Ibadaat that are given to us by Allah SWT. Then we see how Allah SWT rewards us for these Ibadaat which is many folds. The salaat and the dhikr during this month increases these rewards many times but there is another ibadah that is not graded by reward and that is Fasting.
Allah has made this fasting obligatory upon us , as He says in the Quran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,-
Abu Umamah RA asked the Prophet Mohammad SAW, O Messenger of Allah! Tell me of an action that can take me to paradise!. Rasulallah SAW replied, ‘Adopt Fasting!, there is nothing like it!’
Rasuallah SAW is reported to have said:
"Every action of the son of Adam is given manifold reward, each good deed receiving ten times its like, up to seven hundred times. Allah the Most High said, 'Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I will give recompense for it, he leaves off his desires and his food for Me.' For the fasting person there are two times of joy; a time when he breaks his fast and a time of joy when he meets his Lord, and the smell coming from the mouth of the fasting person is better with Allah than the smell of musk." [al-Bukhaaree]
The second thing that makes us feel closer to the being of Allah SWT is our effort during this month. Rasuallah SAW is reported to have said that when a slave goes a palm length towards Allah SWT, Allah SWT comes an arms length towards him.
The effort to get close to Allah SWT starts from a small action in the day by the niyyah to keep the fast for one’s creator, and then it moulds into a bigger action of controlling the physical desires and internal desires and disciplining oneself towards the slavery of Allah SWT. This effort to a human seems useless, as to why one has to keep themselves hungry for long hours, why one has to deprive oneself from the worldly joys but in the eyes of Allah SWT, the giving up of these desires is a supreme sacrifice and that’s why Allah SWT rewards those who follow his commands in a supreme way.
Sahl ibn Sa`d said that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: "Indeed there is a gate of Paradise called ar-Rayyaan. On the day of Resurrection those who fast will enter through it; no one enters it except for them, and when they have entered, it is closed so that no one enters it, so when the last of them enters it, it is closed, and whoever enters it drinks, and whoever drinks never becomes thirsty." [Ibn Khuzaimah, Saheeh].
This very act of Fasting will become a means of Nijaat for us on the day of Judgement when we will be held accountable for our deeds. This Fasting will plead to Allah SWT on our behalf as mentioned in one of the hadeeth:
On the Day of Judgement, "Fasting will say: O My Lord I prevented him from food an desires so accept my intercession for him." [Ahmad, al-Haakim and Abu Nu'aim, Hasan]
So we should take this ibadaah in high regards for it can become a source of our success in the hereafter.
The third thing that makes this month a means of closeness to Allah SWT is that Allah SWT restricts the movement of Shayateen in this month. Shayateen who are the main source of our distractions from our creator in our daily life are locked up during this month. In other words, our Nafs that is more prone to be attacked by Shaytan out of Ramadan is now more in our control and it comes down to us how we groom it during this month. It is an opportunity to change our desires, from that of the worldly to that of being slave to One Creator. It is due to this fact that it is said Ramadan is a precursor to changing one’s life. One’s life cannot just change because he lives through Ramadan. One’s life will have changes in effect if he lives through Ramadan with all the protocols that this month demands from us.
Some of us, we spend this month by keeping us hungry all day and sleeping or watching TV to pass the time until iftar. This is exactly what Fasting is not about. Fasting is about suppressing your inner desires and focusing on the bigger goal, of Ma`arifa , companionship of Allah SWT during this month.
So my dear brothers and sisters, particularly those who are my younger brothers, promise to yourself that this Ramadan will be the one where you actually make the change, the change that you have been thinking about for so long, the change that is in your mind, but has not been materialized. Shun the activities that take you away from the remembrance of Allah SWT during this month and focus on Dhikr and focus on your ibaadah and focus on getting closer to your Creator.
May Allah SWT give us all, the tofeeq to be the slaves of Allah in its true meaning.
Wa akhiru Da`waana Annilhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalimeen.
September 22, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
