The Fruits of Patience

Discontentment is a trait of an impatient individual whose very own intolerant disposition prevents them from receiving rewards from Allah. Moreover, their sinful behavior leads them to being overwhelmed by their difficulties. Consequently, they are besieged by two afflictions: problems in their religion caused by their unhappiness and the weight of the hardship that befell them in the first place.

To the contrary, the truly patient believer controls him or herself at the onset of their difficulty. Yes, they do not like that this calamity has happened to them, but they patiently control themselves. He or she refrains from uttering anything or doing anything that would anger Allah. Nor does this believer harbor ill-feelings in their heart towards the Most Wise. In spite of their trials and mishaps, this person is patient. The contented one is at ease and totally calm during their adversity as though nothing has occurred.

Patient and grateful believers express their gratitude to Allah for whatever befalls them. This was they way of the Messenger of Allah. Whenever he saw something that displeased him, he would say, “Praise belongs to Allah.”

Hence, displaying gratitude to Allah results in Allah giving this person a reward greater than the misery they suffered. Case in point, once there was a devout believing woman who possessed a serious ailment in her fingers. Despite the pain, she constantly praised Allah. “How is it that you praise Allah and you’re suffering great pain in your fingers?” she was asked.  She replied, “The sweetness of its reward causes me to disregard the bitterness of patience.” Allah is the One who grants success.

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No Such Thing as True Thankfulness

From the moral and manners of the Salaf was that they would testify against themselves that they had not really thanked Allah. That is because they would see all their praise for Him as another of Allah’s favours upon them; the favours of Allah remaining and unending, impossible for anyone to catch up with.

Abu Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani (rahimahullaah) said, “Never does a slave say alhamdulillaah (Praise be to Allah) without more thanks becoming required for him!”

Wahb ibn Munabbih (rahimahullaah) would say, “If your thanking Allah the Most High is a favour to you from the favours of Allah then in reality there is no such thing as true thankfulness. All your thanks mean that you have realized Allah’s abundant favours upon you, and that you cannot praise Allah enough for them.”

Sahl at-Tustari (rahimahullah) said, “Showing thankfulness to Allah is not to disobey Him with His favours. The whole body is from the favours of  Allah and His gift, so do not disobey Him with any of it.”

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“Guide Us to the Straight Path”

Some of them say concerning His saying, اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ ‘Guide us to the Straight Path’ saying: ‘Allaah has already guided the believer, so what benefit is there in seeking guidance?’ Then some of them reply by saying that the meaning is ‘keep us firm upon guidance’, as the Arab would say to the one who is asleep, ‘sleep until I come to you.’ Others from amongst them say that the meaning is, ‘keep our hearts firm upon the guidance’ and that the request for firmness has been omitted. Yet others from amongst them say that it means, ‘increase me in guidance’.

This question really occurs due to the absence of their contemplating upon the Straight Path to which the servant seeks guidance to, for the meaning (of the verse) is (seeking guidance to) act according to what Allaah ordered, and leave what He forbade in all matters.

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A Fly

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا لَّا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ وَالْمَطْلُوبُ

“O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully): Verily those on whom you call besides Allāh, cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatches away a thing from them, they will have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought.” (Hajj 22:73)

Shaykh Abdur Rahmaan as-Sa’dee said:

This is a parable which Allaah has given to show the vileness of worshipping idols, and to explain the deficiency of the intellect of those who worship them, and the weakness of all of them. So He said:

“O mankind!”

Which is an address to the Believers and the Unbelievers. So the Believers will increase in knowledge and clarity, whereas the Unbelievers will have the proof established against them.

“A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully) …”

Meaning: listen attentively to it and understand what it comprises. Do not meet it with inattentive hearts, nor with hearing that is turning away. Rather pay attention to it with your hearts and your hearing; and it is this:

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Surat An-Nasr In Focus

When there comes the Help of Allâh and the Conquest. And you see that the people enter Allâh’s religion in crowds. So glorify the Praises of your Lord, and ask for His Forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance and forgives. (An-Nasr 110:1-3)

Its Name

It is called Surat An-Nasr because it is a word that appears in the first verse. It literally means “help” and it is referring to Allah’s help that caused the conquest of Makkah. It is also called Surat At-Tawdi’ (farewell, because it suggests the parting of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam from this world).

The Subject Matter of This Surah

This Surah discusses the conquest of Makkah, through which Allah Almighty granted victory and honor to the Muslims. Islam then spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and ever so quickly, Shirk and misguidance were rooted out. With this conquest people entered into Allah’s religion in crowds: the banner of Islam was raised and the religion of statues faded away. That the Prophet salAllaahu alayhi wa sallam was informed about this conquest before it occurred is one of the clear signs that indicate the validity of his Prophethood.

Its Relation To What is Before It

In the previous Surah [Kafirun], Allah Almighty said that the religion that Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was calling to was diametrically opposed to the religion of the disbelievers; here, Allah Almighty informs the disbelievers of Makkah that their religion will die away and that the religion called to by the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam will overcome it, and become the religion of the vast majority in their populated areas.

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Heedless Hearts

Point of Benefit from the Tafseer of Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen Raheemahullaah

He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

“When you see that your time is passing by, and your age is going, and you are not in a schedule of something beneficial, nor praiseworthy, and you don’t see the blessings in the time you spend, then be cautioned! [be cautioned] that the Word of Allaah has caught you, [and that is His statement]:

وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا

“…and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.” [Kahf : 28]

Meaning:

His affairs have been dispersed and were lost : there is no blessing [of goodness] in him.

And it should be known that some people might be remembering Allaah, but he remembers Him with a heedless heart: and therefore it can barely be of benefit.

Retrieved from: AlBaseerah Forums

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Forgetting Allaah = Forgetting Oneself

From among the punishments of sinful acts are that they cause the servant to forget himself.  So, consequently when a person forgets his soul, he corrupts it, and then destroys it.  If one would ask, “How does someone forget himself if he does forget?  Which things does he remember?” Allaah the Most High has said, 

“And do not be like those who forgot Allaah (i.e. became disobedient to Allaah) and He caused them to forget their own selves.”  [Sooratul-Hashr (59):19]

 In other words, glory is to Him, Allaah punishes the one who forgets Him with two punishments: 

1)   Allaah forgets him.

2)   He causes the individual to forget himself. 

Allaah’s forgetting the servant involves His disregard, abandonment and neglect of the disobedient one. As a result, destruction draws closer to him than his own face and hand. 

As for the sinner, his forgetting himself means that the person stops thinking about the finer qualities of the soul and the things that lead to its success and well-being.  He forgets all of this.  The matter does not even come to mind.  Nor does he bring it to mind.

In addition, the disobedient servant is made to forget the diseases of the heart and soul along with the agony that accompanies them.  In the end, there is no effort to remove these destructive ills that of which eventually lead him to corruption and ruin.  He becomes a sick individual covered with layers of disease.  The internal disorder causes destruction to spread through him.  However, this negligent soul is not aware of his sickness nor does the remedy occur in his mind. 

This is the worst kind of punishment.  What punishment is worse than an individual neglecting, and then destroying himself?  He forgets the beneficial qualities his soul possesses.  This rebellious servant becomes heedless of the causes of his acquiring good in this life and a permanent resting place in the abode of eternal bliss.

• “Sins and Their Punishments” by Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah; Pgs. 54 – 56

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A Spider’s House

“The likeness of those who take (false deities as) Auliya (protectors, helpers) other than Allaah is as the likeness of a spider who builds (for itself) a house; but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses is the spider’s house- if they but knew” (29:41)

Shaykh ‘Abdur Rahmaan As-Sa’dee said:This is a parable given by Allaah for those who worship others along with Him, desiring by that to elevate, strengthen and benefit themselves. So it is made clear that the matter is contrary to their desires. Rather the example of such a person is like that of the spider which takes a house to protect it from heat and cold and harm.

“but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses….”

The weakest and feeblest of them.

“…is the spider’s house..“

So the spider is a weak animal and its house is from the weakest of houses. So adopting it only increases it in weakness. Likewise those who seek to take others besides Allaah as protectors are needy and weak from every aspect, and when they take others besides Allaah to strengthen them and aid them then this only adds to their weakness and incapacity. So they place reliance upon them for attainment of many of their requirements. They submit their needs to them and consign them totally to them, expecting them to fulfill them, however they leave them in the lurch. So they gain nothing at all from them, and they do not aid them in the slightest.

So if they truly knew their own condition and the condition of those whom they take as protectors besides Allaah, then they would not take them as protectors. Rather they would free themselves from them and they would take as their Protector ,the Lord, the Fully-Capable One, the Bestower of Mercy; the One who is such that if the servant takes Him as his Protector, and places reliance upon Him, then He suffices all his needs pertaining to his religion and worldly life. So he is increased in strength: in his heart, his body, his condition and his actions”

• Parables of the Qu’raan || by: Ash-Shaykhul ‘Allaamah ‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Naasir As-Sa’dee

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The Deception of Shaytaan

Barsisa || the Worshipper

Ibn Jarir said that Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud interpreted the Qur’anic Verse that reads:

(Their allies deceived them) like Shaitân (Satan), when he says to man: “Disbelieve in Allâh.” But when (man) disbelieves in Allâh, Shaitân (Satan) says: “I am free of you, I fear Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!” So the end of both will be that they will be in the Fire, abiding therein. Such is the recompense of the Zâlimûn (i.e. polytheists, wrong-doers, disbelievers in Allâh and in His Oneness, etc.). (Al-Hashr 59:16-17)

Ibn Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said: Once upon a time there was a woman grazing sheep and goats. She had four brothers. She (for some reason) used to spend the night at a monk’s cell. The monk committed adultery with her and she got pregnant. Satan came to him and said: Kill the woman and then bury her for you are a reputable and highly respected man (i.e. don’t risk your own reputation for such a simple woman).The monk killed her and then buried her. Thereupon, Satan visited her four brothers in a dream while they were asleep and said to them: the monk committed adultery with your sister, and because she got pregnant, he killed her and buried her in such-and-such location. In the morning, one of them said: “By Allah! Last night I dreamt of something and I do not know whether to relate it to you or just keep it to myself?” They said: Relate it to us. He did so and one of them said: By Allah! I saw the same dream. Another said the same. And the fourth one said the same thing. They agreed on that there must be something serious about that dream. They went to the king and appealed for his help against the monk. The king’s troops came to arrest him and he was taken away. On the way, Satan came to the monk (and whispered in his ears): I set you up. No one else can save you from this. Prostrate yourself before me just for once and in return, I will save you from this. Thereupon, the monk prostrated himself before Satan. When they presented themselves before the king, Satan said to him: I am free of you! Finally, the monk was killed.

From: Stories of the Qur’an, By Ibn Katheer

Such is the deception of Shaytaan. Praise be to Allah, who Gives the Muslimeen safe haven from fitaan, with the different alternatives we have been given. And when Allah ta’ala has granted us the ability to leave off this fitnah, let us not willingly plunge ourselves into potentially harmful situations. For ultimately, we put our own emaan to the test. And shall we have yaqeen [certainty] with our level of emaan, knowing that it fluctuates, increasing at times and decreasing at others? No, for Allah Knows Best that which shall come to pass.

The example is brought before us, of a pious man, who fell into sin and was deceived by Shaytaan. And indeed the ma’asiyah [sin] shall touch those who are pious if they lower their shield of taqwa. So inshaaAllah, when the fitaan is present, let us remember Allah ta’ala, fear Him with the fear that He is deserving of us and distance ourselves from it.

O mankind! Be afraid of your Lord (by keeping your duty to Him and avoiding all evil), and fear a Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father. Verily, the Promise of Allâh is true, let not then this (worldly) present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver (Satan) deceive you about Allâh. (Luqman 31:33)

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The People of Paradise

Allaah ‘azza wa jall says [what means]: 

That home of the Hereafter (i.e. Paradise), We shall assign to those who desire not high-handedness or mischief in the land. And the good end is for the Muttaqûn (pious) [Al-Qasas 28:83]

 Shaikh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimuhullah) said, in explaining the above verse [of Surah al-Qasas]: “…For people are of four types:

The first type: They desire elevation over the people and corruption in the earth, and this is disobedience to Allaah. Such mischief-making kings and leaders are like Pharoah and his party, and they are the worst of all of creation.

The second type: Those who desire corruption without elevation, such as the thieves and criminals from the riff-raff amongst the people.

The third type: Those who desire elevation without corruption, such as those who have the deen, they desire to elevate themselves by it over other than them amongst the people.

And as for the fourth type: They are the people of Paradise, those who seek neither elevation in the earth and nor corruption – along with the fact that they are (indeed) much higher than those besides them.”

 [Majmoo ul-Fataawaa Vol 18, with some abridgement] 

May we be amongst the people of Paradise.  

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