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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Attn: All Procrastinators [!]

Take a look at this beautiful statement from the gem of a book “Knowledge Mandates Action” by Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadee. MashaaAllah, a beautiful naseeha, an advise to myself first and then my fellow Muslimeen.

Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Rizq and ‘Ali bin Ahmad bin ‘Umaar al-Muqri both said: Ja’far bin Muhammad al-Khaldee informed us” Ibraaheem bin Nasr al-Mansoori narrated to us: Ibraaheem bin Bashaar narrated to me: Yusuuf bin Asbaat narrated to me: Muhammad bin Samurah as-Saa’ih wrote the following letter to me: 
 

O brother! Beware of letting procrastination take control of you and letting it take a firm root in your heart, for indeed it is the cause for fatigue and wasting (of time). Due to it, aspirations are cut short and appointed times are not met. If you allow this to happen you have let it free you from your resolutions, and in effect, take you over. And reclaim your body from the lethargy that overtook you. But when it returns back to you, your soul will not benefit from your body. And hasten, my brother, for indeed you are being hastened. And rush, for indeed you are being rushed. And be serious, for indeed, the matter is serious. Awaken from your sleep, and snap out of your heedlessness. And remember what you have left behind, what you fell short in, what you neglected, what crimes you committed and what deeds you did, for indeed that is recorded and you will be held accountable for it. So it is as if the matter has come upon you all of a sudden and so you are (either) happy at what you have put forth for it or remorseful for what you have neglected.

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Repel the Thought

Repel the thought, for if you don’t, it becomes an idea.

So repel the idea, for if you don’t it will become a desire.

So fight against that (desire), for if you don’t, it will become a determination and a passion.

And if you don’t repel that, it will become an action.

And if you don’t replace it with its opposite, it will become a constant habit.

So at that point, it will be difficult for you to change it.

[Al-Fawaa’id – Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah]

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Returning to the Glory of Islaam

The Key to the Return of the Glory of Islaam

Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani  || From: masjiduthaymeen.org 

The Muhaddith, Al-Imaam, Ar-Rabbaani, Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani (رحمه الله) wrote:

The key to the return of the glory of Islaam is: The application of beneficial knowledge and the establishment of righteous actions. And it is a great matter that the Muslims will not achieve except by applying the methodology of tasfiyah (purification) and tarbiyah (cultivation). And these two are extremely important obligations.

And what is meant by the first of these matters (Tasfiyah):

Firstly: The purification of the ‘aqeedah (creed) of Islaam from that which is foreign to it of shirk, denial of the attributes of Allaah and misinterpretation of them (ta’weel), and the rejection of authentic ahadeeth (by the people) because they are connected to ‘aqeedah and their like.

Secondly: The purification of the Fiqh (understanding) of Islaam from the incorrect ijtihaadaat (deductions of legal rulings) which oppose the Book and the Sunnah and the liberation of the mind from blind following and the darkness of fanaticism.

Thirdly: The purification of the books of tafseer (commentaries of the Qur’aan), fiqh (understanding), ar-Raqaiq (softening of the hearts), and other than them from the weak (da’eef), fabricated (maudoo’), Isra’eeliaat (from the doubtful sources of Ahl al-Kitaab), and abominations (munkaraat). 

And as for the other obligation (Tarbiyah): What is needed is the cultivation of the next generation (of Muslims) upon this Islaam which is purified from everything we have mentioned, giving them the correct Islaamic Tarbiyah (cultivation) from the beginning […]

And there is no doubt that the realization of these two obligations, requires enormous cooperative effort with sincerity between all the Muslim groups and individuals, from those who are truly concerned in building the desired Islaamic society, each one working in their field and specialization.

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Let Him Prefer Allaah to His Desires

Ibn Al Qayyim || Al Fawaa’id [pg. 111-112] 

Whosoever desires to purify his heart, then let him prefer Allah to his desires. 

The heart which is clinging to its desires is veiled from Allah, commensurate to the degree that it is attached to them, the hearts are the vessels of Allah upon his earth, hence the most beloved of them to him, are the ones most compassionate, pure and resistant to deviation. They (the transgressors) preoccupied their hearts [in the pursuance] of the Dunya, would that they preoccupied them with Allah and the hereafter, then surely they would have reflected upon the intended meaning of his poignant words and verses. Their hearts would have returned to their masters with wisdom, marvelously curious and [in possession] of the rarest of precious gems.If the heart is nourished with remembrance, its thirst quenched with contemplation and cleansed from corruption, it shall witness remarkable and wondrous matters, inspiring wisdom.Not every individual who is endowed with knowledge and wisdom, and assumes its character is from amongst its people. Rather the people of knowledge and wisdom are those who infused life into their hearts by slaying their desires. As for the one who slays his heart and vitalized his desires, then knowledge and wisdom is naked upon his tongue.  

The destruction of the heart occurs by security [in this Dunya] and negligence, its fortification occurs by fear and remembrance. If the heart renounces the pleasures of the Dunya, it settles upon the [pursuance of] pleasures of the Hereafter, and amongst those who call towards it. Should the heart become content with the pleasures of the Dunya, those pleasures [of the hereafter] cease [to continue].

 Yearning for Allah and his meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquil, and whosoever sent it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed. For the love of Allah shall not enter a heart, which contains the love of this world, except as a camel, which passes through the eye of a needle. Hence, the most beloved servant before Allah is the one whom He places in His servitude, whom He selects for His love, whom He causes to purify his worship for Him, dedicates his objectives for Him, his tongue for His remembrance, and his limbs for His service.

 The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah and protection [from transgression]. It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty, and its clarity is obtained by remembrance. It becomes naked as the body becomes naked, and its beautification is at-Taqwa. It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry and thirst, and its food and drink are knowledge, love, dependence, repentance and servitude. 

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