A Wondrous Reality

What a wonderful thing it is to know Him (I.e. Allaah)! But how can one know Him and not love Him? How can one hear the caller, but fail to respond? How can one know the profit that shall be gained in dealing with Him, but still prefer others? How can one taste the bitterness of disobeying Him, but still abstain from seeking the pleasure of obeying Him? How can one feel the severity of engaging in trivial speech, but fail to open your Heart with His remembrance? How can one be tortured by being attached to others, but not rush toward the bliss of turning to Him in repentance?

Perhaps it is most surprising to know that while you are in need of Him, you are still reluctant to move toward Him because you seek others.

• From: al-Fawa`id – A collection of Wise Sayings, by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah)
• Retrieved from: AlBaseerah Forums

Read Full Post »

The Rights of Brotherhood

And each of you has certain rights upon his brother.

You should fulfill his needs, and this is of levels. The least is that you gladly fulfill his needs when you are able and he asks you. Better than this is that you fulfill them before he even asks you, and better than all of this is that you put his needs before your own.

You should remain silent regarding him at times, and speak at times. As for your silence, you should be quiet about his faults, both in his presence and absence. You should not argue or dispute with him, and shouldn’t ask him about personal things that he wouldn’t want to reveal. If you happen to see him somewhere, don’t ask where he is going, as it might be that he doesn’t want anyone to know. Don’t reveal his secrets, even if you fall into a feud afterwards. Also, don’t insult his friends and family, and don’t inform him if others happen to insult him.

Don’t say anything that could annoy him except if this involves something that must be said, such as commanding the good or forbidding the evil, as this would actually be a way of being good to him.

And know that you will never find a friend who is completely free of faults. Instead, look for someone whose good qualities outweigh his bad. Once you are stricter in judging people than you are in judging yourself, you fall into Allah’s Saying:

{“Those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, demand full measure, and when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than their due.”}1

Read Full Post »

Shame on You

SubhaanAllaah, the following is a serious wakeup call. A reminder for myself and you, that we return to the Qur’aan – recite it, memorize it, and ponder over it often and much. May Allaah make it the life of our hearts and the light of our chests. Allaahumma Aameen.

Shame on You!

Oh slaves of Allah — Oh Ummah of Muhammad (SallallAllahu ‘Alaihi wa Sallam): The Qur’aan is your life! The Qur’aan is your flesh! The Qur’aan is your blood! The Quran is your nerves! The Qur’aan is your honor and prestige! The Qur’aan is your dunya (world)! The Qur’aan is your aakhira (afterlife)! The Glorious Qur’aan is the reason for your pride! The Glorious Qur’aan is the reason for your elevation! Oh slaves of Allah: if you put The Glorious Qur’aan behind you, you would be in a state of humiliation and poverty! …Because surely, it’s the rope of Allah!

“..And hold on to the rope of Allah, and do not separate… ” (Aali ‘Imraan: 102)

The rope of Allah is His religion, and His Qur’aan, as in the most apparent sayings of the interpreters of The Qur’aan!

Read Full Post »

For Those Undergoing Difficulties

Regarding His salAllaahu ‘alayhi wasallaam Guidance in Treating Afflictions

And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sâbirin (the patient ones, etc.). Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: “Truly! To Allâh we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.They are those on whom are the Salawât (i.e. blessings, etc.) (i.e. who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided-ones. (Al-Baqarah 2:155-157)

Then he (i.e. Ibn Al-Qayyim) mentioned the Hadeeth of Al-Istirja‘ (1) and then he said: This expression is one of the most effective and most beneficial treatments for one who is afflicted by calamities, because it contains two fundamental principles, which if they are realized, the slave will be consoled thereby from his calamity.

The first of them is that the slave and his wealth belong to Allah and He has given it to him as a loan.

The second of them is that the return is to Allah and it is inevitable that he will leave the life of this world behind; so if this is his beginning and his end, then his thinking about them is one of the greatest treatments for this illness and a part of his treatment is that he knows that what was ordained to afflict him cannot miss him and what was ordained to miss him cannot afflict him.

Read Full Post »