Friendship

Al-Ghazali said, "If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you as He does with His Awliya' and chosen elite, and is watching over you, have you not heard His saying, "So wait steadfastly for the judgment of your Lord - you are certainly before Our eyes. {At-Tur 52:48}

Those who disbelieve say ‘the hour will not come’Say ‘yes by my Lord it will certainly will come’ He is the knower of the unseen, whom not even the weight of the smallest particle eluders either in the heavens or in the earth, nor is there anything smaller or larger than that which is not in a clear book. This is so that he may recompense those who have faith and do right action. They will have forgiveness and generous provision. But those who strive against our signs, trying to nullify them, will have a punishment of agonising pain. (Quran 34:3-5)

 Therefore we should arrive to the truth about life, God, and our existence and should not be afraid of change,  as so many people feel so secure in their  lives that they don't want to change as they THINK it will mess up their lives. However we must face reality and be true to our self and our soul. And use the intellect that God has blessed us with. Don't we all deserve to hear the truth. 

 Islam and Christianity

                                    Jesus’ creation is a miracle in itself, but it is not the only of its kind. Jesus (pbuh) was created from only female, without a biological father. Adam, the ancestor of all mankind, was created from neither male or female by the sheer command of God. Eve, Adam's wife, was created from only the male, without biological mother. With the rest of the humans originating from both a male and a female through normal procreation, we thus have four distinct types of creation.

‘The likeness of Jesus is the likeness of Adam, he created him from dust and he was.’ (Quran 3:59)

Muslim believe that Jesus (pbuh) was no more than a prophet and was just sent to the people of Israel and not for the world. Before he was raised up to God he told his people that a man will come after him named the ‘praised one’ (Muhammad) who will follow the same words that Jesus (pbuh) conveyed and that he will not speak of his own  desires but confirm about him (Jesus) and so we find in the Quran there is a whole chapter devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus telling us the miraculous birth of Jesus (pbuh) and his life. This is how we Muslim know about the life of Jesus (pbuh) and his blessed mother through Muhammad (pbuh). How did Muhammad (pbuh) know about Jesus, when he never spoke to him, but  was surrounded by pagans at his time.

Muslim don't worship Jesus nor Muhammad (pbut), but we say Jesus is a great prophet, and mention a comforter will come after him, and  bring down a book that will stay the same without a changing of a dot. Also it will stay with the world forever. In Islam we are told by God that he is ONLY one without any partners:

‘Say ‘He is God, absolute Oneness, God, the Everlasting Sustainer of all. He has not given birth and was not born. And no one is comparable to Him.’ (Quran 112)

So Muslim should never join anything with him, not even the prophets, because if man does join things with God they break that connection with him therefore goes in to utter falsehood and into darkness.

Life after Death

This is another story of a companion of the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam). A young boy, at the age about 16 or 17, his name was Thatlabah (ra). Thatlabah (ra) was one of the active youth in the time of the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam), who obeyed the messenger (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) and his heart was firm in the belief of the Quran and he was completely convinced in the existence of Allah and he anticipated and sacrifice everything to reach Jannah.

The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) once sent Thatlabah on a errand (meaning he sent him to do something) and Thatlabah went, it would have only have taken him half a day to complete this errand, when on his way Thatlabah was going back to the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam). When he reached close to medina he was passing by a small village which was build of small tents, and then he heard one of the tents, as though there was water was being spilled inside, like a shower, as though there was someone was bathing inside it. Thatlabah did not have the right to open the tent and looked who was inside it, however his lust, hormones played up a bit at that time, and the shaytan deluded him into opening a tiny crack in that tent. And he looked in side and accidentally to his shock, saw a naked women bathing. As his temptation, lust and hormones began to rise he remembered Allah subhana wata alla. And then he closed the tent and he yelled so loud that he said ‘What have a done! La illah illallah. Allah will now send a verse to the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) saying I am one of the hypocrites. How could I worship Allah and then look at a naked woman in her tent. How can I say I am a mumin. Allah will surely say I am one of the hypocrites, yes he will, yes he will.’ And he forgot all about  returning to the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) he was to scared, he did not want to hear anything, almost certain that there was a verse sent down in the name of Thatlabah he is a munafiq (hypocrite). So instead of going to the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) he run away and he headed towards the cliffs and he stayed up there.

 When he didn’t returned back to the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) began to get worried and he said ‘Where is Thatlabah? I hope nothing has happen to him’. The next day came and Thatlabah hadn’t returned so the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) sent his companions to look for him, and then they went and they tried and returned and said ‘O messenger of Allah we don’t know where he his.’ And they kept the search going for about a week. Until finally the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) sent Abu Bakr and Umar (ra) for a special task to look for him and find him. He said ‘go and look out to the outcast of medina, in the cliffs and the hills, in the forest and the trees, search every tent, ask anyone you see and search for Thatlabah. For I am very worried about Thatlabah.’ And so they went out and it took them weeks to search for him, then finally they approach this village were they found this Shepard with his goats and they approached him and said ‘Have you seen a young man? His descriptions are so and so, he is of this height and his name is Thatlabah’. The Shepard replied back ‘are you talking about the crying boy?’  They replied ‘what crying boy?’ so the Shepard replied back saying ‘there is a young boy who sits up in those cliffs over there, our village hears him every night crying and we don’t know what his matter is. Everyday he comes down and he drinks a bit of milk from my goats and then he would drag him self back to the mountains.’ Abu Bakr and Umar to their sadness replied ‘Surely this is Thatlabah’. So Abu Bakr and Umar (ra) went up to the mountains and they searched for him until they found him, sheltered away under leaves, his clothes were torned apart, he was withered away and so skinny, there was a disease in his skin and he was extremely sick. Abu Bakr and Umar (ra) thought he was dying and so then they crabbed him. As soon as Thatlabah saw them, as if the Angel of Death came to him. He tried to struggle and run away but the chased him and caught him, and they crabbed him. Thatlabah replied in fright ‘Please! Please! Don’t take me to the prophet (saw), don’t take me to him, don’t take me to him I’m too scared.’ They press down on Thatlabah, and said to him ‘What’s wrong with you! Take hold of your self Ya Thatlabah.’ He replied in fear ‘Please don’t take me to him, I know why you are taking me to him, Allah has sent down a verse concerning me hasn’t he! Hasn’t he!’ they replied calmly ‘We don’t know why the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) is asking for you, Please come with us. Wallahi we have to take you with us it’s a commandment of the prophet.’  And so they dragged him on his feet towards the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam).

They placed Thatlabah at his house and told the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) that he was at his home. The prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) came to him and he kneeled down and kissed him gently on his forehead and he kindly said to him ‘Ya Thatlabah What is wrong?’ And Thatlabah anxiously replied ‘Oh messenger of Allah are you hiding it from me?’ the messenger said ‘what I’m I hiding from you?’ Thatlabah said ‘Allah has sent down a verse concerning me that I am one of the hypocrites, hasn’t he?’ the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) looked at him and his tears where running down his cheeks, so he said to him ‘No, Ya Thatlabah Allah hasn’t sent anything in your cause’.  In worried Thatlabah replied ‘I am going to be punished, Oh messenger of Allah’ the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said to him ‘Ya Thatlaba, What are you fearing? In tears Thatlabah said ‘I fear that Allah is going to place me in the lowest place of hell-fire, I did a great sin, O messenger of Allah.’ Then the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said to him ‘Are you fearing the anger of Allah?' He replied ‘Yes!’ the prophet carried on to say ‘a mumin also has another belief and that is hope. What do you hope for Thatlabah? What do you wish for? What do you yearn for?’ Thatlabah in hopefulness said ‘I hope for the mercy of Allah and for his forgiveness.’ And then the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said ‘then ask Allah for that you are hoping for, and make your exemption about Allah Good! You will find it.’ The prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) read on his head and made a dua for him. Then all of a sudden Thatlabah said ‘Oh messenger of Allah, I feel as though there are thousand of ants crawling on my body’ the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) replied ‘can you really feel that Thatlabah’ he said ‘Yes! Oh messenger of Allah and I’m about to go unconscious’ swiftly the prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said ‘it is death!it is come and now your dying Thatlabah, so say La illah illallah Muhammadiw Rasullah’ and then Thatlabah began to repeat those words, when finally his soul escaped his body.

He was forgiven, but because he used the hope he had with Allah and he desired paradise so Allah forgave him.

By Bilal Asaad

Bismillah hir Rahmanir Rahim

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say:

The first of people against whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. (The Almighty) will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I fought for you until I died a martyr. He will say: You have lied - you did but fight that it might be said (of you): He is courageous. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. (Another) will be a man who has studied (religious) knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will make known to his His favours and he will recognize them. (The Almighty) will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I studied (religious) knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Quran for Your sake. He will say: You have lied - you did but study (religious) knowledge that it might be said (of you): He is learned. And you recited the Quran that it might be said (of you): He is a reciter. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. (Another) will be a man whom Allah had made rich and to whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make known to his His favours and he will recognize them. (The Almighty) will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I left no path (untrodden) in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake. He will say: You have lied - you did but do so that it might be said (of you): He is open-handed. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.

(Sahih Muslim)

Subhanallah, if you think about it, this is one of the most profoundly frightening things. And this is a subtle matter. It is not so simple as just to utter the words “I intend to do this for the sake of Allah” and then suppose that everything is OK. Do you suppose that the mujahid in this hadith did not say this? Do you think that he was aware that his fighting for the sake of Allah (swt) was just for show? If he knew that, do you suppose for even one moment that he would have waged Jihad and sacrifice his life? Would the qari have spent all his years in pursuit of knowledge and teaching of it if he knew that it would be in vain? But instead we delude ourselves into thinking that we are sincerely for Allah (swt) whereas we are not. We convince ourselves utterly that we are sincere while this is not the case. So those who are afflicted with the disease of riyaa‘ are not even aware of that. And how can we be sure that are we safe from it? How can we be confident that we will not share the same fate as the people mentioned here? Even now as I am writing this, how do I do really know whether it is truly for the sake of Allah (swt) alone or for some other motive as well?

And this thing, riyaa‘, is what the Prophet (saw) feared the most for us. Out of all the evil traits and vices and sins out there, this is the one he (saw) singled out. So it is not a matter to be taken lightly. It is not something obvious or easy to spot, so we should guard carefully against it. Yet it seems some people are oblivious of this. They think that mere words are enough to ensure their safety from deception - deception of the devil and deception of the self.

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So you should do your deeds in secret and hate that people should know of it. You should hate to be seen by people and be known amongst them as a pious person. You should be fearful of their praise of your goodness. If you become exultant at that, or if you become despondent at their indifference, then you should be afraid for yourself.

A’udhu billahi mina shaytaani rajeem. A’udhu billahi min shururi nafsee. A’udhu billahi min riyaa’.

Source: http://tmr123.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/riyaa-a-hidden-evil/#comment-43 

However sometimes people misunderstand this verse, is it ok just to cover up yet still Interact with haram e.g interacting with the opposite gender, unrestrained Glances? We are told there are four poisons of the heart which are:

Ø  Unnecessary talking

Ø  Unrestrained Glances

Ø  Too much eating

Ø  Keeping bad company

But the one I shall be talking about is unrestrained Glances. The unrestrained Glances results in the one who looks becoming attracted to what he sees, and in the imprinting of an image of what he sees in his heart. This can result in several kinds of corruptions in the heart of the servant. The following are a umber of them:

It has been related that the prophet (saw) once said words to the effect: ‘The glance is a poisoned arrow of the shaytan, whoever lowers his glaze for Allah, he will bestow upon him a refreshing sweetness which he will find in his heart. On the day He meets him.’

            Shaytan enters with the glance, for he travels with it faster than the wind blowing through an empty place. He makes what is seen appear more beautiful than it really is, and transforms it into an idol for the heart to worship. Then he promises it false rewards, light the fire of desires within it and fuels it with wood of forbidden actins, which the servant would not have committed had it not been for this distorted Image.

The distracts the heart and makes him forget what his original purpose was ‘covering for the sake of Allah’. It stands between it and them; and so the heart loses its straight path and falls in a pit of desire and ignorance. Allah, Mighty Glorious is he says:

‘And do not obey anyone whose heart we have made forgetful in remembering Us – who follows his own desire, and whose affair has exceeded all bounds’ (Al Kahf 18:28)

The unrestrained haze causes all three afflictions. It has been said that between the eye and the heart is an immediate connection, if the eye are corrupted, then the heart follows. It becomes like a rubbish heap where all the dirt and filth and rottenness collect. This is same as the tongue, and so there is no room for the love for Allah, relating all matters to Him, Awareness of being in his presence, and feeling joy at his proximity.

Letting the gaze run loose also makes the heart blind to distinguishing between truth and falsehood, between the sunnah and innovation while lowering it for Allah, The Mighty and Exalted, gives it penetrating, true and distinguishing insight.

We can also lead ourselves to another type of poison, poison of being a hypocrite, showing to people how modest we, while our hearts is full of corruption and dieses. Allah says in the Quran:

‘They think they deceive Allah and those who have Imaan. They deceive no one but them self, but they are not aware of it. (Al braqara 2:8)

‘……..Surely Allah is aware of what they do’ (An Nur 24:30)

However there are some who are aware and when they fall in to these type of sin we have mention, they feel guilty and remorse, so straight away they remember Allah Azwajal.

The messenger of Allah (saw) is reported to have said:  

Allah has built two houses in the heart of man, in one of which an angel resides and in the other the shaytan. The angel urges him to do good work and the shaytan induces him to do evil works. When man remembers Allah, the shaytan withdraws. And when he stops remembering Allah, the shaytan perches on the heart of man and pecks with his beak to whisper in to do evil things.’

 And so their remembrance and their love for Allah makes them pray and beg for his help and his forgiveness and have the intention to change, with every hurdles in our lives we must strive.

A righteous mane once said: ‘Whoever enriches his outward behaviour by following the sunnah, and makes his inward soul wealthy through contemplation, and averts his gaze away from looking at what is forbidden, and Avoids anything of a doubtful nature, and feels soley on what is halal – his inner sight will never falter.’

So Inshallah we must strive and change our intention for our souls so that maybe on the day of judgment Allah can be pleased at us because we have tried to have both outward and inward behaviour.

‘Tell the believing men and women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that is more purifying for them. Surely Allah is aware of what they do’ (An Nur 24:30)

 Sources: Purification of soul & Me

On this journey we take, we meet so many people

People who have touched our hearts

Some who have hurt our souls

Life is nothing but a test

There are those who are willing to help us strive

And there are some who are willing to help us drown

The more we learn about this life, the more we know how to survive

Therefore you should always watch your back

Coz you don’t know who will always have your back

People change, but only those who fear God will always remain the same.