Practicing Islam Today

Many a times we assume that just because we are Muslims life will be a bed of roses for us, when in fact it is the opposite.

The Prophet of Allah (saws) has warned us that during the end of times holding on to faith would be like holding on to fire.

Anas bin Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The people will see a time of patience in which someone adhering to his religion will be as if he were grasping to burning coal.”
(Tirmidhi-2260)

We have to put all our effort if we are to please Allah. This world is full of difficulties and it is important to understand why we have been put in such difficult situations. As we exert ourselves during these hard times we come to realize: this world  is temporary and what is in store is going to be worth it.

If things are ugly for you then it has been uglier for those before you and you must have witnessed worse things happening to those who are around you so remember to remain grateful.

Allah says in the glorious Quran Ch.: 29 V: 2
“Do the people think that they will be left to say “We believe” and they will not be tested?”

After having established that the times are difficult for one to pursue his/her faith what must one do?
What must be the plan of action?

•Remind yourself the purpose of your existence: the reason Allah created you was to worship Him alone. Other things that you do are to aid you to achieve this primary goal.

•A company that will remind of Allah: the example of a good companion is that of a perfume seller and a bad one is that of a blacksmith. Also the Prophet (pbuh) said a man is on the faith of his companion.

•Build yourself: Be better than what you were yesterday. Add a good deed in your habit list or eliminate a bad deed because even stagnant water gathers moss and becomes a hub for mosquitoes to breed in.

•Keep yourself busy: As the saying goes “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.”

•Be proud of your faith: Don’t ever, ever be apologetic of you Deen. Because of the limited knowledge that we have we may not understand every aspect or injuction of Islam, but surely, beyond any shadow of doubt there is some wisdom behind every commandment of Allah. Umar (RA) said: Izzah (honour) is through Islam. If we seek honour through any other means than Islam, we will only be degraded.

Catharsis

Assalamu alaikum/Hello! Yeah, long, long time, absolutely no see 😊. Here's a (hopefully) thought-provoking piece. Enjoy!

Catharsis... The word has a ring to it, doesn't it?

What is catharsis? If you're a literature or a philosophy student, you probably at least have a rough idea of the concept. If you don't know, doesn't matter - here it is. It literally means:

1-The process of releasing and thereby providing relief from strong emotions

2-Purgation which is purification or cleansing.

I will give you two examples to explain the concept.

#1. A worker is scolded by his/her boss for some reason (maybe not completing the assigned task on time, etc.).

He/she is extremely frustrated and on the way back home, he/she is stomped by some random person and gets into an argument or physical fight.

Some would call this cathasis: the argument being that individual’s way of releasing his/her emotions.

This is a very basic instance of catharsis. If one is to read and observe there are many complex situations in which catharsis takes place.

The second instance is a true story.

#2.There is a young 9 year old girl who has seen her dad shoot her mom and this has affected her greatly both emotionally and mentally. She is psychologically affected, highly disturbed, and grows up with a strong baggage of emotions. At least once in a month she climbs high walls and yells and abuses, owing to fits.

Catharsis!

Do you think in these cases the emotions were released?

No, they were not; in fact these were a result of the accumulation of further negative emotions.

The individual in the first case argued or fought and collected more negative emotions and the girl climbs on the wall every month to release her emotions.

It is important to remember that two negatives repel; however, a negative and a positive attract. A negative release of emotions will only accumulate more negative emotions which might just result in a vicious cycle and spread more hate.

What happens if the same emotion is released in the positive form?

Through such a form of release people will benefit themselves as well as others.

Today most people practice catharsis negatively and the end result is destruction of generations and nations.

Allah says in the Glorious Quran (Ch: 41 V: 34)

“And not alike are the evil and the good. Repel evil with that which is BEST, when lo! He between whom and you is enmity would be as if he were a warm friend.”

When one keeps doing well to another in spite of being harmed, then not only the one harming is forced to stop and think about his actions, but the victim of this harm realises a higher moral level, and broadens his/her view of most things.

Let us be so good that people feel ashamed and guilty to harm us!

It might seem a difficult thing to begin with, but it is the solution given by Almighty and so one can easily trust on the results.

Imagine the kind of change it would bring in the world.

*Disclaimer*

This is just one of the ways of solving problems and catharsis. I do not claim it is the only way.

Leave that which does not concern you

Abu Hurairah(R.A) said that the Messenger of Allah,(SAWS) said: “Part of perfection of one’s Islam is his leaving that which does not concern him.”  (Tirmidhi)

What happens when you are curious to know about things that do not concern you?

·        You are constantly distracted by the things others are doing and in the process you lose your focus thus reducing your productivity.

·        Lack of attention, concentration, loss of time while digging for information, and even dissatisfaction if you are unable to acquire that information.

·        You begin judging people based on what you have heard which could possibly be a lie.

·        This also makes people indulge in backbiting and slandering about others - both of which come under major sins.

·        You become more careless of your own sins, you’re lulled into complacency.

With the rise in the use of social media, which gives a platform to share personal information, though it is quite  a beneficial medium to share messages and connect people, however, has become a great cause of concern as people are constantly indulging in other people’s lives. And therefore this has produced a whole new level of an unproductive community.

Allah swt too filters information for us and provides us only that which we need. If we analyze the first 6 verses of surah Yusuf, we would be amazed as to how Allah has chosen to give us information in a particular format, letting us know a few things while not letting us know some things which are not very important for our imaan.

Allah says in surah Yusuf (Ch:12 V:1,3,6)

1-“Alif,  Laam, Raa, these are the verses of the Clear Book.”

3-“We relate to you the best of stories in what we have revealed to you of this Quran, and you were, before it, among the unaware.”

6-“….Indeed, your Lord is KNOWING and WISE.”

Subhan Allah! This is so amazing.

When we look at the first verse ‘Alif, Laam, Raa’ do we know its meaning? No.

But in the second half of the same verse Allah says, verses of Clear Book. Misleading!?

Third verse says it is one of the best story we have revealed and you were unaware.

Let us understand it:

Allah is only telling us those things that are important ,the meaning of “Alif,  Laam, Raa” is not imortant in terms of our faith, as Allah explains this in another Surah, Surah Ali Imraan (Ch 3: V 7)

“It is He who has sent down to you, the Book; in it are verses Muhkam (precise), they are foundation of the book-and others Mutashabih (unspecific). As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]…”

So here Allah is teaching us not to probe in things that do not concern us and Allah has given us a practical example in surah Yusuf. So we were unaware of the story of Yusuf (A.S) and Allah related it to us as it would help our imaan grow. So we realize us that Allah is selecting necessary information and relating only that to us. And Allah also choses to use two of his attributes i.e. KNOWING and WISE which further elucidate the beauty of the message that though Allah knows everything He is wise enough to give us only that which we need.

Lastly, Hasan Al-Basri said: “O son of Adam! You are nothing but a number of days, whenever a day passes then part of you is gone.”

So why waste your precious time in those things that do not even concern us or benefit us in any way?

TIME is like a sword if you do not cut it, it will cut you!

And Allah knows the best. May Allah rectify our characters ad increase our Imaan.

Un-blinker Yourself

Peace be on you all!
Yeah, we know, and we're terribly sorry, and we won't even begin on how late we've been this time.
We have this one request from you - please show some response, ask some questions, etc. to help us assess how we're getting on here. It'll really be appreciated, InShaaAllah.
Now, with the post.

Consider this scenario: you're offered a promotion, a pay raise, and you're not bad with responsibility -- would you decline this proposal? Given that you are right-headed, that is.
No, most probably you'd be overly eager to accept it. Unless you're genuinely lacking.

Now, aren't we all terrific fools, that when God gave us final clues for answers, full debriefing, and unparalleled greatness after that, we're still clung on to the previous, primitive short-term goals?
Allah blessed us: with morals of justice, we run behind 'equality'. He gave us a clear path to world peace and we're blindly inching forwards on the street of provincial peace. He showed us Eternal Bliss but we're obsessed with a terminal period.

And after all, we're all pumped up and confident (over-?) about matters that lurk in the darkest patches of our ignorance.
Tsk-tsk, indeed "...mankind was created weak." (Al-Quran 4:28) http://quran.com/4/28

Every once in a while, we must retrospect, to purify and protect our precious intentions from the callers towards Evil.

May Allah Protect us and Purge us all. Aameen.

Peace be to all those who follow the Guidance.

Rafting

Peace be upon you. Here you go.

You’re white water rafting, against the current. The water sprays on you, the whole of you, and you still have to plough through with your only paddle. And, of course, you’re alone.

But this isn’t the worst part. Rather, every bit adds up to stand towering over you as a challenge.

Yet the huge rocks that jut out of the raging tousles – some that you’re able to see before you just go crashing into them, and, some not – are the ones giving you a tough time. So, some you steer around, a few you go over, and the rest you hurtle into. Thus, whatever follows, follows.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, this rafting of yours isn’t just sport. What’s it, then? Any guesses?

 

It’s a simile of your life’s status quo.

The hurdles that you meet, and will encounter, are the rocks that you will see. And you choose – skirt around them, take them and move over and on, or go collide into them, totally unprepared, and capsize.

“Choose your battles.”

“For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.” 94:5.

“Allah will bring about, after hardship, ease.”65:7.

Peace be to all those who follow the Guidance.

Not Excused!

Peace be upon you. Again, we're late, sorry, et cetera. Here we go.

Surah Ash-Shams, Verse 8:
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
Then He inspired it to understand what is right and wrong for it;

The soul was given the knowledge, the criterion. Did we just hear our brains counter, "Ignorance is bliss"? Well, is it any ignorance if you've all the knowledge you need to not be excused?

If a machine was made perfect (if, that is, by humans) and programmed efficiently, and given 'artificial intelligence', and yet it erred while running, what's to blame? Not the fashioner, no, he was quite thorough in his work.

Gotcha!

Actually, we're all caught. We can't say, 'We didn't know'/'We didn't understand it at all'/ etc. When the Message came to us, we felt our heart tug us towards it. The Right or the Left won. Or will, if Allah Wills.

All in all, the bottom line is - we can't skitter behind excuses that will never be applicable to us. We must embrace the Truth when it comes, for it will come, by the Will of Allah.

Eco-friendliness: Our duty.

Our poor Earth begs to see those twinkling stars,

For it could formerly even admire the beauty of planet Mars.

These factories smoking a thousand cigars a day,

The smoke clouding up with a hue of blackish grey.

Not to mention, of course, our folks who breathe

Out those toxins; never enough to seethe.

Tonnes of garbage dumped mercilessly at the great seas,

Even the lakes and oceans are not set free.

So many chemicals polluting the noble waters,

Choking fishes and many plants, even our health greatly falters.

Unhealthy, hybrid foods replace the better nutrition,

To feed the numerous masses, to produce weaker generations.

For the best in both lives, plant a seed today,

That’s also what the Lord and His Messenger (saw) say.

You may never realize—it’s a little forest of your own,

With household garbage and compost, the large plants you have grown.

Let’s unionize our efforts to success via the Way,

How Muhammad (saw) taught us, our world needs it today!

~~~

Peace be upon those who follow the Guidance.