Mar 30, 2008

The Most Beautiful Heart

Assalamualaikum,
Insha'Allah you are all in the best of states.

I would like to share a story I found on the net. Masha'Allah it is very beautiful and it should serve as a reminder to us all.

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared — how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.” “Yes,” said the old man, “yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you.

You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges — giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting.

So now do you see what true beauty is?” The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.

Please let everyone know each day how much they mean to you, as they may be gone tomorrow.

May Allah (SWT) make as the among the people of Jannah. Ameen.

ma'asalaam =)

Leia Mais

Mar 22, 2008

Smiling is Charity :)

Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

Insha'Allah you are all in the best of states.

Prophet Muhammad, (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), is reported to have said:
"There is no person who does not have the obligation of (doing) charity every day that the sun rises."

Whereupon he was asked: "O messenger of God, wherefrom would we get something to give in charity (so often)?" To which he, (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), replied:

"Indeed the gates to goodness are many: glorifying God, praising Him, magnifying Him, saying 'There is no god but Allah', enjoining the good and forbidding the wrong, removing (any source of harm from the road, listening to the aggrieved, guiding the blind, showing the seeker his need, striving as far as your two legs could carry you and with deep concern to give succour to him who asks, carrying with the strength of your arms (the burdens of) the weak. All these are (acts of) charity which are an obligation on you." And he added:

"And your smiling in the face of your brother is charity, your removing of stones and thorns from people's paths is charity, and your guiding a man gone astray in the world is charity for you."


Any person who comes across this beautiful hadith must pause for some moments to consider some of its meanings and implications.

The hadith has two main concerns:
(1) Awakening the springs of goodness in the human heart
(2) Strengthening the society with the bond of love, affection and brotherhood.


Charity, as it is traditionally understood, consists of money or various objects given by the rich to help the poor or by the strong to help the weak. Charity, according to this understanding, is extremely narrow and its effects on the life of society is limited. The saying of the Prophet, however, takes charity out of this narrow, physical meaning and on to a spiritual plane that opens up a vast and limitless world by emphasizing that every good is charity. And on every person is the obligation of charity. This is a unique concept of charity.

What is charity? Isn't it "giving"? Indeed, so it is. Then let every act of giving be charity-even a smile in the face of your brother. Charity has a physical and a spiritual dimension which are thus fused into one so that a person can say in giving charity:

Take this penny, or take this helping hand or take this feeling!

It is all one practical method proceeding from the depths of the soul but we do not always realise the essence of it. The noble Prophet makes us realise the single spiritual essence which lies behind every act of goodness. But the Prophet, peace be upon him, does not want us merely to know. Knowledge is not an end in itself. He wants to make us return to goodness, goodness which is the very word of God, and the word of God is supreme. He wants that each of us should move and stir ourselves from within into goodness so that giving would become a habit of life, and that this habit would pass from person to person and prove infectious throughout society.

The wisdom of the prophet lies in expanding the scope of goodness so that it becomes within the scope of each individual. If charity or goodness were to remain restricted to tangible things or to money, many persons would be prevented from doing humanitarian deeds and much wealth would remain locked up within individuals with no one benefiting and no one discovering its rich and abundant meaning.

The noble Prophet himself acted in a kind and concerned manner in all his human relationships just as a kind and concerned father would behave towards his son. He showed the way to people-step by step-and identified himself with their problems tirelessly and whatever the obstacles were. He showed in so doing the best way to train people and to win their hearts. That is why he made actions which seem to be quite a significant part of charity. That is why he was able to say;

"Smiling in the face of your brother is charity and pouring out from your bucket into your brother's bucket is charity."

There are some people who do not ever smile and they do not ever open up their facial features when they meet others. There are people who are even stingy with a drop of water, a drop of God-given water! They may be malicious or within them there is a disease which has blocked the springs of goodness in their souls. The problem is not merely a smile, or a drop of water. It concerns the act of giving. Giving is movement from within which opens up the locked doors of the self, stirring the spiritual hand and making it open freely and widely. Giving is a positive movement and the soul that is conditioned by positive impulses is a living, stirring, active soul which stands in marked contrast to the negative, cramped and feeble soul.

Charity in its tangible, narrow sense divides people into the receivers on the one hand and the givers on the other. This division inspires among the receivers feelings of weakness and even of error, and among those who give feelings of pride and conceit. Such a division, for society, is extremely evil.

But the comprehensive Islamic concept of charity which includes all good actions how- ever small they may be, allows every person whether rich or poor, to become givers and receivers on an equal basis. This points to another basic principle of Islamic thought and behaviour-that the standard on which life is judged is not the materialistic or the economic standard alone but one based on faith, feeling and sensitivity which form the core of human relations.

Mankind has always been absorbed with and infatuated by amassing wealth and possessions, and often considers such materialism to be the very mainstay of life. But a society based on economic and materialistic considerations alone is often dry and hard and callous and is eaten up by hatred and envy. Of course, Islam does not neglect the material world and the needs of life. Indeed it gives it due attention. But it does not merely stop there, because life in actuality does not stop there. Instead it carries it on to wider and varied horizons, to greater and higher levels. For Islam is the religion of life complete. And from it comes the ties of faith, affection and love to bind hearts and the society together.

Allah says in the Qur'an:
"And (as for the believers) God has brought their hearts together. And if you had spent all that is in the earth you could not have brought their hearts together."
[surah 8:63].

The Prophet, (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), has said:
"No one of you believes untill he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."

This is the essense of charity. So begin by meeting your brother with a smile. This would open up locked souls, penetrate to the depths of the heart and exert a magnetic bond on society.
Read the hadith again and see how it reaches into the depths of the soul, the essence of existence and creates hearts that are tender, pure, radiant and beautiful.

May Allah (SWT) give us the strength to act up on this knowledge. Ameen.
Insha'Allah keep me in your prayers,

ma'asalaam =)

Adapted from Muhammad Outb's Qubusat minar-r-rasul by Abdul Wahid Hamid.

Leia Mais

Mar 16, 2008

25 ways to polish the heart

Assalamualaikum,
Insha'Allah you are all in the best of states.

Al Bayhaqi relates from ibn Umar (radiallahu 'anhu) that Allah's Messenger (SAW) said, "For everything there is a polish, and the polish for the hearts is the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah. There is nothing more potent in saving a person from the punishment of Allah than the dhikr of Allah." It was said: Not even Jihad in the path of Allah. So he replied: "Not even if you were to continue striking with your sword until it breaks." There is no doubt that hearts becomes rusty just as copper and silver coins become rusty. The polish for [this rust] is the dhikr of Allah. This is because [dhikr] is like a polish [which polishes the heart] like a shiny mirror. When dhikr is left, the rust returns. But when dhikr resumes, then the heart is [again] polished.The following is a list of 25 things a person can do to increase their Iman and their Ihsan:

1. Start off each day with waking supplications, thanking Allah for waking up in good shape.

2. Put Allah (swt) and then Prophet Mohammad (saw) before anything else in your life.

3. Broaden your horizons-learn 5 new verses from the Qur’an, travel to pray the Fajr in the mosque to brighten your day, take up a booklet having morning supplications and learn them.

4. Pray salat Al-duha (after sunrise).

5. If someone says something mean to you, just shrug it off and dismiss it in a friendly, laidback manner, and pray that Allah shall forgive him or her. They will probably get the message that they're not triggering your anger and they will stop.

6. When you get angry, remember Allah, and how short and worthless life is to waste in being angry.

7. Remember that you can never have too many friends, but you can have few quality friends that help you fulfil the purpose of your creation (i.e. living for the sake of Allah.)

8. When you're happy, try to share your happiness with others. Thank Allah for what has made you happy and pray for its continuation.

9. When something bad or embarrassing happens to you, just think that it could always be worse, remember the reward of patience, and thank Allah that it's not worse than it is.

10. Do something extra good once in a while, like donating to the poor or donating to the local masjid.

11. Never stop believing that you can win Allah's love. With Allah’s love, we can win the love of Allah's slaves.

12. Spend some time thinking about Allah's amazing creation.

13. Always love those who love Allah unconditionally. This way you will ensure that you live for Him, love for Him, and hate for Him (those who are enemies of Him).

14. Find the righteous ways to express yourself, and if you think that what you are about to say shall cause no benefit, maintain silence (this is tough but keep in mind that with patience comes reward.)

15. Every now and then, give yourself a break. Play sports, give time to your family, friends, but always remember Allah and remember that He is always watching you.

16. Pray for blessings to come to your enemies, and pray Allah to guide them to the right path.

17. Show love to your parents and always obey them (except orders that are against Islam, which they’ll never do) especially your mother as Jannah is under the feet of your mother.

18. Smile to everyone, to all brothers and sisters, for your smile makes a big difference to them and you are rewarded.

19. Forgive, forget and smile.

20. Tears are not for women only... tears are for all human beings with feelings remaining in them. Don't restrain your tears when remembering Allah.

21. When people criticize your actions and effort, revise your actions and see if they please Allah or not. If they do, then ignore their criticism and remember how the Prophets and the Sahaba were criticized, made fun of and even physically harmed. They met all of this with patience so we too must have patience.

22. Read the Qur’an daily. To make it easier, keep a schedule for completing it every so often. Observe the ayahs, try to understand and transform them into action.

23. Don't let popularity go to your head, for it never lasts and you may lose from it more than gain.

24. Never look down on anybody, for they may be better than you in Allah's eyes.

25. After praying the salat-ul-Isha and before going to bed ask yourself whether you gained or lost points (rewards, deeds) during the day. Make repentance for the things you have done wrong and think of ways to improve yourself in the following day.

May Allah (SWT) grant us Jannat-ul-Firdaws. Ameen.

Keep me in your prayers,
ma'asalaam =)

source:
mutmainaa

Leia Mais

Mar 12, 2008

Importance of reading the Qur'an

Assalamualaikum,
Insha'Allah everyone is doing wonderfully.

Prior to coming across a certain piece of information, I had never taken my Qur'an reading very seriously. Like, I hadn't been reading it every single day. One day, while randomly browsing around on the internet, I came across this:

Rasulallah (SAW) said:When a man dies and his relatives are busy in funeral, there stands an extremely handsome man by his head.

When the dead body is shrouded, that man gets in between the shroud and the chest of the deceased.

When the people return home after the burial, two angels, Munkar and Nakir (angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves), come in the grave and try to separate this handsome man so that they may be able to interrogate the dead man in privacy about his faith.

But the handsome man says, “He is my companion, he is my friend. I will not leave him alone in any case. If you are appointed for interrogation, do your job. I cannot leave him until I get him admitted into Paradise”.Thereafter he turns to his dead companion and says, “I am the Qur’an, which you used to read, sometimes in a loud voice and sometimes in a low voice. Do not worry.

After the interrogation of Munkar and Nakir, you will have no grief. When the interrogation is over, the handsome man arranges for him from Al-Mala’ul A’laa (the angels in Heaven) a silk bedding filled with musk.

Rasulallah (SAW) said: “On the Day of Judgement, before Allah, no other intercessor will have a greater status than the Qur’an, neither a Prophet nor an angel."


Upon reading this, I was shaken. Who but All Mighty Allah knows when we will die? Are we ready for what is yet to come? SubhanAllah, I found this relation very beautiful and it served as a wake up call for me. Insha'Allah, with the help of Al-Muhaymin, I will try to read and memorize parts of the Qur'an everyday.

May Allah (SWT) give us the strength and the patience in this world so that we may be prosperous in the Hereafter. Ameen.

As always, please keep me in your dua's,

ma'asalaam =)

Leia Mais

Mar 3, 2008

The Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT)

Assalamualaikum,
Insha'Allah you are well.
This month's Most Beautiful and Glorious Name is Ar-Rahman (The Compassionate). Indeed, Our Lord is Most Compassionate.

"Say: 'He is the All-merciful'" (67:29)
Rahman is a special intensive form derived from rahma (mercy). In human beings, rahma means 'tenderness of the heart'. Yet, when attributed to Allah it means 'granting blessings and warding off evil, through grace, condescension and beneficence.' For this reason, Rahman, like the Name of Allah, is not applied to any but God.

Allah's mercy in this world is general: given to the believer and the nonbeliever. he provides for them and gives them health and what
they ask for. "We bestow Our mercy on whoever We will, and shall never deny the righteous their reward" (12:56). "Allah created one hundred mercies, then He put one of them among His creatures by which they love one another, and Allah has the other ninety-nine". (Al-Bukhari).

We must always ask for Allah's mercy and grace, and call Him by this name; our deeds by themselves, do not qualify us to go to Paradise.

Also, we ought to begin any important action after saying these words, "In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate" (1:1).

Believers must be merciful to all creatures. A man was pardoned from all of his sins when he drew water out of a well in his shoe and gave it to a very thirsty dog.

"Our Lord, we Believe; therefore, forgive us, and have mercy on us, for You are the best of the merciful." (23:109)
Insha'Allah keep me in your dua's,

ma'asalaam =)

Leia Mais