2009 June « Seeking His Pleasure Through Patience

Let’s not be like this

June 11, 2009 at 23:31 | In General Musings | Leave a Comment
Tags: al ghazali, alchemy of happiness, allah, dzikrullah, ghazzali, muhammad, muslim, Muslims, Prophet, Rasulullah, reflections, sunnah

Al Ghazali

The Alchemy of Happiness

Chapter : Self-examination and the recollection of God

A certain saint named Amiya, sixty years of age, counted up the days of his life. He found they amounted to twenty-one thousand six hundred days.

He said to himself, ” Alas! If I have committed one sin every day, how can I escape from the load of twenty-one thousand six hundred sins?”

He uttered a cry and fell to the ground; when they came to raise him they found him dead. But most people are heedless, and never think of calling themselves to account.

If for every sin a man committed he placed a stone in an empty house, he would soon find that house full of stones; if his recording angels demanded wages of him for writing down his sins, all his money would soon be gone.

People count on their rosaries with self-satisfaction the numbers of times they have recited the name of God, but they keep no rosary for the numberless idle words they speak.

Astaghfirullahal’adzhim.

We live in world where silence is seen as a weakness. Boring. Uninteresting. Defenceless even, if we’re engaged in some heated discussion. Not worth our time spending time with someone who doesn’t talk much.

Doesn’t matter what kind of talk it is, but as long as we just talk a lot, we’re worth something somehow.

But are the things we’ve talked about going to get us any closer to Allah swt? Will it help us get into Paradise?

Did you know?

Rasulullah s.a.w. was a man of few words. I’ve heard and read that repeatedly.

But when he does speak, everyone listens attentively. When he does speak, it’s not in long winding sentences, and he would repeat an important point three times.

I think there’s a certain psychology right there. =)

Allahumma solli ‘ala Sayidina Muhammad

More than ourselves

June 4, 2009 at 21:24 | In Dzikr, General Musings | Leave a Comment
Tags: allah, dzikrullah, hadith, islam, muhammad, nabi, Prophet, rasulallah, Rasulullah, reflections, sunnah, zikrullah

Assalaamu’alaikum everyone!

I’ve decided to take a break from posting at my personal blog and sharing stuff on Facebook. And MSN as well. =) I can’t, unfortunately, take a break from e-mail as I have to use it to fulfil several responsibilities. But I think I’ll still be sharing my thoughts and knowledge here. =)

I sensed a subtle but growing addiction to Facebook and MSN, which pretty much screwed up my intentions and practically depleted my remembrance of Allah swt and my love for Rasulullah s.a.w. It may not seem like a major sin, but to me it’s practically a death sentence. Yeah, I’m a little bit on the extreme side when it comes to this =)

Anyway, what triggered this action was a video interview of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in which he spoke about The Essence of Mawlid, from Ustaz Noor Deros’ videos. When I saw how emotional he got when he was describing the Sahabah’s love for Rasulullah s.a.w., I realised mine was at, what, 5%?

I knew then, it was time to detach myself from the online dunya for a while. =)

Anyway, I found this while I was trying to find a hadith that Shaykh Hamza mentioned in the video that reduced me to tears.

May this benefit all of us Insya’Allah =)

Fi Amanillah

DEVELOPING TRUE LOVE FOR ALLAH’S MESSENGER (SAAW):

Having the proper love for Allah’s Messenger (SAAW) is a must for any Muslim who is striving to please his/her Lord and who seeks his/her Lord’s Forgiveness. Learning how to properly apply this love for the last Nabee (SAAW) is to properly implement the testimony: wa ash hadu ana Muhammadan rusulu Allah (SAAW).

Indeed, one cannot just say he/she loves the Prophet (SAAW) while his/her actions and ‘Aqeedah are fundamentaly against what the Prophet (SAAW) brought (i.e. the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah). Hence, the first step in the process of developing this love is to acknowledge that the Prophet (SAAW) has a claim over the believers.

Allah has said in the Qur’an (what means): “The Prophet (SAAW) is closer to the believers than their ownselves…” [Al-Ahzab: 6].

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (Rahimullah), one of the great scholars of this Ummah, relates that this Ayah means the Prophet (SAAW) has a “higher claim” on the believers than they have on themselves. This claim involves two important matters:

1. WE CONSIDER ALLAH’S MESSENGER (SAAW) TO BE DEARER THAN OUR OWN SELVES.

This is so because this claim is based on love. One has the most claim to oneself for one loves oneself more than anything. Thus, a person knows what types of foods, clothing, etc. he/she likes to eat, drink, etc. more than all others. However, when it comes to Islam, we know that Allah knows us better than we know ourselves; thus, we submit to Him and His Orders. We it comes to the Prophet (SAAW), we are to love him more than our own selves; thus, we too put his commandments above our own opinions, logic, etc.

Once this true love is established, compliance, obedience, satisfication with his (SAAW) jugdements, and other matters related to true love will follow. This is confirmed in the following authentic Haadith found in Sahih Al-Bukhari:

Narrated ‘Abd Allah bin Hisham: ‘We were with the Prophet (SAAW) and he was holding the hand of ‘Umar ibnu Al-Khattab (RAA). ‘Umar said to him, “O Allah’s Messenger (SAAW)! You are dearer to me than everything except my ownself.” Allah’s Messenger (SAAW) said: “No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, (you will not have complete Faith) untill I am dearer to you than your ownself.” Then ‘Umar (RAA) said: “However, now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my ownself.” He (SAAW) then said: “Now, O ‘Umar, (now you are a believer).”

LESSONS FROM THIS HADITH:

A. The Negation and Affirmation:

The Prophet (SAAW) negates (i.e. rejects, denies) that a person can have complete Imaan with his statement, “No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is…”. Thus, the affirmation, or condition of having complete Imaan, follows: “…until I am dearer to you than your ownself…”. Therefore, the Muslim will never attain true Imaan unless he/she considers the Prophet (SAAW) to be dearer to him/her than everything including one’s ownself.

B. Character of the Sahabah:

Upon hearing that true Imaan can only be achieved through loving the Messenger (SAAW) more than everything, including one’s self, ‘Umar (RAA) quickly complied with the commandment of the Prophet (SAAW). The Sahabah wasted no time in doing those acts which were pleasing to Allah and His Messeger (SAAW).

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.zawaj.com/knowledge/hadith/love_proph.html