Month: September 2012

Hadith ~ He who removes from a believer

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (May Allah exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection) said: “He who removes from a believer one of his difficulties of this world, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the Day of Resurrection; and he who finds relief for a hard-pressed person, Allah will make things easy for him on the Day of Resurrection; he who covers up (the faults and sins) of a Muslim, Allah will cover up (his faults and sins) in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah supports His slave as long as the slave is supportive of his brother; and he who treads the path in search of knowledge, Allah makes that path easy, leading to Jannah for him; the people who assemble in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah, learning it and teaching, there descends upon them the tranquillity, and mercy covers them, the angels flock around them, and Allah mentions them in the presence of those near Him; and he who lags behind in doing good deeds, his noble lineage will not make him go ahead.” (Muslim)

Commentary: Besides other advantages mentioned in this Hadith, we learn the following from it:

  1. It is an act of great merit to relieve a Muslim from difficulties (financial or otherwise).
  2. To strive for attaining religious knowledge is a highly meritorious act.
  3. To recite the Noble Quran, make arrangement for its study and teaching, and hold meetings for the understanding and elucidation of the message of the Noble Quran are acts of great distinction and reward.

Riyaadiss-Saliheen (The Meadows of the Righteous)
By Imam An Nawawi
Chapter 29, Page 84, No 245

Ayaat 102-111 ~ An-Nahl (The Bees)

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

102. Say: The Pure Spirit (Ruh-ul-Qudus [Jibrael (Gabriel)]) has brought it (the Quran) down from your Lord with truth, that it may make firm and strengthen (the Faith of) those who believe and as a guidance and glad tidings to those who have submitted (to Allâh as Muslims).

103. And indeed We know that they (polytheists and pagans) say: “It is only a human being who teaches him (Muhammad (SAWS)).” The tongue of the man they refer to is foreign, while this (the Quran) is a clear Arabic tongue.

104. Verily! Those who believe not in the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh, Allâh will not guide them and theirs will be a painful torment.

105. It is only those who believe not in the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh, who fabricate falsehood, and it is they who are liars.

106. Whoever disbelieved in Allâh after his belief, except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is wrath from Allâh, and theirs will be a great torment.

107. That is because they loved and preferred the life of this world over that of the Hereafter. And Allâh guides not the people who disbelieve.

108. They are those upon whose hearts, hearing (ears) and sight (eyes) Allâh has set a seal. And they are the heedless!

109. No doubt, in the Hereafter, they will be the losers.

110. Then, verily! Your Lord for those who emigrated after they had been put to trials and thereafter strove hard and fought (for the Cause of Allâh) and were patient, verily, your Lord afterward is, Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

111. (Remember) the Day when every person will come up pleading for himself, and every one will be paid in full for what he did (good or evil, belief or disbelief in the life of this world) and they will not be dealt with unjustly.

Sourate 16. An-Nahl (The Bees)

Ayaat 36-37 ~ Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War)

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

36. Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the Path of Allâh, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them. Then they will be overcomed. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto Hell.

37. In order that Allâh may distinguish the wicked (disbelievers, polytheists and doers of evil deeds) from the good (believers of Islâmic Monotheism and doers of righteous deeds), and put the wicked (disbelievers, polytheists and doers of evil deeds) one on another, heap them together and cast them into Hell. Those! it is they who are the losers.

Sura 8. Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War)

Commentary ~ Dissatisfaction is a trap of the devil

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

The devil prevails in his subjugation of man most often in two areas: dissatisfaction and desire. In these instances he finds his prey to be extremely vulnerable, particularly when displeasure becomes deep-rooted. At this point, he says, he does, and he thinks that which displeases his Lord. For this explicit reason, the Prophet (SAWS) said upon the death of his son Ibrahim (the Prophet’s (SAWS) son, who the Prophet named Ibrahim and died at a young age):

“The heart is sad, the eye sheds tears, and yet we don’t say anything, except that which pleases our Lord.”

The death of one’s child is something that might lead to resentment in a person’s heart. Hence, the Prophet (SAWS) informed us that, in such a situation, a situation regarding which most people are resentful and which causes them to say or do that which is displeasing to their Lord, they must not say anything except that which pleases their Lord. If one were to keep the following three matters at his fingertips when he is displeased and angry about what has happened to him, then the burden of his calamity will lighten significantly. They are:

  • To know and to believe in the wisdom of Allah, and in the fact that Allah knows best what is good and beneficial for His slaves.
  • To be conscious of the great reward and recompense that Allah promised to the slave who becomes afflicted and is then patient.
  • To know and accept that rulings and judgments are with Allah, while submission and obedience are for His slaves.

Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of your Lord?… (Koran 43.32)

SAWS: May Allah exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection

La Tahzan (Don’t be sad)
By Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni
Translated by: Faisal ibn Muhammad Shafeeq, 2nd ed. Riyadh 2005
Publisher: International Islamic Publishing House
ISBN Hard Cover: 9960-850-36-6
ISBN Soft Cover: 9960-850-44-7
P357

Commentary ~ The distribution of the Book of Deeds

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

On the Day of Judgement the Book of Deeds will be handed out. The manner in which this happens is that the Books of Deeds will be thrown in the air from a high elevation. Mankind is below, and these books will be thrown from above. At that moment when you see your book coming down and you don’t know if it is going to land in the right hand or the left hand (if it is in the right hand that is a good sign, if it lands in the left hand that is a bad sign) and you know that this is the record of your life upon which you will be judged is one of the moments when the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) says “the hair turns gray”. It is a very difficult and extremely critical moment. Allah (The Exalted) says:

That Day shall you be brought to Judgement, not a secret of you will be hidden. Then as for him who will be given his Record in his right hand will say: “Take, read my Record! “Surely, I did believe that I shall meet my Account!” So he shall be in a life, well-pleasing. In a lofty Paradise, The fruits in bunches whereof will be low and near at hand. Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past! (Koran 69.18-24)

That person who receives the Book of Deeds in the right hand says: “Take, read my Record!” That person is willing to show it to everyone. That person is happy and proud. That person understood his/her account would reach them. “Surely, I did believe that I shall meet my Account!” I knew that this day will come. That person will be in a life of bliss. Notice here that Allah is talking about fruits that are low and Allah says “Eat and drink at ease.” It is a very appropriate moment to say “Eat and drink” because at that moment on the Day of Judgement hunger and thirst are at the extreme limits. So the Book will be given and that person will be told that soon you will enter into Jannah (Paradise) and you will eat and drink as you like. Because of the long waiting on the Day of Judgement and extreme hunger and thirst, there is a special value for being told that you will eat and drink for what you did in the days before. This is a very important point; it depends on what you did in the days before. The past will be what you will be held accountable “for that which you have sent on before you in days past!”

Now what about the one who receives the Book in the left hand?

But as for him who will be given his Record in his left hand, will say: “I wish that I had not been given my Record! “And that I had never known, how my Account is? “I wish, would that it had been my end (death)! “My wealth has not availed me, “My power and arguments (to defend myself) have gone from me!” (It will be said): “Seize him and fetter him, Then throw him in the blazing Fire. “Then fasten him with a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits!” Verily, He used not to believe in Allâh, the Most Great, And urged not on the feeding of Al­Miskîn (the poor), So no friend has he here this Day, Nor any food except filth from the washing of wounds, None will eat except the Khâti’ûn (sinners, disbelievers, polytheists, etc.). (Koran 69.25-37)

This person may have loved life so much but on the Day of Judgement they are saying “I wish I was dead now, I wish I had never existed, and of no profit to me has been my wealth and my power they have perished from me”. My wealth didn’t do me any good and my power did not help me. The two things that we strive and struggle for in dounia, power and wealth on the Day of Judgement they will say it is no good. Money buys you whatever you want in dounia. You could buy a house, buy a fancy car, buy the best food; you could go wherever you want, and so it is a tool that gets you what you want. It fulfills your desire, that’s what money does. On the Day of Judgement money will not buy you anything. Money will not get you anything. It is worthless. Hundred dollar bills are pieces of paper they have no value. Therefore what was wealth one day is now nothing. So the person will say: “My wealth is not doing me any good. That wealth that I worked years and years to acquire now when I need it is worthless. I need to buy happiness now but it is not there for me anymore”. Power is the same thing. Power gives you dominance and opens for you doors of opportunity. When you have power you do whatever you want. On the day of Judgement, the person will be powerless. They will be at the lowest levels, because that person on the Day of Judgement will not even have power over their own limbs. Your hand will speak against you. Your tongue will speak against you. Your feet will speak against you. So you are powerless, you do not even have command over your own body. That person will say: “Why was I fighting for power? I killed people for power, I abused people for power, where is it now? I do not even have command over my own self”. Therefore power and wealth are of no value on the Day of Judgement and we need to realize this right now. If we acquire wealth we acquire it for the sake of Allah, if we acquire power we acquire it for the sake of Allah, not for ourselves.

May Allah let the Book of Deeds land in our right hands on the Day of Judgement. Ameen.