Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Fortitude
Al-Baqara (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 153

"O you who believe! Seek help in steadfast patience and prayer; for God is with those who are patient."

This verse asks people who have attained to faith to seek aid in patience and prayer when faced with adversity. There are many people in this world who are tested by adversity, just as the Muslims in Medina were. In our time, the world is only too familiar with refugees who have been driven from their homes, have had to flee leaving behind all their possessions, and consequently know danger, hunger and the loss of the fruits of their labour. A large proportion of such refugees today are Muslims.

To those who are patient in adversity the Quran gives 'glad tidings'. Is this evidence of a religious tradition that offers only fatalism? The question has always been posed and not just to Islam. The question misses, or rather misconstrues, the significance of the patience to be found in prayer. In the face of adversity the first necessity is the fortitude to endure rather than succumb, and this is exactly the aid to be derived from patience and prayer. The patience summoned is the inner strength and resolve to face down the adversities of one's situation. Despite their adversities the migrants to Medina were not passive and fatalistic, they were engaged in founding a new kind of society whose glad tidings were the possibility of living in a more just, equitable and righteous way. They are tested to the limit but faith is fortitude and hope.

Compiled From:
"Reading the Qur'an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam" - Ziauddin Sardar

From Issue: 931 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Dangers of Procrastination

Those who are used to delaying things till a later time or like doing things last minute don’t realize the costs of procrastination.

Procrastinators think that tomorrow is guaranteed to them. How can they put off an immediate priority, an obligatory act, or a good deed till a time when they may not even be alive?

Even if they live till tomorrow, they cannot be certain that their day will free of obstacles and distractions. How can they be sure they will have the time and energy to carry out that action? The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, used to call on Muslims to take the initiative to do good deeds before any problems arise.

For instance, he said, “Lose no time to do good deeds before you are caught up by one of seven calamities awaiting you:

1. a starvation which may impair your wisdom;
2. a prosperity which may mislead you;
3. an ailment which may damage your health;
4. an old age which may harm your senses;
5. a sudden death;
6. the Dajjal (Antichrist);
7. or Doomsday, which is indeed the hardest and most bitter.”
(at-Tirmidhi, al-Baihaqi)

Procrastinators don’t appreciate the time, means, and opportunity Allah gives them to be productive. As Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, once stated, “Good health and spare time are two of the blessings of Allah with respect to which many people are deceived.” (Al-Bukhari)

Each day has its own share of work and each time has its own share of obligations. Therefore there is no such thing as idle time.

Postponement of good deeds and delaying of charitable acts leads people to become accustomed to ignoring them gradually. After a while they don’t even feel what good they are missing. Procrastination can eventually lead to sinning.

Compiled From:
"Perils of Procrastination" - Taha Ghayyur

From Issue: 572 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Islamic Call

[.. continued from previous issue]

The Five Results

First: to attain the position of inheritors of the Prophets, for they were the first callers and beacons of light in the field of propagation.

Second: to obtain prayers for your forgiveness from the creation for having taught the people goodness. Even the whale in the ocean will pray for the caller to truth.

Third: to gain great rewards equivalent to that of those invited. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever calls to a good tradition will have the reward as the one who followed it without reducing from their reward.'

Fourth: the development of the caller from being on who is called to one who calls. He influences others and is not influenced by others who call to evil.

Fifth: the caller will become a leader among his people and they will follow him. Allah Almighty describes the righteous and notes that they call upon Him saying: 'Cause us to be foremost among those who are conscious of Thee!' (Quran 25:74)

Compiled From:
"Thirty Lessons For Those Who Fast" - A'id Abdullah al-Qarnee

From Issue: 791 [Read original issue]