Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Month of Love
Al-Baqarah (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 165 (partial)

"those who have faith are stronger in their love for Allah."

Love has many manifestations, degrees, and types. The way a child loves his or her parents is not the same as the way a woman may love her husband, and likewise, the way a person may love chocolate, per se, is not the same way a person would love his or her Lord (or at least we hope not). However, in all of these types of love there is a common and key theme, that of sacrifice and fulfillment. The more we love something, the more we are willing to sacrifice for it, and the more we will strive to fulfill the every command and wish of our beloved.

Indeed, sacrifice and fulfillment are from amongst the essential components that make up love, along with longing and cherishing. And this is why we should see that love, along with hope and fear, is a pillar of our worship. Our worship will not be complete or acceptable until it encompasses the right amounts of love, hope, and fear.

It is an individual's love for his/her child and family that will make them wake up in the late hours of the night to prepare a nice meal for suhur (the pre-dawn meal). In the same vein, it is an individual’s love for his community that will drive him to take time off of work to ensure his fellow Muslims have sufficient food for iftar (the meal at sunset). And it is our love for Allah, as Muslims, which drives us to sacrifice the two pinnacles of desire, food and marital relations, for no other reason than the pleasure of our very Creator.

Our love for Allah (glorified and praised is He) does not stop here but, rather, merely just begins. One of the key pillars of loving Allah lies in following the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, and an exemplary role model he is.

Compiled From:
"Ramadhân: The Month of Love" - Abu Abdir-Rahman Mohammad Navaid Aziz

From Issue: 695 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Beautiful Dwellings

Qays ibn Abi Hazm said: "Khabbab ibn al-Aratt came one time while we were rebuilding a wall belonging to us and told me, 'A Muslim is rewarded for everything he spends except for what he invests in this earth.'" (Related by the two shaykhs)

Anas also said: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out one day when we were with him, and he saw a raised dome. He asked, 'What is this?' His companions replied, 'It belongs to a man of the Ansar.' He was silent and kept it to himself until its owner came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and greeted him among the people. He turned from him, and did so that several times until the man recognised anger and aversion in him. He complained of that to his companions, saying: 'By Allah, I do not know how it is with the Messenger of Allah; I do not know what he has been told about me.' They said, 'He went out and saw your dome.' The man then went to his dome and demolished it until it was level with the earth. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out that day and did not see it. He asked, 'What happened to the dome?' They said, 'Its owner complained to us that you turned away from him. We informed him and so he demolished it.' He said, 'Every building is a misfortune for its owner except what is necessary, except what is necessary.'" (Abu Dawud)

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed by me while I was putting mud on the wall of a hut. He asked, 'What is this, Abdullah?' I replied, 'It is wall I am mending.' He said, 'The time is too short for that.'" In one variant, "I think the time is too short for that." (Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi, who says it is sound.)

Anyone who reads the collection of these hadiths would never think about building either a small house or a lofty castle. He might think that living in a graveyard is closer to taqwa. The sound position is that these hadiths must be understood within the context of the atmosphere and circumstances in which they were uttered. In normal life, someone may intend to build a house and then delay it when civil war breaks out. The language used in times of stability is not the language used when anxiety prevails. Madina Munawwara was preoccupied with the task of calling people to Islam, jihad, siege and defence, and the mass of the Companions frequently participated in expeditions and raids. They were either fighting or preparing for it.

These warnings against building and beautifying dwellings must be seen within the context of those circumstances. If the command were taken as a general prohibition, no city would have been built nor any civilisation established. There are scholars who build tall buildings and then let them out to tenants for whatever purpose they wish. They are, of course, allowed to do so, but then they cannot at the same time forbid other people to build when they are doing it themselves.

Compiled From:
"The Sunna of the Prophet" - Muhammad al-Ghazali

From Issue: 1029 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Islamic Call

The propagation of Islam was the mission of all the prophets and messengers of Allah. There was never a prophet who was not a preacher and teacher. All of them preached the same message: 'Worship Allah, you have no other god but Him.' They all called to their people saying: 'I do not seek any reward from you for this work.'

There are five premises to the Islamic call, it has five approaches, and its results are also five.

The five premises

First: sincerity and truthfulness with Allah, and to seek His favour. Allah says: 'And, they were not enjoined aught but that they should worship God, sincere in their faith to Him alone.' (98:5)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) foretold that the first with whom the fire of hell will be lit are three; among them a scholar who acquired knowledge so that people would say he is learned.

Second: to practice what one preaches. Actually it is a scandal and disgrace that a person's actions contradict his words. Allah derides such people in His Quran: 'Do you bid other people to be pious, the while you forget your own selves - and yet you recite the divine writ? Will you not, then, use your reason?' (Qur'an 2:44)

Third: gentleness in presenting the message. Allah advised Musa and Haroon (peace be upon them both) to adopt this measure with Pharaoh, the greatest tyrant of his time: 'But speak unto him in a mild manner, so that he might bethink himself or [at least] be filled with apprehension.' (Qur'an 20:44)

And to Prophet Muhammad, He also cautioned: 'And it was by God's grace that thou [O Prophet] didst deal gently with thy followers; for if thou hadst been harsh and hard of heart, they would indeed have broken away from thee' (Qur'an 3:159).

Hence it was on this basis the Prophet, declared: 'Make matters easy and do not make them difficult. Give glad tidings and do not drive people away.'

Fourth: adopt a gradual approach to propagation. Do as Prophet Muhammad did in his mission by beginning with the most important matters; then follow them up in order of priority. This was clearly demonstrated in the advice he gave to Muadh (may Allah be pleased with him) before he sent him to Yemen. "You will come upon a People of the Book (Jews and Christians), the first thing you should invite them to is to bear witness that there is no God save Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they respond positively to this, then inform them that Allah had ordained for them five prayers each day and night.'

Fifth: address every people with what is suited for them and their needs. There is a special approach to the people of the cities and another approach to the villagers. Similarly, there is a special approach to the Bedouin. The intellectual has his position and the ignorant has his position. So too, there is a style for the argumentative and an entirely different one for the submissive. 'And whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant.'

[to be continued]

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

From Issue: 789 [Read original issue]