Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Al-Ahzab (The Confederate Tribes)
Chapter 33: Verse 4 (partial)

Single Heart
"Never has God put two hearts in one man's body"

Man cannot have one source for his manners and morality, another for his laws and legislation, a third for his social and economic values, and a fourth for his art and philosophy. Such a mixture does not produce a man with a sound heart: it only produces a confused medley that lacks solid form or basis. A person with faith cannot truly hold to his faith and abandon its values and requirements in any situation in life, serious or not. He cannot say a word, take an action, formulate a concept, make a decision unless he remains within the limits established by his faith, which must always be a reality in his life. This is because God has not given him more than one heart, one law and one standard of values. A person of faith cannot say of anything he does: 'I am doing this in my personal capacity and I am doing this in my Islamic capacity', as we frequently hear politicians, businessmen, academics and others say. Since he is one person with one heart, he has one faith and one standard that govern all that he does and says in any and every situation. With this one heart he lives as an individual, a family man, a member of the community, a citizen of the state and the world; he lives in public and private, employer or employee, ruler or ruled, in situations of comfort or distress; having the same values and standards at all times.

In short, we have a single system outlined by the same revelations and submitting to the One God. A single heart cannot worship two deities, serve two masters and move in two directions. Otherwise, it will be pulled apart and will have different motives and considerations. It could easily fall into the trap of hypocrisy.

Compiled From:
"In The Shade Of The Quran" - Sayyid Qutb, Volume 14, pp. 13, 14

From Issue: 533 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Day of Arafah

Jabir reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There is no day better in the sight of Allah than the Day of Arafah. On this day Allah, the Almighty and the Exalted One, descends to the nearest heaven, and He is proud of His slaves on the earth and says to those in heaven, ‘Look at My servants. They have come from far and near, with hair dishevelled and faces covered with dust, to seek My mercy, even though they have not seen My chastisement.' Far more people are freed from the Hellfire on the Day of Arafah than on any other day.” [Ibn Hibban]

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spent the day at Arafah until almost sunset. Then he said, “O Bilal, ask the people to be quiet and listen to me.” Bilal stood up and asked the people to be quiet and listen to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the people were quiet, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “O people, a little while ago Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to me. Gave me salutations from Allah and informed me that Allah has forgiven those who spend the Day at Arafah and those who stop at Al-Mashar Al-Haram, and that He has guaranteed them [relief from] debts.” [Ibn Al-Mubarak]

Abu Ad-Darda reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “On no other day does the Satan feel so belittled, humiliated, and angry as he does on the Day of Arafah. The reason for this is the mercy of Allah that descends (this day) and the forgiveness that He grants to people for major sins, except the day of the Battle of Badr, which witnessed a far greater mercy of Allah descending upon people, which caused great sadness to Satan." (Reported by Malik and Al-Hakim).

Compiled From:
"Fiqh-us-Sunnah" - Sayyid Sabiq, pp. 94-95

From Issue: 607 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

The Most Important Words

When it comes to getting along with your parents, the single most important word is please. The two most important words are thank you. The three most important words are I love you. The four most important words are How can I help? There is power and magic in each.

Saying please is polite and shows respect. The same goes for thank you. Nothing perturbs parents more than ingratitude. So look for ways to say thank you, whenever you can.

"Thanks Mom. Dinner was yummy."
"Dad thanks a lot for letting me use the car last night. I had a great time."

I love you is the next most important phrase. In some homes, hugs and sure love yas are passed around freely. In others, it's not so warm and fuzzy. If that's your lot, try being a cycle breaker and starting a new trend in your home, where you express love and affection in one way or another. It only takes one person to get started.

How can I help? is the next most important phrase. Caution: Make sure your parents are sitting down when you try this out on them because it might give 'em a stroke.

"Mom, I know you're totally stressed right now. How can I help?"
"Oh, no! Look at the garage. It looks like a tornado hit it," says your dad.
"How can I help, Dad?" you say back.

Compiled From:
"The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make" - Sean Covey, pp. 135, 136

From Issue: 575 [Read original issue]